Messing with Your Buttons

Chapters

Normal Day
New Life
School Time
First Meeting
Excuse, Please?
Game Night
Messy Confrontation
A Tender Song
Another One?
Depression
Confusion
Return

Normal Day

Hello! My name's Jonathan Rooke, or most people call me John. I'm 21 years old, Caucasian skinned, a messy taupe hair, raw umber eyes and a terrible family. But, I've left them behind, they don't deserve to be called my family. Currently, I am having a normal day, like always.

"Gah! Fucki- God, Damn you, noobs!" I threw my game controller down to the ground as I stood up from my sofa, stomping around the room in a rage.

Yes, this was just a normal day for me.

Every day, I'd get up early, get dressed, go to my part-time job, buy some groceries, and get back to my apartment as I get ready for my evening job: a YouTuber who records and streams videos online for the money.

Of course, no one came to my streams to watch me play games; they were there to see me rage and laugh at my reactions. Even if it did seem terrible at first, it at least earned me some more money, which was probably the only one thing that made me still want to continue my YouTube career.

"Fucking hell, dude. This game's so stupid." I groaned in annoyance as I walked back to the sofa and grabbed the controller, which was still lying on the floor, upside down.

I glared at the camera located on the TV, where thousands of viewers were watching me, enjoying what they're witnessing. "I hope you're all fucking enjoying this shit... I swear, this stupid game..." I grumbled as I looked back at the Game Over screen on the TV, slowly quitting the game and placing the controller I was holding onto the table on the left of the sofa with a soft thud before I glanced back up at the camera, scoffing a bit.

"Well, it's been fucking nice for you guys to stop by the stream and watch me rage, but it's time for me to lay off and chill out. As you guys already know, I'll be streaming every Sunday a random game suggested by the viewers, while I'll be posting some speedrun videos on the weekdays. This is JR, signing off!"

I stood up and walked on over to the computer located behind the sofa, and finally stopped the live stream, watching the viewers counter drop until the last one left, as I slowly let out a sigh of relief. Even if I do get money from doing this stuff, it's not like I enjoy it. I had to fake my personality when I stream, as, in real life, I don't really cuss that much, and I'm a much calm and collected person.

"Finally, that's over. Now to enjoy the rest of my time." I rolled my eyes, as I sat down on the table and glanced towards a small plushie I had hidden in the furthest corner of the computer table: A plush of the My Little Pony character Button Mash.

No one that I've known in my life, not even my... family, actually knows this part of me: I'm a brony. I loved My Little Pony for a couple of years back when I've watched an episode of it by accident when it appeared in my recommended section on YouTube. At first, I scoffed and decided to ignore it. But the more I look at it, the more something in my head is saying to watch the video. A couple of days later, I couldn't bear it anymore and decided to watch the first episode that I saw in the recommended section: the episode that showed Twilight ascending to Allicornhood. It was a literal eye-opener to me, as I immediately became attached to the show. I went on to watch the show from the very first episode, which took me a couple of days to finish the marathon, and finally got to watch the Equestria Girls movies. There were some ups and downs from some of the episodes, but I definitely enjoyed the show itself.

Suddenly, a loud 'ping' was heard on my computer. I checked what had made that sound, and saw someone had sent me a message on my e-mail. I opened the message, and with a small smile, saw it was from one of the few brony friends I had made online, Scarlet.

"Hey, John. how was your stream? I heard from one of my friends it was the funniest thing he saw."

I rolled my eyes, chuckling as I got to typing a reply to her.

"Hey there, Scarlet. the stream? ehh, good, I guess. they enjoyed me cussing, but I kinda hated doing that kind of stuff."

I looked back at the plushie Button Mash, which is also positioned to make it look at me as well before a 'ping' brought my attention to the screen.

"Lol. tell me bout it. anyways, BronyCon was a damn blast! you should really go for next year. they said it was gonna be the last one."

I sighed sadly, before replying back to her message.

"Scarlet. Like I said for the last umpteenth time... I can't. I barely have enough money for my food and the apartment. I mean, I'm grateful enough that you bought me a Button Mash plush from last year. But the answer is still no, and I probably still can't get enough for next year's..."

I leaned forward and reached over to the plush, and brought it to me, staring into Button Mash's plush eyes and smiling mouth. I poked on his propeller hat a couple of times before I sighed and hugged it around my chest. It wasn't easy getting kicked out of my parent's house, but I managed after a couple of months. It was clear as day that they hated me, and once I had flunked my final exam's test, they decided I was no use to them, and just threw me out on the streets. I did get away with $100, which I used to get a place to stay, and got a part-time job near where I had stayed. Thankfully, things got better and MLP helped me get over the trauma of getting kicked out of the house.

I was so lost in thoughts, I almost missed the 'ping' from Scarlet's new message to me. I looked up from where I was looking at, and read what Scarlet had said.

"Yeah, yeah... I know. anyways, I got you a new thing for you from a really cheap stall back at BronyCon. The guy was cool too and gave me a discount after telling him I was buying it for you. I sent it to your address this morning, and from my calculations, it should probably be arriving there any minute now."

As soon as I had finished reading the message, the doorbell to my apartment was rung, causing me to jump out of my chair, looking back at the apartment door with wide eyes. I slowly glanced back down at the computer and bent down, writing a reply back to her.

"Oh, sweet Celestia. I think that was your 'thing' you bought for me at the door. that definitely creeped me the fuck out... Well, brb, anyways, gonna go grab the thing."

"Hope you enjoy it, John!"

Right before I turned, I saw Scarlet's message pop in before I made my way to the door, possibly grabbing the package my friend had bought for me from the one place I wished I could've gone to before I died.

I turned the lock counter-clockwise before opening the door, and there it was, a brown box sitting idly at the side of my door, possibly from the mailman. I bent down and grabbed it with both my hands, before standing up straight. I tested how heavy it was and shook it if I could hear it. It was definitely light as a feather, and I could hear a couple of thuds as I shook the box.

I brought it over to the sofa as I myself sat down on it and finally had noticed the note on the top of the box. I picked it up in my right hand and brought it closer to read it.

Dear John,

Hey there, John. It's me, Scarlet. So, I know you liked that Button Mash plush I had given you last year from BronyCon, and I saw this thing at the convention this year at a stall, so I thought that you'd like this gift. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I expect you to.

From your friend,
Scarlet.

I was definitely getting excited by this, and I hurriedly opened the box, looking forward to what my friend had bought for me. I flipped open the top of the box and I gasped with wide eyes as I looked at the contents of the box. It was a propeller hat. But not just any hat! It was Button Mash's propeller hat! I squealed like crazy as I stood up and bounced around the room in excitement.

I couldn't believe it! Scarlet had bought me a replica of my most favourite character's possession in MLP! It even looked almost as real as the original one! I stopped in front of the sofa again and bent over to pick the hat out of the box. I held it in my hands as I took in the design of the hat, the details, the electric current running through my hands... Wait, what?

I looked back down at my hands, which seemed to look normal. "Huh. Must be something else then." I shrugged the feeling off as I took the hat and placed it onto my head, which had fit perfectly! I tried to glance up, seeing only the front part of the hat. "Dangit. Well, I'll be able to see it better through a mirror. To the bathroom!"

I had made it around the sofa and halfway through the hallway leading towards my bedroom and the bathroom, before a sudden jolt of electricity in my stomach area made me yelp in pain and stop in place as I placed my hand on my chest, breathing heavily while I bent over.

“W-What the hell...?” I said before I stifled a gasp with my left hand as my eyes went wide. My voice sounded... young, for some reason, even though I was supposed to have a gruffy voice.

I looked down at my chest area and noticed my hands were turning from their normal Caucasian colour to a darker brown colour.

“T-The fuck...? I-I better check myself in the mirror...” I struggled to walk myself to the bathroom as I supported myself by pressing against the wall. Whilst I struggled, I had noticed that my dark green shirt and blue shorts were starting to get loose, which confused me even greater.

I finally made it over to the bathroom after much difficult and immediately switched on the lights, bringing myself to the sink where the mirror is located at, as I stared with wide eyes, glancing all over my body.

My eyes had turned a shade of brown lighter than what they used to be, I had dark brown skin colour instead of my normal Caucasian skin colour, my hair now sported a normal brown colour striped with pale brown, and the propeller hat on my head was spinning on its own...

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” I yelled in my now young 12-year-old voice, as I stumbled away from the mirror, backing up against the wall, still staring at the strange, but a familiar-looking person in the mirror.

“H-Hold on... dark brown skin colour... young squeaky voice... two brown colours for my hair... no way...” I stood back up, straight, as the edge of my mouth slowly lifted up at the realisation. “Am I Button Mash right now!?”

I then looked back down at my shirt, and had noticed that my loose shirt and shorts had suddenly, maybe magically, transformed into a brown hoodie covering a grey T-shirt, with blue pants and... red trainers? How the heck did I even get trainers when I wasn’t even wearing any shoes before...? I thought curiously, before shaking my head to get that thought out of my mind.

Though, I curiously looked down at my new body, still thinking about one question. Why am I not a pony though...? But, a few seconds later, and I had already answered my own question. Oh yeah... This might be the EG version of Button Mash... Still, he looks pretty cute as a human~

I chuckled, grinning as I turned around to head back to the computer. "I better message back Scarlet what had just happened! She's not gonna..." I suddenly stopped at the doorway, holding my hand against the door as a wave of drowsiness suddenly came to me as I placed my other hand towards my head.

"W-What the heck... w-why do I feel so... so..." was the last thing I said before I fell straight to the floor as I lost my consciousness, consumed by sleep.

New Life

”Button?”

I groaned, rubbing my head as a stinging headache made itself known to me.

”Button! Are you up yet?”

I could hear a woman’s voice somewhere outside the room, but I couldn’t register what the woman was saying, as even my head was a scrambled mess as of now.

W-What the heck... My dang head hurts like... uggh... I thought as I grumbled with my eyes still shut, rolling around the soft and squishy... bed I’m lying on?

“BUTTON MASH! Young man, wake up right now!”

“GAH!” I squealed, surprised from the new voice in the room I was in as I sat up from where I was sleeping on. I looked around and noticed that I wasn’t in my apartment anymore, but clearly a young kid’s bedroom. I continued to look around, noticing that the walls were dull peach in colour, with a few wood pillars in between, when somebody had cleared their throats, causing me to look over to the person.

"Button! Get out of bed right now! You're going to be late for school, again!"

I stared with wide eyes at the woman standing by the door with her arms currently crossed. The woman had a tan colour skin and a Peru hair with a part of her hair tied in a hairband, which was hung in front of her right shoulder at the moment. She was wearing a greyish white singlet with a pair of dark blue jeans sticking out like a sore thumb, but it was no doubt, that is Cream Heart, Button Mash's supposed mother.

The crap? No way, is that... Cream Heart!? Damn, I guess Button's mom and brother do exist in this world. I thought before I groaned in pain, placing my hand against my head.

That definitely got Cream's- well, now that I am technically Button, I guess I could call her mom now- attention, which was certain by how her furious face had now softened up and transformed into a curious yet worried look. "Button? Are you okay, sweetie...?"

I looked down at my hands, and I'm certain that I'm still Button Mash based on the different clothing I was wearing and the dark brown skin I had instead of my normal Caucasian ones. But for how long though...? I quickly got rid of that thought before looking back up at the worrying mother for her son's health. "I-I'm okay, mom... it's just this... stupid headache I'm having..."

Suddenly, my mom (That is gonna take some time getting used to...) chuckled a bit, shaking her head as she approached my bed. "Well, I guess you shouldn't have stayed up playing that new game you just bought yesterday, huh? Here, let me see if you're having a fever or something..." She stopped right next to me, bending down and putting her hand onto my forehead to check for any temperature rise for a few moments, before she pulled it back, standing back up straight.

"I don't feel anything too bad, so I think you're just having a bad aftereffect for playing that game until late at night. Next time, don't go doing things like that, Button. I worry for you way too much as of now..." My mom sighed as she rolled her eyes, turning around to head over to the exit.

"Anyways, you should really get ready for school now. I've already served your favourites downstairs, and you don't want it to get cold now, do you?" She looked over her shoulders, smiling tiredly but filled with love towards me.

I stared for a few seconds at my mom, before I shook my head, slowly getting up from the bed. "Of course! Who'd want to miss out on their breakfast? Just gimme a few minutes, and I'll be down to eat!"

I hopped off the bed, heading over to the bathroom door to get ready for school before I paused at the door as I had realised something, slowly looking over my shoulders and glancing at... my mom. Wow. I actually just called somebody my mom, after years being kicked out of my real family... that is weird as heck.

I think I stared at Crea- no, my mom, much longer than I should, cause she then tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. “What’re you looking at, sweetie? I thought you were gonna get ready?”

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts before I looked back at my mom, nodding rapidly. “R-Right! Sorry, just had a thought, that’s all. I’ll get ready, for real this time!”

I barged into the bathroom to get showering, and boy was it the best shower I had in years. Back at my apartment, I didn’t have a heated water tank, so I had to shower using the shivering cold water every day. But now... damn, this must be the first time in years I showered with a heated one...

Sadly, it had to end as soon as it did start, cause I now stepped out of the bathroom with some spare clothes I had found neatly folded by the sink and is now worn. Is it just me, or was this literally the same type of clothing I was wearing before I went to shower...? Jeez, how many do they even have, a dozen!? I thought as I dried my hair by rubbing it with the light brown towel that I had used to dry my new body as well, before throwing it in the basket placed next to the door.

I grabbed my brown hoodie I had hung by the door and draped it over my shoulders as I made my way out of my bedroom and down the stairs towards the kitchen.

“Well, look who decided to show up. Finally.” Once I arrived at the kitchen, a new gruffy voice had greeted me, making me look at who had spoken up. The new person, a boy sitting by the table, eating some oatmeal in a bowl, was probably a teenager, probably around 16 to 17 years old. Like all EG characters, this person had a lemon chiffon skin colour, and a messy, but dull green-yellow hair. This was probably Button's supposed brother, Gibson, which was only featured in an animatic I had seen on YouTube, where he was practising with his band when Button had barged into their practice.

"Sheesh, you know, Gibson, you don't have to be rude with me every morning, y'know..." Wait, how did I know that...? Weird. I thought as I walked on over to the seat across him, where the bowl of oatmeal was waiting for me. I smelled in the flaky goodness in front of me as I sat down on the chair, and to my surprise, quickly gobbled it down like there was no tomorrow in a matter of seconds. When I had finished, Gibson was staring at me with a curious glance, before rolling his eyes, looking back down at his phone as he ate his bowl of oatmeal. "Babies..."

