SweetieMash Minecraft Adventures : Return of the Nightmare.

Chapters

2. Dark Questions
3. Escapes and Allies
4. Back in Buisness
5. Smile for the Camera!
6. This Again...
7. The Basics
8. The Escape
9. Bonding
11. Hesitation, Determination
12. Awaken
13. Recovery
14. Attacked
15. Road Trip!
16. Tasks
17. Encounter
18. Jungles at Night
19. Wraith
20. Harsh Words
21. Death
22. And Then There Were Four
23. New Pet
24. Mischievous
25. Lovers
26. Lucky or Unlucky?
28. At the End of The Mountain
29. Village
30. Reunited
31. Villagers
32. Fire
33. Blame
1. Released
10. First Night Over Again
27. Walkin' Through the World

2. Dark Questions

"Colts are supposed to be nice to each other!" groaned Sweetie Belle, playing with the end of her twirly straw with apparent irritation. "Can't you two get along for at least one afternoon?!"

Applebloom nodded eagerly, her chocolate milkshake swinging in the same rhythm of her head. "Yeah! We can't get any peace from all ya fightin'... For stupid things too!" she added.

Button felt a blush come to his cheeks just like every time he got told off by his mare friend.
"I wasn't the one who-!"

"Uh..." muttered Rumble, ears still folded back. "Yeah you were! Now stop accusing me of flirting with Sweetie Belle!"

"Enough with the hoof pointing already!" grumbled Scootaloo. "I thought we had come to Sugar Cube Corner to have a relaxing afternoon!"

Button felt embarrassed and quickly took a sip of his milkshake, trying to relax.
In the corner of his eye, he saw Sweetie Belle frown upon remembering something unpleasant.

"Honestly Button..." she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I still don't understand why you don't want us to share a milkshake when our friends are here!"

Not this again...
"It's embarrassing!" he hissed nervously, trying to close the subject.

"Oh come on...! Are you too embarrassed to share a milkshake with the cutest filly in the world...?" pouted Sweetie Belle with a hint of malice in her emerald eyes.

"If you don't do it, I will!" casually declared Rumble with a wink.

"See?!" exclaimed Button, standing up from his chair and stomping his hooves on the table. "That's flirting!"

"Not again!" winced Applebloom.

"It's not flirting!" replied Rumble, taking the exact same position. "Dude stop being such a jealous baby!"

"Sharing a straw is a love couple thingy!" Button squinted his eyes.

"Then why are we not doing it?!" mumbled Sweetie.

"That's not what I-" The brown colt couldn't finish his sentence.

The door of the bakery opened with a little gling! and they all turned their heads to see Diamond Tiara step in.
"Hey guys!" she smiled, taking place at their table. "Sorry I'm late! I had to see Silver Spoon go off to Manehattan."

"Not a problem!" giggled Scootaloo, discreetly passing a hoof in her mane to insure it was looking good enough.

The orange pegasus had grown pretty fond of Diamond Tiara ever since she had 'turned to the bright side' like would say the others.
It was a nice change from all her mockeries.

"Ah would've liked to arrive at the same time as you!" groaned Applebloom, burying her face in her hooves. "These foals here have been doing nothin' else than fightin' all mornin'!"

Button and Rumble both sat down, the former biting his lips in shame and the latter giving an annoyed glare.

"Again?" frowned Diamond, lifting a hoof up in the air to signal Pinkie.

"Come on..." mumbled Button, feeling a little ashamed. "We don't fight that often!"

"Yes you do!" replied every pony at the same time... before bursting into laughter.

"Oooooh!" chuckled Pinkie, coming over ready to take Diamond's order. "What you all laughing about?! Let me in! Let me in!"

"It's complicated," smiled Diamond, quickly checking the menu for something good.

"Well... I was meaning to tell you guys!" chirped Pinkie although her face had darkened up quite a bit.
"I hope you didn't forget that uh... GameSpark was released yesterday... And that... A few ponies disappeared as well..." she mumbled, fumbling with her crazy mane.

A shadow was cast over the whole table.

Applebloom started to sip on her milkshake, avoiding everypony's gaze.
Rumble gave a slight frown.
Scootaloo bit her lip in a nervous way.
Diamond Tiara's eyes lowered and she didn't dare lift her head up, making exaggerated faces at the contents on the menu.
Button and Sweetie Belle looked at each other with an uncertain look.

Rumble decided to lighten up the atmosphere and sighed, leaning on the table and crossing his hooves.
"It's been a year already?" he grunted.

"Time went by so fast..." muttered Sweetie Belle.

"So many things have happened since!" exclaimed Diamond, placing her order and settling on a vanilla milkshake.

"Yeah like we got our cutie marks!" squealed Sweetie Belle, lifting her flank up in the air.
Button and Rumble immediately lowered their eyes, blushing.

"Girl, stop waving that thing in the air..." chuckled Applebloom. "You're distractin' the boys..."

Sweetie sat down with an annoyed whip of her tail.
"Did that simple movement make you that disturbed...?" she giggled in Button's direction as he gave a quick nod.
An evil grin formed on her lips. "Mwuahahaha!" she laughed. "I know your weakness now!"

"Please don't..." mumbled Button, still not daring to look up.

"Listen guys, back to the subject..." interrupted Diamond. "I had a question..."

"You mean back to GameSpark...?" hissed Rumble, pronouncing his name with disgust.

"The princesses should have sentenced that bucker to at least ten years in prison!" complained Scootaloo, slurping at her banana milkshake.

"You..." tried Diamond Tiara. "You guys think he'll... uh..." The pink earth pony fumbled with her words and seemed to have trouble saying what she wanted to say.
"Ummm... You guys think he'll be out for... revenge...?"

A deadly silence reigned over them all.

Button and Sweetie Belle seemed uncertain.
But no pony denied Diamond's suggestion.

It was finally Button who broke the silence.
"I don't know Diamond..." he murmured. "I honestly don't..."

Author's Note

Please read this!

For the next few chapters I'm going to need your OC's!
I don't really want to go on creating more so I've decided to ask you guys.

But I warn you, their roles won't be very important and they'll be quite evil (GameSpark's colleagues) , some of them even dying...

I'll need two stallions and two mares. One stallion should at least have a muscular body or be a little busty.
Then, I'll need a mare (who will only exist throughout the whole story in like, two paragraphs) that could very well be an assistant or a secretary. The other mare, I don't really mind how she will be.

One of the stallions have already been introduced to the story in the first chapter (as the fake boss-ally of GameSpark).

Please either describe the pony or send a pic (that'll be much better) with their names and I'll select the winners before next week.

3. Escapes and Allies

Author's Note

Thank you so much for your OC's and congrats to the winners!!

3. Escapes and Allies

GameSpark looked up at the dark and stormy sky.
Rain was gently flowing through his mane, soaking it wet.

His gaze shifted down and he laid his eyes on the bloody corpse next to him.
Killing the stupid guard had been easy.
He was too distracted to defend himself.

It had been nice... Getting revenge from the stallion who had fed and laughed at you all those months.
Never answering your supplications and simply walking away.

GameSpark averted his gaze from the dead stallion and picked up his arm, the tip of an umbrella that had been hovering above the 'prison director' also known as one of his ancient colleagues.

Killing the cell keeper hadn't been necessary.
But he just had to do something to let all his rage and vengeance out.
His real moment of glory against the two brats will come soon, but not soon enough.

He got up and walked strait pass the young pegasus mare in the assistance office, followed by his bodyguard.
She gave him a surprised look, her magenta eyes widening and stood up to ask him what he was doing there.

But a hoof came out of nowhere and stopped her right in her tracks.
A purple coated mare with different shades of blue for her mane squinted her eyes and shook her head, clearly showing there was no need to go any further.

His second colleague.
Now he just had to join the third that was waiting for them with a carriage at the prison exit, and he would be truly free!
But not before taking care of one last personal matter...

GameSpark then joined his ally :
"Is it all installed Starlight Shield?" he whispered in her ear in front of the terrified assistant.

"Yes." Her guttural voice was harsh and unpleasant to hear.

"Good."
GameSpark then turned to the confused assistant and gave a small smile. "Have a nice day..." He read her name on the desk. "Sea Breeze."

A pink bubble engulfed him, the rather beefy blue stallion and the mare standing next to him as his horn started to glow, and a huge explosion was heard.
Soon, the whole building was exploding and GameSpark only had the time to give one last smile to the young mare before she was carbonated in front of his eyes, her aqua coat turning red then black.

The bubble disappeared once only smoke and a few debris were left.

The stallion next to him coughed and the deadly silence was broken.

A mare with a dark blue coat entered the building, waving away the smoke as best as she could.
When she spotted them, a grin appeared on her face.

"Well at least you guys aren't dead!" she giggled.

"No but she is" replied the stallion pointing in the direction of the assistant.

"Oh..." the earth pony became a little lightheaded. "Wasn't she a little um... young?"

"Magical Star, my dear!" laughed Starlight Shield. "We mustn't get attached to them!"

"Yeah yeah..." muttered Magical Star, regret in her voice.

"Now then!" chuckled GameSpark to his allies, an insane glimmer in his eyes. "Let's get to the pleasant thing I like to call revenge"

"Raining again..." muttered Sweetie Belle, staring out the window.

"You have chocolate in the corners of your mouth" declared Button.

"If I look closely, you as well" replied Sweetie, leaning over her hot cocoa and squinting her eyes.

Button quickly passed his tongue over his lips.
"All done?" he asked.

Sweetie leaned over some more and licked a part of his mouth that he hadn't touched.
"Mmmm..." she murmured, pretending to be in heaven. "Button flavored cocoa..."

"Hey!" childishly exclaimed the concerned.
Then he frowned and became more serious.
"So. Any news on the explosion of the prison?"

Sweetie crossed her hooves and sighed. "I knew you'd eventually come to this conclusion..." she gloomily said.

"I didn't even have time to expose my suggestion!"

"Yeah but I already know that you think it's GameSpark's work..."

Button opened his mouth. Then closed it.
Then groaned.
"Alright, alright you got me!" A hint of malice shined in his eyes. "But would Miss Sweetie Belle mind explaining why I would think that?"

The white filly smiled as she toyed with the fluffy white marshmallows in her hot chocolate.
"That's the part," she said, "I wanted to hear."

Button chuckled then checked his surroundings to verify that his mother wasn't around.
Her already overprotective mother sense had grown ten times stronger after the incident and there would be nights where she would refuse to leave his side in bed.
And if she'd ever hear him mentioning the name of their aggressor, she would always throw a hissy fit for ages, openly insulting the stallion and cursing him.

"First of all, I don't exactly think one year was enough for that psychopath to calm down..." started Button. "If he would do something so... so unpony just to get some money on his latest invention, surely one year in the darkest prison of Equestria wouldn't stop him..." A glimpse of interest was caught in Sweetie Belle's eye. "Then, there are ponies that nopony... And I mean nopony judged. The ones that are apparently pretty important..."

"Yeah? Spit it out!" excitedly said Sweetie, almost knocking her drink over in the process.

"The assistants..." mumbled Button. A hint of realization was showing on his fillyfriend's face. "There were four of them. One was nice and helped us out. But what about the three others...? Remember in court when GameSpark was judged, we didn't see them.
I know his company was closed and all but I sometimes wonder where all the employees went..."

"Should we go on an epic quest to find them...?!" laughed Sweetie Belle. "Stop worrying! I'm sure they're sorry now and confessed all their sins."

Not convinced, Button took another sip of his hot drink.
"Just trying to prevent another catastrophe here!"

"Yeah right." Sweetie rolled her eyes. "I doubt we could get unlucky twice..."

"You never know!"

The white filly smiled. "Anyways. Is the Christmas party at Diamond's house still up tonight?"

"Yeah, even though it'll be inside since..." Button pointed his hoof in the direction of the window.

"I can't wait! We didn't have time to properly celebrate Christmas last year because of all the commotion, but now...!"

"It's going to be great!" replied Button, jumping up and down.
Before long, Sweetie was doing the same and, outside, cheers and chuckles could be heard.

Near their window, a dripping wet stallion with an orange and green mane was smiling gently. "So they're having a party tonight eh...?"

4. Back in Buisness

"Spin the bottle! Spin the bottle! Spin the bottle!"
Cheers of six foals were heard from inside a huge fancy house – or mansion would be a better word.

"Button! It's you!!" chirped Sweetie Belle, her mind already racing ahead to what he could do with Rumble.

"Why?!" muttered the grey colt. "That damm bottle just had to pick both of us!"
He punctuated his words by suspiciously eyeing it out. "You and me... Four o'clock tomorrow... In the park..." he continued, his voice as low as a whisper.

"Well you two are the only pair that haven't been chosen yet sooooo...." chuckled Scootaloo, ignoring the weird colt and still wiping off the red lipstick that she had had to put on at the last dare with disgust.

"Mmmm..." deviously smiled Applebloom, an idea popping into her head. "Ah say they have to kiss!"

Gasps of shock were heard from everypony else, followed by a few giggles.

"Hey!!" grumbled Sweetie Belle, jealously grabbing onto Button and giving Rumble a death glare.

"Ewww!" laughed Scootaloo. "I would never do that! Who do you guys take me for?"

"You'll have to do it eventually!" smiled Diamond Tiara with a dreamy sigh, probably already imagining her and her prince dancing through a shiny castle.

That got a blush from the orange Pegasus and she hung her head, muttering something that no pony could hear. "It's complicated with who I wanna do it..."

"I am not kissing anypony else than Sweetie Belle!" grumbled Button, supporting his marefriend and continuing to argue against Applebloom's pretty daring challenge.

"Yeah me too!" chuckled Rumble, a hint of malice appearing in his eye.

Button gave a nod of approval before stopping and sharply turning his head in Rumble's direction.
"You said what?!"

Rumble laughed again and stood up, sticking his tongue out before Button could catch him.
"I'll repeat if you manage to pin me down Mashey!"

The brown foal accepted the dare and took off after him, muttering in anger and mild amusement.

"So why are your parents not coming in to ask us to make less noise again? It's kinda weird... I was sure they'd be the kind of ponies to hate noise" casually asked Scootaloo to Diamond Tiara, ignoring the fighting friends.

The pink earth pony simply shrugged. "I must admit I'm as surprised as you are."
But then more concern arrived and she frowned. "Actually... This really isn't normal! They'd usually be barging in to ask us to tone it down..."

"Maybe they're...?" supposed Applebloom with a devious smile, stuffing her face in delight with some of the high class chocolate Diamond Tiara had bought for their Christmas Party.

"What...?" The pink filly scrunched her nose in incomprehension before suddenly blushing as she understood what her friend had meant. "No! No, no! They would never do that while I'm in the house!"

"Then maybe they're out?" proposed Sweetie Belle, trying her very best to suppress a giggle in front of Applebloom's way of saying things with no shame.

"They would warn me!" Diamond shook her head, still trying to hide the crimson blush on her cheeks before standing up and starting to trot to the bedroom door. "I'll go check out the living room. I hope they're all ri–"

The massive doors blasted open and a huge gush of wind blew all their manes in a tangle.

Diamond Tiara screamed as small shards of woods got stuck in her skin.

Smoke was rising from the debris and a few spots of fire were shining here and there.

Button and Rumble immediately stopped arguing and tried to understand the source of the problem.

Cries were heard all over the room as the smoke was now so thick, that they couldn't see a thing.

"Rumble! Applebloom where are you guys?! I feel like I'm suffocating!"

"Hey... Hey! That's my tail!" Slap "Rumble I'll drag you to court for doing something so disgusting!"

"Uhhhh I'm over here Diamond..."

"Who did I just slap then?"

"Sweetie Belle! Is that you...? It's either you or a giant pillow..."

"Guys am I hugging Applebloom or a piece of wood...?"

"Who is tryin' to hug me?!"

"Yeah dude that's just wrong..."

"What voice did that come from?!"

"Button! Button!"
Those screams were louder than the others and shushed the confused foals. "It's-!"

The voice was muffled and soon completely died down.
But they had all recognized Sweetie's singing voice.

"What...?! Sweetie Belle! Answer me!" yelled Button.

A pink figure rose from some of the smoke and started to flap its wings hard, therefor blowing some of it away.

"Who is that...?" muttered Rumble, eyeing the blue maned Pegasus down.

Somewhere, a window was opened and soon, their vision was pretty clear.

All their gazes turned to the bedroom doors - or where they had been a few minutes ago - and they gasped in unison.

A pretty smug looking GameSpark was brightly smiling at them.
Two other ponies – one light blue stallion and one dark blue mare – were located behind him.

The Pegasus quickly found her way behind the small group of friends and finished blocking off all exits.

But the worst part was a terrified looking Sweetie Belle, held into GameSpark's arms, a long knife pressed against her neck.

"Hellooooo!" the stallion said, flashing them another smile. "Miss me?! 'Cause I did!"

Author's Note

Okay in the previous chapter or so, some of you maybe read the name "Honey Poem" for one of GameSpark's colleagues.
She became "Magical Star".

And jeez... Couldn't have done more Cliche than that ending.

5. Smile for the Camera!

Author's Note

Here is everyone!

5. Smile for the Camera!

"Miss me?! 'Cause I did!"

A shocked silence followed GameSpark's words.

"Uhhhh... Can I answer that?" asked Rumble. "Cause it's obvious what we wanna say..."

A shadow was cast upon GameSpark's face for just a moment. "You all think this is all a joke huh?!" His grin widened and a crazy glow shined in his eyes as his pupils started to become smaller. "Well let me tell you..." Sweetie screamed, struggling in his arms as he applied the blade against her throat.

"Stop! Stop!" yelled Button, tears steaming down his face. "Please!"

An evil and twisted smile came upon GameSpark's lips.
"Why should I...? You ponies ruined my life! I suffered in a Celestiadamm prison for a bucking YEAR!"
His shouts became even louder and the foals began to worry about poor Sweetie Belle's throat.
"My life was perfect... Everyday, there were mares after me! All ponies I met would praise me! My invention was the best!
Until you... you... you buckers came along! Your stupid foalish curiosity came along and just... just...!"

GameSpark was practically burning with rage and couldn't even utter any words anymore.

The room grew silent.
Only the pouring rain outside was making some noise.

Sweetie Belle felt a bitter smell come to her muzzle - probably some more late smoke - and couldn't resist the urge to sneeze despite her neck being in a dangerous position.

That seemed to wake GameSpark up and he blinked, giving the whole room a confused look.

"What was I doing here again...?" he mumbled, apparently suffering from memory losses during his long stay in prison.
Surely his sanity had gone down a lot.

Button seized the opportunity and lunged at GameSpark, landing on his stomach and swinging a fast punch in his face.
Sweetie Belle quickly scrambled to her hooves and joined the others while Button continued hitting and hitting her aggressor until a massive hit on his forehead coming from one of the 'bodyguards' stopped him.

The brown colt fell to the floor with a 'thump' and didn't get up.

"Button..." murmured Sweetie Belle, tears to her eyes while the blue stallion carelessly cast him aside.

"That's it! What do ya plan with doin' with us?!" Applebloom slammed her hooves on the ground.

"Yeah! What's your goal here?! The guards will find you for sure!" groaned Scootaloo.

"And what did you do to my parents?! Where are they...?!" Diamond's eyes were watering up as well.

"So..." GameSpark pretended to think about it while rubbing his painful cheek. "I plan to murder you all, go into hiding and I killed your parents!"

The biggest smile illuminated his face as a deadly silence took place.

"N... No... No!" cried Diamond Tiara. "You... NO!"

She darted for GameSpark with a cry of rage.
At the last moment, something hovered in front of her and the foals heard some movement behind them.

A blinding flash of white was seen.
When their vision got better, Diamond was nowhere in sight.

All the foals gasped as they saw what GameSpark had levitated...

It was a shiny dark camera...

"Jeez I was just joking too... They're only knocked out" muttered GameSpark.

He looked up and saw all the foal's shocked gazes fixated on his camera.
A mischievous grin took place on his face.
"Let me introduce you guys to a completely new and improved camera! With a lot of glitches but... whatever. I made sure all the best mods and anti-escape software was installed on there! It's called..."
His brow furrowed and he leaned over to the pale pink mare on his side and quietly asked : "What did we name it again?"

The mare gave him an exasperated look and whispered back into his ear.

"Ah yes!" GameSpark's confidence was back as he sickly smiled. " The Death Camera..."

A silence reigned between the confused children.

"Death Camera...?" mumbled Rumble. "What kind of a name is that?!"

"Yeah... Death... Seems a little... overdue maybe?" nodded the blue guard behind him. "I told you they'd find it weird boss..."

"But It took me a long time to figure it out!" said GameSpark with a pouty face before turning to the mare on the other side of him. "Magical Star... Please tell me you like the name!"

The dark blue earth pony simply shrugged like 'I don't wanna get involved in this...'

"No dude seriously... You could've chosen 'Revenge of The Camera' or something..." continued Rumble. "It's a little less... dramatic."

"Mm... You're right!" nodded GameSpark. "If I didn't want to kill you so much, I'm sure I would hire you as an assistant! Thanks!"

"No prob!" smiled Rumble.

"You're kidding me..." Sweetie shook her head.

"Are we seriously having this conversation...?" muttered the pink coated mare.

"Stallions can be so immature..."

"I know right?"

"Guys!" The voice was way louder than the others and came from Scootaloo. "How could you all simply..." A few of her tears fell to the floor. "Look at Button! Look at us! And what about Diamond?! Why are we just joking around like this?!"

Her screams were fierce and full of despair.
"I... I can't believe you all!" she fell to the floor, sobbing.

GameSpark's expression became dark. He waved in direction of the guard who had partnered up with Rumble earlier and he made a computer appear behind Scootaloo.
There was the Minecraft menu on it...

"S... Scoots!" yelled Applebloom. "Get away from there!"

But the orange pegasus didn't have the time and, a blinding flash later, she too had disappeared.

"That's two! I honestly didn't expect you to be this much..." frowned the culprit. "Oh and I'm sure you'll all be glad to know that this world is the ancient one you were in... Only I builded a few things on there!"

Another flash later and Button was gone.
The camera pointed towards Applebloom.
She had the time to duck twice before getting 'shot'.

"Sweetie!" yelled Rumble, grabbing her and pushing her out of the way.

He was the one who got caught... And in the end, only Sweetie was left there to scream.

They're all gone... All my friends... They just fell like parasprites. Ten minutes ago we were fine! How did it all come to this?!

With a dangerous flick of his ear, GameSpark came closer to her.
"Let's take a look at the last one heh?" He gently smiled as the guard took hold of the white filly.

"Do what you have to do..." she bravely muttered. "But I'm warning you, we'll all escape just like last time!"

A laugh came out of GameSpark's mouth.
"You really thought I was going to send you in with them...?!"

"W... What?"

"I find your coat of the most shimmering white..." continued GameSpark, inching closer. "And your mane ever so sparkly and... colorful..."
He ran a hoof through it to mark his words and she shuddered.
"So I'm going to repaint it all in red..." He laughed maniacally.

Droplets of sweat were going down Sweetie's face.
"You... You..."
Suddenly, joining her friends in prison was a much better option.
She looked over around her to try and seek comfort in one of GameSpark's colleagues perhaps.

But Starlight Shield was giving her the same sick smile.
The stallion holding her wasn't budging.
And Magical Star showed no sign of helping her even though she was nervously fidgeting with her mane.
"Why me?" Sweetie finally settled on.

"Simply because you're the prettiest of them all!" The stallion shot her a smile. "Oh and don't worry, I won't kill you... I have other plans!"

A shiver ran down Sweetie's spine.
This couldn't happen...
It just couldn't!

She tried to clear the images in her head and focused on her horn.
Light green magic engulfed a small piece of debris on the floor and gently floated towards the camera which was still pointing in her direction.
She slightly turned her head and saw that the minecraft menu was still open behind her.

The stallion holding her was about to take a step forward so she took a deep breath, remembered her horrible training with Rainbow Dash once...
And wiggled out of the stallion's grasp.

Her thin body was just perfect for that and he pushed a surprised exclamation upon seeing his prisoner shrink down and disappear.

"Starlight! Get her!"

Sweetie ran towards the camera and let the debris fall on the button.

The last thing she saw was a blinding flash and a furious looking GameSpark, lunging at her.
Her body burned her and she felt like she was falling... falling... falling...

Something grabbed her hoof.

6. This Again...

Mooo! Moo! Moo...?

Button flinched upon hearing the noise and his ears flicked, a sign of his irritation.

Moo... Moo!

A groan came out of his mouth and he turned around, on his back.
Something bright hit his eyes even though they were closed.

"Gah!" the foal sat upright, his eyes stinging.

Something banged on his head.
"Ow!" a high pitched voice screamed.

