//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Dance Of The Mash // by Rated Ponystar //------------------------------// They say you had to sacrifice a lot for love, but Button Mash didn’t know if they would admit being a slave counted as going too far. Diamond Tiara was not just a monster, she was the Queen of Tartarus. She made Button Mash do everything from cleaning all the floors in the giant mansion to massaging her hooves and washing them. Six. Fricken. Times. Whatever they were paying the servants in this place, they were not paying enough. “Oh, Button!” sang Diamond Tiara from the other end of the room where he was busy rearranging a six foot bookshelf. “Yes, Mistress Tiara?” asked Button, faking a smile. “I think I want to go for a walk,” said Diamond Tiara as she got up from her couch and put her book down. “While I’m gone I need you to shovel the walkway, unclog the second floor bathroom on the left, and make me lunch.” “Yes, Mistress,” whispered Button, who sighed upon thinking of all that workload he had to do. “After all that, you can head over to your home for whatever it is you commoners do,” said Diamond Tiara as she got up and made her way to the door. “And fetch me my coat and scarf!” For a split second, Button thought about finding the scarf and using it like the wires wielded by Agent 47 from Hitpony. He was pretty sure there was a cellar nearby. All he had do was drag her in, hide the body, lock it, leave quietly, and pretend that none of this ever happened. No, stop. Think of the tickets. Think of Sweetie Belle. Think about how you're already in trouble with the police after last years Nightmare Night incident. He shivered in how much grounding he got for that. How was he suppose to know that scaring a dragon made them belch fire uncontrollably and burn down anything near it? He managed to find the pink coat and purple scarf before giving it to his Mistress of Annoyance. She happily smiled at him and left the mansion much to Button’s relief. *** There was at least one advantage to being an avid videogame player when you're doing a boring task like shoveling snow. You had a plethora of music in your head to play inside. While he was having the Knightblazer theme from Wild Hooves 2 playing in his head, he noticed somepony coming up the walkway and scowled. Great, just what I need. The other brat. Silver Spoon’s eyes widened as she saw Button Mash who simply glared at her. Just because he had to be subservient to Diamond Tiara didn’t mean he had to be it for her other rich jerkish friend. “What are you doing here?” she asked, tilting her head.  “Shoveling,” muttered Button Mash as he continued his work. “I can see that, but why?” asked Silver Spoon. “This is Diamond Tiara’s house.” “Because Mistress Fatflank can’t do anything by herself and likes to ensnare ponies into doing her bidding for rewards like the black widow she is,” muttered Button Mash before wincing. Ah, crap. Now she’ll tell her I said that and I’m screwed. To his surprise, Silver Spoon snorted and then giggled at his joke. This made him stop shoveling and stare at the silver earth pony who gave him a warm smile. “Do you want a hoof?” Button nearly felt his jaw fall off by the way it so suddenly dropped. Silver Spoon? Wants to help... me? Either that crazy pony in Canterlot who held that “End Is Neigh” sign was right... or Silver Spoon was just being kind. Either way, I’m not doing this on my own. “Um, sure,” said Button Mash as he pointed to a second shovel. Silver Spoon grabbed it and began to work side by side with him. They didn’t say anything to each other, nor did they glance at one another. It was awkward for Button Mash, but Silver Spoon seemed to find it all normal. What’s her game? asked Button Mash as they reached the halfway point. “So, what’s she got over you?” asked Silver Spoon, finally breaking the silence. “Um...” Button debated over whether or not to tell her the truth, but decided since she had helped him it was okay. “I promised Sweetie Belle to take her to the Winter Ball in Canterlot for our first date, but I don’t have the money for it. Diamond Tiara offered to pay for the tickets if I was her servant.” “So you finally asked her out, huh?” asked Silver, smiling at him. Although he sighed, Button blushed and rubbed the back of his neck as he remembered Sweetie Belle saying “yes” to his question. “Y-yeah... to be honest I didn’t think she would want me.” “You have to be blind not to see that she’s always cared about you,” said Silver Spoon with a laugh. “I mean, there was a running bet to see how long it would take. I wonder if it's still around?” “Oh, come on,” grumbled Button as he shook his head. “We couldn’t have been that predictable? Seriously?” “More so than Pip and Dinky,” pointed out Silver Spoon, shaking her head. “But what you're doing? I think it’s sweet. You must really love Sweetie if you're willing to go this far to please her for your first date. I mean, Diamond is a psychopathic bitch after all.” “Huh?!” shouted Button Mash as he turned around and faced Silver Spoon with a confused look. “Did... did you just call your best friend a...” “Psychopathic bitch?” asked Silver Spoon, turning around with a sad smile. “Yeah... I did. And it’s true.” “But... you’re her best friend,” pointed out Button, who was starting to wonder if this was some weird alternate dimension that he fell into. I think I hear the Dawning Zone’s theme music playing somewhere. “Guess that means my acting school are better