A story of the relationship between Sweetie Belle and Button Mash.
First part: When Button Mash invites Sweetie Belle over to his place for gaming, who knows what will happen? Parts after: The growing relationship of Sweetie Belle and Button Mash after that fateful house visit. Time to pick up my pen.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! Me! I know!" yelped an excited dark brown coated colt by the name of Button Mash, the helicopter cap atop his light brown spiky mane twirling as he jumped up and down at his seat. He was in the desk at the back, at the right corner of the classroom where there were 9 desks arranged in a square. Ms. Cheerilee looked up at Button's hoof, thrusted up into the air, and chuckled as she pointed her own hoof at another direction altogether.
"Sweetie Belle! I think you know the answer," Ms. Cheerilee said, her eyes beaming at a white coated filly with a purple mane and pink highlights, and she had her own hoof politely raised. She sat on the desk next to Button's, at the back of the classroom. She smirked at the seething colt, who'd been denied by Cheerilee for the entire day whenever he tried to answer a question in class. The rest of the class was either eyeing the equation (x^2+2x+1 = 0) written on the chalkboard or scribbling working down on paper, pencils in mouth, and Sweetie Belle and Button Mash were the only ones who raised their hooves. After all, this was the first time Cheerilee was teaching quadratic equations to the class.
"The equation has only one root, which is x= -1," said Sweetie Belle with confidence. Cheerilee gave Sweetie Belle an approving nod and smile as she picked up a piece of chalk, writing "x = -1" on the board and giving it a big fat tick. Sweetie Belle crossed her forelegs and gave Button a triumphant grin, to which Button gave a murderous glare.
"Why do you always ignore me?" shouted Button at Ms. Cheerilee, crossing his forelegs too but in indignation. Sweetie Belle laughed merrily and brushed a clump of loose hair back into her mane, shaking her head.
"Number one, it was waaay too obvious you copied my answer," whispered Sweetie Belle, "Number two, she'd never pick you, by how 'enthusiastic' you are all the time, ever since you joined last week. I mean, she's gotta give others a chance, right?"
It was true: Button was a new student in the schoolhouse, and ever since he joined, he'd been asserting himself at every chance he got. In no time at all, he was bragging to every colt he saw about his collection of games, from Modern Warmare to Metroll: First Light, and the many different types of consoles he had, claiming that he had a 100 inch plasma television accompanied by a Wii, Xbox and Playstation. When asked about what kinds of consoles he had, he said he had them all, Xbox 360, all the Playstations, and even the abysmal Xbox One. Everypony knew that Button loved spouting nonsense but they liked him for his self-delusion, which was humorous most of the time. Most of the time.
"Button, you should let other ponies try to answer in class," answered Ms. Cheerilee in a concerned tone, as if she could overhear Sweetie Belle's whispers and was agreeing with the filly. Then with a smile, she added,"And you'd better stop talking to Sweetie Belle in class."
At this, everypony in class made 'oooohh' sounds at the implications that Cheerilee was making. Giggles resounded through the classroom as Button Mash and Sweetie Belle got their first experience of getting shipped; Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were exchanging sly smiles, the potential for scandal very large. Sweetie Belle looked down to the floor, cheeks flushed crimson while Button rolled his eyes, smirking as he did so.
"You've got it the other way 'round, Ms. Cheerilee. See, Sweetie Belle is being an annoying distraction while I am struggling to be attentive," said Button, a satisfied grin on his face, which earned a punch in the ribs from Sweetie Belle, who was positively embarrassed. Little did anypony know, Button's cheeks were tinged a slight pink at that moment.
"Ha, whatever you say, Mr. Mash," said Cheerilee, and she proceeded to get back to the lesson. "Who can explain the procedures on how to get this root?"
Immediately, Button's hoof shot up, and his helicopter hat twirled in excitement.
"Ah! Twist! You seem very enthusiastic," Cheerilee said, eliciting a Humgonian curse from Button. Sweetie Belle's mood changed to a happy one, as she tried stifling her giggles as Button kicked the leg of his desk's table in anger. It's going to be a long last period, thought Button as he stared at the newly installed digital clock above the chalkboard with longing. It was Friday, and after school was over, he could hide in his blissful world of games and Xbox Live buddies through the night. Now, the clock read 2:45, an uncomfortable, Sweetie Belle-filled 15 minutes away from Button's desired 3:00.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
As soon as the bell rung, Button grabbed his brown saddlebag rushed out of the classroom, relieved to be free of the irritant known as Sweetie Belle, rushing across the hall, past several doors, to his best friend Rumble's classroom. They were going to discuss several important matters, e.g. how they were going to spend the next few weeks leading up to ComicConEquestria or whether Rumble was free to slay communist ponies all night on Call of Duty: Black Clops. However, when Rumble's class was dismissed, he received a less than charming response.
"Sorry Button, I have some stuff to do. Er.... Training and chores for Thunderlane, and at night we're gonna watch the Wonderbolts! It was a limited chance thing, like, he got two tickets from Rainbow Dash herself!" said Rumble excitedly, his electrified black mane seeming spikier than usual. Button facehoofed himself, groaning at the grey coated colt.
"But Friday's our Games Night, dude! Now who's gonna be at my side when I destroy the oppresive fascist regime of Peklodeskano in Humgonia for the sake of all of Jeklekarniankind??" Button said, earning a confused look from Rumble. Button threw a hoof to his face yet again and continued,"The new game, the third installment in the Humgonia series? Ring any bells?"
Rumble shook his head, wearing a confused on his filly-like face.
"Urghh! Fine. I'll find somepony else to play with then!" said Button, cursing his day so far. Rumble raised an eyebrow in confusion as he watched Button stomp off, steam billowing from his ears and nose (Metaphorically, of course).
"What just happened?"
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Button did not have any better luck with anypony else; Snips and Snails wanted to sneak into the cinema to watch an R-rated film, Featherweight had to work overnight for paperwork regarding the Foal-Free Press on an article about the large influx of griffons into Canterlot in the past few months, while Truffle had to help his parents out at their restaurant for the Friday night crowd. Only two words could aptly describe Button's feelings in general, and that was 'pissed off'. It seemed that he had to spend his first Games Night in PonyVille alone, and it was never fun when he spent an entire Friday evening doing anything on his own. His natural clock forced him to stay up till later hours on Friday night, recognizing it as a night that shouldn't be wasted on anything other than fun. Button faced the direction that pointed towards home, whipping out his JoyBoy to drown himself in Super Mare-Re-O to give himself something positive for this dreary day.
Just as he was starting his walk back home, he felt two strong hooves hook around his fore legs, tugging him back towards the schoolhouse.
"Unhoof me you peasants!" cried Button, his hindlegs digging into the soil and his forelegs flailing about to free himself. When his forelegs were finally unhooked, he found his rump getting pushed as he fell forwards; his eyes opened wide when he saw that he was falling onto a consternated Sweetie Belle. Button shifted his weight instantly, and his face landed in the mud beside Sweetie Belle. Crud... It's Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, thought Button, as he recalled the two bullies. Instead, as he looked up, he saw two vaguely familiar fillies, a pegasus with an untidy purple mane and orange coat and an Earth pony with a yellow coat and red mane with rounded tips. Both fillies had disappointed looks on their faces, or so they looked like through Button's eyes, which mud kept getting introduced into as the brown stuff slid slowly down his face. Button shook the mud off his face vigorously and stared at them in confusion.
"Hey, uh, name's Scootaloo!" said the orange coated pegasus, stretching out a hoof for a shake, "and she's Applebloom. You obviously know who this pretty filly is..."
Scootaloo and Applebloom's eyes were directed to Sweetie Belle, and the latter's mouth was contorted into a frown and tried to hide her face. He finally recognized the two as Sweetie Belle's friends, who formed the coalition the Cutie Mark Crusaders; he had personally been approached by the three on his first day at the schoolhouse but promptly declined his inclusion, blaming it on (what he deemed as) perfectly sound and logical reasons e.g. getting cooties or getting his precious hooves bruised in their adventures. Button looked at the orange coated hoof in front of him then shifted his head to the side, scoffing a "harumph!" at Scootaloo.
"You ponies push me into the mud and try for my friendship? Outrageous! I demand an explanation!" said Button in the most angered-sounding voice he could muster. It wasn't that he was a stuck-up colt, it was just that he acted that way around fillies; they weren't exactly gamers and he treated them in a different light. He looked at Scootaloo and Applebloom's playful yet sly smiles and Sweetie Belle's gradually reddening face, and didn't like where this was going.
"Oh, just that a lil' birdie told us that you and Sweets are.... a couple," said Applebloom, her already large smile growing wider. When Button heard that last word, his cheeks nearly instantaneously flushed red, and he hoped that it passed off as anger. It didn't.
"Aww.... He's blushing! And so is she!" Scootaloo whistled, and together with Applebloom, they hopped a circle around Sweetie Belle and Button, chanting, "He's your special somepony, She's your special somepony!"
Whoever spread this rumor's gonna pay, thought Button, with the despicable Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara coming to mind. As Button was about to open his mouth to retort, Sweetie Belle spoke up, her face flushed and a frown adorning her countenance, the tension in the air growing as her anger elevated.
"He's nothing like that! He's a downright jerk," said Sweetie Belle, bending her front knees down preparing to charge at Button. Button anticipated this and did the same, and with full force they made impact, heads in contact, fire in both sets of eyes, teeth bared.
"Aww! They're leaning in for a kiss!" said Scootaloo, leaning on Applebloom's side as they fought for dominance. At this, the pair stopped, and rested on their haunches, with Sweetie Belle's head turned away from Button, while Button looked at the other two, trying his best to look annoyed. Sweetie Belle's been nothing but trouble for me today. I ought to teach her a lesson, he thought. Then, an idea hit him.
"Hey, Sweetie Belle, why don't you join me for Games Night? Then I can whoop your flank and both of us will know who the superior pony is," said Button Mash with arrogance.
"What will that solve?" said Sweetie Belle, confused by his request.
"You'll learn to be silent and obedient in my greater presence!" said Button Mash, though his real intention was to get a pony to play with him on Games Night. The fact that Sweetie Belle was an utter novice (or so he assumed) at gaming was just a cherry on top.
"No thanks, Button. I've got some crusad--"
"NO!" cried Applebloom. Then she cleared her throat after an awkward moment of silence, and continued, "Ah mean, we've got our own stuff ta' do. Ah gotta help Granny Smith make some Zapapple Jam while Scoots here--"
"Has got training with Rainbow Dash! It's uh... night flying! So don't you two worry about us, you guys will be nice and alone together," Scootaloo said, finishing off with an oxymoron. Sweetie Belle looked at Applebloom in confusion.
"The other week you said Zapapple season wasn't for another month or somethi--"
"You two lovers run along now! Scoots and ah got a long evenin' ahead of us!" said Applebloom, and she and Scootaloo held wide grins.
"We're not lovers!" said Button and Sweetie Belle in unison. Button was truly impatient for getting back home and didn't bother putting up his arrogant facade. The response proved detrimental for the two, however.
"They're saying stuff together! How cute!"
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
The first few minutes of the walk to Button's home passed in silence, Button in front, Sweetie Belle trailing behind, neither looking at each other. Strange, thought Sweetie Belle, he was so talkative in front of the other Crusaders and in class. Maybe he's a different pony when there's no attention to seek. The question that cut the still, evening atmosphere came from an unexpected party.
"Hey Button, how long has your family been in PonyVille?" Sweetie Belle asked, her head tilting to the side, wanting to catch Button's gaze. His own head turned, and the expression it held was emotionless.
"A few weeks. Like two. First one was spent moving and stuff. Took quite a long time to get the consoles up and online. Those days were cruel," said Button, "And cause my bro's only back during like, the night. He's got a huge job, or so he tells me. He never thinks I'm big enough for the real world. Even though I completely wipe his flank in every game there is!"
Button finished off that last sentence with quite a bit of venom, an emotion Sweetie Belle never really noticed and predicted in Button. He was carefree enough, and was irritating at times, but she never anticipated a Button who hated.
"What about you? Been in the town your whole life?" said Button.
"Uh... No, not that long. Just visiting my sister. And by the looks of it, I think I may have overstayed, heh," laughed Sweetie Belle, "overstayed by like, two years. Well, my parents never really called or came back, but I've got no problem with that. My sis is really awesome. Most of the time..."
"Oh! Look! We're here! Come on slowpoke!" said Button, galloping what felt like 50 feet to a house in the distance. It was isolated quite a distance away from PonyVille, but it was within a stone's throw of Sweet Apple Acres in the east. The environment around it was of the countryside, with abandoned plots of farmland and cows and sheep grazing around, wherever they pleased. A little taken aback by Button's newfound enthusiasm, Sweetie Belle galloped after him, not knowing what awaited her in the house. Button reached the house way earlier than her, but as she galloped closer, she didn't hurry up, admiring the house's appearance.
As she got closer, she realized that the house was much larger than it looked from a distance; it was rather tall and fat, with a door located at the bottom right corner of its face, which was a triangle atop a square. There were only two windows on the front, one beside the door and the other at the attic level, the latter in the shape of a triangle. There was a fence lining the perimeter of the house, and within it was a large garden, where an amalgam of multi-colored flowers lay against the fence's sides, and two rows lined the walkway to the house. The person who kept the garden was obviously a very diligent and hardworking pony. Then, she heard voices inside of the house.
"Button! You should have told me earlier that you were bringing a friend! I would have prepared much more food!"
"But Mom. it's Games Night! You know that I always bring a friend over!"
"Well, I'll have to see how his appetite is. You know some ponies can't even eat a single leaf of vegetables to save their lives."
Sweetie Belle creaked the door open slowly and saw a very attractive mare talking to Button Mash; she had a mane that seemed wet, and strands streaked down her sides like grand waterfalls from a heavenly mountain. She tied up the ends of her mane and her tail with red manebands. Her mane was light brown, while her coat was beige, and on her shapely flank was a cutie mark of a milk bottle beside a heart. Not a single paragraph, story or novel could even do justice to describe her beauty.
