Prince of Errors

by David Silver

14 - Family Time

After dropping off his wagon in his borrowed room, he perked an ear at a female call.

"Button, we'll be heading out in half an hour!"

"K, Mom!" he bellowed with equal zeal.

"You coming?" A male pony with a similar earthen tone casually strolled into the room. "I didn't expect that. This ain't your usual kind of movie."

The prince struggled to place the pony. They acted like they belonged there, so probably did... "It's for mom."

"Who are you and what did you do with my brother?" The pony laughed, grabbing what he thought was Button up and giving a hoof-powered noogie. "Good on ya! But you missed mother's day by like half a year or so."

The prince stuck out his tongue, glad to be put down away from the painful noogies. "It isn't that weird!"

"Guess not. You always were kinda a mommy's colt." He waved Button away. "Put on your fancy fan. You know she likes that." He chuckled as he strolled back out the same way he had come in, leaving the prince still wondering who he was, besides Button's brother.

Left to solitude, The prince started looking around his new room. There were countless toys, comics, and gizmos strewn about. There could be no mistake that this was the room of a small boy horse with small boy horse needs and desires. It stood in contrast in his mind with Apple Bloom's room.

He had gone from rarely being foals to two in the same week. A sign? More likely, coincidence. Where was Button Mash?! "Hope he's alright," he muttered to himself. He seemed like a cute colt. It was easy to see that, currently residing in his body.

"Hey there, kiddo." Another male, a little larger and a little older than the brother pony. "Glad you could make it. It'll be a real family outing now." Father? The prince guessed father.

"Yeah, Dad!" he chimed, hoping he got it right.

"This is mostly for your mother." He leaned in and his voice got quieter in a stage whisper, "None of us are really for romances but her. These are the sacrifices stallions must make."

"Button" snapped up a hoof in a salute. "I will die on this hill if it means mom is happy, Sir!"

He broke into a wide smile. "That's my boy. I'll get you a large tub of popcorn for yourself." He turned for the exit. "Maybe we'll do something fun afterwards, for the rest of us."

He trotted off and away, leaving the prince smiling a bit. Button had a nice family, he decided. It was also one of the few complete families he could immediately remember taking part in. Apple Bloom had brothers and sisters and a grandmother, but no parents, for example.

Did the cheerful ponies actually have societal issues with creating and upholding a cohesive family that lasted? He blinked slowly at his heavy thoughts, shaking them out of his head. His beanie suddenly fell off, its fan twirling on the way to the ground.

That reminded him! He left it there and went scurrying to the drawers, searching through them one by one until he found the jackpot. There were dozens of beanies in there, each one with a little propeller waiting to be used. One seemed to shine, gleaming in the light.

He reached for the sacred little propeller hat with wide eyes, somehow awed by its presence. This was the king of the beanies, awaiting his fine display when they went to the movies. He placed it on his head gently and smirked. He never understood why people got excited about clothes, but that beanie somehow worked for him.

He trotted over to a mirror to check it out. It was new, polished, and ready. The propeller even turned around without his touching it, just born to spin. "Looking good..."

"Time to go," came the call of Cream, summoning all the males she lived with to join her at the door.

The prince was with them, walking out past Cream who was busy waving each person past her and only going last. "That's everyone. Let me lock up." She pulled the door shut with her teeth as was the way with earth ponies, then got a key into the lock and gave it a twist. "Let our family night begin!"

An uneven cheer erupted. Brother seemed only half-desiring to be there. Father was faithfully upbeat about it, and Button gave a, perhap over the top, cheer. He still had no idea what they were going to see, outside of it being some kind of romance, and he'd get popcorn. He'd suffered through worse things. Was the popcorn his payment for being there? Unless Button got allowance, he had a hard time imagining much else was coming his way.

Oh well.

They made their way through evening Ponyville. "Hey!" came a sudden little female voice. The prince looked to the side to see the crusaders all waving excitedly. Sweetie leaned forward on the fence she was leaning against. "Where are you going, Button?"

Before he could answer, Cream was doing so, "we're going to the movies, Sweetie Belle."

Sweetie's eyes widened. "Ooo, are you going to see For Want of a Shoe?!"

Cream smiled victoriously at that. "Good guess."

"On the release night! So lucky!"

Apple Bloom tilted her head down at the prince, perched on the same fence. "I didn't figure that was a colt movie, but ya done and got all yer fellas with ya."

