The next morning, I got up, ate my breakfast, said goodbye to my parents, and right when I left the house, I heard somepony say, "Hey Sheldon!" I turned, and to my complete surprise, I saw Pecan coming from the house next door.
With my mouth, I took my chalk and wrote down, "I didn't know you lived next to me."
"Yeah, who would've thought that we'd be neighbors?"
"Hey guys!" me and Pecan turned and saw both Rumble and Button Mash coming from the houses across from us. "Well what do ya know," said Rumble, "looks like we're all neighbors."
And for some strange reason, Button said as he was staring into his gizmo, "Yeah, yeah, we-we're as thick as butter toast."
With a quizzical look, I wrote on my board, "What' up with him?"
Rumble gave a shrug as he told me, "Staying up all night playing video games no doubt. But come on guys, we better get to school, fast."
As we were all heading up to the school, Rumble was giving me some last-minute advice. "Now the most important thing to remember when talking to a girl is to sound suave. Although you technically can't make any sound, so in that case just compliment her. When you walk up to her, say that she looks pretty, or she looks good in a bow, or that her eyes are the most beautiful things that you've ever gazed upon. Bottom line, just make sure that she's happy around you." When we entered the classroom, I saw her talking with her two friends. "OK, I told you everything that my brother told me, all you have to do is follow it. And don't freeze like you did yesterday."
I took a big gulp as I slowly advanced towards the filly of my dreams. But I was suddenly stopped by Silver Spoon, who came out of nowhere and started to give me a crushing hug. "There you are," Silver Spoon said in a cooing manner, "I thought I'd like never find you!"
"See Silver," Diamond Tiara said out loud, "I told you that your boyfriend was waiting for you in the school!"
That got the attention of everypony in the classroom. I could hear Rumble's inner voice saying, "Oh boy, looks like Sheldon's got himself in a forced relationship."
I had no recollection of me and Silver Spoon ever talking about this, but I definitely wanted answers. But before I could even write anything on my board, Silver Spoon stopped me and said, "No, no, Sheldy, you don't have to say anything." I can't say anything! "I can like already tell that you love me, just by looking in your eyes." And I can tell through your mind that you have a sick obsession with flanks! Before I could even get to the bottom of this, Ms. Cheerilee had came in and everypony immediately sat in their desks.
...
When lunch had finally came, you know that I would try my best to get as far away from those two snobs as possible. But to my dismay, I was forced to sit with them, with the eyes of everypony staring right at us. While I was being squeezed in the middle by Diamond and Silver, I could hear some inner voices saying things like:
"Wow, only here for two days, and he already has a girlfriend."
"Luckily he's only dating Silver Spoon and not Diamond Tiara."
"For a pony who can't talk, he sure does know his way around the ladies."
"I can't even begin to describe how sorry I am for this guy."
Yeah, it's about as embarrassing as it can get. The only thing worse than this is the fact that Apple Bloom will probably believe that me and Silver really are in a relationship. So not only does the whole school think that I'm in love with a snob, but the most beautiful filly in Equestria isn't going to be interested in me.
...
After lunch, we all went back inside the classroom to hear Ms. Cheerilee discuss about things that'll be in an upcoming test. But since I can just get those answers out of her head, I can just focus on the clock. As the clock was just slowly ticking away, I was already anticipating what those two snobs will want to do with me after school. And when that bell started to ring, I bolted on out of there, before the two of them could even lay their hooves upon me.
When I was out of there, I scanned through the crowd of foals, hoping I could spot Pecan, Rumble, and Button Mash, before the two she-devils could torture me any further. When the three of them did come out, they of course beckoned me to join them. But I soon found myself being dragged away by They-Who-Should-Never-Be-Named.
"There you are, Sheldy," said Silver. "We'd thought we like lost you for a second there."
"Now come on, it's about time for you to see my place." Said Diamond.
And while I was being taken away, Pecan said, "Aw, poor Sheldon."
And Button responded, "Yeah, yeah, he-he's got porcupines on his flank."
Rumble just hoofpalmed himself as he said, "Button, just don't say anything."
At this point, the three of them had went to the Cutie Mark Crusader's club house at Sweet Apple Acres. Rumble and Scootaloo were hoof wrestling, Sweetie Belle was nuzzling next to Button as he continued to stare into his gizmo, Pecan was combing his hair and flossing his teeth while ogling over a picture of Minuette, and Apple Bloom was just messing with her bow.
Scootaloo slammed Rumble's hoof against the table and shouted, "Oh yeah, beat ya again!"