I grabbed my now empty bowl and carried it back to the sink, when my mom, now wearing a bright red dress over her singlet, had walked into the kitchen, looking around for a bit before landing her eyes on me. "Ah, you're finished, good~ Now, I'll be waiting in the car to drive you to school. Make sure you finished packing everything up, Button. I don't want to do another U-turn like last time if it does come down to that..." She rolled her eyes as she turned around to leave, but not before glancing down at Gibson with a stare. "And Gibson, honey, get in the car before Button does. Or not, you're walking to school."

Gibson responded by groaning in annoyance as he rolled his eyes, before looking back down at his phone. This is what it feels to have a family... a real family... I smiled fondly at the scene, before shaking my head as I placed the bowl I was holding into the sink and rushed upstairs to grab my backpack. Whether this was a mistake or not, I'm Button Mash now! And if this is a dream, well, I better make the best of it before I wake up then!

School Time

The drive to school was pretty okay. By pretty okay, I mean SUPER EXTRAORDINARY! I mean, come on! Scenery like this isn't really what I usually get back at my old home, and I get to ride in a car while enjoying it. A dang car! Like, it's been ages since I've ridden in one! Usually, I'd walk when I need to get somewhere, and if it's somewhere far, then I ride a bus. But, for the second time today, I almost got caught by these people. As I was looking around in awe at the car, my mom had glanced over to her right, looking right at me with a curious expression.

"What got you so excited until you're looking around the car like this is the first time riding one, Button?"

I was too surprised, I had frozen in fear, as I couldn't figure what I should tell her. I opened my mouth to answer her, but it wasn't me who answered her. "Oh, come on, mom. It's obvious he's acting this crazy because he's gonna be meeting Sweetie Belle at school soon, which happens to be his girlfriend." Gibson answered in a lazy tone as he continued to scroll down on his phone, his eyes still on the device while I stared at him in shock, before I scoffed in annoyance, looking away from him.

"She's not my girlfriend, dangit! She's just... my super-duper-awesome-cute-girl friend. GIRL. FRIEND. We got NOTHING with each other, alright!?" I answered in an annoyed tone with my cheeks coloured deep red. I quickly glanced out the window of the moving vehicle to hide my blushes, but clearly, I had failed as I heard two stifled chuckles from both my mom and Gibson for a few moments before the car fell silent again.

Though, a few moments after the car became quiet, I suddenly widen my eyes with dread as I realized what I had just said earlier. HOLD THE PHONE! Am I... in love with Sweetie Belle!?

The rest of the drive was thankfully peaceful and quiet, which helped me a lot in getting my mind sorted from that shocking information of me having a crush on a supposed fictional character on a TV show. Though, that drive still didn't help me out, as, after a few minutes, the car slowly stopped in front of... Canterlot High School, where the Equestria Girls movies took place.

I stared at the school in front of me, where I could see some of the students from the Equestria Girls movies walking around, interacting with each other like this was just another day at high school. Holy... mother of diamonds... This place looks so... real. My mind is now blown. Press F, please, to blow my mind again, dream.

I was so lost in thoughts, that I didn't even realize I had walked out of the car, say goodbye to my mom, parted ways with Gibson, and had entered the school, walking the hallways until I accidentally bumped into somebody, making me topple over them and fall onto my back with a loud thud, which resulted in me letting out a grunt of pain.

"Oww... What the...?" I could suddenly hear a young squeaky girl voice, but it suddenly made me blush madly for some reason. W-Wait! I-I've heard that voice before! I-It can't be! To confirm my suspicions, I quickly sat up and looked towards where I had fallen down, and my mind, once again, blew up, as the person I had crashed into had to be her. The candyfloss colour of pink and purple with the pink hairband. The pale white skin with beautiful green eyes to compliment her beauty. The pink boots. The yellow skirt. The pink jacket covering a white striped with a pink T-shirt. It just had to be her.

"S-Sweetie Belle!?" I stammered out, before mentally kicking myself in the butt for the stutter. Yep. That's definitely how a man should talk with a woman. STUTTER OUT HER NAME MORE, BUTTON!

Thankfully, Sweetie Belle didn't notice the stutter but instead raised an eyebrow at me as she dusted off the dust on her skirt. "Button? What the heck was that? Did you just slam into me?"

I gulped nervously, before nodding slowly, grinning sheepishly. "Whoops?" I stood up slowly as I myself dusted off some dust gathered on my pants, before I walked over to Sweetie Belle and offered her my hand, smiling a bit. "Madame? Vous avez besoin d'aide?" What the crap!? Did I just... speak French!? Okay, this is getting a bit too weird...

Sweetie Belle glared up at me with a cute pout on her lips, before she grabbed hold of my hands, pulling herself up, still glaring at me. “Well, thank you, my Tender Button... now, can you explain why you slammed into me even after I had called out to you earlier!?”

I stared at her with a nervous smile as I rubbed the back of my head in shame. "Umm... I was just... thinking about games?" I chuckled a bit, still feeling shame for knocking a lady to her knees without me noticing- Woah woah woah! What the crap did I just call Sweetie Belle!?

A-Anyways, Sweetie's stare stabbed into me like a dagger for a few moments, before she sighed, rolling her eyes, as she nudged me in the shoulders with one of her hands. “Well, thank goodness I’m into games as much as you are... or not, your face would’ve been filled with holes by now...”

I gulped nervously, chuckling forcefully as I walked on over to my locker, which happened to be right next to where I had crashed into Sweetie Belle, opening the locker up. “Though, I’m really sorry for bumping into you, Sweetie. I just had a lot to think about... relating to games, of course.” I continued quickly after seeing her confused stare directed at me, as she leaned against the locker next to mine.

As I took out my books for the day, I, again, just noticed that I somehow knew where Button’s locker was for some reason, without actually knowing nor seeing him in any of the EG movies. Oh... I guess because I’m Button Mash now, I have his memories and I act like how he does then... I, uhh, guess that’s nice...

I closed the locker, and glanced towards where Sweetie Belle was standing at but was greeted by a curious stare from those beautiful green eyes owned by the cutest crusader ever- NOPE NOPE NOPE! I am NOT doing this to myself! Nada nada!

I was brought out of my thoughts by a throat clearing itself, and I stood there, still staring at Sweetie Belle, who was now raising an eyebrow. I continued to stare back, before shaking my head to clear my thoughts, looking back at her with a nervous smile. “Uhh... what?”

Sweetie Belle got up from where she was leaning against, and crossed her arms, approaching me. “Are you feeling okay, Button? You keep zoning out, doing this and that... it doesn’t seem like you at all...”

I widened my eyes, shocked by Sweetie Belle’s perfect assumption. Ah crap... this is terrible... umm... I quickly coughed as I hugged my books tightly to my chest with one arm as I scratched my head with the other.

“W-Well... I did have a terrible headache this morning, and my mom did say it might’ve got to do with me playing a new game I bought yesterday until past midnight... so, that might explain why I’m not acting like myself... so, whoops?” I shrugged with my empty hand, letting out a nervous chuckle.

Sweetie Belle continued to stare at me for a few more moments, which resulted in me sweating madly, before Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, walking over to me and- I widened my eyes in shock as she planted a kiss on my cheeks, before looking into my eyes with those soft yet caring green eyes of hers, and with a smile that I have seen only once in a YouTube video: a smile filled with love, not from family, but a... lover. "Don't be a dummy next time, Button... You might not know this, but I care for you way too much already... alright...?"

Just from those simple words, my heart had fluttered like crazy, as my eyes went wide and my jaw fell to the floor. Wow... So, she actually likes me back as well...? Suddenly, it felt like everything around us froze in time, as both of us looked into each other's eyes, caught in one another's gaze. Okay... Now I gotta admit, she really is a beautiful girl up close and personal... Just the... two of us...

I guess she was thinking almost the same thing as I did, as both of our cheeks lit up in bright red, still gazing into each other's eyes. Then, we suddenly started inching forward towards one another, slow and steady, now a few centimetres away from each other's lips... before reality decides to slam into us again.

RIIING!!!

The bell rang. I swear, I am going to tear it to pieces for ruining this perfect moment with me and Sweetie Belle... Almost feels like a cliche'...

We both blinked in surprise at the sudden interference in our moment, and looked up at the bell for a few moments before we both looked back at each other, fear filled in our eyes.

"We have Ms. Harshvoice as our first class, don't we...?" I asked, fear clearly sketched in my voice, as Sweetie Belle nodded with haste.

We stared at each other for a few more seconds, before we bolted for our first classroom, side by side, with our hands interlocked in one another's.

Both of us, whilst running, hoped in our hearts not to get yelled at from the teacher for being late to class. Well, school, here I come... again. Hopefully, school will be alright...

First Meeting

"School was dang awful!"

I cried out in frustration as I walked in the hallways after the final bell had rung. Me and Sweetie Belle had to split up after we finished that horrible first class with Ms. Harshvoice. Sadly, we got yelled at from her, and boy did her name spelt out how she really is. She really is harsh! She even gave out poems that don't even make sense!

I sighed in annoyance, as I played out how my first day at school had been, before I suddenly jumped in surprise at the raspy voice from beside me, sounding equally annoyed. "Tell me about it..."

I looked towards my right and saw Scootaloo, one of Sweetie Belle's best friends, was right next to me, with a drooped posture and dragging herself alongside me, forcefully.

"Umm... hey there, Scoots." was all I could say, before I looked away from her, still walking down the hallway with her, the situation getting a bit... too awkward. Sheesh... Can't believe I'm meeting with Scootaloo right now. I mean, I should be freaking out like heck right about now... but, after what I've been through today, I think my body's dead on its batteries...

I could feel Scootaloo looking at the back of my head, before she sighed, speaking what I was thinking about earlier. "You had Ms. Harshvoice this morning, didn't you?"

I glanced back at Scootaloo, scratching my head as I nodded slowly. "Yep. I swear, she gets worse every day. Like, who the heck came up with those poems, anyway?"

Scootaloo suddenly chuckled, amused, as she nudged my shoulders with one of her hands. "I know, right!? Like, I still can't get over the one that said 'Rub her coke'..."

I immediately brought my hands to my mouth, stifling a loud chortle, as soon as I heard that word come out of her mouth. "COKE!? What the crap!? Rub her coke!? Jeez, that is... so messed up, yet so weird to say..." I continued to snort in amusement, wiping a tear from my eyes, before I stopped laughing at that stupid phrase... and looked back at Scootaloo, raising a confused eyebrow. "...I don't get it."

It was Scootaloo's turn to bring her hand up to her mouth, stifling a VERY loud guffaw, as she bent down, still walking alongside me. I glared at her angrily, nudging her on the shoulders with my hand. "HEY! It's not my fault I don't understand her poems! I just find it funny that the poet used the word 'rub' and 'coke' in the same sentence..."

Scootaloo, to my surprise and displeasure, continued laughing even worse, her whole body shaking with laughter. I just stared at her with a frown for a few seconds, before rolling my eyes and keeping my eyes forward, ignoring her antics. To my benefit, the main lobby of the school was just a couple feet away, so I decided to fasten my pace, leaving Scootaloo behind to continue laughing on her own.

Once I had reached the door, I finally heard a panicked yell down the hallway. "HEY! YOU LEFT ME BEHIND, BUT-" Scootaloo's voice cuts off as I walked out the door and closed it behind me, breathing in a new breath of air. I looked around and saw some students were still hanging outside, sitting in the grass or standing up, talking to one another.

One of the groups talking had attracted my attention immediately, as I saw Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom talking to one another near the base of the statue of CHS. I raised my hand, waving it as I called out to them. "Hey, gir- ARGH!"

All of a sudden, I was at the base of the stairs leading towards the school, looking up into the sky, with a big bump on my head, as I groaned in pain. Then, three people stood above me, looking down at me. It was Sweetie Belle and her crusader friends!

"Ya'll doin' alright down there, Button? That fall looked like it hurt..." The red-haired crusader, Apple Bloom, asked in her Southern American accent, looking equally worried with the rest of her friends at me.

"Uggh... I feel like I got headbutted by something big from behind, and fell down a flight of stairs..." I muttered out in pain as I placed my hand onto my head, where the bump was, before wincing in pain, pulling my hand away from it.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom then turned their attention towards the orange-skinned girl, glaring at her, who was currently chuckling, embarrassed, as she scratched her head. "Yeah... Sorry about that, Button. I think I opened the door a bit too hard, and smacked you with it from behind... causing you to fall down the stairs... whoops."

Sweetie Belle then rolled her eyes, before she looked back down at me, extending her hand towards me. "Anyways, let's get you back up on your feet, Button." I looked back up at her, smiling softly before I took her hands in my grasp, being pulled back up on my feet.

I dusted off my pants, before looking around at the crusaders, still smiling. "Thanks."

Suddenly, I felt a small nudge from behind, making me look back at Scootaloo, who was now currently smiling smugly at me. "So... we were talking about that 'thing' when you decided to leave me in the dust. What do you say after doing that kind of stuff on a girl?"

I blew a raspberry, waving a hand off at her as I looked away from her, now smirking. "Ehh. That kind of stuff won't work with me, Scoots. Only Sweetie can pull it off with me, no other girl can do it better than her." I looked back at her, scratching my head slowly. "But, I guess I do owe you an apology. So, yeah, I'm sorry."

The orange-skinned crusader snorted in amusement, before waving it off as well. "That works with me."

Then, Apple Bloom suddenly came in from my right side and stood beside Scootaloo, raising a curious eyebrow. "Ah don't get it. What's this 'thing' you two were talking about?"

It was then that me and Scootaloo - or is it Scootaloo and I - faced towards Apple Bloom, and said in unison, one word, with a flat and unimpressed tone. "School."

Sweetie Belle then groaned in annoyance, as she came in from my left side and stood by her crusader friends. "I know, right!? Ms. Harshvoice was dang terrible today... She keeps giving out these strange poems, and we don't even understand most of them!"

It was my turn to scoff in annoyance, as I sat down at the base of the stairs, crossing my arms. "That goes for Miss Berry too. I have no idea why the heck she's even one of the teachers anyways, since she keeps getting off topic and talking about her doings and life, even if it's not related to school!"

Apple Bloom suddenly chuckled as she sat down right next to me, still looking at me with that amused smile of hers. "Seriously? Miss Berry sounded like a GP-38 with a stuck horn or somethin'!"

Uhhh... what.

I thought, confused at what Apple Bloom said as Sweetie Belle sat to my left, shaking with laughter too. "Or an A3 with a jammed whistle! Like, she keeps yapping on and on about weird stuff, it's hard enough not to sleep on my own!"

"I still don't understand you girls with those train talks of yours."

I wasn't the only one to think so, as I glanced up towards where Scootaloo was standing, who was currently crossing her arms with a confused expression on her face.

Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom immediately burst out laughing, holding their stomach as they shook with laughter. I only looked from Apple Bloom to Sweetie Belle, back to back, before looking back up at Scootaloo, shrugging with my shoulders at her to express my confusion too.

