Chapter One: The Beginning
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were sitting at a lunch table together, glad that they had found a table together. The rest of the lunchroom was full of ponies talking and moving around, trying to find a table. A colt named Button Mash walked by the girl’s table, trying to find somewhere to sit.
“Oh, hi, Sweetie Belle.” He said when he saw her.
“Hi, Button.” Sweetie said, giving him a shy smile. Button smiled back and then walked on, trying to find a table he could sit at. Sweetie Belle turned around to face her friends to see them holding their hooves up to their mouths, giggling.
Sweetie Belle’s face began to glow red. “Wh-why are you guys laughing?” She asked.
“You totally have a crush on him, Sweetie Belle. You don’t know how obvious it is.” Scootaloo said.
“But I don’t!” Sweetie Belle said. She turned away from her friends. “We’re just friends.” She scanned the crowd of ponies for Button Mash, and she saw him standing with his lunch tray, looking around for someplace to sit. Sweetie Belle felt kind of bad for him, she turned back to her friends. “Do you mind if he sits with us?”
“Why? Because you looooooooove him?” Scootaloo asked, and then burst into giggles.
“N-no…. He… He just can’t find a place to sit, and since there’s only three of us, maybe he could sit here.” She said.
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom took a minute to calm their giggling and then nodded. Sweetie Belle smiled widely and then she turned back to Button and waved her hoof in the air, trying to get his attention. He turned and saw her and walked over to her.
“Hi, Button. Do you want to sit with us?” She asked.
“That would be great, thank you Sweetie Belle,” He paused for a moment, and then realized Scootaloo and Apple Bloom sat with Sweetie, “And Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.” He said, taking a seat and putting down his lunch tray. Sweetie Belle sat back down as well and the three of them began eating their lunches.
Once they had all finished eating their lunches, they sat and talked until lunch was over. “So, Button, what’s the story on how you got your cutie mark?” Scootaloo asked.
Button looked down at his flank to see his cutie mark. It was a joystick with two red buttons next to it. “Well…” He started, his gaze leaving his flank and turning towards the girls. “One day, I was playing games in the arcade and a bunch of foals were watching me play. A few of them told me how good I was, and that’s when I realized that I didn’t just like playing video games, but I was actually good at it.” He paused. “That I am actually good at it.” He corrected himself, smiling slightly at the memory.
The girls all nodded, none of them really enjoyed playing video games, but they all knew how much he liked them. The bell rang for lunch to be over and the four of them got out of their seats and headed to their next class. They separated and each went to their next class by themselves.
Sweetie Belle sat in her equestrian history class doodling in her note bad. She drew a little heart and inside it she wrote SB and BM with an infinity sign underneath it. She sighed happily and turned her head to look out the window. Her teacher passed by her and looked down at her notes, seeing the little doodles and the perplexed look on her face, she smiled and just walked away, not bothering to get the little filly in trouble.
“Now class.” She said. Sweetie Belle jumped slightly from surprise and she turned to face the front of the classroom. “Who can tell me one of the ponies who helped found Ponyville?” She asked.
Nopony moved and raised their hoof. “Anypony?” The teacher asked. “Sweetie Belle?” She asked, turning her head towards where Sweetie was sitting. She had turned her head to stare back out the window and hadn’t heard her name be called.
“Sweetie Belle?” The teacher asked again.
“Yes ma’am?” Sweetie Belle asked, turning to face the teacher.
A few of the other ponies in her class giggled. “Can you tell me the name of somepony who helped found Ponyville?” The teacher asked.
Sweetie Belle was friend’s with Apple Bloom, and her granny had helped found Ponyville, so this was an easy question for her. “Granny Smith.” She said.
“Correct.” The teacher said with a smile. Sweetie Belle smiled at her accomplishment and turned back to face the window.
Button Mash was sitting in math class. Math was his worst subject, and he didn’t understand a thing. He knew he should be paying attention, but he was too distracted. The mare of his dreams had asked him to sit with her and her friends at lunch today. Did that mean anything? Or was she just trying to be nice?
