The One and Only
Button Mash was frustrated.
It was the thirteenth time in a row that his brother Joystick has beaten him in Super Mareio Bros. The duo had been up since two in the morning competing furiously, and Joystick had triumphed over him one too many times.
But no more.
Button Mash took a deep breath before grabbing his juice box and taking a large swig of the golden liquid, flavoring the sweet taste. Once it had been sucked dry by his merciless mouth, he squeezed the box between his two hooves and tossed it over his shoulder and into a large pile of empty juice boxes. Flopping back on the couch, he narrowed his eyes at his older brother, who returned his venomous stare with a smirk.
Joystick brushed his sandy-colored mane out of his eyes and grabbed the controller in his hooves. "Ready to be beaten for the fourteenth time?" he gloated.
"Ha! In your dreams," Button Mash retorted. He grabbed his controller, gluing his eyes to the screen, and announced, "Go!"
Joystick selected the Start button, and Button Mash felt his heartbeat steadily growing faster as the game began. The object of the game was simple: be the first pony to collect five stars by jumping, running around, and collecting power-ups.
Button Mash instantly steered his avatar forward, where the green-clad stallion leaped towards the golden star that had popped up. He cheered as the stallion crashed into the star, which vanished in a shimmering shower of sparkles. Joystick grunted unhappily.
Over the next hour, the brothers leaped around, darted towards stars, acquired power-ups, and tried desperately to attack and steal each others' stars. The lead bounced back and forth, and Button Mash's heart was racing as he collected his fourth star. His mane was stuck to his scalp with sweat, and he reached back with one hoof and idly brushed it out of his eyes.
Joystick and Button Mash both held four stars at the end of the hour, and the fifth star had just appeared. Both brothers steered their avatars forward quickly, and Button Mash cried out happily as he approached the star. I'm going to win! Finally!
Joystick simply smirked as he watched his brother race forwards. What Button Mash had forgotten to take in was that Joystick currently had a power-up that allowed him to launch fireballs at his brother. As Button Mash trotted forward, Joystick launched a fireball.
The deadly, red-hot ball of pixels tumbled forward, a faint orange tail trailing it. Button Mash saw it and gasped, trying to jump over it, but it was too late. The fireball hit, deducting a star from Button Mash's score and temporarily paralyzing him.
"NOOO!" Button Mash tried desperately to gallop forwards, but it was too late. Joystick had already collected the last star.
And won.
A sudden burst of rage filled Button Mash, and he roared angrily, which ended up sounding more like a distressed squeak. He tossed his controller on the floor as hard as he possibly could(which was not very hard at all) and whipped around to face his brother.
"Why do you have to beat me at everything? Can't you just let me win at least once?"
"But that would be cheating," Joystick quirked, raising an eyebrow. "Everypony knows I'm the best video game player in Ponyville. Why don't you just run along and play your handheld?"
Button Mash roared once more, stomping the ground with his hoof. Squealing angrily, he raced out the door to his house, ignoring his brother's taunting remarks, and emerged in a bright and sunny day in Ponyville.
* * *
"He's not even that smart, either! He acts like a big know-it-all but he's really doesn't know everything!"
After Button Mash's little episode, he had retreated to the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse where Sweetie Belle had agreed to meet the flustered colt. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were both busy, leaving the white filly to tend to Button Mash on his own.
"I thought Joystick made the honor roll at Ponyville High," Sweetie Belle pointed out. Upon receiving a furious glare from Button Mash, she instantly winced, realizing her mistake. "Sorry. Not helping."
"I just wish he would let me be better than him once," Button Mash sighed. He leaned back against the wall, crossing his hooves. After a moment of silence, he instantly straightened up, his eyes sparkling. "Wait a second! I know what to do!"
"What?" Sweetie Belle tilted her head curiously, her eyes quizzical.
"You're learning magic with Princess Twilight, right?"
"Ssh!" Sweetie Belle's eyes widened before darting around, and she raced up to Button Mash, stuffing her hooves in his mouth. "It's supposed to be a secret, remember?"
Button Mash shoved Sweetie Belle's hooves away, his cheeks reddening at their touching hooves. "Sorry. What I was going to say is that maybe there's some sort of spell you can cast on me to make me just like my big brother!"
"What?" Sweetie Belle shook her head furiously, her pale pink-and-purple curls bouncing. "I'm really not that good with my magic yet! I only just mastered basic levitation. To take on more would be..." She winced as she saw Button Mash's eyes widen sadly and stick out his lower lip.
"Please? For me?"
Sweetie Belle sighed. "Fine. I'll have a look in the library for a spell, but there are no guarantees I can actually cast it!"
"Yes!" Button Mash pumped his hoof eagerly, a grin spreading on his face. "Thanks a billion!"
"No problem." Sweetie Belle sighed. "I'll be right back."
* * *
"So...let me get this straight." Princess Twilight Sparkle frowned at the white filly before her as she began putting a stack of books in its proper place. "You want a spell that can make Button Mash just like his big brother?"
"Exactly!" Sweetie Belle's eyes shone.