Once they got to their bearings, Apple Bloom looked back up at Scootaloo, still smiling. "Well, of course ya don't even know 'train talk'! Y'all don't even take an interest in how cool trains are!"

Sweetie Belle suddenly patted me from behind, looking up at Scootaloo as well. "Yeah! I mean, thankfully, Button here knows what we're talking about~"

I stayed silent for a couple of seconds, still a bit unsure at what the two were saying before Sweetie Belle herself turned to look back at me with that confused eyebrow raised. "...right, Button?"

As I glanced around at the three of them, who now stood around me, looking down at me with different kind of expressions decorating their faces, I continued to sit down there, with wide eyes and sweat starting to pour down my face. Only one word came through my mind, and it kept repeating itself over and over to explain what kind of situation I had gotten myself stuck in.

CRAP!

Excuse, Please?

"...right, Button?"

Sweetie Belle had asked a question, that in all possibility, I could not answer. Like, how the heck am I supposed to know about trains!? I thought that being Button meant I inherited his memories, but clearly not all of them, as I didn't even know about his interests in trains!

"Umm..." I muttered slowly to stall some time, as my eyes darted everywhere except where the three crusaders were at, standing right in front of me, clearly still waiting for an answer that I could not supply.

I better think quickly to keep up my act, or not I'm doomed! Crap, what kind of excuse can I use to get away with the situation right now!?

What if I lied to them, saying that I do know about these trains stuffs!?

...W-Wait, that won't work! For one, we got a dang Apple with us! And if Applejack is a living lie detector, then what about Apple Bloom!? ...I mean, there is a saying where 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree'... And two, I'm taking way too dang long to answer a simple question! They're gonna suspect something's wrong, and they'll start piecing things together! I can't let my cover be blown, dangit!

Crap... then, what if I just told them the truth!? Being truthful is better anyway, right!?

...no, that's wrong! Crap! If I were to tell them the truth, then they'll never trust me again! They're gonna ask me where the real Button Mash went, and ignore me forever! I can't let that happen, not after what I've been through in my past life!

I winced a little, pressing my hand against my head as I thought about an excuse a bit too hard, it had given me a bit of a headache from all the thinking. I looked back up at the three crusaders, who were still looking at me with those confused expressions-

Wait. Hold on. Rewind, what the heck did I just experience just now...?

My head tilted a little as I thought back on what I had felt just now for a moment before I widened my eyes for a moment, but lowered my gaze back to the ground to not raise any more suspicion from the girls.

Headache. I can pretend I'm having a headache like I was having just this morning when I had woken up! Brilliant! They won't suspect a thing~!

I guess I took a little bit too long, as I heard a pair of feet stepping closer to me, their footsteps sounding a bit too impatient as of this moment. I looked back up at where the girls were, and I saw Apple Bloom now standing right in front of me that I had to lift my head a bit higher to look up at her face, which was now decorated with a face that read 'Give me an answer right now, or I'll beat the crap out of you'.

I gulped, nervous by Apple Bloom's behaviour at me, before I made up my mind. Yep. It's now or never. Let's do this already. I looked deep into Apple Bloom's red eyes, who is currently staring daggers into my own soul before I continued on with my plan.

"ACK!" I suddenly screamed out, faking a pained scream, before I brought my hands up to my head, pressing against it as I bent down to make my pain seem much more real. I do hope this works...

True to my words, it seemed that it did work, as I could hear two different beats of footsteps approach me quickly, one more footstep later than the rest before I could feel three hands hold my shoulders. I slowly looked back up, faking a wince of pain as I did so, and was greeted by the sight of three worried faces from the three crusader friends, with Sweetie Belle kneeling down to get closer to me.

Damn. Can't believe it's working already... Well, gotta continue the act now.

I groaned, adding a hint of pain into the groan, as I continued to press my hand against my head, now rubbing it against my temples. Sweetie Belle clearly noticed the small hint of pain I emitted, as she suddenly got much closer to me, scanning me for what's wrong. "B-Button? What's happening? Is this another headache you're experiencing?"

That, for some reason, suddenly got Apple Bloom's complete and undivided attention, as she herself knelt down to my head level to look at me straight in the eyes, before looking back at Sweetie Belle. "A headache? When'd this headache of his start, Sweetie Belle?"

Before Sweetie Belle had the chance to respond to Apple Bloom, I cleared my throat, glaring at Apple Bloom, to which she had turned her head to look back at me with a curious but serious expression worn on her face. "It's nothing, Apple Bloom. I just played too long on a new game I had bought yesterday. Stop treating me like I'm a kid, I know how to take care of myself."

Apple Bloom crossed her arms, looking me over one more time, before she rolled her eyes, getting up to her feet. "Fine. Well, Ah do hope yer gonna be alright. Ah thought ya just had...something, Ah guess."

I rolled my eyes, muttering under my breath. "Well, that's something you don't hear every day..."

Though, to keep the act going, I slowly got back onto my feet but stumbled forward a bit to show the three crusaders that I still wasn't feeling alright.

Like I had guessed, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo held onto my shoulders quickly, the two struggling against my weight before they managed to find their balance and plopped me back onto the stairs.

"Sorry, Button, but you gotta stay down until your headache is all gone, alright?" Sweetie Belle said as she stood back up and crossed her arms, looking down at me.

"Yeah, what if you have another one of those headaches of yours whilst you're walking or something? You'll get hurt! And no kid likes having bruises!" Scootaloo continued with her normal raspy voice, as sweat trickled down her head, making her wipe her forehead to clean it from the sweat.

"Well... I, uhh... okay, I guess... My mom will be here any minute now, so when she comes, someone needs to help me over to the car. Unless, of course, my headache will be okay by then." I looked back up at the two of them, groaning in annoyance, before I laid back against the steps of stairs, looking up at the sky, closing my eyes in victory with a smile on my face.

Mission accomplished. They believe me, now I don't have to worry about that problem again.

"So... do ya know about trains or what, Button?"

My expression immediately soured as soon as I heard that young but mature Southern American voice, but I managed to keep it inside. I moved my head back down, with my expression now neutral, to see the red-headed crusader with her arms crossed, still having that suspicious expression worn on her face.

This is one of the reasons why I hate the Apple family to be honest... they're all stubborn as heck...

"Well? Do ya or do ya not? Ah'm still waiting fer mah answer, Button." Apple Bloom answered with that annoyed tone still present in her voice, as she began tapping her foot impatiently and raising an expressionless eyebrow at me.

I looked over to both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, and for some reason, they were keeping their distance away from Apple Bloom. I raised an eyebrow, confused at the two of them as I looked back and forth between them both, before settling to look back at the hollow face of Apple Bloom. What the heck are they doing right now? Don't they see what Apple Bloom is doing to me?

I crossed my arms, staring back into Apple Bloom's eyes, before I sighed in annoyance, smirking a little. "Oh no, look at me. I don't remember the one thing I have in common with my friends. Boohoo. And I also happen to lost all my interests in trains. What. A Bummer." I said in a mocking tone, as I slowly stood up once more, now standing up straight to glare back into Apple Bloom's eyes with annoyance clear in my expression.

Apple Bloom glared back into my eyes with that suspicion still present in her eyes, before she sighed one more time, stepping away from me, still crossing her arms. "Fine. Ah'm sorry, Ah shouldn't have acted harshly on ya, Button. But, fer once, be honest with me, and answer mah question: Do ya know about trains, or not?"

Well... I am Button now, and Button should know stuff about trains... Maybe, just maybe, he kept some books back at home about trains? This is gonna be the worst idea ever, but I think I have to... read books that have trains in them. Yuck.

I softened up my expression as I slowly sat back down on the steps, sighing softly, before looking back up at Apple Bloom, nodding slightly. "Yes. Of course I know about trains. I just can't think straight at the moment because of this stupid headache. That's all."

Apple Bloom, for once, smiled at me, as she backed away from me to give me some breathing room. "That's all Ah needed ta hear. Thanks, Button."

Before anyone else could speak up, there was a loud car horn coming from behind the crusaders. The three moved aside for me to see my mom's car, resting in front of the school as she herself kept honking on the horn.

I chuckled slightly as I stood up, now dropping the 'headache' act finally. I fixed up my backpack (which had stuck onto me, even after that nasty fall from the stairs. Like, seriously, I sometimes forgot that the little dark blue backpack was still behind my back) properly as I turned towards the crusaders.

"Well, I gotta go now, or not my mom will get sued sooner or later if she continues to honk her horn like that. See you girls tomorrow at school!" I started walking a few feet away from the girls, before I slammed on the brakes and turned my head around, looking over my shoulders towards Sweetie Belle. "Oh, and Sweetie Belle! Don't forget about our game night later on!"

I walked on over to the car with a happy skip in my walk, as I sighed in relief that everything was alright again between me and the crusaders. Jeez. And this has just been a day. I hope every day isn't the same as today... I would kill myself if it is...

Game Night

It was a quiet drive from Canterlot High to my house, but a question was bugging me from the start of the drive as I glanced around the car, thinking if I should ask it or not. But, once the car was parked inside the garage and we made our way inside the house, I finally brought up the question to my mom.

"So, mom, where the crud is Gibson at?"

My mom glanced back at me as she entered the kitchen area, holding her phone in her hand. She was also still wearing the same red dress earlier this morning but had some shades hanging off her forehead. There was also some sweat trickling down her forehead, but only at a minimal amount, probably from walking or something.

"Oh, he's staying back at school for now. He's practising with his band in one of the music rooms supplied by the schools. But, if you're asking me, I'm sure the practice will only take about half an hour or so, as he's probably more excited to be having his first date with his girlfriend than practising with his band of his."

My eyes went as wide as saucers when I heard the sudden crazy news about Gibson having a girlfriend, and if I had water in my mouth, I would've done a perfect spit-take. "H-HOLD ON! GIBSON HAS A GIRLFRIEND!? SINCE WHEN, MOM!?"

My mom placed her phone onto the dinner table as she walked on over to the fridge, still looking back at me with a confused smile on her face. "Gibson never told you? Huh, that's weird... Well, it was around this year when I knew about the thing. I think her name was... Misty Fly? I think that was her name."

"Misty Fly, as in the girl from Canterlot High's soccer team, who's literally the MVP for every round our school plays? How the crud did Gibson even get a score on her in the first place?" I asked in confusion as I put down my backpack and sat down at the sofa in the living room. Dang, was the sofa comfy as heck, as I quickly sighed in relief, snuggling myself into the sofa. I mean, hey! My bed back at my own world was hard as a rock, I could hardly sleep in it!

I heard the fridge click shut a few seconds later, and heard some footsteps approach me before I opened my eyes to look at my mom sitting right next to me, with her red dress now taken off, placing her arms around my shoulders. "Well... you know your brother, he won't spare me the details... Now, enough about Gibson. How was your day at school, Button?"

I shrugged nonchalantly as I looked on over to the switched off TV sitting right in front of us, staring into the reflection of Button Mash and Cream Heart sitting together on a sofa. "Ehh... the usual thing, I guess."

Then, my mom chuckled a little, before nudging me with her shoulders, making me look back at her amused face. "And by usual, you mean playing on your phone in classes without being seen by the teacher, right Button?"

That statement, for some reason, made me blush slightly as I looked away from my mom, blowing a raspberry at her. "W-Well... Uggh, fine... yeah, I was using my phone in class... Honestly, mom, how in the world was I gonna focus in class with those teachers at CHS? Mrs. Harshvoice kept giving us nonsense poems, Mrs. Berry keeps on yapping about random stuff and Mr. Discord keeps explaining maths like it's history all over again! The only teachers that I could make sense with were Cheerilee and Mr. Cranky Doodle! And those two are always dull when teaching us!"

Then, my mom frowned as she suddenly patted my back a bit too hard, causing me to sit up straight, letting out a quiet yelp of surprise. "Hey, one of those teachers happened to be one of my friends back in the days, Button! Besides, this is for your education. Your future! Are you just gonna stick to playing games for your whole life?"

I groaned in annoyance as I kicked my feet up to the small table in front of the sofa, and yawned a bit, covering my mouth with it. "This is why I hate having this conversation, mom. You always bring these things up. It's no fun."

My mom just looked at me with an exasperated expression on her face, before she sighed in surrender, slowly getting up from the sofa as she patted me on the head. "Fine, Button. You win again. Still, this conversation has to happen sooner or later."

"Uggh... But I'm still 12 years old, mom! I still got a long way to go until I graduate from school!" I squeaked out in annoyance as I waved my arms around, lying back down against the sofa with a groan.

My mom simply snorts in amusement, before walking to the back of the sofa, placing her hands against the backboard as she looks down at me with a small smirk on her face. "Whatever you say, Button... Anyways, is Sweetie Belle coming over to the house for that Game Night thing you always host?" She adds as she walks back over to the kitchen area to probably fish up something to eat later on for dinner for both of us.

Again, with that Game Night thing. What the crap is it, anyway? Some sort of night where I play games with someone? I wonder if I could check what the crap it really is on the computer I have... which is, Button's computer. Man, this is gonna take some time getting used to being Button.

"Umm... yeah, Sweetie Belle's coming over for the Game Night! I mean, I still have to figure out what game we should be playing tonight, so it might take a while..." I stated matter-of-factly as I took off my feet from the small table in front of me and stood up slowly, slinging my backpack over my shoulders.

"Anyways, I'll be upstairs in my room, finishing up my homework, mom! Call me down when dinner's done!" I called out to my mom quickly as I took off up the stairs and towards my room.

Studying for trains... here I come... I thought, before I entered my bedroom and got to work finding books relating to trains. This is gonna take a while.

=============={ A Couple Hours Later, Time: 5 PM }==============

"Damn. So, that's what she meant by an A3 with a jammed whistle! Ooh, and here's something called an Articulated Drive!" I said in fascination as I lied on my bed, stomach-up, with a book being held up in the air, currently being read by me. Currently, I'm wearing my grey T-shirt, with my brown hoodie now hung on the chair next to my computer table.

I rolled onto my stomach as I looked down at the book, which had my full and undivided attention on it. At the moment, I was on a page stating the characteristics of something called a Duplex Drive "...Wow, I can't believe it, but trains actually do seem like quite an interesting subject to study about... And I'm actually enjoying reading these kinds of stuff... on a book. Wow."

Then, I heard somebody knock at the door, which made me yelp in surprise, before I looked up towards my bedroom door, staring at it with wide eyes. I looked back down at the books I had scattered around me, lying on the bed, before looking down at the book held in my grasp. Whoever is coming in, if they see this stuff, they're sure to know that I'm not myself right now! Crap!

"Button? Can I come in now?"

Double crap. That's Sweetie Belle's voice.

I jumped off my bed in haste and quickly gathered up all the books I could grab, glancing over to my bedroom door. "JUST A SECOND!" I stumbled on over to the bookcase located next to my bedroom window and placed all the books back in where I got them from.

