Button Rekt: Button's Revenge

Chapters

Chapter 1: Confrontation
Chapter 2: Button's Choice
Chapter 3: Button's plan
Chapter 4: An Unintended Target
Chapter 5: A Talk Between Siblings
Chapter 6:The Plan
Chapter 7: the dancer and the farm pony

Chapter 1: Confrontation

It was an average morning at the Ponyville schoolhouse. The colts and fillies were inside doing a math assignment that their teacher, Miss Cheerilee, had given out to each of them. One of the foals amongst the class was an earth pony colt with a brown coat, orange mane and tail, and ember colored eyes, that went by the name of Button Mash. One of Button’s most iconic features was his propeller hat that he wore proudly upon his head.

The class wasn’t given their classwork that long ago, and Button was already halfway done with his. Contrary to what most ponies believed, Button Mash was actually a very intelligent kid.

The young colt took a pause from his test and glanced over to his left. The pony he was eyeing was a unicorn filly. A unicorn filly by the name of Sweetie Belle. She one of the members of the CMC, Rarity’s little sister, and not to mention… Button’s former crush. It was only a month or so ago, and yet, he could still remember that hurtful day as if it had happened only yesterday…

[Flashback]

Button Mash was there. He was sitting in a nearby bush, watching the CMC. More specifically, he was watching the white unicorn Sweetie Belle. Her friends were busy doing their own things, Apple Bloom playing with Big Mac and Cheerilee dolls, and Scootaloo failing miserably while doing stunts on her scooter.

“And now, you’ll kiss,” Apple Bloom said, pretending to be a preacher or something while making her two dolls kiss.

“Aw man, Sweetie Belle’s so cute. I hope she and I can be together forever…” Button said quietly under his breath, a nervous blush creeping onto his cheeks as he thought of the filly of his dreams.

“Huh?!” Sweetie Belle heard a few rustles coming from a nearby bush. It didn’t take her long to find out what was making the noise though. “*sigh*. Not this again!” she said while walking towards the bushes. She lowered the bush in front of her with her hoof, revealing Button Mash. “Button…” she looked at him with a deadpan look.

“Sweetie Belle…” he looked back at her with a smile, his ears perked up.

“Button, I hate to put it to you like this, but—I wouldn’t be your special somepony if you were the last colt in all of Equestria, and the future of all ponykind depended on us,” the unicorn filly began, making the earth colt’s ears flatten with an upset expression. “Whenever I look at you, I see a future of type two diabetes and unemployment checks cloaked in the scent of stale cheesy puffs and unchecked body odor,” she concluded.

“Whoa. That’s heavy…” Button thought upsettingly in his head.

“Besides, joyboy hasn’t made a decent console in decades. Grow up and get a neighstation!” She added, emphasizing that last part as she got up in his face before quickly pulling back.

Button Mash processed the information into his head. Taking all of that in, the hurtful information was too much for his emotional side to handle. Tears began to well up in his eyes.

“WAAHAAA!!! MOM!!!” he screamed, crying at the top of his lungs as he galloped away from the scene. That was it. Button’s heart… was smashed to pieces…

[End of Flashback]

Sweetie Belle glanced over at Button Mash who quickly turned his head the other way.

Even after a month or so had gone by, the memory of that horrid day still played fresh in his head. He shook the thoughts away and focused back on his classwork. It didn’t take him long to finish though, the problems weren’t even that hard… Well, not to him at least. Button quickly hopped out of his seat and turned in his assignment to the teacher.

“Um, Button Mash, may I talk to you outside for a moment?” Miss Cheerilee called out before the young colt could sit down, making the others in class snicker and chuckle amongst themselves.

“Am I in trouble or something?” Button asked as he stepped outside with his teacher so none of the others could listen in onto their conversation. That was the last thing either of them needed.

“No, no, you’re not in trouble, Button. I just wanted to talk to you. That’s all,” Cheerilee said with a reassuring tone of voice and the calm expression to match.

Button nodded in agreement. Not only was Cheerilee a good teacher, but also a trusted friend as well.

“So, how have you been lately?” she asked.

“I’ve been fine, I guess” he replied.

“That’s good,” She said. “So, Button, I’ve heard some things going around town, about how Sweetie Belle said some less than pleasant things to you?”

Whoa, Button Mash wasn’t expecting the conversation to go like this. Ok, he was, just not this soon. It was bad enough when had to talk to him mom about it, now his teacher and everypony else was in on it too. The little colt let out a light sigh.

“Well, that’s the sugarcoated way of putting it…” He told her, rubbing the side of head with a hoof in slight annoyance.

“You don’t have to say anything. I think I know what went on,” Cheerilee said before he had a chance to say anything. “I could talk to her if you want”

“No, I think I can handle Sweetie Belle on my own,” Button smirked up at his teacher.

“You’re not going to try and seek revenge are you?” Cheerilee’s ears lowered as she asked with slight worry for her student. Button did nothing but smirk menacingly as he looked off to the side. “Oh dear…” Cheerilee thought, not liking the look on Button Mash’s face.

“So… are we done here?” Button Mash asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Button’s a smart colt, I should probably try to end this before it gets out of hoof,” Cheerilee said to herself in her head. “Uh, yes, go back inside,” she instructed him.

Cheerliee watched as Button walked back into class, giving her time to think. She never thought Button Mash, the town’s local gamer, would be the type to go out looking for revenge. Sure he could be bit crazy and random at times, but he didn’t seem like the vengeance seeking type. Then again, he did spend most of his recess time playing on his joyboy and the only friend she knew he had was the Pegasus colt Rumble. Wait a minute…

That just gave her an idea!

“So where are we going again?” Button asked his Pegasus friend Rumble as they walked beside each other.

“We’re going to Sugarcube Corner to get milkshakes. On me,” Rumble replied with quick, playful jab to his friend’s shoulder. “You could use one after what happened to you awhile back”

Button simply rolled his eyes, not wanting to hear more of that specific topic. “Well, I am craving something chocolatey. I just hope nothing awkward happens,” he said.

Eventually the two colts had arrived at Sugarcube Corner. Luckily for them the place wasn’t completely packed today. In fact, it was completely deserted, save for three fillies sitting next to a nearby window. One was a Pegasus, another was an earth pony, and the last one was a… Oh, no!

“Hey, there’s the CMC. Let’s have a seat with them,” Rumble suggested. Button sighed under his breath as he followed behind the gray pegasus. He really hoped he wouldn’t regret this. “Hey there, girls,” Rumble greeted the trio.

“Hey there, Rumble. Button Mash,” Apple Bloom greeted the two boys.

The farm filly insisted they have a seat with them. Rumble took a seat next to Scootaloo, the two pegasai children looking off to the side with nervous blushes on their faces. Button took his seat on the other side of Rumble. Unfortunately, this would also put him right next to Sweetie Belle. Yeah, because sitting right next to the filly that smashed his heart into pieces was totally what he needed right now…

“So what are you two doing here?” Scootaloo asked them.

“I’m here to treat my buddy Button Mash to a few milkshakes” Rumble pointed a hoof to the colt next to him.

“Three chocolate milkshakes, one strawberry, and one vanilla,” Pinkie placed their orders on the table, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

“Wait, we didn’t—“

“It’s on the house,” Pinkie Pie said with a smile, cutting Button Mash off midsentence. Looking over her shoulder, she gave a wink to Rumble, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom. The three foals winked back at her, as if they knew something between the four of them.

“Hey, Rumble, can you come with me for a minute? I’m going to need some help with my homework,” Scootaloo and Rumble hopped out of their seats and headed to another part of the building, taking their milkshakes with them.

“And I’ll, uhh… help them out,” Apple Bloom added, not really having a better excuse, doing the same.

With the other three on the other side of the building, this left both Button Mash and Sweetie Belle alone with only themselves to talk to. The two foals looked at each other with stares. Sweetie’s was an awkward stare, while Button’s was more of a serious, hateful one. Not wanting to look at the filly for a second longer, Button Mash took out his joyboy from under his hat and began playing on it.

“Still playing on a joyboy I see,” Sweetie said, trying to break the ice by talking about video games. “You know Joyboy is obsolete, right?”

“Yeah, I like joyboy, sue me,” Button replied, a bit of attitude in his voice, not taking his eyes off his hoofheld console.

