Dancing on the ceiling
Pixel sat on a bean bag chair, and huffed out her cheeks. “Dad, when do I get a turn?”
Button answered without even looking away from the screen. “When I’ve finished my turn, Pix.”
“And when’s that?”
“When I lose a life.”
Pix folded her forelegs in annoyance. “But you’re never gonna lose a life...” she started to say, only to be cut off by a rather large rumble from her stomach. “Ughh... Stupid stomach...” Pixel whined, before getting to her hooves. “Dad, can I get a sandwich or something?”
“You remember where everything is?”
“Yeah...”
“Alright then, just be careful in there, OK?”
“I will...” Pixel smiled softly as she walked into the kitchen.
“Oh,” Button shouted after her. “Can you grab me a soda while you’re in there?”
Pixel sighed, dropping the loaf on the counter. “Sure Dad...” she said, levitating one of the bottles out, followed shortly by a small jar. As she went to close the door though, a stray thought hit her. “Hey, Dad, mind if I try one?”
Button pondered the question for a second, before shrugging his shoulders. “Sure, I don’t think just one can hurt.”
Pixel smiled, levitating another of the bottles over to her plate. A few minutes later, the filly took everything through to the other room, waving her father’s bottle in front of the screen for a few seconds.
“Ah...” he screamed, collapsing backwards, the controller flying upwards through the air. “Pix, how many times do I have to tell you to warn me before you do that?”
“But I did...” Pix pouted, staring up at Button. “You were just too wrapped up in the game again...”
Button stumbled over his words for a few seconds, before taking a deep breath. “Alright, I’m sorry Pix. Tell you what, I’ve got one boss left, then I’ll have finished the game. You wait for me to do that, and then we’ll play whatever you want, OK?”
The filly’s eyes lit up as her head became a blur of nods. She then shot back over to her bean bag, silently tackling her snack.
Button smiled, taking a swig of his drink before switching his focus back to his game. He was immersed again before Pixel made another sound.
“Dad, I’m still thirsty. Can I have another soda?”
“Mhmm...”
“Yay!”
***
Sweetie Belle yawned as she walked through the front door. Noticing her husband entranced by the TV, she chuckled to herself, before walking over and wrapping her forelegs around him.
“Honey, I’m home...” she whispered in his ear. “You nearly done saving the world?”
“Mhmm...”
Sweetie Belle pouted at the monotone response. She moved round so that she was between Button and the screen, giggling as he jumped back in shock.
“Pix, what did...” he started, before realising who was stood in front of him. “Sweetie Belle? What are you doing here?”
“I missed you too...” Sweetie replied, a bemused smirk spreading across her face.
“I just thought you weren’t due back ‘til the start of next week...”
“I wasn’t, but my next gig isn’t for a month,” Sweetie said, taking a seat next to Button, resting her head on his shoulder. “So when I got the chance to slip home a little early, I took it. Say, where’s Pixie? I should let her know I’m here...”
“What are you talking about? She’s right...” Button said, turning to the now vacant bean bag. “...There...” he turned back to Sweetie, shrugging his shoulders. “...Well she was a minute ago.”
Sweetie Belle moved over to Pixel’s favourite seat, noting the crumb covered plate, and the empty bottle next to it. “Button, did you let Pixie have one of your energy drinks?”
“I let her try one, yeah...” Button said, moving up next to Sweetie. “Why, is something wrong?”
“Well, she could have done without the caffeine on a school night...” Sweetie said, before her eyes fell on something else, a few feet away. She walked over to it, before turning around with her eyes closed. “Button,” she asked with her voice taking on a sickeningly sweet tone. “How many of those sodas did you let Pixel have?”
“Just the one,” Button said, taking a step back defensively. “Give me some credit, Sweetie.”
The half dozen empty bottles floated into the air, all pointing menacingly at Button.
“But I...”
“Oh, I think I know what happened,” Sweetie said, taking a step forward. “You were too busy with your game again, weren’t you?”
A flash of light from upstairs interrupted the argument before Button could answer. It was quickly followed by a series of thumps, and a cacophony of songs. Finally, another empty soda bottle rolled down the stairs.
Button slowly looked back from the stairway to Sweetie Belle. “I don’t think we have time for this now...” he said, biting his lip. “Let’s sort out whatever that is first, OK?”
Sweetie paused in thought for a few seconds before nodding. “Alright, but don’t expect me to just forget about this.”
The pair stormed up the stairs, stopping outside the source of the strange sounds and freakish light show: Pixel’s room.
Upon opening the door, Sweetie Belle stared up at the ceiling, not quite able to believe her own eyes. Glued to the ceiling was a dance mat. And on that mat was Pixel Bit, ringed by various gaming paraphernalia, all wrapped in her amber field.
From the hallway, she could just about make out Button’s voice. “...Alright, until we can sort something out, I think we’re gonna have to cut Pixie off from sugar...”
Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement before she started speaking. “Pixie...” was all she managed before she caught sight of the fillies twitching eyes looking down at her.
“Oh, hey Mom,” the filly said, not bothering to pause between words, let alone for breath. “I’d love to talk, but I can’t, I’m doing the death waltz on insane, and I need to focus, and that’s not even getting into each of the bosses...”
