Be Mine Tonight

Button placed a hoof onto the rough bark of the tree and allowed his eyes to follow the trunk all the way up to the branches reaching over the pathway. The sunlight filtered through the swaying leaves and cast specks of light onto the colt’s bare body. He had no armor or weapons. He was as vulnerable as a newborn foal. Wherever Button looked, he could only see more trees towering over him. His hoof scraped down the tree until the splintered pieces of bark fell against the dirt. He knelt down and examined the item.

[Tree bark: Can be used as mulch in a flower bed or as a form of emergency sustenance.]

A rustling from the bushes caught his attention. He dropped the bark at his side and it vanished into an inventory slot. If a wild animal attack was imminent, he would need the bark to restore a missing heart or two. Button growled and hunched forward, as if ready to pounce onto his opponent first.

Sweetie Belle jumped out from the bush holding a hoofful of berries. The fur around her mouth was stained purple. Obviously somepony was in the mood for a snack. “I was wondering where you were! I started in a patch of berry bushes and decided to stock up! Don’t we get maps or anything?”

“I don’t think so…” Button froze in place like a statue. “Nope, no map in my inventory.”

Sweetie reached out her hooves and dropped the berries onto the ground. They rolled in every direction like a spilt bag of marbles. “Sorry! I meant to put them away!”

“Yeah, you threw them at me!” Button trotted over and gently scooped up the tiny orbs with his forelegs. “You gotta open your inventory screen then drop them into an empty slot. Otherwise, you’ll just toss them on the ground again. Just be careful, they’re a fragile item. If you fall over or get attacked there’s a chance they could get destroyed.” He placed them in Sweetie’s hooves and watched as they vanished from sight. “There ya go!”

“What should we do now? I know we can do whatever we want, but a little guidance would be nice.” Sweetie cautiously looked behind her as a creaking bough interrupted her thoughts.

“The game manual says we need tools before we can do anything. If we can find some sticks with at least fifty percent durability and a few medium stones we can craft the basic tools!” Button walked past Sweetie and circled the bush she had burst through. “Hmm, not many good sticks around here…”

“What about up there?” Sweetie raised a foreleg up to the bulky branch jutting from the side of a tree. “If you give me a boost, I can climb high enough to snap off some of the larger twigs!”

“Good thinking!” Button knelt on his hind legs and cupped his front hooves together to give Sweetie a boost. She shakily placed a hind leg onto the colt-made step and braced herself against the tree. Button grunted and used all available energy to push the heavier-than-expected filly up toward the branch.

Sweetie wrapped her forelegs around the branch and pulled herself up so that her stomach was against the wobbling piece of wood. She inched forward like a worm, snapping off twigs and allowing them to fall onto the earth below. “Will those work?”

Button nodded. “Yep! Great job, Sweetie! You’re a natural at this!”

Even though it was just a game, Sweetie couldn’t help but feel elated. The simplest tasks felt so rewarding when facing the great unknown. Everything started falling into place. This was the rush that Button felt each time he made progress in one of his virtual worlds. The events were fake, but the emotions were real! “Now all we need are some ro-ah!” She lost her footing and plummeted to the ground.

Button leapt in an attempt to grab her before she perished. With a loud thud, Sweetie landed on his back and watched a red heart fall from her comrade’s body. “Gotcha…” He said with a cough.

“I hurt you! Your health went down… I’m sorry!” Sweetie slid off his back and waited for Button to stand. She was panicking as if she really did injure the laid-back colt lying on the other side of the couch.

“Nah, no biggie. Four hearts left and I still have my bark to eat. Boy, that doesn’t sound appealing at all…”

“Looks like that’s all we have left. The berries are gone…”

“It was a pretty nasty fall. No surprise they were destroyed.” Button stood and inspected his limbs.

“Guess I’m not a natural after all.” Sweetie kicked a foreleg in frustration.

“Cheer up! We’ll find a rock, make an axe, and then you can get revenge on that tree!” Button grinned. The fact that Sweetie was actually playing with him was bringing the colt more happiness than having a few extra berries in their inventory.

Sweetie pumped a foreleg in the air and cheered. “I shall build our home from your corpse, tree!” She faked an evil laugh and scurried after Button to search for rocks.

Not even the chime of the noisy grandfather clock at the far end of the room was enough to tear Button or Sweetie away from the monitor. The filly was falling deeper into the allure of fantasy with each passing second. In an odd turn of events, she had not only come to understand Button's love for gaming but was also losing herself in the events of the game right alongside her new friend!  Sweetie was able to explore a world without any true danger, consequences, or judgment. She was filled with a sense of satisfaction by watching the immediate cause-and-effect of her actions.

Occasionally her eyes would drift away from the screen and onto Button. The focused colt certainly didn't look vulnerable when he was gaming. Barely blinking, his body remained motionless. Only the calculated movements of his hooves against the controller proved that he wasn’t just a stuffed toy on the couch. His eyes never left the action, and his character never left Sweetie's side.