I sauntered over to my bedroom door, releasing a quiet sigh of relief, before opening it, revealing the white-skinned crusader. "Oh, you're here already, Sweetie Belle? Well, come on in! I hope you're excited about Game Night tonight!"

As I turned around to walk on over to the TV set placed right next to the bathroom door, I could hear Sweetie Belle squeal in delight, closing the door behind her as she followed me from behind, excitement clear from the sound of her footsteps. "You bet I'm excited! I mean, who wouldn't want the girl that had beaten the kid who claims he's the best in video games to come back for another night!? People are gonna be watching us, loving us play together all night! Live on YouTube!"

Yep. Forgot to mention. Game Night, apparently, is a night where me, A.K.A Button Mash, invites one of his friends over to play with him in a random game, with 3 rounds each, to see who can be the winner of the night. Also, it'll be streamed live, on YouTube. Yeah. Sorta like me in the other world. How ironic.

"Well, no need to brag it up already, Sweetie Belle! I'll win this night for sure!" I said, confidently, as I knelt down towards the Xbox One I had, currently plugged into its socket and connected to the TV, as I inspected it to see if it's working fine, before turning around to look back at Sweetie Belle. "So, got any game suggestions you'd like to give for tonight?"

Before she could even open her mouth to respond, a knock was heard from the door, followed by creaking from the door opening. We both glanced back to the door and saw my mom now leaning against the door frame, smirking a little as she crossed her arms, looking back at us. "Well, whenever you two are done, we can head on over to the kitchen to eat some dinner before it gets cold. So, what are you all waiting for?"

We both glanced back towards each other, with amused smiles clear on our faces, before we both got up quickly and walked on over to the door as my mom leaves the room with the door still wide open.

Who'd want to play games whilst streaming live on an empty stomach!? Not me, of course! Good-food-made-by-mom-I-just-had-today, here I come! I thought, smiling a little as both me and Sweetie Belle made our way downstairs to the kitchen area to obliterate our dinner food.

=========={ 3 Hours Later, Time: 8 PM }==========

"And we are going live in 5, 4, 3..."

I stood by my computer, with the mouse arrow thing hovering over the 'Stream Broadcast' button, as I glanced back at Sweetie Belle, who is currently looking back at me with a controller in her hands, sitting right in front of the TV, ready for the live stream from just the look on her face she's giving.

"...2, 1, now!" As soon as I finished counting down, I clicked on the 'Stream' button and I ran back towards Sweetie Belle, flopping down into a sitting position towards her right with a loud 'thud', before looking up towards the camera located on the TV.

"Hey everybody! Button Mash here, back with another Game Night!" I started off my intro normally - or, well, how Button Mash did in his previous streams, which I now remembered how it went - and waved my hands towards Sweetie Belle with a devilish grin on my face."Today is a special Game Night episode, guys! As you can see, we have our previous night's winner, Sweetie Belle, back for another round to beat me in another game!"

"Hey everyone! I'm Sweetie Belle, and I'm back for another night! But, to be honest, I'm mostly here to kick Button's butt in his own game! So get ready to lose, Button!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, nudging me in the shoulders with her elbow, before looking back at the camera, still smiling brightly.

Of course she'd say that. "Ooh, being real competitive already, challenger Sweetie Belle? Well, it's time for you to get beaten in the game of..." I pulled out the disk from the Xbox One, and my expression changed from bragging to horrified, before looking back up at Sweetie Belle, showing the disk to her. "...really, Sweetie? Forza Horizon 4...? But... that's a racing game..." And she knows I suck at these kinds of games... crap.

"Yeah~? What about it? Scared that you might lose... again?" Sweetie Belle invoked me with that sly smirk on her face, as she continued to nudge me over and over again with her elbow.

"N-NO! I'm gonna beat you, just you watch!" I blurted out as I nudged her back, gripping my controller tighter than before. She wants a challenge, huh? Well, I'll give her one, that's for sure!

Sweetie Belle stared back at me with determination clear in her eyes as she smirked even more, leaning her face towards me, with her hands also clutching the controller harder. "Game on?"

I looked back at her with a raised eyebrow, before I stared back at her with the same expression as hers, nodding. "Game on!"

Wow, I'm actually loving this life already. Thank you, to whoever is out there, who gave this chance to me. A real family, a chance to relive my school years, and a couple of great friends. I think things are looking up for me. I smiled slightly as both of us launched ourselves into the game to see who can beat who, and to see if I'm the best gamer there is out there.

Messy Confrontation

RIIIIIING!

What happens at school, stays at school. That's kinda my moto, whenever things at school turn to crap. And right now, in the hallways? All hell had broken loose.

"YEAAAAAAH! SCHOOL BREAK!" Rumble yelled out in excitement, as he pumped his fist into the air, still walking right beside me and Pipsqueak through the hallway of the school once we had gotten out of our last class of the day. The hallways were filled with laughter, chatters, and students, but we managed to make our way through the mayhem...thankfully.

"Soo... what're you guys gonna be doing during the school break? Play video games for the whole duration of the break?" I asked, my arms behind my head, as I looked on over to both Rumble and Pip with a curious expression on my face.

"Gosh, Button, ain't everyone like you with your obsessions with video games and streaming those... Game Night stuffs you always do..." Pip spoke up suddenly from my right, rolling his eyes, amused, as he continues to avoid incoming students walking past us, his arms crossed behind his back.

"H-Hey! It's not my fault I love video games! And besides, didn't you enjoy playing Game Night with me that one time?" I looked around the halls for a couple of moments, looking for that certain detail on the wall I always use to mark my locker, before I finally found it, the slight smear of peanut butter jam on top of my locker, as I signalled the boys over to our lockers.

"Well... yeah, I guess... speaking of that Game Night thing... how many times are you gonna be doing that re-challenge thing with Sweetie Belle? I think it's been more than five times I've watched Sweetie Belle appear in your live streams, and I just know that some of your viewers want someone other than her to play with you..." Pip continued as he went to open his locker first, followed by me and Rumble.

We managed to score on getting to become locker buddies, so every day, after each lesson, we get to talk a bit and hang out with each other, boy-style, before we had to go rush off to our own classes. Even though these two can be a bit annoying, they're pretty fun to hang out with, and they really have some great dirt on the crusaders, that sometimes we like to share with one another. I mean, come on! Sharing secrets is damn fun!

"Yeah! To be fair, it was kinda weird to see her in your streams every time, Button... What in the heck has gotten into you, anyway?" Rumble asked, confusion clear in his tone as he fixed his thick dark grey leather jacket, closing his locker and leaning against it, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Ahh, pfft. It's nothing so bad. She just seemed like a really fun girl friend to play with in the streams... So, as long as she keeps beating me in games, she'll keep coming back to the stream... playing with me... every night..." I slurred out, giggling a little as I closed my locker, leaning my back against it whilst I sighed happily, my eyes half-lidded from the statement.

I could definitely see the two exchanging confused looks with each other, glancing between me and themselves, but I didn't give a crap about them at the moment, said as I sighed once again at the thought of me and Sweetie Belle playing games at my house, every day after school. I could just imagine it-

"Button... you're saying it like you're... losing the games on purpose to her..." Rumble suddenly spoke up, interrupting my train of thoughts.

Ah, crap.

"Well... 'losing' isn't the best word to describe it... what about 'giving her a chance'?" I said quickly, scratching my head as I sat straight up and started walking, looking back at them still.

"Giving her a chance for up to 5 rounds straight? I'm pretty sure that still counts as losing on purpose... Really, Button, what is with you? You keep re-challenging her, you keep losing purposely to her, and you want to keep playing with her in every Game Night stream..." The skepticism in Rumble's voice was off the chart, which made me try to walk faster, but they were tailing me from behind. Crap... I need to get out of here before they-

"It seems as though that you're in love with Sweetie Belle..."

As soon as I heard the squeaky voice from behind me say those words, I froze up, my whole body tensing up. Ah, crap. Now they think I'm in LOVE with Sweetie Belle!? ...I mean, I only have a small crush on her. That's all. Nothing TOO big... Right?

"Button...?" Pip spoke up from behind me as I hear both of them approaching me, which made me sweat madly and my whole body shaking.

"N-Nah! I-I'm not in love with Sweetie Belle! Nope! W-Why would you think I'm in love with her!? Are you crazy!? Me and her!? T-That's crazy talk, you guys! Nope, nope, NOPE!" I continued walking without looking back at Rumble and Pip for the second time, albeit a little faster than before as I try to get away from the two, that awkward smile still worn on my face and nervous sweat trickling down my forehead.

What the heck, Button!? Why am I acting this way!? Do I really LOVE Sweetie Belle in more ways than just a simple crush...? Ah, gosh, I am not doing this now! This is NOT turning into another one of those fictions I loved to read back in my old apartment, and I'm making sure of-

My train of thoughts gets cut off as I turned the corner, suddenly bumping my head into another person the same height as me, causing both of us to yelp out in pain, falling down to the floor with our hands against our head, wincing in pain.

"O-Ow! B-Button, what the heck was that!?"

I suddenly blushed madly at the sound of that voice. That squeaky cute voice. I looked back up from where I was looking and saw Sweetie Belle glaring right back at me with an annoyed pout clear on her face as she rubbed her head, sitting down against the messy pink backpack she always brings to school.

Ah, crap. And now I'm blushing. Great job, Button... I swear, if I'm in my old body, I wouldn't be blushing this much-

"Well!? What the heck was that, Button!?"

I was again, cut off from my thoughts by that sweet, wondrous, angelic voice of- what the crap am I thinking right now!? A-Anyways, Sweetie Belle had recovered somewhat, now standing up straight, looking down at me as she repeated her question at me.

"U-Uhhh... W-Well... Umm..."

...the crap am I doing right now...

"Uhh. Well. Umm. Good gosh. Button, can you make your talking any weirder?"

Suddenly, before Sweetie Belle could acknowledge my weirdly-spoken response to her question, somebody else beat her to it with an annoying yet bragging tone in her voice, speaking up from my right, causing both of us to glance to the sudden intruder.

"The crap do you want with us, Diamond Tiara?"

I answered with an annoyed tone clear in my voice, as I got up from where I was sitting and crossed my arms, glaring at her with hate in my eyes towards her very existence. Diamond Tiara really is the crappiest person that happened to be the same age as us, and she's stupidly rich. Look, I'm okay with rich people who are nice, but people who are rich yet loves to brag about it, more so if it's a bully, really pisses me off.

"Ah, nothing too much. Just wanted to have a look at the weirdest couple in the block, and congratulations you two, you won that award~!" The haughty pink skinned girl spoke with that snooty tone still in her voice, slowly getting up from the locker she was leaning against, approaching both of us at a slow pace, that devilish grin still present on her face.

"A-A couple!? W-We're just friends, Diamond! That's all there is between us!" Sweetie Belle blurted out towards Diamond Tiara with a loud stomp from her right foot, causing the students present in the hallway to quiet down and backed away from the three of us, making us the centre of attraction for all of the students to watch.

Though, something that was mentioned from what Sweetie Belle had said broke my heart a little, as I looked away from the two girls with a sad frown on my face. We're just friends...? Sweetie Belle, is that what you think of us two together...? Just... friends? ...wow.

Unbeknownst to me, the two girls had continued on bickering with each other, now a few centimetres from one another. "Oh, yeah, sure. Just keep on saying that, Sweetie Belle. We all know the real truth, which is you two. Are. A. Couple." Diamond Tiara emphasized her statement more by poking a finger on Sweetie's shoulders, that sly smirk still worn on her face.

"Ugh, so what!? What if we're both dating? What if we're not? But the thing is, why do you care all of a sudden!?" Sweetie Belle suddenly yelled out in annoyance, pushing Diamond Tiara away from her, causing her to crash against the locker right behind her with a loud thud and a yelp of pain from her.

The loud thud from the locker being crashed into finally brought my attention back to the now as I looked back at the scene, confused as to how Diamond Tiara got shoved back to where she was leaning against, before I looked back at Sweetie Belle, my eyes widening in surprise at the current state she was in. Body shaking like crazy. Eyes twitching every now and then. Her palms sweating madly.

Is she... lying straight to Diamond Tiara's face about our relationship...? S-So... gosh, she doesn't REALLY feel that way with me... thankfully. I sighed out in relief as I put two and two together, thinking everything was back to normal for a couple of moments before my eyes once again opened widely at the sudden realization. WAIT! SO, SHE HAS FEELINGS FOR ME TOO!?

Before I could ponder even more on that thought, a loud stomp was heard followed by a shriek of anger, causing all eyes to focus on the source of the sound, which happened to be Diamond Tiara, glaring right at Sweetie Belle with a furious face worn on her face. "YOU LITTLE BASTARD! YOU PUSHED ME! You've done it now, Sweetie Belle! NOBODY pushes me around, especially not 10-year-olds who disrespects the best of the best!"

Suddenly, Diamond Tiara bursts into a sprint from where she stood with a loud cry of anger, her gaze fully set on Sweetie Belle with her hands balled into fists. As soon as I did see this, everything suddenly became a blur of images, and I was now hugging Sweetie Belle close to me with a feeling of pain coming from the back of my head. Even if my head felt dizzy all of a sudden and all eyes were now on us, I kept my gaze right into Sweetie Belle's, as she stared right back into mine, both our cheeks burning brightly.

"B-Button Mash... y-you blocked Diamond's hit, for me? W-Why...?"

Ahh... crap. Should I tell her? Ah, god, this is going a bit too fast! I'm not ready yet!

"Uhh... I..."

=====================================

"YOU DID WHAT!?"

I covered my ears, wincing in pain from the volume of the shout Gibson had yelled out as both Gibson and I sat in my bedroom with my head burried into my pillow, regretting what I did earlier at school.

"Jeez, Button! That is the worst thing you could've done! Saying 'what are friends for' and running off as soon as you did notice your mistake in your choice of words, it can leave a bad impression on your girl, damnit!" Gibson continued to lecture me with that angry lecturer tone in his voice as I could hear him pacing around my bed with an impatient beat to it.

I groaned in annoyance as I sat back up, leaning back against the wooden backboard of my bed, glaring at Gibson. "Well, what the crap was I supposed to do, then!? I was put in a tight spot, and I was scared that she'd reject me if I did confess to her right then! It was all happening too fast!"

"Well, go call or message her on her cell, telling that it was all a mistake! Or, you can go on over to her house, and admit your mistake to her upfront! That'll make things much easier!" Gibson said, sitting down at the right side of my bed, looking back at me with a roll from his eyes.

I then looked away from him, sighing, before looking back at him with a sad expression on my face. "...But I can't, Gibs. I just... can't.."