“Pixie, which games are you playing right now?”
Pixel’s smile beamed. “All of them, and I’m doing really well so I can’t stop to ta...” the filly started, before all of the things quickly flew back to their various cubby holes around the bedroom. The filly quickly flipped in mid air, landing softly on her hooves in the middle of the room. “Bored now...” the filly started hopping all over the room, before switching to just circling Sweetie Belle. “Oh, I know, I’ll ask the girls over for a sleepover...” Pixel paused in front of her mother, bouncing up and down with a manic grin on her face. “Can I? Can I? Can I? Can... I...” she repeated, as her eyelids drooped, before staggering forward and collapsing into her mother’s waiting forelegs, softly snoring.
Sweetie sighed, scooping Pixel up as the filly’s snoring steadily deepened. She moved slowly across the room, gingerly draping the filly across the bed. She gently kissed the filly on her head, before retreating to the doorway.
“Night Pixie,” she whispered as she turned out the lights. “Sweet dreams.”
Button stopped pacing as soon as Sweetie walked out of the filly’s room. “She’s OK, isn’t she?”
Sweetie nodded. “She’s pretty wiped, but otherwise fine,” she said, glaring at the stallion. “Now, don’t you have something to say?”
Button winced, before lowering his head. “Yeah... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have given her that many sodas.”
“And...?” Sweetie said as she circled her hoof in the air, motioning for him to continue.
“I’m sorry for letting her stay up so long on a school night?”
Sweetie just glared at him. “...And?”
Button bit his lip nervously, before visibly slumping. “I’m sorry for getting wrapped up in my game again. I’ve been doing that a lot again lately, haven’t I?” At Sweetie’s nodding, Button walked forward, hugging her tightly. “Alright, I’ll make sure not to play while I’m watching Pix...”
Sweetie took a step back. “Hey, you don’t need to go that far...” she said before returning to the embrace. “I just wanted to know you knew what was wrong. Besides, Pixie loves playing games with you. Just... Just when you’ve got to watch her on your own, make sure you play something with her, not around her, OK?”
Button leant down and kissed her. “Sure, I can do that.”
Sweetie giggled softly. “Alright, now we should get some sleep too...”
***
Pixel Bit staggered down the stairs. She still felt exhausted, despite having only just woken up. She wandered into the kitchen, collapsing into one of the chairs as soon as possible.
“Morning Pixie,” Sweetie Belle chirped. “How’d you sleep?”
Pixel Bit unleashed a string of unintelligible, guttural syllables, causing her mother to face hoof.
“Right,” she said, as she poured out three mugs of coffee. “Coffee first.”
She handed Pixel one of the mugs, and a small jug of cream. Emptying half of the jug into her drink, the young filly swirled the cup in her hoof a few times before taking a large gulp. However, rather than the usual content sigh, this morning Pixel had an entirely different reaction.
“Gak!” she spluttered, as she struggled to swallow the bitter liquid. “Mom, I think I got your mug...”
“Yeah, about that...” Sweetie started, as Button walked into the kitchen. “After what happened last night, me and Button thought it’d be best to keep you off the sugar. At least until we can get a doctor to look you over.”
“Last night?” Pixel said, her head cocked to one side in confusion. “I don’t know what I did, but couldn’t have been that bad...”
“You were dancing on the ceiling...” Button said, not taking his head out of the fridge. “We have the hoof prints to prove it.”
Pixel sat with her jaw dropped. “...OK, so what am I gonna do ‘til you get me looked at?”
Sweetie Belle started to prepare her answer to that, when Button’s head reappeared from the fridge. “Sweetie, have you seen my energy drinks? I know I had one left...”
Sweetie Belle smiled sheepishly, levitating Button’s coffee out in front of her as a makeshift barrier. “Yeah, about that...”
Button’s colour faded as his face fell. “Sweetie, what did you do?”
“I figured out what to do about your part in last night.” She said, the smile never leaving her face. “I threw out all the sugar...”
Button and Pixel stared at Sweetie in disbelief, before draining their coffees in unison, and exiting the room. Button grumbled under his breath, while Pixel just coughed. Sweetie watched them leave, before turning to the cupboards, and slowly levitating a small bag onto the worktop. Carefully, she levitated one of the small peppermints out of the bag, taking care not to rustle the wrapper or bag. She popped the candy into her mouth, before taking a sip of coffee.
After waking from her moment of bliss, Sweetie stretched her magic out to gather another peppermint. However, she forgot why she had been so meticulous the first time, only realising when the wrapper brushed the bag, producing a soft crinkling sound that echoed through the house.
Wincing, Sweetie turned to face the doorway to the living room. Button and Pixel stared at her with dead eyes. “Heh heh...” she started to laugh nervously, brushing the back of her mane with a hoof. However she was quickly cut off by the two other ponies.
“She stole it from us...” Button started, his stare moving to the candy bag.
“We wants it back...” Pixel continued, taking a step towards Sweetie.
Sweetie looked between the pair, then to the bag of peppermints. “No, Twist made these for my Birthday...” she quickly levitated the bag over her head. “They are... precious to me...” she took a few backwards steps, before turning and running out the kitchen, soon followed by both Pixel and Button.