Celestia had long since lowered the sun behind the grand mountain of Canterlot, but the illumination from the screen cast a warm radiance over the young explorers. The magic of friendship was hard at work with Sweetie and Button working as a team to stay alert and alive in their new world.

The fruits of their labor resulted in a small, wooden shack nestled between two of the thickest trees they could find. It was dim and cramped inside, but this humble dwelling was their first home together.

The busy gamers were already hard at work in their cozy household. Button spent most of his time at the workbench reading the oversized crafting book, while Sweetie organized their equipment and loot in the treasure chest near the front door.

Without windows, there was no way to see what was going on around them. Sweetie solved that problem by sending the blade of her axe through the wood. She peeked outside and noticed the shaded abyss just on the other side of the wall. “Um, Button?” Sweetie gulped.

Button's head fell from his leg and landed on the open pages of the book. “Huh, what? Sorry, musta dozed off…”

“It’s dark… Like, really dark.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s ‘cuz the game measures night and day in real time! It’s dark in Ponyville, so it’s dark in the game. That’s why I had to set up the time of day on the menu. Pretty neat, huh?”

“How long have we been playing?” Sweetie watched Button rub his eyes. It seemed like the plucky colt was running out of steam.

“Probably three or four hours. You chopped down that tree, and then we just pretty much hoarded as many items as possible until figuring out where to build our home. It’s not that late! Though I better stop reading all these crafting recipes. My eyes feel like I dipped ‘em in sand.”

A guttural growl sounded.

“You better eat something if you’re stomach’s making that much noise, Sweetie. That means your stamina bar is getting low. We have more than enough berries now after all the foraging I did while you built the house.” Button closed the book and abandoned the workbench.

“That… wasn’t me.” Sweetie moved away from the improvised window. The blood-curdling noise sounded again; except now it was much closer.

Button removed the sword from his inventory and clenched it between his teeth. The wooden blade would do nothing more than lodge a nasty row of splinters into an enemy’s body, but it was better than fighting barehoofed. He crept forward until he was next to Sweetie Belle. The noise sounded again. Button’s encroachment toward the makeshift window halted when a yellow, bloodshot eye filled the hole.

The eye vanished and was replaced by a slobbery maw spewing forth some serious halitosis. Sweetie Belle shrieked and hid behind her sword-wielding hero. Button narrowed his eyes and stared down the beast as it clawed at the outside wall of their home.

“We’re safe inside the house, Sweetie! I just wish I had more torches to put outside. We could’ve prevented this! The book on the workbench said any form of light can ward off monsters at night.”

“We can’t just sit here all night! Should we just save and quit?”

“And stop playing already?!” Button yawned again and smacked his lips together. “That one hurt…”

“Let’s just stop for no-”

A black paw smashed through the wall of the house, sending planks of wood across the room. Sweetie screamed again and braced herself along the far well. The sword fell from Button’s mouth and rattled against the ground. The yellow eyes and unkempt muzzle belonged to a Roaming Warg, one of the most vicious creatures that patrolled the woods at night. This monstrous wolf only moved silently when it was absolutely necessary. Most of the time it was feasting on lost travelers or other unlucky creatures.

A midnight snack of shredded foals was looking mighty appetizing to the lean monster. His limbs were as gnarled as the tree roots running along the ground behind him.

Another swing of his paw made quick work of the interior of their home. Though now the structure was simply a single wall with two shivering colts pressed against it. Time was running out! Another swipe and both ponies would be dead meat. They didn’t have the health or equipment to conquer this high-level creature.

Button sprung forward and grabbed the sword with his mouth. The wolf’s paw smashed against the ground. Sweetie could only watch through the flying debris as Button slid between the wolf’s front legs and stabbed the sword into its chest. The beast writhed in unexpected pain, while Button scrambled to his legs.

“We gotta run!” Button shouted over the demonic moans echoing through the woods.

“But, our house… we worked so hard!”

“We’ll build a better one! Outta stone next time!” Button smirked and jumped to the side as a hindleg of the warg nearly mashed him into a pancake.

Sweetie closed her eyes and made a gallop of faith across the wreckage of their lost home. She turned to take one last look. “It’s gone…” Button grabbed her foreleg and yanked her away from the scene.

“Easy come, easy go! Just keep moving!”

The wolf reared its head back and howled to the treetops. It ripped the sword from between its ribcage and wasted no time pursuing the valiant pony and his distressed damsel. The brush and overgrowth of the woods did nothing to slow the pace of the bloodthirsty monster. Nothing mattered now except turning Button into a statistic.

“It’s gaining on us!” Sweetie continued kicking her legs as fast as possible.

“It’s okay! I see the edge of the forest! Maybe that thing can’t leave the woods!” Button panted. He trampled through the ivy attempting to wrap itself around his hooves. Tripping now would be a death sentence.