“They’re talking; do you think this’ll work?” Apple Bloom asked as she, Rumble, and Scootaloo listened in on Button and Sweetie’s conversation.

“Oh, Celestia, I hope so. The dude’s my friend and all, but I’m kind of tired of seeing him mope around all the time. It’s bumming me out,” Rumble said, his forelegs folded across his chest.

“Yeah, and we’re tired of Sweetie Belle taking forever to regret what she said,” Scootaloo said in agreement with her fellow Pegasus.

Sweetie Belle looked down at the table, swirling her hoof on it. ”Listen, Button Mash, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…”

Button looked up at her. What was it that she could possibly want to tell him of all ponies? Last he checked, she wanted nothing to do with him. What did this little heart-smashing filly want to say?

“Button, I’m… I’m sorry for the way I treated you awhile back. It was wrong of me…” She said, looking into his eyes with an apologetic expression.

Sorry? She had a month to do this and she just now decided to regret what she did and apologize?! There’s no way Button would ever buy that.

“It took you this long to say that…?” He muttered. Sweetie looked at him, being taken back a bit.

“Button, I just wanted to—“

“You know, you’ve got some nerve thinking I’d accept your weak apology,” he began, cutting Sweetie Belle off midsentence. “What, did Cheerilee put you up to this? She must’ve, because if you really felt sorry for me, you would’ve let me down gently all that time ago! Or at the very least apologize a few days after you broke my heart into pieces!” Button yelled, raising his voice at her as he slammed his hoof down on the table

The other three gave surprised looks as they heard Button rant at his former crush. This was a side of Button they rarely saw. Although in retrospect, they had a feeling this would happen sooner or later. Even more so that this plan would’ve most likely failed.

“I should’ve known you’d be mad,” Sweetie attempted to reach out to Button, who harshly slapped her hoof away.

“Mad? Oh, no, I don’t get mad…” he began. “I get even!” he said, putting emphasis on the word ‘even’. “Mark my words, Sweetie Belle, you will rue the day you crossed Button Mash,” he told her, taking his joyboy before hopping out of his seat and exiting Sugarcube Corner.

The other three foals looked between each other with concerned faces. Now that Button wanted revenge upon Sweetie Belle, what were they to do now?

What was Sweetie Belle to do now?

Author's Note

End of Chapter 1. If you have any ideas on how Button might get revenge on Sweetie, be sure to say it in the comment section.

Chapter 2: Button's Choice

Rumble, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo watched as Button Mash stormed out of Sugarcube Corner in a huff.

“Well, that plan was a bust,” Scootaloo commented.

“Hey, we warned Cheerilee it wasn’t a good idea make Sweetie Belle apologize,” Rumble said, the three of them remembering what happened.

Cheerilee had asked them to take Button and Sweetie to Sugarcube Corner and have Sweetie Belle apologize for what she said, even if she really didn’t feel that bad at first. Rumble was the one who told her that the plan would backfire, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom agreeing with him. However, after seeing their friends in a state of depression and distress, they decided to execute the plan, figuring that, at its worst, it would only lead to a small fight. Now, with the threat of revenge still fresh in their minds, they weren’t so sure of their course of action.

“Y’all don’t actually think Button Mash is going to try and get revenge, do ya?” Apple Bloom looked towards her two friends, but mostly focused on Rumble.
Rumble shrugged. If he knew Button Mash, then he would either play video games until he calmed down and forgot about it or he’d spend days coming up with ways to get payback. The Pegasus colt hoped it would be the former. Instead of the latter. At least then he could hang out with his friend with little to no negative consequences.

“To be honest, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but for now it’s probably best if we stay out of this mess from here on out. We should let Button and Sweetie settle this on their own terms, and whatever happens will be of their own choices,” Rumble said.

“You know, this sounds like something Twilight might advise against,” Scootaloo commented. “Button just declared revenge on my friend just two seconds ago.”

“Fine, I’ll check on Button Mash and make sure that he’s not planning anything, but for now, you two just stay out of this.”

Button Mash walked into his house, closing the door casually behind him. No sooner than when he walked in, he was greeted by his mother.

She was an earth pony like him and she had a golden sand colored coat, light brunette colored mane and tail, eyes as blue as crystals, and her cutie mark was a heart with a baby bottle over it. This mare went by the name of Love Tap, and she was extremely beautiful to say the least.

“Hi, honey, how was school?” Love Tap asked, giving her son a loving smile.

“Eh, same old same old. It’s what happened after school that was a little different,” he told her.

“Oh?” his mother raised a curious eyebrow.

“Well, Rumble treated me to milkshakes, for one…” Button began.

“That was nice of him,” Love Tap commented.

“Yeah, but the messed up part is that Sweetie Belle was there too,” he added.

The motherly mare inhaled sharply through her teeth, wincing a bit at the mention of the little filly’s name. Her son having told her what happened between them not too long ago, she knew that any follow up conversation between the two would end badly.

“Why don’t you go up to your room and play your games, sweetheart, I’ll call you when dinner’s ready,” His mother told him as she playfully rubbed his head. Button nodded and did as his mother told him.

Button Mash opened the door to his room. It was what you’d expect from a typical gamer such as him. There were game consoles in his closet, posters of video game characters all over his walls and to top it all off, a cabinet where he kept all of his video games. To say he had too many to count would be a gross understatement. One would think he’d get his cutie mark in gaming by now, but then again, he didn’t really care much about getting his cutie mark. After all, he had too many games to play.

“I guess playing one of my games could help me blow off some steam…” Button said to himself.

He trotted over to his TV and turned on his NeighStation 4. He got one, not because of Sweetie Belle, but because he wanted to play the newer games that were coming out these days. He hated the XBuck One, and the NeighStation had more exclusives titles he liked, and so, when finally forced to choose between the two, he chose the one that looked more interesting. Button felt like playing a game that would settle his nerves. His most obvious choice would be play his favorite fighting game: Mortal Kombat X.

It was one of those games that most ponies played. It was a very violent game, yes, but it was also a good stress reliever. Most parents wouldn’t allow their children to play a game with so much blood and guts, but Button’s mom felt that he was mature enough to handle it. Besides, both of his parents played the classic Mortal Kombat game in the arcade when they were around his age, so it came to no surprise to them when he became a fan of the popular fighting game.

That aside though, the young gamer popped the disk into the slot and began playing. There were six characters he played as: Scorpion, Kitana, Mileena, Johnny Cage, Raiden, and Erron Black. He played the other characters every now and then, but those six were the main ones he used. It was at that moment that he heard a knock at the door. He paid it no mind though.

“Button, Rumble’s here to see you!” his mother shouted from downstairs.

“Cool,” he replied back. Button’s bedroom door then opened, revealing the Pegasus colt.

“Hey, dude,” Rumble greeted his friend as he walked in.

“Hey,” he greeted back. “Grab a controller, it’ll be good to have a friend to play with,” he added.

Rumble grabbed the second controller nearby and sat by his friend. “So… I couldn’t help but listen to your conversation with Sweetie Belle. You sounded pretty steamed.”

“Yeah… that girl thinks she regrets what she did, when we both know she doesn’t care about my feelings in the slightest,” Button hissed, staring at the screen as he and Rumble played the game.

Rumble simply looked at his friend. He knew that what Sweetie Belle had said might’ve been a bit harsh, but at least she wasn’t as bad as Diamond Tiara. Part of him thought that maybe he should change the subject. He should do what he and the girls agreed on and not get involved, but his heart was pushing him towards a different answer.

“Are you going to try and get revenge or something?” the Pegasus colt raised an eyebrow.

Button sighed. “I don’t know, man, I think I was just blowing hot air,” he told him.

“I hope that’s the case…” Rumble thought

“However…”

“Dammit!” He screamed internally.

“If I did try to get revenge, I’d probably burn her house to the ground!” Button proclaimed with a clenched hoof raised.

“Uh, isn’t that a little extreme?” Rumble asked, praying that the statement was a mere passing thought.

“Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point there. Still though, Sweetie really messed with my head… emotionally, I mean,” Button said.

“Eh, it’ll be ok, buddy,” Rumble reassured, patting his friend on the back. “You just have to stay calm and really think what the right thing to do is. You can either let go of the filly you had a crush on and move on, or try and get revenge by hurting her the way she hurt you. Pain that you described as worse than anything you had ever experienced.”

