“Scootaloo!!! We’ve gone by that rock five times now!” Yelled an angry filly, with a strong country accent. The sound of her hooves snapping twigs as she moved along made her sound as though she was tired and wanted to stop and rest, while also making her seem be determined to get out of this forest with her sanity intact.
“Shut up Applebloom!” Responded an annoyed Scootaloo, as she glared back at her earth-pony friend. “You know very well we wouldn’t be here if Sweetie Belle hadn’t lost our freakin’ map!!” She turned her glare at the unicorn filly.
“y-yeah..well-” Sweetie started but was interrupted by her grumbling stomach, this gave just the inspiration she needed to make up a good comeback. “We wouldn’t be so hungry if you weren’t such a nervous eater!”
“It’s a legitimate problem!!” Both Sweetie and Applebloom just snickered in response.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A couple of hours pass and the fillies still have made no progress into getting out of this forest. Though things looked bad, all three of the CMC in their minds agreed that things could be worse. After all, they could be in the Everfree, that didn’t make them any less desperate to get out though. So the fillies trudged on, looking filthy and tired. To add to their troubles it was already almost dark.
Suddenly Sweetie Belle’s ears twitched as though she heard something. “hey, did you guys hear that?” she asked.
“No.” they both answered. Sweetie then decided it was her imagination. So she started walking again. Not two seconds had gone by and she heard the sound again, and this time Applebloom and Scootaloo heard it as well and turned their heads.
“Well...ah heard it that time.” Applebloom said as she looked in the direction it was coming from.
“Same.” Scoots added.
“It sounds like a violin! We should follow it!” Without waiting, Sweetie quickly started galloping towards the source of the sound, followed closely by her two friends. “This way, come on!” As they continued on the sound got gradually louder.
“Up ahead, over that hill!” Scootaloo pointed with her hoof to a hill in front of them, they could just barely see a light being emitted. They wasted no time in starting to climb the hill, it would usually have been pretty easy to do, but being tired and hungry didn’t help them.
By the time they got up the hill, the music they had followed stopped, but that didn’t matter because they found civilization! After bursting through a few bushes, they finally laid eyes on their safe haven, a two story house a little ways away from town, they could see the light from town in the distance.
As they were trotting up to the house they could smell something cooking.”Little late to be cookin’ dinner ain't it?” Applebloom quietly asked.
“Smells good.” Sweetie said, as she lifted her hoof to knock on the front door. Her hoof met the wood of the door, and almost instantly it was flung open. causing all three of the fillies to jump back a bit in surprise.
“Hello? Who are you gu-OH DAY-UM!! What happened to you three!?” Exclaimed the brown earth-pony colt who startled them.
“Uh yeah um, we kinda were lost in the woods for a few hours sooooo, can we like, come in...please?” Sweetie asked awkwardly, after regaining her composure
After taking a second to look the three over and deciding that they indeed looked as though they have be lost for a while and responded. “Oh, yeah come in.” He moved to the side to allow the three in.
“Oh thank you thank you thank you!” The CMC yelled simultaneously.
“HEY MA!!!” The colt yelled.
“What Button?” A mare in another room kindly yelled.
“Ya might wanna warm up that extra Mac ‘n’ Cheese ‘cause we got some guests!” Button replied.
“Guests? Well use your manners and bring ‘em to the kitchen.” Said the mare from earlier.
“‘kay mom.” Button said, he turned to look at the three fillies he just met. “Well, follow me, mademoiselles.” Sweetie Belle was the only one out of the three of them that knew the prench word, so she blushed slightly at him using it. The four began to walk down the hallway, which was surprisingly barren, only a few bits of furniture and no paintings or anything.
“So...you’re name is Button, right?” Asked Applebloom trying to make things a bit less awkward.
“Yeah, well, my full name is Button Mash. You can just call me Button if you like.” He answered, turning his head back with an awkward smile. “Um, what’re your names?” He asked.
“Oh, Ah’m Applebloom, This is Scootaloo, and that's Sweetie Belle.” She motioned towards her friends when she said their names.
“Cool.” He replied. By now they had reached the kitchen, once again there wasn’t much in the way of furniture. At least they had appliances. At the stove they saw a cream colored mare with brown hair. She was cooking up some Macaroni and Cheese, which instantly got the hungry fillies’ mouths watering. “Hey mom, here’s the ‘guests’, I was talking about.” He gestured to the three fillies.
“Well what brings you he-OH MY! What happened to you three!?” Her originally welcoming smile turned into a gaping mouth of concern. She saw how dirty and tired they looked.
“ahm, we were lost in the woods outside your house for a few hours.” Applebloom replied.
“Well, we can’t you keep looking like this! Button, could you please show them to the bathroom so the can get cleaned off?” Button's mom asked politely.
“Yeah, sure thing.” He started trotting over to the hallway again. “Follow me.” He said. So they began walking back down the hallway. Sweetie Belle was still wondering why there was so little furniture in the house, so she decided to ask.