"Sweetie Belle, you can't use magic to solve all of your problems, or other ponies' problems. I think this is something that Button Mash needs to work out on his own."
"But he really needs this! And it would be good practice for me! Please?"
Twilight hesitated, her violet eyes uncertain as they shifted back and forth, resisting meeting Sweetie Belle's dreaded puppy eyes. "Well...check the third shelf from the bottom over there...to the right..." Twilight jabbed a hoof in the air towards the shelf a couple shelves down from where she was standing. Sweetie Belle trotted over and instantly begun sifting through the books, her eyes bright.
"Sweetie Belle..." The filly paused in her book-searching to glance up at the pale purple pony. "Please don't overdo it. Like I said before, don't rely on magic to solve everything in life."
"Gotcha!" Sweetie Belle instantly returned to her searching. She begun pulling books out and tossing them over her shoulder, much to Twilight's dismay, who instantly begun snatching them up and making a neat pile.
"Hmm...what's this one?" Sweetie Belle frowned as she picked up a bright blue book with yellow writing.
A Filly's Guide to Magic: Volume I
"Aha!" The filly triumphantly flipped open the book and scanned the table of contents. "Let's see...big brother...big brother...what's this?" Following the instructions on the page, Sweetie Belle turned to page 67, and at the top of the page was the spell she had been searching for.
Spell #191: The "Big" Spell
"Hmm...Button Mash wants to be like his big brother, so this'll be perfect!" Without even bothering to glance at the description, Sweetie Belle took off, hollering a quick thanks to Twilight, who was still busy placing the books back in their proper place.
* * *
"You found a spell?"
"Yep!" Sweetie Belle beamed at Button Mash as she flipped open to page 67 once more. She payed no mind to the description once more and instead skipped right to the section labeled "Casting the spell." After a quick read through, she winced, biting her lip.
"What?" Button Mash queried, his eyes widening.
"This looks tough. I'm not so sure I can cast it!"
"Oh, come on...please try? For me?"
Sweetie Belle smiled despite her frustration. "Well...okay." Taking a deep breath, she lowered her head, squeezing her eyes shut. "Here goes..."
A faint green aura begin to surround Sweetie Belle's horn, steadily growing stronger. Green light had begun swirling around her horn, and Button Mash backed up against the wall, his jaw dropping.
A green beam shot from Sweetie Belle's horn, slamming into Button Mash, who squealed, his eyes popping out of his head. A green aura enveloped the trembling colt, who had begun to rise into the air.
Sparks begun fizzing from Sweetie's horn, and the aura surrounding Button Mash instantly became weaker. Sweetie Belle grunted, sweat dripping down her face, but it was no use. The green light was already fading, and with a final gasp for air, she collapsed, all the green light gone. Sweat beaded her forehead, and she lay, panting and heaving for a moment before looking dejectedly up at Button Mash, who had walked over.
"S-sorry," she sighed. "It was...just...too hard."
"It's okay," Button Mash said softly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. F-fine." The filly struggled to her hooves, meeting the colt's eyes. "Again...sorry."
"Really. It's fine." Button Mash smiled down at the filly, whose beautiful green eyes were glistening with concern.
Suddenly, a warm feeling ripped through Button Mash's body, quickly turning into a searing heat. He collapsed on the floor as tiny, invisible needles begun pricking his body all over, and started writhing as the heat steadily grew. He shut his eyes as a strange feeling begun coursing through his body, and clamors instantly took hold of his body.
After what seemed like an eternity of discomfort, Button Mash felt something hard closing in on all sides. Groaning, he surged upwards, pushing outward with all of his might, and the box crumbled around him. The painful sensation of heat washed away, much to his relief, to be replaced by a pleasant cooling sensation.
Sighing with relief, the colt opened his eyes, only to find himself in an unfamiliar setting. He was no longer in the clubhouse, but in a grassy field. Glancing around, he noticed slats of broken wood littering the ground, as well as...miniature trees? The once-tall trees were now no taller than his legs, which he shifted awkwardly. Where was he?
Suddenly, his eyes widened as everything clicked. Glancing at his hooves, his jaw dropped as he surveyed the tiny world around him. Somehow everything shrunk! Wait...no...I grew!
"BUTTON MASH!"
Button Mash bent over, inspecting his hooves. A tiny version of the filly he knew as Sweetie Belle was gazing up at him, her eyes the size of dinner plates.
"BUTTON MASH! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"
"Yeah, I can hear you..." Button Mash rubbed his eyes in disbelief. I can't believe it! I grew! Now I'm even taller than the trees! They only come up to my belly! Wow...
"GOOD! I AM GOING TO GET TWILIGHT!"
"WAIT!"
Sweetie Belle winced as a wave of sound slammed into her, and she instinctively shoved her hooves in her ears as the sound became to great. The giant pony rising up before her placed a hoof to his mouth, his eyes apologetic.
"Sorry," he whispered."Could you...maybe...not get Twilight?"
"WHAT? Why? She's the only one who knows how to help you!"
"Yeah, but...what if...she gets mad at me?"