Button felt pain as well and he placed a hoof on his face to hide his eyes from... sunlight...?

"I swear I wasn't watching you sleep!" the voice continued, staggering. "B... But I like totally thought you were dead or something!"

"Wuh?" muttered Button, finally taking off his hooves to rub his painful forehead.
"D... Diamond Tiara...? Why were we sleeping toge-"

Button stopped upon seeing where he was.

It was the plain...
The plain!
The one he had had many nightmares about in the last year.

"No... No! It's impossible! It's just all a nightmare... A filthy, filthy nightmare!" he uttered, closing his eyes to try and hide the blocky world before him.

"Button... Button Mash! Answer me!" came Diamond's voice from far away.
But the brown foal just curled up in a fetal position and proceeded to gently rock on the smooth grass.
Push back the memories... Push 'em away... This is not real...

"Button!" yelled another voice. "Snap out of it!"

Slap!

A long silence stretched over them all as Button slowly lifted up his hoof and lightly brushed his now bruised cheek.

"Wasn't that a little excessive Scootaloo...?" groaned Diamond.

"Hey! He needed that okay? He's already been in here, so we'll need him to tell us what to do... Do you know how to play?" scolded the orange pegasus in a defensive way.

Button simply continued to stare at the horrible sight.

Even though it wasn't that ugly.

The blocky world upon him was quite amazing to be honest. It was snowing just about a mile away and the sun was shining over them all, beautifully contrasting with a stormy bunch of clouds who were approaching them at a fast pace.

"Of course I don't know how to play Minecraft!
But why am I the one being told off when I think that my parents may be dead, that I have no idea where the others are, and when I just realized that I slept on some grass for the whole night… Some. Grass. Scootaloo!
Plus, do you have any ideas how long it takes to get my mane untangled?! So multiply that by two! And what do you get…? A whole hour lost because us mares must take care of ourselves! You foals can simply brush it off with a light movement of your hooves but…"

"Wow wow calm down okay? And I'm no foal!"

"Hey... Why are you guys all arguin'?" mumbled Applebloom, coming out of nowhere.

"And where's Rumble?" asked Diamond, changing subject.

"R... Right here..." came a voice out of the tall grass. "I feel like an army of changelings went through my head, buzzing like crazy!"

His head popped out.
"We all here?" then he noticed something on the floor and crouched down to look at it more closely.
A high pitched scream came out of his mouth and he quickly retreated back, shuddering.
"C... Caterpillars... They're so big" he murmured, his eyes vague.

Applebloom looked at the two fetal positioned foals and rolled her eyes.
Stallions...
"Where's Sweetie Belle?" she asked.

Button's head jerked up.
Where was Sweetie actually? Did they all pop in a the same time? Did she get out of GameSpark's hooves?
"W... What happened?! I can't really remember... Did I get hit by somepony? Did Sweetie escape-"

"Calm down! I think she was the last one to come..." murmured Rumble.

"If she got in..." dramatically said Diamond, attempting to brush out the pixel bits of dirt out of her mane.

Button's eyes widened and he froze, his ears shooting down.
He went back to his position on the grass and didn't move.

Rumble approached him, waved a hoof in front of his face then turned back to the group and declared : "Button.exe stopped functioning!"

A series of groans were heard and Applebloom facehoofed.
"Great ya broke him!" she grunted.

"H... Hey it wasn't my fault!" muttered Diamond.
"Not my fault he's so obsessed with his stupid marefriend instead of noticing others" she continued through gritted teeth, her voice lower than a whisper so that nopony else could hear her.

"Calm down a little Applebloom! She didn't mean to do that!" defended Scootaloo.

"Yeah, he was just our only chance of survivin'!"

"I didn't really need you to defend me but thanks anyways..." huffed Diamond.

Scootaloo took a step back, looking hurt.
"B... But-"

"Girls! Somepony's arriving!" shouted Rumble, having noticed a faint glow in a nearby bush.

They all gathered around, even Button who had jumped to his hooves at the indirect mention of Sweetie Belle.

"Phew!" exclaimed Applebloom upon spotting a white coat appearing. "That gal got me worried I'll admit!"

But her smile quickly turned into a frown that matched the others when she saw a pink coat accompanying the white.

With one last glow, the two figures came in view.

Sweetie Belle darted for cover, jumping onto Button and tackling him in a tight hug.

Button was about to laugh his stress away but the chuckle died in his throat as he saw tears streaming down her face.

"B... Button!" she cried. "It was horrible! I... I wanted to be with you so bad! I couldn't escape! He had this glow in his eyes and... and he said some horrible things! I was so scared that he'd keep me forever!"

Her sobs left everypony speechless as Button started to stroke her mane, anger rising up in his chest.
All their attention then turned to the pony who had accompanied her.

The pink mare was one of GameSpark's colleagues.
She got up, looking surprised upon seeing where she was before starting to flap her wings.

Rumble didn't give her time to leave and lunged at her, grabbing her mane in his teeth and pulling her down with all his strength.
Scootaloo quickly held her to the ground and Applebloom joined them.

"What's your name?" coldly asked Button, getting up although still not letting go of Sweetie Belle.

The mare didn't answer at first and desperately tried to struggle out of their hooves in vain.
Button glared at her with all the hatred he was capable of and saw a hint of resignation in her eyes.

Some droplets of cubic rain started to fall down and soak their coats.

"Starlight Shield..." the pegasus finally replied, looking away.

"Well guys..." smiled Button, turning back to the group. "I think we have a prisoner!"

Cheers were heard from all his friends as Sweetie wiped her tears and Diamond stopped trying to hide her mane from the rain.

At least we're together this time...

Author's Note

Rumble's undying fear of caterpillars is confirmed.

Also, these will now come out every Wednesday, this one was just early.

7. The Basics

"Come on let me go stupid foals!" groaned Starlight.

Rumble cackled like a witch and pushed her forward, as if he was having great fun.
"In you go!!" he chirped.

Button finished building the dirt prison and watched as Applebloom and Rumble quickly closed the door and placed a block in front of it to prevent her from escaping.

They could all still see her shimmering eyes who were burning with hatred through the cracks.

"Are you sure she won't escape?" asked Sweetie Belle, her voice low.

"No, she doesn't know how to play Minecraft even though she's worked on the game design" laughed Button. "But we'll reinforce it with stone, no doubt she'll learn quickly."

He turned to the others and smiled brightly.
"Come on everypony! Let's get digging!!" he shouted in joy.

Blank stares returned to him and a long silence stretched over them.

"Yeaaaaaah...!" quietly said Rumble.

"How are we supposed to do that?" huffed Diamond. "I don't know how to play!"

"Neither can I!" said Scootaloo, shaking her head.

"Same here!" followed Applebloom.

Button grunted and facehoofed before trying to be optimistic.
"Well, let's just make you learn the basics! I'll teach Diamond, Rumble get with Applebloom and Sweetie will be with Scootaloo!"

"Who died and made you our ruler...?" muttered Diamond Tiara, although following Button to a nearby tree anyways.

"Right, all you have to do is punch the wood and a tiny little block will pop out! Then, you walk towards it and it'll immediately slip into your inventory. Just think 'inventory' and it'll open up... Put the block of wood in one of the four little slots next to your avatar and you'll see something name "wooden plank" appear. You can then slide those two in and you get something named-"

"Omycelestia!" squealed Diamond Tiara. "The block!!"

"Wuh?" muttered Button.

"It disappeared! It was like I ate it! It just flew towards me and I absorbed it!" she continued, looking horrified.

Button sighed and turned to look at the others, hoping they were having better luck.

"Kyyaaaaa! ScootalooIsAwesome punch!" yelled Scootaloo, throwing her hooves on an innocent nearby tree.

"S... Scoots! I think there's a mod that-" tried Sweetie Belle, quickly retreating backwards.

The tree was cut in two and an army of squirrels poured out of the tree, squealing in anger.

"Gaaaah! Squirrels... They're everywhere!" screamed Scootaloo, backing away.

Button just turned to Rumble and Applebloom, trying to forget what he had just seen.

"Why can't I simply buck the tree...?" groaned the earth pony.

"Because... Because! That's just not how minecraft works!" an exasperated Rumble replied. "Hey why are there angry squirrels over there?"

"We're so not surviving this first night..." muttered Button.
But his own thought scared him.

They were all taking this way too lightly! Sure right now it was sunny and bright, and everything seemed fine! But GameSpark had made himself clear on the fact that he would make sure the foals didn't escape the game.
Once night will appear, monsters will start to pop up and they needed a shelter now! The sun wasn't that high up to begin with.

Button ignored Diamond's questions on where the wooden block had disappeared to and quickly made himself a two block high tower of dirt.

He took a deep breath.
"Guys!"

Everypony froze.

"Button...? Is there a problem?" asked Sweetie Belle, tilting her head.

"Yes... Yes there is a problem! I think we've all been caught up in this stupid game. Just look at us! We're having fun, slowly learning how to play, when the sun is setting and the monsters are just waiting to pop out and hurt us!
You guys really think this is the right solution? We need to build a safe shelter to at least last us until we have better resources!"

A deadly silence reigned through the forest, only disrupted by the happy chirps of faraway birds.

"So, we're going to do this right.
Scootaloo, what are you good at?" he asked, turning her way.

"Huh... I guess I'm pretty good at fighting... Or going fast!" she excitedly said.

"Right. Rumble, please teach her how to craft things okay? And quickly make her learn the basic monsters and how to fight them."

Rumble nodded.

"Applebloom, what are you good a-"

"Buckin' apples." she immediately said.

"O... Okay... Then why don't you get blocks for us? Those strong hind hooves of yours should be able to do quite a lot!"

Applebloom raised her hoof and saluted like a soldier. "I'm on it!"

"As for you Diamond, you're gonna stay with Sweetie and I, and we'll start getting food. Now everypony... Let's do this!"

They all parted in groups and Sweetie rushed to Button's side, pride showing on her face.
"You did a great job!" she nuzzled him before giving him a concerned look. "But I don't get why you put Diamond in food duty... She'll never stand killing any thing, yet alone eating it!"

"That's why I want her to do something hard first. Then, all the other things will seem easier and she won't complain as much... hopefully..." smiled Button.

"You're good!"

"Right! I don't exactly see any apples on these trees..." said Diamond Tiara, joining them.

"That's because we..." Button gulped. "We're going to eat meat..."

His ears folded, waiting for the horrified scream.

"Okay. Although I'm not familiar with killing it... How are we going to do that? Do we punch the animal?" Diamond wiggled her nose in disgust.

"Y... You don't mind eating meat?" asked Sweetie, eyes wide.

The pink filly chuckled. "I went to all kinds of dinners with my family, and had to eat meat! It's a rich pony ting I guess."

Sweetie and Button glanced at each other, unsure how to respond.

"Soooo... Let's just start by a chicken okay?" awkwardly said Button, spotting one a few hoofsteps away.

"Got it..." murmured their 'student'.

She inched closer to it and lifted a hoof in the air to punch it...

"Stooooop!!" screamed Sweetie Belle, running towards the chicken and grabbing it out of harm's way.

"L... Listen Sweetie... I know you like chickens and all but-"

"This chicken is special!" she groaned, her back turned.

Button smiled, remembering how she had been when they had seen their first chicken last time.

"It's just a chicken Sweetie..." warily said Diamond.

"No... No..." Sweetie Belle turned to them, tears in her eyes. She lifted the chicken in the air and it gave a happy 'cluck!' "This is Helper! We found him!"

"Cluck!"

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay!

8. The Escape

"How about... slamming the animal's head with a rock?" muttered Rumble, his hooves trembling as he saw the cow in front of him give out an innocent 'Mooo...?'.

"What are you, a butcher?" coldly replied Sweetie Belle, holding Helper right against her chest. "Don't worry, you don't have to watch..." she then murmured softly to him, protecting his eyes with her hoof.

"W... Why are we all watching the 'killing animals' part...?" winced Scootaloo, sadly watching the indeed very innocent looking cow Button had captured.

"It's essential!" insisted Button. "Plus, you guys have finished everything we had assigned... And we need more food!"

"Yep! We'll have to eat when we'll try and sleep in..." Sweetie Belle glanced at the dirt house that they had build, lying half under ground with a wooden base and roof, not forgetting the cobblestone messily placed around it all. "... whatever that is..."

"When ya told me that I was gonna be the architect, I didn't expect that it would be so hard!" grumbled Applebloom.

"At least the door is okay... I guess..." wondered Scootaloo, trying to cheer things up a bit.

"You do know that zombies can break down wooden doors...? Did you actually listen to anything I explained?!" groaned Rumble, facehoofing.

"Heh... I guess I may have-"

Crrrrrack!

All the foals jumped and Button and Sweetie Belle immediately drew out their wooden swords.
Scootaloo quickly backed away to the center of the group, soon followed by Diamond Tiara and Rumble.
Applebloom stayed next to the defenders, grabbing her sword as well.

They all froze as a pink coat rushed pass them, too fast to be caught, although too slow to be unidentified.

"Starlight!" shouted Button, panicked. "We forgot all about her!"

Sweetie Belle didn't reply and simply followed the pegasus, running at full speed behind her blue tail, her sword all ready to slash away as it floated in front of her.

Rumble did the same, and Scootaloo as well as Applebloom went after her.

Button hesitated.
He saw from the corner of his eye, a terrified Diamond Tiara dart to the house.

Well at least she'll be safe...

"Stay there okay?" yelled Button, not waiting for an answer. "Stay safe actually!"

He only had the time to see thankful eyes stare at him from the insides of the house before catching up with the others.

Rumble was in lead, Sweetie Belle was second and Applebloom was right behind.

As for Scootaloo, she was desperately trying to fly as well as run, which was considerably reducing her speed.

Button glanced behind him and saw the house was still near.

"Get back to a safe place okay?" he yelled, briefly wiping his tail in the right direction.

Scootaloo opened her mouth as if to protest, but then stopped and turned back.

That's two safe...

Button, thanks to his long legs caught up with the group, panting with effort.
He could vaguely see the sun setting but didn't pay any direct attention to that.

Rumble tried to jump on the pegasus, taking his chance, but she ducked him and he ended up grabbing a tuft of grass, bruising his wing.

"Ha! The day you catch up with me is the day we all die!" sneered Starlight, opening her wings and flapping them hard to pick up speed.

Button doubled his speed as well, pushing himself to the limits, going pass Sweetie Belle.
We can't let her escape! She's our only way out!

He was now very close to her and could almost hear her staggering breath.

Button prepared himself to jump on her...
He flexed his muscles, readied himself and-

That's when he saw them.
Them.

The glowing white eyes.
The huge glowing white eyes only a few hoofsteps away, hiding in the darkness.

They were so big, so intense...
They seemed to be plunging into the depths of his soul, penetrating his mind and digging in his veins.

Silence stretched over the whole world.

Time slowed for what seemed like an eternity as the only things that existed were the Eyes and Button.
His own eyes widened and he gulped back some fear, feeling... empty...

Slam!

Button didn't see the tree and went strait for it, hurting his hooves as they tried to minimize the impact.

"Button! Oh my Celestia! Are you okay?" screamed Sweetie Belle, stopping to lend him a hoof, concern clearly showing in her emerald eyes.

Rumble arrived next, his left wing folded against his body in a protective way.

Button scrambled to his hooves, feeling sweaty and trembling a little.
W... What the hell?!

"Guys... She escaped..." gloomily said Applebloom as she put her sword away, joining them.

Their gazes all turned to the disappearing patch of pink into the forest.

"Did you see something...?" asked Sweetie Belle, nuzzling the brown foal to comfort him.

"I... I don't know..." Button span around to look in the depths of the forest. The eyes were gone. They had disappeared as quickly as they had arrived.
"No... I guess I was just imagining things." He didn't want to worry his friends for something so small. Even though he was pretty sure all the feelings that he had experienced were real...

"Uh... I think we've best to get going... " mumbled Applebloom, nervously checking their surroundings and getting her sword back out.

A low growl was heard and they froze.

"Prepare yourselves..." murmured Sweetie Belle as she took her own sword in hoof. "This isn't going to be easy..."

The last few rays of sunlight disappeared completely and the foals were left with only darkness and frightening sounds.

Author's Note

Should I write a short story (a 1000 words) about Derpy and The Doctor / comedy?

9. Bonding

Diamond Tiara shuddered in the damp base made of cobblestone and wood and tried to hide her intense blush.

Never had a pony been so nice to her, she had been almost sure Button would have blamed her for her cowardice when she had rushed to the safe interior of their base.

But no, he had looked almost relieved to see her go someplace safe. His strong and assured voice came back to her head.
Stay safe actually! What courageous words he had spoken while heading on to battle!

"Ohhhh... Nopony has ever cared about me like that! And especially no stallion! I mean sure a lot of stallions were nicer but not as!
Could it be...? Could it be that he likes me?! Oh wow! I mean he is super nice... And he's quite handsome compared to others!
Ohhhhh! Stop blushing Diamond!" squealed the pink earth pony, laying her hooves on her cheeks.

Some movement in front of the house alarmed her.
Diamond quickly jumped up strait, ready to... to do whatever she had to if a scary monster would pop up.

The door slammed open and an orange pegasus came 'flying' in at full speed, crash landing next to Diamond.

"Heyyyy!" the concerned exclaimed, her heartbeat decreasing. "There's something called knocking you know!"

An arrow landed next to her with a soft thump, planting itself quite deeply into the soil. "Okay, there are conditions I guess!"

Scootaloo tried to catch her breath. "Close the freaking door Diamond!" she puffed.

The earth pony simply rolled her eyes and sighed exaggeratively, making sure to slowly move towards the entrance of their small base. "Fine, fine! Just ask it nicely next-"

Another few arrows came in. One landed next to her right hoof, the other dug itself in the wall, and the third one sliced right through her mane, cutting in semi-long.
Time froze as the earth pony saw some pink wicks float in front of her eyes.

A deep silence went by as Diamond Tiara slowly lifted her hoof to catch the last few strands of pink hair falling to the floor. Her mouth opened wide and her eyes shone of a different light.

"Hey! What are you waiting for...?!" growled Scootaloo from the other side of the 'room', having finally caught her breath.

Diamond slammed the door shut with all her might, and it made a huge echoing bang through the little structure, sound bouncing off of every wall and resonating more.

"What gives?!" screamed the pegasus, startled by the sudden noise. But she jumped as Diamond violently turned to her, tears in her eyes and flowing down her cheeks.
Her mane was now cut to an untidy square and was freely falling down her forehead.

"I'll kill them..." she murmured with a twitch of her eye, wiping her tears away with rage. "I'll kill all those stupid monsters!"
Her scream made Scootaloo's ears fall back and she frightfully stared at the usually quite snobby and calm earth pony.

"H... Hey..." she awkwardly said, drawing closer to the filly. "Listen, I know it's hard to... um... loose a little bit of your mane and stuff, but you're probably going to have to face much more horrible things! I don't play Minecraft but I know for a fact that it's a dangerous game. We got fighters amongst us so I'm at least 120% sure we'll be okay" Scootaloo lifted her gaze up and gave a half hearted smile. "I'm sure we can all escape soon... The guards will directly link our absence to GameSpark and we'll be out in no time! So please... stop... crying okay?" she winced, wrapping a wing around her.

Diamond turned to her, tears still floating in her eyes, but no longer coming out of them. The filly looked miserable and so far from her usual self.
Her ears flopped down as well and she gladly buried her face in Scootaloo's fur, feeling somewhat protected.
"I'm sorry... I guess I'm just... scared!" her muffled voice was calm although a little shaky. "I'm scared-"

"Of the monsters I know... It's hard to listen to them growling outside, but I can assure you we're safe!" replied Scootaloo, starting to unconsciously stroke the remains of Diamond's mane, letting her mind wander on the others. Were they okay?

But the once snobby earth pony jerked back with anger. "No. Not that! I don't really care about the monsters! It's just... I'm scared that... that..." her voice went up in the higher levels. "That my parents don't care about me! All your relatives will look after you as Button's mother did... But what about my parents? I'm sure they don't give a dam about me! I'm actually... terrified. Terrified that I'll be forgotten..."

She turned to the opposite direction and tried to sniffle her doubts away, embarrassed to have let her feelings pour out so easily.

"Hey..." Scootaloo lifted Diamond's chin with her hoof and intensely stared in her eyes, trying to ignore her own pain. "Your parents love you no matter what. At least you... you have some I guess" she let go and took a deep breath. "Let's just wait for the others to come back."

"Sure..." Diamond didn't say anything further but sat next to her in companion silence.

They both had something in common at least... That was good...

Scootaloo on the other hoof was sweating. Why did she feel so... so...
It was a feeling she couldn't quite place a hoof on, but it was larger than her admiration for Rainbow Dash...

So... What was it...?

Author's Note

I actually like it like that! She doesn't look as um... bratty...?
Speed paint or whatever :

11. Hesitation, Determination

Author's Note

I literally released this 38 minutes pass midnight... So it's Wednesday right? :pinkiecrazy:
Good Night :facehoof:

11. Hesitation, Determination

An awkward silence was taking place in the damp base.
Diamond could hear some rain outside, above all the noise that the monsters were making. It was cold and she was hungry, thirsty and bored.

"Hey... Wanna check through the chests and try things out on the crafting table?" suddenly asked Scootaloo, titling her head.

"Sure" shrugged her friend. "What do you have in your inventory...?"

"Uhhhh... A... bone is it...? I have no idea how I picked that up. But I also have some wooden planks and cobblestone. Oh and a wooden sword" declared Scootaloo after checking.

"And I have some meat, a few seeds and... birch wood...?" frowned Diamond Tiara, placing everything on the floor.

"There's some more meat plus an egg and bones in the chest" Scootaloo popped her head out of the double chest with a sigh. "Not much to go on..."

A small cluck was heard from behind them and they turned to see that the chicken named Helper was innocently staring at them.

"Awww! Ain't you cute!" cooed the orange pegasus. "I don't get what Button was arguing about when he talked about you!"

But the chicken clucked again... Got closer... And suddenly jumped on her head, proceeding to try and grab the egg in her hoof.
Scootaloo screamed and tried to get him off, but Helper was solidly anchored to her and was determined to get his egg back.

"Chicken meets chicken..." muttered Diamond, simply turning her head the other way and pressing a hoof against her cheek, leaning on it as she stared out the opening in the door.
The square moon was so bright... She could see stars up there and they seemed so real that it was hard to believe all that was a virtual world...
Everything was shining so brightly. Was Luna's normal nights as pretty? She has never taken the time to properly admire the beauty of a world that seemed so far away now.

"Fine, fine! Take your egg back!" scoffed Scootaloo, letting Helper go. "See if I care!"

A giggle escaped Diamond's mouth as she saw the two face off. That chicken really was something. He really looked like he was smirking!

They both turned her way upon hearing her chuckle and their identical confused and quite angry expressions just made Diamond burst into laughter.
"You guys... The way you two are so similar! It's hilarious!" she held onto her stomach, rolling on the floor.

Scootaloo shrugged with a small smile.
But her smile froze as she saw something behind Diamond that seemed serious.

"W- What?" the earth pony, still grinning turned to look through the cracks in the door, wiping tears. Although her smile faded away just like Scootaloo's when she saw three foals galloping towards them at full speed. They were terrorised.

"Oh Celestia..." murmured Scootaloo as she examined them. Applebloom was being held by Button and could barely lift her hooves off the ground. She seemed exhausted.
Button himself had nasty cuts and an arrow planted into his spine. He was heavily sweating and every muscle in his body was shaking.

As for Rumble, he seemed desperate and was carrying a white package on his back. Something was leaking all over him... It was shining under the moonlight...

"No..." Diamond brought her hoof to her mouth in horror.

"... Blood?" Scootaloo's murmur answered her suspicions.

Diamond shook her head violently, trying to rid herself of her paralysing fear and brutal descent back to the harsh reality. "We... We need to help them!" she uttered, slowly peeking out the door cracks.

There wasn't anything near them... Perhaps if they went strait for them, there was a chance of... not dying...?

Scootaloo gave a small nod and took a wary step forward. She seemed far away... So very far away...

Diamond Tiara, grabbed her by the shoulders and stared right into her eyes, trying to focus and put in the same amount of intensity and determination that the pegasus had done for her, moments ago. "Stop. Forget about the danger. Concentrate on saving your friends!" her gaze tightened. "Our friends."

"Yeah... Yeah sure..." Scootaloo nodded once more and suddenly jerked her head backwards, her eyes closing. She fell to the floor, unconscious.

"No! You can't faint now! Come on stupid!" growled Diamond although there was some panic in her tone.
This can't be happening! her breath became unsteady as she heard the sound of Button's distant screams.