"Mom, he's not a he... he's a... she," Button said slowly, pointing at the door. Immediately, Button's mom turned her head to the white coated filly. Her initial frown at Button turned into a smile.
"Well, well, well Button... Who's your fillyfriend over here?"
"NOT YOU TOO MOM!!" yelled a very irritated Button who facehoofed himself, while Sweetie Belle nervously shuffled her legs and shifted her eyes down to them. Button's mom chuckled and trotted over to Sweetie Belle, using a hoof to bring the young filly's face up to meet hers.
"I'm just kidding, Button. Say, you look very familiar, my little pony. Do you happen to be related to...er..." said Button's mom, seemingly lost in thought.
"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle squealed in excitement, changing demeanor at the possibility of somepony else knowing who her fashionista sister was. "She's the most awesome pony in PonyVille! Though she's a little dramatic at times. But I'm cool with it!"
"Really! Please, do come inside, we shall talk more," said Button's mom, trotting over to the spacious living room that was right next to the entrance of the home. It had a large velvet couch and several bean bags, along with a plasma screen television attached to a wall. Button was nowhere to be seen; he trotted into a corridor to the right of the living room and the sound of hooves going up steps could be heard. Button's mom led Sweetie Belle to the couch in the middle of the living room, and the white filly laid her white saddlebag beside Button's brown one.
"Ah, yes. I remember when I was here with my husband for the first time. We eloped you know," said Button's mom, with a wink. Sweetie Belle shuddered. "We looked to your sister Rarity for the dresses and suits. Ah, good times. We were young and foolish. He was into sports while I was into taking care of children! Hence the cutie mark here. I worked in the PonyVille hospital as a nurse to assist doctors who were in charge of encouraging pregnant mares to give birth. Oh, why that look? You'll know about the topic in the future, sweetie. So, on that faithful day, he was being warded for sustaining some sort of injury, it was his knee I think. Anyway, he caught a glimpse of me as he was being carted away. You see, that wasn't his first time seeing me. When we were in high school, we used to hang out a lot. Tell stories, have parties, make love..."
It seemed that Button's mom had forgotten that Sweetie Belle was there. All the same, Sweetie Belle still didn't know what that term meant. Sweetie Belle was listening attentively until she saw a half full bottle of vodka on the coffee table in front of the couch, and noticed that her breath smelled funny.
"So, yes, back to the hospital. In the middle of the night, he searched for me in all of the wards of the hospital, a bandage still over his knee. He quickly found my office; it was by chance that I was working the night shift there too. Anyway, he was quite the charmer; he told me some things, I got excited, one thing led to another and the night became rather.... hot," said Button's mom, her tone becoming groggier by the minute. She continued to ramble as Sweetie Belle got up from the couch and explored the house, politely excusing herself from the very drunk mare.
The interior seemed a lot smaller than it should have been from her judgement of the exterior, but it was still quite a sight to behold. The living room's ceiling reached up to the roof of the house, the top looking like a pyramid. There were bookshelves on the wall, boasting large and numerous volumes. Then, a voice called from the far off corridor.
"Hey Sweetie Belle! Come here! Quick!"
Button's high pitched, rough-on-the-ears voice came from upstairs, and Sweetie Belle rushed through the corridor to find its source, passing many Mash family photos. Along the way, she passed the kitchen door, and the smell of mashed potatoes and fried onions wafted into her nose, which caused a little earthquake to resound through her empty belly. She found a flight of stairs along the right wall of the corridor and climbed them, following Button's voice.
"Where are you? I've been calling for you for easily ten hours!"
Pfft. Ten hours? What a jerk, thought Sweetie Belle, as she was met with a corner at the top of the stairs. There were three rooms, a door on each wall of that corner. By peeking into them, she deduced that the empty room on the right was the toilet, the one on the left belonged to someone unknown, while the one facing the staircase was Button's. She pushed through it and saw a comparably humble room compared to what Button said in his daily bragging. A desk with lots of action figures, many of which were robotic figurines, some train toys, and two computer sets, both of which were turned on. The room had a bed large enough for two ponies, and a television screen that was about a miniscule fraction of the grand one in the living room. Below it was an Xbox console, wide side on the floor, with two controllers resting on top of it. On one wall was a large wardrobe.
Sweetie Belle cracked a playful smile and asked him, "So? What happened to the Wii and the entire collection of Playstations?"
Button blushed furiously and replied,"None of your business! They're on their way here! Renovation hasn't even finished, don't you remember me telling you that?"
Before she could reply, Button grabbed her and forced her into a chair, facing a personal computer.
"It's my brother's com set. Took it from his room, it's the one to the right," said Button, "and I was wondering what game to introduce a noob like you to, and I thought of MineCraft. We have an hour left till dinner, so we might as well try something simple, like building a house."
"Uh.. What's a noob?"
"Oh my Celestia... You truly are one. I'll explain it to you on the way."
The next hour was quite the experience, though Sweetie Belle couldn't call it wholly unpleasant. Logging into Button's brother's account, she was introduced into the world of MineCraft, which, Button explained, could be experienced in both Creative and Survival modes. Button found Creative mode exceedingly lame but let Sweetie Belle give it a shot anyway, seeing that she was a newbie.
"Hey! I can see your person.. thingy!" said Sweetie Belle as she waved a pickaxe furiously in the air, as her cube-y character looked around the virtual mountain landscape.
"It's an avatar. Get used to it too. Now let's get building!" said Button, now in his element of gaming as he proceeded to gather all of the necessary materials to get a house up. His partner, however, had trouble moving around while keeping the view stable. Button rolled his eyes and left his chair, snapping Sweetie Belle's hoof off of the mouse and going to the back of her chair, leaning over her as he took control, attempting to teach. Then, he couldn't help but take a deep breath of something sweet and exotic smelling, like... like....
"Lavender and roses," Button said aloud, his hooves playing the game by instinct while his mind was somewhere else. His muzzle was very close to Sweetie Belle's mane, which seemed to be the source of his olfactory pleasure.
"What did you say? Hey that's the scent of the shampoo Rarity gave me! How'd you kno--" Sweetie Belle was interrupted by Button's deep sniff as he buried his muzzle deep into her mane, a clear violation of personal space. Sweetie Belle jerked forward in her seat, but Button just followed.
"Will you ever grow up?"
"No! I mean, uh... It's just really good, alright? I need to take another sniff!" Button said, his sensitive nostrils savoring the shampoo's wondrous effects on her mane. He loved the feeling of his muzzle searching through her soft, bouncy hair.
For her part, Sweetie Belle just rolled her eyes and continued moving her avatar around.
"So, where do I start?"
"You... just.... *sniff* get the *sniff* pick axe and stuff and mine over *sniff* there," Button said, though his hoof on the mouse did most of the work, guiding the avatar around the world.
"Good. Now that you've taken enough of stone, you create a wall first... just *sniff* keep clicking this here until, like, 10 blocks make a row," continued Button, his hoof losing control as Sweetie Belle tried making the wall on her own. The filly was rather clumsy with the mouse and the controls on the huge keyboard seemed foreign, but Button seemed a lot more patient than she expected. The feeling of his muzzle on her scalp wasn't disturbing; instead, it felt quite good to have some pony scratch her head, though she really didn't understand why he needed to do it for such a long time. Oh well, Button Mash being Button Mash.
Though the instructions were coming by rather slowly, Sweetie Belle did them obediently, but only managed to finish filling the very base of the house and a single stairwell. Button gave a drunken chortle at her little mistakes, such as accidentally setting off a block of TNT, causing her to restart on what she had, which thankfully wasn't a lot. The Mash family sure has weird... pleasures, thought Sweetie Belle, recalling Button's mom. Button spent the entire hour off of his computer, which slipped into standby mode; inside, he was sincerely thankful that nopony was around to see the both of them. Sweetie Belle was also getting the hang of the game, managing to build the stairwell through trial and error, and was quite disappointed that she had to stop when a voice came from downstairs.
"Button! get your fillyfriend down for dinner!"
"SHE'S NOT MY-- urghhhhh!!" Button yelled, finally lifting his face off Sweetie Belle.
"You're gonna have to get used to the comments, Button," said Sweetie Belle, chuckling nervously, "after all, it's all in good fun, I guess."
Button merely grumbled as he stomped down the stairs, earning a disappointed shake of Sweetie Belle's head.
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On the wooden dining table were two bowls of veggie salad with copious amounts of dressing on top, a large generous container of mashed potatoes and a gravy boat. It looked like a lot to Sweetie Belle, but Button begged to differ.
"Mom!! This is too little!" said Button grumpily, crossing his hooves as he stared at the food.
"Oh, come on, Button, there's quite enough in my opinion. You should be less picky and whiny," said the colt's mother, with a motherly smile. Sweetie Belle immediately thought of her sister Rarity. "I'm not eating anyway, so you and your fillyfriend can enjoy dinner together!"
"Mo--" Button started, but Sweetie Belle stuffed her hoof into his mouth. Button rolled his eyes, and took a deep breath. Then, he practically shoved his face into the mashed potatoes, obviously quite hungry. In the process, he forced several globs of the yellow stuff into Sweetie Belle's face; the potatoes melted off her face as it heated up in anger. Using her hooves, she lifted the bowl of mashed potatoes and upturned it, while Button still had his muzzle in the stuff; this forced all of the mashed potatoes onto his face. Button's facial features were obscured, and looked like the head of a yellow snowpony with two brown ears poking out. He gasped in shock, and shifted his eyes quickly to the bowl of salad on the table, thinking of revenge, but before he could so much as stretch a hoof, he felt a stream of hot liquid flow down the sides of his face, causing him to yelp as his skin was mildly scalded. He heard merry laughter and looked up, his face contorting in consternation: his mother had poured gravy on his mash potatoed face, and both she and Sweetie Belle were beside themselves with laughter, playful looks on their faces.
"Food Fight!!" yelled Button's crazy mom, as the remaining bowls of salad were lifted and tossed onto Button's face. Button let out a hostile warcry, and wiped off as much potatoes and salad from his face, tossing them at the females, then hiding behind the other side of the dining table. Button sifted through the nearby kitchen cupboard in search of ammunition, finding bags of chips and lots of canned food, along with some chocolates. The chips would do, said Button, forcing open a bag of barbeque chips and forcing a handful in his mouth, then chewed vigorously, spitting out the paste to form a disgusting glob of barbeque flavored ammunition. He stood up from his fort, but before he could even lift a hoof, a mixture of orange juice, milk and eggs assaulted his face; the other team had the refrigerator. He threw his chip paste at them nonetheless, landing on his mom's face.
"IT. IS. ON!!!" Button's mom said, and she and Sweetie Belle redoubled their efforts to find throwable foodstuffs in the fridge. Just then, Pinkie Pie, smelling fun (and a food fight) galloped from the front door to Button's side. Button beamed as she grinned mischievously, lifting a full helping of Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness (MMMM) with her hoof.
"Now it's even!" said Pinkie, bro-hoofing Button, "Time to cream these noobs!"
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
At the end, the four ponies were holding up white flags and lying on their backs on the floor as the entire kitchen smelled like eggs and MMMM. Pinkie got up first, using her voluminous hair as a mop, clearing up all of the food and rubbish by propelling herself across the floor with her hind-legs. The other three looked in confusion as the food entered her hair like it was a vacuum cleaner. When Pinkie was done, she stood up on all fours, a smile on her face.
"Thanks for the party! You three really know how to throw a good food fight!" said Pinkie, bolting out the front door after saying so, disappearing as abruptly as she appeared. A huge silence followed, which was broken by Button's mom.
"Alright, you two go upstairs and take a bubble bath. Gotta clean off that icky food from your manes, right?" said the attractive mare, as she collected the empty bowls and delivered them to the sink.
"Nice! Dibs on your bathtub Mom!" cried Button, knowing that the household only had two bathtubs, one in the master bedroom and another one in the toilet that Button and his brother shared. The one in the master bedroom was significantly larger.
"No!" cried Button's mom, a bit louder than she might have intended. She then softened her face, breaking out into a smile, saying,"You and Sweetie Belle should uh.... take turns. Yeah. In the same bathtub. Not together, of course. Just one by o-- OH WHAT THE HECK!!"
Button's mom had the eyes of a deranged MLP shipper as she hooked the little ponies' legs and carried both of them up the stairs towards the bathroom. Button caught Sweetie Belle's eye and both of them had the same look of worry on their faces on what was to come. Button's mom crashed through the bathroom door and ran warm water into the tub, also putting copious amounts of bubble solution into the water from a cabinet above a sink beside the bathtub. The two ponies looked at the mare in trepidation, as they slowly realized her plan. Lifting both of the ponies up with surprisingly formidable strength, she dumped both of them in the tub against their will. Button immediately left the tub out of reflex, as if it was a bed of hot coals.
"What are you doing, Mom? I can't bathe with her! She's... she's a girl! I'll get... euch... cooties all over me," said Button in desperation.
"I don't see what the big deal is, don't be a baby now! I mean, it's not as if both of you are naked or anything salacious like that! It's completely alright!" said Button's mom, turning as she left the bathroom, "'Sides, both of you look adorable together!"
For the millionth time that day, Button face-hoofed himself. Sweetie Belle, however, seemed to be lost as she sunk into the warm bathtub water, her hooves at the bathtub's sides and her muzzle submerging into the water. Button wanted to get out, but from the look of shifting silhouettes seen from the bottom of the bathroom door, his mother was camping outside, and he knew she'd stop at nothing to keep him inside. Then, a thought struck him suddenly.
"Mom! What's 'salacious' mean?"
No response.
Button sighed at how pathetic his mom was at making her presence unknown. He did feel kind of sweaty and grimy though, and he looked at the bathtub water with Sweetie Belle in it. He hesitated, then decided that he needed that bath, placing his helicopter hat at the sink's side and galloping towards the end of the bath tub opposing Sweetie Belle.
