//------------------------------// // First Chapter // Story: Strangers // by Rainboom H Harmonia //------------------------------// Button Mash looked at the photo. It was taken back in his foalhood. In the picture there was him, and somepony that he used to know. He had a strange longing for them, but couldn’t remember their name or personality. All he had to remember her by was the picture and that his memory was wiped “because it was a good idea”. The other pony had a pink and purple mane, a white coat, and green eyes. He knew that he should just get over it, but it bugged him and wouldn’t leave his mind. His mind was going, “c’mon man, that was 20 years ago,” but his heart told him to always remember and seek her out. He finally listened to his head, and locked the photo away. <~~♪~~> Sweetie Belle was going through some old stuff of hers for a yard sale. She noticed a few video games tucked in the corner of the attic in a small box. The label of the box was too smudged to read, but the games still looked playable. “I think I have some old game systems downstairs,” she said to herself, “might as well play them one last time before they go.” She took them downstairs, and put one into her old ponystation. What she found shocked her. The game was fully completed, but the box where the name was supposed to be was completely missing. “I’ve never beat a game to completion, and I certainly would have put my name in it if I did.” She scrolled down, and saw her name in another save file, only halfway done. “I wonder who gave me this?” She checked all the other games for a name or some sort of identification, but no luck. Every game was fully completed, but not a single one had a name. “This is very strange, why do I have this?” She decided to take it to the game store to see if they could help her with it. “Hello Miss Melody,” The store clerk said. “Hello,” Sweetie Belle replied. Melody was one of her pseudonyms for when she went out in public. Her mane was dyed yellow, and she dyed her coat green. “How can I help you?” “Yes, do you think you could tell me who these games belong to?” Sweetie Belle asked, turning around a pulling a few games out of her saddle bags. “Umm, aren’t they yours Melody?” “I thought they were but I couldn’t have completed all these and yet… they are. Do you think you could help me?” She asked, walking over completely to the desk and setting the game on the table. “Did you check the name on the user saves?” “I already tried to but it seems they’re all deleted.” “So you’re saying that the saves are deleted? or the names?” “Yeah, I can’t find anything saying who gave them to me or who played them.” “Let me get our Technician out here,” He yells into the back room “BUTTON MASH!” “Yeah Mega?” Button called out from the backroom. “We have a pony out here who has a problem!” He called back. “Okay, let me get out there,” Button said as he walked through the door to the back room. “What is your problem Miss?” Sweetie Belle watched as the brown pony walked into the room, she thought he looked somewhat familiar but couldn’t place where she had seen him. Shaking her head, she pointed at the games on the counter. “I need help with finding who’s these games belong to. I found them in a box and they’re all completed but I’ve never completed any games before.” Button examined the games, “okay, I’m assuming that you’ve already checked the save files, so I’m going to try to recover the deleted information.” “Alright, thank you, it’s very much appreciated.” Sweetie Belle replied. “Do you want to stay for this, or should I have somepony call you when I’ve retrieved it?” Sweetie Belle hesitantly checked her watch and looked up with an apologetic smile. “Do you think you could have somepony call me? I have an appointment to go to soon and I still have to get ready.” “Okay, I’ll call you when they’re ready, what is your number?” “624-356-555” She answered. ‘her voice sounds so familiar,’ Button thought to himself before saying: “Excuse me ma'am, but do I know you?” Sweetie Belle paused before thinking for a minute. “I-I’m not sure..” She looked at her watch again. “I’m sorry I have to be on my way, thanks again for checking, it means an awful lot to me.” She said before trotting out of the store. “What is her name Mega?” Button asked, turning around to look at the pony. “Melody,” He replied with ease. “That’s odd, I feel like I should know her, but I’ve never met anyone with that name in my life.” Button went back to work, still thinking about Melody. Hmm, this is odd. At Button’s House. “MOM! I’m home,” Button yelled as he walked through the door. “Hi sweetie,” Button’s mother replied. “I need something to drink,” he said, while rummaging through the fridge and pulling out a root beer. His mom watched in worry as he pulled out the soda “What’s wrong? You only drink root beer when you’re upset or something won’t stop bugging you.” She said, walking after him. “Everything is fine mom.” He said as he rolled his eyes. She raised an eyebrow. “Really honey, you can tell me.” “It’s nothing really, just frustrated with a game I’m trying to retrieve data from.” Button said as he popped open the soda and took a large sip. “I sure hope that won’t take long, I have tickets to go see a concert tonight, you and me!” She excitedly exclaimed as she snatched some tickets