"Rumble! Do as I say Celestiadam it!"

"N... No! I have to help you guys! I'll at least help Applebloom with her wounds!"

Slap! "I said get back to the base! I'll take care of Applebloom myself! You just get Sweetie to safety! I don't have enough strength to protect her, but there's still hope for Apple!"

"And who's gonna protect you?!"

Diamond's head started to spin. She pressed her hooves on her ears and felt tears streaming down her face once again. Her heart was beating so fast... "Stop arguing... I don't want to do this anymore!"

A loud explosion was heard from under her hooves. It was almost silent as all the noise was chocked out.

"Button?! Button! Get up! No! Please! Get up Button!"

The scream, even louder than the explosion made her freeze and her lower lip trembled.
Something inside her, buried deep, snapped.

They were all dying.
And what the hell was she doing?! Being a filthy, filthy coward! She didn't deserve to be friends with anypony!

It wasn't Diamond Tiara who slowly and steadily stood up. It wasn't her either who grabbed the sword in Scootaloo's hoof. It wasn't Diamond Tiara who opened the door and ran for her friends.
She wasn't the one who sliced up the creeper that had just blown up a few inches away from the group, and heavily injured Button.
No.

Diamond Tiara was gone. A part of her had disappeared.
She was just a simple diamond now. Just Diamond.

As hard as a rock.

Beautifully deadly.

Never to be cracked again.

12. Awaken

So... dark... I feel really numb! I can't move my body... Where am I? Did Rumble and the others get to safety?
Sweetie Belle groaned as she flicked her ears, trying to push the horrible buzzing sound away. Some muffled voices were saying things but she couldn't make out who was talking. She tried lifting a hoof, but decided that was probably a bad idea as she didn't even feel like opening her mouth.

I'm gonna have to open my eyes though...
Sweetie carefully lifted one eyelid, and when she realised nothing was going to jump out at her, opened the other eye.
Several heads immediately popped up, taking all her vision although it was still quite blurry. A small rush of panic ran through her and she instinctively shut her eyes once more, wanting to push all the attention away.

A hoof ran through her mane, gently stroking it and carefully appeasing her. The touch was familiar...
"B... Buuu... Button?" murmured Sweetie, finally feeling safe.

A voice was heard. But she still couldn't make out what it was saying.
So with a content smile and a happy sigh, she fell back into a deep slumber, protected by nightmares.

"She's asleep guys."
Button came back up from the underground chamber they had dug out in a hurry to place Sweetie Belle someplace safe.

A few relieved sighs were heard and the foals finally relaxed a little, glad that their friend was now out of danger.

"Thank Celestia for that!" nervously laughed Applebloom, letting all her stress out. "That gal's always gettin' herself in trouble, even when we're in the... normal world!"

"Don't forget you have injuries as well..." muttered Scootaloo, opening the chest and fiddling around to pop back out with some meat in hoof. "Eat this."
Applebloom smiled and gladly took it from her, eagerly munching on it.

Button let himself slump to the ground. Now that fear and determination were washing away, he could feel all his aching muscles from pushing himself to the limits and winced when some blood trickled down his back.
Dam... Those skeletons really didn't miss me did they?

The foal tried to take a deep breath, not wanting to make the others panic. He still had four hearts left. He was safe.
His gaze left Scootaloo and Applebloom, wandering onto the two ponies who hadn't said a word ever since Sweetie had fallen unconscious.
Rumble wasn't even looking at them, his back turned the other way. His shoulders were slightly shaking and from where he was ; Button could see some tears shining in the dim light that the torch gave out.
Then he turned his attention to Diamond and saw she seemed calm at least. She was staring at something through the door cracks, her neutral face illuminated by the moonlight. For the first time, Button saw her as a pony with feelings and emotions instead of a bratty little filly who only cared about her mane and how much money her father would give her. Her badly cut mane was also adding quite a nice touch to the overall transformation.

Button glanced at Scootaloo and Applebloom who were still happily chatting - about girl stuff probably. I'll go get some food later, better not to interrupt them. I bet tomorrow won't be as joyful... Rumble was still somepony he didn't want to talk to... for now... So he gritted his teeth as he decided to join Diamond.
He barely made it there, toppling over a little when he sat next to her. His rump landed quite heavily with an embarrassing 'bwoof!' on the soft grass.

"Hey..." he tried a smile and tried to ignore Diamond's puffed up cheeks.

"H... Hey!" Her giggle died down as she saw the critical injury he had. "Your back! Is that an arrow planted in-mmuffnn!" She was interrupted by Button's hoof in her mouth.

"I don't want to disturb their little moment of joy over there..." he flicked his tail towards the two friends.

"Oh... How many hearts you got?"

"Three point five... Thanks to you."

Diamond cast him a surprised look. "Huh...? Me?!"

"Yeah, well I don't know where you got all those skills with a bow, but you were doing pretty good! I had no idea you had that in you! How you stormed out the base like that was actually pretty cool..." Button softly laughed. "You know," he playfully hoofbumped her. "For you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Diamond stuck her tongue out. "I thought I was doing great with my sword!"

"The way you were swinging that thing around blindly was probably more dangerous for us than the monsters!" They both chuckled at that, but immediately stopped when a huge gasp was heard from the other side of the room.

"Button! Your back! Is that...?!" Scootaloo's voice made him jump.
He only had the time to see her grab the torch and shine light on him before being assaulted by hooves who maintained him down. "Applebloom! Take eight blocks of cobblestone and place them in a square in the Crafting Table!" ordered the pegasus, imperial. "That'll make a furnace. Then just cook the pig meat, it'll restore more health..."

"Eeyup!" obeyed the farm pony, quickly doing what her friend had asked.

"Wow Scootaloo... Where'd you learn all that?!" Diamond came to them with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I told you I was bored when Sweetie was being cared by, and while you all dug an underground room for her" simply said the filly, her attention focused on Applebloom's moving form as she tossed her a few cooked pork chops.

Button almost gagged as he felt the pegasus's hooves stuff some meat down his throat. But the sensation became much better as he felt the pain in his back disappear as his wounds closed up.

"Phew! You stupid foal... You mustn't forget we're all counting on you guys to live ya know!" murmured Applebloom.

"Yeah... Sorry you guys..." smiled Button.

A small silence went pass them and they all took the time to enjoy the time they could spend together. Even Rumble joined them with a little reticence and shyness.
Until Scootaloo suddenly got up and trotted to the crafting table ; "Alright ponies!" she declared, searching her inventory. "Gather 'round!"

They did so, a little surprised by her sudden good mood.
She took a map out from her pockets and laid it down. It was quite small although seemed to hold some potential. "This," she pointed to a small blocky area that had brown pixels on it, " is where we are now... And here," she moved her hoof to a blank space, "is an unexplored area! When both of you first came here, you said that you were looking for a village right...?" She didn't wait for Button's nod and continued. "Then there's bound to be one here! We'd find some good ressources and possibly help!"

A few murmurs of approval were heard.

"That seems like a great idea!"

"I'm in!" Applebloom chirped.

"When did you have the time to craft that..?" asked Rumble, a little skeptical.

"Like I said, I had free time!" Scootaloo flashed them a smile.

"We can leave once Sweetie Belle gets better!"

"You guys, we're really gonna do this!" Diamond lifted her hoof in the air.

They didn't hesitate and immediately bumped it with a collective cheer. "Yeah!"

Author's Note

This is the most cliche ending I could ever make, and it's rushed :facehoof:

13. Recovery

"There... sloooooowly... that's it!" smiled Button as he led Sweetie Belle out, tenderly holding her hoof. "There ya go! All recovered!"

The filly winced as the sunlight hit her. "My eyes... ugh! Staying down there was too much! Couldn't I get some piece of the sun so I'd get used to it...? You're a terrible coltfriend!" she complained, shielding her emerald eyes. "That great big cube of light ain't good for nothing!"

Button chuckled and let her go. "I'll get it for you as a birthday present sweetheart."

"What do you want for your birthday?" she giggled, her eyes finally adjusting to the light. She brought her hoof down and playfully nudged Button.

"I'd want a penguin. Dear Celestia they've always been on my Hearts and Warming's list... Didn't ever get one though..." he frowned. "Don't know why."

A high pitched although quite dull voice came to their ears as Diamond Tiara joined them, followed by the others : "Well, if you guys survive until your birthdays, I'll walk around Ponyville with a wedding dress and claim to all that I'm married to... to..." she glanced at the group. "Scootaloo!"

The pegasus jumped and ran a hoof through her mane. But Applebloom just rolled her eyes : "Way to kill the mood Diamond..."
Although Rumble simply squinted his eyes and slowly nodded. "I'll remember that..." He muttered a few things to himself and grabbed a notepad which had apparently been stored in his inventory, before starting to scribble a few things down.

"Wh... Where'd you get that...?" asked Button, puzzled.

"Oh that would be me!" Scootaloo proudly took a step forward. Something Button hadn't realised earlier, was that she was wearing a purple backpack.
"I fiddled around with every item we had, plus killed a few harmless bugs and other things which means I got some more stuff to craft! And it's great! I made you each one of these!"
She threw a few other backpacks on the floor, grinning widely.

The foals looked at each other, puzzled.

"How'd you figure out how to do that?" asked Sweetie Belle, amazed as she picked up the white backpack.

"Just put some leather in the crafting table in a circle!"

"What about the colours? How in Equestria did you get the dyes to do that?" Rumble grabbed a black backpack alongside Diamond, who chose the pink one.

"There are flowers everywhere!"

"I'm impressed, I'll admit it" nodded Button, a brown backpack settled on his back.

"Thanks!" Scootaloo positioned her own purple backpack and helped Applebloom with her red one. "I try!"

Sweetie Belle gave their little cave one last look before taking a deep breath. "Okay... um... guys...?"
They turned to her :
"Yes?"

"We need to get... Helper..."

A series of groans were heard. The chicken hadn't been very appreciated over the last few days, as he kept disturbing the foal's preparations to leave. Not to mention all the half hearts many lost after trying to snatch an egg away. Only Sweetie Belle and Applebloom strangely managed to stroke and play with the small chicken. The former because she was the chicken's protege, and the latter because she probably had worked with dozens of chickens in her life.

"I'm not getting near that thing!" grumbled Rumble, rolling his eyes.

"I just need to stuff him in my backpack! Then we're free to go!" complained Sweetie Belle, searching for some assistance in Button's eyes.

"All right, all right!" muttered the colt. "We can do this! It's not any harder than fighting a monster! Sweetie Belle will grab him since," he glared at her hooves," she gets out of there cut-free. You'll catch him when Rumble and I will run after him." The mentioned colt jumped upon hearing his name and whined :

"Why me?"
Something hit his head and he yelped ; Scootaloo and Applebloom were eyeing him down.
They hoof-bumped : "Ya want the mares tah get hurt...?" muttered one.
"Yeah! Be a stallion Rumble!" The other rolled her eyes.

Rumble blushed a little and picked up what they had thrown at him - Applebloom's backpack - before hoofing it back to her, avoiding her gaze. "Thanks, and... sorry..." he breathed.

The cowpony snatched the backpack away and didn't reply. Rumble sighed and slowly nodded to Button, giving the signal that he was ready.
"Let's do this..." murmured Button, stepping forth in the now dark cave, since they had taken the torches out.

Both foals worked their way in the depths of the cave, ears perked up to catch any sound that would help them find their way. Until finally, Rumble heard a faint scratching noise. He lightly brushed his tail onto where he thought Button's body was to signal him, but a muffled groan was heard. Rumble jerked back, but then came in closer : "Whoops! Sorry Sweetie Belle!" he giggled. "Didn't know you had come with us... You silent little filly!" The colt tried rising his voice so that Button would hear, but something hit him in the right shoulder hard. A wave of pain traveled through his body and he lost his breath. Rumble staggered backwards and closed his eyes, unable to think through the unbearable pain that was shooting through his whole body. In the corner of his eyes, the grey colt saw his hearts go down... Two and a half hearts had disappeared.
He desperately tried to lift up his hooves in a defensive matter, in case the thing hit him again, but found that he simply didn't have the strength to lift both.
Someone screamed next to him, a mare. Oh so that wasn't Sweetie Belle after all...

Rumble let a small smile escape his lips as he fell into unconsciousness. Figured...

14. Attacked

Sweetie Belle's ear perked up as she heard a small whisper coming from her left. Rumble...?
She opened her muzzle to ask what he was saying, when a muffled "Ooof!" followed by a groan of pain echoed through the cave. Heavy hoof steps could be heard throughout the cramped up space. The atmosphere became heavy. Something was wrong...
Fear rippled through Sweetie Belle's body and she almost screamed when something pressed against her. But she recognised the reassuring fur of her coltfriend and a wave of relief emanated from her.
"Something's not right," whispered Button, just as something came crashing into him.

Sweetie screamed loudly and grabbed his hoof in a desperate attempt to hold him up. But a sticky substance ran down her own hoof and she shivered. Celestia, she knew that substance all too well...
Her mind went numb as memories came flooding back, blocking any logical way of thinking and therefor cutting out any chance of getting away. Sweetie's ears shot down... then up again when she heard a familiar voice shouting instructions nearby :
"Get Rumble, Diamond! We gotta get 'em all outta here fast! Scoots is preparin' all the food out there, so that means we can heal them!"

"Yup, he's here! But... I can see something else! It's... pretty big... What is it...?" Diamond's inquiring voice made Sweetie Belle jump. Not knowing was dangerous in this world... Her mind fazed away as she thought of what could be standing directly in front of Diamond Tiara, perhaps preparing to kill her in a single strike.
Button's hoof moved a little in hers, bringing her back to reality and she screamed hysterically, more memories and pictures entering her brain. She couldn't loose her friends...! She just couldn't!

"Get away from that Diamond! Don't die!" Her cries bounced off the walls.

A torch was lit and Sweetie saw Diamond Tiara at a few hoofsteps away, staring at her with suprise. She was supporting Rumble who was sweating in pain.
The sudden outburst was still echoing along the cave... But neither Applebloom nor Sweetie Belle were paying attention to that anymore. All that mattered was the huge dark green, ugly and menacing unicorn who was directly staring down at Diamond Tiara's mane with his beady little eyes. It was at least twice their size, all making them wonder how the hell it could fit in such a tight cave. It seemed curious and blinked a few times as if it was the first time he had seen something it could kill. But then it levitated it's giant hoof up, preparing to strike Diamond's head and crush it.

Button's hoof disappeared from Sweetie's and, in a flash, he was pushing Diamond out of the way of the thing. They both grunted as they fell on the hard and cold floor.
Although they had forgotten about Rumble, who had passed out a few minutes ago and had sadly been too heavy to push away alongside Diamond.

Sweetie Belle cried in anger and despair as she saw his leg get crushed under the thing's arm. Tears came up to her eyes and she brought her sword out, trying to ignore Applebloom's sobs, pushing away her own.
This wasn't a game. She was supposed to have learned that long ago, but the fake safety that her friends had provided her couldn't last forever.
Her gaze hardened and she charged the thing with a scream...

It didn't really process what was happening and took the first hit with a loud groan. But it then reacted and tried to grab Sweetie Belle, who was dodging his magic blasts. Good thing it was slow.
Sweetie was throwing her own green blasts at him, but they didn't have much effect on it, barely scratching it or burning for a second before flickering away with a little 'poof!
And before she knew it, the thing had managed to grab her and was pulling her forward with it's magic. Sweetie heard a shout coming from her left as she desperatly tried to wiggle out of the thing's grasp. She had now arrived at the height of it's head, and immediatly knew those tiny little black and souless eyes were going to haunt her dreams for a long time.
Finally, just as she was loosing hope, pink hooves took her away, yanking her off the gravitational pull the magic had created.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Applebloom pulling Button towards the exit, Rumble on her back.
Something hit the ground next to Diamond and her, so she rolled to the side, barely avoiding another hit that halfway cracked the stone where they had been a second ago.
Deciding this was probably the best time to run, Sweetie scrambled to her hooves and forced her friend to do the same. They both darted for the cave entrance before the white unicorn remembered something. She left Diamond embrace the sunlight outside and turned back into the depths of the dark cave.

"What the heck do ya think you're doing?!" screamed Applebloom behind her.

"Sweetie Belle!" Button cried out, but his voice wasn't as loud, proof of his current weakness.

The unicorn didn't reply to any of them and continued galloping forward. She knew exactly where that coward chicken was hiding and it didn't seem too hard to get to. Her breath became a little unsteady when she rushed pass the beast, but it was fortunatly too slow to realise that his enemy was running pass him. In the corner of her eye, she saw the name tag 'Ogre' appear.
Yeah, that certainly was the perfect name!
Sweetie finally arrived at the place where she had slept while recovering, and saw a leather boot lying on the ground. It was one she had left behind... And inside that small leather boot, a small head popped out.
Sweetie Belle let a smile curl up on her lips as she opened her arms. Helper ran to them and buried his beak in her fur, softly clucking. His feathers were slightly shaking.

Thank Celestia... Now I've gotta get back to the others! she thought while standing up. She trotted forwards as silently as she could, before starting to gallop when she neared the place where the Ogre was. It once again tried to catch her and once again failed.
Sweetie Belle victoriously grinned.

Although apparently this time the ogre had enough of loosing. So it did the only possible thing there was to do : It ran after her.
The unicorn's smile faded and she found herself screaming as she neared the exit of the cave.

Three curious heads popped out from the sunlight and immediatly started placing blocks to cover up the entrance. Sweetie could hear the heavy hoofsteps behind her and breathed out in relief as she jumped out the cave. Scootaloo silently cursed as she fumbled with the cobblestone to block the thing in, panick making her loose her grip.

Sweetie Belle didn't help out, already knowing they were going to make it in time considering how slow the ogre ran. Helper shook himself and blinked a few times at her. She let out a stressed laugh and patted his head : "We're out boy! We made it!"
But the chicken wasn't looking in her direction. He seemed to be staring at what had cast a sudden shadow over them both. So Sweetie turned around... to face Button's cold eyes and strict frown. His head was still bleeding from the hit he had gotten, although the wounds were now closing up. His usually cheerful face was just... so... terrifying! His muzzle was scrunched up and his chin lifted high.
Sweetie Belle gulped as he leaned in. Never had she seen him so angry.

"Never do that again you hear?" he said, staring at her with the iciest glare she had ever seen. "Never."

Then he turned his tail and walked away, furious.
Sweetie froze.

Amongst the silence, Helper gave out a small, sorry cluck.

Author's Note

PLEASE READ THIS

I'm gonna need your OC's again!! And I need LOADS! I don't specifically need pictures but descriptions and names will be fine! They'll appear in a chapter soon! PM me if you're interested and I'll propose what they could do and who they could be. Just keep in mind that their roles will be EXTREMELY minor ; I just need a lot of new ponies and don't want to go off creating more for the very little time they'll be in the story.
Don't forget to PM me!

15. Road Trip!

Author's Note

Don't forget I need more OCs!

15. Road Trip!

Rumble yawned as his steps got slower through the high grass. He could feel every single muscle in his body stretch out in pain as he looked behind. They had gotten pretty far away from the plains now and were heading for the rocky mountains. But for now, they were crossing a smooth desert in the burning sun, Button leading them and Diamond closing up the group.
I've been walking for much too long...

"It's only been an hour Rumble..." muttered Applebloom, joining him with an arched eyebrow.

"I said that out loud?!" blushed the pegasus in surprise.

"Yeah... Well ya more like whisper-" Applebloom violently yanked him out of the way. "Careful!"
Rumble looked down and saw he had almost stepped on a red and yellow striped snake who was peacefully enjoying the sun.
"Wups!" he chuckled. "Thanks!"

Applebloom didn't reply and slowed her steps a little to watch Sweetie - who was behind them - walk strait onto the snake which made a hissing sound and showed it's fangs to her. She didn't even look at it and continued walking, head down and ears low, oblivious to her surroundings. Diamond killed the snake with her sword and joined the two concerned friends who were sadly staring at Sweetie Belle. She slowly walked by them.
The three sighed.

"Poor thing..." muttered Applebloom, shaking her head.

"She's been feeling like that ever since..." Rumble didn't finish his sentence as a mental flashback came back to them.

"Never."

Sweetie's ears dropped and she fell to her rump, mouth wide in surprise. She warily lifted a hoof in the air and whimpered like a small animal. "B- Button...?"
Button didn't even turn around and picked up his backpack before positioning it on his back : "Let's go. We don't wanna be out on the desert by night ; there are scorpions."

He trotted forward with a rapid pace, soon followed by Scootaloo and Applebloom. Rumble heard Diamond whisper in Sweetie Belle's ear : "C'mon Sweetie... Just start by giving him some space."
She stood up without an answer and galloped to Button.

"I'm sorry! I didn't think... I didn't think you'd worry so much!" she whined, desperately trying to keep up with his fast pace.

She jerked back when Button's face became angrier : "So I'm supposed to not care about whenever my fillyfriend jumps into a closed area that contains a potential danger of death?" he sharply said.

"I... I really-" Sweetie Belle couldn't finish for she tripped over a fallen branch and bit the dust, her hooves failing at holding her up. Her chin hit the grass with a 'thump!' and she shut her eyes.

Button didn't stop to help her.

"Hey now that's a little harsh!" cut in Scootaloo, catching up with him.

"She tripped by herself didn't she?"

Scootaloo stopped in her tracks, stunned. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she hissed, before going back to help Sweetie up. The white filly was shaking, tears streaming down her face.
She seemed to be frozen in a shock state...

Rumble's ears flicked as he grabbed Helper and stuffed him in her backpack. The chicken seemed a little distracted so he thankfully didn't peck or scratch his hooves.

"Guys! You coming?" shouted Scootaloo from up front.

They all jumped, rudely awoken from their memory. Rumble decided to help out Sweetie Belle.
Applebloom and Diamond Tiara shook themselves and trotted forward.
Diamond took the opportunity to go talk to Button. Perhaps she could smooth things out...

"Uh... Hey..." she awkwardly muttered when she arrived next to him.

"Whatever you're here to talk about, I just want to be left alone. So please say whatever you want later on..."

Diamond panicked. She needed to stay!
"N... No! No... I just wanted to talk about... um... Why you didn't think of me as a coward earlier on...?" she blurted out.

"What do you mean...?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well... I hid in the house instead of going after Starlight with you guys. I was the only one to go for cover!"

"I can't really blame you. This world is terrible... So much danger lurks everywhere... In the shadows, in the trees, in the open spaces and even in each and every one of our hearts."

"Such words of wisdom from a young teenager!" giggled Diamond Tiara, saying the first stupid thing that went by in her head.

A light chuckle made her jump. Button's mouth was curled up into a smile and his hoof was pressed to his lips.
Something warm and fuzzy erupted in Diamond's chest. A rush of wind blew the remains of her mane in front of her eyes.
She felt filled with happiness... She had made him laugh! It was the most pleasant feeling in the world.

"I'm supposed to be wise...? Jeez, Equestria will fall if that happens!"

"Yeah! I-" But Diamond's smile froze.
What was she doing...? She hadn't come here to make Button feel happier, but to talk things out!
The pink earth pony turned around to check Sweetie Belle. She was still in her slow walk, although Rumble was sticking close, pressed against her pure white fur. He was talking to her and she was nodding.
Diamond's gaze went pass them and fell onto Scootaloo. Their eyes crossed each other and Diamond quickly retreated back.

Uh oh... She's hating me! I'm talking to Sweetie Belle's colt friend and even made him laugh while he is supposedly mad at her! Is that... Is that considered like flirting...?

But Scootaloo's gaze was sad...

Why isn't she paying attention to me...?

16. Tasks

The sun was setting and all the foals were getting tired. They had arrived very close to the mountains, but neither of them felt like climbing them in the dark, surrounded by all the nightly creatures.

"Let's stop here!" exclaimed Button, pointing his hoof towards a cave. "We can mine and gather resources during the night!"

"Huh?!" Scootaloo gasped, the setting sun making her fur look more orange than anything. "Are you kidding me...? There's no way in hell I'm digging all night! How about we just go to the nearby forest and hunt a few sheep for beds?"

"Now that's a good idea! I'm in!" nodded Applebloom, her sword ready.

"W... What about coal?" The frail voice of Sweetie Belle made them all turn their heads in surprise. She had barely spoken ever since they had exited the desert. "We'll need it if we want to stay safe tonight..." she continued.

"Yeah... That's a good point too" conceded Diamond. "I say we split up into two groups! Like uh... Me, Button and Sweetie Belle to go hunting and Scootaloo, Applebloom and Rumble going to find some coal and other resources...?"

She had barely finished her sentence when the foals strongly opposed against her plan :

"There ain't no way I'm mining!"

"I'll take your place to mine if you want..."

