Sweetie Belle woke up and groaned. Quickly getting out of bed she went to the bathroom until her morning sickness passed. She went into the kitchen and grabbed an apple, a tub of ice cream and ketchup. She went into the next room where she found Button sitting on the couch, a look of disgust on his face.
"What?" She asked as she poured ketchup on the apple and took a bite.
"Nothing," Button said quickly looking away. Sweetie Belle sat on the couch next to Button.
"It's today..." Button suddenly realized.
"What is?"
"It's Friday Sweetie Belle,"
"So...?"
"Black Friday." Sweetie Belle gasped and nearly dropped her apple.
"We need to get in line! I need to get those new presents." Sweetie Belle said. The two scrambled to get their scarves.
"We need to get the others, make a bigger group, before the line gets too long." Sweetie Belle said. Before he had his scarf on, Sweetie grabbed him by the hoof and pulled him out the door.
The four of them stood in a line, there were a bunch of ponies in front of them, but fortunately they were fast enough to gather their friends from the other rooms inside the castle. (They decided to stay the night since Sweetie Belle was too tired to travel. Princess Celestia generously offered for them to stay in the rooms of the castle, and they had gladly accepted.) The group split into two; the guys and the girls.
"Rumble, what do you plan on getting Scoots?" Button Mash said trying to make conversation.
"She's been lacking any emotion, so I plan on getting her some jewelry." he answered. "What are you getting Sweetie Belle?"
"I'm going to give her a custom made necklace, I've been making a few sketches, and I'm going to get her this one." he showed the sketch to the other three.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting Mina a ring and a fire ruby." Spike said.
"Why two?" Rumble asked.
"I plan on proposing." Spike explained.
"That's great man." Rumble said, patting him on the back.
"What about you Pip? What are you getting Apple Bloom?" Spike asked, sticking his claws in his pocket as the line inched further.
"I plan on getting Apple Bloom a new bracelet, since she broke her other one trying to tend the farm." he said.
"Do you think they'll be mad that we have similar gifts for them?" Button asked. The others thought about it.
"Nah," they all replied in unison.
"Speaking of our wives, how's Sweetie Belle with her first trimester?" Pip asked.
"It could be better, it's normal and all, but she's getting these crazy emotions, remember when you came to visit the other day Spike?" Spike blushed.
"Yeah...." he said.
"Wait, hold on, tell us what happened." Rumble stated.
"Well..." Button began.
Sweetie Belle was at home, eating away at a pack of chocolate chip cookies. Spike had come in to return a video game to Button Mash.
"Thanks for letting me borrow it, Mina and I had a lot of fun." he said. He looked over to Sweetie Belle, who was eating the cookies carelessly while ironically reading the Hunger Games.
"Um, haven't you had enough Sweetie Belle?" Spike said. He got a scared look from Button Mash as he started talking, who was making silent signals for Spike to stop talking, but the words were already out.
"What did you say?" Sweetie Belle asked softly.
"Nothing!" Button quickly said, sticking his hoof in Spike's mouth before the dragon could continue.
"Are you saying I'm fat?" Sweetie Belle said, figuring out what Spike said anyway. Then she did the last thing Spike wanted to happen, she cried. Button ran over to her and comforted the crying mare, shooting Spike a glare.
"I-I don't want to be this w-way." Sweetie Belle sobbed. Her sadness quickly turned into anger, at Spike.
"Do you think I want to be this way?! I can't help my morning sickness or how much I eat, my terrible headaches, or the fact that I sometimes can't even breathe!!!" Sweetie Belle yelled, she was in Spike's face from stomping over to the other side of the room. Spike swallowed a lump in his throat. Button had to come in and hold her back since her horn was starting to light up.
"No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so insensitive." he said. Sweetie Belle's face softened. She then started crying again.
"I'm so sorry Spike." she broke away from Button and ran up the stairs, sobbing all the while.