"Cowabunga!!!" cried Button as he leaped into the air, splashing water and bubbles everywhere as he tucked his hind-legs in and bombarded the water with his body. This left a wet maned Sweetie Belle in its wake and after the waters settled down, Button reached for his favorite rubber steam ship at the side of the tub.
"Choo... choo!" he said, and made the steamship cut across the water towards Sweetie Belle. Once it stopped, however, the steamship burst into flames, eliciting a confused look from Button and a scream from Sweetie Belle.
"I...uh... uh...al... alright," said Button, his pupils shrunken in shock. Button doused the flames with water frantically, while Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and sank into the warm water.
"I think we should just relax and enjoy the water," said Sweetie Belle, "enough crazy stuff has happened today."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," concurred Button, and he submerged himself into water. A few moments of silence passed.
*SPLOOSH*
Button suddenly emerged from the water in front of Sweetie Belle with a shout, his forelegs stretched above his head and his teeth bared. Sweetie Belle nonchalantly looked at him with an irritated frown and a raised eyebrow.
"Your breath stinks," said Sweetie Belle, in response to his attempt to scare her, "and you look like a total nerd with all that hair stuck to yourself like that."
"Argh! Forget it," said Button, swimming back to his side of the tub, "This tub needs a lot more bubbles."
He reached into the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of bubble solution, and dumped its contents into the tub. While he did so, Sweetie Belle just chuckled a little at how much of a foal he was acting.
"Hey, today didn't turn out as bad as I expected," said Sweetie Belle. He didn't turn out so bad either, she thought.
"It's gonna get bubblier!" cried Button as he switched on the bath tap to maximum force, causing large clumps of bubbles to form. "Anyway, can you really stay up this late over here?"
"Oh, it's fine, it's Friday. Rarity always works overtime on Friday," answered Sweetie Belle, "she trusts me to stay safe... I think."
Now neither pony could see the other, as a large wall of foamy whiteness had formed between them. Then, Button burst through the wall of bubbles in yet another attempt to scare Sweetie Belle. She couldn't help but laugh.
"If you're gonna be intimidating, don't look like Santa Clorse!" she giggled, flicking Button's snout and sending him crashing back in a tremendous splash of water. Sweetie Belle climbed out of the tub and shook vigorously, but her mane remained wet and hung down in a straight manner. Button looked at it with surprise.
"Heh, you look.. weird," said Button, ending his sentence with a word that was most obviously a euphemism for his deeper, cheesier feeling towards her appearance.
"Whatever, hurry up. I wanna be done by 10. I'll be in the living room," said Sweetie Belle, opening the bathroom door and leaving the toilet. Button looked at the analog clock above the sink cabinet, which read 8 o'clock. 2 hours with Sweetie Belle... time to show off! Button thought, knowing the perfect game to play.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Sweetie Belle was sitting on the soft brown velvet couch and toying around with a Rubik's cube she found on the coffee table. Button hadn't appeared yet, after about 10 minutes, and Sweetie Belle wondered what was keeping him. At least his crazy mom isn't around, she thought. Then, there was a hurried rush of hoofsteps down the corridor and Sweetie Belle turned around, just in time to see Button supporting the Xbox from his room along with lots of wires, his helicopter hat twirling excitedly.
"Why don't we play on it in your room?" asked Sweetie Belle, as she observed Button rewiring and connecting the console to the plasma television screen.
"Better experience down here," said Button, "And don't worry about me, connecting the Xbox is a breeze for a maverick like me."
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. Looks like Button was the same in school or at home: brash and arrogant. The Xbox started up and Button inserted a disk into it. The opening credits and scenes ensued, playing out on the screen, with lots of fire and bullets flying by, in first person perspective. Then the main menu, which had words that said: Campaign Multiplayer Zomponies Options, in a vertical column.
"Anyway, does your mom act weird all of the time?" said Sweetie Belle, as he jumped onto the couch beside Sweetie Belle, lazing back and keeping a respectable distance away from the filly.
"Not really. But when Dad goes off, she's more likely to drink that stuff," he said, pointing to the vodka bottle on the coffee table. He thrust a controller into Sweetie Belle's hooves, while eagerly clutching one of his own. He clicked options, enabling 'gore'. Sweetie Belle didn't like where this was going, as Button selected Zomponies mode.
"What's this game?"
"Black Clops," replied an enthusiastic Button, and he promptly explained the rules. Survive, two hits kill you, you buy weapons, you kill zomponies, there are hellhound rounds, there's upgrades, perks and teleporters. All of this information came too fast for Sweetie Belle, and she decided she'd know the rules from gameplay.
Turns out, the controller felt awkward in her hooves, and Button had to painstakingly go through every single button and its function. Sweetie Belle thought she got the hang of it after about 10 minutes, and gave Button the go-ahead.
*Ten more minutes later*
I'm not prepared for this, thought Sweetie Belle as her character died for the fifth time. The zomponies came at her at alarming angles, and their ghastly appearances didn't help either. She'd scream every time a zompony popped up and she'd empty her gun cartridge onto them, eliciting hysterical and maniacal laughter from Button.
"Will you stop it! It's not helping," said Sweetie Belle, thoroughly irritated. Button wiped a tear from his eye as he calmed down, going back to zompony slaying.
"Sorry, Sweets, it's just that-- ha-- it's too hilarious! I should really record your noobish actions," said Button as he loaded more lead into multitudes of zompony craniums. Sweetie Belle's character was back by many points, since she didn't slay enough zomponies, and she felt like giving up on the game. However, at Button's snide remark, she felt that that was the last straw; the teasing, the dying and the foreignness of the controller. It was time to take matters into her own hooves.
"IT. IS. ON!" cried Sweetie Belle in classical Rarity style as the next round started, and she was revived with nothing but a pistol. For the next few moments, Button widened his mouth in shock as Sweetie Belle made use of her disadvantage in points and guns by mercilessly dismembering the zomponies with surgical precision, by landing impeccable headshots and courageous knifing. Button was afraid of the beast he had awoken beside him, as she emerged with thousands of points and an upgraded gun before he did, and mowed through bloodthirsty zombies like Rambo. On one round, Button's character actually died, but Sweetie Belle handled the entire round perfectly on her own. Button didn't want to be outdone, and soon they reached unbelievably high levels where the zompony hoards could stomach hundreds of bullets.
"Wow, we're breaking me and my bro's record," Button gasped in awe, as they wracked up enough zomponies for round 50, "you're cooler than I thought."
Sweetie Belle issued a growl, her concentration entirely focused on wiping the walls with zompony blood, which showed no signs of waning. With all of their ammunition used up, it seemed like the end of the line for the two ponies. Just then, Button accidentally made his character flick an electric trap switch and stepped into the trap, causing his in-game soldier to explode into a ball of flames. Button shrunk nervously in embarrassment as Sweetie Belle glared at him.
"Uh... sorry?" yelped Button, as he forced Sweetie Belle to face off hordes of zomponies on her own. Though she put up a commendable fight, lasting about 5 more minutes without Button, her character was out of ammo and had to succumb to the zomponies. Sweetie Belle bellowed out a feral howl, her animalistic rage channeling through her. Then, she abruptly shut her eyes, dropping onto Button on the couch, letting the controller fall to the floor. Button yelled and found himself pinned to the couch by Sweetie Belle's surprisingly heavy body; he was particularly unnerved by their soft fur and warm bodies in such close proximity.
"Help!! Mom!! Anypony?" cried Button Mash, as Sweetie Belle hugged Button's body in her sleep, her hoof running up and down Button's furry belly. Sweetie Belle's drool was dripping onto Button's shoulder; apparently, she was a very heavy sleeper. Whenever Button tried to struggle, Sweetie Belle's strong grip put more pressure on his sides, increasing the strength of her hug. Button was about to cry out again, when Sweetie Belle licked the side of Button's face.
"I...uh...wha?" said Button, unable to come up with anything comprehensible to describe his feelings, ten times more taken aback than when his steamship burst into flames. He realized that resistance was futile, and led himself to sleep with the heavy marshmallow scent of Sweetie belle's moist mane guiding him to his dreams.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Rarity was rushing around the place, and though she was used to the feeling as it came frequently with her job, her own sister was at stake, mixing worry with urgency. It was already midnight, a bit too late for Sweetie Belle; even with her Cutie Mark Crusader late-night activities, the young filly would still make it a point to get home before eleven. Earlier, she had been to Applejack's house, and the orange coated mare had absolutely no idea where Sweetie Belle could be; however, Applebloom got excited at the mention of Sweetie Belle's name, telling Rarity that she was at the Mash household, all the while making kissy noises and clapping her hooves together. My own sister..? thought Rarity as she saw the implications of Applebloom's actions, while Applejack just heartily laughed it off. After being shown the directions to the house, Rarity galloped with all her might into the night, eager to get Sweetie Belle home.
She's with a colt? Don't be silly, Rarity, the fashionista told herself, though she couldn't fathom why else would Sweetie Belle be up that late. She remembered the Mash family as customers from long ago, when a rather attractive mare had asked Rarity to design her and her husband a wedding dress and suit respectively. It was unique because she was told they had eloped from another town, and at that time Rarity lapped up the news with interest; she was always into the town's latest scandal or saucy affair stories.
At the doorstep, Rarity rung the bell once and she was answered almost immediately. Button's mother yanked the door open, drawing a brief muffled scream of surprise from Rarity.
"Shh... They're sleeping," Button's mom said, as she motioned towards the couch with a hoof.
At first, the expression plastered on Rarity's face was of shock. Then, her pupils widened and sparkled and her mouth, once hung agape, turned at its corners, revealing a delighted countenance as she saw, in the dim lighting, her own sister wrapping her hooves around a brown colt tightly like a bolster, his face facing up to the ceiling while hers looked to the right, towards him, their muzzles only inches apart. In the shade of the night, a sliver of moonbeam cast itself over the two young ponies, their bodies intertwined, their breathing shallow and their sleep passing by angelically. Then, Button's mom piped up.
Button's mind was lost in a dream. He bit into a large ice cream mountain and munched, loving how it tasted, peculiarly, of marshmallows. Next thing he knew, a large boulder from the heavens of dreamland landed on his right cheek with a *smack*, teleporting him out and leaving him in the comparatively boring real world, with a burning sensation in his right cheek. He screamed, worried that it might have drawn blood and turned to his left, burying his face in the couch and nursing his pained, reddened cheek.
"Quit screaming, you creeper," groaned Sweetie Belle, as she was lying on the hard wood floor beside the couch after socking Button in the face. She straightened her ruined mane. "Why did you try to eat my hair?"
Button's sleepy eyes widened and he spat out some strands of hair, then vigorously used his hooves to wipe and try to cleanse his tongue.
"Bleugh!"
"You're one weird pony."
"And you're a noob," said Button, dragging his tongue against his hoof. To this, Sweetie Belle merely rose an eyebrow and wore that 'really?' face. Then she took a deep breath and observed her surroundings: Button lying on the couch, a slight pain in her back from falling over that same couch. Which meant one thing...
"Did I sleep... with you last night?" asked Sweetie Belle, though she immediately regretted what she said. It only lead to a path of awkward moments and misconceived notions, especially when talking to a bratty colt like Button.
"Wha.... EW! If I recall, you were the one who suffocated me with your fat flank after playing zomponies.."
"Well, you could've pushed me off!"
"You were really strong..."
"Well, I am a filly and you are a colt."
"I... wha... I... ah...." Button said, clutching at straws as he struggled to find a counter-argument. Just then, a voice called from the dining room, saving Button and Sweetie Belle the trouble of continuing this troublesome argument.
"Kids! It's 12 already! I've got pancakes ready!" came the sweet, sing-song voice of Button's mom. At the word 'pancakes', Button's ears perked up.
"Yay!" cried Button, galloping towards the dining room. Sweetie Belle just shook her head at the childish way he handled arguments, and followed him for breakfast. Then, as she entered the aromatic dining quarters, she realized something.
"Oh no! I've got to go to the clubhouse! The girls want me there by 12!" said Sweetie Belle, facing the exit. Then she remembered something else, too.
"Rarity!" she said, and prepared to rush out of the house. Her sister was probably worried sick by now. However, Button's mom called out to Sweetie Belle, stopping her in her tracks.
"Oh, Sweetie Belle, can't you just stay for breakfast? I already called Rarity and she said it's totally fine that you slept over. And I'm sure the other Cutie Mark Crusaders won't mind if you're late this one time. I mean, what could happen?" Button's mom said. Her voice took a kindly, motherly tone, and her face bore a warm smile. This was definitely a different pony from last night, thought Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle turned tail and looked to the dining table: Button was already licking his chops as his mother poured a large helping of pancakes onto a plate. The thick scent of maple syrup from an open bottle on the table wafted up to her nose, and it exerted a magnetic pull onto the young filly; a rumbling in her stomach only strengthened it. Sweetie Belle smiled and walked towards the table.
"I guess you're right, Mrs. Mash. And these pancakes do look delicious!' she said, and sat herself down on a seat beside Button, and with her teeth picked up a single pancake and placed it on her plate.
"Why thank you Sweetie Belle! Oh, and call me Button's mom," said Button's mom. Sweetie Belle looked at Button's mom and wondered why she would be comfortable being known as the mom of Button. The confused filly just slowly nodded, as she lowered her head just to get a little nibble of a piece of pancake.
"Eating Contest!" shouted Button, and poured out easily half a bottle of syrup on a mountain of 8 pancakes on his plate, then buried his face inside.
"Does he always like burying himself in food? Could be a mental problem," said Sweetie Belle, as she slowly enjoyed her breakfast and watched Button wolf down his food. Button's mom had a look of concern on her face as she watched her son tunnel through his food, which would be an implied 'no' to Sweetie Belle's question. Then, Button's mom smiled.
"Button, it's not really you to be so enthusiastic at the dining table. Are you trying to impress somepony?" said Button's mom in a sly tone. When Button stopped eating once he heard her words, Button's mom heartily laughed. "I'm just poking fun at you, silly. And when you're done, wash your face, it's all syrupy and crumbly."