Cream waved dismissively at all three fillies. "My boys just love me enough to bear with my occasional need for a family night."

The prince's "brother" suddenly nudged him with an elbow. "So which of them is your girlfriend?" He waggled his brows salaciously.

"W-what?!" The prince felt a hot blush burning at his cheeks. "None of yer business!"

"Boys, be good," came the soothing tones of Cream.

"Yes, Mom," replied both as if by trained instinct, and the argument ended.

The crusaders waved them off as they walked past, Sweetie giggling softly as they went.

Those moments of impulse never failed to disorient the prince a bit, and he was quiet in recovery. How much of himself was put to the side when he put on a disguise? "So..."

Father waved a hoof at a theater that only looked big enough for one, maybe two movies. "Here we are! Gibson, go grab us some seats. Honey, you tell me what you want. Button, you're with me on snack patrol!"

Gibson, the brother, muttered something as he strolled off, full of teen angst. Father grabbed some tickets and passed one to Cream and Button. "I'll pass Gibson's to him when we get inside."

Ponies could just... walk in and have tickets later? They were trusting souls... The prince pointed inside to where he could see a concession stand. "That's where we have to go."

"Exactly right." Father nodded gravely. "It will take all of our courage, but maybe we'll get a few XPs for it."

Cream rolled her eyes. "Don't put the S at the end, dear, but you get credit for trying." She smooched his cheek. "Get me a diet soda and a small popcorn."

That left two. "Come on, kiddo." He nudged the prince along once before walking easily towards the concession stand. "Now, I seem to recall something of a promise of, uh, sugary loops?"

The prince blinked softly, processing that a moment. "Do you mean... sweet loot?"

"That's the stuff," said the father with a big smile. "I swear, it's like you and your mom have a secret code..."

The prince returned the smile. There was a pony tripping over rules he didn't know, but he was brave enough to keep trying. The prince decided he was a good pony. "You're cool the way you are, Dad." He looked to the great collection of popcorn that filled an entire display. "But right now, popcorn!"

The father stepped up when it was his turn. "I'll take a small popcorn, one large, a medium diet soda, one regular, extra strawberry, and..." He glanced over at the prince, but whatever meaning was being implied was lost. "And... a box of Squishy-Pops."

The prince perked his ears curiously.

"Now that's more of the reaction I was expecting. You never watch movies without those." He passed the small box towards what he thought was his son. "Here you go."

Bits were exchanged but he clopped a hoof on his head. "My mistake. Can you toss in one more medium popcorn?" He put down a few more bits.

Soon they were both heading into the theater, burdened with their hard-earned prizes.

"Got enough there, Bro?" Gibson smirked at the great tub of popcorn balanced impossibly on Button's propeller, slowly turning in place.

The prince had no idea how that... worked, but it did and it had just kept right on spinning slowly as he walked. "Just barely enough. I get a free refill." He hopped up onto his seat, the bucket casually falling into place between his legs, ready to eat from. "And a box of candy." He pulled out the box of Squishy-Pops from his pocket.

Though it was dim, he could see the bright cover art for the candy, showing sugar-encrusted cartoon ponies grinning goofily with little electric shock waves coming off of them.

"You got everything." He put out a hoof subtly. "Hook a brother up?"

Well... he was literally his assumed brother... "Sure." He grabbed the edge of the box in his teeth and tore it open, then upturned it towards Gibson's waiting hoof, shaking out a few little sugary bits.

"Huh, you're feeling extra generous today." He stuffed two of them into his mouth and began chewing loudly.

Cream smiled in the darkness. "Button's been an extra good boy today. I choose to believe it's entirely out of a desire to be a good pony." And not some attempt to cover up some major naughtiness she'd find out about later. "Now shh, it's starting!"

There were no trailers, a fact that caught the prince off-guard. It just got straight to the movie. As promised, it was a sappy romance about two ponies trying to get together after a comedic series of mistakes tears them apart. The prince wasn't terribly interested, but he didn't feel insulted by it. The popcorn helped as he munched happily.

Suddenly a hoof came down and Gibson just casually snatched up some popcorn.

"Hey!" The prince scowled at him. "Give that back!"

"What, now you're not feeling generous?" He stuck out his tongue and stuffed all the popcorn where the prince was not likely to get it back, gone with a great swallow. "Not bad."

A soft rustle in the darkness revealed that the father was nudging Gibson with the smaller bit of popcorn he had. "Yeah yeah." Gibson took another grab, but went for father's popcorn instead. "Just messin' with him."