"Only because I let you." Defended Rumble.
"Sure ya did," Scootaloo took this chance to discuss another subject. "Rumble, what's this I hear about you being attracted to colts?"
Rumble started to tense up a little, "I uh...I don't know what you're talking about."
"Well after his little dentist appointment, Pecan came to the club house and he told me some very questionable things about you."
"It's a lie, all right! I only like fillies, and nothing but fillies!"
"That's what you'd probably say if you were hiding something about yourself."
"Well I'm not, and I can prove it!" he then gave her a quick smooch to the lips. "There, ya see? I told you I'm only into girls."
A smirk came upon Scootaloo's face as she said, "I don't know, you were probably pretending that I was a colt."
"I was not!"
Scootaloo started to chuckle a little as she said, "Oh Rumble, I love it when you act like a spaz."
And after receiving a kiss on the cheek, Rumble turned his attention to Apple Bloom. "So Apple Bloom, what do ya think about Sheldon?"
"What about him?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Don't you think he looks handsome?"
Scootaloo then uttered, "Trying to confess something, Rumble?"
And--once again--he acts like a complete spaz, "Will you drop it already?!"
Ignoring that outburst, Apple Bloom said, "Are you suggestin' that I have a crush on the new kid?"
"Well do you?" asked Rumble.
"He already has a girlfriend," Apple Bloom pointed out, "so why would I be interested in him ta begin with?"
"Just because Silver Spoon declared herself to be his girlfriend, doesn't make it true. I should know, because Sheldon was clearly just as interested in her as Button is in Sweetie Belle."
Sweetie Belle then shouted, "Hey, leave my Button out of this! He loves me a lot more than you give him credit for. Right Button?"
Button only had this to say, "Yeah, I-I like cereal too."
Ignoring that random comment, Sweetie said to Apple Bloom, "Anyway, do you like him?"
"Well he does seem ta be nice, I guess. But how are any of y'all sure that he's interested in me?"
Rumble then said, "You mean the fact that he froze when you spoke to him wasn't proof enough?"
"Oh yeah," said Sweetie Belle, "I did notice that; that was the same look that I saw in Button when he first met me."
"And what kind of look was that?" asked Apple Bloom.
And then Sweetie Belle explained, "It's the kind of look you get when you've finally found your special somepony. I'll always remember that day..."
...
It was the first day of school, and I was a bit paranoid just like everypony else. I was so full of anxiety that I didn't bother to watch where I was going, and had bumped into somepony. And that little accident would be a turning point for both of us. At the time I wasn't really that interested in colts, but the way he just stared and blushed definitely proved that he was interested in me.
"I'm sorry for bumping into you," I looked down at the ground and saw that little gizmo he would always carry around. "Here's your thing, I hope I didn't break it." And he just kept on staring at me. "I'm uh...Sweetie Belle."
And while he was still giving me that look, he was able to utter, "I'm Button Mash."
When it started to feel awkward, I decided to just end it. "Well, it's nice meeting you, see you in class." And little did I know that I would be seeing a lot more of him after that.
Throughout the first week of school, I would notice that he was still staring at me. In the classroom, during recess, and during lunch, I would notice him just gazing at me. I was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable, so when school had ended, I walked up to him and said, "Look, why do you keep staring at me?! I already apologized for bumping into you, so what more do you want?!"
He stammered a little before telling me, "We-well, I was uh...w-wondering if you would...li-like to go to Sugarcube Corner with me?"
I might've only had met him a couple of weeks ago, but I did suppose that getting to know him better wouldn't be too bad.
As we were waiting for our milkshakes, I tried to kill time by talking with him. "Me and my friends were once at Fluttershy's cottage for this little slumber party, and we were thinking of many ways of earning our Cutie Marks. Then at some point, one of her chickens got loose, so me and my friends went into the Everfree Forest to get it back. But as we were looking for it, we ended up bumping into..." I was noticing that he was just staring at his little gizmo while I was telling him the story.
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Yeah, yeah, something about a chicken having a slumber party."
I then took his little gizmo away and told him, "Look, I didn't have to come here ya know. So you could at least try to pay attention."
At that point we had finally gotten our milkshakes, and then Button had sporadically said, "Milkshake race, one, two, three, go!"
He slurped it very fast and would soon fall to the floor and scream. I tried to just ignore it, but then I notice a couple of ponies at our school were snickering at us. I could hear some of them say horrible things like:
"Look at Sweetie Belle with that crybaby."
"Those two weirdoes deserve each other."
"What can you expect from a couple of Blank Flanks?"