Button didn't bother to enjoy his food; the hot pancake bits on his face sizzled as his cheeks reddened.Button hastily finished while Sweetie Belle continued at her original pace, savoring the taste of Button's mom's pancakes. She really is a good cook, she thought.
When Button was done, he rushed to the bathroom to clean up his face, leaving his mom and Sweetie Belle alone in the dining room.
"So, Sweetie Belle, how was your stay here?" asked Button's mom, as she walked to the kitchen, her son's dirty plate in mouth, and turned on the tap water at the kitchen sink.
"Not as bad as I thought it would. No offense, because well... Button," answered Sweetie Belle. Then she beamed and continued, "But I'd love coming back here. I've only played like, two games here and I found them pretty fun! Especially Minecraft. As for the Zomponies, I'm not really sure on playing it again, it brings out the worst in me, heh."
"Well, I'd love it too if you come here more often. Button needs friends like you. Friends who see him beyond gaming buds," said Button's mom, as she finished washing Button's plate.
"Really? All I did was play games here," said Sweetie Belle.
"Ohhhhhh no, my little pony, the two of you did way more than that," Button's mom said, with a wink. Sweetie Belle suddenly became unnerved, and remembered the evening before; Minecraft, food fight, bathing, and zomponies. It was way more than what normal friends did.
"Does this mean that the two of us are--" Sweetie Belle started.
"Oh no, you don't have to be," said Button's mom hurriedly, "It's really up to your feelings to decide that. No one here's forcing a relationship."
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes at how hypocritical Button's mom was; in her drunken stupor the night before, she did anything but make things natural for the two young ponies.
"But if ponies in town see the two of you down the street and suspect some lovey-dovey couply things, I believe the best solution, if you don't want to draw attention, is to laugh with them," said Button's mom with a smile, "After all, denial just makes them try harder."
Sweetie Belle pondered this as she finished her pancakes, while a familiar, scratchy voice came from the door.
"Or we could wear these mustaches!" said Button, as he entered the dining room with a jet black, fake mustache on his now clean muzzle. Sweetie Belle laughed a little at how ridiculous he looked, and in response to that, Button put one on Sweetie Belle's muzzle. Button's mom was about to tell her son off about raiding through his father's things but stopped as she looked at the two ponies, side by side with matching mustaches. She couldn't help but smile.
"Oh gosh, I gotta go, the girls are probably bored to death waiting for me," said Sweetie Belle, and she proceeded to pick up her white saddle bag and leave the house. Before she could even leave the dining room, another interruption came.
"What?!" cried Sweetie Belle, and was faced by Button. Button was taken aback but spoke nonetheless, in a tone that was too soft to seem like his normal voice.
"Uh... Before you go, I have to say that last night was honestly the most fun I ever had at a Games Night," said Button, "I rarely get my buddies over to my place but when I do, they usually, like, quit before any real fun starts. But you... I guess you're not as irritating as you are in school."
"Me? Irritating?" said Sweetie Belle, with a bemused smile, and she socked him in the shoulder playfully, "And don't worry, I'll be back here in no time to kick your flank at all of your games!"
With that, Sweetie Belle trotted over to the front door of the house and left. Button couldn't help but watch Sweetie Belle walk down the pathway to PonyVille, a hint of a smile forming on his face. I really hope she doesn't end up beating me at video games, Button thought. Button's mom liked Sweetie Belle's character, but was genuinely jealous at how young she was when she discovered relationships. Then, Button's mom remembered something.
"Oh Button! I have something great you should see!"
"Cool! What is it?"
"You'll see," said the mare innocently as she whipped out a small camera. She turned it on and let Button see its store of photos. His face grew unnaturally red.
"MOM!!!"
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Sweetie Belle galloped to Carousel Boutique first, to drop off her saddle bag and check on her sister. Once she was there, she found out that Rarity wasn't on the first floor, nor was she in her room. When Sweetie Belle opened the door to her own room, she found Rarity, balancing on a chair that was leaning against Sweetie Belle's wardrobe and stretching her hooves around the wardrobe's top.
"Rarity! What are you doing?" said Sweetie Belle, quite confused by now. Rarity's concentration was broken and she tumbled to the ground, uttering a surprised yelp. Rarity stood back up quickly on all fours and put on a nervous smile.
"Was.. looking... for a troublesome roll of fabric of mine!" finished Rarity nervously, "These things really can't stay in one place all the time."
"Yeah, fine, just don't snoop through my stuff, you know I hate that," said Sweetie Belle, as she placed her saddle bag down at the foot of her bed.
"Yes... About that," said Rarity slowly, immediately awash with guilt; she had told some ponies, namely the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, about Sweetie Belle's time at the Mash household. She couldn't resist it; when they came to visit, asking for where Sweetie Belle was, she had to let it out and tell it to somepony else. Come on, Rarity, no need to act embarrassed, it was but two ponies, what could possibly happen? she thought to herself. Sweetie Belle, on the other hoof, was looking at her in confusion.
"About what?" the filly asked.
"Err... Wouldn't dream of doing any snooping, my dear sister," said Rarity quickly with a smile. Then her eyes lit up. "Oh yes, I am done making your Nightmare Night costume. And I did follow your advice, thank you, on not adding any jewels, though it was lacking in glamour so much that I considered disobeying you."
"Oh my gosh! Nightmare Night's tomorrow!" cried Sweetie Belle. Her memory was off, having woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Or rather, couch. She brushed the thought away and rushed to the ground floor to grab her costume. It was on a filly mannequin and consisted of a black cloak and mask; she requested something batpony-like but not anything like Mare Do-well, since Mare Do-well costumes were always popular during Nightmare Night. And she asked Rarity to keep it simple, which the fashionista loathed but complied to anyway. Still, Rarity couldn't resist leaving the attire pitch black and added some red silk to embroider the border of the cloak, and it was an intricately woven border at that. For the mask, Rarity even added batpony wings that poked out at were the wearer's ears should be, and a small hollow cone at the forehead to house Sweetie Belle's horn. Having grabbed the costume, Sweetie Belle dashed out of the Boutique, saying a quick 'good-bye' to Rarity and shutting the door with a loud thud as she kicked it with a hoof.
Rarity let out a sigh of relief and went back into her room. She ignored the unfinished clothing on her mannequins and decided to take a break, sitting herself down on a chair and flipping open a romance novel, while levitating her favourite pair of orange coloured glasses to her face. . She let out a squeal of delight as she was on an especially thrilling passage but had trouble imagining the mare and stallion; thus, she resorted to referring to certain photos that she took the night before at the Mash household.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"Button! Do you have anything else to do?"
Button's mom had an angered look on her face as she barged into Button's room after hearing the young colt shout a vulgarity at somepony on Xbox Live. Button's concentration didn't falter, and he continued playing Modern Warmare; His mother had other ideas, and took matters into her own hooves by ripping out the power cord. Button's demeanor quickly shifted.
"Mom! I was about to get a tact nuke and win the game!" Button said, though he was clearly 24 hard-to-earn kills behind it. Button's mom shook her head and sighed.
"I'm sorry, Button, but don't you think that your life is a bit more than video games?" said Button's mom, "Don't try to hide it, young stallion. You enjoyed yourself last night."
"Bu-- But it's the weekend!" cried Button, trying desperately to steer the conversation away from what his mother was suggesting.
"So? It means much more time to spend with your friends. Or should I say, with your only friend," said his mother. Button rolled his eyes and saw where she was going.
"Sweets isn't my only friend, alright? I have Rumble," said Button.
"True, but you don't seem to have as much fun with him, as you do with... Sweets. You admitted it to her yourself," said Button's mom, hearing that he referred to the filly with a nickname.
"How would you know? I've only spent one day," said an irritated Button, eyeing the Joyboy on his bedside table hungrily. He knew that his mom would just swipe it away from him if he played it mid-conversation.
"Come on, Button. Just another day. Go to her clubhouse. Spend a day with her friends... What were they called? The Cutie Mark Crusaders? I hear they go for loads of adventures, doesn't that sound fun?" said Button's mom.
"No. All that those three fillies do all day is roll around in the mud and tree sap."
"And you're any better, stuck in your room? At least they get their exercise," said Button's mom, and she triumphantly smiled as she got the response she wanted. Button was lost for words; clearly, he didn't forget his lack of strength to push Sweetie Belle off of him.
"Fine! But you owe me," said Button as he trudged out of his room, trying his best to look angry. Button's mom loved it when she won their little verbal skirmishes; it gave her a sense of parental authority. She smiled as Button stomped his way to the door, then crashed it behind him. Button's mom looked out of the window; her son was galloping as fast as his legs could carry him towards PonyVille. With a chuckle, she shook her head and went back to doing house chores.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"Alright girls! What's the agenda for today?" panted Sweetie Belle, having run from the Boutique to the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse. The two other fillies were busy, with Scootaloo tapping a hoof against her forehead in thought at the map of PonyVille while Applebloom was eyeing Scootaloo's Nightmare Night costume, a gentleman's apparel of a tuxedo and a monocle. Neither of them looked up when Sweetie Belle came in.
"Crusading in the afternoon, early Nightmare Nighting at night. But I have no idea what to do for crusading!" said Scootaloo, tapping some points on the map as she continued, "We've already tried Cutie Mark Crusaders sheep herders, check balancers, rock drummers, kazoo players, paragliders, parkour stunt artists, and nuclear scientists. Only the day before! Urghhh!"
"And Scoots' costume looks really dumb," said Applebloom, placing her hoof at her chin, while attempting to straighten the tie of the tux with her other hoof.
"It's supposed to be scary, Applebloom. Monocles are scary," said Scootaloo, "And it gives me class!"
"Ah think swag would be better," said Applebloom, holding up a pile of toilet paper rolls. "Mah mummy costume is swag incarnate!"
"Woah, woah, hold up girls! Slow down," said Sweetie Belle, concern in her voice, "I've been thinking for some time, and... don't you think that this early Nightmare Night candy collecting idea is gonna bust? I mean, nopony's gonna have candy ready."
The other two fillies stared at Sweetie Belle, finally looking up at her.
"We've been planning this for a week!" said Scootaloo, "Don't you chicken out on us! 'Sides, if this idea flies, we'd get a lot more candy than everypony else."
"Heh, you'd know about... Chickens an' flyin'," teased Applebloom, causing Scootaloo to groan irritatedly. Sweetie Belle's eyes brightened up and she smiled.
"I guess it can't hurt to be out at Nightmare Night's eve. I know some places always have candy. Like Sugarcube Corner!" said Sweetie Belle, with a squeak. Then Scootaloo's own eyes lit up.
"That's it! We should do something at Sugarcube corner this afternoon. We haven't been there for Crusading for like, 3 days. That's some sort of record, right?" said Scootaloo. Then she eyed the map of PonyVille and the notes scribbled on it. "We've done cookie eating, muffin eating, cake eating, cupcake eating, tea brewing, taffy making, pastry baking, plate spinning, foal sitting, fourth wall breaking..."
"What?" said Applebloom.
"Remember Pinkie Pie's talk on portals and dimension crossing?" said Sweetie Belle.
"Ohhhh," replied Applebloom.
"So now what should we do at Sugarcube corner?" asked Scootaloo. The Cutie Mark Crusaders descended deep into thought.
"Well, I am quite thirsty for milkshakes," said Sweetie Belle, breaking the silence.
"Milkshakes it is!" shouted Scootaloo suddenly. She scribbled a note with a pencil at the picture on the map representing Sugarcube Corner, reading "Milkshake drinkers". "Now that that's out of the way, how was your sleepover with Button?"
"Sleepover? How'd yo-- wha-- I didn't have a sleepover," lied Sweetie Belle. How could she had possible known?
"Stop lyin', Sweets! If it was meant ta be a secret, your sis wasn't good at keepin' it," said Applebloom, giggling a little. "'Sides, we got kinda worried when ya were late."
Sweetie Belle looked at her friends' widening eyes and smiles. Sometimes, she couldn't believe how big her sister's mouth could get. She was cornered, but remembered Button's mom's advice.
"Heh, yeah, I had a sleepover. Was pretty fun," said Sweetie Belle, "played a few games, dinner was a food fight. That's about all that was interesting."
"Ohhh, but that shouldn't be all that happened!" said Scootaloo, and the two of them started laughing and made 'ooooh' sounds and kissy noises. Sweetie Belle laughed with them, and sure enough, the teasing died down and everypony was silent, a happy atmosphere hanging over them all.
"It was that fun, huh?" said Applebloom.
"Wasn't bad. Hey look, it's 1 o'clock already! Day's about to be over soon! We can't just drink milkshakes today," said Sweetie Belle, and the three fillies sat around the map and proceeded to brainstorm Crusading ideas.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Button had been rushing all around town, trying to find directions to the clubhouse. He asked everypony on the street that he bumped into, but none of them seemed to have a clue. Then, he chanced upon two very deplorable ponies, one a grey coated filly and another a pink coated one, and both of them carried malignant smiles as they trotted over to Button.
"Oh, hey, it's that gamer colt in class who has the hots for Sweetie Belle," taunted Diamond Tiara, "The two of you make a good couple, since both of you are blank flanks after all."
"Meh, I don't really care about my cutie mark. And I'm cool with Sweets, though she's a total noob," said Button, brushing off the comments. "And speaking of her, do you two lame-os know where the clubhouse is? You know the one owned by the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"
The two fillies were a little taken aback by how Diamond Tiara's insults were not very effective... Diamond Tiara regained her high and mighty composure and prepared for another one.
"Oh, you want to cuddle with her some more? Don't you know that word's been spreading around town?" Diamond Tiara jabbed at Button's chest with a hoof, and Silver Spoon guffawed at her comments. Button's face turned a huge beet red in embarrassment, but that escalated quickly into anger. Without a word, he pushed the two fillies into a pool of mud that was right behind them. See, there's always a pool of mud that magically situates itself behind Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, it's just that nopony ever has the guts to push them into it. Nopony except an exceedingly flustered Button Mash.