Button looked down, pondering his friend’s question. Would he go the good route and let the whole thing go? Or would he take the darker, more sinister route and make Sweetie Belle suffer? It was like picking which side to take in a video game.

“Rumble…” He began, a dark smirk breaking across his muzzle, “I choose revenge!”

Author's Note

Well, I didn’t expect this story to be that popular this fast. I guess people really like revenge stories (myself included). Yes, the names of the consoles in this story are pony puns, but that doesn’t mean the names of games have to be.

End of Chapter 2

Chapter 3: Button's plan

Rumble was unable to do anything but silently stare at his friend, who was now smiling at the thought of revenge. How did this happen? The two of them lived in Ponyville, there was a crystal castle that housed the Princess of Friendship, whose entire job was to make sure ponies made friends and played nice. It confused Rumble when the next question he asked was, “So… you’re choosing revenge?”

Button Mash nodded his head excitedly.

“You’re not even going to give this a second thought, are you?”

“Nope!” Button happily chirped

It was here that Rumble began to scream. However, to spare his friend’s eardrums, Rumble forced himself to scream on the inside. Rumble took a very long a deep breath, slowly calming himself before saying, “Hey, I just remembered my brother wants me home before dark.”

Button nodded, “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

As he walked out of the house, Rumble let out a small scream of anxiety. He couldn’t help but think about how everything was turning to crap. Why couldn’t Button Mash just let Sweetie Belle’s insult go? Did he really think revenge was going to solve anything? Then again, what could Button Mash do that was so bad?

Just then, as if a cruel god wanted to spit in Rumble’s face, a deep voice from Button’s room cried, “FINISH HIM!” followed by a horrified scream that begged for mercy. There was a loud crunching sound and the screams went silent.

Rumble took a deep breath as his ears fell to the side of his head. When did everything in his life go so south? Thinking about it, it was probably in preschool, when a colt walked up to him and asked, “Hi, I’m Button Mash. Want to be super best friends?”

Rumble knew that Button Mash was usually a nice colt who couldn’t hurt a fly. At the same time, he knew that if pushed over the edge, he was crazy. Not Pinkie Pie crazy, or Screwloose crazy, it was his own special brand of Button Mash crazy. Rumble could recall the time he infested Diamond Tiara’s house with fire ants because she thought games were ‘a waste of time’ especially that new GO game. She also broke his Joyboy, but that was okay as the ‘*NEW* Joyboy 2D-3D XXL Micro’ had just come out, and Diamond Tiara had given him the perfect excuse to buy it.

“Hey Rumble!” A raspy voice excitedly called. He looked up to see Scootaloo running towards him with a smile on her face.

“Oh, hey there, Scoots,” he waved. The sight of her made his ears perk up, and for some reason, a smile to break as she neared.

“So, how’d it go with Button?” she asked.

Instantly, his smile fell. “Honestly? It could’ve gone better,” He said, rubbing the back of his head.

“What do you mean by better?” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.

“Well, you are going to think this funny, just the best joke ever. After I asked him about his plans for revenge, he realized that he could take revenge.”

“Rumble, you had one job!” she shouted.

“Scootaloo, you try controlling Button for five minutes and get back to me, because I did my best!” Rumble snapped. Letting out a defeated sigh, he continued saying, “Let’s just let wait until school tomorrow. If we pray hard enough, maybe some new game gets announced and Button Mash misses another week of school because he can’t stop watching the trailer.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but don’t you think that’s super irresponsible? Like, me trying to get my Cutie Mark irresponsible?”

Rumble held his breath for a few moments before answering, “Yeah. I’ll head into school early tomorrow, see what I can do. With any luck, maybe he’ll realize he has no idea what he’s doing and move on to something else.”

Button Mash paused his game as a thought occurred to him. How was he going to get revenge? He had no idea what he was doing. He was naturally a kind colt that would never hurt a fly, how was someone like him going to even grasp the concept of revenge? If he was truly going to take revenge, he would need help. He needed somepony cruel, who had little to no regard for the feelings of others. Somepony who had no desire to be likeable or show that they even understood the concept of friendship.

“I know, Gibson!” Button Mash cried out.

Button stepped over the countless games and handhelds that were scattered about his room, and ran down the hall. He only stopped when he reached a door that had countless signs that said ‘Keep Out’, ‘No Hats Allowed’ followed by a crude drawing of his propeller hat, and a very specific sign that said, ‘Button Mash, STAY OUT’.

They didn’t say he couldn’t knock. “Gibson!” Button Mash shrieked as he pounded on the door to his brother’s room. “Gibson, I need help! Gibson!”

“Go away!” His brother said in the moodiest, angstiest voice he could muster.

“Mom! Gibson won’t help me!” Button Mash called downstairs.

“Gibson, help you brother right now, or so help me you are grounded until next year!” Love Tap shouted from the kitchen.

The door to Gibson’s room silently swung opened allowing Button Mash entrance. The room was something anyone would expect from a teenager. There was an unmade bed were his brother lay, trash was strewn across the floor, and there was a messy self of magazines with mares in swimsuits on the cover. For some reason, the magazines made Button Mash feel things he couldn’t explain. “Gibson, you’re a heartless beast that has no compassion, do you know how to prank a pony?”

From his unmade bed, Gibson glared at his brother for the longest time before asking, “Button, I need to know, do you have twenty bits?”

Taking off his propeller cap, Button revealed a small sack of coins. He took them in his hooves and held them up.

“Nice. Can I see them?”

Shrugging, Button tossed the coins to his brother, who in turn pocketed them. Getting up from his bed, he led Button to an aged beanbag chair that sat in the corner of the room. “I will teach you what I know, Button, but understand that my own training was never complete.”

“You had to train to pull pranks?” Button asked as he navigated through the wasteland of unwashed laundry, empty bags of chips, bottles of soda, and dried, crispy rags he assumed were from a very stuffy nose.

Gibson nodded. “Yes, I learned from a great master of pranks. She’s that mare that works on the weather team. Unfortunately, we had a falling out before I could finish.”

“Did you break a rule of some kind? Did you prank that nice animal caretaker?”

“No,” Gibson admitted. “Like my gender studies course, I was kicked out because I had an opinion. Apparently it’s wrong to think that a ninja could totally take on a pirate, but only if he had the element of surprise.”

“How’s it wrong to think that?! How would the pirate dodge the throwing star if he can’t see it coming? Plus, the sneak bonus the ninja has is probably at 8x!”

“That’s what I said! Anyway, Button, have a seat.” Gibson took the bean bag chair and motioned for Button to sit in a nearby swivel chair.

Button hopped on the seat, only to instantly jump off as he let out a small yelp. “What the heck?!”

“Lesson one, Button, be the catalyst for your prank,” Gibson said. He stood from the beanbag chair and walked to the swivel chair. He picked up a small object, and revealed a tack that had been facing upwards. “Tell me, would you have sat down by yourself?”

Button shook his head. “I would have taken the beanbag chair, or the bed!”

“Exactly, but when offered, you took the seat and sat on the tack, which looking at it now, is kinda rusty. Button we may need to take you to that hospital later.”

“But that’ll be the fourth time this week!” Letting out an irritated grunt. “If that’s the case, I’m getting a soda.” There was one thing Button loved about Gibson’s room and that was the fact that he had a mini-fridge next to his bed. He opened the door and took out a can of soda. The moment he popped the tab though, he was drenched with a long stream of cola.

Button Mash looked towards his brother who was now beginning to laugh. “Opening a shaken can of soda,” Gibson chortled. “How do you feel right now?”

“I-I feel bad,” Button Mash answered. “My flank stings, I feel sticky, and my insides hurt. Hearing you laugh at me, it makes me feel horrible, like you’re crushing my heart with your bare hooves. I had no idea that pranking others makes them bad on the outside and inside. Imagine if this happened during class, it would be this feeling time a bazillion!” With wide pleading eyes, eyes that were filled with tears, Button cried, “Gibson, teach me your ways!”

“Very well,” Gibson agreed with a smile. He reached out his hoof. “Shake on it.”

Button grabbed his brother’s hoof, and as he did, he felt several volts of electricity course through his body.

“Hoof-buzzer! Button come on, how do you keep falling for this stuff? How do you feel now?”

“I feel very stiff, and it feels like every muscle in my body hurts.”

Gibson looked at the tack that Button Mash sat on. Looking at it again, it wasn’t kinda rusty, it was extremely rusty. “Mom, Button Mash needs to go to the hospital again!” Gibson shouted.

