As Cutie as a Button

by Scrucee

The Epiphany

The stallion needed to help his friends, and fast. It was a dire emergency and they couldn't last for long on the limited rations they had brought into the mines, little more than a few days at most. He cared deeply for all of them, even Artemis, as he had lept to help Blue in a time of crisis. He had reunited his friends when he was a colt by showing them teamwork, and his gazebo building worked then. Why couldn't it NOW!?!

Blue slid down the rock face and wept into his hooves. He wept for himself. He wept for his pointless life. He wept for his situation. Most of all, he wept for his friends because they meant more to him than anything else in Equestria. At that moment, a sudden thought came to his mind. What does a button even mean? He knew he had got it when he created a gazebo along with his friends. Why did it take his friends to help him earn his cutie mark? A little voice inside his head preached that it was because he was useless. The voice was ignored. Again it screamed to him that he had no destiny. It was ignored again. What do buttons do? They hold clothes together, they're strong, they're the centrepiece of the outfit. Without a button, the whole thing falls apart. His friends were apart then and they were also apart now as well. Connections were established in his mind. The voice made one last ditch effort to convince him he was mistaken. It was obliterated. He helped his friends out when they were fighting and he was always the pony to turn to for help, until he had started to deny he had a talent at all. Maybe this was it! He knew what he needed to do.

Blue leapt from the dusty and cold cave floor and speeded back down the tunnel to where his family were. He smashed through any doubts he may have had the moment he sat down and began to believe he was mistaken as a colt. The dark voice was gone from his head now, never to come back ever again. Any Pegasus pony flying at full power could not outmatch his determination or speed, for he was renewed in his passion. He had been dormant for a such a long time that his friends and himself had deteriorated from their once happy selves and he was going to fix it. There was not a moment to lose.

The three Unicorn ponies were sat, defeated by each other, on opposite ends of the cavern, not wishing to even look at the others let alone talk with them. Arion was silently crying whilst Artemis was continually attempting to use his magic, to no avail. His horn would spark with a magic aura, but would buzz, contort and then give out like a candle's light being blown away by a thunderous tempest in the distance. In the distance, they could hear a trotting sound. It first started as a faint echo from far away. Then, it was an intense sound before long.

Blue slid through the entrance to the towering cavern and skidded to a halt. Tealeaf immediately raised her head to view him. He was regal-looking. His once hunched back and drooping head was now straight, towering and majestic. The very air around him seemed to vibrate with utter excitement and drive. She had not seen him like this since her fillyhood. He hesitated for a second, then darted towards Arion, who was still weeping in a small, dark corner. He picked Arion up and gave him a heartfelt hug.

"Are you okay?" Blue asked in a gentle voice. Arion first stuttered to get any words out of his mouth.

"Take your time, it's okay." Blue added. Arion wiped the floods of tears from his eyes quickly, more followed and he did the same thing again until he was ready to respond.

"I-I'm alright, really...*sniff*...thanks Blue."

Blue Button then proceeded to walk slowly in the direction of Tealeaf. He couldn't make it the whole way because Arion was clinging to him tightly, weighing him down. Tealeaf hesitated and appeared to be thinking about what was going on. She eventually started moving to the two, looking away from them in shame.

"Listen Tealeaf, we're family and that's a fact. You're always there for me and you always were, even when I was difficult. All this time I was hurting you and everypony else with my anxiety. I still have a lot to learn, but we'll fight through it together."

"Together forever..." she said. She proceeded to hug Arion and Blue at the same time.

"I'm sorry Arion. It wasn't fair for me to say those things to you. I know now that both you and Blue Button are my best siblings ever..."
she croaked with a remorseful voice. Arion nodded.

"We may fight sometimes, but we're family, and family always stick together in times of crisis. I promise I'll never do that to you again. Need a hug?" she said, as her eyes were also beginning to water.

"I know." Arion stated firmly yet softly. The two siblings reunited with a hug. Tealeaf didn't let go of Arion for a long while, not that Arion minded of course. He'd always wanted a friendship with her, and had desired deeply to impress his sister from a young age. Blue Button remembered that there was a fourth pony in this situation. He looked around in the dark for Artemis and found him sitting back, respectfully watching their embrace from a distance. He motioned for Artemis to join them. He did so, tentatively.

"I'm glad you're good with magic, really I am. I'm just not sure that's going to do the trick this time." Blue noted.

"Back there, I almost broke through the rubble by myself. We don't have Unicorn magic, but if we work together, we might be able to get out of this horrible place. I for one don't want to be in here for much longer." he added. Artemis approvingly agreed with a nod.

"Then let's go! We've got a mine to escape!" Blue triumphantly declared. However Tealeaf and the others had not done hugging yet. "...Or whenever you're ready, we can wait I guess...yeah, we can do that..."

When they were finished, the four ponies galloped out of the terrible cavern and ran at full speed after Blue Button with the same determination he had employed to return to them. As they were on their journey out of the abyss, Blue's attention was taken up by what appeared to be the glow of Arion's lantern out of the corner of his eye. He quickly looked back to see it was coming from his flank. His cutie mark shimmered brighter than anything he'd ever seen before, with a light blue aura, before dying down back into its resting state. He'd never expected it to happen in his life again and the joy it brought to him was monumental. Looking around to get confirmation that what he'd seen wasn't a hallucination, his gaze fell on Tealeaf, running behind him. She was smiling a very approving smile. He'd seen it alright, for real this time.

They reached the rubble of the cave-in very quickly. The first action Blue took was to slam himself into the rock with all his might and energy. The others stood back and watched as he did this. He slid down the side again, but before he could give up hope, Artemis had joined him in ramming the wall with his hooves. His willpower grew as Arion did the same, frantically digging into the rubble and scooping huge chunks out with delicacy. Tealeaf hung back for a short moment. She was unsure it would work because of the density of the rocks involved in their struggle. However the cool air coming from the hole Blue had made prior powerfully blew her mane and face, and restored her confidence again. She retreated back a few hoofsteps, taking a deep breath. Tealeaf charged, with a determined look on her face and attacked the pile of black death with a well-timed buck of the hooves. Blue Button did the same, matching her technique and the wall began to quake with a groan, as if it had accepted its fate to be defeated by the group.

“Hold on to your flanks!” screeched Arion with an excitedly cautious tone.

"Stand back, everypony!" shouted Tealeaf.

The ponies quickly found cover anywhere they could, Tealeaf behind a rock along with Blue and Arion heading into a small, round tunnel with Artemis quickly following behind. Within seconds, the rubble had collapsed, boulders violently smashing as they headed down the way of the cavern to do their deed of destruction. Only Blue Button looked back to see it, however, as his companions had already began to charge their way out of the caves.

"Come on Blue! Not far now! I can see sunlight, sweet, sweet sunlight!" Arion called back, playfully sticking out his tongue like a dog.

"I'm comin'!" Blue responded with a joyful smile.

The stallion started making his way after the trio of refreshed ponies, seeing Artemis's tail exiting the cave system and out into the light. He could have sworn he'd seen something in the rubble when it was crashing down into the cavern's tunnel. It was distinct in shape, about the size of him, perhaps a little larger. It seemed to move with precision speed, dodging the tumbling rocks and boulders that would seek to harm it. He shrugged it off as a trick of the light, like before and made his way out of the cave.

“Now that’s how friends do it!” Blue proudly said, exiting the mine's entrance.

The Unicorns were again as mute and still as statues. Blue didn't panic this time, however, as he knew they were merely receiving their magical powers back from the greedy cave. He sat silently and waited for the transaction to be completed.