"It's super effective!" cried a satisfied Button, and he trotted off to find more ponies to interrogate, not wanting to waste anymore time on the bullies. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, on the other hand, laid in the mud, quite consternated from their second roll in the dirt in the history of their decadent lives.
"D. T., what was that?" said Silver Spoon, quite flabbergasted from being tackled by a gamer pony who obviously had trouble expressing his own feelings verbally or talking out arguments. A pig's snort replied to Silver Spoon's question; a joyous pig had replaced Diamond Tiara in the mud.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"See here! We've got ukulele playin', peanut butter an' jelly sandwich makin', DJ-in', hockey, swimmin' in jars o' jelly, mud wrestlin', auctionin' an' milkshake drinkin'! How's that for a schedule?" said Applebloom, reading from the fresh notes that were scribbled by Scootaloo on the map.
"Cool! Let's go out and get those Cutie Marks!" cried Sweetie Belle, enthusiastic at the thought of more adventure.
"I don't know... could use a little more cannons and/or catapults," said Scootaloo, looking at the list of activities, "The only thing that seems mildly interesting is mud wrestl--"
"Ponies get their teeth knocked out during hockey!" said Sweetie Belle with a toothy grin
"Yes! What are we waiting for, then?" said Scootaloo, and the three fillies clapped their hooves together.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders: Pre-Nightmare Nighting Crusade Operation is a-go!"
Button Mash sat himself down on a stool at Sugarcube Corner, exhausted from running around town. He laid his head on a table sideways, and let out a long sigh. Then, from underneath the table, Button felt something poking at his hindlegs. He looked down.
"SURPRISE!!" cried Pinkie Pie, as she jumped out from beneath the table and sat herself down on the stool beside his, placing a friendly hoof around his shoulder. Button would have been shocked by the random pony's intrusion, but he just didn't have to energy to be surprised, and sighed loudly. Pinkie Pie's smile turned into a confused frown, and she looked like she was deep in thought. Then, she brightened up, a lightbulb forming above her head.
"I got it!" She cried, and fled into the kitchen door of Sugarcube Corner. Button raised an eyebrow and stared at the kitchen door. Nopony needed anymore than a single visit with Pinkie Pie to know how random she could get, and Button was half dreading what Pinkie was going to come up with next. He didn't have all day and just wanted a quick shake or pastry snack from the place. Pinkie Pie's gratuitous barge into his privacy also attracted the unwanted attention of everypony in Sugarcube Corner.
"A party!" cried Pinkie Pie, as she carted her party cannon up to Button's table and fired it, adorning it with a colorful, flower patterned tablecloth and several multicolored party hats. With the party cannon's blast came streamers and balloons, and Pinkie Pie herself had a party hat on her frizzled hair and a party horn in mouth. Everypony cheered at the prospect of a party but Button couldn't help but feel amazed.
"H-- How did you do that?"
"Well, duh! Party cannon?" said Pinkie, pointing to the contraption with pride. "I've got three of them! Pow Pow Pow!"
"Well, that's cool and all, but I don't have all the time in the world. I just need one cupcake or muffin and I'll be on my way," said Button, not wanting to waste anymore time.
"One cupcake? One muffin? Are you serious?" cried Pinkie Pie, looking offended. "When you're here for the first time, you can't just try one, you gotta try 'em all!"
Before he could say a word, Button was lifted off of his stool and was placed on the floor, in front of a long table of confectionaries and sweet delicacies, ranging from the smallest eclair to a multi-tiered forest cake. Button felt that all of this was getting out of hoof, but Pinkie kept talking.
"You can try these yummy cream-filled eclairs! Made by Gustave le Grand himself! Mmm," said Pinkie as she stuffed an eclair into her mouth, then offered another to Button. He shook his head.
"Um, no thanks, I--"
"Or this! Mushy Minty Mouth-melting Mousse! Delish~" said Pinkie Pie in sing-song, as she scooped a spoonful and swallowed it, then scooped another and hovered the spoon in front of Button's mouth. He shook his head yet again.
"Look, Ms Pinkie, I--"
"Oh! My personal favorite, the Lemon Muffin Surprise!" said Pinkie, picking up the muffin, unaware that it was on the plate of a hungry, wall-eyed pegasus. Derpy Hooves looked at Pinkie Pie angrily. "The mix of sweet and sour on this bad boy is sure to ma--"
"PINKIE!!" yelled Button, and Pinkie Pie stopped talking. Button was quite the indignant colt by then, and Pinkie Pie shrunk back at every word he said. Derpy heaved a sigh of relief and flew away with her muffin.
"Look, I just need a quickie and I'll be on my way, alright, I need to see Sweetie Belle soon and talk to her and tell her that I.. I.."
"That you what?" said Pinkie Pie softly, seeming very small compared to Button Mash. Just then, Button Mash didn't know how to finish that sentence; he forgot why he came all the way here in the first place. Something along the lines of his Mom wanting him to get off his gaming flank or something.
"Never mind. I'll just get a milkshake and I'll be on my way," said Button, feeling a little thirsty by then. Pinkie Pie's eyes lit up and she took a deep breath.
And so, the party was called off and Button was back on his stool, sipping a chocolate milkshake in boredom. Pinkie Pie remained, seated right beside Button, unsatisfied until she brought a smile to his face. Her hindleg was thumping her stool rapidly.
"Why are you still here? Don't you have a job to do someplace else?" said Button, as he took a deep gulp of chocolate milkshake. He immediately regretted it, and a small bout of brain freeze brought on a little headache.
"Nope, my job's to make ponies around town happy, but my Pinkie sense isn't telling me anything about anypony in town not being happy or not having fun," said Pinkie Pie happily, her left hind leg still uncontrollably moving up and down .
"Pinkie sense? And what's up with your leg?" said Button with a raised eyebrow as his brain freeze wore off.
"Oh, I can predict events before they happen," said Pinkie Pie, "my hind leg thumping means that somepony's about to get brain freeze."
"Could have given me some sort of warning," said Button, as he took another deep gulp of his milkshake. He gripped his head in pain and cried out, but was caught in Pinkie's fore legs before he could tumble to the ground.
"Nah, Brain freeze is fun!" said Pinkie Pie with a wide grin, "but I sense you don't want too much fun right now."
"Oh, did your Pinkie sense tell you that?"
"Nah, colts just act like that when they have heart-tipped arrows sticking outta their chests," said Pinkie. Button raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Nothing! Just talk to Gummy, he's a great conversationalist! He could have the answer to your questions and slash or problems," she said, lifting her tail, revealing a wide eyed alligator chomped down on it. Button's eyes went wide and he spat out some milkshake at the tiny animal, but Pinkie laughed a snort-filled laugh when she saw that.
"He doesn't bite, silly! He likes talking though. Even more than me!" said Pinkie, and set him down on the table. Gummy blinked.
"See ya! I've got some fun to have today, the afternoon's young!" said Pinkie, as she bounced merrily, out the door and away from Sugarcube Corner. Button rolled his eyes and continued drinking his shake, under the watchful wall-eyes of Gummy.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"This stinks," groaned Sweetie Belle, as she struggled to get the rest of her body out of the viscous jar of grape jelly, her head poking out. The other fillies couldn't agree more as they, too, were stuck in similar positions, thankful that they didn't enter the jar headfirst.
"Don't ya mean this 'sticks'?" said a smiling Applebloom as she tried with all of her might to take a leg out. The other two glared at her. "What? Doesn't hurt anypony to see the bright side o' life."
"At least Jelly Jim isn't going to kick us out of jelly swimming," said Scootaloo, referring to the stallion who manned the jelly swimming pools. She remembered their experience at the hockey ring. Scootaloo had knocked a hockey puck like it was a tennis ball, and sent it propelling towards a veteran hockey player and coach. The stallion's teeth were knocked out, the three fillies were banned from the hockey ring. Worst of all, they didn't get their cutie marks.
"Well, who cares? Not as if we're comin' back," said a disgruntled Applebloom as she finally got her fore legs out of the jelly. Jelly Jim, a grey coated stallion with a yellow mane peeked down from the top of the jar.
"So, are you fillies having a good time?" Jelly Jim said, while holding a jar cover. The three fillies' eyes widened in horror as they realized what he was going to do, as he slowly brought down the cover.
"NO!" all three cried in unison, as they frantically flailed their hooves against the thick jelly solution. Scootaloo's wings flapped at hummingbird pace, and with effort she managed to get herself out. She stretched out her forelegs to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, who eagerly bit on her hooves. Scootaloo grunted and pulled the two of them out of the gigantic jar, causing them to land through a few feet onto the soil below; the young pegasus also fell to the ground, exhausted and in pain as she looked at the two bite marks on her hooves. All of them were in a sloppy grape goop.
"Don't bite so hard next time, aight?" said an irritated Scootaloo, and the other two gave nervous smiles in reply. Jelly Jim chuckled and trotted up to them.
"Not as easy as it looks, eh? Started doing this when I was a colt. I wasn't cut out for normal swimming, but I did have a mighty sweet tooth. And nopony urinates inside a jelly swimming pool. I think," said Jelly Jim, eliciting shudders from the fillies.
"Well, we best get goin'," said Applebloom, trying to shake off the troublesome jelly. They were on a field of grass on the outskirts of PonyVille, and Button's house was visible in the far distance. Sweetie Belle couldn't help but look at it, wondering whether the gamer colt was still at home.
"Hey.... HEY! Sweetie Belle!" cried Applebloom, shaking her shoulder. "We've got to go for mud wrestlin', it's next on our list. Hopefully they'll have a washin' corner to get this jelly off."
"Uhh... Alright!" said Sweetie Belle, licking off a glob of jelly on her hoof. "Mm. Not bad."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Gummy blinked and stared at Button. The colt was still sipping on that milkshake, utterly bored; he was starting to regret leaving his JoyBoy at home. Though he promised to himself that he'd get himself off his flank as soon as possible to resume searching, he was taking his drink at a snail's pace. His eyes drifted to stare at Gummy's. The alligator seemed to stare back...
"... into the very depths of my soul," said Button aloud. Then he shook his head.
"What are you looking at?" Button asked angrily. Gummy blinked.
"Can't you see I'm trying to drink? Long day ahead, you know," said Button. He chugged down an entire gulp of the milkshake, but a substantial amount was still left; it seemed bottomless. Before he could say another word, mental icicles found their way into his brain.
Button winced, biting his lips to prevent a scream. When the brain freeze passed, he sighed and looked helplessly at the alligator, who merely blinked.
"What... am I doing with my life?" said Button. Gummy blinked.
"What? WHAT? Love? Dumb 'gator," said Button, pushing Gummy off the table. He landed on the floor on his head with a squeak. "I'd rather make out with a robot."
Gummy blinked.
"Hey Button! Glad you're here," came a familiar foalish voice. Button heard the entrance bell ring and looked up to see Rumble trotting briskly up to him, his brother Thunderlane following closely behind.
"Button! There's mud wrestling nearby! Me and Thunderlane are here to practice for the mud wrestling portion of next week's Brohoof Bash. It's gonna be nasty! Wanna come?" said Rumble excitedly, while his big brother looked out of the window. Thunderlane smiled and rubbed Rumble's head with a hoof.
"Heh, bet on it that it's gonna be nasty, squirt," said Thunderlane, as Rumble beamed, his mane getting ruffled up by his brother's hoof.
"Ha, kay, bro. So Button? Coming?" said a smiling Rumble, as his brother dragged him away with a hoof under his foreleg.
"B-but... My bro's... Not here," said Button, with a slight tinge of sadness in his voice. Rumble wiped his smile off his face and wrapped a consoling hoof around Button, but Thunderlane had other ideas.
"Hey, who cares? Mud wrestling's fun with more ponies!" cried the stallion as he hoisted both colts with his hooves onto his strong back, then rushed out of Sugarcube Corner to weave through the streets of PonyVille at breakneck speed, causing Button to grit his teeth and dig his hooves into Thunderlane's fur. They found a large field with large mud pools, with ponies big and small frolicking around in them. It was only then that Button realized Rumble wasn't talking about a mud wrestling video game.
"Geranimo!" cried Thunderlane as he dragged the two colts in with him, against their will. Once in the mud pool, Button immediately scrambled for dry ground, and tried moving out of the pool. Rumble tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around. Rumble socked him in the face.
"Ow! The hay was that for?" said Button as he winced in pain. Rumble rolled his eyes.
"It's mud wrestling. Don't you ever go out?" said Rumble, and Button mentally said 'no' to his question.
"YES!" cried Button in indignation, before his was picked up by Rumble. The grey pegasus pulled off a piledriver onto Button which didn't really hurt much since it was done in the mud, but a copious amount of mud still entered his mouth. Submerged, an angry Button kicked his legs through the thick mud as he prepared to perform a Tekken-style sky uppercut.
"Ach! Who was that?" said a voice that most definitely was not Rumble's. Button's eyes opened wide as he stared into the eyes of a white coated filly, her body caked in mud. He heaved a sigh of relief as he finally found her, after a day of galloping around PonyVille.
"Sweets?" said Button as he stretched a hoof out and wiped the mud off of her face. "What are you doing here?"
"Could ask you the same thing," said Sweetie Belle. Then, she pouted and continued. "And don't call me that, Butts."
"Why not? Your name is too long for my liking!" huffed Button, quite insulted by his new nickname. "Anyways, I was wondering if you were, um..."
"What?"
"Free toni--" before he could finish, Button was tackled by Thunderlane, splattering mud in all directions. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes then laughed, before joining in on the mudfest.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"Rarity!" cried Sweetie Belle in glee as she splashed merrily in the water of the wooden tub she and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders were in, as she spotted her sister coming to the mud pools from a distance. Mud wrestling was over, and the fillies were thankful to be out of the dirt but far from satisfied, with the evening approaching. As for Rarity, the fashionista smiled and waved at her sister as she trotted casually up to the tub, but her smile disappeared when her left hoof sunk into a mud puddle.