Gibson then, for once, looked at me with sympathy, scooting closer to me and patting me on my knee. "Look, Button? I know I wasn't the best brother around, but I'll tell you this: having a girlfriend is the best thing you can ever have in life. Me and Misty-"

I interrupted him suddenly with a scoff and a roll from my eyes. "It's 'Misty and I', Gibson. And what's my situation got to do with you and Misty? You two are already a couple, so you don't have anything else to worry about."

Gibson glared at me with his arms crossed at me interrupting him, before he sighed, scratching his head. "Well, believe me. I think my situation was a lot worse than yours."

I simply rolled my eyes, before I nodded for him to continue. He then looked on over to my bedroom door, probably to make sure our mom isn't eavesdropping, before looking back at me, taking a deep breath.

"Misty and I... When the news of us being together got out... we suddenly had issues being together. His dad won't allow me to keep her daughter, my bandmates keep messing things up between us two, and the whole school kept on talking about us, in a bad way."

Wow. He DID have it worse than me.

"Even Misty herself said that we might have to break up if it got worse. But, I know she wasn't being serious. Because when you're in love with a certain someone, you two created a bond hidden deep in your heart, but only comes out when you two show each other your true feelings about one another. And through this bond? I could feel that she didn't mean it. She wanted to stay by my side forever, until we grow old and die with each other, our hands held tight in one another's grip. That's how strong our love was, Button. A love born from when we were still in middle school together."

I stared with wide eyes and my mouth open at Gibson as I registered what he had said. It took a couple of minutes before I had finished processing everything, now looking away from Gibson and towards my game console laying there, unused since the last time Game Night had happened, which was a couple of days ago with Sweetie Belle.

I stared at the game console for a couple more seconds before I sighed, looking back at Gibson with a serious expression now worn on my face. "So... what CAN I do to propose to Sweetie Belle to be my girlfriend...?"

"Hmm... I might know a way... But you owe me for doing this."

Author's Note

Damn! This has gotta be the longest chapter I've ever written up! And this is just half of what I've actually got planned for the overall plan of the chapter!

Well, standby for the next chapter! Things are gonna get... melodic~

A Tender Song

"Sweetie Belle...? Are you home...?"

I knocked on the front door of Sweetie Belle's house for the who knows how long, wondering why she isn't answering her door.

Well, this is crap. I think she's pissed off at me... I sighed, slinking down towards the doorsteps, sitting down as I laid my back against the door. She's never going to accept me back. Even if I go through with Gibson's plan. Like, Button, why do you have to be so stupid!? If only I was braver... Now, she doesn't even want to see-

"Button? What're you doing out here?"

I was surprised out of my thoughts by a new voice, causing me to shriek out in surprise, jumping up and looking around to see who spoke up, until my gaze met a pair of beautiful green eyes that I am so familiar with.

"S-Sweetie Belle! H-Hey!" I squeaked out, waving my hands as I stood up straight, my whole body shaking a little.

A-Alright... False alarm, she was out doing stuff. Thank god.

Though, I somewhat forgot how to actually think for a moment as I spoke my thoughts out loud towards Sweetie Belle before my brain caught up to what I had just done, causing me to sweat nervously and place my head into my hands, groaning in embarrassment.

"Umm... what? Button Mash, are you feeling okay?" Sweetie Belle curiously spoke up as I heard her approaching me, making me look up from my hands, and I saw her standing at the bottom of the doorstep to her house.

I sighed, looking away from her as I sat back down on the doorstep. "No... Look, Sweetie Belle? I'm really sorry about what happened earlier. I didn't mean to say what I had said this morning and running off like that. The situation was kinda sudden to me, and I suck at decision making."

I then felt her place her hands on my shoulder, making me look over to her as she now sat down right next to me with a soft smile worn on her face. "Button, it's okay. I'm alright, it's just Diamond Tiara and her being a jerk to both of us. You don't need to apologize."

Well... that's step 1 done: Apologize to Sweetie Belle. I thought, now smiling a little at Sweetie Belle at her reassurance on the situation at school earlier. Now onto step 2: Inviting her to the 'thing'.

"W-Well... thanks, I guess. But that's not the only reason why I'm here. I just got word that Gibson's doing a special performance with his band at school to mark the end of this school year, and I wanted to ask if you want to go there with me~" I said with a now relaxed tone, leaning back against the door as I looked back at Sweetie Belle with a smile on my face.

"Heh, like a date?" Sweetie Belle remarked with a chuckle, nudging me with her elbow on my shoulders.

I laughed nervously along with her, sweating madly. "Uhh... I-I guess? I mean, you don't have to if you think it's stupid. I can just go-"

"What!? No, no! I was just joking around, Button! I'll go, you don't have to worry a thing." Sweetie Belle cut me off almost immediately, nodding endlessly as I chuckled a little at her cute reaction.

"Well, thanks. For a sec, I thought you were gonna reject me." Thankfully, that didn't happen. I thought quickly before I shook my head, focusing back on the white crusader. "Anyways, my mom will probably pick you up at your house around 8 p.m. So, see you later?"

"Yeah, I should probably go in and take a shower. Me and the girls just finished doing some crusader stuff earlier, so I'm drenched in sweat right now." She stood up slowly, rubbing the back of her head with an embarrassed chuckle.

Well, that explained why she wasn't answering her door for the last half an hour when I was standing in front of her front door, knocking on it. I thought, rolling my eyes in amusement as I stood up as well, stepping off the doorstep.

"Well, see ya, Sweets!" I yelled out to her as I now turned down the sidewalk and ran down it towards the general direction of my house to get ready for the big event. Step 2 complete. Now for step 3... not freaking out before the big 'thing'.

-----2 Hours Later, at CHS-----

"Alright, we're here, you two~" My mom practically sang out in a melody as she parked the car in the parking lot of the school, looking back at the two of us dressed up pretty neatly.

While I went for the cool-looking dude style, wearing a darker-brown jacket, not buttoned up, with a bright green T-shirt to match up with the jacket, Sweetie Belle decided to go for the fancy style, wearing a hot pink sleeveless dress accompanied with a yellow hairband sporting a white flower in her hair. Damn, she looks so cute... and beautiful in that dress...

"Umm, Sweetie Belle, can you wait for me by the door to the school? I gotta talk to my mom about something." I nervously said, smiling a little at Sweetie Belle as I motioned her towards the door.

She blinked once, confused, before turning towards the door and opened it. "Well, don't take too long. I wanna go check what's in store for both of us, so I'll go right into the party. See ya in there, my Tender Buttons."

She then suddenly turned right back towards me and pecked a slight kiss on my cheek, and before I had the chance to stammer out a reply, blushing madly, she had already hopped out the car door and closed it, leaving only me and my mom in the car alone.

"So..." My mom started up after a duration of awkward silence in the car, alone, turning her whole body in the driver seat to look at me with a questioning glance towards me.

"Yea, I'm gonna be doing something at Gibson's party, mom. I know you were eavesdropping us two in my room earlier today." I answered her with a roll of my eyes as I lied my head against the seat, sighing a little.

My mom blushed a little in embarrassment before she smiled sweetly, placing her head against the chair, still looking at me. "Look at my little Button. All grown up, proposing a girl to be his girlfriend. Oh gosh..."

I groaned, slowly slinking down from where I was sitting at, embarrassed. "Mom... I'm still 11 years old... Besides, what if she rejects me? What'll happen then?"

My mom then blew a raspberry, waving a hand as she turned back around to sit properly in her chair, still facing her head towards me. "Oh, nonsense. She won't be doing any of that, I'm sure of it. Now, you best not let a lady wait too long, Button. Otherwise, she might have other thoughts on where you might've gone to do~"

"Ah, crud! Alright, thanks, mom! Pick us up after the party, love you, byeeee!" was all I said before I opened the car door, hopping out of the car and closed the door behind me, immediately rushing inside the school towards where the party is taking place at.

Ah crap! I gotta be there before the thing starts, otherwise, this night's gonna be a disaster! The thought raced through my head as I ran through the hallways, heading in the general direction of the school hall where the party is taking place at.

Once I turned the last corner, I saw the door to the school hall and skidded myself to a dead stop before I walked on the remaining distance slowly. I stood in front of the door, looking up at it as I placed my hand against it, sighing. This is it. This is really happening.

I pushed open the doors slowly as the loud music coming from the DJ blasted into my ears, which caused me to reel back in surprise at the loudness before I walked into the room, sticking by the wall. The plan was to sneak into the backstage and meet up with my brother and his band, but it was kinda hard at the number of students that attended the party.

But thankfully, everything was going pretty smooth and I was a few feet away from the door leading to the backstage when all of a sudden, my hand was pulled back forcefully, causing myself to yelp in surprise and skid a few feet back before I managed to stop whoever was pulling me and looked back at the person in curiosity, which was greeted by the annoyed face of my date I had brought to the party: Sweetie Belle.

"Where do you think you're going, Button? The party's this way!"

Okay, I swear, all three of the crusaders can be strong-headed sometimes.

"Uhh..." I muttered out, glancing my eyes around except at Sweetie Belle, trying to find reason with her.

"Uhh, what? Button, you invited me here to be your date. You should ALWAYS accompany your date wherever you go! Rarity said that herself!" Sweetie Belle spoke up over the loud music still present, her arms crossed and an annoyed pout on her face.

I then looked on over to the stage area, and for a second, saw Gibson's head pop out of the curtains, looking right at me with a raised eyebrow before popping his head back in. I better be quick. His band performance is about to start, and I need to be there before it starts. Or not...

"S-Sweetie Belle." I stammered out her name, before I shook my head, looking right at her with a serious expression on my face. "Sweetie Belle, please. I need to go check on Gibson. Can you at least let me go do my thing? Pretty please?" I finished, grabbing hold of Sweetie Belle's hands and looking right into her beautiful sap green eyes with a strong gaze.

Sweetie Belle looked back into my eyes and tilted her head in confusion for a while before she sighed in annoyance. "Fine. Go. But after whatever you're doing is finished, get over to me as soon as possible. I don't like being alone."

Heh. That's exactly what I'll be doing. I thought quickly, smiling a little as I thanked her and made my way over to the backstage.

Once backstage, I was greeted by Gibson with his bandmates, all of them holding their equipment except their drummer, who was just holding the drumsticks. "So, you ready for the 'thing', Button?" Gibson asked, his red electric guitar slung off his shoulders as the DJ, Vinyl Scratch, had stopped playing her playlist and watched us from behind Gibson's bandmates, her arms crossed against the machine she used for the music played earlier.

I simply nodded, a mischevious smirk on my face as I grabbed hold of a microphone left on a table by the door and checked if it's working correctly before I looked back up at Gibson. "Of course. This is gonna be a great day for me, and it's all thanks to you, Gib. Thanks for all of this, anyway. You're the best."

"Anytime for my little bro. Oh, and you owe me!" was all he said before he, including his two bandmates, jogged out towards the stage area with their instruments in hand as their arrival on-stage caused a chorus of cheers to be heard from the crowd outside.

"Hey there, Canterlot High! How is everybody doing today!?"

Alright, Button. This is it. It's time.

"So, the end of the school year already, huh? Crazy, right!?"

It's time for me to sing. Oh, god.

"Now, because today's gonna be the last day of school, we decided to play a couple of our songs on the stage tonight!"

Ah crap, what if they hate me!? Wait, no, snap out of it, Button!

"Though, before all that happens, we're gonna be having a surprise prelude show by someone else! So, surprise!"

This is for Sweetie Belle. I'm just gonna sing this song, and I'm singing it just for her. Nothing else.

"Now, this someone, who is very close to me decided to do something VERY special for their date tonight! So give it up for my special little brother; Button Mash!"

I slowly walked out towards the stage area and- oh gosh, that's a lot of students. I glanced around, my microphone still held in both my hands as I searched for a certain white skinned teenage girl before a couple of moments later, my eyes landed on her standing in the middle of the hall, staring back at me with a glint of curiosity in her eyes.

"W-Well... umm, hi there, everybody. Umm... So, uhh..." I stuttered out, my hands shaking madly as every pair of eyes in the school hall stared at me, the spotlight currently on me only. Suddenly, I could feel a hand on my shoulders, and I looked over my shoulders to see Gibson smiling confidently at me with a nod of his head to continue talking.

I breathed in some air before I gulped, standing straight with the microphone held up against my mouth. "So, today. I'll be singing a song for my special date today, which happens to be Sweetie Belle. So, umm... I really hope you all enjoy the song that I'll be singing today."

As soon as I finished speaking, I could hear the starting beat of the song played by a keyboard, which I then looked back to see everybody standing by their place, though I widened my eyes in shock when I saw Gibson's girlfriend, Misty Fly, standing by the keyboard and playing it as she looked at me, smiling brightly at me and nodding her head in encouragement towards me.

Slowly, one by one, Gibson and his bandmates start to accompany Misty's melody, first the drums, then the base, and finally the guitar. I smiled back at all of them, thankful for helping me out in this special 'thing' for Sweetie Belle before I looked back out towards the rest of the school, specifically holding my gaze towards Sweetie Belle with the brightest smile I could muster on my face as I bring the microphone up to my mouth, singing with all my heart into the song.

"Oh... Her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shining!
Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her trying!
She's so beautiful... and I think of her every day... yeah...
Yeah, I know, I know when I compliment her she won't believe me!
And it's so, it's so sad to think that she don't see what I see!
But every time she asks me "Do I look okay?", I'd say~"

I ran up to the edge of the stage and pointed my free hand at Sweetie Belle as I nodded my head to the beat, who then blushed madly and tries to look away from me, but continues to look sideways at me with a sheepish smile on her face.

"When I see your face~!
There's not a thing that I would change~
Cause you're amazing!
Just the way you are~!
And when you smile~!
The whole world stops and stares for a while!
Cause girl you're amazing~!
Just the way you are!
Yeah!"

I then stood back up and started to walk around the stage, still looking back at the rest of the school, who were now currently cheering on for me.

"Her lips, her lips, I could stare at them all day if she'd let me!
Her laugh, her laugh, she hates but I think it's so adorable!
She's so beautiful, and I think of her every day!
Oh, you know, you know, you know I'd never ask you to change~
If perfect's what you're searching for then just stay the same~
So don't even bother asking if you look okay, you know I'll say!"

I then stopped by the edge of the stage once more and saw that Sweetie Belle was looking back at me with that cute sheepish smile of hers still on her face, which made me snort a little before continuing to sing.

"The way you are~!
The way you are~!
Girl, you're amazing!
Just the way you are!"

I quickly made a quick hop off the stage and landed safely on the wooden floor before I stood back up, the crowd around me clearing a path towards the one girl I had my eyes on since the start of the song: Sweetie Belle, who was also staring at me with surprise and a blush clearly seen on her cheeks.

"When I see your face...
There's not a thing that I would change...
Cause you're amazing~
Just the way you are..."

I slowly made my way over to her, still smiling brightly and singing for her as the crowd around me made more room for me to pass by.