"I wanna go out hunting to get some materials!"

"Yeah! I'm not mining either!"

"Maybe Button should mine!"

"Do you guys know anything about hunting here...?"

Scootaloo sighed. She was never going to find good materials to try creating new stuff. It was nice hobby to do in her opinion. It was helpful!
She jumped when Button stomped his hoof on the ground loudly. The chatter died away.

"Right! Sweetie Belle will be mining. Rumble will be mining. They're both familiar with the game and what to mine alongside what to do and what not to do. I will be hunting since I know what to get. Scootaloo will be searching for her materials and Applebloom will be with her just in case there's danger. Diamond comes hunting with me. Are. We. All. Cleeeeaaaaar?" The brown colt had spoken slowly, in detached words.

That irritated Scootaloo.

What a snob... Who nominated him leader...? Although he still all got us to do what we wanted and liked, I think...

A few grumbles of approval were heard and everypony split up. Scootaloo ran to the edge of the forest and waited for Applebloom there, her hooves almost itching in excitement. Maybe she was going to find rare materials here...?

The young cowpony soon joined her and Scootaloo started trotting through the high grass, admiring the reflections that the sun gave out. The leaves were shining brightly as water had been deposed onto them, probably coming from the last rain. The pink/orange glow was perfectly contrasting with the overall 'green' of the leaves. And so, the final result was peaceful and sublime.
She absolutely loved the fact that, since the very first steps she had taken in the jungle, the atmosphere had changed. The air had gotten heavier, to match the humid climate of a normal jungle, and all noise had died down, proof that the leaves above them were in fact very thick.
Scootaloo's ears perked up and her eyes scanned the area so she could better listen and see all the wildlife. There, a small bird chirping! And over there, the silent flaps of a pretty large and brightly coloured butterfly! And in the distance, a stream of water could be heard, probably gently running through the forest and splashing however would get too close with tiny cubic and crystal clear droplets.

Everything is so breath-taking here! Scootaloo looked behind her and saw Applebloom wasn't paying attention to the scenery, instead curiously sniffing some kind of hanging fruit that was stuck on a tree.

"What is it?" asked Scootaloo, going back on her steps. "Does it look edible?"

"Yeah actually..." murmured Applebloom, taking one last deep sniff of it. "I think it's chocolate!" she then grinned.

Huh? It's not fruit? But it sure looks like it!
"What kind of chocolate grows on trees?" muttered the Pegasus, confused. "Then again, during Miss. Cheerlie's cake class, I never did pay attention to what she was saying..."

"That's 'cause you were too busy 'sampling' the products!" giggled the cowpony.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes in a desperate attempt to hide her blush. While she harvested up the fru- chocolate, her mind wandered on what the others were doing...

"Take it nice and slow Diamond Tiara..." whispered Button, his eyes fixed on their target even though he was talking to her.

She did her very best to ignore the 'Tiara' at the end of her name and focused. She took a deep breath and oriented the arrow towards the prey. It was barely moving, unaware of the danger right above it. Diamond closed one eye and got the bow stretched out to its maximum capacity.
"Target locked" she said and shot.

The arrow planted itself deep into the ground, going strait through the water as it impaled a fish on the way. The fish wiggled about, suddenly terrified and flashing red, but it soon stopped moving and Diamond could pull the arrow out of the river without risking an escape.
She proudly held the arrow up, her muzzle dripping wet and her mane all tangled.

"Good job!" nodded Button. "That fish is huge! We can at least feed two ponies with it!"

Diamond placed the fish in her inventory and took the arrow back. "Plus with that lizard thingy you caught and the two pigs we killed, it's going to be a nice feast!"

"Thanks! Although lets start getting back, the night has almost fallen..." he picked up the pace and started to trot through the forest, back the way they came.

Diamond followed him with a pang of sadness. It was nicer when they were alone...

Button on the other hoof, was annoyed at himself.
I'm the one who placed Sweetie Belle in a group with Rumble and now I'm the one regretting it! I mean, I trust Rumble to protect her and all... However I don't trust him with flirting with my marefriend! Plus, the way I acted this morning was foolish and irresponsible. I was just scared for her and got a little carried away, that's all! I mean, all that for her chicken? It doesn't even like me! Jeez, I need to get back to her and apologise!

Button didn't even notice that he had started galloping, an out of breath Diamond behind him. He was going so fast, he didn't even notice the potential walking food around them, nor the rising moon. He was running so boldly forward, he didn't even notice the big white and glowing eyes watching them from the depths of the forest, the gaze filled with curiosity and... and another feeling that the thing itself couldn't quite comprehend yet...

Author's Note

Please don't forget that I need your OCs! Thanks to the people who have already lent me theirs!
Also, if someone wants a picture of Scootaloo's description of the jungle forest, add in a brohoof in the comments! /)*
They're so cute! <3

17. Encounter

Sweetie Belle let out a long sigh as she watched every pony disappear into the jungle. She lifted her head slightly towards the sky and prayed Celestia that they all come back fast and safe.
Something pressed against her fur and she turned to see Rumble smiling at her :
"Ready to find some ores?" he asked, his warmth sticking to her like shiny honey.

"Yeah..." Sweetie tried her best to shake the pain off her heartbroken self and smiled back. "Yeah!"

They both trotted towards the insides of the caves and Rumble brought a torch out. Immediately, the whole area lighted up.
"Wow, cool! Now I certainly gotta remember this mod when we get out!" grinned the colt, although they both felt reassured about being able to actually see anything past their own hooves.

"If we get out..." muttered Sweetie Belle, exanimating the smooth stone walls for ores.

"Hey!" protested Rumble, frowning and turning the other way. "No being Miss. Negative around Doctor Fun Times m'kay?"

A giggle was heard from the other side of the cave and Rumble's frown accentuated. Wasn't Sweetie Belle supposed to be on the lit side of the wall...?
Meh, she probably moved down a little.

But a shiver ran down his spine when another giggle came from behind him. He spun around and saw that Sweetie Belle hadn't moved! She was still checking for ores.
"You're so dumb!" she chuckled, rolling her eyes.

Rumble's fur stood up on his spine as the giggle from the depths of the cave was heard again. Something was down there! Maybe it was just a few hoofsteps away, staring at them with hungry looks and gently giggling to terrify its prey before killing it!
The urge to run rushed into him and he found himself paralysed, stuck between two issues. Either he took a few steps back, although the torch in his hoof would retract the light at the same time he did, and therefor would let the creature get closer, or he could approach it himself and light the thing up so he could see what it was. Buuuut that still meant getting closer.
So he chose the wisest option that wasn't on the list.

"Sweetie Belle!" he whisper-shouted, shaking.

"Yeah?" she replied, probably turning to him with a bright smile. Her voice echoed through the cave and Rumble cringed as he found it much too loud.

"There's... There's a thing there! It's... giggling!" he murmured, tears almost coming out.

"Whu? Are you okay?" laughed Sweetie, getting closer to him. "What's giggling in the shadows...?"

"Shhh! Listen!"

They both held their breaths, and for a moment only the sound of the driplets of water in the cave were heard. Then the giggle started again and they both jerked back, Rumble letting go of his torch in the process. It landed on the floor and rolled a little further away.
They gasped as, at the very edge of the light, the beginning of two black and grey hooves was seen, just standing there motionless. The giggle once again went through the cave and one of the hooves moved, slowly tapping against the floor as if it was annoyed.
Then a mare's voice spoke :
"Ah..." the mare said with a sigh. "I wonder why you just had to be scared of me. I thought laughing lured in ponies!" Her voice was as smooth as silk and was very enchanting even though it contained a little bit of rage. "I wish you hadn't seen my hooves. Then I could have been friends with you in the dark!" The voice was cheerful for a moment. "The dark... You living ponies don't like it do you...? Always running around carrying those torches and lamps of yours... It's stupid! The dark is so. much. fun!" More giggles.

"Who the hell are you?!" yelled Sweetie Belle, grabbing her sword and steadying her gaze and position. She was ready to slay whatever was playing with them in the blink of an eye.
Rumble couldn't help but admire the fact that she was so... unfazed and determined! He had to do that as well! But only once his legs had stopped shaking...

"Stupid filly! Don't scream at me! Or I will scream back!" the voice groaned, becoming more menacing.

"We will only harm you if you're a threat to us! Show yourself or I will charge."

"To show myself? You actually want to see me?" the mare giggled. It was starting to get on Rumble's nerves. He knew he would dream about that giggle for a long time...

"Well all this is indeed very flattering..." she continued. "Very well!"

Both foals felt their heartbeat increase as the hooves finally moved. The right one completely stepped inside the halo of light, and the left one followed soon after. Little by little, more of the pony appeared. Her chest was grey although it was as if some black substance was running down it from her neck. Her completely black muzzle came into view and the foals suddenly realized she was wearing a hoodie. It was grey, torn up to bits and ripped everywhere. Which meant her coat was actually coal black.
Finally, her face appeared. Well... It may have been a face. They could see nothing apart from two glowing red eyes inside it. The shadow procured by the hoodie only let her muzzle show to their point of view.
She was smiling, and surprisingly her teeth were white and perfect. But then came the worst.
As she advanced into the light, they saw she had no lower body or hind hooves. It was as if everything stopped at her stomach. Bits of fabric from the hoodie were stuck here and there, but there was no explaining how they even stuck to thin air.

Just as Rumble was wondering how the heck she walked, Sweetie Belle grabbed him, turned tail and ran right pass the wraith, and rushed down the cave.
"Hey!" yelled Rumble as he saw their source of light disappear in the distance. "What are you doing? The exit is the other way! And we could have taken her on right...?"

"No, we can't" panted Sweetie. "She's a Wraith... Those are from a mod and are pretty dangerous..."

"A... Wraith...?" muttered Rumble, looking back. He saw the Wraith slowly turn her head in their direction. Her glowing red eyes were shimmering... Then she smiled at him and Sweetie took a left, the mob disappearing from view.
Fear clutched at his heart and he continued forward, suddenly terrified. They were running in the middle of the night from a dangerous creature and stuck in a cave.

Aw Hell... Rumble thought.

Author's Note

By the way, your OCs will be used as villagers... Thanks for helping me point that out!

18. Jungles at Night

Author's Note

Pheeeeew! This was hard to write, dunno why though :twilightoops: Enjoy!

18. Jungles at Night

Diamond's mouth formed a frown as she continued to follow Button out of the forest. Her tail kept getting caught on twigs and annoying branches as she made her way behind him, amazed that he didn't trip or stumble once. Thankfully, she didn't have to worry about her mane, seeing how short it was.
The sun was almost completely out now, and Diamond was starting to get a little scared. She really hoped they'd be out of the jungle before mobs started to pop in. Being surrounded by dozens of trees that could be hiding anything wasn't very appealing to her. Perhaps it was the beginning of claustrophobia...?

Shaking her head to clear her mind out, Diamond rushed behind Button, wondering what could be going through his head.
She was far from thinking he was actually terrified at the idea of Sweetie Belle and Rumble staying together.

I knew I shouldn't have left that idiot with her! He's just a fillyfooler and will probably take the chance to take her away from me! Forever! She will surely love him back and I'll be there, standing alone in the dark, just waiting for death to eat me up like a-

Button slammed into a huge patch of dangling vines, and found himself immobilised. He tried to wiggle out but it was simply no use, as the vines were tangled up everywhere.
"H... Help!" he shouted, still struggling.

Diamond soon arrived and halted in surprise at the sight of Button's tangled self. She hesitated between pity and mocking. She chose both.
"Oh dear! Button how did you manage to do that?!" she giggled. "Are you at least okay?" she asked, getting closer.

The foal was staring at her with an exasperated expression.
"Listen, I'm sure this is funny and all, but don't you think the fact that I'm tied up surrounded by a forest and in the middle of the night is a tad dangerous?" he grumbled.

But Diamond was not about to let an occasion like this one pass. "But... But you look so... vulnerable!" she chuckled, her eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, and we both will be if a monster pops up!"

"What, you saying I can't defend myself?" Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow. "Is that an insult against all fillies mister...? That we can't defend ourselves?"

"No, no!" Button slightly blushed in embarassement and tried to change the subject. "Hey... repeat what you said before?"

"Huh? That uh... You look so vulnerable...?"

"Are you a sadist Diamond?" he so seriously asked.

It was the filly's turn to blush. "Huh?! No way! You're making things up! It was totally out of context!"

"I recall seeing you smile..."

"That's not true!"

"Yes it is!"

There was a small pause as they both stared at each other, eyes bright and ears up. A moment passed and Diamond didn't even have the time to enjoy it, as something jumped onto her, digging its claws deep under her skin.
She gasped at the sudden pain, voice leaving her. Her breath was cut off, the intensity and violence of the whole thing paralysing her.
Blood blurred her vision and she fell to the ground, not even attempting to get up. Her hearts were slowly going down as the huge claws only dug deeper into her flesh.
She could hear screaming, and figured it probably came from Button. She heard some slicing... She heard some leaves get slashed to pieces... Was that the sound of leaves? Maybe. Oh! A roar.
It was backing away now... It wasn't as loud anymore... Perhaps she was dying...? Or loosing consciousness. That would probably be better. But dying seemed like a great option as well since the numbing pain in her back still wasn't leaving.

Something shook her a little. The pain went down a little. Something was in her mouth. It was nice and soft and felt reassuring... For a second, Diamond wondered if Button wasn't kissing her goodbye, saddened by her death.
But no. When she finally had the strength to open her eyes, she saw it was just some cooked lamb. Nothing else.
Awww...

Button was there though. He was right here, kneeling down to her eye level and helping her up as her wounds cleared out. Soon enough, Diamond could walk normally. All that stayed was her shaky legs and traumatised mind. She spotted some mangled vines on the floor and Button's sword laying next to them.

With a smile, she turned to him : "Well, couldn't you think of that before? It would have saved us a lot of trouble!"
But her smile fell as she just got a cold and emotionless answer :
"Yeah. Next time untie me instead of fooling around okay? We've lost enough time. The others are probably all waiting and worried sick, and the last thing I want is for them to go on a search mission."

He started trotting forward again at a rapid pace, his tail swishing left and right in frustration. His ears were down and his glare steady ahead.
Diamond frowned as she followed once more. Night had completely fallen now and she could barely see past Button. Although it wasn't that she was worried about right now. Why the heck did he have to be so bossy all of a sudden? Sure she had done a mistake, OK she probably wouldn't do that again. But still! It was no reason to treat her like a child! Or even act like her parents!

While she furiously grumbled under her breath, she didn't notice they had exited the jungle and were going through the short plain, Button occasionally shooting the most daring mob that wanted to get a little too close. They finally got to the caves and Diamond felt better upon seeing a faint light from the inside.

"Woohoo! They lit a nice fire and made a base...!" she happily sighed.

Button didn't say anything, but she could sense the relief spreading out of him. They furthered down a little more, but immediately halted. Instead of four foals jumping to their hooves and going to greet them, instead of a warm fire that had dozens of grilled goods, instead of happy smiles, they both arrived in an empty and cold cave.
A single torch was laying on the ground, flickering as sparks of fire emanated from it. A deadly, sickening silence reigned in the cave as Button slowly picked up the torch and lifted his hoof up, illuminating a little more of the cave.
Nothing could be heard... until a slight, faint, muffled sound rang in their ears. It was far, it was deep, but they still recognised it as Sweetie's singing voice.

Diamond waited in silence for a short moment, and then Button started to walk strait forward, his face showing an expression of pure rage. Diamond followed, not daring to say a word as they advanced deeper into the caves, darkness swallowing them up as they went.

19. Wraith

Rumble took deep breaths as he did his very best not to move. Sweetie's unmoving form was tickling his wings and he could feel a sneeze coming up because of all the dust. He tried to dig himself deeper in the small hole, but only grunted as a sharp pebble got stuck in his fur.
Great.
So, there was good news and there was bad news. Good news was, they had found a place to hide. Bad news was, it wasn't a very good hiding place and the monster chasing them would probably find them soon enough. First of all, it was a small hole two blocks deep and two blocks wide, that was hanging over a ravin. That contained burning lava of course.
"Of course it has lava... Why did I ever think we'd get lucky and end up with a water filled ravin...?" Rumble muttered to himself.

"Did you say something?" asked Sweetie Belle, her voice slightly muffled by Rumble's wing.

"I was saying that I absolutely love this little vacation we're taking in Minecraft. Really a good idea there Starswirl..." groaned the foal.

"No one likes sarcasm Rumble..." sighed Sweetie, desperatly trying to shift her position. "Ugh these backpacks really are taking all the space we've got!"

"Then take them off dummy!" chuckled Rumble before gasping and wiggling about as Sweetie blew some air on his wing. His feathers shook as the ticklish sentation ran through them.

"Don't 'dummy' me! Helper's in there!" she grinned.

"Oh... Yeah I hadn't seen the little guy for a while! Kept wondering where you had placed him." Rumble tried to move his wing away, but he hit Sweetie's rump with his hind hooves.

"Ow!" she cried out. "What's wrong with you?"

"Sorry! Ugh... This is really annoying. Remind me why we couldn't go outside or continue running at least?"

"Because," Sweetie replied, "in the outside, a Wraith would be able to fly and we'd be really easy targets. And if we continued, we would either be lost, or die of exhaustion. May I remind you that we haven't slept for at least four days? The fatigue is gonna catch up with us when we least expect it, no worries..."

"Oh... This is still as annoying."

"What am I supposed to do, entertain you?"

"Hey! I'm just implying that this is boring!"

"Yeah, I'll be sure to help you out again when our lives depend on it again!"

Rumble was about to reply when a giggle was heard from above. His heartbeat immediatly increased and he did his very best to contain his fear.
Sweetie wasn't moving an inch either, and she seemed terrified.
"You've got to be kidding me..." she grumbled, her fur almost doubling in volume like a cat. "I didn't think it'd catch up with us this fast!"

"And what should have happened while we patiently waited in this ditch for death to come to us?" Rumble furiously whispered.

"I was pretty sure the others would come to our rescue or something..."

Sweetie's voice died down as another giggle, closer this time, echoed through the cave.
"Guuuuuuuys!" a feminine voice chuckled. "Where are you? Don't try and hide, I hate it when ponies hide..." Her voice suddenly became dark and grave, terrifying. "But you know, I only want to gobble you cute things up!" the voice was clear and happy again.
The sudden changes in the Wraith only scared Rumble more.

"We're gonna have to face her..." Sweetie Belle suddenly murmured.

"What? Are you crazy?"

"No but we should probably make it until the others come to our rescue. I don't want to wait here for her to pick us like a couple of ripe apples..."

Rumble shook his head. "Right. First of all, I don't like that 'probably' you snuck in the sentence. Second of all, how are we even sure our friends know where to look? And last, Applebloom's been influencing you too much with her apple related sentences."

"Does that really matter right now?" the unicorn filly rolled her eyes.

"Hey, stop hating the fun guy for trying to get a smile out of you..."

"That's not the-"

A head popped into their hole, red eyes shone and shiny teeth appeared as a laughing voice whispered : "Found. You."
Both foals screamed and tried to scramble out, only managing to hit each other. Soon their screams died down into a few whines.

"I can't move!"

"How about you get your hoof out of my face first, and then we try and escape?"

"Only if you get your wing away!"

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

They stopped moving, frustrated at the situation they were in. The Wraith started to laugh loudly, grabbing onto her ears as her amusement only grew. She would have probably grabbed her sides if she had some.
"You two are the easiest prey I've ever fed on!"

That sentence froze both foals. The realisation of what was actually happening lingered in their minds.

"Okay, I'm done!" she finished chuckling, wiping an invisible tear from her eye. "Now come here you!" she suddenly screamed, her face distorted and her hoof latching onto Sweetie's backpack and starting to pull. Helper's panicked clucks could be heard from there.
Rumble yelled and Sweetie Belle cried courageously as she twisted around to punch the Wraith with her hind hooves. It let go of her, howling in pain.
"Dum kids! Stupid kids! I hate ponies that are alive!"

Sweetie had the time to flash her a smile before finally reaching her pickaxe and slamming it hard against the smooth stone in the area. It broke in a single swing and all of a sudden, there was nothing next or under them.
Rumble didn't fully comprehend the situation at first. He started to fall, his hooves uselessly waving around. His mind was too shocked to order his wings to flap.
In the corner of his eye, he saw Sweetie Belle quickly pull out a water bucket from her inventory. The lava was getting closer, and Rumble could feel his fur boil at the heat around them. His friend let the content of the bucket flow out, and they plumetted to the lava.

For a second, he thought it wouldn't work...
But thankfully, the water sank into the lava and it all became obsidian. Both foals 'safely' collided with the ground and lost only about half a heart.
A small silence reigned in the cave.
Rumble was the first to laugh. It was a nervous laugh and he felt terrible and hurt and bruised. But it was still a laugh.
And that giggle contaminated Sweetie Belle who joined in, tears flowing from her eyes. Soon, they were both sticking their toungues out at the Wraith, watching her shudder in anger.

"I'll find another way around! This has just evolved into war..." She then turned tail and galloped back into the depths of the cave.

But they didn't care.
Their shouts of joy and relief made them jump around, glad to be alive.

That's when Rumble thought that he should probably thank Sweetie Belle for her quick response to danger. And in the midst of all the craziness, her grabbed her and lifted her up, pulling her in a tight embrace.
They locked gazes and smiled warmly, tears running down their cheeks.
That's when Rumble didn't really think and kissed her.

Right under Button's nose.

Author's Note

Was that kiss too much? I just felt like adding much more drama to the whole scene XD

20. Harsh Words

Author's Note

I have finished this chapter since three days... I just forgot to publish it *coughs nervously*

20. Harsh Words

Button's torch fell to the ground at the same time Sweetie's pickaxe did. Both foals were in the same state of mind, shocked beyond words. Sweetie Belle felt a huge blush creep up on her cheeks. There were two voices in her head...
The first one was tempting :
Continue! Button never really cared about you anyways! He has always been distant and cold... Look at the way he treated you when all you did was a simple mistake? Rumble on the other side, has always been there for you and can always manage to put a smile on your face... He is much better!

And the second one was fearful :
Oh my, please turn away! Swat his hooves away! Do something ! You can't let this continue! Rumble is just a phase, he happens to like you when you're going through difficult times. Button was simply worried about you and terrified that he'd loose you, that's all there is to it! Remember everything you went through and let go... Please...

The other voice came back, as if they were arguing :
Oh yeah, remember! Please remember how he left you to cry and stayed with Diamond Tiara... He probably did the same thing to her!

Images rushed through Sweetie's mind, making her feel dizzy. Plus, the air was already hot from the lava there was a few minutes ago so it really didn't help her concentrate. She felt even more dizzy... And her eyes closed, as she chose to not choose before fainting.

Button's torch rolled to the ledge and fell, letting a few sparks out before dying down. There was barely any light in the cave now, only the distant lava and redstone ever slightly glowing enough to let them see what they wanted if they concentrated.
The brown foal didn't think at all and simply jumped down, crying in pain from his sore heart.
Rumble had already been alarmed by the torch and had broken the kiss when Sweetie's body had fallen limp, but he let out a suprised gasp upon hearing Button.

"What are you doing-" he only managed to say before being pinned to the ground pretty violently after Button landed on him.
All the breath left him and the only sound he could hear was his blood pumping through his ears for just a small moment. Then the shock wared off as a punch in the cheek brought him back to reality.

"You bastard! How could you?!" Familiar screams echoed through the cave as he was punched once again.
That time, Rumble reacted and tried defending himself by crossing both his front hooves over his face. His head was spinning and he had no idea what was going on. His memories were blurred as well as his mind was foggy.
A hoof slammed into his, and his opponent groaned in pain as he had hit the bone. Rumble took the occasion to fight back and bucked his front hooves upwards, right in the foal's stomach and sending him flying away. He stood up, trying to recall what had happened, shaking his painful head.
Man, Button really hit me hard! What is wrong with him? I could have had serious injuries!

"Button! I'm sorry okay, but please stop all of th-" Once again Rumble didn't finish his sentence as he saw the brown foal lunge at him in the semi darkness. He did the first thing that came to his mind and threw a punch. The problem is, he didn't expect to hit something and as hard as it did. Button shouted and fell to the ground as Rumble tightly clutched onto his hoof, gritting his teeth.
Did I just hit a bone?

But Button bravely stood up, blood flowing from his muzzle and mouth as he flicked his ears back. A few of his teeth were broken and there was no doubt his muzzle had probably followed the same faith. His injuries looked pretty serious even though he didn't seem to be paying any attention to them at the moment. Button groaned and jumped on top of Rumble, bitting onto his ear even though it procured him great pain.
Rumble cried out and desperatly tried to flap his wings, moving them around as a few feathers came flying off. Although his attacker was holding them against the cold ground, making sure there wouldn't be any escape. More feathers were ripped off as Rumble wiggled under his weight. But he was getting weaker, the adrenaline disappearing smoothly...