than I thought,” said Silver Spoon with a giggle. “Maybe I should try becoming an actress in Applewood.” “You mean... all this time?” asked Button, blinking. “You’ve only been pretending to be her friend?” “Not exactly,” said Silver Spoon as she moved a few strands of hair from her face. “Look, what do you have left after this?” “Unclogging the second floor toilet and making her lunch.” “Don’t bother with that. The second floor bathroom is broken and always has been, she was just making you waste your time and energy,” said Silver Spoon, rolling her eyes. “And as for the lunch, just say I ordered you not to since I came over to see if she wanted to grab a bite to eat. Let’s finish this and have some cocoa before Diamond comes home.” As she went back to work, Button Mash stared at the mare who had made him question every past encounter he ever had with her. He suddenly felt like he had hit a riddle in a game that he had to solve in order to move forward. Still, he would have to wait until the they were done with the snow to find out. *** With the added help, it didn’t take long for the two to wipe clean the snow. Button also finally ditched the butler outfit and laid comfortably on the couch as Silver Spoon came over with two hot cups of cocoa. Accepting it with thanks, Button Mash sipped his mug a bit while waiting for Silver Spoon to sit down and explain. After some quiet drinking, she began. “I guess it's no surprise when I say that I was a brat when I was younger.” “No offence, but I still kinda see you as one...well, until now at least,” confessed Button Mash. “Yeah, but that’s my own fault,” said Silver, sighing. “Both Diamond and I have been friends since we were foals. Our parents knew each other, and thus we were always doing things together. It sort of wasn’t a surprise when the two of us became best friends. I won’t say that my behavior was great, I mean both of us were raised to think we were better then everypony else because of our wealth and business sense.” “Funny, Apple Bloom says Mr. Rich is a nice guy,” said Button Mash raising an eyebrow. “He is, but he was always busy with work while his wife handled raising Diamond Tiara. And trust me, she was just as bad as her daughter is,” said Silver Spoon, shaking his head. “It only got worse when they got divorced. Diamond was seven at the time, about a year and half before you moved to town. Diamond blames her father for the divorce and prefers spending time with her mother in Manehatten. The only reason she doesn’t have custody rights is because she was the one caught cheating.” “Geez, that is one messed up family...” whispered Button. Almost like mine... “Yeah, at least my parents love each other,” whispered Silver. “Diamond got worse and more bossy. I didn't think anything about it when I was younger, but as I got older..." “You noticed how much of a jerk she was?” asked Button, snorting. “... actually it was more like how everypony thought we were jerks...” whispered Silver Spoon as he put the cocoa down and wrapped her hooves around her waist. Biting her lip and lowering her head, Silver whispered, “I know... what you and others think of us. I’ve heard it growing up and never though much of it... but the more I heard it... the more I learned what ponies thought of us... I started to think maybe we were in the wrong. Maybe my behavior was wrong. I didn’t think I was a jerk or bad, but everypony else thought I was.” She looked at Button Mash with a sad smile. “Do you know what it’s like to realize everypony your age and even older hates you? It’s... it’s very painful...” “I...” Button didn’t say anything. Calling Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon jerks was normal for him and for so many that he knew. It was like a second nature to call the brats what they were because of how they acted growing up. I didn’t think she really cared. “Any idiot could see at this point they’ve been acting wrong this whole time, and it hit me like a brick wall,” said Silver Spoon, shaking her head. “But when I told Diamond this, she didn’t care. She thought they were just jealous and deserved to know where they stood on the pedestal of life, which was being beneath us. To be honest, I think she just enjoys hurting ponies.” “So why stay friends with her?! Get new friends!?” shouted Button Mash in frustration. “Don’t you think I’ve tried!” shouted Silver Spoon, getting up and growling. “But everypony thinks I’m just pulling a prank on them or doing something that will make them end up embarrassed! Nopony trusts me because of my past behavior! And Diamond Tiara is the only friend I have because of that! Even though I don’t want to be her friend anymore, I rather have her then nopony!” She took a big gulp from her mug and slammed it on the ground. “I want to have new friends, but what can I do when everypony I know thinks I’m just a rich brat all the time? I want to change, but nopony is willing to give me a chance... I just.... I just don’t want to be alone. So I have to pretend to still be that brat that Diamond loves to be with. That same pony who is just like her. Because as much as I hate being her friend, I hate being alone more.” Button looked at the saddened face of Silver Spoon and realized that she was being truthful. Never in his entire life he would of thought one of the terrible trio would have such feelings about themselves. He slowly got up and walked over to her, giving her a hug. