Civilization: The World on your Hooves

by SterlingC

Chapter 2: First Acquaintances...

Making friends and allies is a key requirement for any civilization. Just imagine all the wars that would take place if too much focus is placed on making enemies. That’s especially true at the early stages when one doesn’t want the other civilizations to start bothering them. In fact, many species work as a large flock as a defense mechanism against predators! The best civilizations make as many friends as possible to push back the enemies early on. The only caveat is that those civilizations have to ensure that their friends don’t end up backstabbing them.

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The young brown pony continued to writhe around the ground in pain even as the Cutie Mark Crusaders inspected him. Soon after the Crusaders left Button Mash alone, Button Mash felt the pain on his head subside. Button Mash placed his hooves away from his head and got up gently. Once he took a moment to scan his surroundings, he noticed that all the other ponies in Sugarcube Corner stared at him with blank expressions. Button Mash, taking notice of the stares, sheepishly chuckled before the ponies turned around and went back to their daily business.

Once Button Mash finished his chocolate milkshake drink, Button trotted out of Sugarcube Corner and to the streets of Ponyville. He took out his Gamecolt, placed the on switch and got ready to play ‘Plumber Stallion 3: Changeling’s Revenge’, a game that he purchased just before he and his mother left for Ponyville. Just as he began hearing the theme song to his newly purchased video game, his Gamecolt screen dimmed and turned off. In frustration, Button Mash tried to turn the switch on and off repeatedly to no avail. The screen simply wouldn’t turn on. Having realized that his batteries probably went dead, Button Mash responded with tears.

“Wahhhh…” Button Mash cried, realizing that he had to toil around town for a few hours or at least until he could find a store that sold PP batteries…

---

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were best of friends. They did everything together, whether it be teasing fellow fillies for their lack of class and flair, or complaining about the filth that was the dust on Ponyville’s streets. They even whined to each other about daily struggles! In fact, Diamond Tiara began complaining about the streets as usual as the two went on their daily walk to her father’s home for a private get-together.

“Ewww… I wish we didn’t have to live in this dreaded town Silver Spoon.” Diamond Tiara spoke with disgust. “My dad is filthy rich, so why did he have to work here?! Why can’t we live someplace else, like Manehattan or Canterlot?!” Diamond Tiara ranted. Silver Spoon shook her head lightly, placed her left hoof on Diamond’s back, and comforted Diamond Tiara with words of her own,

“Hey. You wouldn’t have met me if your dad didn’t work in Ponyville. We’re best buds forever right?” Silver Spoon retorted with a giggle. Diamond Tiara smiled, if only briefly, and then bumped her flank to Silver Spoon’s as a sign of friendship.

“Thanks Silver Spoon. I wouldn’t be able to handle all these poor, low-class fillies if you weren’t around to help out,” Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon giggled together as they trotted onward towards Diamond Tiara’s house.

Between the two fillies and Diamond Tiara’s house was Sugarcube Corner, and as they trotted past Sugarcube Corner, they came across a brown colt with a spinning beanie hat. The colt looked dejected and was filled with tears because of what seemed like a broken machine of sorts. Silver Spoon didn’t take much notice of the young colt, but Diamond Tiara instantly noted the blank flank, grinning excitedly and evilly.

Diamond Tiara motioned for Silver Spoon to come along quickly with her. She and Silver Spoon trotted to Button Mash and exclaimed with her hoof pointing out to his flank,

“Ha! This colt not only cries over a stupid console, but he’s also a bl-ank, flank!” Diamond Tiara laughed heartily as Silver Spoon soon followed along. Having heard what both fillies were saying to him, Button Mash snapped back angrily, having recalled the days in Manehattan where he was constantly teased by the popular colts,

“Hey! What’s your deal?! It’s not easy for a pony moving from a cool city like Manehattan where there’s lots of video games to play! My only source of gaming is this Gamecolt, and it’s out of batteries!” As soon as Button snapped back at the two fillies, Silver Spoon urged Diamond Tiara to just trot away in anger or continue teasing him. But Diamond Tiara had other plans…

“Wait, you're from Manehattan?!” Diamond Tiara asked back with complete surprise. Button Mash was taken back by Diamond Tiara’s sudden and bizarre question. She was just making fun of him for having a blank flank. He asked himself why she was so interested in his hometown, but then opted to answer anyway since he wanted to get out of being the target of teasing…