“So, why exactly is your house practically empty?” She inquired.
“Well we just moved in last week, so we are still putting things in.” Button replied. He stopped, looked to the right, and wrapped his hoof around a door knob. “Well, this is it. Shower is on the left, there’s some shampoo and stuff already in there.” He then opened the door. “So, who's going first?”
“I CALL DIBS!!!” Scootaloo yelled, then sprinted through the door and slammed it shut.
“Uh...Okaaaay.” Button muttered, picking up his hat that was knocked off by Scoots when she slammed the door. Button looked at Sweetie and Applebloom again, this time wondering why exactly they were in the woods in the first place. “So, why were you three in the woods anyway?” He asked.
“We were trying to get our cutie marks in wilderness survival.” Sweetie replied, saying both kind of proudly but kind of embarrassed as well, seeing as they failed epicly.
“Why?” A confused Button asked.
“Because we’re the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!” They answered in unison
“YEAH, CMC!!” Scootaloo yelled from inside the bathroom.
Button did a double blink then asked. “Is that like a gang or something?”
“Well, more like a club, we do our best to help fellow blank flanks get their cutie marks!”
Sweetie Belle explained, hoping to maybe get a new member for their little rag-tag group. It might actually be nice to have a colt in their group she thought.
“Oh, cool, but I don’t really care about getting my cutie mark though.” He said casually. But that changed when he looked at them staring at him like he was insane or something. Even
Scootaloo heard and had her head sticking out of the bathroom door. “W-Was it something I said?”
“WHAT DO YA MEAN YA DON’T CARE!!?” Applebloom yelled. She wore a look of almost horror at what he said.
Button, now scared for his life, decided to try and give a good explanation. “W-Well...I just don’t think it really..matters. ya know? I-I mean, whether its my cutie mark or not i’m gonna go into the gaming industry. The way I see it, your cutie mark just shows something that you're good at that separates you from everyone else, even if it's not your career or whatever.” He flinch after finishing, thinking that something was about to be thrown his way. To his surprise however, he just heard an honest response.
“Ah guess that makes sense.” Applebloom said, her two friends nodding in agreement. “Doesn’t mean a few friends can’t try and find their cutie marks and have some fun doing it!” Her friends and button nodded again. “Well, if ya ever wanna hang out with us ya can. Which reminds me, are ya gonna be goin’ to Ponyville elementary?” She asked.
“Yep, it’ll be nice to actually know some ponies on the first day for once!” He exclaimed gleefully, while giving them all a nice smile. Wow. He thought. Possible friends, On the first day! Not to mention they’re pretty good looking fillies. well...maybe when they’re not covered in filth from the great outdoors.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After about twenty minutes, the fillies were done cleaning up and dinner was ready. “Dinner’s ready!” Button’s mom called. The four foals were hanging out in the living room when they heard her call. They all cheered and ran into the kitchen. As soon as the smell of dinner hit the noses of the three fillies, it created a water fall of drool from them, seeing as they hadn’t eaten in nearly a day.
“Now then, everypony to the table.” She told them kindly. Once the four foals had sat down she put the food on the table.
“Oh ho ho… This is too good to be true!” Scootaloo cheered, as she stared hungrily at her food, her real food! Not a minute had went by since they got their dinner and they were already done. Button and his mom stared at them in shock, even Button couldn’t finish a meal that fast! The fillies muzzles were covered in sauce and other remains of their meal. They noticed the two staring at them and became aware of the situation.
“Heh, sorry.” Sweetie apologized.
“No no, its totally fine, Button does it all the time.” Mrs. Mash joked, receiving giggles from the three fillies and an annoyed look from Button.
It didn’t take to long before Button himself was done with his food. He wiped his mouth and hooves before grabbing a small device he left on the table. Button turned the device on and started playing. Some 8-bit music could be heard coming out of the device as he played.
Once Sweetie Belle noticed what he was playing, a look of excitement swept over her face. “Is that a JoyBoy!?” she exclaimed, trotting over to where he was sitting to get a better look.
“Yeah. You game much?” He asked. He had never actually met a girl gamer before.
“Well...I want to, but neither my parents or my sister will let me get any video games.” She said, a small frown on her face. “My dad is a huge sports fan and thinks gaming will overtake the amount of time I spend outside, and my sister thinks that video aren’t classy or whatever. Therefore meaning she won't be the one paying for any kind of games. The best I can do is go to the arcade every so often with just a couple bits.” Once she had given her explanation, she drooped her head, looking a little upset.
Dang. Button began to think. A girl gamer who can’t even play if she wanted to! what a shame. There's gotta be a way for me to cheer her up. Thats when a great idea popped into Button’s head. “Well, I have an extra one of these ‘cause my mom and aunt had the same gift idea for my birthday, so you can have the other one if ya want.” He offered.
Sweetie instantly went from sad to over the top happy when she heard this. “Really? you’d do that?” She asked happily.