The foals leapt over the final few feet of the forest and landed on the cool grass overlooking the plains below. Button savored the moment of peace and waited for his stamina gauge to refill. Sweetie was lying on her stomach. She breathed a sigh of relief until a familiar growl was heard.

Turns out the Roaming Warg could leave the woods.

And it had friends.

Button and Sweetie scooted to the edge of the cliff, while three of the twisted creatures moved in for the kill. The outline of the forest faded and was replaced by matted fur and strands of viscous drool. They were trapped.

No home. No weapons. No hope.

“Sweetie, grab my hoof!” Button slowly slid his hoof through the grass until it bumped against hers.

“I-I can’t! We’re doomed!”

“No way. I’ve been doing this for years! Now grab on!” Button impatiently pounded the ground.

The smell of rotten carrion was heavy on each of the three beasts’ muzzles. The ruptured veins of their eyes were pressing down onto the foals.

Sweetie wrapped her foreleg around Button’s. “Was this just an excuse to hold my hoof?” She smiled.

Button blushed and shook his head. “N-no! But it was an excuse to do this! Hold your breath!”

He fell backwards off the cliff and pulled Sweetie along with him. They watched as the jaws of death chomped into the ground. The air was rushing over their bodies as they fell at a deafening speed. Sweetie could feel her stomach pushing against her lungs. She wasn’t even sure how long they had been falling. Now instead of being eaten alive they would smash into the ground.

But rather than hearing a splat…

Splash!

Both ponies were consumed by a veil of bubbles rising up from the impact. Their limp bodies welcomed the sight of panicked fish darting around in every direction. Button’s cheeks were bulging with air. He pointed a hoof upward, and they both swam to the surface. Gasps and coughing ruined the tranquility of the river. When the commotion settled, they were eye-to-eye; bobbing in the water.

“Ah, I was hoping that would work!” Button grinned.

“What... just happened?” Sweetie followed Button to the riverbank. She was expecting to hear ominous music followed by a game over screen, but instead she was alive and well.

They both crawled onto dry land and looked up to the cliff looming over them. The wolves were gone. Perhaps there was a less never-say-die meal waiting for them back in the forest.

“Eh, just some boring game mechanics. You wouldn’t care.” Button used his hooves to ring the water from his mane.

“Tell me! I’m still learning this stuff!” Sweetie pouted.

“Some games are made so that when you fall off a cliff you die. Bam. Just like that.” He shook the water from his body like a disgruntled canine. “Other games don’t punish you unless you make contact with the ground. I caught a glimpse of the water and thought ‘why not?’”

“I don’t know how you can think so quickly on your hooves…”

Button shrugged and fell onto his back. “I guess I just have a knack for this stuff. I dunno… I probably sound so lame.” He closed his eyes. “I’m sure this boring game is nothing like your real crusades with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.”

Sweetie joined Button and also reclined on the ground. She looked up at the artificial stars twinkling against the curtain of night and smiled. “It’s not about being real or fake. It’s about having fun with the ponies you care about. We go on crusades to see parts of Equestria that we might never see otherwise. It brings us closer together.”

Sweetie paused and tried to organize the jumbled words bouncing around inside her chest.

“You know... when Miss Cheerilee first suggested you as a partner, I wasn’t really thrilled. We never talked before, and the only thing I knew was that you liked milkshakes and arcades. Then Diamond Tiara stopped me after school and said all of these terrible things about you.” Sweetie sighed. “And… I believed them. It was just so much easier to accept the lies than to discover the truth. Looking back, I’m glad we were paired up. I had a lot of fun today, Button.”

Button remained silent.

“Um, and I was honestly flattered when you told me that this game could be our own personal adventure together. I’ve been so preoccupied with schoolwork and finding my cutie mark that I forgot to just take a step back and do something fun! I’m starting to like the idea of being your player two.” She blushed and stifled a giggle. “Though I’m sure Rumble would scream a lot less than me.”

The clock chimed again and startled the filly. She dropped her controller and squeaked. Button was snoozing on the couch next to her. The colt was curled up in the fetal position with the controller still held tightly between his hooves.

“Guess you didn’t hear me…” Sweetie said quietly.

“Oh, I’m sure he knows, Sweetie.” Penny walked down the stairs and grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch. She flung it over her son and tucked the fabric under his sides. “He doesn’t go outside as often as he should. All the running around probably tired him out. Now let’s get you home before your family has a meltdown. I didn’t know it was this late!”

“What were you doing?” Sweetie hopped off the couch and followed Penny to the door.

“Just folding laundry upstairs.” Penny chuckled nervously. Definitely not sneaking in a quick game on Button’s JoyBoy… “And feel free to explain this Mineshaft game to me. For once, I’d like to have a breakfast with my son that doesn’t sound like he’s speaking in a foreign language.”

/) To be Continued (\