off of the counter. “Mom, you know the only music I like to listen to is the music in video games” Button complained. Button’s mom suddenly looked annoyed. “I know.” She sighed. “But you and me haven’t had any real time together since you’ve gotten this job, you’re going.” She stated firmly. “Fine I’ll go mom, but only because you asked me to.” He said as he submitted to his fate. “Oh honey, I didn’t ask, I stated now get ready, it starts in thirty minutes.” She smiled happily and trotted out of the kitchen. He goes to his room and gets out the picture again. “Who are you?” He sighed, “I guess I’ll get ready.” The picture falls into his bag. “Button! Time to go!” His mom called from the other room. “Okay mom!” He yelled and joined his mother. <~~♪~~> Sweetie Belle looked at her appearance in the mirror as her sister picked out her outfit for the concert. “You’re not nervous about the concert Sweetie, are you? You’re awfully quiet.” Rarity asked, shuffling through the clothes. “I thought I ran into somebody who I knew earlier, but I didn’t actually remember anything about them. “Did you catch their name?” She asked, finding the right dress and floating it to her little sister. “I think their his was Button Mash” Rarity stopped and winced. “A-are you sure that’s his name?” “I think so, why do you know something?” Sweetie questioned. Rarity hesitated but quickly regained her posture. “No, nothing at all! Maybe you’re just… imagining?” Eager to get off the topic, Rarity shoved the dress into Sweetie’s hooves. “Now get ready, it’s almost time.” “Oh, okay,” she said, completely trusting her sister while putting on the dress. She looked at herself in the mirror, and then said “It’s perfect.” “Oh when is it not?” Rarity said with pride before shooing her sister out of the room. “Now, you must not be late!” “Okay Rarity.” She rushed to the Stage, being careful not to ruin her appearance. Rarity winced once her sister was out of sight. “I couldn’t possible tell her,” she whispered to herself. “It’s probably best to keep it a secret.” Rarity sighed lightly before walking over to the edge of the stage, ready to watch Sweetie Belle perform. <~~♪~~> Button’s mom handed the tickets to the ticket mare at the stand. Wordlessly, he looked them over and nodded, pointing at the entrance. They both walked through and Button’s mom looked over to her son. “See! Isn’t this fun!” “I guess,” He said while playing on his 3PS. Looking over, she frowned and snatched away his game. “Hey!” He pouted and crossed his forelegs. “Button! Calm down. You look like a little foal.” His mother scolded. Putting the game in her saddle bag, she started walking off. “Let’s go, the sooner we get seated the better the seats are.” “Fine” He stops pouting and follows her. She smiled lightly. After a while of walking, they found two seats in the front and they sat down. A few minutes of silence happened before it was broken. “See! Isn’t this fun!” Button’s mom laughed awkwardly. Before Button could answer, the lights went off and the stage lights turned on. Sweetie Belle trotted out on stage and started singing. “She sounds familiar,” Button Mash thought to himself “That is definitely Melody, she has the same everything minus coloring.” Button thought outloud. “Mom, who is the performer?” His mom glanced at him before looking back at the stage, “her name is Sweetie Belle.” Button called the phone number Melody gave him, but got no response. “Now I’m even more sure of it.” (The song ends) That was it, he remembers, all of it. He remembered the times they laughed, the times they cried, the bond they used to share. He remembered when he first asked her out, how excited she had been. He remembered whenever she would comfort him when he lost a game. Their first school dance, how pretty she had looked in the moonlight. Though, he also remembered the betrayal he had felt when he figured out she had cheated on him. He remembered the pain it caused, how many nights he stayed up thinking about her and what had happened. He remembered breaking up with her, the hurt and sadness in her eyes were the worst thing he had ever saw, but that’s how she had made him feel. He remembered ignoring her for the rest of the school year, doing it until they had graduated. He tried to avoid her in town, whenever they did see each other, he would try to avoid eye contact. I could always feel those sad emerald eyes staring into his soul but he powered on. He remembered her coming to his house, she tried to talk to him but he couldn’t hear, he shut her out. That night he started to regret all her did. Everything went black, that’s all Button remembered, regretting that night then...nothing… Sweetie Belle was the one who broke his heart, Sweetie Belle was the one he was trying to avoid, Sweetie Belle was up on that stage right in front of him- No. The unicorn he dreaded was no longer on stage! Button looked around in a panic and froze in his spot at what he saw, Sweetie Belle was coming his way! He had to get out of there, he couldn’t take anymore of this! Not thinking, the colt stood up and ran down the hall of chairs, trying to get out of the eyesight of that mare. He heard his mom calling for him to stop and come back, he also heard some ponies crying out if he pushed them or accidently stepped on their tails or hooves. He didn’t