"Oh dear," she gasped, then screamed. In stereotypical damsel-in-distress fashion, she brought her right hoof up to her forehead and cried out. "I just got a hooficure! Oh, by Celestia, whatever shall I do? Somepony please, PLEASE help me!"
Immediately, Thunderlane, being the only stallion done cleaning himself up after the mud wrestling, rushed to her aid with a towel, rubbing the towel against her hoof vigorously, eliciting a look of surprise from Rarity. Once the hoof was spotless, Rarity gave a squeal of delight and kissed Thunderlane on his cheek.
"Oh my dear gentlecolt, you saved my life!" said Rarity, and everypony present sighed in disappointment at Rarity. Everypony except Thunderlane, who gave a goofy smile and a wink to his brother Rumble, who was in a tub of water, adjacent to the CMC's tub, with Button, which said 'bro, this is how you pick up mares'. Rumble shuddered.
In the bushes near the mud pools, Spike, who had been stalking Rarity all day, looked on with jealousy at the lucky Thunderlane.
"Rats," he said, and stomped off to Twilight's house.
"Can you believe that pony? Soooo dramatic," said Button, as he splashed cool water onto his face.
"Yeah, kinda reminds me of you," said Sweetie Belle.
"Wha-- NO! I'm not a.. a... drama queen. I'm not even a mare," said Button lamely, as he climbed out of the tub. His eyes widened at the temperature change.
"COLD!" cried Button as he jumped right back into the tub of water, his entire body shivering as he wrapped his forelegs tightly against himself, drawing laughs from everypony.
"Well, we're tight on the schedule," said a disgruntled Scootaloo to her fellow Crusaders as the laughter died down. She looked out to the setting Sun. "Only half an hour left till Nightmare Night. Meaning we're gonna have to do away with auctioning and ukelele playing."
"I guess you're right, Scoots," said a disappointed Applebloom, "Mud wrestlin' took longer than we expected. And not even a cutie mark to show fer it!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders double-checked their flanks. They were still blank, and all of them simultaneously sighed. Then Sweetie Belle's frown inverted to a smile.
"That leaves us with milkshake drinking!" cried Sweetie Belle joyously. Rumble's eyes brightened up.
"Hey, can the two of us tag along? We've got nothing to do this eve--" Rumble was interrupted by Button.
"Wait, wait, wait, did you girls just say, half an hour till Nightmare Night? It's tomorrow, unless PonyVille does it early or something," said Button, raising suspicion and a single eyebrow.
"Nah, it doesn't. Just that we wanna get more candy, so we plan on starting earlier," said Sweetie Belle. Then, leaning in to whisper to Button, she said, "I don't think it makes sense either. I'd rather play spooky video games."
"Oh... Play spooky video games... with who?" said Sweetie Belle's eavesdropping friends, stifling giggles. Sweetie Belle and Button smiled nervously and looked at each other. Then with a shove, the two fillies pushed Sweetie Belle by the rump off of their tub onto Button's and Rumble's. Button clutched the sides of the tub and gave a yelp of surprise as the filly entered the water, while Rumble, with a smile, climbed out of the tub and into Applebloom and Scootaloo's tub, leaving the couple alone.
"It's uh.... perfectly normal! Nothing wrong or awkward with this. Right, Button?" said Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah! Um...." said Button, shying his face away to hide the drastically changed color of his cheeks. Rumble gave a chuckle and a sigh.
"You know, the two of you could've climbed out of the tub by now," said Rumble, eliciting 'D'aww's and 'I told you so's from Sweetie Belle's friends. The two young ponies immediately escaped the tub and grabbed a towel each, avoiding the other's gaze as the crimson that spoke of embarrassment spread across their faces.
"We'll uh.. be at Sugarcube Corner, for milkshake drinking," said Sweetie Belle, and Button nodded in agreement, unnaturally quiet. The three remaining ponies in the tub smiled widely as they looked at the couple go off towards Sugarcube Corner.
"Um... hi," said Rumble as he stayed in the tub with Scootaloo and Applebloom.
"Yeah, uh, hey!" said Scootaloo as she realized his eyes were directed at her. Both of them smiled at each other awkwardly, and Scootaloo's wings flapped excitedly at a hummingbird's pace, beating the water.
"Great mud wrestling," said Rumble.
"Totally."
"Aw, COME ON!" cried Applebloom as she crept out of the bathtub. The two other ponies stared at her.
"Ah'm gonna be forever alone, AND a blank flank when Ah'm as old as Granny Smith!" said Applebloom, as she trudged off to Sugarcube Corner. Rumble and Scootaloo felt bad and climbed out, then flapping their wings to unstick the water within their feathers.
"Hey, watch where you're beating!" said Scootaloo as she felt water droplets fall onto her fur, and Rumble gave a little laugh. They smiled and walked to Sugarcube Corner together.
"Pardon me asking, but why did you come here?" asked Thunderlane. They watched the young ponies go off into the distance.
"Oh, to send Sweetie Belle home, of course. Apparently, she had.. other ideas with that Mash colt. They make a splendid pairing, don't you think so?" Rarity said, sighing in a satisfied manner.
"Uh, sure. Need a walk home?"
"Oooo, would I!" squealed Rarity, as she hooked her left foreleg with Thunderlane's right, and went towards the Boutique.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Bellies full of sinful confectionaries and milkshakes, five bloated and euphoric ponies trotted out of Sugarcube Corner, having eaten the most sugary dinner of their lives. The Cutie Mark Crusaders talked Button and Rumble into a hardcore milkshake drinking contest, where each pony had to down three milkshakes in a minute, and since the milkshake glasses were a foot tall, this was no easy feat. However, despite the fact that nopony got their cutie marks, many laughs and brainfreezes were to be had, with Button Mash securing the record for the longest duration of brainfreeze at 20 minutes. In the end, dinner was ice cream, every child's (and every Pinkie Pie's) dream dinner.
"Best dinner *belch* ever," said a rather uncouth Applebloom, and everypony burped back in agreement. Then her eyes widened in shock.
"Oh no, we've gotta start pre-Nightmare Night, pronto!" said Applebloom, rushing for the clubhouse. The other fillies prepared to gallop towards the clubhouse, but Scootaloo stopped in her tracks and trotted up to Rumble. With a smile, the pegasus gave Rumble a quick hug.
"Thanks," she said, before beating her wings and following Applebloom. Button cocked an eyebrow, while his friend just stared, eyes wide, into empty space.
"What's gotten into her?" said Button, and gave a confused look at Rumble's face. "And what's gotten into you?"
"No problem," said Rumble, to nopony in particular.
"Hey, uh, Button, if this Pre-Nightmare Night stuff doesn't work out, is it alright if I go to your place to play some video games?" said Sweetie Belle, as the two remaining ponies watched Rumble trot off, with a spring in his step.
"Yeah, sure, if you don't mind getting owned!" taunted a confident Button. Sweetie Belle gave Button a punch on his shoulder, which was meant to be playful but elicited a sharp cry of pain from Button.
"Hey! That's my favorite shoulder!"
"Yeah, whatever, fat flank," said Sweetie Belle, waving Button goodbye. Button couldn't help but smile as he watched Sweetie Belle gallop with all her might to catch up with her friends. Life's good, he thought, breathing in the still evening air and the sweet scent of pastries from Sugarcube Corner.
"Time to stay up all night to play some Pony's Creed Sisterhood!" cried Button aloud, punching the air with a hoof, as he trotted back home.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"This STINKS," groaned Scootaloo, as they experienced their third rejection on their Pre-Nightmare Night rounds: an angry mare, Berry Punch, had slammed the door in their faces, apparently busy. 10 minutes past and not a single bit of candy in any of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' satchels. Applebloom was a mummy pony, Scootaloo was in a tux and monocle, while Sweetie Belle was dressed as a batpony.
"It stinks even more than jelly swimming," agreed Sweetie Belle. Despite the complaints, the three fillies pressed on, trotting to the next household.
"Come on, girls, it can't be that bad. I mean, we've only done three," said Applebloom, as the three fillies knocked on the door of a posh looking house. The owner was obviously a very rich pony, with carved out, glowing pumpkins aplenty lining the sides of his garden, and even a life-sized scarecrow standing amongst the pumpkin garden. There was silence that followed the knocking, save for the sound of water trickling, maybe a pond or a fountain that the owner owned in the back of the house. Peeking into the house from a window with the curtains undrawn, they saw that the owner had glass chandeliers hanging from his ceiling and Reneighssance-era paintings on his walls.
"Think anypony's home?" asked Applebloom.
"Should be, the light's on," said Scootaloo. Then, the three fillies heard hoofsteps, and they excitedly took up positions at the front of the door. As the door opened, the fillies couldn't hold it in and they started the typical Nightmare Night chant.
"Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something swe--" Before they could finish, the stallion at the door gave a roar. He was a light brown coated stallion in a blue bath robe (and highly conspicuous large black eyebrows) and had pink rollers in his black mane, which would have been a rather hilarious sight had he not thrown a wicked tantrum then and there. The Cutie Mark Crusaders realized that they were facing Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara's father.
"Alright, kids, IT'S NOT NIGHTMARE NIGHT! Nopony in town has the right mind to prepare any candy on the night BEFORE Nightmare Night! Are you three fillies in kindergarten?" the raging stallion asked.
"Nope. We go to the schoolhouse riiiight over there," said Scootaloo, keeping her cool. "Now, if you don't have any candy, I think that you, O High and Mighty Filthy Rich, could spare us a few gems? Maybe three hundred?"
"NO!" he cried, and slammed the door on the fillies.
"Maybe just a hundred? Ten? Or maybe three hundred bits. That could do," continued Scootaloo, while her friends eyed the door anxiously.
"FOR THE LAST TIME," screamed Filthy Rich from within the house, making the ponies jump. The door swung back open, and Filthy Rich heaved a deep sigh. "No. Come back tomorrow and I'll have Sugarcube Corner's worth of candy ready for you ponies. But today, nada. Thanks, and good evening."
"Hello?" called Scootaloo desperately as Filthy Rich shut the door behind him for the last time that evening. "Not even a hundred bits? Or a pink roller?"
"Forget it," said Sweetie Belle irritatedly, stomping off in anger. Her friends trotted after her, concerned looks on their faces.
"Where are ya goin'?" asked Applebloom as Sweetie Belle trotted briskly, her batpony ears bouncing up and down.
"Button's place. Gonna play some video games," said Sweetie Belle, before she thought about how her friends would react. Her friends looked at each other, their concerned expressions turning to ones of mirth.
"Only video games? Maybe the two of ya'll will go a lil' further than that," said Applebloom, and she and Scootaloo proceeded to giggle uncontrollably while making teasing, kissy noises. An already annoyed Sweetie Belle lost her cool, and gave a sharp scream of indignation.
"HEY! You're just.. just... jealous," said Sweetie Belle, saying things on impulse, not considering her words.
"Oh? And what would we be jealous about? Hm?" said Scootaloo, "Oh... Is he a good kisser?"
"WHAT? URGHHH!" yelled Sweetie Belle, and she stomped away from her two friends, who were on the ground, laughing their flanks off. She was thankful that her mask was hiding the unnatural, embarrassing tinge of her cheeks.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Button pressed the bell of his home, his legs hopping around in urgency and his mouth rapidly whispering the words 'come on' in impatience as he waited for his mother to answer the door. After a full minute, he stopped mashing the doorbell button and looked curiously inside from a window. What was keeping her?
Finally, the door swung open with great force and Button stepped his hoof in, before getting whisked away by a brown flash of fur. His mother had rushed out of the house, a large sombrero hat in one hoof, and her other foreleg was hooked around Button. Button looked at her in confusion as they rushed towards PonyVille.
"Where are we going, Mom? And why do you have my Nightmare Night costume?" said Button with irritation, as precious gaming time was ticking away.
"We're gon... gonna go to fix up this tatter of a Nightmare Night outfit, or maybe get you a new one!" panted Button's mom as she galloped, earning a long groan from Button.
"But.. but Mom!" said Button, but his mother suddenly glared angrily in response. He quivered, and silently cried as he was set for another long hour, or maybe even two hours away from his room of games, and he stared back at his home, looking further away and darker with every hoofstep of his mother's. I didn't even get to take my JoyBoy out, he thought sorrowfully to himself.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Sweetie Belle weaved her way through the town's buildings, trying to find her way to Button's house, for some peace and quiet. Or games; anything was better than wasting time with her friends carrying out their silly plan. Even now, she wondered whether their Pre-Nightmare Nighting was yielding any fruits. Or candy, for that matter.
As she turned around the corner of a cottage, Sweetie Belle stopped for a while, then headed towards the Carousal Boutique. She had to inform Rarity that she was visiting Button's place, since she couldn't rely on Button's mom too much; Button's mom wasn't exactly the most sane of mares. When she finally reached the place, more ponies than she expected greeted her.
"Hey Sweetie!" said Button's mom. Rarity was occupied, looking with disgust at Button Mash, who was in a sombrero hat and mustache.
"Oh dear, this won't do! If you're going to look your best beside my sister, you've got to change out of this disaster!" gasped Rarity, and took Button away for measurements. Button was helpless, and his eyes fell on Sweetie Belle.
Help me, he mouthed, but Sweetie Belle merely smirked.
"Have fun!" called Sweetie Belle, as Button disappeared into a room and out of sight. Rarity's infamous 'measurement taking' usually involved putting many different hats or outfits on the pony, sometimes spending up to an hour doing so. Button's mom pulled over a velvet chair that was lying around and sat, while picking up a fashion magazine lying in a pile of magazines on the Boutique's shoe rack.
"So what did you two kids do today?" Button's mom said with a smile as she flipped through the pages with a hoof.
"Nothing much. A little mud wrestling. Drunk milkshakes. Pretty much sums up the day," said Sweetie Belle, taking off her Nightmare Night costume and carefully fitting it onto a filly mannequin. "Say, what's Button here for?"