Button sighed and laid his head down on his table. He had been up all night trying to beat the last level of his favorite game. Having his head down, he quickly fell asleep. He was awakened a few minutes later by a loud thud right next to his ear. He brought his head up so quickly, that he almost fell back in his chair.
He searched for the source of the sound which had woken him up, and he saw a math textbook sitting on his desk, surrounded by a magical aura. He looked up at his teacher, whose horn was surrounded with the same magical aura.
“Button Mash.” The teacher said sternly. “You have earned yourself another detention.”
“B-but sir, I-”
“No buts. Now, answer this question.” The teacher looked down at the textbook on the desk in front of him. It was opened to a random page somewhere in the middle. The teacher cleared his throat. “Can you find the slope of a line with the problem 5x - 5y = 7 ?” He asked.
“Ummmmm…… Is it 5?” Button asked.
The other students began laughing and whispering to each other. “Silence!” The teacher bellowed, and the room quickly became silent. “No, Button. It’s not 5. Please explain to me how you would find the answer.” He said.
“Ok….” Button said awkwardly. “Ummm.. Well first you would rewrite it so it’s in the format y = mx + b.” Button said.
“Yes, and what would that be?” The teacher asked.
“-5y = 5x + 7.” Button said. “And then you would divide everything by positive 5, right?”
“That is correct, but can you tell me how you came up with that solution?” The teacher asked.
“Well, you need to get the y all by itself. In order to do that, you need to divide everything by positive 5.” Button explained. “And that would be…..” He paused for a moment, doing the math in his head. “y = x +7/5.”
“What next?” The teacher asked.
“That’s it, I think. You said to find the slope, and the slope is the coefficient of the x, in this case it’s 1.”
“Good job.” The teacher said. He directed his attention back to the rest of the class. “Now, does everypony understand how to do this?” He asked. There were mumbles and groans and nods. He nodded swiftly and moved on to the next problem.
When school was finally over, Button rushed to find Sweetie Belle. He had written a note for her during his free period, and he wanted to give it to her. He was extremely nervous, and he didn’t know if he could pull it off.
He spotted Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom sitting together at a table outside, probably enjoying the nice day a little before heading home. He stood for a second, watching them, and catching his breath. Sweetie Belle had been cute when she was a filly, but now she was drop dead gorgeous, probably even more beautiful than her sister, Rarity. Finally, he started to make his way towards her.
As he was making his way towards Sweetie, he saw Featherweight walking towards the two of them as well. He had cleaned up a little since back when he was a young colt. Button saw him stop and talk to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Button saw Featherweight’s face glow bright red when he started talking to Sweetie Belle.
Button then saw Sweetie Belle gasp, and her face turned slightly red. He saw her say something, but he couldn’t make it out. Featherweight looked like he became very sad, he said his goodbyes and then walked away. This made Button even more nervous, why did she turn him down? Was it because she likes somepony else? Button gulped nervously and continued walking towards her.
“Hi Sweetie Belle, hi Apple Bloom.” Button said when he arrived.
“Hi Button!” The girls said simultaneously. They giggled a little that they had spoken in sync. “What’s up?” Sweetie Belle asked him.
“I uhhh….. I just wanted to say hi.” He said. He thought of the letter he had written that was sitting in his saddlebag now. “I mean bye…. Since I’m leaving now…. To go home….” He said awkwardly. “So ummm….. Bye.” He gave a nervous little wave with his hoof and then took off.
“That was weird.” Sweetie Belle said, turning back to Apple Bloom. She knew why Sweetie thought it was weird, but she knew exactly what just happened. Button had a crush on her, and since she just turned down Featherweight he didn’t want to do anything. Poor Sweetie Belle is just too naîve.
Button Mash arrived back home not long after the little fiasco with Sweetie Belle. He groaned when he walked in, and his mother must have heard him. “Button? Is that you?” She asked from the kitchen.
“No mom, I’m a burglar.” He said, kicking the door shut. He walked through the house to his room, passing his mom in the kitchen.