"And when you smile~
The whole world stops and stares for a while~!"

Now getting closer to Sweetie Belle, I now sported a mild blush on my face but managed to keep the nervousness out of the tone of my voice as I sang the last few lyrics for the song.

"Cause, girl, you're amazing~!
Just the way you are..."

I now stood in front of her, a few feet standing between us as both of us stared at each other, both of us blushing as she fidgeted with her fingers, nervously staring at me as the song slowly came to a close and I sang out the last part of the song with a goofy grin plastered onto my face.

"Yeah~!"

After I belted out the last part of the song, I grabbed hold of Sweetie's right hand in my left as I gathered my breath for a couple of seconds before I brought the microphone back to my mouth.

"Sweetie Belle? Through this song, I confessed how I had felt about you that I've kept to myself for a very long time now. And, if I may..." I gulped nervously as I got down on my knees and looked into her beautiful green eyes, smiling nervously at her. "...can you be my girlfriend, Sweetie Belle?"

As soon as I spoke out those words, the whole school suddenly ceased to exist, leaving only me and Sweetie Belle alone in a dark void with a spotlight from above shining on us both. I could now see that Sweetie Belle was still stunned by my sudden confession and proposal to her, so I gave her some time to think things through. Though, the longer I did wait, the longer the tension was getting to me.

Ah crap... what if she doesn't accept me...? What if she's gonna hate me forever? Did I just jeopardise my chances on her being my girlfriend by singing? Am I gonna ruin our friendship? Ah crap, ah crap, ah crap! Please, god, tell me I didn't ruin our friendship! Please please-

My thoughts suddenly came to a dead stop as I then felt a hand rest on my shoulders, which I then looked back up at Sweetie Belle, who was now smiling with a blush on her face. "Aww... That's really sweet of you to do that, Button... Of course I'd be your girlfriend, my Tender Buttons. I mean, together, we mash together perfectly, don't we~?"

Suddenly, the whole school came back to exist as I could now hear hollers and whistling from all around us, which made us both blush even madly at the sudden realization of us hogging the spotlight.

"Uhh... you wanna get out of here and play some games at my house, Sweets?"

Sweetie Belle nodded immediately, which I then compiled and took her hands as we both ran out of the school hall. Now instead of being 'just friends', we're now a legit couple. And I'm very happy to be Sweetie Belle's boyfriend, no matter what everybody else says. This is the happiest day of my life. No, both my lives. The happiest day of both John's life and Button's life. And I'll never trade this day for anything else. Ever.

Author's Note

HOLY JEEZ! THIS IS DEFINITELY THE LONGEST CHAPTER I'VE EVER WRITTEN! :rainbowderp:

Also, woohoo! Button finally expressed how he had been feeling towards Sweetie Belle! Yay! This calls for a celebration! :pinkiehappy:

By the way, if it isn't obvious enough, the song is Just The Way You Are, by Bruno Mars! Of course, I had to change a couple of the lyrics to fit how Button is supposed to sing it, since he's still 12...or 11. Though, if you want, here's a song sung by Button Mash's fan VA himself, Blake Swift!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNdoxLYsqrc

Also, if you guys want a challenge, try finding out what the title of this chapter actually means. :rainbowwild:

Another One?

These days were really the best spent with Sweetie Belle. After I had proposed to her to be my girlfriend, we started to hang out more than often and I decided to start a new schedule on my live streaming so I could live stream playing games with Sweetie Belle. Of course, when Christmas came, we had to focus on our own families and I couldn't see Sweetie Belle for a few weeks before Spring came. And when Spring came and schools were back, that was when the news started spreading.

"Hey, did you hear the rumour, Button?" Rumble nudged me as we walked the hallways together, squeezing past groups of students standing around, talking about stuff.

I looked back at Rumble with a confused expression as I dodged and weaved a few other students walking the opposite direction we were walking. "What do you mean 'rumour', Rumble? I didn't hear any rumours earlier during recess."

Rumble looks around us before he walked nearer to me and brought us to the front door of the school as he started to whisper to me. "Well, here's the thing. It's about Apple Bloom. She, uhh... There's a lot of versions to the story, but I've confirmed it with Pip himself. The Apple Bloom we've been talking to for the past months was a fake."

That made me pause in my steps with wide eyes and my mouth wide open as what Rumble had said just broke down my mind, Rumble himself just walking a few feet ahead before stopping in his tracks, looking back at me with a puzzled face. "Button? You alright, dude?"

What. The. Crap. APPLEBLOOM'S NOT FROM HERE!? Holy crap. What the crap. This is too much. Brain shutting down. Oh crap. Crap crap crap-

"Yo? Button, you in there, dude?"

Rumble snapped me out of my thoughts as he now grabbed hold of my shoulders and started looking straight into my eyes with a worried look on his face.

I quickly shook my head as I went on over to the front door and pushed it open, Rumble following me from behind. "Are you saying that... the Apple Bloom we've been taking to before... isn't from around here?" I spoke in a nervous tone, stuttering my words out as I continued to walk down the sets of stairs and over to the CHS Statue.

"Huh. Well, I guess you can say it that way." Rumble said as I turned around by the base of the CHS statue, leaning my back against it and looking at Rumble with a raised eyebrow. "I think Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both said that Apple Bloom said our daily lives in school and stuff is actually on a show where she's from. I think they said it was... My Little Pony something? I have no idea at all, dude."

Yup. Now I'm sure of it. Apple Bloom's not from here. So, that means that Apple Bloom is from my world too? Uggh crap, this is getting too weird for my brain...

"Wait, so who was the other Apple Bloom then? What really happened?" I asked, confused, as Rumble started to walk, so I quickly ran up to him and walked beside him, now leaving the school area and walking along the sidewalks of a busy street.

"Well... it's a long story... but I guess I can tell it on the way to Pip's house. Pip asked us for our help, so don't ask me." Rumble quickly added as I tilted my head in confusion to the change of destination before I shrugged it off, listening to the story.

And, oh boy, was it confusing.

So, apparently, the fake Apple Bloom, whose name is actually Tom Haddington and is a boy, switched places a couple of months back with the real Apple Bloom when she got knocked out by a door. And the crazy thing is that the real Apple Bloom was somehow stuck in Tom's body in another world, having to live out her life in a 21-year-old boy's body. Which is crazy to think about, since she's a girl, being stuck in a guy's body, having a- Actually, forget what the crap I was talking about. Anyways, the real Apple Bloom somehow found a way to get back to this world and exposed Tom's real identity, and now the Tom-Apple Bloom is stuck here with no home and no family.

When the story was finished, I was left with a migraine and a burrowed frown on my face as we finally made it to Pipsqueak's house. So, Apple Bloom was stuck in... Tom's body... a guy, who was from my world? So, hold on... if she was stuck there, does that mean-

"Anyways, we're here, Button. We should probably ask Pip why he asked us here." Rumble's voice brought me out of my thoughts as my eyes focused itself and we now stood in front of Pipsqueak's front door. His house was pretty unique, as his walls are coloured with bright pink and its roof coloured dark brown. I always wondered who chose the colours for Pip's house. Eh, not important as of now, a question I can keep for later.

We walked up to the door and knocked on the door three times before the door suddenly swung open, greeted by the face of an exhausted Pipsqueak. "Oh, hey there, you guys... Come on in."

We both glanced at each other before shrugging, walking through the door as Rumble closed the door behind us with a soft thud. I looked around his house, and for some reason, his house felt a little... empty. It wasn't just me as Rumble himself also started to look around with a confused frown on his face.

I looked back at Pipsqueak as he walked right past us and towards the staircase. "So... is it just me, or is the house looking a little... you know the word, dull? No offence."

Pipsqueak stopped by the base of the stairs as he turned around sighing, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Yeah, yeah, I know. My family just decided not to put up the decorations for some reason. Maybe because we kept moving around the country and finally settled here 3 years ago, probably. Now come on, let's go to my parents' room first. Apple Bloom is in my room, she needs some alone time for now."

We both snorted in amusement before we followed Pipsqueak up the stairs and towards his parents' bedroom, making as little noise as possible when passing by Pip's own room to not alert the Apple Bloom inside. Finally, we made it to his parents' room and closed the door behind us, all three of us gathering by the bed, sitting towards one another in a small circle.

"So, Button, Rumble must've filled you in on what's happening with Apple Bloom, am I right?" Pipsqueak spoke up as he glanced towards me, raising an eyebrow at me.

I quickly nodded as I then looked over at Rumble with a troubled expression worn on my face. "Yeah, about the two Apple Blooms. But, which one is the real one, though...? The one in your room, or the one who's acting like Diamond Tiara at school earlier? I'm still confused about that part..."

Pipsqueak then spoke up, rubbing his head as I looked back at him. "Well, that's the confusing thing... Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both said that the Apple Bloom in my room is the fake one, but she's literally like the real deal: Honest, quick to stand up for others and stubborn as heck."

Rumble and I quickly stiffled a chortle before I glanced back at Pipsqueak, a sly smirk worn on my face. "She's gonna bash your face in if you tell her that."

Pipsqueak titled his head, scratching his head before he shook his head, ignoring whatever I had said just now. "However, the other Apple Bloom at school? Even though the rest of the Apple family, and probably Applejack's friends, thinks THAT Apple Bloom is the real one, she's too bossy and rude to be the real Apple Bloom. Besides, that isn't the girl that I had fallen in love with. The one in my room is."

Rumble and I then looked back at each other, before looking back at Pipsqueak with a small smile on our faces. "So you do confess to having a 'thing' on Apple Bloom, huh?" I said, no sarcasm nor joking tone in my voice as I placed my head against my hand, propping my head up with it, still smiling at him.

Pipsqueak simply glared at me with furrowed brows, groaning in annoyance as he simply muttered one word, a mild blush on his face. "Yeah."

I just shrugged my shoulders, sitting up straight as I looked back at Rumble, who is now snickering at me, causing me to roll my eyes at him before looking back at Pipsqueak. "Alright then. That reason works good enough with me. So, how can we help cheer Apple Bloom up then? It's clear as day that she's feeling lonely and abandoned in your room right about now."

Pipsqueak looked towards the door, a sad expression shown on his face as he sighed sadly. "Well, I was thinking of proposing to her. But, I'm not sure if she'll accept it or not..."

I then smiled weakly at Pipsqueak as I inched forward a little and placed a hand on his shoulders, causing him to look up at me with a little bit of moisture gathering up around his eyes. "Hey... I'm sure Apple Bloom will accept your proposal. I mean, I've been in your shoes before, and look how Sweetie Belle and I are now. She's gonna love it, Pipsqueak. I promise."

The boy in question then smiled a little, his features brightened as he hugged me, burrowing his head into the hug. "Thanks, Button. You're a good friend."

We both separated from the hug, looking back at Rumble for a couple of seconds, still smiling before looking back at Pipsqueak, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, your idea on how to propose to Apple Bloom to be her boyfriend isn't gonna be so bad, am I right?"

===== 2 Hours Later =====

"Okay, scratch what I said earlier, this is the worst idea ever."

I mumbled out as we all dressed up in matching Barbershop outfits with straw hats worm to accompany the outfit, now standing in front of Pipsqueak's bedroom door. Pipsqueak had already walked through the door, now all three of us, including Featherweight who had just arrived an hour ago to help out in Pipsqueak's proposal, had to wait for the signal before entering through the door as well.

"Well, like Pipsqueak said earlier, you're a good friend, Button. And a good friend should always help out another friend, whether you like it or not." I looked over to Rumble, who then looked back at me with a small smile present on his face.

I raspberried, waving a hand at him as I rolled my eyes, looking away from him. The awkward silence didn't last though, as Featherweight suddenly spoke up from behind us with a nervous stutter. "What do you guys think will happen to this Apple Bloom if no one will believe this is the real Apple Bloom?"

I glanced back at him and just for a moment, stared blankly at him before I smiled confidently, nodding at him. "Then we'll keep trying and trying until people will believe it's her. We'll never give up, both for Apple Bloom and Pipsqueak."

Suddenly, the lights in the room right in front of us flickered out, marking it as our signal to enter. "Well, time to do this. Let's hope this will work, guys." I looked back to Rumble and Featherweight, still smiling with all my confidence at them before I looked back at the door, opening it. All three of us stepped in, and we did our magic. Things are actually starting to look up for all of us, mostly for Apple Bloom.

I do hope this Tom fella will be alright though. Or not...

Depression

So... the Tom-Apple Bloom fell through a portal just yesterday, and things at school... got terrible.

"Oh jeez... I didn't know that one loss of life can result in the whole school to get depressed like this..." I glanced around, muttering under my breath as I walked through the school hallway, the only sound heard was silent murmurs and footsteps by students all around me. It kinda felt like I was walking through a dead silent graveyard...

I turned the corner and met with the blank eyes of my sweet girlfriend, Sweetie Belle, walking towards me without giving off any reactions to my presence. "Oh, uhh, hey there Sweetie..." I trailed off as Sweetie Belle suddenly bumps into my shoulder and continues walking the same path she was heading. I stared blankly at the surprising yet empty response I got from Sweetie Belle for a couple of moments before I snapped out of my surprise and ran after her, stopping right next to her.

We just continued to walk, probably no destination in thought as the last school bell of the day had already rung earlier. We walked, and walked, and walked... until I couldn't bear the silence anymore. "Sweetie Belle. Can you just stop ignoring me and please talk to me already?" I brought my hands up right to her shoulders as I looked her over in worry. Her dress was messy and dirty in some places, her hair dishevelled, no hairband was worn in her cotton-like hair and her skin looked a little... paler. Like 'vampire skin' pale.

After a minute standing there in the middle of the hallway, Sweetie Belle finally brought her eyes to look up at me, which made me widened my eyes in shock. Her eyes were... bloodshot red, and I could clearly see some tear stains on her face. Her eyes, before sported the brilliant sap green eyes, now bore duller versions of those beautiful eyes.

"What do you want, Button...? Can't you see I don't want to be disturbed...?"

Even her voice sounded chilling like ice instead of her normal cheerful self, it had given me shivers down the back of my spine. I gulped, steeling myself as I tried to console her for her recent loss: A close friend of hers. "Look, Sweetie Belle... I just... wanted to know how you're doing after what happened yesterday..."

She suddenly glared at me, hitting me squarely on the shoulders, causing me to yelp out in pain and surprise before she suddenly got real close to my face, huffing in anger. "Oh, I don't know! One of my best friends in the world just died yesterday, so what do you think I'm feeling right now, huh!?"

I stared with wide eyes at her sudden rage at me for a couple of moments before I snapped out of it, gulping nervously before I tried to grab hold of her hands, causing her to pull back her hands instantly, surprised by my sudden action. "Look... Sweetie Belle? I may not look like it, but I've felt what you're feeling right now... And it hurts, I know..."

