//------------------------------// // 44. Button Mash // Story: X Steps Through The Portal // by Tennis Match Fan //------------------------------// "I'm gonna beat my score this time," Button Mash muttered as he swiped on iPhone. "Hey, Button, whatcha playin'?" Sweetie Belle, a girl in his class, appeared next to him. "Crossy Road, shh!" Button Mash didn't even look up from his screen. "What's your high score?" Sweetie queried. "Seven hundred thirty five," Button Mash replied absentmindedly. "I'm at four hundred and thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven..." Button trailed off as he guided his Pew Die Pug across a busy street. Sweetie snickered and shoved him. "Hey!" Button stumbled forward, but remained focused on his game. For a short while, it became harder to play, so he paused his game until the feeling subsided. "Button?" Sweetie asked again. "What?" Button asked, guiding Pew Die Pug around a bush. "Do you even know where we are?" "At school, right?" Button responded. Sweetie's tinkling laugh filled his ears for a moment. "Button, look up for a moment!" Button sighed, paused his game at 557, and looked up. Sweetie Belle's green eyes stared at him expectantly. Button blinked. "Can I go back to my game now?" he asked. Sweetie Belle groaned. "I don't know why Scootaloo ships you with me, you're so engrossed in your game you don't notice anything else!" "Did you say something?" Button mumbled. "Ugh!" Sweetie Belle started doing something, probably bashing her head on the wall in frustration. Button was too busy grabbing coins to notice. "Sweetie, what are you talking about?" he asked. "Button, you are a pony!" Button rolled his eyes. "No, I'm Pew Die Pug. I unlocked the pony a long time ago." "You are impossible!" Sweetie Belle screeched. "With you yelling in my face, it's mpossible to enjoy this game!" Button Mash hit the pause button and looked up. "Stop screaming so I can concentrate!" Sweetie Belle grabbed Button Mash's face. "What do you notice about my face?!" "...It's pretty?" Button suggested weakly. "No! I am a pony! I have a horn! I'm a unicorn! You're a pony too!" Sweetie yelled. Button stared at her. "Wait a minute, Sweetie! When did you hit your head?" he yelped in surprise. Sweetie let go of his face and blinked. "When did I hit... my head?" she repeated Button nodded vigorously. "Yeah! There's a nasty bump, right on your forehead! Makes you look like a unicorn!" Sweetie Belle pursed her lips and glared at him. "You're just trolling with me now, right?" she asked. "I just told you we are ponies." "If the bump's okay, I'm going back to my game," Button said. He resumed and began to guide Pew Die Pug across a train junction. "You know what? I'm done!" Sweetie Belle left. Button Mash shrugged. Psst! It's Pinkie Pie, by the way! It was about 7 o-clock-ish, and the young Button Mash sat in the exact same room! He was still playing his funtastic game, Crossy Road! The young foal had long surpassed his high score, and was now approaching one thousand. I mean, don't evenask how he does that! Even my high score isn't as high as that! Anyways, Button was being pretty noisy as he continued on. A certain purple pony happened to overhead these noise. "Spike!" she called. "There are ghosts in the attic!" So, like, Twilight's pretty tired today. Cut her some slack, guys, okay? "Sure thing!" Spike responded. He had a pretty good idea of what the noises were, but he didn't inform Twi of his suspicions. Instead, he dutifully climbed up the stairs like the sweet little dragon he is! Sure enough, Spike arrived to find our protagonist tapping away at his phone. "Ugh!" Spike remarked, shielding his eyes from the horror. Button Mash's eyes were bloodshot from staring at a screen all day. A vein pulsed right near his neck, and drool was dripping out of his mouth like honey. "Z-zombie!" Spike cried. Indeed, Button Mash could be mistaken for a zombie, especially since the lights were out and the only Illuminati luminous object was his phone. And that's where I come in! I jumped into the scene, wearing a zombie mask I picked up from Discord's house. Sweetie Belle jumped out of the portal right on cue! She, too, also sported zombie attire. "Don't mine at night!" I sang, right as Spike backed up against me. "Augh!" he cried, turning around in terror. "I know you're looking at that cave, and you're feeling kind of brave!" I continued. Button's ears perked up, but he continued playing. "Go to bed you'll be alright!" Sweetie Belle added. "Don't mine at night!" the two of us chorused. Spike fainted. "Don't go deep or make a change-" "Get that gold and get away!" "Zombies wanna eat our brains!" Button finally abandoned his phone and began to sing with us! "Don't mine at night!" Sweetie and I chorused. "I'll fight away the skeletons, while you're looking for diamonds! They're getting close you'd better run!" "Don't mine at night!" We continued to sing, confident Twilight wouldn't hear us! Plot convenience, everypony! Plus, I just like to drive her nuts! Oh no, I just broke the sacred rules of narrating!! Meanwhile, Spike got up, screamed again, and ran crying for his comfy new bed.