Feeling that I've been humiliated enough, I just got up and left him there. As I was walking back home, I could hear Button calling for me. So I turned and told him, "Go away already! It's bad enough that everypony laughs at me for not having a Cutie Mark, I don't need you to make it any worse!"
"What did I do?"
"You embarrassed me in front of everypony! I mean a milkshake race?! What were you thinking?! Were you just trying to purposely humiliate me?!"
"No, I was just trying to impress you."
"Impress me?! You call embarrassing me as trying to impress me?! Just go, I wish I'd never bumped into you!"
But before I could leave him, he blocks my path and says, "I'm sorry all right! I was just trying to be myself! Please Sweetie Belle, just give me another chance! Let me take you to Sugarcube Corner again, and I promise that I won't embarrass you again."
A bit of me was still mad at him, and let another part of me thought that he looked kinda cute begging me for another date. So I calmed down a little and said, "OK, I'll give you another chance."
He then bounced up as he said, "Thanks Sweetie, I promise that I won't fail you next time." Then out of nowhere, he clumsily gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and went back home. I just stood there touching the spot on my cheek, and at that moment a bit of me was actually starting to like him.
When I came back home, I saw Rarity designing some more clothes for an important client. I walked up to her and asked, "Rarity, can I ask you something?"
"If it involves helping me, then you can forget it."
"Is it OK to let somepony be himself?"
She then stopped working and actually looked at me. "Why would you ask that, darling?"
"Well, I was at Sugarcube Corner with this colt that I go to school with, and he was kinda embarrassing. He's taking me back there tomorrow, and I was wondering if I should let him be himself?"
"Well that depends, darling. Do you like this colt?"
"Well, after I accepted his offer, he might've kissed me a little on the cheek. He might be a bit embarrassing to be around, but he's also kinda sweet."
"Well darling, when I was your age, I've had my share of admirers as well. But none of them could be my special somepony because most of them wouldn't be themselves. Nerds would try to act like jocks, dumb guys would try to act like they're smart, nice boys would try to act like jerks; I just couldn't stand that. So if I were you darling, I'd let this colt be himself. It's better to be with somepony who's real, rather than one who isn't."
"OK Rarity, I think I understand."
The next day, I was at Sugarcube Corner waiting for Button Mash. When I saw him come in, I noticed that he wasn't wearing his propeller hat and he had on a fake mustache. "What's with the mustache?"
"It's my dad's, I'd thought I make myself look mature."
I also noticed that he didn't seem to have his little gizmo with him as well. "Where's that thing you sometimes stare at?"
"My JoyBoy? I left it at home; I didn't want something to distract me from your conversations again. In fact, I'm thinking about selling all my games."
"Why?"
"Can I be honest? It's because I love you." My heart must've stopped beating when he said this. "You see Sweetie, before I met you, the only thing I ever loved was video games. They were the only things that could make me feel like less of a loser; until I met you. When I first saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful pony that I've ever seen in my entire life. And I knew then that the one thing I want the most is for you to love me back; and if getting rid of what I used to love is the only way, then..."
"No Button, I can't let you do this!"
"What do ya mean?"
"I mean I can't let you not be real." He was confused at what I said, so I tried to explain it to him. "I do like you Button, but you shouldn't stop doing what you love just to impress somepony. I know that I might've said some things yesterday, but I take them all back now. I don't care if you embarrass me in anyway, all that matters is that you're being yourself."
"You mean, you'd still love me if I were playing with my JoyBoy?"
"Of course." We stared at each other for awhile and we both began to blush. "Button, do you remember when you kissed me?"
"Oh that, I just wanted to know how it felt."
"Well, you sort of missed."
"What do you mean I missed?"
I leaned closer, took off his fake mustache, and said, "I mean, you missed." And that was when we had our first true kiss.
...
"...Then after that, I was able to talk him into joining the Cutie Mark Crusaders and we've been special someponies ever since."
After hearing that strange love story, Apple Bloom said, "I still don't get what ya see in him."
"Yeah," said Scootaloo, "he's kind of a...what's the word I'm looking for?"
"A pathetic dork?" suggested Rumble.
"Yeah, what he said."
Sweetie Belle just dismissed all that as she gave Button a hug. "He may be a pathetic dork, but he's my pathetic dork."
Pecan then suddenly shouted, "Oh look at the time everypony, we better get over ta Sheldon's place."
"Why do we need ta go there?" asked Apple Bloom.
And Pecan told her, "Because our silent friend is about ta have the surprise of a lifetime."