//------------------------------// // Grounded // Story: The Other Button // by One of the Crowd //------------------------------// Chapter 7: Grounded I woke up in a cold sweat again from those nightmares I keep having, damn mare. I didn't bother getting up as I already knew I'd get an ear full this morning when I got up so why rush it? I however was not able to push this off forever as Button was up and currently poking at my face. "Button, why are you poking me?" "I'm trying to see if your disguise disappears after touching it," "What disguise?" "You said you're an alien thing so you must be wearing a disguise to avoid notice!" "Hate to break it to you, but this isn't a disguise. When I got pulled here I was forced into this body." I said as I stretched out my hooves to show that it was all real. He poked at my foreleg just like how he was poking my face because apparently that's how disguises work here. "Why?" "I don't know, That mare never gave me a reason," I said as I put my hoof down since Button seemed to be satisfied with the amount of times he poked me. Normally, I'd of told him off for poking me but I don't think Button needs to worry about me getting angry with him over every little thing. "Sooo... um, what do you want to do today?" Button asked as he started walking toward the door of the bedroom. I hadn't really thought about what to do today, but those books in that castle might be worth looking into today. Well that is probably the best thing I could do today anyway so I'm either getting into the castle through the front door or I'm using a catapult, but seeing as catapults aren't a common commodity I would have to hope for the prior. Right before we got into the hallway however Button stopped and reached for something behind his bed. After a moment or two of pulling he was finally able to get it out from behind there; I was wondering what he was grabbing for until he turned around with a fucking mustache on his face! "Button, why do you have a mustache?" "I'm not Button, Chance. I am 'the stache'" I heard a thousand hooves smacking into faces that moment, and it was glorious! We just continued out of the room while Button was pretending he was Manes Bond which is clearly a James Bond knock off! The more of these horse puns I hear the more brain cells I feel cry out in agony before turning to mush. He would roll on the floor and hide behind walls as we passed by until we got to the stairs and he slid down the rail. I just kept going along as if nothing was going on because I both didn't want to ruin his fun, and It was actually kind of funny watching him; he had even made a theme song for himself while doing all of this too! When we both arrived at the bottom of the stairs though Loving and Seas were in the middle of arguing over something. I was closer to them so before Button could hear I pulled him over to the front door so we could go ahead and get the day started Right when the door opened though I heard Loving call from behind me, "Chance, I need to speak with you," Well you can't win them all so I started moving toward the kitchen where Loving was sitting. I noticed that seas wasn't around anymore, and I was about to say something when I heard him talking to Button. "Give me back my mustache, Button!" "But it's so cool!" "The same thing happened over the summer you know," Loving said as she turned to face me, "You wanted to talk?" "Yes. earlier this morning miss Rarity came by with her sister, and they said some interesting things," "Oh, that," "You know I'm going to have to punish you," "I don't think you know me well enough to now what punishment works," "you're grounded for a week," "Okay," She wore a shocked expression on her face; probably due to the fact a kid just told her he was fine with being grounded for an entire week. "Just let me go to that castle so I can see if I can get a book," "Alright," She was still skeptical about what had just occurred, but I was used to this response from whoever was watching me since it only gave me more time to look a for a way home. Ground me I read a book. Take away the T.V. I read a book. Take away my book I read another book. Prevent me from reading my books I sneak into where the books are and take them back. Dealing with punishments like that are all about mentality, and finding loopholes that you can exploit. With one shocked Loving care by my side I made my way to the castle that was really out of place in this small town. Button had decided to come along too so he could see if he could find a Daring Do book that was recently published. He was of course welcomed to come along though he kept trying to ask me about where I'm from which I was fine with, but it only served to make it harder not to think about how much I missed everyone. It was about a ten minute walk from Button's house to the castle which was a lot taller than it looked from where I stood before. Two guards stood by the gate, and judging by their armor they were brand new recruits. I only knew this because Arrow told me about how the armors have subtle patterns to indicate rank so guards knew who to report to, but criminals couldn't tell who was giving orders as easily. Taking a few steps towards the door the blocked the entrance with their spears. "Halt, no civilians allowed within the castle," "We're just here to see if we could borrow some books that used to be in the library," Loving said while giving the guards a smile. Both guards held their steely gaze. They clearly weren't going to let us in willingly so I had to try to figure out another way inside though it would take some time, and maybe a few slingshots. "Sorry, Chance. You're still grounded though," "For what?" "For not checking in, and turning Rarity's mane green," "Oh, right. If I apologize can you not ground me?" "I'll make it 5 days instead" "3 days" "Deal!"