"To get a new Nightmare Night costume," said Button's mom, eyes scanning an interesting portion of the magazine. Sweetie Belle's eyes widened.
"Darn, she's gonna take years to make it," said the filly, genuinely worried. "What's Button gonna do in the meantime?"
"Stay here, of course. Maybe the two of you could do something, something that friends usually do. Friends," Button's mom said, with a cheeky smile on her face. Sweetie Belle tried her best not to show any indication she got the message. "Unless you have something else to do, of course."
Sweetie Belle thought of the two other Cutie Mark Crusaders and shook her head rapidly. Then her face brightened up and she trotted up the stairs to her room, remembering a special something in her room. Maybe tonight won't be so boring after all, she thought to herself.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"No, I think that's enough, Ms. Rarity, thanks," said a discomforted Button as he exited her room. Rarity had not been kind to him, trying on all sorts of suits, some of them making him look like a cross-dresser. Along the way, the fashionista couldn't help but ask a few questions about her sister's relationship with him, which he'd decline answering verbally. His face, however, told a different story altogether as it flushed a crimson hue frequently during the entire process. Rarity poked her head out of her room and smiled.
"Oh, you're welcome, dear. Or should I say, future brother-in-law?" she said, eliciting an indignant 'WHAT?' from the colt and a deep red on Button's cheeks. His hat fell off from his little jump at Rarity's comment, and using his teeth, he picked it up from the floor.
"Wha-- Whatever. Just get it done. I'm going home," said Button, thinking of the ponies he could be slaying now with Italian assassin Octavio.
"Oh no, dear, it'll be very fast. Just you wait in er.. Sweetie Belle's room. Or, something," Rarity said, her head disappearing back into her room. Button gave an irritated sigh.
"Hey Button! You done?" cried Sweetie Belle from her room, and Button found a spacious room, which was quite empty save for a small bed, a desk and a wardrobe. Everything in this room seemed to be white in color, just like the Boutique itself. On the bed, Sweetie Belle was fumbling with a small, brown ukulele.
"Woah!" cried Button, his face full of wonder as he pounced onto the bed and admired the ukulele. Then, he was confused. "What is it?"
"A ukulele. Kinda like a small guitar," said Sweetie Belle, but Button's confused countenance didn't change. She sighed. "It's a musical instrument."
"Ohhhh," said Button, immediately losing interest. He then looked around the room. "Don't suppose you have any JoyBoys?"
"No. But we could play with this instead!" Sweetie Belle said enthusiastically with a grin on her face, but Button was off the bed, heading for the door.
"This stinks," said Button, but Sweetie Belle got off the bed herself and rushed up to block him.
"NO!" she cried, then Button cowered and crept back up onto her bed. Her composure softened after the outburst.
"Uh, I mean, you kinda owe me. We got to do what you wanted the last time. So it's my turn!" said Sweetie Belle. "Anyway, I wanted to try this out sometime but I needed somepony else to help me on it..."
"Um, what's the matter? Can't play it? It's like, stringed. How are we supposed to play that? Teeth?" said Button, holding up his hooves. Sweetie Belle glared at him.
"No, stupid. It's just that I need somepony to help me with this song, it's the only song I know," said Sweetie Belle, and Button suddenly laughed.
"What? You only know how to play one song with that thing?" said the colt, "I've got like, a million on Guitar Heroine!"
"Guitar Heroine?"
"Yeah, the game developers were mares. And the target audience are girls. Some gender-ratio trend thingy," said Button. Sweetie Belle was quite embarrassed by now, and she responded quietly.
"Uh, my parents sung me this song in the past. Like a lullaby. So it's kinda... special, to me," said Sweetie Belle, a tinge of hurt in her voice. Button stopped laughing, though he didn't know why.
"Kay, so what do you want me to do?"
"Uh, can you whistle?"
"You mean like this?" Button said, letting out an ungentlemanly wolf whistle. Sweetie Belle blushed furiously at that.
"Hey!"
"What? Dudes that see my mom in public do that all the time, so I can't see what's wrong with that," said Button with an innocent smile, but Sweetie Belle just shook her head.
"Right, you can whistle. Can you try whistling this tune?" Sweetie Belle said, and sang a melody. It was nice on the ears, and Button couldn't resist humming along. After a few tries and corrections by Sweetie Belle (which he strangely took without any angry outbursts), Button managed to land it correctly.
"Now try to sing this," said Sweetie Belle, and she sang the lyrics. What came out of Button's mouth was a cacophony of sound that made Sweetie Belle regret asking.
"You make Scootaloo sound like Sapphire Shores," shouted Sweetie Belle over Button's voice, and patted him on the back. He groaned.
"Look, just stick to whistling, okay Butts?"
"Fine. And don't call me that," said Button, earning a loud laugh from Sweetie Belle.
And so Button closed his eyes and started whistling the tune, while the ukulele started making sweet sounding chords. Button opened one eye and saw the strings moving on their own. He cried out in shock.
"There's a-- How the-- Are you doing that??" said Button, his eyes wide at the ukulele. Sweetie Belle shrugged.
"I dunno. Whenever I want to play this song, the ukulele just does that. It's kinda like, a ghost lives in my room or something, and it just likes the ukulele."
"Could it be your horn magic?"
"What? Noooo. No, it can't-- No, it just can't be," Sweetie Belle laughed, then rubbed her horn.
"This thing can't do anything yet. I mean, I tried lifting objects with my horn but the magic can't come out. The only lifting it does nowadays is being Rarity's clothesrack," she said, an inkling of anger in her voice.
"Oh. 'Cause I swear that there's like, this green thingy that's cloaking the strings or somethi--"
"Let's just get on with it. You still have to go home, right?" said Sweetie Belle, and Button nodded, his thoughts on gaming.
"Good. A one, a two, a one, two, three and."
Button came in with the whistle; though shaky at first, he got the hang of it as it came in tune with the ukulele. He just closed his eyes and flooded his mind with the sound of ukulele chords, letting the whistling passage flow with the instrument. Despite the shot of sugar from dinner, Button was mesmerized by the ukulele, his mind slowly losing itself to the tune, his body losing its energy. Somewhere along the way, he felt his head droop onto something soft, warm and furry, and to him, it was one of the greatest pillows in the world.
Somehow, Sweetie Belle didn't mind Button's sleepy head on her shoulder as she took over when the whistling ended. Fact is, that was just a reassurance that the lullaby was working. She took over with the singing, which (thankfully) did not summon an entire gospel choir.
"I've been walking the streets at night, just trying to get it right. It's hard to see with so many around, you know I don't like being stuck in the crowd, And the streets don't change but maybe the names, I don't have time for the games and I need you. Yeah-yeah, I need you. Woaaaaah, I need you, Yeaaaah, I need you. Woaaah, this ti-i-i-i-i-me."
The last few single notes of the song were played and Sweetie Belle hid the ukulele beneath the bed. He movement caused Button, fast asleep, to plop down onto her bed. Sweetie Belle yawned and dragged Button's body beneath her bed's covers, and pulled them up to his neck. A little sleepy herself, she gave Button a peck on his head, just like how her mother would always put her to sleep in her youth. She imagined Button as a child dozing off in his undisturbed sleep, safe in his land of dreams. She got up and turned off the lights, before trotting to the foot of the bed and curling herself up on the covers.
Button's head hit itself against something hard, and that something could have been the wall against which the bed rested, or maybe even the hard, wooden floor. But Sweetie Belle's room floor was carpeted, so that couldn't be the case. Or could it? He would have opened his eyes to check, but drowsiness and an awareness that it was a Sunday morning forced his vision to go from the little sliver of light he permitted himself, when he bumped onto the ground, to pitch blackness. Just then, the bump came back, and repeated sporadically, like something was drumming a tempo into his head. Thing was, it felt too real to be another of his game-related dreams, but Button couldn't be too sure; from experience, dreams could be every bit as realistic as the physical world. His internal sleeping clock, adapted to shutting his systems down late at night and late in the morning, told him to return to the blissful blackness behind his eyelids.
His ears reflexively perked up a little at the sound of a cacophonous yet faint set of noises. They were receding and in the distance, but he could barely pick out the sound of his name being pronounced slowly.
"But... ton. Buttooon. BUTTON!" yelled Sweetie Belle as she shook Button Mash by his shoulders, startling him to a shriek. Scootaloo and Applebloom's mirthful laughter could be heard behind Sweetie Belle as Button tumbled down his bed.
Or was it a bed? Button tried to stand up on fours, but his world suddenly gave a violent shake accompanied by the sour sound of metal grinding against metal, throwing him down upon the ground, which was carpeted but his cheek could tell that it was of a coarser material than Sweetie Belle's room carpet. By the 'ow's and low thuds that shook through the floor, Button could tell that the fillies succumbed to the force of... whatever it was that they were all in.
"Are we on a train?" groaned Button as he scrambled up to the seat on which he slept on. He rubbed his eyes and saw that the other three ponies were in their Nightmare Night costumes, Scootaloo in her gentlemare's apparel, Sweetie Belle going as Batmare, and Applebloom as a mummy.
"Nope, we're in a moving castle. What do ya think?" said Applebloom as she rose slowly off the floor, trying to find her way back to her own seat; quite a difficulty, considering that her Nightmare Night costume was a collection of toilet rolls draped over herself.
"Wait... why are we even on this train? What happened? WHY WAS I ASLEEP FOR ALL OF THIS?" said Button worriedly. Everypony else shrugged.
"We were really just brought here by Pinkie Pie," said Scootaloo, who held on to the head of the seat in front of hers as the train violently lurched yet again. Button started to get anxious at the two words: Pinkie Pie. They weren't in good hooves.
"Yeah, all of us agreed on following her to Appleloosa. She said Nightmare Night is much more er... profitable there. I guess it's something to do with friendlier people around there, or something along those lines. She spoke really, really fast," said Sweetie Belle, to which Button's eye twitched; they were getting farther and farther away from the safety of home. And games. Sweet, sweet games.
"Yeah, I know, right? The extent Pinkie would go for candy," said Scootaloo in irate reply as her limbs wobbled while hanging on to her seat.
"Speaking of which, where is she?" asked Button.
"Oh, she's driving the train," said Sweetie Belle nonchalantly. Button's eyes widened in panic and he looked out of the window, staring at a juxtaposition of his own reflection and the rolling landscape in the background.
"'Case you didn't know, trains don't usually run this early. She uh, borrowed it," said Applebloom as she picked up a stray piece of mummy wrappings that fell onto the floor.
Button checked himself in the window and gave a gasp as he saw that he already had on raiment of his own. He looked in the reflective surface of the train's windows and saw that he was dressed like that black-costumed vigilante from some video game he couldn't recall. He was a stallion with a mask that covered his eyes, a long sword nearly always in mouth, a black cape, and to (literally) top it all off, a black hat. But in Button's version, he didn't have a sword, and his hat was much taller and larger than he expected (of course, Rarity, the mistress of oversized hats, couldn't disappoint!). He was impressed, but there was one thing missing though.
"Where is it?" said Button as he looked under the seats and checked his pockets. Scootaloo and Applebloom looked on at the hasty Button while Sweetie Belle sighed, producing something jet black from a pocket in her Batmare costume.
"Here you go," she said, handing him the mustache. Button happily took it and placed it on his face, while the other ponies shook their heads. Suddenly, the train took another violent jerk, and at the same time, the door to the compartment swung open, revealing Pinkie Pie, her expression panicked while her movements were full of alacrity. The young ponies had shocked expressions on their faces.
"No time to lose. We've got a deranged millionaire stallion at our 9 o'clock!" cried Pinkie Pie as she swung open the curtains of a window at the left side of the train, revealing Filthy Rich manning a carriage pulled by two of his hired hooves. He had a pipe in his mouth while holding a large rifle in his right foreleg, eliciting a scream of fright from the fillies and one colt. He pulled the trigger with a hoof and suddenly the window was painted a dark blue. Confused whispers ensued.
"Alright, buds. Who gave me this paint-gun? I wanted something that could fire lethal stuff," said Filthy Rich as he used his left hoof to flick the reins of his carriage ponies. One of them looked back and gulped.
"Sorry, boss. You did mentioned that we were gonna be chasin' kids."
Back in the carriage, everypony was staring at Pinkie Pie.
"Alright! I sorta borrowed this really shiiny rock candy ring. It was... so delicious..." said Pinkie Pie, letting a droplet of drool escape her mouth while she grew lost in her thoughts about sweets. Just then, the train's carriage jerked yet again but it was due to Filthy Rich ramming his carriage to the side of their vehicle.
"Confound it, Pinkie Pie! You better cough it up!" cried Filthy Rich as he urged his carriage drivers to go faster. Pinkie Pie actually coughed up the ring from the bowels of her stomach, making the other ponies stick their tongues out in disgust as the saliva coated, golden colored relic found itself on Pinkie's hoof. She initially looked like she was willing to give it up but the new fire in her eyes said something different.
"My... my precious," muttered Pinkie, her eyes red with hunger, who gobbled it up. Filthy Rich looked like he was going to explode.
"That's it! I'm getting on the carriage," said the rich stallion as he slowed down his carriage, disappearing from sight as the train sped on. Pinkie Pie rushed towards the back end of the train car, followed by the other young ponies.
"Wait, isn't this illegal? You know, you're taking us to Appleloosa without the consent of anypony else," said Button as the back door of the carriage suddenly rattled vigorously, hinting at the presence of Filthy Rich on the other side. Pinkie Pie shrugged.
"Well the CMC wanted to go. I mean, who likes spending Nightmare Night's Eve not getting candy?" said Pinkie as all five ponies used their bodies to keep the door shut from the banging of Filthy Rich and his subordinates' hooves.
"B-- But why was *ow*," said Button as the door suffered beating after beating, "I dragged along? I didn't ask for this."
"Well, a little ad-- *oof* venture wouldn't hurt, would it?" said Sweetie Belle angrily, "you spend too much time with your games."
"How does that answer my question?" retorted Button.