"The hell is wrong with you two?!" screamed a sudden voice, so full of fright that it was abnormally high-pitched.
Something pink jumped down and they felt themselves get seperated by force.

Neither of them dared to move again or protest, as all their energy had left them.

"What happened?!" A torch flashed in front of their eyes and they saw Diamond Tiara quickly pulling out steaks from her backpack, eyeing them down nervously.

Rumble looked at Button, waiting for him to explain himself. He noticed that the foal had a few holes in his teeth line, blood flowing from his muzzle, and cuts all over his rump. He was also standing on three hooves only and didn't seem to want to sit down even though his exhaustion was apparent, so Rumble deducted he had probably broken a few ribs.

But Button looked strait back at him, his eyes cold as if he was the one who had to explain.
Diamond saw the tension between the two and started helping Rumble out. She saw one of his eyes were closed and completely blue, that he had bruises all over his hooves, his mouth was bleeding, his right ear was almost destroyed and his left cheek was purple. Plus, his wings had lost a lot of feathers and he kept shaking his head, as if he had trouble concentrating.

"Dear Celestia..." she whimpered as Rumble gobbled up the food. "What would have happened if I hadn't shown up when I did...?"

It was at that very moment that something in the shadows moved a little. A giggle was heard and Rumble's eye widened in fear.
Just as Diamond was about to ask him what was the problem, two glowing red eyes appeared a few hoofsteps away.

"I told you I'd find another way around... You were nice enough to beat up your own friend and render another one, plus yourself, completely usseless..." a soothing and calm voice said, excitement peeking in it. "Looks like there's only an Earth Pony left..." the figure stepped out of the shadows and smiled before winking at Rumble. "Thank you for the meal!"

Diamond blinked.
That definitly isn't good...

21. Death

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, but that will happen quite often until the end of June...

21. Death

Button's hoof gave out under him and he toppled to the ground, groaning in pain. Rumble briefly thought about helping him up, but the Wraith was standing between them.
Sweetie Belle slightly shuddered in her sleep, and the Wraith rushed to her, the speed making her almost blur. She grabbed her neck with her front hooves and protectively laid her muzzle on it, as if defending her food.
"Sweetie Belle!" shouted both Rumble and Button before coldly glaring at each other.
Diamond took a step forward, her sword ready, but the Wraith hissed and bared her fangs, clutching a little tighter onto Sweetie's neck. The bright light of the torch was making her fangs shimmer and glow.
Diamond reluctantly stopped.
"I was given," snapped the Wraith, "strictorders. You guys ain't normal ponies that disappear like smoke once we kill them! Oh no, I'll be able to rejoice with your corpses once I'm done with you! I'll finally get to eat!"
Diamond's ears perked up : "Strict orders? By who?"
"Why our god of course!" snickered her opponent. "The one who created us all!"
The foals looked at each other, puzzled :
"Celestia?" asked Rumble.
The Wraith snarled.
"Luna?" tried Button, confused as ever.
"I don't know who those ponies are!"
"Oh!" exclaimed Diamond Tiara, nodding. "GameSpark!"
"Yes, I believe that's him. The minion said something about neutralising you... Anything amongst those lines..."
"The minion? Starlight Shield..." murmured Button. "I had completely forgotten about her!" The end of his sentence ended in heavy coughing as a little blood poured from his mouth.
The Wraith curiously looked at it, licking her lips in envy.
Just for a second, she was distracted, and that was when Sweetie Belle's hoof slammed into her face, sending her stumble a few hoof steps back.
"This time," she screamed, getting up and grabbing her sword, "I'll finish this!"

She landed a first hit and the Wraith dodged with surprising speed. She rolled to the side and got up, panting.
For a split second, Sweetie saw her hoof readjust her hoodie, making sure it wouldn't fall back and reveal her face.

Weak spot captured!

She dived back into 'battle' and swung her sword towards the monster. It jumped backwards, almost crossing her eyes as the shimmering object came close to her muzzle.

Even though Sweetie hated to admit it, her opponent had good reflexes and a strong body, maybe even stronger than her.
Plus, fighting against something without a lower body was really destabilizing...
But she was going to end it all.

The sword came back again, and this time she aimed the hoodie.

The Wraith tried getting away in panic and slipped, banging her head hard on the corner of a block. Her eyes widened and she shook her head, blood falling from her ears, her hooves collapsing under her weight.
She didn't have the time to make a second move or get up, the sword was already on her neck, pressing against her fur. She didn't even dare swallow due to its dangerous sharpness.
All the foals stared in awe at the speed everything had happened. The two fighters were most certainly skilled at a high level.
"Okay darling" groaned Sweetie, her grip firm. "I have no idea why the hell you're so attached to your hoodie, but it's a weakness. You should get rid of it. Not that it matters since you'll die. But maybe you guys get a second life in this game..."
The red eyes staring at her glowed a little more : "Maybe... I'm glad I'm having such a fitting death though. You fight well, meal..." Blood was spat out and some landed on Sweetie Belle's cheeks as a brief laugh escaped her enemy's mouth.
"Not so bad yourself, loser." She smiled and the Wraith smiled back, a faint smile.
More blood flowed out her mouth and she groaned. "No need to kill me with that sword of yours. I created quite some damage in my head. I doubt I'll survive any longer... My hearts are going down rapidly. I only have one left."
"Then I wish a happy death to you," murmured Sweetie Belle, taking the blade of her neck.
She backed away a bit and the hint of a smile appeared on her lips. "See you in another life."
"Yeah, I'll be..." cough!"... waiting..." the grin returned.
"Let's go guys," said Sweetie, leaving.
Button and Rumble finished eating their steaks in a hurry and warily trotted off behind her.
Diamond cast one last look at the unmoving form of the Wraith, watching the movement in her chest get slower. Then she went after the group, picking up the torch as she did so.
The Wraith shakily smiled to herself, feeling numb. "That's what happen when I'm weak. What a stupid death..." she tried coughing out some more blood, found she couldn't and chocked a little.
The light was fading away from the cave and she was surrounded by darkness. With the last of her breath, she disappeared with a smile, smoke replacing the place where she had been.
The silence came back, and it was as if nopony had ever been there.

Sweetie continued forward, her head high and her eyes shimmering. She closed them, trying to push away the odd pain in her heart.
Her teeth clenched together and a few emerald sparks emanated from her horn.
For making all these monsters appear, have feelings and just letting them die, I swear to Celestia I'll make sure you never harm anypony again, either they're real or fake... GameSpark...

22. And Then There Were Four

Author's Note

Can you believe it? I'm on time! XD

22. And Then There Were Four

"You okay there?" asked Diamond Tiara, jumping over a block to join Sweetie. "Did you create some kind of a bond with that monster?"

"Oh, no. She was out to kill us, why would I like her? But... It's true that I feel... I feel... There are no words to describe what I feel for GameSpark..." she groaned, her pace accelerating a little.

"Why so?"

"He creates monsters with feelings! It's just as if he created normal ponies that were meant to be killed off by us... Like all those zombies and skeletons and creepers and pigs and sheep and-"

"Shush! Calm down!" Diamond wrapped a hoof around her neck. "Don't bother with what already happened okay? Let's just focus on what will actually happen in the future. Like how are Scootaloo and Applebloom. And how are the two stupid fighting foals behind us doing?" she raised her voice just a little bit so they could hear.

"Better than ever!" said Rumble.

"Terrible..." said Button.

The two answers shot at her at the same time. They all stopped, staring at each other.

"Terrible!" exclaimed Rumble.

"Better than ever!" exclaimed Button.

There was a moment of silence and the fillies walked on, heavily sighing. At least they had that in common.

"Why would you say we're okay?" snapped Button. "They're gonna kill us for fighting together, might as well get some sympathy!"

"Oh well excuse me for trying to cover for you after all the terrible things you did! I still can't hear very well and have trouble focusing on stuff! This better not be all permanent."

"Oh wow look who's the victim now! I recommend you shut your little mouth for just a second so that all of us can finally relax!"

"I agree with that..." grumbled Diamond Tiara, rolling her eyes.

"Hey!"

"Guyyyyyyyys..." a menacing voice murmured. A head turned around, eyes almost burning with anger.

Button took a step back.
Rumble did the same.

"Retreat..." mumbled Button. "Sweetie's angry... And you must never make her angry..."

The filly shot them one last glare before stepping up the last block towards the exit.
It was still dark out...

"Huh? But... Where are Applebloom and Scootaloo then?" asked Diamond Tiara. "We said we would all meet up at the cave right?"

"I can't remember that... But they would have seen the light from the..." Rumble looked down at the smooth ground that contained no objects. "torch..."

"Oh... I think that's our fault!" guiltily said Button, looking down. "We took it to go find you guys..."

"But... But where could they be?! They're no expert fighters! Scootaloo seems to only be able to craft things as well!" Rumble exclaimed, his hooves making nervous little circles on the ground.

"And they weren't on the food team, so their food supplies will be running low if there was a problem..." gloomily muttered Diamond Tiara.

They all looked at each other, concerned.

"It's my fault for assigning them on that team! I should have been the one to go with Scootaloo instead of Applebloom. I know Minecraft better!" started Button.

"No, it's my fault guys... I shouldn't have agreed to the plan like that!" continued Diamond, feeling guilty after she wanted to be with Button so badly.

"I should have been opposed to all of it too!" joined in Rumble.

"Stop it! All of you!" shouted Sweetie Belle, a little loud. "Why are we all talking about them like they were..." the words got stuck in her throat and she gulped.

Nopony found anything to say until Rumble took the lead :

"It's raining outside," he pointed out, "which means that there is most certainly a lot of fog. They probably took shelter for the night in a nice cave or built themselves a little house. Scootaloo is full of resources and Applebloom is an 'Apple'. Trust me, they both make a pretty good pair..." he then smiled.

"Thanks, we needed that," murmured Sweetie. "I recommend we sleep here for the night and start looking tomorrow..."

"W... Why do you say that?" yawned Diamond, suddenly exhausted. She felt as if the weight of the whole world had just fell on her shoulders. She toppled to the ground, her eyes already closing.

"It's the fact that we haven't slept in days, it's catching up to us! That happened to me last time. Button, blocks!" ordered the white unicorn, trying to fight the terrible urge to cuddle up in a ball and sleep until Celestia raised the sun at least three times.

Button obeyed on the spot, feeling a little sleepy himself.
His marefriend grabbed what he had given her - wooden planks - and quickly piled them up against the cave entrance and the path leading deeper in.
They were completely closed out now, and it felt nice and safe.

"Right then!" grinned Button. "We got out of that pretty quickly right?"

He got no answers and his eyes widened when he realized they were all already asleep. Diamond with her bow in hoof, Rumble laying against the smooth stone wall, slightly snoring, and Sweetie in front of the barrier, wooden planks around her.

Button gave a warm smile, reaching into his pockets - inventory - and pulling out some flint and steel.

He lit some fire in the middle and approached Sweetie Belle, snuggling next to her. He buried his muzzle deep in her fur, inhaling her familiar and reassuring sent.

"I love you, Sweetie Belle..." he murmured, gently falling asleep.
He kept sleeping through the small sounds the fire was making.
He kept sleeping through Rumble's snoring.
He also kept sleeping through the sound that the dagger made when it buried in his flesh.

23. New Pet

Everything was dark... There wasn't any place to run. He was immobilized for so many months.
Waiting for his hour, his time to shine.
To get out.

Surrounded by numbers and complicated codes, he was trapped way too long. Now he was free. And he had new toys as well.
There was something that lingered in his mind. It was the words his master had used.

"Kill them."
It was something he hadn't understood at first. But now he did.
He had been set free to roam around. And while he had found it rather amusing at the beginning to crush things with his hooves and see them go still, it quickly became boring. There was just something about watching that red liquid pour out from them... But he simply couldn't ignore all the bigger living things that seemed more intelligent than 'bunnies' or 'pigs'.
They looked a little like him. Only they were all colourful and stuck together in packs. Plus they didn't posses the same envy to experience. Also, he could understand them. Just like his master.
So he had first been hesitant to approach them. One night he had stuck around a little too close. It was incredible to see them all playing around, running after each other. But the brown thing had seen him. And the feeling that poured out from him was even better than the liquid substance that he was so accustomed to.
He wanted to see the things feel that again. It was a feeling they didn't like but he adored it.
And when the brown thing had slammed into the tree, hilarious!

He had already figured out who his allies were and who his ennemies were. So this was the time to experience a little more.
He had already seen how he could... what was the word his master has used again? Oh, kill. That's it.
His hooves were good but it was messy and made noise. That's why he had used up a lot of energy to dig deep into the hidden lines of his existence, going through codes and mining down the core of his world. He had found a few things to help him. And one was particularly sharp and small. A 'dagger' was it's name.
Figuring out how to use it had been easy. It had been easier to locate the strange pack and infiltrate their little hiding place. And to top it all, they were defenseless.
So he had stabbed the brown thing. Just because he was the closest when he had teleported in. And because the pink thing was weird and he didn't dare touch it yet. It didn't have that common color all other living things had.

The substance had flowed out from his chest as easily as that. Which made the attacker frown. That's it? It's as simple as that to kill one of his own?
Tsss! What a waste of time.

Then he had left, leaving a puddle of the substance to spread out and color the cave with a grim touch.

"Applebloom!" The cowpony perked her ears up at the mention of her name and turned to face Scootaloo who was trotting to her, leaves in her mane and some red stuff covering her face which was probably berries or something. "The night is falling... We should get back to the cave."

Applebloom sniffed the air, cautious. "Good idea. Plus, I think a storm's brewin'..."

"I got lots of new stuff anyways, so we're good!" grinned Scootaloo, joining her side as they turned back.

"Like what?"

Her friend's eyes sparkled and she took a big breath : "Well I got a lot of loot from mobs that I pushed in the sun while staying under cover. Not to mention all the passive mobs that were easy to kill!" Applebloom squinted her eyes and realised what she had mistaken for red berry stains was blood. She shuddered a little, wondering how in Equestria the cowardly pegasus found the courage to do something so... so out of character. "I also found delicious slices of watermelon and - thank Luna - they were easy to yank out of the ground so I could get out of the area before anything big popped up." Then her eyes shone a little brighter as her smile got wider and she inched closer to her friend.

"W... What?" asked the yellow earthpony, taken aback by her sudden weird reactions.

"Weeeeell... Aren'tcha gonna ask me what brilliant thing I collected in by backpack?" she giggled.

Applebloom sighed, rolling her eyes. "Right, right. What brilliant thing did ya collect in your backpack?"
Probably just some exotic food... she thought, paying more attention to her dark surroundings than the endless chatterbox walking besides her.

"Glad you asked! Here!" Scootaloo shoved a tiny dirt block in Applebloom's face, practically exploding in excitement. "Isn't he just the cutest?!"

"Listen, Scoots... I ain't gonna judge you for liking mini dirt blocks but this is taking it a little far... And would ya please get it away from me?"
She pressed her hoof against it to push it away, but tiny little black eyes popped on it, opening wide as the block did a little annoyed 'Squeak!'

Applebloom yelped in suprise, backing away at full speed in terror. "W... What in Celestia's name is that thing?!"

"Aww..." muttered Scootaloo, strocking it. "You scared the poor guy!"

"I... I scared it?" the yellow filly exclaimed, pointing a shaky and accusing hoof at the dirt block. "Are ya serious right now? What is it? Do you even know if it's okay for you to take it?" She nervously looked around, half expecting a giant momma block jumping in and demanding her baby.

"Sure! It's called a Blockling! I had picked up a few plants and it just came right to me. I think you can tame them with flowers!"
Applebloom wearily watched as the Blockling gave another squeal, slowly approaching it.

"Can we keep it?" cooed the orange pegasus, cradling it in her arms and giving puppy eyes. "Pleeeeaaaase?"
The blockling made puppy eyes as well. Darn, it was cute.

"W... Whatever," groaned Applebloom, turning away. "We'll have to see with Button..."
She felt something cold roll down the back of her neck, making her shudder. Some more droplets of rain fell on them and soon, it was pouring rain.

"We're never going to find the cave in this weather!" complained Scootaloo.

"Well... We could always spend the night here. I'm sure they'll all wait for us tomorow morning. Let's just build a small shelter for the night and hide there before anything stumbles across us..."

Scootaloo nodded, looking up at the dark and cloudy sky. "I just hope they'll wait for us..." she murmured.

Author's Note

I'M EARLY! Is that even possible? It's like 2 minutes pass midnight so we're technically Wednesday right?
Please look up Blocklings on Google! They're just so friggin' cute!! x3
And I hope that ending wasn't too rushed...

24. Mischievous

Author's Note

Exams are over omg XD More time to write!!

24. Mischievous

Sweetie Belle brought a hoof to her mouth as she yawned, feeling extremely sleepy. She slowly got up, stretching to flex out her muscles and hopefully completely emerge from her slumber.
How long have we been sleeping?

It was still very dark in the cave even though their torches had remained. Sweetie could barely see a small pile of ashes in front of her.
I wonder who started the fire... Who went to sleep last? And am I the only one up?

"Guys!" she whispered, coming her mane to tame it's never-ending resistance to any straightening product she would use. She had to look good when Button woke up. It was part of 'Rarity's Rules of Colts' : 'Never wake up at the same time as your darling. Make sure you awake before him and come your mane and tail, even applying makeup if necessary. Then, simply go back to bed and wait for him to open his eyes on the beauty of his marefriend!'
It still felt like a cheating method, but Sweetie Belle wanted to look fresh.

"Cluck!" something replied to her.

"Shhh Helper!" giggled Sweetie, squinting her eyes to try and spot him. "Where are you? I can't believe you managed to get out of the backpack... There were seeds for days in there!"

She saw his little white form approach her, tainted by some dark liquid, before grabbing him in her hooves.
"Whaddup little guy? Where did you even get so dirty-"

Sweetie froze, her hooves suddenly shaking. She looked down at her chicken and he looked up at her with his big, innocent eyes. His feathers were tainted in blood. Dripping wet and sticky blood. Something twisted in her stomach and her breathing accelerated as did her heart. Her hooves were wet and sweaty, she could feel shivers run down her spine.
Slowly, very slowly, she placed Helper back on the cold stone. She didn't want to move, but something forced her to. A strong sense of fear was overtaking her.
That's when she realised everything was quiet. Much too quiet. Where were the familiar sounds of snoring? Was she surrounded by corpses? Corpses of her friends?

Her hooves moved on their own towards a form that had actually been curled up against her. That's why her back felt so... sticky.
Even though everything was silent, her ears were ringing.
She could hear up to every little droplet of water that echoed throughout the whole cave.
Ploc, ploc, ploc

Sweetie took her time to grab a torch, barely gripping onto one since her shaking had intensified. Something was stuck in her throat, she couldn't say a word.
Ploc, ploc, ploc

The light shone on some more blood, running down brown hooves, forming a neat puddle underneath the brown mass. A small object, stuck into the abdomen of the brown pony, shimmered under the light. The blood was still running down the pony's hoof as Sweetie's mouth gaped open, trembling.

Ploc.
Ploc.

Ploc.

Her voice came back.
She screamed, taking a step back and loosing the torch, slipping on blood.
She fell, still screaming in horror.
She heard suprised gasps shortly followed by cries.
She felt somepony hold her tight as she shut her eyes.
She never stopped screaming.

Rumble shuddered in revulsion as he finished moping up the blood with some nearby leaves.
"I'm done Diamond!" he yelled, taking a step back. "Do you have flint and steel so I can burn these things?"

"Uh no... I think Button had that. Give me a sec and I'll try and make one!" she replied back.

"Right..." Rumble returned to the cave and groaned. "Aw man I can't believe this happened! Did some mob do this? Maybe a silverfish?"

He saw Diamond's hoof - who was wiping Sweetie's forehead with a wet piece of leather - stop and start trembling a little.
"You don't think... You don't think somepony did this right?"

"What?" Rumble froze and forced himself to laugh. "Don't tell me you actually suppose I did it right?"

His laugh died down in his throat as Diamond didn't reply and trotted back to Button to tend to his wounds.

"Are you serious?" he snapped, getting closer.

She backed away with a weary look.

Fury overtook him and he got even closer : "The hell is your problem?"

"I just want to be sure a mob did this before doubting you..." she muttered.

"You're already doubting me!"

Rumble stomped his hooves on the ground, his ears back.
But his eyes widened and he backed away when he saw Diamond Tiara bring a hoof to her sword.

"You're really childish you know that?" Then he kneeled down next to Sweetie Belle and started licking the blood off of her to calm himself.

"Yeah, I'd prefer not getting stabbed in my sleep as well!" she replied.

Rumble's head jerked around and he jumped on her, screaming.

"You're a bloody idiot you know that?"

She grunted under his weight and desperately tried to wiggle out of his grasp in vain.
"Let me go!"

"Not until you tell me why you're acting like this..."

She struggled a little more before stopping.
To Rumble's surprise, she started crying.
Uncertain what to do, he nervously licked his lips and folded his ears back again.

Tears were streaming down Diamond's face, rolling through her fur and soaking it in salty water.
"It's... It's just that..." she cried, her words barely distinguishable through her sobs. "I don't know what to think anymore! B... Button would've died and what would we have done... What would I have done if he... he died!"
Then she covered her face with her front hooves, red taking over her soaked cheeks. "D... Don't look at me like that!" she winced.

Rumble let her go and took a few steps back, confused. "Does this mean... Does this mean that you... like Button?"

She stood up and wiped her tears away. "What if I do?! What will you do about it dummy?" she snapped, back to her usual self.

Rumble fell to his rump, stunned.
The wind blew through his mane and rustled it a little. The complete silence that reigned through the cave made the air seem heavy.
And I like Sweetie Belle...

"I propose..." he murmured. "I propose we pass a deal... For both our sakes..."

The wind continued to blow as the same idea popped in their head.

25. Lovers

"Awake?" smiled Button as Sweetie's emerald eyes fluttered open.

He delicately placed a kiss on her lips before she started sobbing and grabbed onto his neck, pulling him close to her. He let out a small suprised gasp.
She buried her face in his fur and breathed in the soothing scent.

"Hey, hey!" laughed Button, his eyes sparkling. "Don't you dare strangle your favorite colt to death!"

Sweetie replied with a muffled giggle and nuzzled him with affection : "Celestia I love you..." she murmured.

"I love you too Sweetie Belle..." he sighed in contentment.

They stayed snuggled on the bed she had been laying on for a small moment before somepony entered.

"Oh... Hey uh... Sorry for intruding!" shakily smiled Diamond Tiara, blushing.

"No, no it's fine!" grinned Button, standing up.
But he stopped as his hoof was held back by Sweetie's.
She turned her head around, blushing with a pout and muttered a not very convincing : "I'm just cold, that's all..."
Button warmly patted her head and asked what Diamond wanted.

"It'd be best if we got going now..." she said. "We still have to find Applebloom and Scootaloo, and try and figure out who stabbed you..."

"Finding our two lost friends is our priority I'd say, we can figure out the rest later," answered Button, unconsciously laying a hoof on his closed wound. "What did you use to heal me so fast?"

Diamond proudly took an empty potion bottle, that had traces of pink liquid at the bottom, from her saddlebag out and showed them.

"Did you craft that?" asked Sweetie, impressed.

"Oh no," Diamond frowned. "Rumble just... found it. It was weird but he told me he spotted it in the grass as he was cleaning up..."

She interrupted herself and looked down, embarrassed to have brought the accident back up when it had finally cleared away.

"Best we get going!" shouted Rumble, entering the cave as well, his hooves practically shaking in his urge to move. The awkward silence disappeared.

"He's right. Got everything?" asked Button, grabbing his saddlebag and slipping it on his back with a small grunt.

"I'll help with that!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle, standing up.

"No I'm fine, thanks, you adorable mare!" her coltfriend smiled. Sweetie Belle's eyes shimmered as a shade of pink appeared on her cheeks. She stared at him with that cute stunned expression.
The air around them was pink and bubbly for a while, and the other two foals cringed.

Diamond felt Rumble's annoyed gaze on her and she did her best to avoid it.
She had refused to help him separate the two, feeling as it would cause more harm to them than good. She wasn't even entirely sure they would both love them back once broken up.
Now she felt a hint of regret as her heart shattered at the sight of the two lovebirds.

"Shall we go?" murmured Rumble.

Diamond jumped at the cold tone he had. Way too violent!

Button and Sweetie Belle froze, astonished by his deep voice.

