"Sweetie Belle! There's a zombie on your tail!" Button screamed at Sweetie Belle over the voice chat. His mother had convinced Rarity that buying Sweetie Belle an Xbuck would help her connect with Button Mash. Rarity was very eager to help Sweetie Belle connect with Button Mash.
"There's a noob in my way!"
A garishly outfitted player with entry-level weapons and the nametag 'plotzpwnsohard' was, sure enough, standing in Sweetie Belle's way. A few seconds later, two mottled pale hooves wrapped around his neck and the player sank to the ground in a pool of blood. Sweetie Belle slashed the zombie's head off and grabbed the black sword it dropped.
Button gasped. "That's the Onyx Sword of Droom! It's the rarest weapon in the game! It has a 0.000367 percent drop rate!"
"Is it any good?"
"Well...no. It's mostly a collector's item. It should get you a couple million gold pieces in the market, though."
"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity called from the background. "What are you playing? That doesn't sound like EduTown!"
"I gotta go. Rarity got me a new game and banned me from playing this after she saw how much blood was in it."
SweetieBelle123 left the game.
Button exited to the main menu. There wasn't much to do in Equestria of the Ancients without Sweetie Belle.
"Button, are you free? I have something that might interest you!" His mom pushed open the door and laid a flyer on his bed.
LOVE TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES?
LOVE TO GET PAID?
COME AND BECOME A BETA TESTER!
PLAY GAMES ALL DAY!
GET PAID AT NIGHT!
Simply fill put the sheet on the back and turn it in at the Equestrian Gaming building, located next to the arcade
Get paid up to ten bits an hour for testing video games, pointing out bugs, and recommending games to market to foals your age
Looking for foals ages 8-12. Must be accompanied by adult.
"I can get paid for playing video games? BEST DAY EVER!!!!" Button dropped his controller and ran around in circles.
His mother smiled. "We can go over there as soon as you're ready."
*******************
"All right, kids!" a scrawny stallion wearing a fake headset said, waving his hooves. "Who's here to play some video games?" Along with the others, Button raised his hoof.
"My name's Gizmo, but you can call me F4! You can get started playing games as soon as your adult pony signs a form saying what kind of games you can play!" He passed out forms and Button's mom signed it. Button loved his mom. She let him play any game he liked as long as it didn't have 'sexual content', whatever that meant.
"The first game we're going to play is a simple platform scroller game. For the foals among you who might not know what that is, it's a game where your character walks across a moving screen, killing bad guys along the way." F4 pointed at a row of shiny new Xbucks across the room. "Every time you see a bug, we'd like you to pause the game and fill out a sheet explaining about the bug. The foal who spots the most bugs gets a special prize at the end. Once you've finished the game, you write about it, what things you liked and what you didn't like. Then you get paid!"
******************
"Time's up, everypony!" the strangely peppy stallion said. "Please turn in your review and bug reports to me." Button scribbled a few more notes on his extensive review and then dropped it into the messy pile along with his four bug report sheets. F4 spent a few minutes reading through them and occasionally muttered to himself or smiled. Finally, he put the papers down.
"Congratulations to Button Mash for catching more bugs than anyone else! He found thirty-seven, over twice the amount that the second-place foal found. Come over here, Button Mash!"
Button Mash's chest swelled as he strutted up next to F4. "What's my prize?"
"We'll train you as a junior assistant beta tester!"
"Wait...WHAT? I CAN HAVE A REAL, ACTUAL JOB PLAYING VIDEO GAMES?"
"Sure. All you have to do is have your mom or dad sign a form, and you can get right to playing games."
Button's future life flashed through his eyes. He would rise through the ranks of beta testing incredibly quickly, becoming a billionaire before he turned eighteen. He would propose to Sweetie Belle in the most expensive, romantic way possible. They would have two foals. A filly and a colt.
"Um...Button?"
The filly and colt would grow up to be video game designers. They would make epic games and become billionaires themselves. Button and Sweetie Belle would become grandparents. They would retire and live in Scoltland for the rest of their lives. They would be buried in the same tomb.
"Button, take a look at your flank."
"Why? It's....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY CUTIE MARK IT'S HERE SWEETIE BELLE WILL BE SO PROUD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" An image of a game disk with a green label reading 'Beta' now adorned his flank.
******************
"You got your what? Your patootie shark?"
"MY CUTIE MARK, SWEETIE BELLE. MY FREAKING CUTIE MARK." Button stuck his flank in the air. "SEE, LOOK."
Sweetie Belle opened and closed her mouth, but no sound came out.
"Y-you got your cutie mark," she finally managed, staring either at his cutie mark or his hot flank. Button couldn't tell which. "How did you do it?"
"I dunno, I was just talking to this guy who OFFERED TO PAY ME FOR PLAYING VIDEO GAMES and imaging my life AND IT JUST APPEARED. LIKE THAT."
"I'll have to tell the CMC. Because...you know...since you're not a blank-flank anymore, we'll have to discuss what to do. Goodbye, Button." The video chat winked out and Button shut his computer. Suddenly he wasn't so sure that his cutie mark was so great.
