Chapters It's quiet in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, deep in the Everfree Forest. Peaceful, scerene as the featureless night didn't reveal anything. The flickering lights of torches can be seen through the broken windows and collapsed walls of the once magnificent castle.
Then a flash of light, the crackle of electricity and the muffled screams of a young colt can be heard faintly from inside.
Inside the building was a semi-formless entity, tall and lean, from what can be seen of it, with what seemed to be magic in its hands. It's body seemed to be made up of smoke, dark enough to barely be seen, even with the glowing energy in its 'hands'.
And it spoke, its voice seeming to echo and glitch, as if it were multiple voices, hesitant to speak in unison.
"Ah, poor little colt. How much longer can you hold out? As much as I love torturing you, I really wanna get to your beloved Princesses..." it said, directed to the small form suspended in air by chains connected to the low ceiling.
Said form would usually have a dark brown coat, as of made from oak, a reddish-brown mane and tail, as if made from acacia, and orange eyes that always shined with a happiness and joy that made anyone who knew him happy. Now his mane and tail were dirty, some of his coat singed from where the electricity entered his body, along with various scars that have been healed slowly and painfully, blood matting his fur and mane. His eyes were now broken, full of tiredness, but somehow with some passion and ferocity in them. This was Button Mash, the young colt from Ponyville who is very passionate about video games. He chuckled, his voice almost gone from the months of muffled screaming. He kept chuckling, to the point that his torturer pulled out the leather that was gagging him.
He looked up at it, orange eyes ringed with red, nose bleeding, along with some teeth missingand smirked. "I can do this all day" he muttered, as his voice couldn't go any louder.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Princesses, Celestia and Luna, bound and helpless with rings around their horns and wings, which were enchanted to cut them off painfully if they tried to use them. He could see their tear streaked cheeks and red eyes at having been forced to watch the one of the most innocent colts they happened to know be tortured before them. He silently wished that help could come soon, as he felt far too weak to go any further.
The form before him seemed to lose its smirk, bristling with anger a bit before calming down. "Oh, is that the case? Then I'll have to go further" it purred, before it shoved its hand into his chest. His eyes bulged as he felt it clench onto his spine. He tensed and squirmed as he felt its cold touch seep through his body. He had to close his eyes and clench his teeth as electricity jolted up his spinal column, setting his nerve endings alight with a new pain be never thought possible. As soon as it began it was over. He panted as the thing pulled out its hand, his body smoking a bit from the volts of energy that coursed through his body.
"Ya got balls kid, I'll give you that," the figure said, walking around him, observing the damage that it had done to the young male that would break a normal pony within the first couple days. His back was red and bloodied from when he was lashed with a barbed wire nine-tail whip. His hips, where his Cutie Mark would appear when he earned it, was branded with a name; Legion. Various words were carved deep into his skin, such as 'worthless,' 'nothing,' and 'unwanted'. And various bones were healed improperly after being broken multiple times, as shown by some deformations underneath his skin. He seemed to wince whenever he breathed, and his body was extremely thin and malnourished from months of dehydration and starvation.
"And a willpower that can rival even the gods. But in the end you'll break. You all will" it said as it then rushed to him, its smokey form entering his mouth and nose forcefully, causing the chains to snap.
Button fell to the ground with a grunt as his body started to convulse. His orange eyes flickered from its original color and a strange yellow, before settling on the unsettling secondary shade.
His body, now under control of the entity, stood up without using his hands or any other bodyparts. He had no horn or wings to do so. It was unnatural. A too wide smirk split across his muzzle as he stretched, the badly healed bones creaking in protest. "And there we go! A body of my own. Well, for a while at least" he spoke, his voice a cold, emotionless mockery of the lively colt the body belonged to. His head turned and he saw the Princesses. "Ah, now its time for even more fun.." it purred as it stepped forwards, only to find it couldn't. It tried again and again, grunting as it tried to move the body's feet. Only to double over as if his body were punched. It coughed up black ichor, the yellow flickering a bit. "What's happening" it asked before retching, even more of the disgusting tar-like substance pouring out of his maw.
~~
In his mind, it heard the voice of the colt, as strong as ever.