Button Mash looked at Spike, shaking his head simply said; "Try to be a bit more sensitive next time Spike, if there's one thing you don't want to do to a pregnant mare, it's comment their actions. Thanks for returning the game, I'll see you later." Button Mash followed the mare to their room. And Spike let himself out.
"So that's why Sweetie Belle slammed the door in your face and told you to sit outside on Nightmare Night." Pipsqueak said. Through chuckles.
"I still feel bad about that." Spike said.
"Don't, she forgave you, it just took awhile to get over her new emotions." Button said. "Now she's in better control of them."
"Speaking of emotions, you guys are going to love what happened at a Wonderbolts show," Rumble said.
Scootaloo was sitting excitedly in a front seat, even after working with the Wonderbolts for a while, she still loved to see the shows. Ever since her recent condition, she was being paid about half as much to make a routine. Rumble smiled down at the familiar purple mane cheering loudly for him. The pegasus to his left scoffed.
"She must be pretty lazy to not be flying while she's still able to." he scoffed. It was a aqua green pegasus with a light blue and green mane. Rumble did his best to not say anything back and focused on his routine, doing the sharpest of turns, the lowest dives, and swerving about and ended the performance with sparks flying out of his mane and tail and made fireworks burst across the sky.
'Does he not know that the first time a Wonderbolt is pregnant that they shouldn't fly in any shows? No, he's smart enough to know that, he's always been giving Scoots a hard time since she started.' he thought. He went to meet up with Scootaloo backstage after every pony left the bleachers, but the same pegasus kept following him.
"Hey Rumble, do you notice that Scootaloo is getting lazy? She hardly moves far from the ground unless she's taking a nap like her sister Rainbow Cras-" He was grabbed by the neck by a certain orange pegasus who was clearly upset, she looked as though there were flames in her eyes and poison in her voice. She just so happened to be within hearing distance.
"You can talk about me all you want, but talk about my sister and I will snap you in half." she looked like she meant it, she even had a good hold on her victims neck and was putting enough pressure to make the grown stallion cry out in pain as he hit the clouds.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please let me go!" the stallion pleaded. Scootaloo grabbed his hoof and bent it to a position to where she nearly broke the Wonderbolt's spine.
"Talk about me and my situation again, I break your nose, talk about Rainbow Dash, I break your spine, talk about Rumble and I'll do both. But if you dare to stoop so low as to taunt my child like I knew you were going to," she stood on top of him and hung her head at eye level with the stallions. Grabbing him by his fur, she flew into the air.
"I swear on to Tartarus and back that I will break your wings and your legs until you can never fly again." she threw the stallion down, knowing he would instantly fly away. The next time she went to a Wonderbolt show, he avoided her as much as possible.
"... And the best part was that he never bothered us again." Rumble said.
"Remind me not to get on Scoots bad side." Spike said.
The guys laughed. "What about you Pipsqueak, how's Apple Bloom's emotions?"
"Well there much better now that she's taking Fluttershy's advice. She used to get mad about every little thing I did wrong, or cry about personal things, once in a while she'd say something..." Pip blushed as he thought of something to say. " amorous."
"Well I'm happy for you guys, you're going to be parents, if only you didn't have to put up with the emotions." Spike said as the line started moving forward, the ponies moving inside.
"It's not all that bad, besides the emotions, morning sickness, and other personal problems, we have the best memories when we comfort them when they're upset." Rumble said.
"Relax them when they're going through something they can't control, like their headaches, or how they're always tired." Pipsqueak said.
"Tell them what we really think when they question their appearance, and tell them they're beautiful everyday..." Button said.
"It can be really funny how they act when they don't get what they want, or treat other ponies that make them angry." Rumble said. They all looked at Spike on the last word.
"I can't wait to give this to Apple Bloom." Pipsqueak said holding up a silver bracelet with autumn colored apple blossoms wrapped around them.
"There's nothing better than seeing the look on their face when we give them a gift they actually like." Button Mash said.