“I’ve already called Dr. Stable, he’s on his way,” his mother responded.

The next day started out like any other. Rumble landed in the school yard, before the sun had a chance to climb into the sky. There was still about an hour and a half before school really started, but he normally got to class early to check over his homework before he would give it to Scootaloo to copy. However, today was all about Button Mash, at least making sure that Button Mash didn’t do anything they’d both regret.

As he entered the classroom, he instantly noticed that something was very wrong. Cheerilee looked shaken, not tired like she normally was at this hour. Her cup of black coffee trembled in her hoof as she looked to the back of the classroom.

Following her gaze, Rumble found the cause of her fear. There, in the back of the room, sat Button Mash. Rumble’s eyes went wide as he tried to comprehend the mere thought of Button arriving at school as early as he did. Normally Button Mash arrived at least a minute before the bell rang. If he was lucky, he’d get to class at least five minutes early. But more than an hour early? It was something that a madpony would think of.

Quickly taking his seat, Rumble leaned over to Button. “Dude, what are you doing here so early?”

Button mouth twisted into some semblance of a smile. “Oh, Rumble. Sweet, innocent, naive Rumble. Didn’t we talk about this yesterday?”

Rumble was almost afraid. Revenge, he’d actually decided to go through with revenge. There was a lot Button would do when his mind was set on something, but to truly gage where his intentions were at, Rumble had to ask one question. “How many hours did you spend playing games last night?”

“After you left, I didn’t play any video games,” Button Mash smirked. “Dr. Stable had to come over. He injected me with something, stamped my mom’s medical card, next emergency is free, and then mom invited him for dinner.”

Thank goodness. As far as Rumble was concerned, having the doctor come over wasn’t out of the ordinary. In fact, the fire department would probably be over Button’s house later today to help his Dad get his head out of the banister again. “Wait, if Dr. Stable came over and had dinner, then what did you do after he left?”

“I didn’t touch a single video game.”

Rumble reared back and almost fell out of his seat. His stomach turned as he felt a chill run up his spine. He was no longer talking to Button Mash. Whoever was in front of him was something else. “Button Mash, what are you planning?”

“Rumble, I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise, would I?” Button Mash smiled before chuckling softly. Soon he was laughing, but at the same time trying to stifle it. Finally, he let out a maniacal laugh.

Surprise? Rumble’s heart nearly stopped at the thought of a surprise. Surprise normally meant poorly thought out, it meant mass hysteria, and it also meant average Tuesday for Button Mash.

Author's Note

And that was chapter 3, guys, hope you all enjoyed it. Just what exactly is Button’s plan, you ask? You’ll just have to wait and find out. Also, a huge shout out to my editor Hope Caster, he really helped me out here.

Chapter 4: An Unintended Target

Author's Note

Hey guys, here’s chapter 4 of Button’s Revenge

Sorry it took nearly two years, but I had trouble of where to take this story… and for the prank Button would pull this chapter. That and I was working on other stories. Either way, this story’s back.

I thank my friend and beta-reader, Hope Caster for helping me out

Chapter 4: An Unintended Target

Button's laugh echoed throughout the class room, causing a slithering shadow of dread to wash over Rumble. Normally when Button said he had a surprise, Rumble thought nothing of it, but the maniacal laugh was enough to put him on edge.

Unable to use his words, Rumble went to his desk, which was near the back of the room. What else was Rumble to do? Knowing Button, he wasn’t likely to listen to his pleas for any level of sanity. And knowing Button, this plan was so convoluted, so insane, so unstable, that it was likely going to work, simply do to the Fate itself to know how it would work. Rumble put his head down on the desk.

“Morning, Rumble” a voice greeted. Rumble peered upward to see Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

“Hi,” Rumble grumbled, unwilling to lift his head from his desk. His eyes scanned the vicinity for a unicorn that he’d normally see along with the two fillies that stood before him. “Where’s Sweetie Belle?”

“She had to get a few things. Said she’d catch up later,” Apple Bloom said. “Speaking of Sweetie, did Button happen to let it go?” she asked, lowering her voice to whisper so that only that he and Apple Bloom could hear.

“No.”

“Do you know what he’s planning?”

“No. He’s just been sitting there laughing.”

“Wait, that’s what that laughin was?” Apple Bloom said with a twinge disbelief. “It’s been going on for five minutes straight! This is unbelievable!”

“Yeah, you’re telling me!”

“That boy has himself some lungs!”

“Apple Bloom, that is not the point!” Rumble groaned.

At that moment, other foals began to enter the classroom, forcing Rumble to fall silent. From Diamond Tiara to Pipsqueak, each took their seats. The only one they hadn’t seen was Sweetie Belle. It was probably better she wasn’t in class. The more time she took to get to school, the more time the foals, namely Rumble, had to think of a plan to—

“Hey guys!” Sweetie Belle shouted, almost skipping up to Rumble and her friends, smiling with pink cheeks that could melt even Discord’s or Tirek’s heart.

Rumble cursed the world like he had never done so before, using crass language that would have earned him a grounding if Thunderlane could read minds. “Good morning, Sweetie Belle,” Rumble greeted, forcing himself to smile.

“Did you take care of that thing you needed to do?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah! I just forgot my homework is all.”

“That’s right, we had homework last night! I totally forgot!”

“No, you just didn’t do it,” Apple Bloom mumbled.

Scootaloo glared at Apple Bloom, before turning her attention to Rujmble, who she knew for a fact never forgot to do his homework. Giving him a sheepish smile, she asked, “Rumble, do you think you could help me out? I’ll get grounded if I get another F.”

“It’s in my backpack, make it quick.”

“Thanks!” Scootaloo quickly zipped behind him and dung around in his saddle bag, pulling out their assignment from last night.

“Are you sure it’s okay to cheat in the open like this?” Apple Bloom asked, tugging on her friend’s tail.

“Oh, like Ms. Cheerilee’s paying attention!” It was Scootaloo’s attitude that made her blissfully unaware that Cheerilee was paying attention. “And it’s not cheating, it’s helping! Rumble is helping me with my homework by giving me the answers.” She quickly copied every answer, save for one, as she naively thought she could fool her teacher. The same teacher that sat at her desk, watching Scootaloo cheat.

While Scootaloo cheated, Rumble looked towards the unicorn. “Look, Sweetie Belle, about Button Mash-”

Sweetie Belle waved him off. “Oh, don’t worry about it, Rumble, I’m sure he was just venting when he said that stuff. I mean, this is Button we’re talking about! He’s too nice to do anything mean. I’m sure he played a game and let it go,” She said, before happily trotted to her desk.

“Right, he let it go.” Rumble slammed his head on his desk, lightly whimpering.

“So… are we just doing nothin’?” Apple Bloom asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t really have much of a choice. I mean, Button didn’t even tell me what he was planning,” Rumble replied.

“We could just tell on him.”

“We can’t do that!” Scootaloo and Rumble said in unison.

“Why?” Apple Bloom asked, looking at the pegasi skeptically

“Because then we’d be tattletales in an elementary school environment!” Rumble explained. “That kind of thing follows you to middle and high school. I don’t know about you, but I want to survive those!”

“Exactly! So, all we can do is pray to Luna that he doesn’t do anything extreme,” Scootaloo said as she placed Rumble’s homework back into his saddlebags, having finished copying his answers.

Before Apple Bloom could argue, the school bell rang, signaling the start of class. The foals were forced to take their respective seats, with Apple Bloom sitting next to Scootaloo, who sat in front of Sweetie Belle.

“Ok Class, time to turn in your homework assignments, which I’m sure you all did on your own,” Cheerilee said as she walked around the class and collected the foals’ homework, giving Scootaloo a disappointed look.

Button Mash may not have played any video games last night, but he did do his homework. If he hadn’t then him mom would’ve grounded him from his games for a week.

“I look forward to seeing how well you all did,” Cheerilee smiled as she sat at her desk. From her top draw she took out a large stack of packets, about five pages each and began to hand them out. “Now, I’d like you to get into groups for this assignment,” she told the class. “And, to make sure that everyone participates in their groups, and at the very least attempts to work out the problems,” for some reason, she shot a glare towards Scootaloo, who in turn sunk in her seat, “I’ll have to ask a few of you to change seats. So Scootaloo, and whoever is working with her, front row please.”