"I will not let you hurt anyone ever again" he growled from inside his mind, going to war with the parasite in his slowly dying body. His willpower alone was what was keeping him alive and the creature captive. He barraged it with everything he had; punches, kicks, headbutts, all in the styles of various characters he saw from video games. And it worked. The creature was forced from his weakened body, leaving him to collapse once more.
~~
He watched, vision blury as the thing tried to escape, only to disappear with a spine chilling scream in a flash of rainbow light. He was far too weak, far too tired to go on. He smiled weakly as he saw six figures rush to the princesses and ungag them, knowing he did well. His eyes dulled as he let go, the ghost of his last smile on his face.
~~
As soon as Princess Celestia was ungagged, she shouted at the Element Barers. "Forget about us! Go to him! He needs help. He gave far too much to protect us, go to-" she started, only to cut herself off as her eyes watered. Her lip quivered a bit as she took in the sight of her and her sister's savior, his body lifeless. "him..." she finished, tears rolling down her cheeks.
The Mane Six looked over and seemed to deflate a bit at the sight. They thought no one was hurt. They thought that they saved everyone from harm. But they were wrong. Twilight went to walk over, but was stopped by Pinkie and Fluttershy. Rarity, Rainbow and Applejack moved forwards and lifted his body gently, as they knew him the most, as he was friends with their younger sisters. The other three helped the weakened Alicorns out of the Everfree and to Ponyville, where they would rest before the funeral.
~~
Button opened his eyes as soon as he closed them, the pain gone from his body. He blinked a bit and seemed very confused. "Where am I...?" he muttered, seeing only darkness.
He heard a chirp, like a notification on one of his video games. He looked to the sound, and saw a tansparent window of blue before him, with words on it.
GAME OVER
Continue
New Game
Options
Quit
It was like a menu screen from a video game, the largest words - game over - blinking at regular intervals, with the Continue option greyed and striked through. He blinked in confusion before curiously selecting options. There he saw a lot of things.
Audio
Visual
Gameplay
Achievements
Back
Curiousity peaked even more, he reached forwards and pressed a finger to Audio.
Background Music: 0/100
Custom Background Music: None
Master Volume: 50/100
FX: 0/100
Voice Volume: 50/100
Back
He raised a brow and slowly turned up the FX and Background Music up to 50. The Custom Background music option was greyed, but not striked out, so maybe he couldn't use it yet? He shrugged a bit. He then clicked back and went into Visual.
HUD: Invisible /Opaque/Bold
Subtitles: On/Off
Mini-Map: On/Off
Achievement Display: On/Off
Brightness: On/Off
Back
He furrowed his brow and slowly turned everything on, but leaving the HUD as opaque. He could change it later if he wanted to, he hoped. He pressed back and then went into Gameplay.
Difficulty: Very Easy/Easy/Normal/Hard/Very Hard/Hardcore/Insanity
Leveling: On/Off
EXP Gain: On/Off
Loot: On/Off
Achievement Gain: On /Off
Back
It was as if someome was setting him up to fail, let alone not know that his life was a video game! Curious, though, how the Achievement Gain was on permanantly... he shrugged it off and switched everything on, and changing the difficulty to Easy before hitting the Back option. He then hit the Achievements option.
Congratulations! It's a...: Start the game
Friends!: Have two or more friends
Incorruptible: Become a Hero
Savior: Save two or more very important characters
Damsel(s) in Distress: Save one or more Princess
Others Before Me: Commit a truly selfless act
The End: Complete The Game on any difficulty
Straitjacket Fun!: Complete the game on Insanity difficulty
Black Umbrellas: die in any way possible
Inception: Play a video game inside The Game
Bullies? No Problem!: Don't let bullies get you down
Destiny...?: Gain your Cutie Mark
My World Now: Become a Villain
Thougher than Diamonds: Complete The Game on Hardcore difficulty
Stoneskin: Complete the Game on Very Hard difficulty
Tough Hide: Complete the Game on Hard Difficulty
Casual: Complete the Game on Normal difficulty
Puppies and Kittens: Comlplete The Game on Easy difficulty
Sunshines and Rainbows: Complete the Game on Very Easy difficulty
Emo: Gain depression
Cloak and Scythe: Kill a sapient creature (self-defence, accident or otherwise)
Romance: Gain a special somepony in your life (any species or gender)
Alpha Male: Gain a herd
Royalty: Become a part of royalty through marriage or ascension
Rebirth: Start a new game after your first Game Over
Do-Over Button: Reload a Save File on a Game Over screen
Rift: Go to another dimension
Phoenix: Start The Game on all difficulties
Deja-Vu: Complete the Game on all difficulties
Skinchanger: In New Game+, start a new Game as different versions of yourself
Masqurade: Play as all versions of you
Hornless: Gain Magic without being a unicorn
Grounded: Gain Flight/Weather manipulation without being a Pegasus
Care Package: Find the package meant for you
Hidden Achievements: ???