Sweetie Belle scowled. "She's not going to get mad at you!"
"But...what if..."
Sweetie Belle sighed. "Okay, okay. Fine. But I hope you don't expect me to fix this."
The colt blushed, shifting his hooves, all the while causing miniature earthquakes for his friend.
"My magic's drained! Trying that spell zapped it all out of me...hey, speaking of which, what went wrong?" Sweetie Belle flipped back to the spell, her eyes narrowing as she sought out the spell. As she skimmed over the spell's description, a hoof flew to her mouth, and she cringed. "Oops."
"Oops?!"
"Um...this spell is...actually...a growth spell."
Button Mash groaned. "Oh, really?" he snapped, his voice echoing across Sweet Apple Acres. "I had no idea."
Sweetie Belle's shoulders slumped, and she dropped her head, staring at her hooves. Button Mash sighed, realizing his mistake, and bent down awkwardly.
"Sorry, Sweetie Belle. I shouldn't have snapped at you." The filly did not respond except for a loud snuffle. Button Mash gently prodded her with the very tip of his hoof, which was more like a shove to her. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
Sweetie Belle glanced up, drying her moistened eyes as a smile slowly began forming on her face. "I...I think I have an idea!"
* * *
"Away, Button Mash, away!"
Button Mash groaned. "I can't move. There are trees all around me and I don't want to step on them!"
"So step between them..."
"I can't! The gaps are too small!"
"Fine..."
Sweetie Belle shifted atop Button Mash's giant head. She was knee-deep in his orange mane, much to his dislike. She tugged on a strand of his mane as she spoke.
"So...where can you move?"
"...nowhere..."
"Oh. Okay. I like the view from here anyways."
Sweetie Belle smiled to herself as she made herself comfortable. The giant colt's mane was oddly soft, and made for a wonderful bed, and she found herself yawning as she snuggled into Button Mash's mane. "It's getting...late."
"Yeah." Button Mash yawned as well, beginning to curl up in the clearing. "We should...head home." After a moment, he chuckled. "That is if I fit into my home."
Sweetie Belle giggled, her eyes shutting slowly. "Yeah...totally..."
The sun had begun its gentle descent into the horizon, vibrant shades of gold, orange, and red coloring the sky. Sweetie Belle smiled as her eyelids begun dropping, and she tapped Button Mash's head with one hoof. Button Mash simply giggled in reply as his breathing deepened and black slowly began eating away his vision.
After a moment, both fillies were sound asleep, both gently snoring(or in Button Mash's case, not so gently.)
* * *
"Button Mash!"
Button Mash slowly opened his eyes. A tiny white figure was perched on his nose, and as he blinked, the features of Sweetie Belle came into view. "Oh...Sweetie Belle...how'd you get so sm--oh, right."
"Um...somepony is here to see you..."
"Hm? Who?"
Button Mash's eyes flew open as a voice startled him. He whipped his head to the side, forcing Sweetie Belle to cling on for dear life, and gaped as he saw a regal purple figure hovering in the air.
"Button Mash? Are you okay?"
"F-fine, Princess," he whispered, bowing his head to Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight sighed. "Good. Applejack found me this morning and told me that she could see a giant Button Mash from her bedroom window. I wonder how that happened." She turned to look at Sweetie Belle, who blushed, suddenly interested in her hooves as she slid off of Button Mash's nose.
"I...kiiinda found a spell that I thought could help but really turned out to be a growth spell..."
Twilight smiled wryly. "Sweetie, remember when I told you not to use magic to solve all of your problems? Now you see what might happen."
Sweetie Belle nodded. "I'm really sorry...I won't do it again! Promise!"
"As for you, Button Mash..." Twilight flapped her wings, hovering directly in front of Button Mash. "I think I have just the spell to help!" The mare lowered her head, a strong magenta aura already enveloping her horn. A strong pink beam instantly shot from her horn, wrapping itself around the giant colt, who slowly rose into the air, hovering a few feet above the ground. Sweat beaded Twilight's fur, but she wiped it away, pouring more magic into her spell.
Button Mash closed his eyes as he felt the familiar heat and tingling sensation, but this one was much more bearable. After a moment, the cooling sensation washed over him, and he opened his eyes to see a regular-sized Sweetie Belle who beamed at him.
"You're back!" Sweetie Belle raced up to him, placing her head against his. Twilight allowed a smile to creep upon her face, and Button mash blushed but didn't draw himself away. "I'm happy too. Seeing everything so much smaller was...weird."
Sweetie Belle giggled, a hoof flying to her lips. "Yeah. I bet." After a moment, she leaned away, her eyes widening. "Darn...I'm supposed to be back at Rarity's now. I promised her I would help her with her new line!" She turned and began racing away before pausing, glancing over her shoulder at Button Mash. "Bye."
"Bye!" Button Mash smiled, waving one very regular-sized hoof. "See you tomorrow?"
"You bet." The unicorn smiled. "Say...wanna race back to Ponyville?"
Button Mash broke into a grin. "You're on!"
Together the two ponies broke into a run, giggling as they took off into the undergrowth.