//------------------------------//
// A Step into Virtual Reality 
// Story: Great Mines Think Alike 
// by maribakumon 
//------------------------------//

After what seemed like an eternity, the group of ponies returned to the home of the Mash family. Button and Sweetie practically flew up the stairs, eager to try out their new devices.
"This is going to be SOO COOL!" Button exclaimed as he nearly crushed the box in an iron grip of excitement.
Sweetie Belle, unable to speak, rapidly nodded her head in agreement.
For several minutes they continued to stare at the unopened boxes, examining them as any true gamer would. Then to break the silence, Sweetie Belle asks, "Alright, who's going to open it first?"
"I don't care, as long as I get to play it!"
"...I guess I'll open it then." Said Sweetie Belle in confusion to hearing Button refuse the opportunity.

She leans hesitantly over the box, carefully searching for the tape that seals the cardboard flaps in place. Once spotted, she slowly removes them as not to tear the paper off of the container. "Hurry up, already!" Shouts Button, too impatient to wait.
"Alright, I'm going!" Says Sweetie, trying to speed things up. She removes the rest of the tape and folds back the flaps. Then, she removes the styrofoam that lays upon the top of the helmet. She tosses the manuals aside so that she can get to the desired component, the helmet itself.
She pulls the helmet out of the box, and a tear forms in her eye at its sight. Button starts to bawl. "It's... so... beautiful..." The pair marvel at the piece of technology.
Something falls from the helmet as Sweetie Belle held it. Curious, Button picks it up. "It's the software! WE HAVE TO INSTALL IT IMMEDIATELY!" Button shouts.
"I'll take care of installation while you open your helmet." Assures Sweetie Belle.
Button giddily trots over to his box where he opened it just as Sweetie Belle did, although he cried the whole time.

While Sweetie Belle installed the software, Button thoroughly examined the inside and outside of the helmet.
He put on the helmet and snuck up on Sweetie Belle, who was in front of the computer. He pokes her shoulder and she jumps backwards in fear at the sight of a robot lurking about her personal space.
"BAHAHAHA!!!" Button fell to the ground, laughing hysterically.
"That's NOT funny, Button!"
"Oh, yes it was! HAHAHA!" He continued.

After calming herself, Sweetie tells him, "This isn't the time for games. It's time for action!' 
"Is the installation complete?" Inquires Button.
"Yes, now are you ready to play or are you going to continue playing jokes?" Sweetie says rhetorically.
"Let's do this!" Screams Button, with the helmet in his hooves.

He connects the helmet to the computer and slides it on. A wide grin appears on his face as he powers on the device. Through his eyes, he sees an array of colours fly past him from far away at an amazing speed. Floating text appears welcoming him to Minecraft where he then stood on a beach within his favorite game. It looks just as he expected, yet somehow even better. The graphics weren't enhanced in any way, they were still pixels.
Knowing that nobody outside of the game could hear him, he exclaimed, "Sweetie Belle, you've GOT to try this!"

He reaches a hoof out in an attempt to press forward on the keyboard. But it was not there. He quickly realized that he was actually inside of the game. Button was in awe at how immersed he could be in a video game. He spoke in a confused, calm voice, "None of this is real, but it is..."

Moments later, Sweetie Belle phased into the game. She stood there in awe as Button just had. Repeating his motions almost exactly. They turn to each other and started dancing in place with wide smiles and quickly began to run into the forest to start the game like they knew how.

Button instinctively started bashing his hoof into a tree where, moments later, a log popped out of place leaving half of a tree floating in mid-air. The hovering log, now miniaturized, drifted towards Button and flung into him, disappearing. He then pondered how to open his inventory. Without a keyboard, he thought it would be impossible. "How are we supposed to open our inventories?! We can't do anything without it!" Button screamed to his friend.
"If you were smart, you would have bothered to read the instruction manual like I did." She replied. She then lifted her right hoof and swiped the air in front of her. Three circles appeared from nowhere, creating a bell sound. The circles read Settings, Achievements, and Inventory. Button looked over her shoulder to see what she had done to open this menu.
"That looks simple enough." Button thought out loud. After his observing, he tried for himself. He picked up his right hoof, trying to imitate Sweetie Belle exactly, and then swiped the air in front of him. The circles appeared like they did for Sweetie. Overjoyed at his accomplishment, Button once again began to dance in place.

"This is SO COOL!" He shouted, created an echo through the silent forest. He continued to punch down trees until he had 18 logs.
Button turned to find his friend, but she wasn't where he last saw her. "Sweetie Belle!" He called.
"Up here, genius!" She replied from atop a tree.
"What are you doing up there?"
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, "I'm scouting places to build a home. There's a mountain to the east that has a rather flat top."
Button didn't care where the house was, he was too distracted by the fact that he was inside of a video game. "Lead the way!"

As they journeyed to the mountain that Sweetie Belle had spotted, Button began to feel weak. "Hold up, Sweetie Belle. I got tired all of the sudden."
Confused, Sweetie asks, "How's your hunger?"
Button face-hoofed. "I completely forgot about hunger... I guess since I'm moving as if I was in the real world I thought hunger would be that way too..."
"Here, I got a few apples from a tree." Offered the unicorn.
"Thanks..." Button tried to say while stuffing his face with an apple.
"We should probably find more food before we build our house." Sweetie Belle suggested.
"Sounds like a plan!" Sounded a revitalized Button Mash.

Continuing toward the mountain, the ponies crafted a set of wooden swords and pickaxes, which the used to retrieve pork-chops and beef from pigs and cows respectively. Night began to fall as they scaled the mountain. Instead of risking their lives by building a reasonably sized abode, they'd build a shack for the night.

"We don't have the wool to craft beds... Looks like we'll have to wait out the night..." Said a disappointed Sweetie Belle.