Go Getter!: Gain all Achievments
Back
He looked over the Achievements, his eyes darting across the words as he does. He assumed the green ones meant that he already earned them, while the red meant he hadn't yet. He flushed at the mentioning of a herd and romance. And after a bit more looking, he got two notifications. One was light grey bar with white words in it, saying Skilled. The other was a light blue window.
Through constantly looking at what's before you, you have created the skill Observe!
And as soon as he finished reading the last word, the window dissapeared. He blinked a bit in shock before shrugging it off. He was excited, though! This means that his life might be a video game, something he had wished for most of his life!
But then that excitement turned into a sort of... speculation. Like, it was too good to be true. So there's a possibility that he might either be dead or the last couple months were just some crazy nightmare.
He sighed and finally clicked New Game. It gave him only one option - Start Game - as the other - New Game+ - was greyed out. He shrugged and clicked Start game. And there showed a small outline of himself, standing straight with his arms out in a sort of T, fingers splayed. Below it was a basic summary of himself.
Name: Button Mash
He blinked at the screen before him. Well, Gamer's Mind explained why he wasn't freaking out. He saw that he had many unspent skill points and decided to keep them for the time being, as he didn't know if he would need them or not.
When a screen popped up, asking if he was sure that these were the stats he wanted, he clicked yes. When asked to save his game, he clicked yes again. And then was consumed by darkness, the notification of him getting the Achievement, Rebirth, popping up going unnoticed as a bright light blinded him, causing him to cry out...
Button's cry of pain didn't last long, as he had been through worse. In fact, it could barely be considered pain, more of... discomfort, like he was being pressed between two walls. The light blinded him and he winced, his eyes closing tigjtly. It was then that he noticed someone was holding onto him. He squirmed around, trying to get out of their grip, to no avail.
He was carried elsewhere, and washed slowly and carefully, as well as someone checking on him, he thought. After a bit, he was carried back in, bundled up in blankets and set into another's arms. He was tired, the memories of dying still with him as he slowly opened his eyes. He saw a tired face of a young woman he hadn't seen in years. He smiled and tried to speak, but found that he couldn't, only coo.
He blinked a bit and looked around, taking in his surroundings for the first time. He was in a white room with off white lights flickering slightly above head. He saw various ponies in smocks and having surgical masks on. He assumed he was in a hospital room. He then saw his mom, only much younger than what he remembered, and still as happy as he remembered, even with the bags under her eyes, sweat on her brow, and mane splattered flat against her forehead.
"Oh he's beautiful..." she said weakly. He remembered his mother telling him that he didn't cry after his birth. That he just... laughed. So that he did. He opened his mouth in a smile and laughed, happy to be alive and to see his mother.
His mother, back in his past life, had to leave for a job of some type, and couldn't take Button. So she just let him have free reign of the house as long as he cleaned up, even letting him go spend the night at any of his friend's houses. She said she would send him letters and texts whenever she could. The last he had heard from her, she was somewhere in the north east.
He then heard three chimes. One with a light grey bar appearing in the top left of his vision, saying that he had earned an achievement, "Fairy is Born". Another is a window, saying that he had gained Good Karma by dashing his mothers worries and making her extremely happy. The final was an explanation of the Karma system. Good, often selfless or time consuming, complex actions gains good rewards and missions, as well as making him liked by the people around him. Bad, often easy, harmfull and selfish actions lead to bad rewards and missions, as well as eventually being hated by even those closest to him. But he already knew this. He had played all of the inFAMOUS games, of which had introduced a Karma based system in order to dictate the ending of the story as well as what powers you would get.