"Oh! Haha... L... Look at you acting all... um... menacing..." Wait, that came out wrong! "I mean... l... let's go Rumble! We've got a loooong day ahead of us and we gotta... walk! Yup! Let's go!" she finished growling as she yanked him away and pushed him forward.

"You can't just act like that while they're around you idiot!" she muttered through gritted teeth.

"Well I guess we'll both have a pity party together when our hearts pop under the pressure of loving ponies who. love. someone. else!" he furiously whispered.

Diamond took a step back and folded her ears, deeply hurt by her friend's harsh words. Her biggest mistake was to reply in a defensive way : "Well at least I think I actually have a go with Button, unlike you! Just look at your poor cowardly self! Who would want that as a coltfriend?"

Then Diamond froze in horror, watching Rumble's eyes sparkle under the effect of shock and, mostly, harsh descent back to reality. She tried opening her mouth to apologize but didn't have the time.
"I'll be stunned if he wants to go out with a mare so... so..." he sputtered.

"Don't you dare!" she shot back.

"Ugly and pathetic! I mean just look at yourself, not even able to defend your friends!"

It was so shocking that Diamond started crying without even realizing it, the tears rolling down her cheeks.

She bit her lip hard to stop herself from screaming at him and was about to trot forward and calm down, when Sweetie's amazed shout made her jump.
"Guys did you not notice this?"

They both turned around and the two lovers looked a little disturbed by how agitated they looked, one crying and the other practically depressed.

"What?" asked Diamond, forcing a smile as she approached them.

"Um..." Sweetie glanced at Button who slightly shook his head. "Well, just look!" she grinned, following the colt's advice to ignore what was happening.

Diamond lowered her gaze and all her worries disappeared as her attention was now focused on the beautiful block in front of them.

Rumble was the one to say aloud what they were all thinking :
"A Lucky Block!"

26. Lucky or Unlucky?

Author's Note

Please read this or you won't understand much of this chapter!

Right, so I didn't exactly know if I should give good or bad luck to our little adventurers. So I simply logged onto Minecraft and opened a random normal lucky block. If it got bad luck, or good luck, so be it!
I filmed what I got in the Lucky Block and it's somewhere in the chapter, so watch it! :twilightsheepish:

Cristal, out!

26. Lucky or Unlucky?

"Sh... Shall I open it?" murmured Sweetie Belle after a small moment of silence.

"No!" exclaimed the other foals all at once, Diamond even taking a step back just in case she brutally decided to open it without warning.

Sweetie jumped and rolled her eyes : "Jeez calm down I wasn't actually gonna do it..."

"Maybe it's a Very Lucky Block?" suggested Rumble without much conviction.

"Yeah, or perhaps it's Very unlucky..." groaned Button. "I propose we just leave it like that. We've got enough materials as it is and we don't need to put ourselves in danger."

"But imagine we actually get the Lucky Sword!" squealed Sweetie Belle, her hoof suddenly urging her to touch the block.

"And imagine we get the lava fall. Not the most beautiful of deaths if you ask me!" sarcastically answered Button.

"Uh... Excuse me but what is a Lucky Block exactly?"

All their heads turned to Diamond Tiara's sheepish face.

"Oh right, I forgot you never really played this game!" nodded Button, shortly followed by Sweetie Belle and Rumble's comprehensive 'Ahhh!'

"A Lucky Block is a block that generates in the Minecraft world!" started Sweetie Belle. "When you open it, you either get good luck or bad luck, some things making you OP and others killing you."

"There are other Lucky Blocks that are tagged as "Very Lucky" or "Very Unlucky", which you probably guess what will happen if you open one of them," continued Rumble.

"But if we open it, I recommend only one of us stands by, the two others should get away..." finished Button, still anxious and opposed to the idea he judged bad.

"I'm gonna be the one to open it!" rushed Sweetie Belle.

"Wow okay are we really doing this?" groaned Button.

"If she's volunteering for it, let her!" shrugged Rumble.

"I guess if it's okay..." tried Diamond Tiara.

"Fine, just ignore the only rational colt here and go right into testing your luck!" sighed Button, giving up.

"Will you stay with me as I open it?" asked his fillyfriend, nervous.

"Okay... But if ever you feel like something bad will happen, run! Understood?" asked Button, serious.

"Yes! Thanks!" she chirped back, getting ready.

Their two friends backed up and let them do the work.

Sweetie Belle focused, closed her eyes, hoped for good luck and suddenly swung her hoof forward, breaking the block.

Button and the others waited in anxiety as nothing appeared strait away, ready to get out of the area if needed.

[url=youtube=https://youtu.be/4jrTcKHGsAI]Lucky Block!

A shiny block suddenly fell from the sky and landed on the soft grass with a big 'thump!'
Sweetie Belle jumped, surprised by the sudden appearance of it.

"Oh... it's... it's..." she stuttered.

"A gold block!" finished Rumble, excitedly scuttling over to examine it.

"Oh, it's perfect! We haven't found any as well, so this is good..." approved Diamond Tiara.

"Anyone got iron?"

"Yeah, I think we quickly picked some up down in the cave." Button started to look through his saddlepack for iron.

"I got the crafting table!" grinned Sweetie, taking it out and placing it on the floor.

"Heyyyy... I got one too!" frowned Diamond, placing her own next to the first one.

"We always have too many crafting tables!" giggled Sweetie Belle.

Rumble grabbed them both, wrapping his hooves around their shoulders :
"I say this calls for celebration!" he brightly smiled as he reached into his saddlepack.

A small, fishy, slimy thing started wiggling about in his hooves, just a few inches away from both the fillies' muzzles.

"Celestia!" screamed Diamond Tiara, terrified.

"Damn it Rumble! Jeez!" shouted Sweetie, getting away from him in a hurry. "The hell was that?"

"It's uh..." Rumble looked at it, uncertain and waiting for it's name tags to appear. "A 'Fat Fish'"

"I don't like how it looks, and I don't like how it sounds like..." muttered Diamond, shuddering.

"Where did you even find something like that?!"

A pair of brown hooves suddenly pushed the prankster's hooves up and the Fat Fish dug into Rumble's face.

"Ew! Are you kidding me Button?! Oh Luna this is disgusting!" groaned Rumble, trying to take it off before panicking and wiggling around. "Oh man, it's sticking to my face! Get it off, get it off!"

The foals brightly laughed their heads off at their embarrassed friend.

"That's karma for you!"

"Anyone got a camera? I so wish I could take a screenshot or something!"

Their joyful laughs echoed through the forest, sharing a small moment of happiness that thankfully still existed in their virtual world.

The white eyes were burning with anger. An anger so deep, it couldn't control what it was doing.
That thing was supposed to die! That thing was never supposed to start making those happy-sounding noises! What healed him? What helped him? Or did the problem occur with the weapon? Was it not good enough? Where was the smell of fear?

He wanted to run into that clearing and stop whatever the things out there were doing. To show them who he truly was so that they'd notice him and he could finally smell the fear again.
But what made him mad, was that he couldn't. Something was stopping him, and it resembled no other feeling he had ever experienced. It was stopping his hooves from moving, creating sweat on his forehead and hurting him, as if his stomach was hollow. It couldn't be fear... could it? Fear of the things in front of him that didn't seem to worry. That were united. That could represent a danger.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. No. He could not experience fear. He was the god of this world. He was going to get his revenge. And it would be by taking away what that thing apparently loved most...
He smiled a little and squinted his eyes.

Now to see which of the three things he was going to take away...

28. At the End of The Mountain

Diamond Tiara's hooves gave out under her and she fell to the grass, her eyes full of tears.
She was shocked beyond words, her lips quivering. They opened, then closed, unable to utter a sound.

The fur on her neck had gone cold and droplets of sweat still ran down her hooves.

Hoofstep sounds came by and stopped next to her.
Diamond's head snapped around as she started crying. It was sudden. She didn't expect to cry.

Her hooves uselessly hit Rumble's chest with rage although the hits were weak. Her energy was gone.
"You... you... I... HATE YOU" she screamed, before taking a step back, her head down.
"Button... Button..." she placed her hooves on her ears and curled up in a ball, her pupils tiny. "Button" she was screaming and sobbing at the same time, taking deep breaths. "Button, Button, Button, Button, Button..."

Rumble approached her, worried and she heard him take a breath, about to speak.
She stood up before he could say anything and took a few steps back. "Murderer! Killer! I hate you! God I hate you!" Rumble's expression took a twisted turn and he got a little closer.
Fear replaced the aching pain in her heart.
"P... Please! What are you going to do to me?" she uttered, her voice down to a pathetic whimper.

All her senses had left her. The only sound was her own heartbeat.

"Diamond... I didn't kill them! Why would you even think that?"

"Yes you did!"

"No! I threw torches on them before the sand came crashing down!"

"To burn them before you buried them alive?!"

"No, where are these ideas coming from?" He looked hurt and afraid.

The sand blocking the entrance was progressively broken up, until the form of two ponies appeared.
Diamond's ears fell down as she watched Sweetie Belle and Button walk out, coughing from the dust as they brushed it off their fur, like two ghosts rising from their tombs.

"Sweetie Belle, Buttooooon!" she came crashing down on them, tackling them with a hug.

They acted surprised at the beginning, then tears came flowing out of Sweetie's eyes : "Diamond...! Oh Diamond...! I missed you so much!"

"How... How are you alive?! The... the sand... I saw it fall!" uttered the mare, gripping onto Sweetie's fur as if she was scared they could disappear.

"No, Rumble protected us..." sighed Button, glancing at the gray Pegasus.

Diamond stood up, and stared at him. He sheepishly looked down at his hooves and decided that the grass was extremely interesting.

"I'm sorry about what I said..." muttered Diamond Tiara, looking frustrated. She didn't bother to wonder how or why. That simply wasn't important.

"Yeah, sure no problem."

There was an awkward silence between the four of them before they decided to get back on track. They had to get through the mountain before nightfall...

"And that's how Creepers were created!" proudly finished Sweetie Belle as she jumped over another set of blocks.

"Wow..." nodded Diamond, not very interested as she stared at Button who was trotting with Rumble a few hoofsteps ahead.

"A bug?"

"Yeah, didn't GameSpark say that he had implemented a few bugs in the game? Well I realized that when I saw the sand on the ceiling in the cave wasn't falling down. It was a bug I had experienced at the beginning of the game. The only way to make sure it falls, is just to break a block around it."

"Huh. Never encountered that bug for sure. Good thing you knew about it or we'd be monster food by now. Thanks pal," Button taped his shoulder and smiled. "I guess I was wrong to think about you in such bad ways..."

"It's fine," Rumble said with a shrug. "I owed you."

They both looked at each other with a grin while trotting on ahead.
Sweetie and Diamond happily sighed in relief. It was nice to have the good times back.

The next day was spent walking. Again.
They went from unimaginable heat in the plain with no shade, to freezing cold up high in the biggest mountain. Fog was surrounding it, making their progress extremely hard.

Their only relaxing moment had been when Helper had freaked out about a bug that was apparently buried underground. He would not budge until he reached it, so they all had to help out, it eventually ending up in a mud fight.
The bug turned out to be a small terrified mole that only wanted to escape.
Helper was punished for his terrible sense of food by staying in the backpack and they all had to take a bath in the running cascade to wash off the dirt.

Although overall, the smiles were back and the minds were clear of all conflict.
It was a nice change.

The sun was just starting to set when they all exited the fog surrounding the mountain. Their fur gladly hit the last few rays of sun and their energy came back. Even Helper was happily clucking about, his punishment over.
Sweetie stared lovingly at him and remembered how she had desperately missed him the first few weeks upon their return home. It seemed like such a long time ago now... She wondered if Button missed Chaser. Probably...

He was the first to suddenly stop in his tracks, his gaze looking straight ahead.
Diamond followed with a gasp.
The two others noticed it and their eyes widened.

Diamond Tiara started sobbing, her heart sinking in relief.

"Thank... thank Celestia..." murmured Rumble.

And without a warning, they simultaneously started to run towards the flickering lights and wooden plank buildings that formed a beautiful village under their hooves.

29. Village

They ran. They ran so fast, that Rumble stumbled and fell to his rump. But he got up and continued.
They all had that feeling now. Relief.
It was so strong that they didn't care about anything else.

Rumble was so close... They were all so close to going someplace safe. Someplace where nopony would hurt them. But he was so scared.
Terrified that something would stop him before he got to his destination. It was an itching sensation that crawled in the back of his neck, giving him the chills.
He half expected hooves to grab him and pull him back into darkness.

They were getting really close to the village now. It's twinkling lights were getting bigger as the sun went down.

"Wait!"
They all came to a stumbling halt, taken by surprise.

"What gives?!" grumbled Diamond once Sweetie had bumped into her.

"We should be careful about this. These villagers have probably only ever seen things that wanted to kill them. Why don't we take it slow? Not that they'd be able to hurt us anyways."

As usual, Button's wise words calmed everyone down and they proceeded to the village with a little less speed.
Everyone's breaths grew quiet as they reached the tip of the village and they finally came to a halt in front of a small house.
They hesitantly stood there, unsure what to do. An awkward silence stood between them, as they nervously shifted around, giving each other uneasy looks.

Suddenly, a small purple bat filly came skipping towards them, singing a tune and balancing a small ball on her muzzle. "There's music in the treetops, and there's music in the air... And all that music makes you want to soar...!"

She bumped into Rumble and fell to her rump. Her surprised gaze shifted upwards and she met Rumble's unsure-what-to-do face.
Tears started to form in her eyes and he panicked, and leaned in closer : "It's okay young filly... We won't hurt you! Tee hee hee!" he said, his voice deformed by nervousness. He tried smiling real big and happy but ended up doing too much and looking extremely creepy.

The tears immediately stopped under the effect of terror and she got up, screamed and ran away.
Rumble stood there and tried to ignore the annoyed looks of the others.

"Telling somepony you won't hurt them basically proves the opposite..." muttered Button.

Rumble was about to answer when he realized Diamond Tiara wasn't with them anymore. He spotted her at the same time the rest of the group did, running after the filly : "Its okay sweetie! We really won't hurt you!"

But the small filly was absolutely terrified now and sobbing like crazy.

"So much for our nice approach..." muttered Button as they took off behind the two mares.

The filly led them to the center of the village, still screaming, running as fast as her little hooves managed to take her.
Ponies of all sorts came out of the huts and houses in a panic, alerted by the shouts.

"Nice to meet you!" smiled Sweetie Belle at a white Pegasus that jumped when they whizzed pass him.

They finally arrived in front of a large cobblestone house with a few furnaces in it. The filly jumped in the hooves of a stallion with a green mane and white fur color that stood in front.

Diamond Tiara stopped a few steps away and shrank down under the stallion's glare.

"May I know what you are doing here?" he asked, before then widening his eyes as he saw the rest of the group.

"Greetings ponies!" Button smiled, taking a small step forward. "We come in absolute peace!"

Other ponies were gathering around them, some curious, others weary. No apparent signs of hostility were visible for now.

"T... that big, giant, scary and menacing stallion with huge muscles and a menacing look threatened me!" squeaked the filly, cowering in fear in the stallion's hooves.

Rumble's eye twitched. "Hey now little filly..." he said, trying to control his anger. "I never said I'd hurt you!"
His menacing look made the whole village take a step back.

Oh. There was the hostility.

The stallion holding the small filly stood up and put her down. His gaze hardened and he took a step forward.

"Do not," he calmly said, "threaten my ponies..."

Rumble shrunk down under his gaze, but Button didn't falter : "I apologize for my friend's tone and anything he did that might've disturbed you. We are just travelers that seek refuge for a little bit..."

"Uh actually, we did disturb the whole village..." muttered Sweetie Belle.

"And since when are you talking like that? You sound like that really old and wise guy from a movie I saw..." groaned Diamond Tiara.

"Shut up you two!" Button then realized he had been a little violent and facehoofed.

"I don't trust them..." murmured a pony behind them, getting closer. "Panda Brush, we should get rid of them! What if they were with the zombies?"

The mention of zombies threw a wave of panic in the crowd.
A mare with yellow fur shrank down to the floor and started whining. The bat filly grasped onto the stallion's - apparently named Panda Brush - leg. The white Pegasus from earlier disappeared in his house and slammed the door behind him.

"Don't mention that again, Game Controller... Even though I must admit I agree with you... But the night is near. "

The stallion nodded and took a step back. "You're proposing that we keep them safe here tonight?"

"Yes." Panda Brush glanced at them and a hint of worry appeared on his face. "But I hope you lot won't cause me or my village any trouble..."

"Thank you very much sir, I assure you we won't cause a single problem." Button smiled to his group and relief spread over them. They were safe.

"Lullaby Bliss!" Panda Brush ordered. "Please set the barriers up."

A Pegasus with abnormally large wings nodded and shouted a few orders around. Ponies shuffled around, whispering about the newcomers.

Sweetie Belle's ears fell flat, annoyed with all the sudden commotion.
"Are they all going back to their homes? Should we jump inside one as well?"

Diamond Tiara shrugged. "I still don't understand what's so appealing to this game, and don't plan on learning how to properly play it."

Button was about to ask Panda Brush what they should do, when the floor started rumbling. The tiny square pebbles on the ground were bouncing up and down and the houses were shaking.

The foals immediately grabbed their weapons and got in an instinctive defensive position, their backs to each other.

Huge iron blocks sprang out of the ground and surrounded the village, closing it in with a height of approximately 10 blocks. Little blocks of red stone were on the very top.

The group just stared at it all, mouths agape and wide eyes.

"You seem surprised." Panda Brush was approaching them, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Well..." Sweetie Belle started, then blushed. They were used to seeing stupid villagers that didn't know how to defend themselves and were only good at trading or running away. It was always fun to find a village to kill everyone inside and get the loot.

"We just haven't ever seen anything like this! You guys have defended yourselves well," Diamond Tiara smiled warmly.

"Yeah, great job!" approved Rumble, taking a look around.

The sky was now completely black and archers were standing guard on the towers.

"Unfortunately we can only defend ourselves against creatures that don't climb or fly."

"Or dig!" the small filly cheered, proud to participate in the adult conversation. But she immediately shrank back down when her gaze met Rumble's.

"You'll have to clear up that misunderstanding..." murmured Button.

Rumble was about to reply when a loud squeal was heard from behind.
They all turned in unison as Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara got tackled with a hug.

"Applebloom!" laughed Sweetie Belle, hugging her back.

"Scootaloo..." Diamond Tiara breathed out in relief.

"We're back!" grinned the two fillies.

30. Reunited

"Diamond Tiaraaaaaaa!" whined Scootaloo, hugging her tight. "I missed you so so much!"

"Where were you guys?!"

"We tried leaving trails..."

"I had absolutely no idea where the cave was!"

"... and there was this huge dungeon..."

"Scootaloo found a new pet!"

"... and Rumble scared the life out of us!"

"Okay, guys!" Button interrupted their lively chatter. "I know we've all missed each other and all, but we're being rude! How about we discuss this somewhere else?"

They all agreed a little annoyed, although still excitingly whispering things to each other.

"Do you know Miss Applebloom and young Scootaloo?" asked Panda Brush.

"Yeah, they're our friends. We came here together..." replied Sweetie Belle, giving him a warm smile.

He returned the smile and nodded. "Well if you're Scootaloo's friend, you're our friend. Welcome to the village!"

Then he took off - although he whispered something to a buttercream mare before leaving.
She approached them with a shy demeanor, nervously smiling.

"Howdy Timid Deer!" Applebloom said with a smile before murmuring to the group : "She's very, very shy..."

The earth pony cleared her throat and started speaking : "Hello Applebloom, I hope you and your friends continue to enjoy the peace of this village... As she said, my name is Timid Deer and I sincerely hope you'll accept me as a friend as well..."

Her voice was so sweet and delicate, Sweetie Belle was tempted to pat her turquoise mane like a kitten. That's when she realized the two deer horns on her head.
They were a light shade of brown and seemed to actually be a part of her body.

Sweetie glanced at the others and they indicated that they had noticed the horns as well.
She was a villager, a pony that didn't even exist. Why would GameSpark bother with a complex character design such as going as far as adding horns?

"I'll take you to the house you'll be sleeping in tonight!" smiled Timid. "This way please!"

They followed her through the village, admiring the old fashioned buildings. Ponies were getting ready for bed or dining around a campfire while loudly laughing. A mother was trying to put her two excited fillies to bed and a few Pegasus were hunting the fireflies. Everything was such a beautiful sight, even the torches gave out their own soothing addition to it all, warmly lighting the place up just right.
It was just too different from the actual Minecraft villages!

"It's so..." murmured Sweetie Belle.

"Peaceful?" completed Button with a grin.

Sweetie gave him a caring look : "You always know these kinds of things..."

"I guess I'd be a bad coltfriend if I wasn't an awesome fillyfriend mind reader..." he proudly said, sticking his tongue out before gently planting a kiss on her cheek.
She giggled and blushed.

Applebloom happily smiled at the two, but sensed negativity emanating from Rumble and Diamond Tiara.
She frowned and whispered to Scootaloo : "Are those two jealous or something?"

"What?! You mean Diamond Tiara likes Button?" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Pfft, SO expecting that..."

Applebloom quickly shushed her and was relieved when she saw nopony had heard her. "You're awfully quick to make these kinds of assumptions aren't ya...?"

Scootaloo looked down. "I guess I'm a fast pony," she mumbled, avoiding eye contact. "Probably get that from Rainbow Dash."
Then she stayed silent.

Applebloom decided she was going to leave all their love problems to each other and gladly noticed Timid Deer had come to a halt.
"Okay! Here is the house Scootaloo and Applebloom have been staying in for the past three night, I'm sure the other girls can stay in with them as well! Lullaby Bliss arranged everything for you." Then she sheepishly turned to the colts. "As for you two... Well to be honest we don't have any other houses for you to sleep in. We brought you a tent and sleeping bags, I hope you'll enjoy the night."

"So straightforward," whispered Diamond Tiara to Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah it's kind of weird how she suddenly concluded her little speech so quickly..."

"That's a small bug we've noticed with them." Scootaloo came to them as Timid left. "Sometimes they'll just stop in the middle of their sentence and say something completely random before continuing what they were doing."

"They also haven't perfectly mastered the art of language, so what they sometimes say can come out as weird." Applebloom turned to Button and Rumble : "Getting back to the matter at hoof, I know you guys are sleeping out tonight, but how about we go eat inside?"

The idea was cheerfully accepted and they all entered a pretty large house with a library and benches. A table and a few beds were randomly lying around.
A fridge was making a slight buzzing noise in the corner, and Scootaloo opened it to pull out some food.

Carrots, mushroom stew, potatoes and eggs were displayed on the table under the hungry eyes and watering mouthes. Apparently the villagers weren't much for eating meat here.

"Shall we cook the potatoes?" asked Diamond Tiara. "I'm up for something nice and warm!"

"Good idea!"

"I'll boil the eggs then!" Sweetie proposed to help.

"I want them scrambled..." murmured Scootaloo, pouting.

"How about a nice sunny side up?" asked Button and Rumble at the same time.

They all looked at each other before bursting out laughing. It was nice to be reunited.

While the fillies cooked, they all explained their own stories :
"And when we saw the village, we were so relieved!" finished Sweetie Belle with a quick chuckle.

"I was so scared something would snatch me up for some reason! I just ran!" giggled Diamond Tiara.

"No way, same here!" added Rumble with a big grin.

"I think we all had our fair share of adventures and we were just glad to finally be safe." Button then faced Applebloom and tilted his head : "Your turn to explain how you actually got lost!"

Applebloom told them how they hadn't found the cave, and their fear that their friends had gone looking for them : "We assumed you had traveled to the part of the World where you hadn't been last time. I admit we had a few difficulties at first, but Scootaloo found loads of new ressources and managed to craft a lot of things!" The Pegasus slightly blushed at the mention of her name. "That's when we found the village. Everypony was real nice with us, and they even let me grow a few crops with them. I gave them farming advice and I'm guessing they appreciated that!" Applebloom beamed. "Then, when you guys didn't show up, we quickly decided that we weren't gonna survive on our own and simply wait here until you would come."

"How were you sure we'd find each other?" asked Diamond Tiara, carefully slurping onto her steaming mushroom soup.

"We... We had no idea if we'd ever see you guys again. We just... hoped," murmured Scootaloo, and the rest of the group realized how hard it had been for the two fillies to survive on their own in a world they didn't know much of, and where they were the prey.

A small silence went by only punctuated by the mastication noises.
The lights outside were progressively dimming down, a few torches being removed here and there.

They all decided it would be time for bed, so that they could make the best of the next day.

Button kissed Sweetie Belle good night, Rumble tried to do the same with Scootaloo, got slapped in the face and they separated.
The two colts found the tent was just a few blocks away from the girls' house, which secretly reassured them. Nothing should happen without them knowing.