“Ummm… yeah! I am! I… I just moved today actually,” Button Mash responded excitedly before drawing back to a timid whimper. He then gave out a confused look before he asked,

“You were just making fun of me for my blank flank. Why did you ask about Manehattan?” Diamond Tiara chuckled at Button Mash, seeing that she finally got her wish to meet another pony who moved into Manehattan. Silver Spoon, on the other hoof, looked more and more confused, wondering why exactly Diamond Tiara became willing to associate herself with Button Mash so quickly, despite him being from Manehattan. Diamond Tiara ignored Silver Spoon’s worried expressions and continued wooing Button Mash,

“So you’re from Manehattan… Ohhh… I just so happen have some extra batteries for you! How about you come over with us to my dad’s place and I’ll give you some extra batteries hmmm…?” Button Mash looked back at Diamond Tiara with an awkward look, still unconvinced at her sudden change of mood. But Button knew that it would be a waste of time to keep looking for a store with batteries on his own, especially since he didn’t have any bits on hoof. Plus, he now met his first ponies in Ponyville on his own, just as his mom wanted! With that in mind, Button Mash reluctantly accepted her offer,

“Ummm… sure! I’ll come with you. I guess I can talk to you about life in Manehattan if you want,” Diamond Tiara responded with as gleeful a smile she could make,

“That’s great! Now come along Button Mash. I’ll make sure to give you those batteries!” Button Mash then began trotting closely behind Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon with a smile of his own. On the other hoof, Silver Spoon gave a confused look to Diamond Tiara, still wondering why she suddenly became so friendly. She then reminded Diamond Tiara about a past experience with a certain filly from Manehattan…

“Hey Diamond. Why are we bringing Button Mash along? Sure he’s from Manehattan, but do you remember what happened with that cousin of Applebloom’s?” Diamond Tiara wagged her hoof as discretely as she could, trying her best to contain her excitement.

“Silver Spoon. Button Mash is different. First, he’s moved to Ponyville. Second, unlike that Babs Creep, he has no relation to the Cutie Mark Lameos. There’s zero chance he befriends the CMCs once we befriend him. And third, if worst comes to shove, we can push him back down to the lowest of lows should he start befriending them at all. He’ll be sure to crawl to us by the time he settles in,” Diamond Tiara then chuckled evilly before she continued,

“Plus, if Button Mash becomes our friend, we’ll become a trio of our own and finally beat down the Cutie Mark Losers once and for all,” Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara laughed together, being pleased that such an ingenious plan was concocted right in front of their noses. The best part was that Button Mash was completely unaware of the plan, being entrenched with his thoughts on getting the batteries and winning ‘Plumber Stallion 3’...

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The Cutie Mark Crusaders just finished their milkshakes. Other than the run-in with the awkward brown colt suffering from brain freeze, the Sugarcube Corner meeting moved rather uneventfully. After the three fillies finished their drinks, they exited Sugarcube Corner, asking amongst each other what to do next.

“So ah reckon we return to our clubhouse so we can try practicing some of the things Twilight taught us!” Applebloom referred quickly to the weekly meeting that was scheduled to come up the next week after the crusaders quickly ran out of ideas to try for getting their cutie marks. Scootaloo nodded in reply, but Sweetie Belle had other plans.

“I’d love to come along you guys, but I have to go back to Rarity’s and get ready for something tonight. Rarity said it was going to be a dinner outing, but she wants me to be looking proper for it.” Sweetie Belle mocked Rarity’s voice at the last part of the sentence. She wasn’t sure why she had to look all nice for it; only that she did. Applebloom and Scootalloo both nodded, but Applebloom replied with her hoof scratching her chin.

“Hmmm… Ah wonder why Rarity would ask that of you. Ah mean, do you know if yer gonna eat out with some other ponies? What if the ponies were all regal or somethin’?! What if you get to eat with royalty tonight?!” Applebloom jumped up and down excitedly, while Scootaloo remained unscathed.