He could see in the top right of his vision a large half-circle, blue on top, orange on the bottom. And he could see that there was a little bit of blue on the bar.
When asked, his mother told the doctors that she was gonna name him Button Mash.
~~
A year and a half later, Button was starting to get the hang of the Game. He did tasks around the house for his allowance, and some jobs around the town in order to get EXP and some loot.
Two years after that, he had gained a reputation among the little community as a handiman, though he mainly found himself being a courier of sorts, taking letters and objects from his temporary employers and delivering it to the place or pony that it was meant for. A nagging feeling in the back of his head told him that he was gonna get something big here soon. He shrugged it off.
Another year later, and it was around the time he had first discovered video games. Like in his previous timeline, it took up his free time. But unlike his past life, he still had a social life and did jobs, not letting the addictive activity dictate his life.
Then years passed, seemingly in a blur. Button'd Karma Meter had raised in the Good scale, just slightly under the rank of Guardian. And just seemed to... sit there. It never moved, never declined, just... sat there as if waiting for something.
He shrugged to himself, mentally checking his basic stats; his Name, Job, Title, Rank, Level and his Bars.
Name: Button Mash
Handiman
The Gamer
Rank: None (Yet)
Level: 15
HP: 15600
SP: 15600
MP: 15600
He grinned a bit at seeing them. During his almost fourteen years of new life, he had focused on working out the limits of the Game. And once he had found them out, he, like in many games, exploited the shit out of the weaknesses and strengths. Such as him only being able to add ten points to either HP, SP or MP each level.
This was an exploit that he loved. He had founded that, due to his achievements and not using any of his points, he had close to millions of points to add anywhere.
And that was why his Bars were so unbelievably high compared to his level.
He blinked when his alarm went off. He found that he didn't actually need to sleep, eat or drink, just like a video game character. He did though, occasionally, to ward off any suspicions or worries. And in case that he somehow lost parts of the game in some sort of glitch, or an update.
He got out of bed, closing the window before his eyes, and headed to shower before getting dressed. He had to look good for his first day after all.
~~
Miss Cheerilee's School for Fillies and Colts was a magnificent school, designed to educate the young ones of Ponyville's community. As such, it had a lot of students, ranging from barely out of foalhood to almost full maturity. And Button was almost directly in the middle. He was happy though, despite this. He was finally going to make more friends, and help people. If only the nagging in the back of his head would go away...
Author's Note
Yes, I am making it a slight crossover between inFAMOUS and MLP. I'm debating which major city should be destroyed by the Ray Sphere....
How about this. You guys tell me which city you want the Ray Sphere to be activated in, and what possible powers he should have.
It will be a while, though, until I actually write the chapter. It will be when he is at least sixteen. I think. Or I might do it during spring break, or the pony equivilent.
After an hour of class starting, Button remembered in startling clarity exactly why he brought his handheld games to class daily and focused on those instead of the lesson. It. Was. Fucking. Boring!
Seriously, the only reason why he liked it was because of Miss Cheerilee who went out of her way to involve every student equally. But everything sucked more than a leech
He sighed again and closed his eyes as he breathed deeply and exhaled silently. He then reached into his bag and grabbed the textbooks they had purchased at the beginning of the year. He set it down on his desk and opened it. His eyes widened a bit as the words glowed and slowly floated off the page and moved as it if they were waves, before they rushed to his head. He winced as if they would hurt him. But they simply faded against his skin, and knowledge filled his mind.
He blinked in surprise before looking down at the book. He read what was on the page - as the ink still rested against their ultra thin wooden pages - and found that he could recite each page word or word. The corner of his lip twitched as a window popped in front of his eyes.
Due to you finding a new feature about The Game, you have gained the following:
'This is gonna be the easiest year of my life ' Button thought as he 'paid attention' to the lesson.
~~
His excitement had lasted only for about an hour and a half, two tops. By the time lunch came around, Button was struggling to stay awake. The Gamer, who didn't need to sleep at all, was having trouble staying awake.
He grumbled a bit as he walked into the cafeteria, going into the lunch line. He grabbed what he wanted for lunch, just enough to stave off suspicion, as well as for taste.