“This is why you don’t openly cheat,” Apple Bloom murmured as she gathered her things and followed Scootaloo to the front of the class.

“New seats?” Button perked his head up as his head slowly swiveled towards Sweetie Belle, who was now leaving her seat to join her friends at the front of the class. The rest of the foals walked around the room, taking their new seats as they talked about subjects that had nothing to do with math while their packets were passed around.

There was an average of three foals per group, the only exception being Snips and Snails, and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Silver Spoon had taken Sweetie Belle’s seat, which was situated right next to Diamond Tiara’s desk. There was a small twinge of worry deep in his gut, but so long as Silver Spoon had no reason to open the desk before Sweetie Belle returned, everything would turn out fine. What reason could Silver Spoon even have for rummaging through Sweetie Belle’s desk?

Button was then joined by both Rumble and Pip. The moment the packets were handed out, the class’syclamoring and loud discussions tapered out into a quiet whisper. As Button and his group worked through each problem with relative ease, Button himself seemed to forget about his prank, for the time being.There was a sudden sSnap, probably a pencil breaking, followed by an annoyed groan. Button ignored it until he heard an order.

“Just borrow one of Sweetie Belle’s!.”

The voice was only a fraction above a whisper, but to Button it was a full force yell. Trembling, he turned to the source only to find Silver Spoon with a broken pencil. She seemed to be arguing with Diamond Tiara about something

“I can’t just go into her desk-”

“Sweetie Belle, can Silver Spoon borrow a pencil?” Diamond asked, almost shouting across the classroom.

“Sure! Go ahead!” Sweetie Belle answered.

Button tried to move, as Rumble looked on confused, but his legs seemed frozen. Meanwhile, Rumble watched his friend focus solely on Silver Spoon.

Why is he looking at Silver-The prank! Rumble’s mouth became dry as It was only when Silver Spoon slowly opened the desk’s cover.

“No,” Rumble said whisper so low, that not even he himself heard it.

There was a sudden boom, as a girlish shriek ripped through the room. Silver Spoon’s yell was also very loud. The class turned their attention to Silver Spoon, who’s eyes were bloodshot and tearing up. A pale, sand colored powder had sprayed out and managed tto sneak itself past Silver Spoon’s glass, getting in her eyes.

“Silver Spoon, are you ok?” Cheerilee asked with concern as she quickly dashed to her student’s side.

With clenched eyes, the filly shook her head. Tears streamed down her face in an attempt to cleanse whatever the powder was lingering, but it didn’t seem to do much good. Silver tried to keep her eyes open for more than a few moments, only for the constant sting to force them closed.

“Oh, poor thingthis is bad. Everyone, continue working on your assignment, I’ll be right back! C’mon, let’s go wash your eyes out,” Cheerilee said as she led the little filly outside and to the restroom where there was a working sink.

Seeing that Pip had turned back to his work, Rumble looped his arm around Button his friend and pulled him close. “Wwhat was that?”

“Phase one.” Button responded in a squeak.

“Phase one? What’s phase two!?”

A second, piercing scream, once again from Silver Spoon, tore through the air. “That. That would be phase two.”

After a few minutes, Cheerilee came back into the School house with a now soaked Silver Spoon. Her eyes were clear of whatever powder Button had used and she took a seat next to Diamond Tiara. She was dripping wet however, and as such, unable to go near her packet without ruining it.

Their teacher went over to the desk and from the inside compartment, took out an odd little medal cylinder on a stand connected to a smaller, golden colored container of some sort. “Anypony want to tell me what this is?” She asked.

“I think that’s a CO2 canister on the end of it,” a foal said, raising his hoof. “My brother uses it in his dragster designs for his nerd club. You can get them at the store for, like, three bits a piece. You pop the cap and it releases a ton of pressurized gas. It would probably explain the burst of powder. And, though I do not know what it is specifically, it looks like it was connected to a cannon, a very small cannon.”

“Thank you, Home Run, for that very informative aside,” Cheerilee stood at the front of the class and shot each of her student’s a sharp glare. “I would like to also note thatIt would appear that ourt sinks have been tampered with in the bathroom. Considering that Silver Spoon happened to be sprayed in the eyes with powder, would someone like to admit to something?” There were a chorus of murmurs and whispers asides about what had just happened. Obviously, it was a prank, but the questions focused more on the who than the what. No one came forward, and after a while, Cheerilee let out a soft sigh. “Anyone at all? No? Well, if no one’s coming forward than I guess I’ll have to cancel recess for everyone.”

There was a sudden uproar of groans and complaints. As the disappointed chatter filled the air while a single hoof shot up. It belonged to Diamond Tiara, who watched her friend sniffle and grovel like she was an injured puppy. However, for some reason, she seemed utterly calm, as if nothing had happened.

“Yes, Diamond Tiara? Something you’d like to say?”

“I was just wondering is there a word that can be used to describe a rage so great that it loops back around and has a calming effect on you, because you know that the moment you find who you’re mad atind the perpetrator of a prank, you will introduce them to a new circle of Tartarus that not even Dante himself has been to?”

“Tranquil fury,” Button said with a whimper.

Had it been an average day, perhaps Diamond Tiara would have left school with a smile on her face, or at the very least been slightly less annoyed. However, even though the final bell rang, her blood was still boiling. Several hours later, the bell rang, Silver Spoon went immediately home. There was no long winded chats about the latest heart throb on TV, no talk about the latest episode of a teen soap opera, not even a peep about the latest Fleur De Lis photo shoot, Silver Spoon’s favorite model. Diamond Tiara felt a heated iron press against her back at the thought of her bestie becoming silent.While the other foals were packing up their stuff, Diamond Tiara was busy trying to figure out just who it was that pranked Silver Spoon. It could’ve been anypony, but who?

Diamond Tiara calmed herself. She would get angry once she had the prankster within her grasp. More specifically, when his throat was in her grasp. All she had to do was find the culprit. She recalled how the prank was planted in Sweetie Belle’s desk, so it was most likely meant for her. But she couldn’t just go rummaging around in the filly’s desk without her permission, that would be too suspicious. Diamond caught the sight of the end of Sweetie Belle’s tail. Diamond Tiara would have to check to make sure.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle!” the rich filly called out, chasing after to the unicorn. who was about to head out with her friends.

“Hm?” Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder. “Diamond Tiara?”

“Come here for a second.”

Breaking away from her friends, and going against her better judgment, she proceeded towards the filly that waited next to her desk.

“Somepony pranked Silver Spoon and I want to find out who. Do Would you mind if I took a peek inside your desk real quickcheck your desk for clues?” Diamond asked.

“Why?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I just need to see if that prankster from earlier today happened to leave anything behind, anything at all. I’m just asking because if anyone is prime suspect, it’s the filly that has an unfettered hatred for blank flanks.”

“Umm… when you put it that way, I don’t see why not.Sure, I guess” Sweetie Belle replied with a shrug.

“Thank you,” Diamond said with a smile.

With that, Sweetie Belle slowly backed away and made her way to her friends, the trio heading out to get milkshakes at Sugarcube Corner. As the rest of the foals exited the school, Diamond Tiara was left to search for clues. She automatically ruled out the CMC since the powder was planted in Sweetie Belle’s desk.

Most of everything was lightly covered in powder, but intact. There were a few books, several pictures, some of her family, one of a wedding dance with a dragon, a drawing of what she hoped her cutie mark looked like, and a cute pencil case. Then there were the little things she noticed, like strands of her long hair. That’s when she noticed something odd, a single hairthat was much shorter than the other few that lingering. Though covered in what smelled like onion powder, it’s hue also seemed to be different. She checked several desks until she found what she was looking for. Reaching Reaching into Pipsqueak’s desk, she pulled out his magnifying glass.

“Diamond!”

“I’m taking a magnifying glass! I’ll put it back!” Diamond rolled her eyes as Cheerilee shot her a foreboding glare. Getting a better look with her new tool, she closely examined the strand of hair. She noted that the color of the hair was orangish-brown. A very familiar orange brown.

“Button Mash,!” Diamond growled. The pampered filly then set the magnifying glass back in Pip’s desk before galloping out of the schoolhouse.