Her furious expression then softened up as she looked up at me with a curious yet sad glint in her hollow eyes, pulling me to the side of a locker, sliding down against it as she sighed in sadness before looking up at me. "You do, Button...?"

I sat down as well, propping myself up with my backpack as I held her hand slowly, caressing it with my own. "Back then, I had a pretty cool friend... which, you probably didn't know about..." I quickly added as I remembered an event that occurred back when I was still young in my old world, an innocent yet happy Jonathan Rooke kid.

"...He died in a car accident... Did I say that he was a cool guy too...? We used to play games all the time after we came back from school... He was probably my only friend back then... When the news of him leaving us forever reached my ears, I was devastated... I thought my life was ruined forever..." I sniffed, rubbing the moisture gathering in my eyes as I glanced back at Sweetie Belle, smiling sadly at her.

"But... sometimes, we lose people who love us... Friends, families... besties... Though, we have to keep on moving forward, Sweetie Belle... 'Cause, think about it, does Apple Bloom want you to be sad forever?" I asked, scooting over to her side and placed my arm around her neck, letting her lay her head on my shoulder.

We both said nothing for a couple of minutes, watching the students go by us, an endless procession of sad, miserable faces struggling with the devastating loss of one of their own. One of those faces happened to be Applejack, who was sporting a much messier look than the rest of the students, and I knew she was taking the loss of her little sister the hardest out of all of us. Hell, she'd rejected Apple Bloom when the revelation of her true identity had came out weeks before all this had happened.

Once those few minutes were up, Sweetie Belle mustered up the courage to speak up again, looking back up at me with a sad smile. "I... I guess not. Thanks, Button. I guess I needed that." As she slowly got up and went to leave, I realised we had a long road of recovery ahead of us. She looked back down at me, her face brightening a little as she nodded at me."Well, see ya later, Button. Maybe you should talk to the rest of our friends. Cheer them up a little, as you did with me." She said, sporting a little smile on her face before walking down the hallway, leaving me alone to my thoughts.

I continued to look down the hallway where Sweetie Belle had taken before I sighed, standing up straight and took off in the opposite direction of the hallway. Outdoors, it was raining, as it always seems to be when something sad or tragic had happened, and today happened to be one of those days. I frowned, looking down at my hands as I could imagine my old Caucasian-skinned hands overlapping my brown ones. They're not the only ones to lose someone important. Apple Bloom - or, more specifically, Tom - was the only person I knew that came from my world... and now he's gone.

I sighed one more time, placing my hands inside my pockets as I pulled the hoodie over my head and glanced around the hallway, still walking down it with a slow pace. The death of Apple Bloom didn't just affect the rest of the school, even I got affected by it as well, though only a small amount of it. I didn't wear my propeller hat, which was now replaced by a dark blue hat, sticking out like a sore thumb (which had surprised some of the students). My hair was also all over the place as well since I didn't feel like fixing my hair in the morning earlier, even when my mom had asked me to do it.

After a couple of minutes just minding my own business, walking past expressionless-worn faces of students, my eyes landed on the former boyfriend of the student we had lost yesterday and one of my best friends: Pipsqueak. I winced, noticing that most of his features were almost as terrible as Sweetie Belle's earlier. He had bags under his eyes that would rival the largest packing cases, and his eyes were bloodshot-red from the tears probably. His hair looked as if it hadn't been washed in days, and his shirt was covered in dirt. They hadn't seen a washing machine in a while, I guessed. It was a real no-brainer that he was affected really badly from Apple Blooms' supposed death.

I walked on over to his right side, leaning my back against the wall as I let my presence known to him. We stayed silent, just as I did so with Sweetie Belle, watching the students pass by us, though not so much as from earlier, probably because most of the students had already left for their houses. I thought a minute or two was enough time to let him be left with his thoughts, so I turned my body towards him and scratched my head, clearing my throat before talking in a nervous stutter. "S-So... Umm, hey there-"

"SHUT UP!"

I was suddenly slammed into the wall I was leaning against, being held there from a very angry Pipsqueak, his bloodshot eyes piercing into my soul. My whole body shook with fear, shutting down as I just stared back at my best friend's piercing eyes, no option left for me to do.

"My fucking girlfriend just died yesterday, Button! I think that's enough clues for you all to know that I shouldn't be disturbed right now, you dick!" He spat out in a raged shout, still holding me against the wall. Though, one thing stood out for me in how Pipsqueak was acting right now as I stared back with wide eyes at him, still scared like hell at Pipsqueak's outburst. Holy crap. I didn't think Pipsqueak can curse that badly.

I was suddenly brought out of my thoughts as I felt a pair of hands grabbing hold of my collar, making me look down at those hands in a panic. I quickly grabbed hold of Pipsqueak's arms, which is now currently gripping tightly at my collar, lifting me up against the wall, my hoodie and blue hat knocked off my head as I gasped, struggling to take a breather. "P-PIP! G-GAH! F-FUCKING LET GO, D-DUDE! I-I CAN'T BREATHE!" I stuttered out in a panic, flailing my feet around as I try to force his hands off my collar, still gasping for some air. I looked around us, now noticing that the hallway we're in was now empty before I looked back at Pipsqueak snarling at me.

"I thought I made it clear that I wanted to be alone! Look what you made me do, you dick! So fuck you!" He shrieked out at me, tightening his grip around my collar, now literally blocking my airway of air, causing me to start choking, doing all my might to get his hands off of me but failing miserably.

"P-pip... f-fuck... c-can't...." I managed to wheeze out before my arms fell limp, my vision starting to go blurry and dark as I let my head go limp as well, no energy left inside me. I was at the edge of unconsciousness when I was suddenly dropped down to the floor, my airway now unblocked, letting the air fill my lungs again. I took a mouthful of air as I looked back up at what had happened and widened my eyes in shock. Pipsqueak was being held back by another close friend of ours, a certain student with light grey skin and greyish cornflower blue hair: Rumble.

"Pipsqueak, snap out of it! What the hell has gotten into you!? You almost killed Button, dude!" Rumble grumbled out as he managed to pin Pipsqueak against the wall opposite to where I was at, struggling as Pipsqueak tried to lash out at Rumble himself, thrashing his body against him.

"HE DIDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE! LET ME AT HIM, RUMBLE! THAT DICK DESERVES TO DIE!" Pipsqueak spat out at Rumble, still focusing on me, the air being cut off from my lungs making me heave in the air with my hands across my chest area.

After getting enough air, I slowly sat back up straight, leaning back against the wall as I stared back at Pipsqueak with not only fear but concern towards my best friend. "P-Pipsqueak... why would I leave you alone when your girlfriend had died just yesterday...? You said it yourself back then in your room... I'm a good friend of yours, and no good friend leaves his friends behind to mourn his girlfriend all on his own..."

After a couple of moments filled with silence past us by except the sound of Pipsqueak thrashing against Rumble, Pipsqueak slowly stopped lashing out against him, dropping down towards the ground with a quiet sob accompanying him. Rumble looked down at him, gulping in gallons of air before turning back towards me. "You alright, dude? Thank god I came down this hallway when that stunt happened... otherwise..." He shook his head, his body shivering as he looked down at me, offering his hand towards me.

I looked down at his hand before I looked back up at him, smiling weakly as I grabbed hold of his hand, being pulled up to my feet. "Thanks, Rumble. I owe you one." I thanked Rumble as I now looked back at the defeated Pipsqueak, wondering how he had gotten so violent all of a sudden when all I did was just ask how he was doing.

I heard Rumble let out a sigh of his own, leaning against the wall I was backed up against earlier as he scratched his head, probably wondering the same thing too.

"You thinking about Pipsqueak and why he attacked me?" I asked, my throat still sore from Pipsqueak's failed choke-out as I glanced towards him, raising a curious eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, I'm still thinking about it... I mean, damn, he never got violent like that with us before, but now..." He shuddered with a shiver going down his spine as I myself let my back rest against the wall as well, crossing my arms as we both looked back at Pipsqueak, who had never stopped sobbing into his jeans, his backpack left by his side unconsciously left zipped open.

I sighed, scratching the back of my head as I looked towards both ends of the hallway, seeing nobody walking nearby before I looked back at Rumble, shaking my head in sadness. "Just one death... and all this negativity at our school just skyrocketed ... It's just... holy crap..."

"Yeah... But, are you okay though?"

That sudden question made me jump in place as I wore a very surprised look and glanced towards Rumble. I shook my head, my messy brown hair shaking loose as well, as I again looked at Rumble, coughing a little. "I... have no idea what you're talking about, dude..."

Rumble just sighed, looking back at the broken state our third friend was in as he just crossed his arms, his eyes downcast towards Pipsqueak. "Look at him. Just a few days ago, he was as happy as you were getting a new game for your birthday... But now, well..."

I glanced towards Pipsqueak and took in what I'd seen before looking back at Rumble with a scratch on my head and sighed sadly. "Yeah... No crapping it now... I'm infected with the depressed infection as well... You've got everyone figured out, great job." I gave out a weak humorous laugh as I slowly slid down the wall into a sitting position, sighing sadly as I rested my head against the wall, looking up at the ceiling with my eyes closed.

I could hear Rumble sitting down next to me, giving me time to calm myself down. A couple of minutes later, I finally looked back at Rumble with a sad sigh. "It's just... gosh, only Apple Bloom could understand what I'm facing through right now..."

"Err... what do you mean, Button? Is there something I'm not getting at?" Rumble quickly asked, tilting his head to express his confusion even more.

I shook my head quickly as I glanced over to Pipsqueak, who still hasn't moved an inch from where he slid down at before I looked back at Rumble. "Apple Bloom and I... we had a common bond only the two of us had... And now that she's gone, who's gonna be my player two...? Who's gonna be my partner...?"

Rumble widened his eyes and opened his mouth to reply back to my statement before I managed to shush him first, shaking my head. "No, I'm not secretly dating her. My only true love is my Sweetie Belle, no one can change that. I'm just saying 'player two' and 'partner' as a metaphor for 'close friend who shares a common thing'."

Rumble raised an eyebrow, scratching his head as he tries to think for a while before giving up, letting out a sigh. "Care to tell me what this 'Common Bond' you two had?"

I leaned back against the wall again as I placed my arms against my knee, resting my head on my arms whilst I looked back at Rumble's confused face, letting out a sigh of my own. "Both Apple Bloom and I didn't have any friends during our freshman years... We were probably invisible to other students too back then..."

Rumble looked up at the ceiling, diving deep into his mind for a couple of moments before tilting his head in confusion, looking back down at me. "What? I thought you and Apple Bloom registered late for freshman year and had to skip a year. Are you sure you're not just messing with me?"

I grumbled, looking away from Rumble as I looked to my left, down the empty hall of the school, pouting a little. "You all don't even remember... We were both pretty quiet, never did we get noticed by all of you... Well, not until the second year, when you and Pip asked me to join your table at recess, and probably the same for Apple Bloom when Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo asked her the same question too." I glanced towards Pipsqueak and noticed that he too was listening intently by the way his body posture was now straight and he had stopped sobbing loudly.

I snorted in amusement as I remembered, back in my old life as John Rooke, that the same situation had happened as well back in high school. "I even remembered that I used to hum and sing a song that I made up just for fun... I think it goes like this..."

Suddenly, the music of an upbeat lively song started playing in the background as I got ready to sing the old song I had always sung back when I was ignored as a teenage John Rooke in my old high school.

My school life's a big bust,
trying hard to just fit in!
Why can't I just roll,
then maybe I could finally win!
The big mistake is me,
I think I'd belong in a bin!
Just trying hard to impress the girls,
or am I just making a fool out of me?

Is it so hard to be just normal~?
All that I'm asking for are some mates~!
So why can't I stop being abnormal?
Maybe I could start slamming on the brakes~?

Just fit in, just fit in!
Is it too much for my sake?
Just fake it, just fake it!
Or not I'll just fade~!
Just wanted some friends that I could make~!
Before I die, drowning myself in a lake~!

Rumble suddenly gripped my shoulders, causing me to look back at a worried look from my grey-skinned friend. "Wait, you were thinking of suicide!?"

I shrugged nonchalantly as I snorted again, shaking my head in amusement. "I was a kid back then, dude. I could've been kidding, but who knows? That was a long time ago. But, anyway..."

I walk the halls of my school,
unheard by everyone~
I stare at the nerdy couple,
or the jock and his miss perfect one~!
I waved, I weaved and I spoke,
but I never stepped out of the sun~
Will everyone forget who I am,
or will I be found by someone?

Is it so hard to be just normal~?
All that I'm asking for are some mates~!
So why can't I stop being abnormal?
Maybe I could start slamming on the brakes~?

Just fit in, just fit in...
Is it too much for my sake...?
Just fake it, just fake it...
Or not I'll just fade...
Just fit in, just fit in...
Is it too much for my sake...?
Just fake it, just fake it...
Oh, wait, I've already faded...

I shook my head, sighing as I looked away again, frowning as I rested my head against my hand, supporting it up. "And now, well... with Apple Bloom gone, I don't know what to do now... Now I'm just half of a pair that's missing its other half..."

The hall went silent, Pip and Rumble probably thinking what the hell they should do to cheer me up. I shook my head again, hiding my face behind my arms as I sighed.

I mean, there’s that other common thing we both shared... That we never belonged here in the first place... But they’d never understand if I told them the truth, and they’ll probably kick me away from the group if I did tell... Uggh crap, this is just annoying...

Suddenly, I could feel two hands grabbing hold of my shoulders from behind, causing me to look back up at the owners of those hands. Both Pipsqueak and Rumble’s eyes met up with mine, a sad hopeful smile on their faces as they knelt down, making me turn my body facing towards them, uncovering my face from behind my arms.

“Well... It won’t mean much, but we’re still here Button... I might’ve lost my girlfriend, but it’s certain that Apple Bloom meant as much for you as for me. So, I know what you’re feeling right now...” Pipsqueak spoke up, patting me on the shoulders as he nodded, before smiling sheepishly, scratching his head. “And... I’m sorry that I tried to choke you out earlier... You really had me at a bad time...”

The edges of my mouth lifted up at Pipsqueak’s apology before I cracked out a snort, nudging him softly against his shoulders, making both of them stare at me with confused expressions on their faces.

“Are you fucking serious? I was perfectly fine earlier! You didn’t even leave a scratch on me, Pip.” I said in an amused tone, crossing my arms as I rested my head on the locker I was sitting against, a sly smirk now worn on my face as my features brightened up for the first time today.

Both Rumble and Pipsqueak looked back at each other before looking back at me, crossing their arms as they themselves sat down as well, chuckling a little at my shift in demeanour. "You sure about that, Button? I thought you were yelling out for help or something earlier, and here you are, bragging as though you didn't need my help? Well, I'll just keep that in my thoughts for later on then." Rumble said in a sarcastic way, rolling his eyes in amusement as Pipsqueak fixes his backpack, slinging it on his right shoulder before looking back at me with a smirk as well.