He looked around the room for an empty TV and saw no empty tables. He sighed softly and walked to a table where he saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. His thought proccess as to why he did this particular action is that, if he could befriend them now, he might be able to convince them to lower the amount of bullying they do. But once he stepped close enough, they stood up with their lunches and marched away with their noses in the air. He rolled his eyes and muttered some choice words under his breath before sitting at the now empty table.
He ate slowly and savored the flavor of the food, debating internally on whether or not he should bring his own meals or not. His thought process was broken when the sound of trays being set on his table entered his ears. He looked up from his pizza and saw two ponies sit down, both colts.
One was slightly rounder in shape, and had a big smile on as he dug into his food. He had a long blond mane that was styled with what was either gel or grease, while his tail was blond as well, but unstyled. Or both. His coat was very light brown, and his eyes were covered by a set of black sunglasses that had gold rims. He wore a white dress shirt underneath a black jacket, with light grey patches on the elbows. His pants were a dark blue denim, and his shoes were black sneakers.
The other was thinner with a white coat and a short brown mane and tail. His coat had large brown spots on it, such as around his right eye, on his shoulder, and left arm. He wore a short sleeved white T-shirt and black jeans, while his shoes were a pair of dark blue Nikes that had seen better days.
Using Observe told him that they were Zeke Dunbar and Pipsqueak respectively. But he decided to be polite and went to ask who they were, but Zeke went ahead and did it for him.
"Oh! Sorry about that! Name's Zeke, and this is Pipsqueak. I saw that you were eatin' alone, and thought you might be a bit lonely. So I convinced Pip to come with me to eat lunch with you" he said with a smile, while Pipsqueak waved shyly.
Button smiled and spoke. "I thank you, then. Button Mash. Nice to meet you" he said with a smile. After that they ate in relative silence, striking up some conversation in order to know more about each other. And like that, Button got some new friends.
Author's Note
To the ones who suggested the cities and powers, thank you! Looks like the city is Manehatten! However, the power is still up to debate, as people suggested his power to be an inventory or something.
Let me clarrify a couple things - and I hope I'm not rude about this - a Conduit's power is one, able to be used as a weapon, and two, absorbed. Like Cole MacGrath, with his electricity, or Delsin with any of his powers. So inventory is off the list. Please come up with more!
A while passed since Button had met Zeke and Pipsqueak, and they had become the best of friends. They hung out every day after school now, helping each other with school work and playing video games after.
The months had passed quickly, with him ending up one of the top of the class. Things were going good for him. He actually ended up getting his Cutie Mark a bit after school started. It was simply a d-pad, like from a controller. But whenever he looked at it, he couldn't help but think something was missing. Oh well. He had to hurry, or he was going to be late to the bus, as they were going on a field trip for a while, a couple months at least. They were going to Manehatten.
~
He was taking a nap when an achievement sounded off. He opened his eye a bit and saw that it said, 'Big City!' And that was enough to tell him that the bus they were on had just passed over the state line. He sat up a bit and hummed to himself as he stretched before looking out the window of the bus, seeing a beautiful sunset, one of which he was sure he was gonna be seeing a lot of.
He looked around before subtly reaching into his inventory and pulling out his Gameboy before playing some classic Mario. He couldn't help but feel like there was something that was going to happen, something big. It was a niggling feeling in the back of his mind, that sent goosebumps up and down his body. He shrugged it off as just nerves.
~~
When they finally stopped, it was at their hotel. He got up off of the his bench and smiled, looking around and sighing softly after inhaling the city air. He wasn't yet used to the slightly smoggy city air, so he had to hold in a cough as he moved forwards. He shook his head and quickly moved inside, listening to Miss Cheerilee as she explained what the point of the trip was for.
"Okay, students! This trip is for us to know how the citizens live in Manehatten. Observe them, ask questions, and please, my little ponies, be polite to them. You are representing Ponyville after all"
With a chorus of okays from the class, they were dismissed to go explore and buy merchandise. For Button, he followed his newest Quest.
New Quest!
Explore Manehatten!
