Learning to Have Fun Again

Two mares dragged themselves across the middle of Ponyville, each with a large box on their backs.

"Cheerilee," a light-tan mare heaved as she carried down the road, "I can't thank you enough for coming along." She took one heavy step at a time, hoping to reach their destination as soon as possible.

"No problem Cream Heart," a lavender mare managed to utter. "As a teacher, I hardly have anything to do during the holidays."

They carefully trudged through the town, making sure to keep balance for their packages.

Cheerilee squinted her eyes, peering through the thick fog for any landmark as indication of their progress. "How far is your house, again? I can hardly see anything out here."

"We have to be close. I swear it doesn't take this long from the town center," she replied.

A three story timber-framed vernacular house with beige walls suddenly came into view.

"There. It. Is." Cheerilee and Cream Heart galloped towards the house, sprinting for a literal home run.

They finally arrived. Before anything else, they instantly unloaded their cargo, a large thud resulting from the drop. Cheerilee sat behind Cream at the entrance as her friend fiddled with her keys. After a minute, she found the correct one and unlocked the front door.

"I definitely owe you after this," Cream said as she pushed both boxes inside the entryway. "I had a feeling that I'd need another pony to help me carry everything." They took a moment to catch their breaths and relaxed their bodies.

"Don't worry about it, I'm happy to help out," the lavender mare reassured. Cheerilee looked behind Cream Heart and noted the large piles of decorations and candy in the boxes they had brought in.

"You know, now that I think about it, I don't remember your family ever setting up for Nightmare Night."

"We used to," Cream corrected. "We haven't celebrated in a few years. This year I've decided to get back into the festivities again."

"Really? