Student of Friendship

by zalla661

Tiny Stars Adventures: Regret

Recess was now Starlight's favorite time of the day. For the last two days she'd go outside and sit under the same tree, eat the same lunch, and share a sandwich with Button. Afterwards, they would play a game of tag followed by Button pushing her on the swing. Today, however, was different from their usual routine. Today was the day Starlight saw Button's prized joy-boy and decided to ask him the big question.

"Button, what is that thing you're always looking at?"

The colt, of course, was shocked to hear such a question and nearly dropped the gaming device to its doom. Luckily, Starlight caught it in her magical grasp and floated it over to herself to inspect it.

"Joy....boy?" she spun it around to look at the device. "What is this thing? What does it do? Is it a toy of some kind?"

"How can you not know what a joy-boy is, Starlight?" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Well, I've grown up indoors most of my life and that was spent on the frontier, so I never got into fashion, theater, or movies for that matter until way later in my life," she said, not thinking about her context.

Button gave her an odd look that said, 'I have no idea what you mean'.

She quickly averted her gaze, stumbling over her words as she attempted to divert the colts attention. "So! What is this thing anyway? You never explained it to me."

"It's a Joy-boy hoofheld gaming device for simple cartridge video games," a squeaky voice said from the side.

Starlight and Button looked over to the source of the voice to see Sweetie Belle, Silver Spoon, and Scootaloo standing together. Button grinned and ran up to them, giving Sweetie and Scootaloo a high-hoof and held up his hoof to Silver, who rolled her eyes, not high-hooving back.

"Aw, come on, Silvy! Don't leave me hanging!" Button mock whined.

The grey filly in question sighed, tapping his hoof, "Nerd."

"Hey don't be like that with MY Button, Silver!" Sweetie Belle growled in annoyance, pushing Starlight out of the way as she positioned herself between them.

Starlight squeaked, looking offended by the white filly’s intervention. *That little witch!* She thought, glaring at Sweetie. The white filly hugged Button, rubbing her nose on his cheek affectionately, but was pushed away by the colt. She huffed as he walked around her to Starlight and sat beside her.

"Sweetie's right. It's a nice little game device. Do you play games by any chance?" he asked, remembering his mother telling him some ponies might not know what they were, and it was not nice to assume they knew anything about them at all. "Do you even know what video games are?"

She shook her head, earning a gasp from everypony around her, and a scoff from Sweetie Belle, which went ignored. Silver Spoon walked over to her and smiled.

"Don't feel bad. I didn't know about them until I became friends with Button and the Crusaders.”

"Oh, so what is it exactly?'

Button pulled his Joy-boy from her and loaded his favorite game title, Pokémon Emerald EX Edition. He then showed it to Starlight, brushing up against her side. The filly felt her cheeks warm up, as Silver daww'ed at them, Scootaloo gagged and a certain marshmallow pony growled.

Button then began to explain as he showed Starlight the main menu of his game. "So this is Pokémon, one of hundreds of game you can play. Think of them as board games but digital and more expansive."

"Oh! I love board games!" Starlight giggled, looking at the Joy-boy, "So what do you do in this game?"

"Well, it's simple really. You go around collecting creatures called pokémon," he pulled up the in game pokédex and went through a series of pokémon, highlighting some of his favorites. "You then travel around and challenge gym leaders to get badges and enter the pokémon league to challenge the Elite Four and face the World Champion."

Starlight seemed intrigued by the small device and the game which it held. She inspected it closely before accidentally ejecting the game cartridge from it. Sweetie and Silver Spoon gasped, expecting the Button to blow after she ejected the game without saving it. To their surprise, he simply took the green cartridge out and showed it to her.

"See?" he said, "This is the game. It plays through the Joy-boy."

Sweetie Belle was first to recover and walked over to Button.

"Hey, Button? Why didn't you freak out like you usually do when somepony ejects the game?" she asked, trying not to sound annoyed.

Silver Spoon noticed her tone and decided to watch the event unfold from the sidelines. Scootaloo, however, didn't seem as keen on sitting off to the side as she did.

"Yeah! You freaked when I ejected the stupid game! Why not with Starlight?" the orange filly grinned mischievously.

Button seemed to not get the filly’s implication, which was easily spotted by the other fillies. Even Starlight got it, but Button remained oblivious.

"Oh, that? Yeah, I'm still sorry for freaking out like that," he said hugging the fillies, even Silver Spoon, making Starlight feel a bit jealous. "But I learned from that and started saving before I give my Joy-boy to anybody."

Sweetie Belle walked over with an annoyed look. "Well, I get that but why are you- wait, everybody? Don't you mean anypony?"