"Tell me about it," Spike replied. " When I got Mina a limited edition power ponies video game, she was so happy she started to cry. She loved it so much and gave me a nice delicious sapphire." Spike said licking his lips at the thought of it.
The girls were on the other side of town, they had to go to different places to get their gifts, and they made sure that it was truly special.
"Thanks for comin' with me ta this place," Apple Bloom said as she gestured to the store in front of her. She was getting Pip a new watch, since he liked to be on time with things.
"No problem, it's the least crowded store in town." Sweetie Belle joked.
Apple Bloom smiled and opened the door, finding an older stallion at the back of the small shop. He was shocked to see the three most talked about mares next to their sisters in his small shop.
"How may I assist you all today?" he said.
"Do you have any gold watches?" The stallion nodded and took out an expensive gold watch from behind the glass of the counter. Apple Bloom took out her bits and paid for it generously.
"Thank you ma'am, let me get you your change."
"No need, ya'll can keep it, thank you." Apple Bloom said as she turned and followed her friends out the door.
"I have Rumble's present already at home," Scootaloo said.
"What'd you get him?" Mina asked.
"It's a new mattress," she said sarcastically. " I got him a much better surprise. Though it won't be said until Hearth's Warming."
They walked towards the Game Stop a few blocks from the jewelry store to buy Button a new videogame.
"I bet the guys are trying to get the best things for you girls." Imp signed.
"Yeah, just like our first Hearts and Hooves day back together." Sweetie Belle sighed in memory.
Sweetie Belle was in Rarity's house, ever since she decided to move in, she had never been closer with her sister. Of course Rarity had a big day planned out for them, but Sweetie Belle had other ideas.
"Where are you going dear?" Rarity asked.
"I'm spending this Hearts and Hooves day with Button Mash. It's our last one together before he has to take college courses." Sweetie Belle said. She grabbed her saddle bag and ran out the door, and Rarity rolled her eyes, eating a bar of chocolate.
Button Mash was at his house, and everypony in it seemed to rub in the fact that they had a special some pony. His brother had his mare friend to spend the day with, and his mom and dad were surprising each other with gifts. All he had so far was his saddle bag.
Button sighed as he thought of his mare friend, and right on cue, there was a knock on the door. Button's father looked outside through a window, and saw that sure enough, there was Sweetie Belle. Button smiled. He walked up to the door and opened it.
"Hi Button," Sweetie said with a smile.
"Hello Sweetie Belle." Button Mash said.
They walked out together, taking the scenic route towards SugarCube Corner. "So...um, Button, what do you want to do today?" Sweetie Belle said.
"Well, I was hoping that we could spend the day together, just you and me, maybe go out on a date?" Button Mash said.
"I'd love too." Button perked up at the thought of it.
'Maybe today will be a good day after all.' he thought.
"What do you want to do?" Sweetie asked as they stopped in their tracks.
"The cakes have an early bird special on milkshakes." he suggested. Sweetie Belle grinned. Walking towards the sweet shop, the two talked.
"Have I told you about this new, well, not exactly new, but new game I bought on Steam?" Sweetie Belle giggled at Button's excitement.
"No, what is it," she said.
"The Trotting Dead, they have all of these cool characters like Lee-"
"Lee? I never heard that name before."
"Neither have I, but it suits him. Anyway, he has to survive in the zombie apocalypse, and it's really cool."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think that another shoot and run based off a TV series is all it's cut out to be."
"That's just it, the series adapts to your own choices, not only does it have killing zombies, but you also need to have strategies, you need to know which characters you should trust, and there are many times that there is conflict, both internal and external."
"It certainly does sound interesting, is there any... certain topics in it, maybe swearing?"
"I know that there's swearing, but it depends on what you choose to say, plus, I think you can try to take it off, but then what would the TV series be without those things? Boring is what, I'll tell you that, I've never seen so much brutal fun and excitement in one game!" Button said.
"What else is something you like about the game?"