“Honey, did you have a bad day?” She asked.
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” He mumbled. He walked into his room and closed the door. He threw his saddlebag on the floor and jumped face-first onto his bed. He groaned loudly into the pillow and punched it a few times. He rolled over onto his back and just stared at the ceiling for a little while.
After a few minutes, he hopped out of his bed and turned on his gaming system. He heard a soft knock on his door, and a second later his mom came in, holding a box of apple juice. “Thanks.” He said, taking it from her and setting it down.
“Honey, you can tell me anything that’s bothering you.” She said.
“I just don’t want to talk about it, ok?” He said.
His mom sighed and looked around his dirty room. “Button, how many times do I have to tell you to clean your room?” She asked. She picked up his saddlebag, and a piece of paper fell out onto the floor. She draped the saddlebag over her back and she picked up the piece of paper. “What’s this?” She asked, about to open it and read it.
“It’s probably nothing.” Button said, turning around. “MOM!” He screamed. “Don’t touch that!” He jumped up and snatched it out of her hoof. He quickly tore it up and stuffed it into his trash can, which was full of other ripped up pieces of paper and apple juice boxes.
Button’s mom awkwardly left the room, hanging Button’s saddlebag up on her way out. Button sighed and closed his door after her, and got back to his game. He started by playing some Minecraft. He selected a world he had played on many times before, a creative world where he just created pixel art. He flew around, looking at all the things he had made previously, mostly hearts with his and Sweetie’s names in them.
He sighed and started creating another heart with colored blocks. He got bored quickly, and decided to play something else. He scrolled through his games until he found one of the Legend of Zelda games. It was Twilight Princess, his personal favorite. He selected it and waited for the game to load and then he started a new game.
While he waited for the load screen to pass and for the beginning of the game to start, he thought out loud to himself. “Why do all the heros always get the girls?” He said to himself. “Why do the gamers never get their girls?” He said.
When the start screen started up, he realized that it didn’t start exactly as he remembered it. Epona was galloping towards the screen instead of away from the screen. Button stared at it, wondering what was happening. Then Epona jumped through the screen and landed on top of Button, knocking him unconscious.
When Button woke up, he looked around. His surroundings seemed so familiar, but he couldn’t quite place where he had seen all this before. He was inside somewhere, it looked almost like he was inside a tree. He heard someone calling for him, so he tried get up so he could answer their call. After a moment of trying to move, he realized that he couldn’t move.
Button started to freak out a little. A sudden thought occurred to him, what if he thought of a controller to move instead of the usual thoughts to move? He imagined moving the joystick around and he started walking. “Alright, so in this world, that’s how I move. Got it.” He thought to himself.
He heard the strange voice calling for him again. The voice sounded so familiar, like he had heard it somewhere before. He walked over to the window he saw and looked outside. He saw a strange bipedal creature. From many of the games he had played before, he recognized this as a human.
The human called for him to come down, and to bring Epona with him. He recognized this situation from a game he had played once, the game he had selected earlier, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. He looked down at himself and realized that he was a human as well.
He shuddered slightly at the strange situation. He left the window and then he left the house to meet the human waiting for him down below. “Hurry, Button, and bring Epona with you!” He said.
Button tried to speak and reply to him, but he found himself unable to say anything. He started walking around. He didn’t know exactly where to find Epona, he looked behind him, next to his house, where she usually was, but he didn’t see her. “Could she be at the spring?” He asked himself. “Oh! That’s right. Epona is at the spring with Illia.” He thought to himself.
He walked away into the forest and made his way to the spring. He walked inside to see Illia trying to pet Epona. He watched for a moment, and then Illia noticed him standing there.
“Oh, hi, Button.” She said. “I washed Epona for you!” Button tried to thank her, but again, he realized that he couldn’t speak. He started to walk towards them, but Illia stopped him.
“Button, would you do me a favor? Would you play that song that Epona likes?” She asked. “I tried to play it for her, but I can’t seem to do it quite like you.”