Button shook his head and said, "No I meant anybody. Starlight says it could be offensive to non-ponies if we refer to anypony. Anybody, erm…according to her is literally everybody... type? Something and it can be universal so nobody is offended," he explained poorly but got the idea across.

Silver and Scootaloo took the colt’s words in and gave it some deep thought. Sweetie Belle, however, was simply furious by now. She walked over and glared at Starlight, earning a scoff from the pink filly as she sat between her and Button again. When she did, she bumped flanks with her and glared at Starlight.

"Um, can you move, please?" she asked in an obnoxious tone.

Starlight scoffed in offense. Before she could get a word out, the bell rang, signaling that it was time for the class to return. As they returned, Starlight glared at the white filly who walked in beside Button, rubbing against his side. She growled, stomping her hoof in the dirt and scraping it across the brown soil with absolute hate.

Her expression softened when the colt turned to wink at her playfully before entering the class in a swarm of children. She hadn't realized that Silver Spoon had been watching closely and stayed behind until the grey filly tapped her shoulder to get her attention. She turned to see the former bully there with an annoyed look on her mug which made Starlight feel uneasy.

"What?"

Silver Spoon shook her head, almost looking disappointed, "You'll never win him over like that!"

"What's your deal, Silver? What's got you all bent out of shape?" Starlight asked, giving her an annoyed look.

"I'm bent out of shape because you're letting her steal Button away from you!" the grey filly gestured to the school house with both hooves somehow balancing on her two back legs with no front support. "He likes you, you like him! Don't let her take that away from you!"

Starlight backed away from the now yelling filly. She looked at the school house nervously and back down at the floor with a shamed look. "I- I can't do that Silver," she replied sorrowfully.

"Oh, puuulease! You have that colt around your hoof and we have the Hearts and Hooves Festival coming up tomorrow," she glared at the pink pony. "How can you let him go like that?"

By now, Silver Spoon had worked her way over to Starlight and pressed her nose against hers. She bore an angry scowl that was not hateful, but full of pained regret. Starlight could see it in her eyes. Behind all her bravado and stuck up behavior, was a filly who was hurting over a loss. Something Starlight had become all too aware of.

Silver Spoon grabbed hold of her and turned to face the school pointing to it, "He's ripe for the taking, Starlight. Don't wait for him to come to you, don't be a fool like I was."

"Why are you suddenly interested in all this?" Starlight asked her.

"I loved somepony once. He then fell in love with another pony I cared for because I was too afraid to ask him when I had the chance," she admitted, lowering her head.

Starlight looked at Silver Spoon’s pitiful state. Her eyes were beginning to mist up and she looked like she would burst into tears any second. It befuddled Starlight as to why she cared, but knowing how loss affected herself it was easy to see how it could affect Silver Spoon. *If only I had realized it back then, maybe I wouldn't have turned out the way I did,* she thought, looking at her friend.

Starlight brushed her cheek against her friend’s. It was a tender moment when two friends realized just how much they had in common. Silver had lost somepony precious to her and Starlight did as well. Deep in her heart, Starlight knew it would never work out between her and Button, not after she regained her adult body, but she hoped.

Breaking away from her friend, she used her magic to take hold of Silver Spoon’s glasses and wiped the tears away with her hoof.

"Thanks, Starlight."

"Don't worry, Silver Spoon," Starlight said, replacing the glasses on Silver Spoon. "I won't let him go easily. I promise."

The two hoof bumped and bumped flanks before laughing together and returning to the class room, their friendship having grown in that moment when one reached out to the other. A promise was made and nothing was going to break it, the laws be damned. Starlight promised she would be with Button from here on out.

No matter what the cost or what it took.

She wouldn't lose him like she lost Sunburst.

Author's Note:

So the main event will be here soon!

What will happen?

Will Starlight stay with Button or will he be swept away by Sweetie Belle? Or worse yet?

Comments

[Texus]

I admit part of it is wishthinking (I hope that words exist in english), but I think that Button is maybe the reason why Starlight is trying to really, really want that poison joke again.

Nice chapter, I´m tired today, because of tablets (allergic) but that was what I had to think about.
(Didn´t you spoke German too? I have to ask again, since I rarely speak it on this site)

[zalla661]

6942820 I don't but thanks to the internet I can translate it if you need too. we can try it out an see what happens.

[Texus]

6942845 Okay then it wasn´t you I guess.
Well rarely I don´t know how to explain it in english, but maybe I can make sure you know what I mean, if I have to give you a certain word in German.

[zalla661]

6942892 You can use German words I can use google translator to understand it. Whatever makes you comfortable.

Also I hope you like the Filly Arc o the story cause it's about to get intense.