"Besides the thrill and adventure, I like this certain young character named Clementine, she's adorable."
"What do you like about her?"
"She's sweet and kind, and is always worried about others. It's a shame she had to grow up in that world if she wasn't even out of first grade."
"That sounds like a really interesting game, is there a multiplayer?"
"No, I don't think so, but you can always play at my house."
"I think that I'd rather watch you play."
"Ok, fine by me. But do you know what I really love most of all?" He asked.
"What is it?"
"Clementine reminds me of you." he said looking down at her and smiling. Sweetie Belle smiled back, thinking that it was a sweet compliment.
"Oh, you're making me blush." Sweetie Belle said looking down.
They finally reached SugarCube Corner, where they found Cheese Sandwich there.
"Hi kids," he said.
"Hi Cheese, I didn't think you'd be here today." Sweetie said.
"I'm looking for Pinkie Pie." he said. Sweetie Belle then noticed the box of chocolates in his mouth.
"Hello everypony! How are you today?" she called out, bouncing out of the kitchen with her eyes closed. She opened them to see Cheese first. "Hi Cheese, I didn't expect to see you here in a while." she said.
"I came to visit one pony in particular." He said giving her the box of chocolates. She looked up at him and had a rarely seen emotion on her face; surprise.
"Thanks, Cheese, you didn't have to come all this way just for me."
"I had to in order to ask if you'd be my special somepony." he explained. Pinkie Pie was so happy she actually had tears in her eyes.
"Yes!!" she exclaimed.
Mrs. Cake popped her head out of a doorway. "Pinkie, do we have any custom-" She noticed the love fest between her and Cheese. "I guess that I can handle getting the orders for one day." she said while walking past the new couple and standing in front of Sweetie and Button.
"What would you like dear?" she asked Sweetie Belle.
"I'd like one vanilla milkshake. No cherry please."
"And you Button?"
"Chocolate please."
"You want the Hearts and Hooves Day special?" The two looked at each other and Sweetie just shrugged.
"Sure, why not." Button Mash said.
"Coming right up." She said going to the kitchen to prepare it. Button Mash and Sweetie Belle sat down at a booth.
"You never really told me how your trip went." Button Mash said.
"Oh it was great to go to different places and I got to sing back up on the stage, but it wasn't the same without you there."
"You mind singing me a line or two?"
"Maybe later." Sweetie giggled. They hadn't realized they'd been leaning in together until Mrs. Cake brought out their milkshakes. There were two pink straws in both of them.
"Thanks Mrs. Cake." The two said. Mrs. Cake smiled as they resumed their staring. They started talking as they had their flanks in the air; a lot like Cheerilee and Big Macintosh when they were under the love potionpoison. Drinking the milkshakes while they stared into each other's eyes. They didn't notice a bell ringing behind them, and it turned out to be Scootaloo and Rumble.
"Bleh, even our friends are going through that lovey-dovey stuff." she said as her gaze slipped to Pinkie Pie and Cheese, who's curls had intertwined.
"It's an all you can eat buffet for Changelings." Rumble agreed. The two left and flew into the air, landing safely on a soft cloud. Soon afterwards came Sweetie Belle and Button Mash.
"Where do you want to go?" Sweetie Belle asked. They looked all over the place. They went to the park, full of couples and picnic baskets.
They went to the lake, other ponies swimming.
They even tried the clubhouse. Apple Bloom and Pipsqueak were inside. They finally went to the middle of town and found one empty bench. They headed towards it, but soon it was quickly taken by Vinyl Scratch and Neon Lights. Sweetie Belle groaned.
"Where do we spend our Hearts and Hooves day?" She asked. They sat down and thought. Button Mash shifted his gaze to the EverFree. He got Sweetie Belle's attention and nodded his head in the direction.
"Are you sure? There could be anything in that forest."
"It's either that or we can go home." He said.
Sweetie Belle was of into the forest and Button was close behind. They walked together and looked at the different plants inside. They walked along the trail that has been worn away for years by other hooves, and eventually they came across an open cave.