“That was your prank!?” Rumble shouted. It was fortunate that no other foal was in listening distance. After losing their recess, most of classmates were out for blood. Fortunately for Rumble, both he and Button had tight lips when they needed to, and while the thought of a vengeful Diamond Tiara plagued their minds, it was nothing compared to the vindictiveness of the entire class.

“It was only garlic powder and water. It’s not like she could’ve died.”

“Someone not dying is not the moral standard we should go by! All I’m saying is Sweetie Belle could’ve gotten seriously hurt, Silver Spoon did get hurt, and you could’ve gotten caught. Can’t you just let this go now?” Rumble asked as Button Mash made their way to the game colt’s house, the two having just finished playing at the local arcade.

“Not until that little witch pays for what she’s done, and I’ve received retribution,” Button replied.

“Little witch? Do you not hear yourself? Look, Sweetie Belle was mean, I’m sorry about that,” Rumble said, as they reached the door to Button’s house, “That doesn’t mean you-” as he reached the doorstep of his house.

Rumble stopped mid-sentence as Button opened the door to his house. As if fate had decided to be exceptionally cruel to them, the colts the sight of Diamond Tiara casually sipping tea with Button’s mother, Love Tap. “Oh, Button, you’re home early!” She beamed at him. “You never told me you were friends with such a sweet filly!”

Diamond Tiara slowly turned her head to them, her eyes narrow to focus the blazing heat of her glare.

“Button, I think I hear my brother calling me. Good luck!” Rumble’s wings flared out as he quickly took to the sky.

Button was left alone as a chill emanating from Diamond Tiara overtook him.His eyes met Diamond’s, her gaze gently telling him one thing; I know what you did.

“Oh, Button, look at you, you’re shaking like a leaf,” His mother softly chided. “He’s just like his father, Diamond. He acted like that all the time when he was Button’s age. I don’t know about you, but I think someone has a little crush~! Come have a seat, son! Diamond was just talking about that nice thing you did for- Diamond, what did my Button do again?”

“He lent my friend Silver Spoon some garlic powder for breakfast today,” She said before taking a sip tea. “I just wanted to pay him back is all.”She turned and gave Button a sincere smile. “Don’t just stand there, Button. Your mother has made us some lovely tea. Why don’t you have a seat. Right. Next. To. Me?”

Button let out a small whimper.

“Come on Button, you don’t want to be rude to our guest, do you?” His mother asked, unware that she was signing her son’s death warrant.

As Button proceeded to take a seat next to Diamond Tiara Rich, he couldn’t help but softly sob and wonder just what it was she would do to him.

Chapter 5: A Talk Between Siblings

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6:The Plan

Button Mash held his eyes in the bathtub water trying to rid his eyes of the lingering onion powder. Had his mother not been watching from afar, he was more than certain the filly would be holding his head underwater to drown him.

"I really am sorry, Mrs. Love Tap," Diamond said, using a sweetly innocent voice as she talked with Button's mother. "I didn't know that the cap was so loose! I just feel so terrible!" Her lip began to quiver as she turned to Button. "I really am sorry Button!" She said, before mouthing that it was far from over.

"It's alright Diamond," Love tap said in response. "I'm sure Button understands it was an accident. Right Button?"

Button murmured something. Whenever his mother said, 'Right Button', she was not in any way asking for his opinion. What it actually meant was 'accept the apology. I'm not asking.' Just like how 'I'm not mad, I'm disappointed' meant 'I am so mad I could ground you for several years and not lose a wink of sleep over it.'

"Right Button?" His mother repeated, her tone becoming sterner.

"Yes, I forgive you." Button raised the top of his head from the water and began to dry off. He hung the towel on a hook and went to his room, followed by Diamond Tiara. Normally, he would have sent her home, but she insisted that they spend at least some time together. His mother, unfortunately, agreed with Diamond Tiara. The door to Button's room slammed shut, and suddenly, Diamond's smile faded and was soon replaced by a scowl. Button was given a shove.

"What was that for?"

"For pranking my friend!" Diamond shouted. She let out a sigh before collecting herself. "Fortunately for you, I am a very forgiving filly, but only if you tell me why you want to prank Sweetie Belle so badly."

"How did you know?" Button raised an eyebrow.

"Because it was set up in her desk. Any moron could see who it was intended for." Diamond said.

"Right. So, do you want the long version or the short version?" Button asked.

"Give me the full story," Diamond said, folding her forelegs over her chest.

"Well, some time ago, I had a crush on Sweetie Belle…" Button began with a bit of hesitation, "At some point, she confronted me and said some hurtful things, how she'd never be my special somepony and that I should grow up. She made me cry, ripped out my heart and stomped on it and—"

"And now you want revenge," Diamond concluded, cutting him off midsentence. "Yeah, I can understand that. The revenge thing, I mean"

"I had a feeling she would. Then again, this is the school bully I'm talking to…" Button thought to himself. "So, since you got back at me for pranking Silver Spoon, are we even now?" he asked.

"Hmm. Sure, water under the bridge," Diamond Tiara shrugged. "Though, now that you've told me why you want revenge upon Sweetie Belle, I'm interested in how you plan to get it."

"Wait, what?" Button looked at the rich filly with confusion.

"You heard me. I want to know how you're going to get revenge upon Sweetie Belle" Diamond said as she took a step closer to the gamer colt.

"Well, the onion powder thing backfired horribly on me," Button began, tapping his chin. "So, here's my backup plan: I go to Sugarcube Corner and ask Pinkie Pie if I can help out. I wait for Sweetie Belle to order a drink and, when nopony is looking, I spike it with ipecac."

"Ipecac? What's that?" Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Well, to put it lightly…" Button started.

[Flashback]

"Ipecac? Button, ipecac is used to make sure someone vomits after they're poisoned. You would need to be dumb enough to ingest something poisonous before I even think of—" Doctor Stable paused as he looked down at the colt and the many, many, many times that he had been called to his house. When it came to the males in Button's family, it was much less a matter of an if he ingested something poisonous, and more of a when he ingested something poisonous. "I'll contact your mother and give you a bottle if she sees fit for you to have one."

[End of Flashback]

"Eww, that's disgusting!" Diamond Tiara cringed, her tongue sticking out in disgust.

"Exactly! That's why it's perfect. We give Sweetie Belle a drink with a ton of ipecac hidden in it, and when class starts, she throws up all over the floor" Button explained.

"Any ideas that don't involve vomit?" Diamond narrowed her eyes.

"Fine. We bake cupcakes and make a special one for Sweetie Belle. Hers is filled with laxatives—"

"Ok, I know what those are. How about a plan doesn't involve anything disgusting or borderline illegal?" Diamond offered.

"That's all I got," Button said.

"Is there anyone else that we can talk to? You managed to come up with the powder prank."

"Well, that was Gibson. Oh, we should ask him!" Button took Diamond and led her to Gibson's room. "Gibson is my older brother, he's great at pranks."

"I was unaware that you have an older brother," Diamond said as the two of them came to Gibson's door.

"Do you know anything about me?"

"You like those stupid games," Diamond deadpanned.

"What's my favorite color?"

"Okay, fair point."

Button knocked on the door, and Gibson peered out. "No way," he said. The door was suddenly thrown open. "Button, you have a girlfriend?!"

"Ew, no!" Diamond shouted. "Why would you think that?"

"Oh thank goodness, I'm still in the running for the bet then," Gibson said. "So, why are you here? Does Button have you under a spell, did he drug you, are you kidnapped and suffering from Stockholm syndrome?"

"None of those," Diamond said.

"So, you're just here out of your own free will?"

"Shockingly, yes. Do you know how to pull a prank? Button doesn't know what the term moderation means."

"Ah, if you're looking for pranks that don't violate any laws, you've come to the right place," Gibson said, opening his door. Diamond was the first to enter, followed by Button.

"Just take a seat on the bed, if you would."

Button was about to hop on but was stopped by Diamond. "Yeah, nice try." She walked over lifted the mattress up and removed a pink bag. "Whoopie cushion under a seat. It's okay, but you need to try a bit harder to prank me," Diamond said, shoving the bag against Gibson's chest.

"I'm shocked you saw that one coming."

"Right," She said rolling her eyes. "You'd have to be a moron to fall for it. Don't get me wrong, I think that it's cute. It's like baby's first prank if baby didn't have a creative bone in his body."

"You know, words can hurt," Gibson said.

"They can, you know what's really going to hurt? The realization that you and your friends' band is a pipe dream that doesn't lead anywhere."