Objectives
Greet 10 People! (0/10)
Get 5 Jobs! (0/5)
Find and Deliver the 'Important Package' at the Time Specified
He blinked at the long list of objectives but shrugged and went on his way, talking with people that weren't part of the class, getting some jobs along the way, such as getting rid of some rats, delivering some packages, helping with a garden, and helping an old woman across the street. He was stopped on his way to the hotel, the hooded man giving him a hefty sum of money up close, telling him to deliver a very important package to Central Park by ten pm, and it will be doubled. If he gets there early, wait for the receiver to show up. He blinked as he was handed the large, heavy bag.
He was about to tell him that he didn't have time for this, but the man was long gone when he looked up. He sighed and looked around, before pulling his bike out of his inventory. He checked the Game's time, and saw he had close to an hour to get there. He set the marker on his minimal and set off.
~~
Forty-five minutes later, and Button had arrived, with a ton of time to spare. He sighed softly and rubbed his eyes a bit as he sat on the bench. He pulled out his bench and texted Miss Cheerilee that he would be out late due to a job he had gotten last minute, only for her to text back that curfew here was at midnight, and to text him if he were going to be staying somewhere, or if he was going to be out after.
Fourteen minutes later, Button had noticed the bag on his lap was getting very, very warm. He could see a slight light coming from under the flap of the bag. He noticed the slight buzzing in the back of his head, his Danger Sense going off - he had earned it earlier that day when some rats ambushed him - but he ignored it in favor of his curiosity. He reached into the bag and pulled out a large, metal sphere that was glowing slightly. And then, just as the clock struck ten, the sphere in his hands detonated with a massive explosion, unbearable heat, and a flash of light that was capable of making a blind man see.
~~
Button's vision for the longest time was black, tinged with the red that showed that he had taken a massive amount of danger. Before his senses came back, he had gone through his stats. He was shocked and a bit scared to see that everything was a mess of gibberish. Nothing had made the Game mess up. Not even him getting a major concussion. He slowly opened his eyes, gritting his teeth as he stood, brushing off the dust and rubble that covered his clothes. Looking around, he could see a mass of concrete and eviscerated trees. He groaned softly in pain as he forced his body to move. His HUD flickered in and out of focus as he moved. He could see fire and piles of dust everywhere around him. But he didn't pay them no mind, focusing on finding his way out of these ruins.
He faintly heard Zeke call for him, and he made his way to him, however he was stopped by the feeling of something hitting him and flowing into him. It felt... strange. But not unwelcome. He mumbled incoherently as he walked, feeling that same feeling flow into him. And he could see flashes of bright lights across his vision as he got closer to the sound of Zeke's voice, now hearing the voices of his classmates as well. He grunted once more, this time in pain, as the same feeling flows into him, but it's too much. Too much too quickly. And he collapses like a puppet cut from its strings.
~~
When he awoke, he heard the (technical term for heart monitor) beeping. His eyes shot open and he gasped as his senses were overwhelmed with different feelings. The Game was on the fritz, flickering in and out of existence, as things filled his mind, images of him doing different things with some sort of energy wreathing around his hands.
The beeping of the monster suddenly stopped, as he and the occupants of the room - Zeke, Pipsqueak, and Miss Cheerilee - witnessed the electricity arc from it, and latch onto him, flowing into his coat without him getting injured. And he felt a searing pain on his flank as the Game finally fixed itself, his Karma Meter completely empty and back to neutral, along with bulbs of yellow light beside it, with electricity of the same color going through each bulb. He blinked and shivered slightly as he looked at his hands, which glowed with the light of the electricity that arced across his skin.
The four occupants of the room look at each other and share an unspoken rule; no one speaks of this until it's absolutely needed.
~~
Months later, the class from Ponyville were on the bus ride back to their small little town. Button Mash sat in the back, eyes closed as he slept. Or tried to. He still wasn't used to the feeling of energy coursing through his veins, nor the fact that his cutie mark changed. It was strange, but he just tried to brush it off, in hopes of letting this die down. Unbeknownst to him, he and Ponyville were in for a big surprise. Because the Summer Sun Celebration was coming up. And it was the one thousandth.
Author's Note
Hey all! I know that it's been a while, and that it's a short chapter, and many were looking forwards to all of the adventures in Manehatten and how I would show Button getting used to being a Conduit (said 'fuck it' and made him basically Cole, with some other powers hidden here and there), and I'll probably add more if I rewrite it. But I have an idea, so don't worry! Button's powers will have a chance to shine!