Button knew exactly what she was talking about, having played the game plenty of times before. He looked around for a piece of horseshoe shaped grass and picked it up, blowing into it. A happy little tune rang through the air and Epona whinnied happily and trotted over to him.
“Don’t work her too hard.” Illia said. Button petted her gently and then climbed up onto her back. He rode her back into the village, looking around at all the familiar sights. He trotted her up to the ranch where he was going to round up all the rams. He spoke to a few of the citizens standing around outside, admiring the beautiful sunset.
Button walked over, still riding on Epona, to Fado and talked to him. “Would you and Epona round these guys up into the barn real quick? They’ve been awful skittish lately and they won’t listen to a word I say.”
Button rounded up the goats into the barn quickly. Fado thanked him and Epona and then asked if he wanted to practice jumping the fences. Button wanted to say no, but he couldn’t answer. Fado set up the fences anyway, so Button jumped them a few times. Finally, he jumped over the gate and went back into town.
He walked through the town and back to his house. He walked inside and then went to sleep. The next morning, he woke up the same way as the morning before. Somepony… Somebody…. Was calling for him.
“Hey! Wake up, Button! It’s morning already!” He heard a child’s voice call. He went up to the window and looked out to see three of the children of Ordon Village standing down there waving up at him. He left the window and climbed down all three sets of ladders until he reached the children.
He knew that these kids admired him, or at least his character, if he really was just playing a game. He spoke to them when he reached them.
“Oh! Button! Did you know they’re selling a slingshot at the store right now?” Talo said. He paused and then continued. “A slingshot!” He repeated.
“I wonder how powerful it is. I need it. I must try it.” Malo said.
“If you guys wanted it so badly, then just buy it from my parent’s shop.” Beth said.
“But we can’t, we don’t have any rupees.” Talo whined.
“Can’t you just loan it to us for a while?” Malo asked.
“You know I can’t. I’d get in trouble. If you want it so bad, then save up your allowances or something.” Beth said.
“But our allowances are terrible….” Malo muttered.
Button got an idea, what if he bought the slingshot and let the kids play with it? He started running around, destroying grass and throwing rocks until he saved up enough rupees to buy it.
He wandered around Ordon Village, doing a few odd things here and there. He collected a baby cradle from a monkey who stole and returned it. He was given a fishing rod, which he used to catch a fish. A cat took his fish and ran away. Button chased after the cat and was given a bottle of milk from it’s owner.
He then bought a slingshot and he used it to knock down a beehive. After he had done all that, he returned to the kids who were still standing and talking outside his house. He passed Russel, Colin’s father, and he said that he had left him a surprise in his room. Russel then left, most likely to return to his wife in Ordon.
Button talked to the kids. They seemed impressed that he had enough money to buy the slingshot, even though it was only 30 rupees. The kids set up a few targets, and they begged Button to hit them all down with the slingshot. He humored them and fired at all the targets.
“Wow! You hit all of them!” They screamed in unison.
“You really are amazing, Button.” Talo said.
“What did Colin’s dad bring you?” Beth asked.
“Oh! Yeah, tell us! What was it?” Talo begged.
“I command you to tell us.” Malo said.
Button himself knew what it was, having played the game before, so he turned and began to climb up the ladder leading to his house. He ran into a skulltula, forgetting that these start showing up after you get the slingshot. He fell down the ladder and then pulled out his slingshot, killing the skulltula in one shot. He then climbed up the ladder and entered his house.
He saw a chest sitting in the middle of the room, so he walked towards it and opened it. Some very familiar music played when he pulled out the wooden sword. It floated in his hands for a moment, and then appeared on his back. Button smiled, he knew what was going to happen next.
He walked outside, and he showed Malo, Talo and Beth the sword. The kids all oohed and ahhed. “Will you should us how to use it?” Talo asked.
“Please?” Beth whined. Malo said nothing, but the look on his face was a look of pleading. Button pulled the sword out of the sheath on his back and started randomly attacked the scarecrow outside his house.