"Imp?" Sweetie Belle called out for her friend. No sound. Sweetie Belle sighed. She was probably doing whatever nymphs do, singing, or maybe with her mother since she had a very close bond with her.
"Did you say something?" Button Mash said.
"Don't worry about it." Sweetie quickly threw out. They kept walking along the trail until they saw he end of it. There in front of them, was a bit of a spring. There was a small waterfall going into a pond before leading to another river. From behind the reflection of the water, Sweetie spotted a glow.
"Button do you see that?" she pointed to the cave. After a second of looking closely, Button Mash spotted it. He grabbed Sweetie Belle's hoof and pulled her inside through the water. The inside was even more beautiful than the outside. It was still a bit dark, but the glow from the different colored gems that reflected whatever sunlight came in, gave it a beautiful reflection and little rainbows dancing across the room from the prism like water from the spring outside. They sat down, their manes damp from the rushing water.
"At least I don't have to wash my hair Sweetie Belle joked. She grabbed her mane, which was no longer in curls do to the weight of the water and rung it out like a towel. An impressive amount of water came out and she then started with her tail.
"You're mane's a lot longer than I thought." Button said as the water droplets from his mane dripped into a puddle. Causing a small echo around the room.
"I think that I might cut it." she said.
"Don't it looks beautiful the way it is." he assured her.
Sweetie Belle smiled and blushed. They looked around the cave awkwardly, avoiding each other's eyes. "At least we're finally alone and together again." Button Mash stated to lift the silent tension. "Plus, we have a beautiful cave with wonderful gems." he pointed out.
"It truly is a sight," she said, looking around.
"But the most beautiful thing in here would be you." Button Mash expressed as he looked at Sweetie Belle. He scooted in closer to Sweetie Belle, who moved in as well. Finally they met in the middle of the cave, turning towards one another, their noses touched. Causing a lot of blush to rush to their faces. They stared into each others eyes and smiled. Button leaned in and kissed Sweetie Belle on the cheek and then looked down. Sweetie said nothing.
"I- I'm sorry, I just got caught up in the moment and it's been a long time since I did that, we don't have to kiss again if you don-" He was stopped by Sweetie Belle kissing him full on the lips a lot similar to the way he did at the Gala. After what felt like forever, she pulled back.
"You talk too much." Button leaned in once again and the two kissed for what seemed like forever until they finally stopped.
"I'm going to miss you after I go to college." Button Mash said.
"I'll miss you too." she stated as she leaned in on Button Mash, who wrapped an arm around her. They stared out of the cave watching the little rainbows dance across the room. And listening to the drops' drip as they fell into the water. It was damp, and warm inside, but the two wouldn't have had it any other way.
"... and from then on, before going to college, we'd kiss every day." Sweetie Belle said.
"That was... really sappy." Scootaloo uttered. Causing the others to laugh.
"Least she didn't fly around n' kiss on a cloud the whole time." Apple Bloom threw back. Making Scootaloo blush in the cold air and the other girls laughed. Finally the line to Game Stop opened. Sweetie Belle walked inside. Causing all of the ponies inside to stop what they were doing and cheer happily to see not one but three super stars in a video game store.
"Hi everyone, do any of you know where I can buy Mortal Kombat X?" she said shyly. A bunch of them were crowding around each holding up a copy of a game. Sweetie thanked them and took the first one from the first pony she saw.
"Thanks, I'll find the rest on my own." she said. They all went back to their original places after a long groan. 'That is really starting to get old.' he thought. She walked around the store where she found several games Button Mash had been ranting about. Bloodborne, Marjora's mask, and basically any other game on Button's wish list. She spotted several of the ponies in there buying all of Button Mash's games, The Cave of Wonders, the game he released that year, especially. When he first started writing the story, he let Sweetie Belle read the script. Sweetie thought that it was a great script compared to the stories of other games she and Button played.