“Yeah, I don’t need it. So I figured I’d see if you wanted it.” He replied. The smile she gave him made him feel happy and proud of himself. Maybe i’m better at making friends than I give myself credit for. He noticed that his mom also had a proud look on her face, like she was reveling in the thought that maybe her son would have some friends outside of his online ones. Mrs. Mash then snapped back to reality when she saw that the clock on the wall read eight o'clock at night.
“Oh my, look at the time! Your parents must be worried sick! We better get you home!” She yelled. The CMC then left the table, heading to the door.
“I could walk with them if you want me to mom.” Button offered. In his mind he wanted to take this opportunity to get to know the fillies a bit better, seeing as they’d be his classmates from now on.
“Of course!” She agreed, probably thinking the same thing as her son.
“Cool, gimme a sec.” He then trotted up to his room on the second floor. He was gonna go get his other JoyBoy to give to Sweetie Belle. While he was doing this, the fillies were waiting at the door to go home.
“It was mighty nice of Button to offer ya his game like that.” Applebloom said
“Yeah, it was sooo cute!” Scootaloo followed up teasingly. Sweetie blushed at that.
“Come on now, he probably didn’t mean it like that!” She replied irritated. It might be nice if he did though.
Button then came down stairs. He had the second JoyBoy in his hoof, which he gave to Sweetie. “Here ya go.” He said.
“Ready to go?” Button’s mom asked.
“Yep!” They all replied and headed out the door.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
While they were walking, the CMC and Button talked about themselves, Ponyville, and what school would be like here. They were sure to warn him of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, and told him that if they ever bullied him that they would have his back. This made Button really feel like he could trust some ponies here.
Eventually Applebloom split off from the group, saying she knew where to go from there. Scootaloo left a bit after that when she saw her house, leaving just Button and Sweetie to walk towards the Carousel Boutique. They weren’t really talking much though, they were just in deep thought.
I can’t believe getting totally lost in the woods ended up getting me a new friend. Sweetie thought to herself. I just hope he’ll be alright at school, Diamond and Silver can be such jerks! Ah, i’m sure he’ll be fine, he’s probably one of the nicest colts i’ve ever met. She looked at him while she was thinking, examining his mane, his face, his eyes. Him being pretty cute is a bonus as well. She blushed.
Dang, Celestia must be watchin’ over me, I can’t believe I was able to make friends with three ponies, THREE! IN ONE NIGHT! Plus, they’re fillies! How was I not the socially awkward weirdo I usually am? I just hope I can keep this up! His gaze drifted towards Sweetie Belle, he began thinking the same thing she did about him. Jeez. How was I able to make a friend out of a filly as pretty as her? Not bad Mash, not bad at all. He thought proudly. His thoughts were interrupted when Sweetie spoke up.
“This is the place!” She exclaimed. Button turned his head to where she was looking and saw a Two-story round building with mannequins at the windows. Definitely a boutique. He thought. Sweetie then began to trot faster, obviously excited to see her sister after being lost for so long. “Finally!” She yelled euphorically “My bed calls to me!”
“Really? I can’t hear it.” Button joked, getting a laugh out of Sweetie as she went to knock on the door. She then looked at the JoyBoy button gave her. This made her spin around and catch Button completely off guard by hugging him.
“Thanks for everything today Button.” She said into his ear.
“Y-yeah...No problem.” He barely got the words out. He was just too surprised and happy. A mare besides his mom was actually hugging him! His moment ended though as Sweetie pulled out of the embrace. She was blushing extremely hard.
“Well...see ya at school I guess.” She awkwardly said, as she began to turn back to the door to knock.
“Yep. Can’t wait!” Button replied, still blushing a bit as well. He watched as Sweetie knocked on the door, quickly followed by a white mare with a big curly purple mane opening it.
“Sweetie Belle! Oh thank Celestia! Your ok!” The mare shouted, grabbing her sister to pull into a bear hug.
“Gah..yeah..i’m fine..as long as you..don't suffocate me!” Sweetie managed to get out while being nearly strangled by her worried sister. Upon hearing this the mare let go of her, but still keeping Sweetie close. Sweetie noticed Button barely containing an eruption of laughter. Her sister noticed the colt and raised an eyebrow.
“Who is this Sweetie Belle?” The unicorn asked.
“Well, Rarity. This is Button Mash. He’s the reason i’m not lost anymore!” Sweetie answered.
“Why thank you Button Mash.” Rarity said, Button gave a nod as a ‘you’re welcome’. “Well...How about we head inside Sweetie.” Rarity ushered Sweetie inside after her sister gave one last goodbye to her new friend.
Once inside Rarity looked to Sweetie and gave her a smirk that made Sweetie a little nervous. “Uh, Rarity, why are you giving me that face?” She asked uneasily.
“Well, it's just that, minus the hat that colt sure is the cutest! Isn’t he Sweetie Belle?” Rarity said teasingly, giggling all the while.
“RARITYYYY!!!!!”