really care though, he would sometimes mutter a quick apology but it was halfheartedly. He just needed to get out of there. Looking back, Button caught a glimpse of his mom trying to get through the crowd, he saw the shocked expressions of the ponies, including Sweetie Belle. Her shocked and beautiful eyes stared at him and he almost couldn’t turn his head, once he was able too, it was too late. All button could see was stars, all he could hear was panicked ponies, everything went black. <~~♪~~> Sweetie Belle was hurt and confused. She got Button Mash’s text that he found out what it was, but as soon as he saw her, he ran away from her. Why? She had so many questions, but no answers, and the one who could supply the answers was in a coma. She decided to go to the game store to see if they knew anything. “Excuse me sir, but did Button Mash finish my game that he was working on?” she asked the clerk. The clerk looked up from what he was doing on the desk and greeted the mare with a smile. “He sure did, let me get it for you.” The pony then walked into the back room and returned with a small CD in tow. Placing it on the table in front of her, he said, “there you are my dear!” “Thank you,” Sweetie Belle left the store, eager to find out who they belonged to. <~~♪~~> “I can’t believe this, he just played my game while it was there!” Sweetie Belle yelled in frustration. She counted to ten, and looked again, noticing something peculiar. The last time the game was saved was...Back when she was a kid, so that means...Button Mash was her friend from long ago. Sweetie Belle could only stare at the screen in confusion, had she ever met Button Mash before she brought this game in? No, she doesn’t remember anything like that, but wait, she had seen him before. “What am I thinking?” Sweetie Belle whispered to herself, backing up slowly. “I’ve never seen that colt up until just a few days ago.” Even though she said it, she still kept thinking. She had the slight feeling that what she was saying was a lie. A loud crash sounded behind her, looking back, she didn’t even realize she was backing up. Her head tilted to the side in confusion when she noticed something, that was the box with the video games, but that wasn’t the only thing. “What is all this?” The mare asked herself as she trotted to the front of the fallen box. She shuffled through the what seemed like hundreds of games before coming to some photo’s. She picked up the small pile and looked at the first picture, what she saw was the backs of two small ponies. She immediately recognized herself on the right, it took her a bit longer, but she soon came to realize that the other pony sitting next to her was none other than Button Mash, the color of the coat and tail was completely exact as the stallion in the gaming store. They were in front of the T.V., playing a game. If anything, this was more proof that he and she played when they were younger. Sweetie Belle flipped through other images, most of them playing a game or one of them were playing on a joy boy while the other watched. Though, she stopped flipping when she came to a certain picture. They weren't playing video games, it was a normal picture, they were together, both smiling and she had a hoof around his neck. Sweetie Belle looked at the picture for a little longer before flipping to another one that sent a billion pictures in her mind. She was completely shocked to see her and Button, eyes closed and lips locked. The unicorn nearly dropped the pictures, all the memories trying to fight through finally flooded her mind. She did know this colt! They were even closer than she was to the other crusaders. They had been best friends, and at some point, they had been more. She urged herself to continue to the next picture. This one was obviously taken by Pinkie Pie, it was a picture of the two drinking milk shakes at Sugar Cube Corner. Button’s joy boy rested next to him as he stared fondly at her. Sweetie Belle was too busy looking at the camera to notice but she still had a knowing look in her eyes. Around the edges of the picture, she could see was slightly colorful like confetti and at the bottom there were words scribbled at the bottom: Love Birds. Sweetie couldn’t help but smile at the picture, those were the days. She flipped through a few more, more of them playing video games, some of them looking sweet while they hugged each other and there was one where Button was wrapping gauze around her leg, her mane covered in tree sap, and a bath waiting next to her. She flipped the picture, only to see the same one she had started with, only then did she notice the age difference between them. Sweetie Belle looked back at the picture that was at the bottom of the stack, the closer she looked, the closer she could make out a cutie mark under the yellow sap. She was shocked that she had gotten her cutie mark while still with button. Why did she not remember him? She could remember when they were really young, before she had gotten her cutie mark but the rest was still a bit fuzzy. No matter, Sweetie Belle had to figure the rest of this out. She quickly levitated the box onto the small table and gently placed the items back inside. She took a few pictures with her and placed them in her saddle bag before levitating it onto her back. She had some ponies to visit.