Button walked inside his room, standing in the doorway for a moment. His eyes scanned around the room, simply taking it in. On the walls were a set of gamer posters of Epona and Cloud, along with a bunch of marks where he had almost smashed controllers against them in a fit of rage. The bed itself was a goofy race car, though his mom had gotten rid of most of those decals a few years ago.

Next, there were his game systems, of which only his Nintenpone 64 was still here. The rest were in the rest of the house, where he could play on bigger screens and with more ponies. It still had Epona in it, but he wasn’t interested in beating it today. He had other things to focus on.

At the same time, he didn’t want to focus on the task. He wanted to distract himself as he walked over to the bedside table in the room. What he was thinking scared him, if he was honest. It meant moving on. Removing the safety net that he still had.

A ding met his ears as he tapped a few fingers on the wood of the table, and he glanced at his desktop. His e-mail was open, something he did a lot whenever he left his computer on while he was away, and he could see a new email from his brother. It wasn’t the first one of recent times either, as Twitch was making a huge effort to try to keep in touch.

His hand pulled the small drawer open, his eyes glancing at the contents within. There the journal lay, but next to it, also was a letter. It was one he’d read a hundred times already. It was only technically from his mother, as it was the contents of her will, but he read it more for what it said. He owned a company. A company he almost didn’t even need to run.

Button’s eyes slowly moved to his pocket. He didn’t even need to pull out what was in his pocket. Pictures of every mare he said he loved were in there, including Diamond Tiara in a beautiful, completely covering, night dress from this morning. They all loved and trusted him, and he could have never sought a life with them without…

Button glanced back at the journal for a moment, before a slight scowl slipped over his face. He grabbed it from where it rested, before running out of the room. His phone buzzed as he ran down the stairs, but he didn’t answer, Kiara wasn’t going to possibly change his mind, not now.

He landed with a thud at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes falling on a bowl that was next to the door. In it was almost every key for the house, so that nopony didn’t know where the keys were at any time. That included a key that he hadn’t touched for weeks.

His hand plucked it from the bowl, before he spun on his hoof.

And at the top of the stairs, was Kiara, with her hands on her hips. “What do you think you’re doing, mister?”

Button raised an eyebrow before he started to walk up. It was slower now, the weight of the key in his hand slowing him down. Kiara frowned a bit more, but her faux anger seemed to fade with the expression. “Button, you know I can read your mind, and you don’t need to do this. If it’s because of me, we can re-negotiate.”

Button shook his head as he turned away from her and began walking towards the other end of the upstairs than his room. He actually couldn’t even remember how long it had been since he had gone this way. He did know that his shoes felt like cement while he walked this way.

Kiara ran over, a sweater coming over her normally scantily clad form. “See, I can be modest if that’s what you’d like.” When he gave no reaction, she tried a different tactic. “Your body is trying to tell you something, and you know you should listen to it. It doesn’t speak for no reason.”

The young stallion’s eyes glanced at the demoness, before returning to before him. Now he was stopped, and simply staring at the door. It was white, just like the rest in the house. By all means, it was nothing special. Just a door, with a room beyond it.

His mother’s room.

Kiara put a hand on Button’s shoulder. “Button, you don’t need to do this.”

Button glanced at the hand on his shoulder. He could remember a hundred times when his mother had said the same thing. She pushed him, but when he was scared stiff by the world, was too afraid of reality… couldn’t do what she wanted, she relented.

But he was eighteen years old, and that wasn’t acceptable anymore. He had already given himself a leg up for the future, but now it was time that he took charge. Time that he lived on his own strength.

Button slid the key in, and the lock came away. A gentle push got the door open, and he saw the plain room within. Just like his own, it had a Nintenpone 64 sitting on the ground. It was both of their favorite consoles after all, so it wasn’t all that surprising, but it still caused tears sting the edges of his eyes.

By some miracle, he managed to keep his tears back as he got to the bed, and sat down on it. To him, this room was the one that was for whoever ran the house. Whoever was in charge. And now, that was him.

He slowly opened the book to the next blank page, and pulled a pen out of his pocket. As he went to write down his wish, Kiara tried one last time to stop him. “Button, if you do this, I’ll… I’ll leave, and neither of us wants that, right? I want to keep helping you grow, and see what such an innocent mind does. Do you really want me gone either?”

