Games Ponies Play

by lunabrony

Button Mash and the Big Day

I'm on fire.

Sleep mode activated.

There you are.

I don't hate you.

The verbal alarm that was going off next to Button's bed continued its spouting of semi-nonsensical phrases from his favorite video game as his hoof searched blinding for the alarm box. Upon making contact, his hoof slammed down on the button to disable the alarm until tomorrow.

Button sprang out of bed, a bit wobbly at first, shaking sleep from his eyes. He glanced at the clock. 6:30 am. Same time every weekday to get ready for school. His eyes next wandered to the calender, most of which had large X's through the dates. But not today. Today had a big red circle around it, and he found himself awake almost instantly.

"It's here! It's here! It's here!" He rushed to get dressed, which consisted only of throwing on his favorite spinner hat, and began to rush downstairs.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth!" His mother called from downstairs.

Button raced back upstairs, did just that, and went downstairs again, bubbling over with excitement.

"Mom! Mom! Can I-"

"No." She knew exactly what he wanted, it had been all he talked about for the last week.

"But-"

"You are not skipping school to pick up some silly game. You can get it after school, like always."

"But the day is gonna drag on forever!"

His mother gave him a look. "School comes first. The game will still be there when classes are over," she said kindly.

"Alright, alright..." He grabbed his lunch, hugged his mother, and made for the schoolhouse as quickly as he could.

His mother looked alarmed. "Don't you want any break-" realizing she was talking to an already empty house, she sighed.

The first class of the day was Magical History, and the accomplishments of Shooting Star were just as dull as they had been yesterday. Button didn't know much about her, only that she was some mare who'd lived a long time ago and had done a lot of things that were apparently important. He usually paid attention and was very good at his classes, but today other things were on his mind.

Button's eyes kept wandering to the back of the room, where his saddlebag hung on a hook. Inside, carefully concealed, was 50 bits. He'd worked a lot of little jobs and extra chores for a long time to get that amount, as his mother had encouraged him that any game would be much more rewarding if he worked for it. He'd kept the bits in a jar under his bed, and counted them almost every day before bed, feeling his pride grow as he got closer and closer to his goal.

"Button!" The teacher suddenly said.

"Forty Two!" Button exclaimed, snapping out of his daze. A large portion of the classroom snickered. The teacher shushed them.

"Button, please pay attention. Many of the things we discuss will be on the quiz next week."

"Yes ma'am," he said. And he tried, he really did.

The classes that followed were just as distracting. Near the end of the day, after lunch, he had Study Hall. Well, it wasn't entirely a study hall, it was Flight Practice, but the students without wings were allowed a free period to read and study. Some days he would bring a comic book with him, but today he was contented to draw in his notebook.

During the last class of the day, Creatures of Equestria, his eyes were glued to the clock. 2:47. 2:48. 2:49. Almost there, he looked down for a moment, wondering if that would make time go any faster, and looked up again after a few minutes. 2:30. He nearly fell out of his chair. That wasn't fair! Or even possible! He looked again, reading 2:55. His mind was playing tricks on him. At last they were allowed to leave for the day, after fidgeting while the teacher instructed the classroom to read Chapters 3 and 4 in their Beastiary tonight, he rocketed out of his chair as if he was on fire and excitedly ran towards the only video game store in Ponyville. Several other colts were there as well, presumably for the same reason, but he didn't know any of them.

Taking his place in line, Button patiently waited. Almost there. In a few minutes, Quest for the Golden Hydra would be his! He distracted himself momentarily by counting the tiles on the ceiling of the store.

"Next."

"Wha?"

"Next, kid, come on."

"Oh!" Button ran towards the counter, placing his small pouch on the counter. "Golden Hydra, please!" he announced, even his hat seeming to spin faster than usual.

The attendant took a moment to count up the bits. "You're short," he said. "Sorry."

Button Mash felt like the entire world was crumbling inward. "But... but there's fifty bits there! I counted! It costs fifty bits!"

"There is indeed fifty bits here, but this game is imported. That means tax. You'll need fifty five bits. If you don't have it, I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep the line moving."

Button began to back up, feeling his eyes start watering. It wasn't possible! "But...I waited... for so long..."

"Here." A new voice, one he hadn't heard before. Quickly wiping his eyes, he looked up. A strange unicorn filly with a curly purple and pink mane was setting five more bits on the counter.

"Don't worry about it," she said, and began to leave.

"Lucky kid," the teller said, and slid the bits into a pouch, depositing the bulky arcade game on the counter. Since none of the ponies had knowledge of the complicated gaming consoles which dominated a certain other realm, Button was perfectly content with the self contained mini-arcade game that was presented to him. "Have fun."

Button was in shock, unable to move for several precious moments, and grabbed the game, mumbling a thank you, and raced out the door, looking around.

The filly was gone, having turned any number of nearby corners on the busy street.

Button Mash clutched his game tighter, but began to wander back home with his prize. He didn't know who that filly was, but even if he had to search all of Equestria, he'd find her again.

Comments

[cringe]

Aww how sweet, now go fetch me a candy bar. Sweetie Belle, YOU WASTED MY 5 BITS!

[SuperPinkBrony12]

That was so generous of you Sweetie Belle. I'm sure Rarity greatly appreciates that.

[Hoovester]

rarity playing in the rain would be hilarious

[jszellmer]

Forty Two

The only way that could have been funnier was if it had actually been the answer to the question.

[Rustybuckets]

This reminds me of Metal Gear Solid 5, I'm so hyped for it! Anyone else hyped for a certain game?