“Button, show us the horizontal slice!” Talo shouted. Button sliced the sword through the air sideways at the scarecrow, cutting it in half. The kids oohed and ahhed again.
“Now the vertical slice!” Malo chimed in. Button showed them everything they asked for. Talo copied everything with his wooden stick.
“I think I get it now. Sort of… Now if there’s any trouble.” He looked over to see a monkey. “Hey!” He shouted at the monkey. The monkey took off into the Faron woods and Talo, Malo, and Beth all followed after it.
Button hopped on Epona and galloped after them. He saw Malo standing by the spring, but he didn’t stop to talk to him. He then passed Beth, but he didn’t stop for her either. He continued after Talo until he reached the Deep Faron woods. He passed over a play wooden sword. Talo’s play wooden sword. He hurried past it to find Talo and get him safely back to the village.
Button remembered that he needed a lantern for this part of the mission and so he retreated out of the cave. He found stranger sitting out in the middle of nowhere. Button bought a lantern from him quickly, and then continued on his mission to save Talo.
He slayed monsters he knew as keese, deku babas, and bokoblins. He snickered. They were all easy, extremely stupid enemies. He blew through them easily, even with the wooden sword and no shield. He continued to make his way to where Talo was, and he knew he was getting closer.
When he got there, he slayed the bokoblins guarding Talo and the monkey. They had been captured together. Button destroyed their cage and set them free. Talo apologized to Button and begged him not to tell his father that he went into the forest, then he ran back to Ordon. Russel came by and apologized to him for him being the one to fetch Talo.
The next day, Button was sitting out in Fado’s goat pasture, and Fado asked him if, before Button left to go to Hyrule, if he wanted to round up the goats one last time. This was one of Button’s favorite parts of the game, so he agreed. Button called Epona and rounded up all the goats in record time.
Button had Epona jump the fences for a moment and then he headed off towards the mayor’s house. Illia, the mayor’s daughter, scolded Button on making Epona work too hard. Button flinched. Even though he had played through this part many times before, he still didn’t like when Illia yelled at him like that.
She took Epona to the spring and locked the gate so Button couldn’t get in. As he made his way toward the secret entrance to the spring, he passed by the Talo, Malo, Beth, and Colin. Talo was mad at Colin because he had told his father, Russel that he had gone into the forest.
They wouldn’t let him and Colin through to the secret entrance to the spring. They begged Button to lend them his sword, and Button didn’t really have any other choice. The only way to get by was if he lent them the sword.
Colin thanked him, and then said, “Button, when I grow up, I want to be just like you. I don’t want to learn about swords or anything, but will you teach me to ride a horse sometimes? Will you? You have to promise!” He shouted happily and then ran off to see Ilia and Epona.
Button followed in the same general direction, but he had to crawl in through the secret entrance, since the gate was locked. When he entered he saw Ilia and Colin talking. Colin was telling her about how Talo had been captured and that Button had to rescue him. She realized that she had gotten mad at Button for no reason.
When Ilia realized Button had entered the spring, she moved towards Epona to pet her, but Epona whinnied and shook her head, taking a step back. “So you still prefer you master over me, huh, Epona?” She looked over at Button. “You don’t have to worry about her, fortunately, the injury isn’t too serious.”
Button smiled, thinking that was it, but then she continued. “But, Button. Promise me one thing. No matter what happens while you’re delivering the gift to Hyrule, don’t try to do anything too dangerous. Please, just come back safe.” She said, smiling at Button.
Button smiled back at her and nodded. Then the gates to the spring were rammed down by bokoblins riding giant boars and they attacked Ilia, Button and Colin. They took Ilia and Colin, leaving Button unconscious on the ground.
When he came to, he left the spring and hurried towards the forest, where he found a large black wall where I large, black arm pulled him in. The triforce on his hand began to glow and he underwent a horrible and painful transformation from a human to a wolf and was once again knocked unconscious. His unconscious wolf body was then dragged off by the strange, large creature to an unknown destination.