Cream sniffled softly, apparently having emotions about what was on the screen. The prince did not share in them. It all seemed both contrived and yet arcane at the same time. He just couldn't get into it. The popcorn was good at least...

When the movie was over, the popcorn was gone. When he stood up, he heard something hit the ground with a rustle of candy. He had forgotten all about the Squishy-Pops! He grabbed them up and stuffed them away quickly with a smile. Something to enjoy later. He'd never even tried one.

Cream rose with a smile, leaving with everypony else. "That was a delightful movie, just as good as they said it was in the paper. What did you all think?"

Father nodded properly. "It was nice. I liked the twist."

Gibson shrugged softly. "Can I get a pet lizard?"

Cream made a face at that. "That was the only part of that movie you paid attention to?"

He grinned a little. "Are you surprised?"

"I suppose not." She looked past him to the prince. "And you?"

He considered. He had blanked out huge bits of it. "My favorite part... was being here with all of you."

"Aw."

"Gag me."

Author's Note:

Movie-excursion successful! How much XP is that worth?

Button Mash is being unusually nice to the family, getting aws and suspicion in equal dose.

Comments

[_Kenzu_]

Interesting chapter, I have a feeling that Button's brother is catching on that not everything is correct going on, wonder if he finds out there's a imposter in his midst. Also I'm dying to know what happened to button now. I wonder if Pinkie is somehow involved, she was awfully quick with that videogame... (maybe C&D got him )

Though one thing confuses me,

When he had become Derpy's little foal, there was no father there, and that didn't last long enough to see if any were waiting at home.

Did the Prince go on adventure without us knowing?

[Daremo]

Sweetie's eyes widened. "Ooo, are you going to see For Want of a Shoe?!"

Subtle

[badninja]

So I wonder how his powers work because this could be the third pony not in on the secret that has figured things out. I wonder if Celestia or Luna would be able to spot him as an imposter while good intent? Then again I think Discord is somehow involved as well.

[David Silver]

9340686
Spotting something is not quite right is not the same as spotting him. If they become certain that something is wrong of that nature, he is tossed out of the form. More likely, he just thinks his brother is acting funny, which little brothers do sometimes.

Granny was fairly sure some little colorful shapeshifting bug was in her lap, curious as that was, which was good, since if she didn't come to that conclusion, it might have tossed him.

[David Silver]

9340656
Gasp, plot hole detected. Everyone to their stations, this is not a drill!

Phew, fixed just in time.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Did the cheerful ponies actually have societal issues with creating and upholding a cohesive family that lasted?

Well, five out of the Mane Six have undivided nuclear families. It could just be that the Prince's power's usually direct him towards those without that sort of support structure. Or they're some of the lucky ones in this candy-coated deathworld.

In any case, I do love Button's father trying to connect with his younger son. You'd think years spent with Cream would've helped him pick up the terminology... but I know from my own parents that that sort of thing is far from guaranteed. All told, lovely bit of family fluff.

Also, the Crusaders brought a typo in their wake:

"My boys just love me enough to bear with my occasional need for a family night.

Missing end quote.

[David Silver]

9342433
Cutie Mark Typo Bringers!

[Zapper Frost]

I actually surprised that pinkie hasn't at least suggested discord yet

[David Silver]

9347567
Has Pinkie ever suggested Discord ever before?

[Zapper Frost]

9347878
No, she’s never even mentioned him

[David Silver]

9348301
Mind, I am asking about in the show.

[Zapper Frost]

9348359
Oh, in the show? Ummm... maybe?

[howard035]

I hope Button is ok. If Prince Error's power means ponies don't realize something is wrong, that could be a problem.

[tsaukpaetra]

*redirects the pen* Gibson, eh? Well, it counts as much as anything...

[Luckyfanisaac]

Sweetie leaned forward on the fence she was leaning against. "Where are you going, Button?"

Sweetie's eyes widened. "Ooo, are you going to see For Want of a Shoe?!"

BWAHAHAHA HAHA!!! That sounds so ridiculous!

Cream rolled her eyes. "Don't put the S at the end, dear, but you get credit for trying." She smooched his cheek. "Get me a diet soda and a small popcorn."

Let’s hope they have diet orange cream soda.

He glanced over at the prince, but whatever meaning was being implied was lost. "And... a box of Squishy-Pops."

Gibson shrugged softly. "Can I get a pet lizard?"

Reminds me of one of the dr. Dolitle movies.