“Royalty, Schmoyalty. It’s probably not that. Maybe Rarity’s got a friend or two that she wants you to look nice in front of.” Scootaloo gave out a shrug, while Applebloom remarked back,

“Aww Scootaloo, don’t be such a spoil sport. Maybe Sweetie Belle’s gonna dine with prominent ponies! At least get Sweetie Belle excited about the dinner!” Scootaloo shrugged again and replied with a sigh. In any case, Sweetie Belle grinned at the thought of dining with royalty. Before she could imagine the thought however, Applebloom quickly requested to Sweetie Belle,

“Tell us how the dinner went tomorrow!”

I will Applebloom!” Sweetie Belle replied with a smile as the Cutie Mark Crusaders said their goodbyes. Sweetie Belle then trotted towards Rarity’s Carousel, wondering who exactly they were going to dine with…

Comments

[FelixTheBrony]

...Wow, I never thought Button would be this much of an idiot! Dude, they were about to make fun of you, why would you go round their house? At least when the Cutie Mark Crusaders went to Diamond's Cutie Cenera or whatever, they were forced by other idiots who knew they were bullies! (Why Twilight was there is anyone's guess)

And if it's because of the batteries then why can't he just go to a store. Batteries aren't exactly hard to come by, even in small towns.

And Diamond's plan revolves around the assumption that Button wouldn't mind being a bully. I thought it was stupid how Babs joined them, seeing as she must have been friends with Applebloom for a long, long time and as soon as a bully asks her to join them she jst does! I know she had that explanation at the end, but she was only there for a short amount of time and she wasted half of it being a bitch to Applebloom and the others!

...Sorry, I rant sometimes. But recent CMC episodes have been quite bad in my opinion, demonising them for no reason, just having horrible things happen to them and the fact that they still don't have their cutie marks!

Sorry! It was a solid chapter and a good way to bring some tension, it just brought up a few things.

Keep on writing!

[PhoenixBlaz3]

6317101 Dude, just remember - when Babs Seed first went to Ponyville, it was the first time she met Apple Bloom. (Remember when Apple Jack told Apple Bloom ,"You've never even met Babs Seed!" or something like that). She might've heard about Apple Bloom, but she didn't really know her! Also remember that Babs Seed joined because she didn't want to get bullied (but you probably know that already). However, I agree with the fact that Button is going with DT and SS just for batteries. Sorry about the sudden rant, I just needed to remind you that Babs Seed and Apple Bloom never met each other before One Bad Apple.

[PhoenixBlaz3]

Dangit DT and SS! Why are you so demonic?!?! Great chapter though!

[FelixTheBrony]

6317212 ...That just raises more questions. Why hasn't Babs been to any of the Apple Family Reunions til now, I'm pretty sure she was at one in a future episode.

But thanks for the explanation, it's just that I'm kinda indifferent about Babs as a character (not just because she treated my favourite character and her family member like dirt before a sudden change of heart. Which I know an episode is only twenty minutes long but it could have, at least, been a two parter or it could have had Babs been a little reluctant to do some things, but she helped DT and SS take over their clubhouse (which I don't know how DT was planning on keeping control of it considering it's on the Apple's property and Babs wasn't in town for that long).

And the fact that she got her cutie mark was stupid! It threw away alot of story potential with her and the other CMC and the fact that she was a Crusader for a shorter period of time, and that she got it off screen! We could have, at least, had a cut-away on that episode. I think I stopped watching at that point and now just wait for my friend to tell me about good episodes to watch.

No hard feelings Phoenix, it's just the impression I got from her. I still may write about her, but probebly not anytime soon.

Talk to ya later

[deadpansnarker]

PREDICTIONS FOR THIS FIC:

1. Button Mash falls in lurve with Sweetie Belle
2. Tiara gets dumped on (AGAIN)
3.No pony gets their Cutie Marks

And the status quo is preserved. HUZZAH!!

[PhoenixBlaz3]

6317414 Yes, I agree with the whole Babs getting her cutie mark off-screen, it would raise a few questions about how she got it. I also don't get how Babs Seed hasn't appeared at any Reunions, but it might have something to do with the fact that it happens every 100 moons, or maybe because Babs Seed's family declined it. After all, Granny Smith did say "We've gotten a lot more family coming to this reunion," but it might be the new fillies that were born or something.

[Zum1UDontNo]

Oh dear Celestia, this is going to result in a love triangle, isn't it...