"We just need more practice!" Gibson cried out. He became silent for a moment before taking a deep breath. "You are a mean little filly."

"Gibson, that doesn't even begin to describe her."

"Yeah, yeah, insult me while you can. By the way, this room is disgusting," Diamond said, walking around while ignoring the two boys. "First order of business is to clean this place up! It smells. Get to it, now." Diamond emphasized this by clapping her hooves together.

Gibson shifted in his seat. "I guess I could get Mom-"

"I'm sorry," Diamond said, shoving her hoof against Gibson's mouth, "did I say to get your mother to do it?"

"No-"

"That's right, I said you clean up." Diamond put a hoof against his snout and before taking a seat on the bed.

"And who are you to tell me what to do?"

"Diamond Tiara Rich. Now Gibson, look me in the eye. Do you really want to mess with me?"

Standing from his seat, Gibson walked over to Diamond, looked her square in the eye for a few moments, and gave his answer.

"Diamond I cannot thank you enough!" Love Tap said as she began to place dinner on the table. "I can't name the last time either of my boys did their own laundry or cleaned their rooms so thoroughly! What's your secret?"

"First you need to set their standards," Diamond said, bowing her head when she was given a plate of food, "fair but tough. Then you need to remove the word no from their dictionary when it comes to chores. I find that it takes a firm hoof to move boys in the right direction."

"Can I play games after dinner?" Button whined, he had made little progress on the prank, and only had whoopie cushion jotted down on a scrap piece of paper. Gibson grumbled having been forced to spend almost two hours cleaning and doing his homework.

"Did you take out the trash?" Diamond asked.

"Oh, come on!"

"Listen to Diamond, Sweetie," Love Tap insisted.

"I bet you don't have to do chores," Button grumbled.

"You obviously have never had a maid before," Diamond retorted, recalling how she often had to straighten up before the maid came.

There was a sudden creaking and the sound of pattering hooves as a stallion rushed into the "Hi Princess," Brave Heart said, coming into the kitchen. He gave his wife a small kiss on the cheek before giving her a bouquet of flowers.

"Brave, they're beautiful! I can't remember the last time you gave me flowers."

"Well, I wanted to surprise you and say thank you, and that Gibson and Button did not wave down Derpy to relay me a message to get my crap together before coming home."

"See, it's a ripple effect," Diamond said. "Get those two in line, and the last one will pick up on it quick."

"And who's this little filly? Dinner smells great by the way!"

"Diamond Tiara, pleased to meet you."

"She's Button friend. Isn't she just a treat? She got Gibson to clean up his room!"

"That is impressive!" Brave laughed, taking a seat next to his wife. Soon dinner was served, and they began to eat, with Diamond Tiara making sure that the boys kept their manners about them.

It was the best night of Love Taps, but the most agonizingly painful night the brothers had ever had.

"Thank you so much, Diamond! I can't remember the last time that anyone helped with the dishes." Love Tap said as the little filly finished putting away the last of the dishes. She had not scrubbed any of them. Button and Gibson had washed and dried them all. All Diamond had done was stack the plates and put them away. Yet, Love Tap had showed the most Gratitude for her.

"It was not problem, thank you for the meal. It was delicious."

"Don't we get any recognition?" Gibson asked.

"Yeah, this is like, work!"

"Now, now, both you did well, it's just, Diamond gave you both that needed push. I'm so glad you made friends with such a wonderful filly!"

Wonderful filly. Those were words that should never be used to describe Diamond Tiara. Of course, this was taking into consideration that she was helping him prank Sweetie Belle. Which they still had yet to do.

"By the way, Diamond, it's getting late. Shouldn't you be getting home?"

"Damn it!"

"Don't worry, I let my Daddy know I was going to be home late. Would it be okay if I spent one more hour with Button before going home?" Diamond asked with a smile.

"If it were up to me, I'd have you move in!"

"Thank you!" She said, grabbing Button and Gibson and dragging them upstairs.

"Okay losers, let's get to work, Sweetie Belle isn't going to prank herself."

"Well, she is a member of that group that usually ends up covered in tree sap, right? Doesn't that kinda constitute as pranking herself?"

"No. Now let's get to work, I can't stay out all night!"

And so the three foals worked for an hour straight, and devised a plan so horrible, so devious, and so ingenious to the foal population, that nothing that a teenager and two children could think of would be able to stop it. Diamond nor Button could be any happier.

Author's Note

Well, looks like everything's set in motion and Button and Diamond have constructed a plan to get revenge upon Sweetie Belle. What are they planning? Only way to find out is to read future chapters.

I thank Hope Caster for helping me out.

Chapter 7: the dancer and the farm pony

“So, remind me. What’s going on with your friends again?” Tender Taps asked.

He and Apple Bloom were sitting across from each other at the local Hayburger.

“Long story short, Sweetie Belle broke Button Mash’s heart and now Button wants revenge,” Apple Bloom informed him. “Rumble’s tryin’ to convince him to not hurt Sweetie, but that ain’t goin’ very well.”

“Wow,” Tender Taps replied.

“Yeah. As for me, Ah’m stayin’ out of it,” Apple Bloom told him as a waitress presented them with their food, “But if Button so much as leaves a scratch on Sweetie, Ah’m goin’ straight to an adult,” she added, taking one of her star-shaped fries into her mouth.

“Well, at least you’re looking out for you friend. I respect that,” Tender Taps said, taking a bite of his hayburger.

Apple Bloom snickered a bit. “Thanks again for invitin’ me to lunch,” she said.

“Well, I thought it’d be nice for us to spend time outside of dance class. You’re a lot of fun and I want to get to know you better.”

Apple Bloom smiled a bit, her cheeks flushing pink for a brief moment.

“What would ya like to know?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Well, do you have any siblings?” Tender Taps asked.

“I’ve got an older brother and an older sister,” Apple Bloom told him.

“Oh? What’re they like?” Tender Taps raised a curious eyebrow.

“Mah brother’s a bit quiet, but he always there when you need him. Mah sister on the other hoof… she’s can be a bit stubborn at times.”

“How stubborn?” Tender Taps asked.

“One time, she tried to complete the entire apple-buck harvest by herself. She was refused to accept help from her friends until she passed out from exhaustion. The sad part is she only got half of the work done.”

“Wow. That IS stubborn” Tender Taps said.

“Yeah, and she’s also overprotective. Especially of me. I may be a kid, but I’m no baby,” Apple Bloom said.

“Eh, she’s just looking for you. All older siblings do in one way or another,” Tender Taps said, taking another bite of his burger.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I think you’ll like them though,” Apple Bloom took a sip of her soda. “What about you? Do you have any siblings?”

“No, I’m an only child. It’s not so bad though. At least I don’t have to worry about there being a line for the bathroom,” Tender Taps joked, popping a fry into his mouth.

“Heh heh” Apple Bloom chuckled. “It’s funny you said that. This one time, mah sister told me she went to Manehattan and she said she saw a colt with ten sisters.”

“Huh, his parents must’ve wanted a big family,” Tender Taps commented.

Tender Taps took a few more bites of his hayburger, Apple Bloom gazing at him with small smile.

After finishing their lunch, the two foals headed to the movies. The two of them had decided to see the new Pony Rangers movie. It was the sequel to last year’s Pony Rangers movie, and this one involved them fighting an evil ranger created by the main bad guy. Today was half price day on the movies, so they had decided to watch the movie in 3D.

“So, which ranger is your favorite?” Tender Taps asked in a whisper.

“Ah have to give it to the pink ranger. You?” Apple Bloom asked back.

“It’s a tie between the blue ranger and the green ranger. I know the green ranger’s evil, but he’s awesome,” Tender Taps replied.

Last year, Apple Bloom went to go see the first movie with Applejack. Her sister thought it was horrible, and while Apple Bloom herself didn’t think it was that great, she didn’t think it was horrible either. So far though, this sequel turned out to be pretty good. The yellow farm filly reached out to grab some popcorn. However, she felt something touch her hoof. She turned her head to see Tender Taps’ hoof on top of hers.

“Ahem… Tender Taps?” Apple Bloom whispered, getting the colt’s attention. The colt looked at Apple Bloom to see her looking at the popcorn and saw that their hooves were touching.

“Oh, sorry Apple Bloom!” Tender Taps quickly pulled his hoof away, an embarrassed, burning blush crossing his face.