Button paused at that, before he looked to the green haired succubus. She was right that he didn’t want her gone, but at the same time…

Without another thought, if not just to stop the woman beside him from peaking, he jotted down the wish. As he wrote the fateful words, small licks of black fire appeared at the edges of it. However, unlike what Kiara expected, it didn’t simply burn.

Instead, it left enough room that was safe for Button to pick it up, and then put it on the demon’s lap. On the page, it read: I wish for this journal to disappear and for the demoness Kiara to gain all of its power after the demoness Kiara gets the last wish.

She looked up at Button, who had a small smile on his lips, despite the tears at the edges of his eyes. “I didn’t want some monkey’s paw effect, and for it to give it to a random Kiara, so I made a guess that there was only one Kiara.”

Kiara blinked back tears of her own, before she looked at the book. After a moment’s thought, she knew what she had to write down, and wrote the wish she had expected for Button’s last wish.

But like this, maybe it was better.

The minute the period was down, the book exploded in black fire, seemingly engulfing Kiara in its wrath. Button yelled in panic as he hit the floor, trying to avoid whatever it was that was coming. His mind raced for what could have happened, but nothing came to mind. He thought he had done it right!

And then, as fast as it had come, the fire was gone, and in its place, Kiara was there. She had a somewhat longer face, possibly to match the fact that she now had a horn on her head, and peach colored fur. She smiled at Button, waving a hand at him as her horn glowed, and she helped him up.

Button blinked at her as he realized what he was looking for, and he stammered out, “Y-you wished th-that you were a pony?”

Kiara smiled for a moment, her eyes shut. “Well, kind of. I wished that I could blend in, knowing I could never get rid of this form, and…” she was quiet for a moment, before her horn flared with energy. A distortion happened around her body, making her hard to look at, before it shattered like glass.

And, sitting next to Button, breathing hard, was Love Tap. “And that I was alive again.”

Button was silent for a long moment, before he leaned in and whispered, “Mom?”

Love Tap fidgeted for a moment, before she seemed to wince in pain, and the shattered spell came back around her, switching her back to Kiara. “Y-yes, and… no, I suppose. I am me, I promise, but… When I died, I was afraid. Afraid that without me, you wouldn’t get by in the world. That you wouldn’t do anything, and a benevolent demon sought me out. I… I made a deal, and then came to you.” She hung her head low. “I wanted to help you, but I understand if you don’t like the route I went to do so.”

Button was quiet for a long moment, before he wrapped his arms around Love Tap. “Mom, I could never hate you, or even dislike you. Just the fact that you were willing to do that just for me…” He squeezed her tighter, tears beginning to come down his cheeks.

Love Tap began to cry as well, holding him tight as they both just enjoyed the presence of one another. There in his embrace, she was happy.

Kiara though, what she truly was now, had a touch of business she wanted to work out first. Button could tell the words weren’t entirely his mother’s as the voice even reminded him more of Kiara. Still, it was a touch more… confusing to hear something like, “Am I a part of your harem now then?” come from his mother.

He blinked for a few moments, before a smile crossed his lips. His mom was blushing like a mad mare, and he reminded himself that a demon did bring her back. Benevolent or not, it was going to have a different perspective, just like the one he had gained. “Sorry, Kiara, but I can’t say yes to that. I just… I love my mom, but not like that. You get it, right?”

Kiara smiled for a moment, before glancing at the hand that grabbed hers. She then felt a deeper warmth in her chest as Button said, “I would love to have you stay here though. I could still use the help, and I’d never kick my mother out.”

Kiara smiled again, and both her and Love Tap simply stared at the stallion in front of them. Still innocent, despite being strong, still kind, despite being able to take charge, and above all else, still caring to all those he held close.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen why you loved him so much more than right now, Love Tap.

I don’t know if I’ve ever loved him as much as right now.

She leaned in, and, once more, but with only smiles this time, the gamer hugged his mother, and the mother, for the first time, hugged onto a stallion that was far more than just a gamer.

Author's Note

And that's it. The possibility of a sequel is... dubious, just because I was focusing on finishing this, even though I am hard pressed to make a living. If you do like what I do, or just want to give something because you enjoyed this story, please, please, consider joining my patreon, or donating what you can. Anything helps.