"Yeah, I'll choke you out much stronger if I get the chance. Thanks for the reminder."

All three of us stared against one another in complete silence for a couple of moments before we all broke down laughing, all three of us lying down against the floor. Slowly, one by one, we all calmed ourselves and sat back up, facing against each other with a small but happy smile on our faces. "Thanks for this, guys. I guess I really needed it, after all the stress I've been getting today." I thanked them with a now-cheerful tone decorating my voice as I looked towards both Rumble and Pipsqueak, who were probably feeling the same way as I am right now.

"Hey, what are friends for, am I right?" Rumble spoke up, slinging his backpack as well before bringing forward his right hand, which is balled into a fist. "Friends?"

Almost immediately, Pipsqueak's white hand, balled into fists too, joined Rumble's hand in the middle with a happy smile sporting his face too. "Definitely friends. I really owed everything to you all for today."

Both of them glanced towards me, signalling me to join in with them, their features looking slightly brighter and better than before. I snorted in amusement, rolling my eyes, before I balled my hands into fists and joined the pile of fists, smiling cheerfully for the first time today. "Friends. One-hundred-percent."

Author's Note

So! I guess THIS is the longest chapter... yet!

I swear, the original plans for this was simple:
-Button consoles Sweetie
-Button consoles Pip
-Button consoles Scoots but fails
But apparently, my mind wanted some other fancy plans, and because it went too damn long, I had to cut off Button consoling Scootaloo. ~~Damn, Button gives no fuck about Scootaloo.~~ So, yea. Sorry, guys!

Also, yes! I wrote a song about John's old life in high school! Not the best, but ehh. Hope you all enjoyed the story anyways!

Sincerely,
Thunderous a.k.a Button Mash

Confusion

"Another boring day, here I come."

I groaned out in annoyance as I walked towards the front doors of CHS after getting dropped off by my mom in her Dacia Sandero, the cheapest car she could buy from the car dealer in Canterlot.

It had been a couple of days since the situation with Pipsqueak and I had happened, and things at school slowly started to go back to the way things used to be before... Apple Bloom died. Thankfully, I myself got over my depression state and started to wear my usual clothes with my propeller hat back on my head.

Though, some of the students still couldn't bring themselves to return to how things were, especially Applejack, her group of friends, and Scootaloo too. We had tried to cheer her up, multiple times. But she just couldn't face the truth and decided to turn us away. Every time. Eventually, we just decided that she deserved some time alone and leave her be for now.

"So... I see Lyra over there flirting with Bon Bon again..." I rolled my eyes, making my daily check-up on every student I could find on school grounds to satisfy my boredom. "...Vinyl banging her head to her music, Sweetie Belle trying to climb the plinth, Trixie failing at her magic-"

I did a double take on what I had said as I went to a dead stop, slowly looking over to the plinth to see my girlfriend, Sweetie Belle, struggling to climb up the thing. Back then, we used to have a statue of... something, which stood above the plinth to signify the school's reputation. I guess. Now, after that terrible Friendship Games had ended, it now stood there, bare and naked. It's just weird to see it nowadays, I guess.

"Wonder what she's doing trying to climb that thing... Ehh, maybe she's in a good mood today?" I asked myself, shrugging nonchalantly as I made my way over to her in a matter of seconds, now standing behind her, still struggling to pull herself up the plinth.

"Here, let me give you a boost!" I energetically spoke up before I bent down and managing to help her climb up the plinth by grabbing hold of her boots and pushing it up with all my strength. I smiled in victory as she slowly turned around to probably thank me for my heroic rescue for my damsel in distress.

"Thanks, mister-" She called out to me, but suddenly freezes in spot as she finally got a good look of her cute little boyfriend, who had heroically helped her out. Which is me. I'm cute. Or, well, handsome. Uggh, whatever, I'm cute and handsome. Look, I'd rather stick with this look than ever going back to my old disgusting body who lived his life in a rented apartment room and plays video games for a living. Yeah, not doing that.

"Hi Sweetie Belle! What're you doing out here?" I spoke up as I place my hands behind my back, looking up at Sweetie Belle as if she was a fallen angel, descending towards me gracefully. I mean, it's been a while since I've seen her smile or blush, and I do enjoy watching her do that every time.

"I must have dozed off somehow! Thanks for the boost Button." She replied with that same smile she used to give before Apple Bloom had died, causing me to swell up in happiness at the improvement in Sweetie Belle's mental health from a couple of days back. After I've talked with her that day, she started to be more positive and thankfully stopped being so depressed like before just starting yesterday during school.

"Anything for the most beautiful girl in the world." I complimented her, giving her a simple bow towards her as I smiled back at her, causing her to blush madly and mess around with her candy floss-like hair, twirling it with her finger multiple times. She stayed like that for a couple of seconds before jumping in place and turning around to look at something, then saying something that's... kind of concerning to my ears.

"This is after Friendship Games, then."

"How do you not know that the Games are in the past?" I tilted my head at her in confusion, puzzled at what she's saying. It seemed as though she was... a bit off today. Maybe something had happened earlier today?

She just stared back at me for a couple of moments before blowing a raspberry, waving a hand as she merely chuckled at what I had just said. She swiftly dropped down from the plinth, landing right next to me before standing right back up, looking straight at me with a soft smile still present on her face. "Just stating the obvious. So, how are you, my Tender Button?"

I pondered on her question for a bit before snapping my fingers, looking back at her with a smile on my face as well to match hers. "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Sugarcube Corner this afternoon after school." I admitted to her, crossing my hands behind my back again as I waited for her response in anticipation. I guess we could call this invitation another date between us two. We've been going on dates ever since I've proposed to her, and it gets better and better each time.

"I'd love to!" She squeaked out, dancing in place in excitement, causing me to chuckle out in glee. Something definitely happened earlier today, but it must be something so great to have Sweetie Belle be this happy this early in the morning.

Suddenly, the school bell rung, causing both Sweetie Belle and I to look up at the clocktower located on the roof of the school. I chuckled a little, glancing down at Sweetie Belle as I crossed my arm, nudging playfully at her. "For whom the Belle toils."

Sweetie Belle blew a raspberry, holding back her laughter before bursting into chuckles, wiping some moisture out of her own eyes before shaking her head in amusement, looking right back at me as we both held hands. "Let's go!" She said energetically as we both made our way into the school, heading to our first lesson together with our smiles still present on our faces.

===================={Later, during recess}====================

"Is it just me, or is Sweetie Belle acting a bit... weird?"

I asked, confusion clear in my voice as I sat next to Pipsqueak and Rumble at our usual cafeteria table, carrying a tray filled with two buns of hamburgers with a side of fries and a glass of apple juice that I grabbed from Granny Smith, who's also working the school cafeteria's chef. The food served here isn't the best, but it's not the worst either.

"Uhh... what do you mean, Button? Saying that your girlfriend is weird is a pretty big offensive thing, y'know..." Rumble mentioned, diving into his oatmeal as he glances towards me, raising an eyebrow in puzzledness.

"I know that... It's just, she's just acting a bit... odd. Like, she's not herself at the moment..." I replied back, shaking my head in annoyance as I bit down into the hamburger, savouring its juicy meat and spicy chilli sauce in the burger, before gulping, sighing as well. "Or maybe it's just me..."

Pipsqueak dropped his spoon into a bowl containing some fruit salad as he scratched his head, inching forward to look across from Rumble, a curiousity glint clear in his eyes towards me. "Can you tell us what made you think Sweetie Belle's acting weird?"

I dropped the hamburger onto the plate, grabbing a piece of the fries, thinking over my head the events that happened as I unconciously placed the piece into my mouth, holding it there. "Ehh... for starters, she was more focused on reading books than spending time on her phone... it might seem like a small thing, but being her boyfriend and all, that meant it stuck out like a sore thumb..."

I slowly bit into the piece of french fry, gulping it down immediately before looking down at my hamburger, staring at it intently as I burrowed my eyebrows, reminiscing the events happening today before school. "And, earlier this morning, she was... excited about something. Like, damn crapping excited until she decided to climb up the plinth at the front of the school. I don't know what made her do it, but it just felt weird... You guys know what I mean, right?" I looked over at them, grabbing the other hamburger and taking a bite out of it.

Both Rumble and Pipsqueak both glanced at each other before looking back at me, both reluctant to start the conversation back up, which I then noticed, glancing at them with a raise of my eyebrow. "What? Is there something I'm not knowing here?"

Both of them squirmed in their seats, causing me to just continue to stare at them with a deadpan expression on my face.

Finally, Pipsqueak groaned in annoyance, giving in to my stare as he turned his body towards me, placing his arm on the table to support his head, looking over Rumble towards me with a nervous glance. "Uggh, fine... so, did you know that... she came back?"

I simply tilted my head, confused at what he's saying as I beckoned him to continue on with a wave of my hand. The second he finished saying it, I did a spit-take of all my hamburger pieces onto Rumble, who sat right next to me, now feeling disgusted and screaming in agony and disgust. Still, I was surprised out of my wits to know that one piece of info.

"Umm... My girlfriend, Apple Bloom, came back from the dead."

Return

"My girlfriend, Apple Bloom, came back from the dead."

What Pipsqueak had said earlier during recess repeated itself in my head, over and over. It was killing me on the inside. Even when the last school bell had rung, I'm walking in the hall, that single sentence still running through my mind.

How the crap is she still alive!? I mean, I'm glad she's not dead, but... S-She fell into a portal! People said that she had died! Just... what the crap, dude...

I turned the corner of the hall leading towards the entrance of the school, when I had spotted Sweetie Belle nearing the door to the outside world. I decided to shake away that single thought and get back to what I had planned earlier today: Going on a date with Sweetie Belle.

I quickly took off running, the lightweight of my backpack helping me catch up to her before she grabbed hold of the door. "Hey, Sweetie Belle! Wait up!" I blurted out with an exhausted huff as I slowed down to a dead stop, Sweetie Belle now looking back at me with a surprised look on her face.

"Oh, hey there, Button! Sheesh, you surprised me for a second there. Anyways, glad you could get out of class as early as you can. Now we can finally have that date!" Sweetie Belle squeaked out, clearly excited to go on the date that I have planned at Sugarcube Corner.

We both stepped out of the school, me being the gentleman, propping the door open for Sweetie Belle to leave first before following behind her.

"So, did you watch the newest Daring Do movie that just came out a couple of weeks ago? I heard that there're cooler special effects that the producer had used for the movie!" I spoke first, leading her towards the base of the plinth as I leaned against it, crossing my arms and smiling back at the white crusader girl.

"Yeah, I saw it, alright! Me and the girls bought some tickets right as the movie came out! I mean, Button Mash, we're not called the Canterlot Movie Club for nothing, am I right?" The crusader replied back, crossing her arms and smiling back at me in a smug way.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Sweetie Belle, first off, it's 'The girls and I'. Second, the boys and I were there too, remember? We sat a row behind you girls, but I guess you forgot, huh?" I countered back, now smiling with a slightly crooked smirk as I crossed my arms, glaring playfully at her.

Sweetie Belle was about to counter back at me when a young but mature Southern accent girl voice called over to us from behind Sweetie Belle. "Howdy, y'all!"

Sweetie Belle turned to look at her, giving me the perfect view of who the mysterious person who caled out to us was. Holy crap... They weren't kidding, she really did come back... I thought to myself with a surprised look on my face as I stared at Apple Bloom, the girl who was rumoured to be the only casuality during the recently hectic Friendship Games.

Sweetie Belle, who was a close friend to her, clearly looked excited to see her best friend alive and well as she approached Apple Bloom. "Hi Apple Bloom!" But... isn't she surprised to find out her best friend came back from the dead? Weird... I thought briefly before shaking that thought out of my mind, glad that Apple Bloom's death was just a misunderstanding as I followed Sweetie Belle from behind.

Though, Apple Bloom clearly had something troubling her mind, and looked over towards me, scratching the back of her head. "Hey, Button, do ya mind if me and Sweetie Belle talked for a bit?" She asked meekly, still scratching her head as she broke eye contact with me, looking down at the ground.

I briefly titled my head before I nodded slowly, waving my hand lazily. "Sure, take your time." I turned around to walk on over to the plinth before I turned back towards the duo, smiling smugly as I crossed my arms at the two. "And it's 'Sweetie Belle and I'!"

The only thing I heard before I leaned back against the plinth was a snort and an amused reply from Apple Bloom. "He knows what Ah' mean."

The conversation had looked slightly animated, but for most of the duration of the conversation, I had focused my attention on the afternoon sky instead of eavesdropping on the two. Why would I even eavesdrop Sweetie Belle talking to a recently-revived best friend of hers? That's just... Okay, that just sounds weird thinking it out loud now that I think about it...

Suddenly, Sweetie Belle loudly whooped out, dragging me out of my ruminations with a jump, causing me to look on over to the two in the distance with a confused tilt of my head, Sweetie Belle currently pumping her hands into the air and Apple Bloom just looking at her with a confused expression on her face too.

It couldn't hurt to listen to what they're saying... right? I thought to myself, sighing a little before fixing the posture of my body so I could listen better to their personal conversation between themselves.

"Well, if ya need help with anythin’, know you can call me. Ah'm over at Sweet Apple Acres." I could see Apple Bloom shrugging simply as she smiled back at Sweetie Belle. What the crap are they talking about...?

But, before I could question it, a loud horn coming from the car park of the school was heard, followed by a distant holler by Apple Bloom's dad, Bright Mac in their... err, truck. "Apple Bloom!"

Apple Bloom briefly looked back at Bright Mac before turning back towards Sweetie Belle, patting her on the shoulders. "Ah gotta go! Enjoy yer evenin’, and don’t forget we got some Crusadin’ to do this Sunday!" She quickly called out before she turned around, running towards the truck.

I looked back at Sweetie Belle, who had hollered out a "Got it!" towards Apple Bloom, and noticed she was turning back towards me, so I quickly looked back up at the sky to not be suspected of eavesdropping on their conversation. Again, eavesdropping isn't very gentleman-like... Even though I just did it... Oh, just shut up, damn brain!

Before I knew it, I could hear Sweetie Belle stop right next to me, prompting me to look back down at her, who simply smiled sheepishly at me, causing me to raise one of my eyebrows. "What was that about?" I asked, confusion clear in my voice as I straightened up, tilting my head.

Sweetie Belle simply waved her hand casually as she rolled her eyes, blowing a raspberry at me. "She was just checking how I was. Now, how about we get this date started?" She asked, nudging me in the shoulders as she glared playfully at me, prompting me to snort in amusement as I rolled my eyes.

Though, I eventually laughed a little as I nudged her back before we both ran in the general direction of Sugarcube Corner, adrenaline pumping through our veins as we both held each other's hands tightly. "Your on!"