They both snuggled into a sleeping bag each, not bothering to enter the tent. It was way too small anyways.

Button looked up at the night sky that was full of stars, twinkling and shining like a million tiny diamonds. The moon wasn't full, only a slight slip of it was visible. Perhaps tomorrow would be a night without a moon.
The air was warm and a little breeze now and then would come chill him out. Even monsters seemed calm, as not a one could be heard ; only a few wolves were howling not too far away. But Button knew the big wall would protect them.
It was nice to feel secure.

He turned to his side and faced Rumble's sleeping form, his back slowly moving up and down following the rhythm of his breath. Every now and then, his feathers would be ruffled by the nightly breeze.

Button sighed and closed his eyes, hoping Sweetie Belle was finding the night as peaceful as he was...

"So!" giggled Scootaloo throwing a pillow at Diamond Tiara. "You have to tell us!"

She received the pillow back, straight in her face and fell into her covers. Muffled chuckles came from around her.

"If Diamond Tiara doesn't want to tell us who she likes, it's up to her!" came Sweetie's voice from her left. "Buuuuut... I vote we smuggle her in pillows until she tells!"

The girls cheered and Diamond Tiara screamed and numerous pillows lost their lives.

31. Villagers

Author's Note

Merry Christmas! I hope you all enjoy your holidays!
(I'm sorry this chapter may seem rushed...)
I wrote an extra long chapter for you on this special day! Hope you like it :heart:

31. Villagers

The fillies awoke because of the rumbling noise the wall made as it descended back into the ground, with yawns and grunts. They really shouldn't have taken Pillow Fighting to the next level.
The sky was cloudy and thunder could be heard far away. The day really didn't look like it would be bright at first, but when they saw Button and Rumble waiting for them outside the hut, they smiled.
It was an incredibly nice thing to feel wanted, to have ponies waiting for you when you awake, and to watch smiles curl on their lips as they spot you. It truly is amazing.

"Good morning!" cheered Scootaloo, slightly hovering down the two steps separating the house from the ground.

"Good morning you girls!" grinned Rumble. "Sleep well?"

Sweetie kissed Button and exchanged an amused glance with the fillies. "Like foals."

Applebloom was the last one out and she carefully closed the door behind her : "Who's up for breakfast?"

"I AM!" screeched Diamond Tiara before interrupting herself as everyone stared at her.
A deep shade of red spread through her cheeks and she stared at her hooves, a few wicks of her mane falling in front of her eyes.

Everypony laughed and Scootaloo grabbed Diamond by the hoof. "Let me show you how breakfasts in a Minecraft village are done!"

She led them back through the narrow pathways separating each house and they said hello to a few ponies as they were passing. Everyone was so joyful here, as if in a mindless, happy, foolish transe. It was sometimes weird to say hello to a passing villager, and then recall they weren't actually real.

The breakfast was held in the middle of the village, and it was a common meal. A long wooden table had been set up with stools all around it. A few ponies were grilling things a few hoofsteps away and the delicious smell of meat and vegetables came to their muzzles.
Button and Sweetie sat next to each other in front of a plate, curiously watching all the activity. Applebloom and Scootaloo were proudly sitting next to Panda Brush, happy to be able to show them what they had discovered.
Rumble and Diamond quietly sighed as they were forced to sit together.

"Did you all sleep well?" inquired Timid Deer, sitting across them.

"Yes thank you very much for your hospitality!" nodded Sweetie Belle.

"This village really is amazing!" sighed Diamond Tiara. "It feels so safe..."

"Thank you... but can I then assume you've heard of us?" asked Game Controller, making her jump.
His suspicious glare made her realize her mistake.

"Well... uh... no. But you seeeee..."

"We've been to villages similar to this one," smiled Rumble, trying to save the situation.

Game Controller nodded as if the answer pleased him and moved on after wishing them a nice meal.

"Idiot!" whispered Rumble to Diamond although with a grin.

The filly's ears dropped down and she looked away in shame. "Sorry."

The food arrived and they happily ate away, glad to fill their bellies up. Ever since they had come here, food had been abundant.

"Once we're done, we can go do a few chores," said Scootaloo munching at her bacon.

"Chores?" Button looked a little lost. "But I hate doing chores!"

The group glanced at each other with amused faces. In Minecraft, Button was the leader, the one who was always there for them and would protect and defend them without hesitation, always doing the right thing.
But in real life, he was the clumsy, nerdy, lovestruck foal that would often be seen lazily throwing the bins out or dozing off next to his snow shovel outside after spending a whole night playing video games.
It's as if Minecraft changed him and made him stronger.

"Don't worry 'bout that Button!" grinned Applebloom, nudging his shoulder. "Villager chores vary from hunting-"

Button looked up with a hopeful and interested gaze.

"- to farming," Applebloom continued with a small content sigh. "Even taking care of animals is a chore!"

Sweetie Belle seemed a little excited.

"Scoots here has been helping out the alchemists and learning new crafts. She's become real appreciated since the villagers find it funny how big her eyes get once she learns something new."
Scootaloo slightly blushed.

Diamond Tiara decided she'd probably help out the hunters. Nothing really tempted her.

"Where can I go to look after a few critters?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"That's going to be me!" Timid Deer joined the conversation once again. "I'm heading for the chicken pen right now. Want to learn how to brush their feathers?"

"Yes! I have a chicken in the house we're staying in right now. It would help out loads if I knew how to satisfy that grumpy little one," chuckled the white filly.

"Oh! Then I'll come with you!"

They both stood up and walked away.

"A nice day to you as well..." muttered Button, frowning.

Scootaloo laughed and it was her turn to stand up. "I'll be off then!" A glimmer of determination flashed through her eyes. "Sweet Waffle is going to show me how to brew an invisibility potion!"
She then went to meet a brown unicorn with a skip in her step.

"It's funny how much fun she's having here," smiled Applebloom in a big sister kind of tone. "She's not even trying to fly anymore."

Her gaze wandered off in the distance as if she was recalling something and a moment of silence rolled by.

"Heya guys!"
They all turned their heads to face a handsome white pegasus with a golden mane.
"Applebloom are you going to come help the squad train today?"

The earth pony shook her head. "Sorry Moon Breeze, I'm farming again. Try your chance with the new recrutes."

He turned to Button and Diamond Tiara. "Nice muscles there you two! I was the first to see you arrive and you gave me quite the scare... Care to join us train? It could always be useful you know?"

"I'll come!" Diamond immediately said, drawing surprised glances from both Applebloom and Button. "I need to get stronger..."
She lowered her head for a few seconds, clenching her jaw. She had to become stronger.
The snobby little brat was gone. She was an unbreakable diamond and she had things other than her stupid reputation to protect now. She had friends. No one could afford to loose, and she would be the one to save them, to thank them for everything they did for her. To apologize for all those years of hardships she had given them.

"Well then lil' lady!" Moon Breeze winked at her. "Welcome to the group! How about we start training with your pal?"

"I'll pass thanks," said Button, dismissing the idea with a wave of his hoof. "I'd rather hunt. Do you know who I could go talk to?"

Moon Breeze gave him a small nudge towards a group of colorful ponies who were rounding up dogs. "That'll be the hunting group."

"Thanks," gratefully smiled Button as he quickly finished his bacon. "Have a nice day!" he said, taking off.

Diamond Tiara politely smiled back with a restrained expression, ignoring the pang in her heart. For some reason, the fact that Button was going out hunting to bring back food was extremely appealing. Like a husband going out to bring back food for his family.
He has a marefriend, he has a marefriend, he. has. a. marefriend!

Moon Breeze lay a hoof on her shoulder : "Shall we go Princess?"

"Don't call me princess. My name is Diamond..." Diamond glared and he chuckled.

"Sure thing Pinky..."

Diamond stared for a while and then her shoulders sagged: "Princess it is..."

"That's what I thought."

Moon Breeze led her up to a group of ponies doing wing push-ups or practicing with their bows.

"Here are the fierce guardians of this here village!" he said with pride. "If you want to become a part of our village and train to become the very best, that'll be with us!"

The ponies gathered around and started babbling about her, nodding their heads.

"Hello! Nice to be training with you!" smiled Diamond Tiara, extending her hoof to the closest one.

The mare nodded with a polite smile and shook the hoof a little stiffly.

"What's your name?" continued Diamond Tiara.

The mare continued to nod. "Number #5314, test 48, palette <12/>"

Diamond Tiara just stared and started feeling a little weird. She was stuck with virtual ponies. Of course she would say something creepy like that. But... who knows what they could do to her?
"S-sure."

"But you can call me Arianne!" Her voice was back to normal. She seemed okay now.

"I'm Diamond," and this time she had to force a smile on her lips.

"So tell me, when did you adopt up your chicken?" Timid Deer asked with another one of her shy smiles.

"Well..." Sweetie looked out in the distance, remembering how she had stopped Button from killing him. "It's complicated..."

"Oh I'm really sorry if I stuck my nuzzle into something that was private!"

"No, no it's fine!"

They continued in silence towards the house, and then Timid Deer started to hum. Her voice when singing was sweet and calm, like honey dripping off of the sun, glistening. It was warm, it was beautiful.
Sweetie Belle looked at Timid Deer and something occurred to her. She had a buttercream coat. She loved animals. She was shy. She could sing well.
That was a complete portrait of Fluttershy.

Sweetie shook her head. The similarities were too close. There had to be an explanation!
But she couldn't find any.

"What's his name?" Timid questioned as they arrived in front of the house.

"Helper. Because he helped us out a lot at the... beginning."

Timid Deer cocked her head to the side. "Beginning? Has he been around since you were born then?"

Sweetie bit her lips then quickly nodded and looked away. She hated lying.
They pushed the front door and approached one of the beds where Helper was snuggled in, his little beak peaking out from the covers. He'd always loved being warm.
Helper clucked a few times to protest when Sweetie picked him up with her magic.
"Hey there little buddy!" she smiled. "I've got a friend to introduce to you. Don't get all chicken crazy on her you hear?"
He didn't reply and tried to peck her mane.

Timid Deer looked at him with big eyes and slowly stroked his feathers.
"Awww look at you! Aren't you just a cute little bird? Would you like to have your feathers brushed? And how about some sunflower seeds? I have a great variety of food for you!"

Helper looked at her with interest and pecked at her mane.

"He likes you!" laughed Sweetie Belle.

"I think he likes me!" giggled Timid Deer at the same time.

They both looked at each other and wide grins spread over their faces.

"How about we go to the chicken pen? Maybe Helper can find a few friends over there."

Sweetie nodded enthusiastically. "You hear that? You can socialise!"

They exited the house, Helper perched on Sweetie's head, and Timid led them to an area a little distant from the rest. Animals of all sorts were running about in the barriers.

"Is that an alpaca?" She stopped. "Wait, no. A purple alpaca?"

"Yes it is! We have all kinds of nice animals here! Even lions..." She lovingly stroked a roaring feline and Sweetie and Helper decided they were going to stick with the lamas.
"Anyways," Timid Deer came back to them and leaned in a little. "How about we give the little one a bath...?"

Sweetie Belle looked at Helper's muddy feathers and evilly smiled. "Why of course!"

Helper desperately clucked as he was dragged towards a bubbly pot of water. He shouldn't have taken the bait...

Button decided he liked the hunting group. They were organised, they were nice and they were especially good at what they did...

Well that's what he thought at first.

I guess every game has its weak point... Button thought as he blankly stared at the ponies who were getting tangled up in their own traps. One of them was screaming in panic as a net had caught him and he was dangling a dozen blocks above the ground. A pegasus tried helping him down, but somehow forgot she was afraid of heights and was now screaming alongside him, tightly clutching onto an adjacent branch.
Things weren't any better on the ground.
A bear had found its way to the food rations, and was wrestling three ponies for the food inside. They had no fighting skills whatsoever, so ended up running in circles hitting it with their bare hooves with pitiful battlecries. Not to mention the last pony had his head stuck in a hole where he had pursued a mole.
And the dogs. Ah the dogs. To put it simply, they had been lost. One of them sat them all down somewhere in the forest and completely forgot where he left them.

Button ran an exasperated hoof through his mane and sighed. Looks like it was up to him to fix whatever you could call this mess.

He grabbed his sword, and positioned it in his mouth, feeling the hilt on his tongue. Then Button looked at the tree where the two trapped ponies were, calculated the height, seized a strong vine and jumped against a nearby tree. He propelled himself diagonally upwards and swiped his sword through the net, liberating the pony inside that plummeted to the ground. Button landed next to the pegasus, almost missing the branch but immediately took off again, grabbing her hoof. She was pulled behind him with a high pitched yelp and he caught the other one on the way down, lightly brushing the ground but not quite scraping themselves on it thanks to the vine. He let them both go and they slightly stumbled to the ground.
Button swung forth and with another swipe took the bear's head. It disappeared with a gush of smoke.
He let go of the vine, achieved a perfect landing, planted his sword in the ground and blew his mane to the side.

A long silence passed through the forest only punctuated by the muffled sounds of the pony who's head was stuck underground.
Then one of them started laughing an incredulous laugh, so surprised that it was the only way he knew how to respond. The others followed behind and soon they were all cheering.

"You were so cool!" exclaimed the pegasus, her eyes wide.

"I have no idea how you did that! We'd be in trouble without you..." agreed one of the ponies who had 'fought' the bear.

Button blinked a few times and gratefully accepted the praise. "Thanks! But no offence, how do you guys catch things? Your organisation isn't exactly..."

"Organised?" inquired one of them.

"Uh, yeah."

"We usually don't proceed like this. But today we thought we could do something different... to..." the pony speaking looked a little sheepish. "Impress you."

Button didn't manage to hide his surprise.

"It's just that we don't get new people here often!" cut in a unicorn mare with bright eyes. "You looked experienced so we thought we'd change our plans and go out front hunting instead of waiting for animals to get caught in our traps."

"Turns out you forgot where the traps were..." said Button, amused.

They all looked down like little foals that did something wrong at school and who were waiting to be scolded.

"How about we go help your friend out?" he proposed. "If he hasn't suffocated yet..."

They all jumped and rushed to the pony who was still struggling to get his head out of the ground under Button's amused look.
Turns out hunting will be pretty fun if it's with these guys...

The sun was starting to set when the group was reunited.

Scootaloo was in the middle of the village with her Blockling, letting them admire its cute form when Sweetie Belle came back with a shiny Helper on her shoulders. She was wearing her saddlepack and it was completely full.

"What do you have there Sweetie Belle?" asked Scootaloo, curiously looking at the tiny black things dropping out from the saddlepack. "Nice look Helper!"

The chicken looked away a little crossly.

"Yeah that's what I thought..." the orange pegasus muttered.

"Forget about what I have!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle, leaning in with sparkling eyes. "Who is that adorable little guy?"
The Blockling squeaked a little when she stroked him.

"I haven't found a name for him yet... I discovered him when we got separated! Isn't he just so cuuuuute?"

"Yes he is!" Sweetie cooed.

Helper decided the Blockling was a threat and proceeded to invade all the different kinds of seeds Sweetie had collected in her saddlebag over the day with dissatisfied clucks.

Diamond arrived laughing with Moon Breeze : "It's definitely a bad stance! The right hoof would be completely off!"

"And how about a kick through the sand to blind the enemies?!"

They both laughed harder before saying good night to the others in the fighting group.
"Good night Moon!" said Diamond. "Tomorrow first thing I'll show you that my skills are better!"

"Yeah right!" he smirked back. "G' night Princess."

Diamond headed towards the girls just as Applebloom arrived, wiping her muddy hooves on the ground.
"I learned how to cultivate beetroots today!" she proudly announced even though no pony really asked her.

"That's nice. Did anyone see Rumble today?" asked Sweetie, a little distant.

They all stared at each other. "Come to think of it, ah haven't seen him since breakfast..."

"Same here. Maybe he joined a group and didn't inform us?"
Button's voice made everyone jump.

"You're back! Did you enjoy hunting?" asked Diamond.

"Definitely! It was funnier than I thought it'd be..." he nodded with a glimmer in his eyes.

The fillies spotted two mares passing behind and giggling at Button with a blush.

Applebloom frowned, Scootaloo didn't see it, Diamond stood a little straighter and Sweetie Belle grabbed onto Button's hoof and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Uh, okay!" smiled Button, a little confused.

"How about we go back to the house? I'm beat!" Applebloom proposed.

"Yeah, can't wait to get some food in my stomach! I haven't eaten since I've finished making a dynamite stick!" approved Scootaloo.

"I thought you were making potions..." frowned Diamond.

"I accidentally made one of the houses invisible," stated Scootaloo, looking away. "They stuck me on the dynamite team instead."

"Seriously... I don't understand the logic these ponies have..." groaned Button as they made their way back to the house. The rumbling noise of the walls going up was soon heard, and they saw Rumble jump in at the last moment.

"Rumble!" Sweetie Belle trotted forth and let a relieved smile appear on her face. "Where were you?"

"I was on the... exploring team," he said, avoiding their gaze.

"I didn't know a team like that existed..." murmured Applebloom.

"Listen, I'm tired. I need some sleep. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow..."
And he left.

They all exchanged a glance. What had he been doing?

"Good night y'all... We'll see about this in the morning."

"Yeah, sleep well."

They parted ways, and Button snuggled in his bed. The stars were as beautiful as ever, maybe even prettier than yesterday.
Today had been a great day. An amazing day.
He had found himself new friends, as did his old friends. They had a place to stay, food to eat. They were safe.
Even though the ponies here weren't real, it was amazing to be able to interact with them. They had emotions. They had feelings. Each one was unique in its own way and had a different way of acting.

Button slowly closed his eyes, drifting into a peaceful doze that transformed into a deep slumber...

He awoke a few hours later to the smell of smoke and fire, and opened his eyes to see the village burning and screams ringing through his ears.

32. Fire

Author's Note

I'm so sorry for the long hiatus... Life was mostly bad in 2017 and I couldn't bring myself to write a single chapter. Hopefully, now I'm back! <3
Might want to read the previous chapter to get back into the stream ;)

32. Fire

Button started coughing as the smoke entered his throat. His eyes became watery.
"Sweetie Belle?" he shouted, rapidly coming out of his sleeping bag. It was already catching fire.
The world around him was a complete inferno, and since everything was made out of wood, the whole village was burning brightly. He was surprised he hadn't heard anything before.

Button rushed to the house, and to his horror, saw that the roof was burning up.
Some fire flared up next to him and burnt a small patch of fur on his back leg. He quickly jumped to the side and entered the house, just as the fillies were waking up in a hurry with terrified expressions.

"What's happening?!" yelled Applebloom, getting out of bed.

"There's a fire in the village and it's spreading fast... Your roof is already caught in the flames. We need to go now," he quickly explained.

Sweetie grabbed her saddle pack and stuffed Helper in it, who already seemed to be suffering from the smoke. "Don't worry little buddy, you'll be fine..." she murmured.

"Everypony get out!" shouted Applebloom, violently coughing.

They all rushed out and suddenly stopped, observing their surroundings in a kind of shocked daze.

"No time to stare!" urged Button. "We're getting away from here right now."

He grabbed Scootaloo's hoof and the others followed as he led them out. Thankfully their house had been placed near the outskirts of the village.

"Where's the wall?" shouted Sweetie Belle. "I can't see it!"

"I think they took it down so that anypony could easily escape."

They rushed into the darkness of the night, further away from the flames. It was only when Diamond Tiara tripped, stumbled and fell to the ground with a cry that they stopped.

"I th... I think we're... safe..." panted Sweetie Belle.

"Are we all-"

Button halted. He looked at them all, an expression of terror rising on his face.
They immediately caught on and stared at each other, an empty feeling of coldness growing in their stomachs.

"We forgot..." Applebloom murmured.

"Rumble..." breathed Sweetie.

"We need to go back!" cried Scootaloo, tears suddenly spilling out of her eyes due to the accumulation of shock and fear.

"Calm down! He's probably fine! I didn't see him next to us when we left, so maybe he already got out..." Button said, shaking his head incredulously. "We'll go look for him once we're sure we're all safe...!"

"How could you say that?"
Sweetie's scream was so loud in the middle of the quiet plain that they all jumped.

"You're so selfish... I can't believe you're actually proposing that we leave him in that... that hell!" she spat, her eyes burning with rage. The stress and fear were getting the better of her usual calm demeanor. "Would you do the same if it were Helper? If it were Applebloom, or Scootaloo, or Diamond Tiara...? Or me?"
Button was taking a small step back at every word she said, his ears down. He was painfully watching her with eyes filled with regret.

"N- No, I-" he uttered.

"You know what Button...?" Sweetie Belle lifted her head up, inhaled sharply and stared back at him with cold eyes. "Next time you have a problem, don't expect me to ever come to your rescue..."
And she took off, galloping at full speed.

Button fell to the ground with wide eyes, trembling. "D... Did I do... something wrong?"

Scootaloo cast him a long look before trotting past him. "Sorry Button, but we don’t leave anypony behind."

Applebloom followed after adding a: "Yeah. You're not usually like this."

They left him and Diamond in the plain, in the dark. He looked at the last pony with him and she looked away with a little bit of embarrassment.
"I think I twisted my hoof when I fell. Can't really move at the moment."

Button slowly nodded, his gaze wandering off into the distance. He was so lonely...

"Rumble! Rummmmmmble! Where are you?" cried Sweetie Belle, her eyes already stinging from the smoke.

Screams. A lot of screams. Where was everypony?
Were they burning...? Was that smell in the air the smell of burnt bodies...?
Sweetie Belle felt some bile rise up in her throat.
Oh Celestia.

She took a few wobbly steps towards the middle of the village, towards the big table, where ponies had gathered around just a few hours with joyful smiles. What had happened? Why had Rumble come back in such a hurry? What had he done?

"N- No," Sweetie breathed, slumping to the ground. "What have we done?"
All of this, everything was her fault. And perhaps Button's, but just a little.
She was the careless filly who wanted to turn the camera on all those years ago - could it be years now? - and got them both trapped in the game of a psychopathic stallion that would surely break out of prison after that and come after them again.
Button just happened to be with her when they set the camera off, and a year later, Diamond Tiara, Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Rumble were only once again victims that happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
With the wrong friend.

Tears streamed down Sweetie Belle's cheeks as she realized all her previous mistakes. "My fault! It's all my fault!" she yelled at the sky that she couldn't even see anymore due to all the grey smoke, tainted here and there by the orange glow of the torches.
It was a beautiful and terrifying sight at the same time. The crackling of the fire burning through the wood all around her as well as the wind blowing smoke in her wailing mouth, interrupting the sobs so that she could cough.
Sweetie felt her consciousness gently leave her as the flames started to grow close.

Button grabbed a blue colt and threw him towards Diamond, who rushed him into the small hole they had dug up in a hurry... The villagers that managed to get out of the village were now faced with things they usually never had to see. In the middle of the night, surrounded by monsters they had no chance of staying safe, so it was up to Button and Diamond to protect those who had previously helped them.

"Button! There's a creeper behind you!" yelled Diamond as she desperately tried to scramble backward.

Button took a running start, then turned around and shot the creeper in the stomach. The thing flashed a few times without quite disappearing. Button was about to shoot once more when a villager came running past them, escaping an Ogre.
The creeper exploded into nothingness and the whole area was blown apart, sending blocks flying into Button.

Diamond’s scream ringed through his ears as he felt small shards of rock dig into his body. Though he immediately got up, stumbling around and trying to grasp a few bits of reality.

“Celestia, Button! How are you even standing up…?!”
Button coughed a few droplets of blood and took in the damage of his burnt body. A lot of patches of fur were missing, as well as red, bloody wounds that covered his stomach. The sight made him gag.
“A- Adrenaline I think…”

Diamond was in tears. “Button I- I don’t know what to do! What if we don’t make it out of this game? What if we die…?!”

Button groaned. “Now might not be the best time to have a mental breakdown!”

Diamond took a deep breath, eyes closed. “You’re right. Here, lean on my shoulder, I’ll accompany you to the hole.”

With a grunt, he did as asked and they retreated to safety. Upon entering, they noticed the terrified glares crossing theirs as well as the soft weeping coming from a few foals.

“M- Mommy…” cried a small unicorn. “I want my mom…”

Diamond lowered her eyes. For some reason, she had the feeling that all of this mess had happened because of them.
“Stay here and look after the villagers okay?” she whispered in Button’s ear.

He nodded, opening his backpack and distributing food to everyone. Diamond’s heart squeezed when she realized he always prioritized others over himself. She brushed Timid Deer’s flank while exiting the hole: “Make sure he also heals.”
Timid slowly nodded, her eyes lost in the distance.