“It’s alright,” Apple Bloom said, turning her head, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. She covered her mouth with a hoof, holding back a giggle as a blush crossed her face as well.

Once the movie was over, Apple Bloom and Tender Taps had decided to head to the bowling alley. It didn’t take long for Apple Bloom to notice was a decent bowler. At the very least he wasn’t getting gutter balls.

This turn though, the dancing colt actually did manage to get a strike.

“Wow, Tender Taps. You’re pretty good at this,” the farm filly commented.

“Thanks. I come here and practice with my dad on weekends. He’s better than I am,” Tender Taps replied.

It was Apple Bloom’s turn now. Unlike Tender Taps, she wasn’t that great at this game. Sure, she was better at it than Scootaloo, but that probably wasn’t saying much. Apple Bloom had mostly gotten gutter balls. The red-haired filly looked at the pins ahead and sighed.

“What am Ah doin’ wrong?” Apple Bloom looked at Tender Taps.

“Hmm…” Tender Taps rubbed his chin. “Well, I’ve noticed that when you throw your ball, your foreleg goes off in either direction. Try using a little less force when you swing,” he advised.

“Use less force?” Apple Bloom looked at him rather quizzically.

“You know, cut back on your strength. Force doesn’t always guarantee success. Sometimes you need to be a bit gentle.” Tender Taps placed a hoof on Apple Bloom’s shoulder.

The next thing the farm girl knew, she had one of the dancer’s forelegs over her shoulders. She felt his hoof on top of the one she used to hold her ball. Apple Bloom then felt herself moving along with Tender Taps. They reeled their forelegs back before swinging it forward, rolling the ball down the lane. As Tender suggested, they cut back on the force of the throw. As luck would have it, the ball managed to hit the pins, knocking down seven of them.

“See? A little bit goes a long way,” Tender Taps said as he removed his foreleg from Apple Bloom’s shoulders.

“I guess you’re right. Thanks, Tender,” Apple Bloom gave him a small smile. “You know, we’ve still got a lot of rounds to finish”

“Might as well finish them, right?” Tender Taps replied, grabbing his ball and rolling it down the lane.

Despite the rocky start, Apple Bloom had fun bowling with Tender Taps. He had the higher score, but he didn’t really care about that. All Tender Taps cared about was spending time with his friend.

Their next and final destination was Apple Bloom’s choice. She had decided they’d go to dance class, the place where they first met.

“So, why’d you want to come here?” Tender Taps asked as they entered the building.

“Tender Taps, how’d ya get so good at dancing?” Apple Bloom asked, somewhat answering his question with another question.

The dancer colt gave a small shrug. “I guess it just comes naturally for me” he said.

“Our dance teacher says you’re a natural born dancer” Apple Bloom said. A thought then came to her, “She can be a bit harsh sometimes, don’t ya think?” she asked.

“A bit. I think she’s only harder on the newcomers because of the potential she sees in them” Tender replied.

“Yeah, Ah guess ya’ve got a point there” Apple Bloom shrugged. “I’ve seen the way she treats you. She comforts you a lot when yer down. Ta the point where she hugs you. Nuzzles the top of yer head. Sometimes she even kisses you affectionately. Almost as if she’s yer—”

“Mom,” Tender finished in a low voice, cutting Apple Bloom off. “She treats like that because she’s my mom.”

“Oh. That must put a lot of pressure on ya,” Apple Bloom said.

“A little. It’s not so much the dancing that she pressures me with, more so the preforming in front of a crowd.” Tender clarified. “Preforming in front of other ponies is terrifying.”

“Well, at least ya know how ta dance. Ah can’t dance ta save my life” Apple Bloom kicked one of her forelegs back and forth. “Which is why Ah brought ya here. Ah was hoping ya could teach me ta dance better”

“Oh?” Tender raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah. And in return, Ah could help ya get over yer cripplin’ stage fright,” Apple Bloom offered. “What do ya say?” She extended a hoof.

“Hmm…” Tender tapped his chin. “Deal!” he said, shaking the filly’s hoof. “So, where do you want to start? Tap dancing?” he asked, kicking his legs in all directions in a small demonstration.

“Actually, Ah was thinkin’ we could do one of the ones that requires two ponies to dance. Together…” Apple Bloom looked at him while shyly rubbing her foreleg with her hoof, a small blush crossing her face.

“Oh. You want to do that kind of dance,” Tender replied. “Sure, I guess we can try that” he took her hoof in his as they stood on their hindlegs.

Tender grabbed Apple Bloom’s other hoof and placed it on her shoulder, before placing his own hoof on her hip. The fact that Tender’s hoof was so close to her flank was enough to make the filly’s cheeks as red as her hair. Apple Bloom then found herself moving slowly from side to side in a small circle. She looked at Tender Taps, who was looking at her with a small smile. She almost tripped, but Tender caught her.

“Heh. Sorry. Ah’m not very good at this” Apple Bloom admitted sheepishly.

“No, it’s ok. You’re doing fine” Tender replied.

Apple Bloom felt Tender’s foreleg wrap around her waist, pulling her close. This instinctively made her wrap her own foreleg around his neck which pulled him close as well. They were now close enough to where their cheeks touched. Tender Taps led by waltzing forward. For some reason, this dance was easier for Apple Bloom to manage.

“You know, Apple Bloom, you’re not as bad a dancer as you may think,” Tender Taps said while they moved in the opposite direction.

“Really?” Apple Bloom asked, smiling with her ears perking up.

“Mm-hm,” Tender gave a confirming nod.

The farm filly soon found herself reeled to the side, only to be yanked back with a twirl. Ok, that was kind of fun. It didn’t take her long to realize that Tender Taps was now behind her while still holding her hoof, his other hoof once again on her hip.

“In all honesty, if I were to have anypony as my dance partner, I’d be honored if it were prettiest filly in class,” Tender told her in a low voice.

“Aww. That’s so sweet!” Apple Bloom said with half-lidded eyes. “Ya sure Ah’m not that bad a dancer?”

“Positive. You just need to work on your…” Tender spun her around, dipping her and cradling her waist in his foreleg, “Coordination,” he said with a playful wink.

Apple Bloom placed a hoof over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

The sun was setting over the horizon, signifying that the day had come to an end. After their little dance session, Tender had offered to walk Apple Bloom home which the filly gladly accepted.

“This was a really great day, Tender Taps. I had a lot of fun,” Apple Bloom said, stopping at the porch of the doorstep.

“So, did I. Did it help you get your mind off that thing your friends?” Tender asked.

“Mm-hm” Apple Bloom nodded, “And whatever happens, happens”

“Great. So, if you’re up for it, maybe we could do this again sometime” Tender nervously rubbed the back of his head.

Apple Bloom chuckled. She then leaned in and planted a kiss upon the dancing colt’s cheek. “It’s a date,” she said.

Tender Taps smiled as he watched Apple Bloom enter the house, closing the door behind herself. He chuckled as he made his way home.

Apple Bloom closed the door behind herself, walking in on a conversation between Granny Smith and Applejack.

“Granny, for the last time, I’m too busy fer dating. Ah’m needed on the farm,” Applejack told her grandmother.

“Pfft! Yeah, that’s why,” Apple Bloom sarcastically remarked with a roll of her eyes as she made her way upstairs.

“That’s no excuse. Yer brother has his eyes on a mare from another village. Even yer sister has a little boyfriend now,” Granny commented, a comment which Apple Bloom blush. “At this rate, Apple Bloom’s gonna give me great grandfoals before you.”

Apple Bloom entered her bedroom, quickly shutting the door behind her. She jumped and plopped onto her bed on her back. This day was quite eventful. She ate at the Hayburger, watched a decent movie, went bowling, and practiced a few dance steps. And all of it with the colt she somewhat had a crush on. Now she had a chance to go on an actual date with him in the future. For all either of them knew, it could probably lead to something more.

Today really helped her get her mind of the whole Button Mash revenge thing. Although, something did cross her mind, a small, yet curious thing.

How was Scootaloo handling all of this?

Author's Note

Well, that’s the end of this chapter. I thought I’d take a bit of a break from Button and Rumble’s sides of the story and focus on another character. That character being Apple Bloom. I could do a Scootaloo chapter in the future, I’m just not sure what it’d be about. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

If you have ideas for the next chapter or future chapters, leave it in a review or feel free to message me.