"Well," interrupted Pinkie, "she pretty much begged for you to come along, so..."
"DID NOT!" cried Sweetie Belle as amused looks were exchanged. Unfortunately, this distraction cost the ponies the door as it gave way to the force of the intruding stallions, swinging open and throwing everypony back towards the other side of the train carriage. The CMC and Button scrambled up to squeeze themselves into a seat while Pinkie found herself face to face with Filthy Rich.
"Alright, gubs. Surrender the one ring and I'll get all of us home to safely, no charges pressed. If not," said Filthy Rich, who proceeded to cock his paintball gun. He looked disheveled unlike his usually clean and groomed self, with his gelled hair now standing at various angles and his tie loose around his neck. He dragged long and deep on his pipe as he stomped towards Pinkie Pie, cornering her in a seat. Pinkie Pie shifted her eyes to Applebloom, who was huddled in a corner and frightened. Pinkie mimicked spitting in her direction, and Applebloom understood and didn't like Pinkie's implied idea one bit.
Pinkie Pie drew the ring from her stomach and propelled it in a liquid coated mess towards the young ponies, which Applebloom reluctantly caught. She headed for the front door of the carriage, which faced the train's front and control room. Everypony else followed inclusive of Pinkie Pie, who took advantage of the distraction and slid underneath Filthy Rich's hooves. The millionaire was furious and immediately started slugging rounds at his adversaries while his hired hooves mobilized, trying to catch the flexible Pinkie Pie but to no avail. Just then, Pinkie gave a sharp gasp as Filthy Rich got her in the side with a painfully accurate paintball round, staining her pink fur green.
"Go! Save yourseeeeeeeeeeeelvveeeeeesssss!" cried Pinkie as Filthy Rich and his thugs climbed over Pinkie's body, rendered temporarily lame by the green paintball. The other ponies, who managed to make a jump across the gap between the carriages' platforms, were safely on the platform outside the door of the control room/front carriage, and they could only watch; Sweetie Belle screamed while the other ponies looked on helplessly.
"Girls, what do we do?" said Applebloom as the millionaire advanced slowly towards the four ponies, his mane flying in the high velocity wind which the moving train whipped up around them. The CMC talked to each other hastily about the gameplan while Button was rooted to the floor. This whole fiasco was much more than he asked for; If this was an adventure, the digital kind was many times better. He looked around frantically, but found this one button on a panel on the platform's railing that stood out in its red color amongst the dull, rusted exterior of the train.
"Ready or not, little ponies, here I come!" cried Filthy Rich in sing-song cliche cartoon villain style as he braced for a leap. Button pushed the red button on impulse and the hooks joining the two carriages suddenly disconnected while Filthy Rich was midair through his daring jump across the gap. Unfortunately for the CMC and Button, Filthy Rich was a full grown stallion and managed to leap to the small platform, albeit uncomfortably as there was insufficient space for all of the ponies to fit onto it.
"Alright, little demons. Who's got the ring?" said Flithy Rich, his teeth bared. Thinking fast, Scootaloo jumped onto Sweetie Belle's back while Applebloom climbed up the tower their bodies made, in the process grabbing Button's vigilante hat from the top of his head and stuffing it over Filthy Rich's head, causing the filthy rich pony to yell in surprise. To finish it off, Applebloom landed a karate kick onto Filthy Rich's cheek, causing him to wobble in pain, though it was insufficient to get him off the train carriage as his hooves found the stability of the railings.
"Aight, now listen," said Filthy Rich as he removed the hat. The ponies were running out of options, so Sweetie Belle looked around and found Button cowering in a corner, his fake mustache hiding part of his panicked expression. Reflexively, she removed Button's mustache and flung it at Filthy Rich, landing squarely on his nose.
"What?! Artificial hairs? A... A... A-CHOO!" cried Filthy Rich as he sneezed himself off of the carriage, sending him a-tumbling across the barren desert the train's front carriage was moving in. An unsettling lack of talking ensued amongst the CMC and Button, and all that was left was the sound of the wind whistling in their ears and their heavy breathing.
"Let's... let's go in," suggested Scootaloo and all of them made their way into the control room, the only carriage left that was moving on its own. They gasped as they entered the air-conditioned area, which had many panels with an amalgam of buttons. And the driver's seat was empty. Or was it?
"Pinkie Pie, at your service!" said a familiar bubbly pony as she swiveled the driver's seat around to face them.
"Wha--" started Button.
"Don't question things," said Sweetie Belle lethargically as all of them except for the enthusiastic Pinkie Pie collapsed on the floor out of exhaustion.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"So, why go for Nightmare Night so early?" asked Button. Scootaloo and Applebloom were fast asleep though the floor was metallic and the carriage still rattled quite often.
"More candy. Duh," replied Sweetie Belle.
"I know that, but why's candy so important?" said Button, pretty confused as to why they'd do all of this.
"Look, you know, sometimes its not the candy that's the issue. We three have been together for, like, ever," said Sweetie Belle, motioning towards the other two fillies. "And really, so long as we don't get our cutie marks, a new adventure's always worth the try."
"What about Pinkie?"
"Oh, she's definitely in it for the candy. You can tell," giggled Sweetie Belle as Pinkie hummed showtunes to herself while she was directing the front carriage.
"Well... now that you say it," said Button after a minute of thinking. "Adventure. I still don't get how that can beat playing your favorite video games."
"That's because you don't experience it too often. I mean, yeah, I don't play vid games too much, so we're kinda on opposite ends of the spectrum. But honestly, my end will probably get myself my cutie mark faster than you, since, well, you don't really care about yours. So I'd rather be me than you," said Sweetie Belle with a smirk, to which Button gave a frown to but he still said nothing.
"WE'RE HERE!" screamed Pinkie Pie into a microphone. The young ponies stood up on their hooves but the site ahead didn't look at all like the simple town of rustic charm that Pinkie Pie described. It looked more like a city with tall buildings, but they were many times more decorative than the mundane steel-plated skyscrapers of Manehattan. Pinkie gave a chuckle then pointed at a sign on the outskirts of the city they were approaching.
"Yeah... I might have gone a little bit off the course," said Pinkie as her hooves pointed up to a sign with offline neon lights bordering it, which read: Welcome to Las Pegasus.
"Geez... I thought Las Pegasus would be much more lively," commented Button as the group of ponies stepped out of the train station.
The train station was an abandoned wreck of a larger-than-normal shack since no pony in Las Pegasus used the old station anymore. Of course, Button rued his coming to this foreign land with little chance of returning back to civilisation. It didn't help that there were so many ponies in their vicinity who initially stared curiously in his direction, because this was probably the first time in years that a train pulled into the old, worn down building.
Once they had stepped out, they were greeted by questions that demanded answers pertaining to how they got here. It didn't help with the controversy when all of these ponies were in Nightmare Night raiment.
At least the tone of their questioners was fairly amicable. And it helped that the commotion died down after a mere 10 minutes; this city's inhabitants had their own lives to live, it seemed. It felt rather daunting to be whisked to the old station, a dwarf in the midst of giants since it was like a flattened pancake compared to its skyscraper neighbours.
"Now... how to get back..." said Pinkie as she picked up a map from a rusty magazine stand nearby.
"Pinkie, that map's from 1573," said Applebloom, her voice muffled by her mummy costume as she peered over. Pinkie smirked.
"Pfft, how much can this place change in like, I dunno, 400 years? My sister Maud said that rocks never age," said Pinkie, who was reading the map sideways. Applebloom was about to say something but Scootaloo shot her a look, which implied to leave the conversation at that. Sweetie Belle, meanwhile, was sitting beside Button Mash, her head hung as the realisation that they were miles away from home in a bustling, dauntingly dense city with little idea on how to go back.
"Button..." said Sweetie Belle as the group found a wooden bench to hog up near the station as they planned their next move. "Sorry for all of... all of this. I saying stupid stuff before, about adventures and stuff, so I apolog-- HEY!"
Button Mash was nowhere around the bench. Sweetie Belle looked around the area, then told her friends that Button was missing. The frantic search didn't last long though, since he was nearby: in the cockpit of the train, slamming the train's controls in frustration.
"Where's the reverse button?" cried Button Mash as he mashed some of the train's buttons with his hooves. "This is so different from Train Simulator 2013™."
"Well, duh!" cried Sweetie, suddenly flustered at Button's incompetence. She bit Button by the ear and dragged him out of the cockpit, eliciting sharp, high shrieks of pain.
"What was that for?!" cried Button, rubbing his sore ear after she let go. The others watched the two in silence, and the anticipation in their expressions told of their growing interest in the two ponies' quarrel, and waning interest in thinking through the complicated process of finding a way to go home.
"Get a grip and get your head into real life, you... you nerd!"
"Real life™? Is that a game?" asked Button, clearly unreflective about his actions, past or present. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and took the lead, motioning to the others to follow her. Everypony else followed suit and trailed after the disgruntled little filly.
The sights and smells of the city assaulted everyone's senses, foreign as it was in every aspect to the native PonyVillians It was crazy: the smoke from vehicles and cigarettes floated thinly in the air, the sounds of newspaper colts selling the freshest piece of news hot off the press at the corner of streets, and the sight of the great number of buildings, daunting and awe-inspiring as they stood. However, there was one thing that stood out to a certain pink pony in the group; the mood of depression, dissatisfaction, and dismay hanging thick over the heads of the Las Pegasians.
Pinkie Pie looked around, her mane still poofy despite the intense atmosphere the place possessed. However, her face had a frown, which she knew wouldn't perk up unless she did something about it. As the group was walking, the fillies and one colt noticed that Pinkie Pie was trotting slower than usual, and her head hung as if deep in thought.
"Wait a minute. Guys! Get away from Pinkie, I saw something twinkle in her eye!" hissed Scootaloo to the others, and Button looked on in confusion as the other fillies quickened their pace, as if Pinkie was infected with a malicious disease.
"What for?" asked Button, who was promptly yanked away by Sweetie's hoof.
And then, it came.
"SKI-BI-DI-BI-DEE-DOP-DEE-DEE-DA-DA-BEE-BOP-DA-DOO!" cried Pinkie Pie as she whipped out a top hat and a tuxedo, invoking the appearance of a gentlecolt. Her scat singing was raucous and loud, loud enough to startle Button to squeal in fright and huddle close to the girls (who shook their heads, one in dismay, two in amusement). All of a sudden, Pinkie's magic (or whatever Pinkie does when she summons a ton of props) caused a stage, lights, cameras, party poppers and a pyro display to appear. To finish it off, Pinkie had a golden cane in her hoof as she continued scat singing, a look of utmost glee on her face as Las Pegasians had looks of utter fear on their faces, distancing themselves away from the psychotic pink pony.
The rest of the group advanced on while the Element of Laughter... was being the Element of Laughter.
"Oh crud... A mall!" cried Button in trepidation, nearly planting his hooves on the spot as the girls dragged him in there. The mall looked dreary, much like the activities that Button portended the girls would take him there to do. But he noted that they weren't girl girls like Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. They weren't afraid of sticking their hooves in mud, and were daredevils in every sense of the word. However, Button still didn't like girls, the natural nerd in him disallowing him any ease when near females.
"Relax, Button. It's nothing to be afraid of. Nopony's around anyways," Scootaloo commented as they made their way into the grey, dreary building. It was square in all dimensions and the dust that caked its exterior looked ready to be blown off with a small breath. Scootaloo and Applebloom gingerly pushed the door open while Sweetie Belle looked around the area. Nothing much, just industrial-looking buildings and skyscrapers that seemed to all be the same. Button watched the rest of the fillies walk into the mall, but he was seemingly afraid to enter the dreary building, having a weird gut feeling about the place; it was in the afternoon and bright as day, yet Button still couldn't place his hoof on it. It was... creepy? Couldn't be! Button had played many a creepy game in the past, so he should be immune to something as trivial as a mall!
"Hey, Spooky-pants, you coming in? We haven't got all day, you know," said Sweetie Belle, standing by her friends, visible to Button through the glass door. He gulped and trotted inside quickly, being extra sure to put on an annoyed face.
"It's just that... malls are so... BORING!" moaned Button, whining as he usually did. Inside, the mall was dark (the only source of light was from the outside, where the sunlight was coming in through the glass door entrance) and didn't have any ponies, and every hoof-step could be heard echoing off the walls. The shops were all closed, and there were advertisements still pasted everywhere, some aiming to sell small products like toothpaste and horseshoe polish, and others trying to promote products that were of the "latest technology", which included typewriters and printers. This mall was from a whole other era.
"Sweetie Belle, please, control your man over there, we need to find a map or something!" Scootaloo said, triggering a snigger from Applebloom while the white filly was visibly shaken from the comment, rolling her eyes. Button's eyes were fixed to a space beside the glass door, where dust particles could be seen floating around in the entering sunlight.
"We've got to find the power switch or something, I can't see squat!" cried Scootaloo, her monocled eye squinting through the darkness.
"Well, there's alway's Button's Joyboy," suggested Applebloom, "Meanin', we could always use that as a flashlight or somethin'."
At that moment, a shadow was cast over the filtered light that came in through the glass door.
"Hey kids..." exclaimed a voice from the other side of the glass door, and every pony turned to face the source. The resulting sight gave all of the little foals a fright, try as they might to make light of the situation.
"My... precious..." said Filthy Rich, the normally well-groomed and smartly dressed stallion now outside the mall, his eyes bloodshot and his fur sticking out at split ends, looking like a werewolf-pony hybrid.
"H-Howdy, Mr. Rich. Ah see ya got yer Nightmare Night costume on! Bein' a lil' greedy fer sweets, aren't we?" said Applebloom sheepishly while her friends were still too shocked to move. Filthy Rich laughed, and his hooves set out to push the doors open. However, Applebloom reacted immediately, turning 180 degrees and bucking the door, slamming it in Filthy Rich's face.
"Run!" she cried, and every pony gladly complied, slipping away into the deep dark of the unknown mall before Filthy Rich could react.