Diamond stepped outside covering the hole again as she left. A zombie was waiting for her a few hoofsteps away, groaning.

“Now, let’s get serious,” Diamond murmured, a smile stretching across her face as she lunged at the monster.

33. Blame

Scootaloo bumped into a few ponies as she galloped through the village. They were all going in the opposite direction, screaming in fear. She recognised a few and felt a little bit of relief spread over her as she knew they’d hopefully soon be safer.

“Scoots!” yelled Applebloom, almost bumping into her. “We’re gonna get nowhere if we blindly run through the village like this. I’ve already lost Sweetie Belle and have no idea if Button and Diamond Tiara are following. We know the village better. Just focus on covering small areas at a time, and don’t take risks!”

Scootaloo nodded while Applebloom left, and proceeded to run into the closest house. “Sweetie Belle?” she cried, covering her muzzle with her hoof. There was no answer, and Scootaloo ran back out, trying to ignore the burning family picture she had spotted inside.
She went on for long minutes like that, inspecting every house she saw and entering, until she spotted a little filly who was just staring at a house with mild curiosity. Her small bat wings were slowly flapping up and down.

“Uh… Uh…” Scootaloo uttered, trying to remember her name. “Silver Shadow! Please sweetie, get away from there!”
A small wall of flames was increasing around the filly, so Scootaloo couldn’t get to her. “Silver! Please! Just fly up!”

No answer.

“Come on!” Scootaloo’s voice was shaking. “I know you’ve done this plenty of times with momma! Remember?”

Silver stayed where she was but a few words came out of her mouth. “Look at that tree!” she exclaimed, pointing at the burning house a hoofstep away. “I wanna climb it! Will you accompany me, Scoots57?”

Scootaloo froze. That was her Minecraft username. Which meant the filly was paralysed because of a game bug. This wasn’t her own doing!

“N- No! I don’t want you to climb the… tree… You have to fly up and come towards me okay?” the orange pegasus said in a shaky voice, trying to hover up as high as possible without any success.

Silver looked back and with one last innocent smile, nodded, before the house came crashing down on her. Scootaloo’s scream died down in her raspy throat when the shards of wood plunged into her body and the fire came flaring up to her.

“Sweetie Belle! For heaven's sake, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity shouted as Sweetie Belle brought a plate of mostly burnt vegetables to her. “Have you smoked the whole house up? It’s going to stain my new Autumn collection!” Her sister scrunched up her muzzle in disgust. “Not to mention the smell…”

Sweetie sheepishly looked at her distraught sister : “Sorry Rarity! But honestly, I just wanted to help you out… You’ve been working like crazy all week and drank only tea. You’ve always told me not eating is a health hazard!”

Rarity glanced at Sweetie Belle and sighed. She opened the windows and sat down on her bed, patting the area next to her. “Listen Sweetie. I’m not always going to be around to protect you. You need to learn how to fend for yourself…”

“Okay Rarity…” Sweetie Belle pouted, looking distraught. “I’m really sorry…”

Rarity still smiled. “Ahh I forgive you! I just love you so much!”

Sweetie Belle gave her a big hug, burying her head in her fur. “I love you too…”

“Sweetie Belle! Wake up!”
The voice snapped her out of her trance.

“R… Rarity? Is that you?” Sweetie mumbled, her mouth feeling dry and numb.

“Oh my Celestia she’s awake. Oh my Celestia… Thank ya so much…” The hooves holding her were warm and furry.

“Button…?”

The voice hesitated. “Nah sweetie. I’m Applebloom. Come on now, we need to get out of here and regroup… Can ya walk?”

Sweetie Belle groaned as she was lifted up. Her wobbly legs barely sustained her weight and she had trouble focusing her eyes on objects. “W- Water…”

“Ah! Sure thing sugarcube, Scootaloo must have some so we need to go find her, all right?” Applebloom started proceeding forward, helping Sweetie Belle stay balanced.

They continued like that for what seemed like ages. After a little while, Sweetie could manage on her own and they were going much faster. Though Applebloom’s anxiety was growing.

“I hope Scoots and Diamond are doing okay. Maybe we shouldn’t have split up?” she thought out loud.

Sweetie’s guilt came back and hit her. “S… Sorry…” she murmured, her tongue feeling too dry to properly move.

“Why are you apologizing, Sweetie Belle?” Applebloom suddenly asked, staring at her intensely even though they were still stuck inside the village and the best course of action would be looking out for debris.

“Because… All my fault… Camera… You’re here now…” Sweetie managed to cough out.

“For Celestia’s sake Sweetie Belle!” Applebloom let her go and turned around to properly face her. “You need to learn how to grow up! Stop blamin’ yourself all the time. Do you even realize how much your moral is going down every time you think ‘ah I’m not good enough!’ or ‘ugh, we’re all going to die because of me!’ Placing the fault on yourself will only pull ya down. And right now, we need you up Sweetie. We all need you to show us how to get out of this Celestia-darned game, and get our revenge on GameSpark! Do ya hear me?”

Sweetie Belle felt the tears flow down her cheeks before she could even comprehend how much that speech had impacted her. She started to sob, wailing loudly, ears down and staring at Applebloom’s determined face.

How could she have been so selfish? All this time she had spent wallowing on her own problems, her friends had to struggle in an unfamiliar world, suddenly surrounded by horrible monsters and creatures beyond their nightmares. Sweetie hadn’t been there for them at the right moments, instead foolishly believing that Button would be able to solve all of their problems.

“I’m… sorry…” Sweetie found the strength to lift her head up high. “And that’s the last time I’ll apologize on this matter.” She started to move her hind legs, trying to stand up. “You’re right. All I was doing was pitying myself instead of helping you.” Sweetie gritted her teeth as she finally stood up. “But I assure you, it won’t happen again. Thank you Applebloom.”

Applebloom gently smiled and nudged her. “Alright then. But first, let’s get to safety. I’m seriously startin’ to worry about the others.”

A few hoofsteps later, upon turning at the corner of a house, they spotted the dark plain ahead. Monsters of all sorts were roaming about, some of them Sweetie had never seen before! Though she wasn’t scared anymore. She had this purpose, this strong will to live.

Author's Note

Sorry if the chapters kind of sound the same for now, it's going to get better soon!
(Rushed ending ahhhh)

1. Released

My hoof-steps echoed through the dark hallway along side the noise of my new boss complaining.

"We rarely go down this part anymore, " he declared with an annoyed frown. "The food automatically appears in the cells and the prisoners wash themselves with... well let's just say they're happy when it rains" he snickered.

"When it rains, the place is almost flooded..." I pointed out. "And even when the sun is shining up there, drops of water always find a way to annoy anypony."

"Yes well..." grunted my boss, quickly making an umbrella appear above his head. "So why do I have to come here again?"

I had patiently explained it over and over again... But I should've known he wasn't going to listen. A discrete sigh escaped my lips.
"It's tradition that the director of this prison always assists the release of a prisoner. That's why."

He groaned as we arrived in front of cell number 207, located in the deepest parts of the prison at dozens of meters underground.
"I'm going to change that... This place is in a terrible condition!" he whimpered. "Anyways, who are we releasing today?"

I checked a piece of paper, situated on my trusty clipboard.
"It's a stallion. His name is GameSpark. Locked in here and sentenced for a year in prison because of child kidnapping, death intention and many more terrible things."

Yeesh... The guy certainly isn't very right in his head... I wonder if those two foals are okay...?

My boss shuddered and - without any hesitation of course - gave me the key.
"Well... W.. Why don't you open it?" he tried to give me a fake smile but I could clearly see his fear and selfishness.

I rolled my eyes and snatched the key from his grasp before mumbling a dry "Sure... Whatever..."

If I got attacked, he'd surely run for the hills instead of helping me.

Oh great... Great! Now I'm freaked out as well!

I turned the key in the thick keyhole and carefully opened the door, checking the inside and trying to look as intimidating as I could... Just in case.

A room with no windows, a tiny sink and a dusty hay bale was all that composed the room.
Plus the stallion inside it, facing the wall opposite of me.

That scared me more than anything, since I couldn't see his face.
I had no way of determining if he was sane or not.

So I quickly took the time to observe him while making the huge wooden cell door creak a little, to attract his attention and not have to go turn him around myself.

His green and orange mane was once beautiful, by the way it was shaped.
But now it was dirty, not taken care of and sticking out in every possible way.
And his coat was almost black because of the dust, even though I could detect a slight yellow color underneath.

His head started to slightly turn around and I prepared for anything, my wings flapping and shackles in hoof, ready.

But when his eyes met mine, I saw that they seemed perfectly sane.
And a welcoming smile was fixed upon his face.

I lowered my guard and stepped inside, feeling stupid for listening to my boss and getting scared.
"Your year is up GameSpark" I simply said.

His face seemed to lighten up in the dim lighted place and he gave a gentle sigh :

"Why thank you dearly! I know exactly what I had done wrong and now, I feel so much better, pure even!"

He leaned in closer and I stiffened up.
"And thank you for taking good care of me and feeding me!" he continued before passing strait next to me and joining my boss.

I stared in awe as the two started to discuss the quality of the food, while they made their way back up to the outside, through the long corridor.

The shackles I had in my hooves uselessly fell to the floor.
I shook my head.

Something was wrong! Something was very wrong!
Never a prisoner would behave in such a way!

I was about to close the cell's door and report to Princess Twilight his strange behavior when I noticed a sheet of paper sticking out from the bed.
I quickly picked it up and realized there were more even deeper under.

Where he had acquired that, I had no idea.
It immediately made me think that a traitor could be in our ranks.

Upon closer inspection, I realized they were actually pictures of foals and fillies. There were six.

A grey colt, a pink filly, an orange pegasus and an yellow earth pony were there, either playing, drinking milkshakes or simply laughing with each other.
Two in particular seemed to stick out more, a brown colt and a white filly who both had bright eyes and a shimmering smile.
There was even a picture where they could be seen cuddling on a bench.

But the worst part was, the photos were covered in blood. Probably his own.

Revenge and Buck them all! were scribbled everywhere in the red substance.

Plus there were little drawings that consisted in circles around the city, cubes with motifs on them, lines of coding and arrows scribbled a bit everywhere on the paper.

A few pictures had been torn to pieces as well.
I noticed some of the blood was fresh when I laid a hoof on one of them and a revolting red substance stuck it, dripping to the floor.
Which means he had cleaned it all up in a matter of seconds upon hearing us arrive, stuffing everything under the bed and then adopting a good position to be in.
He was smart...

I lifted my head in alarm and stormed out the cell, terrified.

But the two stallions were still talking and didn't seem to have any problems.

My heart was pounding now.
I had no idea what to do.

But one thing was sure.

That stallion was not ready to be let out for the sake of those two foals.

I quickly took a piece parchment out of my clipboard and started to write on it.

Dear Princess Twilight,
I am here reporting from the Ponyville Prison.
I would like to signal something abnormal about the stallion released today named 'Game-

The parchment was rudely taken out of my grasp.

I only had the time to lift my head before I felt some pain in my stomach.
Then in my hoof.
And finally in my head.

My eyes closed on the image of GameSpark and my boss grinning at me...
And my last thought was for the foals, that couldn't be warned of the danger.

Author's Note

First chapter of this new story I hope to see all my ancient readers (and perhaps more!) in this!

Happy New Year in advance!

10. First Night Over Again

Guuuuuh...

The groan made Sweetie Belle jump and she saw, at the corner of her eye, Applebloom shrink down. Button was also seeming nervous.
He glanced at her and Sweetie realised they were thinking the same thing.
This time we're not alone... We have friends, loved ones with us... We simply can't die here or loose hope!

Hoof-steps were heard from the right side of their tiny group and they all turned at once, terrified.

A small kitten jumped out from the darkness giving them a gentle look. It didn't have the same texture as the vanilla Minecraft cat.
Sweetie saw the "Kitties" tag appear in the right corner of her vision area.

"Aww! Hey there lil' guy!" smiled Rumble, inching closer. "You lost...? I don't recognise you!" He approached his hoof to it but the small animal simply hissed and slashed his paw at him. A few small red pixels appeared on his hoof. "Oww! You stupid little...!" groaned Rumble.

"Owned by a kitten..." Applebloom shook her head although a relieved smile was stretching across her face.
The said kitten on the other side wasn't too happy and started to meow... loudly...

The foals raised an eyebrow at the helpless animal.
"Alright, alright, I guess you're not stupid!" Rumble rolled his eyes.

But a much louder and much more guttural growl was heard.
They all froze as a huge black paw, then another stepped out of the darkness.

All of their heads slowly looked up to stare into the icy blue eyes that were directly glaring back at them. The eyes were so powerfully captivating although they were squares.
Rumble, the closest one to the "Big Cat" as indicated the little tag, seemed to be in another world. His mouth was wide open and his eyes were tiny, locked into the blue gaze of the animal towering above him. His throat was making a faint gurgling sound and his ears were hanging down.
He was the prey and it was the predator.
The killer.
The one who was going to end his young life.

"Rumble!" the voice shook him out of his trance although he still felt unable to move. The Big Cat's paw lifted itself up to assign a fatal hit.

White hooves grabbed him and yanked him out of the way. The massive paw slashed the area where he had been a second ago, uselessly hitting the ground with a loud thump.
"Get yourself together Celestiadammit!" yelled Sweetie Belle, shaking him in all possible ways.

Rumble's vision focused a little and he saw her terrified expression, her pleading eyes full of tears and the urge in her screams.
He could make out Button fighting with something nearby, shouting instructions to Applebloom. Where had the Panther-Big Cat gone...?

"Did you hear what I just said Rumble...?! Get a grip on-"
Her eyes widened and she suddenly stopped screaming. A little blood came out of her mouth and muzzle as her hooves let him go.
Rumble watched in horror as she fell to the ground in front of him, chocking on her own blood. She had a huge wound in her back. Her hearts decreased to four.
A black tail disappeared in the nearby bushes.

Another shout was heard from behind him. Then a cry of despair. "Sweetie Belle!" the voice was yelling, over and over again.
His voice. But he was incapable of doing anything.

His cries alerted Button and Applebloom. The brown foal rushed to their side, speechless.
He grabbed his marefriend and ran a trembling hoof through her mane.
Then Button turned and punched him in the face, putting all his strength in it.
"What's wrong with you?! WHY DIDN'T YOU BUCKING REACT?" he yelled, tears flowing down his cheeks.

Rumble felt dizzy and shocked beyond words. "I... I..." he mumbled, trying to process everything.
His best friend had just hit him, Applebloom was fighting square monsters and other imaginary things while Sweetie Belle was laying at his hooves, in a pool of her own blood.
"It was the panth..." Rumble's sentence trailed off as he stared into Button's eyes.
There was something in them. Something horrible. Something impossible to make out, but scary. No. Terrifying
It was a dangerous look, a deadly look.

The young foal with the turning little propeller hat and video game addiction was very far now. The image had been replaced by a blood soaked teenage colt who was killing with one slice of his sword.
It was paralysing.

Celestia... Why am I so scared of everything? What kind of world is this? It's all hell! Was all this violence always present in my everyday life? Did you just hide it from me all those years?

"Button! We gotta get the heck outta here now! I don't know how long I'm gunna hold with all these monsters!" yelled Applebloom, interrupting Rumble's thoughts and finishing off a zombie only to be faced by a spider.

"Whatever..." muttered Button, searching his inventory for food. "I'm staying here..." A frown appeared on his face and he became a little white. "I forgot the food!"

Rumble realised they were all very close to death. And it was all his fault.
A wave of anger and hate towards himself rippled through his whole body.

He gritted his teeth and grabbed Sweetie Belle, lifting her up with effort and placing her on his back. Rumble tried not to wince as he felt a warm and sticky substance trickle down his fur, soaking it in red.

Button stood up and took a step forward, wearily eyeing him down : "What the hell do you think you're doing...? You're only going to open her wounds more!"

"I won't," Rumble wrapped his tail over her. "See? I'm going back to the base, there's plenty food over there for her."

Button didn't answer.

"Please, I did something wrong. So I'm going to fix it." Rumble desperately tried to hold his gaze without flinching in front of Button's serious glare.
A moment went by, during which they both stared at each other. They weren't foals anymore. It's as if they were two adults, deciding the faith of a life.

Applebloom let out a pained cry and Button's ear twitched. He finally let out a sigh and shook his head. "Fine, we'll clear a path. Just make one bad move," his gaze hardened, "... and you're dead."

Rumble could fully comprehend what he meant and the coldness in his voice hurt him. Did he just loose all his trust?

Button rushed to Applebloom's side who was trapped under a spider and sliced the thing.
The earth pony got up with a relieved sigh. "Thank ya Bu-" she trailed off as she saw the burning flames in his eyes and his heartless frown.

"Let's go. Now!"

Rumble took off to a clear area, closely followed by his friends. He dodged a few monsters and kept his tail onto Sweetie Belle's chest, panting with effort.
He could feel her faint breathing as her chest slowly rose and went down.

He could see her hearts go down slowly, and she had only one and a half left.
He could see Button shooting arrows at every hostile mob, determination and hatred pouring out.
He could see Applebloom finishing off behind him, inexperienced but brave.
He could see the blood on his fur...

Faster...

Faster!

Author's Note

To see Diamond's mane all cut, go back to chapter 9!!

27. Walkin' Through the World

Author's Note

I'm back! :rainbowkiss:

27. Walkin' Through the World

The foals were walking. A lot. They had just been through the first mountain, only to discover there was a large plain and another mountain behind it. So they were walking through it, making their way in the tall grass, avoiding snakes and other kinds of problematic animals. Thankfully, they were almost there and would probably be able to make the second mountain before nightfall.
To be honest, the world was quite beautiful and once again it was hard to think that some pony had actually designed all this. The trees were green, the grass was green, the croaking and nearby frogs were green.
Rumble was also green.
In his own way.

"Buttooooon! Stop!" giggled Sweetie Belle, pushing his mud-covered hoof away from her face.

"What? Stop what?" Button's ears perked up in innocence as he tried to smudge some mud on her muzzle again. "Don't know what you're talking about!"

"Gosh you're childish!" protested Sweetie Belle. "You're just doing this because you're bored! I know you hate walking!"

"Me...? Fearless Leader Button? Commander of the troups? Why I love walking!"

"Second in command! Your fillyfriend comes first!" teased the white unicorn.

Rumble threw his ears back and grumpily stomped on a twig. This is getting ridiculous. They're acting like the most childish foals in Equestria! We're stuck in this because of them... Well I'd say it's more Button's fault. He probably dragged poor Sweetie into all this mess...

"If you're gonna be that jealous, at least try and hide it."
Diamond Tiara made her way next to him, her eyes sparkling with amusement and sadness.

Rumble gave her a frustrated groan and turned his head around the other way. He heard Diamond sigh as she fell back to the rear of the group. To be honest, he would've appreciated a little company. But his own motives were driving ponies away. He was screwing up and in every way. Weither it was for battle, love or even materials, he was always the first to collapse, run away, scream, faint... fail. And Sweetie Belle. Sweetie was always there again to help him get back up, no matter the danger.

He glanced back at Diamond Tiara who had just stopped to sniff a tree, probably wondering if it had apples in it. He was going to have to apologize later on...

"Boop!"

"Button! Ewwwww! You got way too much on my muzzle! Come back here!"

Button laughed, backing off to the side of the second mountain : "Try to come get me! If you can catch me..." he challenged, playfully sticking his tongue out. He was now almost against the smooth stone wall from the beginning of the mountain, his rump brushing a heavy patch of spider webs in it.

"Oh trust me, I can!" countered Sweetie Belle, slowly walking to his right to get closer, mud running down her chin as she took a big lump in her hoof.

"Wait, don't tell me you're gonna throw that! No fair!"

Sweetie was just about to do just that, when Diamond Tiara's cry interrupted her.

"Button, move out!" she screamed, startling them all.

It took a moment for Rumble and Sweetie Belle to process what was happening, but luckily Button reacted on the spot and instinctively ducked down.
An arrow shot through the spider webs from the inside of the wall, tearing through them, cutting them up as it silently made it's way through. It landed next to Rumble's hoof who jumped and only had the time to take a step back before another arrow came shooting right out of the hole again. He saw it coming, too slow to avoid it. It was aimed right in the middle of his eyes, the tip shining under the bright sun, reflecting it's light. It was like a deadly shooting star. It was so fast, getting closer and closer by the millisecond, and yet Rumble didn't have the time to dodge.
An arrow whizzed pass his ear from behind, lightly whistling as it took a few strands of his fur out. It dug into the other arrow and stopped it's deadly trajectory, intercepting it just a few inches away from Rumble's muzzle.
The gray foal clearly heard the 'clank!' of the two arrows as they hit the ground.

Then the time stopped slowing down and his hooves moved on their own, retreating back to where Diamond Tiara was. He quickly registered the fact that her bow was in hoof and she was already reloading it before hiding in the tall grass next to her. She was sweating, her breath heavy in fright and her hair falling in short strands in front of her eyes. But she still seemed calm ; her gaze was focused, her movements precise and her muscular hooves working perfectly, with no shaking.

When did she get so strong? the weird thought briefly ran through Rumble's mind as he tried to catch his breath.

"Sweetie Belle! You okay?" she yelled.

"Yeah! I caught a glimpse of what was in there, " shouted the white filly from somewhere on their left. "It's a skeleton dungeon that has taken place inside the mountain!"

"And there are other things as well!" Button's shout came from the same direction. "I think they're called Silver Skeletons."

"A dungeon with two types of mobs in it?" Rumble nervously licked his lips, feeling cold sweat run down his spine. "Never seen that before..."

Diamond Tiara's gaze fell on him for a moment : "Dungeon?"

"Basically a place where mobs are generated. There are chests full of rewards inside." He returned her look with uncertainty. "But we aren't going to go in there right?"

"Guys, get ready to fight!" shouted Sweetie Belle. "I'd like Diamond to cover us while Button sneaks under and opens a passage with his pickaxe. I'll be fighting the Silver Skeletons and Rumble can take on the normal skeletons. Everybody good?"

"Yeah!" came the voices of two foals while Rumble panicked.

"W... Wait! I don't know how to do that! I'll get hurt!"

"Damn right you will..." groaned Diamond, pushing him forward.

He caught a glimpse of Sweetie rushing in the dungeon, Button on her tail and was forced to follow inside.
It was horrible. The second he walked in, all the warmth of the sunlight disappeared, leaving room for the cold and damp atmosphere. Clicks and clonks of bones being hit together were filling the dusty air with an unsettling noise.
Two skeletons levitating bows were firing at Sweetie Belle who could only jump around to avoid them. Button was desperatly trying to get to the chests, fighting off Silver Skeletons with only his pickaxe, not having the time to change his weapon. They had clearly miscalculated how many mobs would be in the dungeon...

Most of the mobs were paying attention to the other two so Rumble awkwardly swung his sword onto a skeleton that shot him a few arrows in reply. He had absolutely no idea what to do! All his friends seemed in trouble, but he had no idea who to help! His first choice would have been Sweetie Belle of course, but Button was now pinned down and forced to retreat in front of the wrath of his opponents. An arrow was already stuck in his hoof so he couldn't get up.

"Rumble, what are you doing?!" Diamond yelled from behind, her mouth full of arrows she was shooting at an unbelievable speed. "Go help Button out! Sweetie's cornered and I can't stop firing or he'll get killed in less than a second!"

Rumble turned to the brown colt, but suddenly froze. He had been cornered by so many mobs! They were towering above him, their white bones distinguishable through the semi-darkness and reflecting the light from the torches. There was no way he was going over there! He'd get slashed to pieces.

Button's face appeared through the mass : "Rumble! Help! What are you doing just standing there!"

Rumble's breath accelerated and tears filled his eyes as he took a couple steps back. "I'm sorry Button! I'm so, so sorry!"

The brown colt's eyes widened and he started screaming in anger : "What?!"

Sweetie Belle stopped dodging for just a second, shocked. She opened her delicate mouth as her eyes sparkled : "R... Rumble...?" she murmured in a frail voice. "W... What are you...?"

"I said I was sorry!" Tears were streaming down his face as he reached into his saddlepack and threw torches at them. One landed on Button, one rolled under Sweetie's hoof and the others were crushed by the mobs' hooves.

"What are you doing?!"

Rumble turned around, grabbed Diamond by the tail and rushed outside the cave, pulling her along with him. He threw his own pickaxe at the last second, and it landed on a block that had been positionned above them, inside the cave. The block broke and a loud rumbling noise was heard.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Sweetie Belle looked up in terror, her emerald eyes shining in fear. "Rumble!"

"You sick-"

An avalanche of blocks fell from the ceiling, covering up the cave entrance and leaving Rumble and Diamond outside, and alone.