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” Silver just stood there in silence as a huge blush appeared on her cheeks. She slowly wrapped her hooves around him, but then a few second later she gently pushed him away. “You should go home.I’ll tell Diamond I just ordered you to get lost.” “um, okay. Thanks,” said Button as he got up and made his way to the door. Once he was out, he sighed and turned his thoughts to what he learned. Although a small part of him said to dismiss Silver Spoon’s story as a hoax, he realized that he was thinking just the same as everypony else when it came to her and Diamond Tiara. Button didn’t even want to know what it was like to have everypony hate or despise you because of what you did in the past, no matter how much you wanted to move on. I think she really does want to change, thought Button as he walked through the snow. I guess I feel bad for her, but what can I do? Should I even do anything? He closed his eyes. This was all too much for him, and he had already done more than enough work thanks to Tiara. What he wanted now was his bed. I hope Mom’s had a better day then I have. *** Loving’s cup had shattered into the floor the moment she put her hooves up to her mouth in shock. She stared straight into her ex-husband’s eyes to see if there was any sort of lie hidden in his face. Even a cruel joke would be better than the truth. However, the longer she stared at him, the more she realizes he wasn’t kidding. Her former husband... her former best friend in the world... was dying. “Money... I... how...” choked Loving who tried to find the words to say. What did you say to a dying man, especially one who you once loved so much. “Gibson reacted the same way when I told him,” muttered Money as he took a sip. “I learned it last year. Docs say I got eight months to two years left before it goes critical... then it’s in Faust’s hooves.” Tears began to fall down Loving’s cheeks as she reached out and held his hoof. He squeezed it hard and took a deep breath as Loving lifted it and gently kissed it. She may have hated him. She may have blamed him for a lot of things. But there was no way in Elysium and Tartarus that she wanted him to die. All her past rages against him, the outbursts and insults he had said to his face and behind his back. All of them made her feel like scum for saying such things to him. She could only imagine how Gibson was taking all of this, and she felt her heart cry out for the moment Button was going to hear it. “Oh, Money... I’m so sorry... I’m so so sorry...” “It’s okay,” said Money Mash as he patted her hoof. “To be honest, I’m mostly at peace with it... but I wanna make sure I can make up for my mistakes before I... go...” “Whatever I can do to help,” said Loving, no longer with rage behind her voice, but pure concern. “I know that I can’t make up for my cheating as a terrible husband, but I want to make up for being a bad father to our sons. I’ve already started with Gibson, now I need to work with Button.” He pulled out something from his coat pocket. It was a small red and green wrapped present with a card attached to it. “I... I don’t have the courage to yet face him. Nor do I know what he will think when he sees this... Please give this to him at Hearth’s Warming Eve. If he still loves and cares for me... I guess we’ll go from there.” Loving nodded and took the small present. “He loves you, Money. I know it in my heart he does.” Money gave her an appreciated smile before sighing. “Don’t tell Button about my cancer. I want to tell him when I’m ready.” “I understand,” whispered Loving Care as they both got up and made their way to the door. She watched as he prepared to go out and leave. While she waited, Loving wondered what she should do or say. Should she hug him? Kiss him? Her thoughts went back to her new coltfriend and she wondered if he would understand. “Loving,” said Money Mash as he looked at her with a small smile. “Thank you for listening. And Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve.” “H-h-happy Hearth’s Warming Eve to you too...” said Loving. With one last nod, he opened the door with a blast of cold air rushing over Loving before it was closed. And upon hearing the door slam shut, she realized she was all alone again. Only then did she fall to her haunches and cry. *** It didn’t take long for Button to arrive home, the aches in his body now hitting him like a sledgehammer. He was going to nap and nap like a boss when he got to his bed. Opening the door, he quickly shut it and announced his presence. After taking off his clothing, he went inside to see how his mom was doing, only to freeze up. His mother had a wine bottle out along with a glass that she was finishing up. Oh no. “Mom... what happened?” asked Button, who recalled only two times when her mother drank. At parties, and when something bad happened. Loving Care just sighed and shook her head. “I was just thinking... about your father and I...” She closed her eyes and stared at one of the two pride and joys she loved more then anything in the world. “He’s a good stallion, Button. Never forget that.” “I.., I thought you hated him,” said Button nervously. Loving closed her eyes. “Honestly, I don’t know what to feel...” There was an awkward silence between the two as Loving refilled her glass. “Well, I’m going to take a nap. See ya.” Loving just nodded as she went back to her drinking. Button paused before he left the room to stare at his mother for a bit before he sighed and made for his room. Whatever happened could wait until he got some Z’s.