When she asked where he got the idea, he admitted it was inspired by the cave they visited on Hearts and Hooves day. And the main character, who he let Sweetie Belle voice, was based off of her. Sweetie Belle smiled at the memory from two years before. She remembered when Button emailed his ideas to the company he worked for, they started making the game. Sweetie Belle had no idea how they make video games. But she knew that Button was very specific with the designs, which were quite realistic.
Finally Sweetie Belle got all of the games she wanted, while her friends were looking around. Mina eventually bought Batmare: Arkham Knight.
"Are you sure Mina? That's rated M." Scootaloo said looking at the rating.
"I know, but the graphics are so realistic and I love Batmare! Except for that terrible DC vs. Mortal Combat game." They all shuddered at the thought of it.
"I swear that was not as good as any other Mortal Kombat game." Sweetie Belle said. They all nodded in agreement as they got in line. The Cmc remembered how excited Button Mash was to receive the game and everyone gathered to play with him. The game was not as good as other ponies said it was.
"Remember when Rumble was really upset with the Fatalities?" Scootaloo asked. They chuckled at the thought. Sweetie remembered Rumble almost as upset as Button since they liked to play video games together.
"Yeah, he was all like 'Where's the blood?'" Mina said imitating his voice. The five chuckled at the thought. Finally the long line they were in brought them to the counter where they purchased the games.
They thanked the store clerk, a young teenage stallion, and left.
"What's next?" Apple Bloom asked.
"We all have our gifts already," Scootaloo said.
"What did you get Rumble?" Imp signed.
Scootaloo flapped her wings to which she hovered just above ground. "Nice try girls, but you're not getting it out of me until Hearth's Warming." she said. Mina flapped her now large wings and hovered at the same level.
"You can tell us, it's not like we're telling anybody." She said.
"Maybe at the castle. The boys might be done with shopping." She said. She flew a bit ahead of the group and walked in front of them. The rest looked worriedly at each other. Apple Bloom trotted to her.
"Look Scootaloo, we're sorry that we got ya so upset, but if you're upset about somethin', you can always tell us." She said.
Scootaloo said nothing and nodded. Once they got to the castle, Scootaloo shut herself into the room she slept in. While the others worriedly looked at each other. Finally the boys came back, and Rumble went looking for Scootaloo.
"Where is she?" He asked.
"She's in her room, and she's upset 'bout somethin." Apple Bloom stated.
"It's today..." Rumble realized.
"What's today?" Mina asked.
"About two years ago to this day Scootaloo's mother passed. Scootaloo got her nice present, but she never got the chance to show it." The others were upset to realize that they were told the horrible news two years before and felt guilty to not remember the event that upset their friend.
"You should talk with her." Pipsqueak said. Rumble nodded and went to the room.
"The train should be here in an hour," Pipsqueak said looking at the clock on the wall.
"Ok, thanks Pip." Button said. A half hour later Rumble came back with Scootaloo in his arms. " I'm not sure if now is the best time to mention, but we have an half hour before we get on the train." Button said.
"We'll meet you there." Rumble said. The others looked at each other and walked to the train station. Eventually they were joined by Rumble and Scootaloo.
"Sorry about all of that guys," She said wiping a tear from her face and smiling.
"We're sorry that we weren't sensitive about your feelings." Sweetie Belle said.
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine now, and the train is here." She said. Everyone turned around to see the train waiting on the train track.
"Let's go home." Rumble said. They all stepped onto the train, giving their ticket to the conductor. They rode the train in silence, and by the time they finally got to Ponyville they split their different ways.
Sweetie Belle put on her scarf and walked out into the chilly weather. The group parted in the middle of town and headed home. "Poor Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle said as she hung her scarf on a coat rack.
"I know how it feels, to lose someone you care about." Button Mash said. He walked to Sweetie Belle. "I'm just glad that I got her back. I hope that Scootaloo will feel better soon." he said.
"Me too." Sweetie Belle said.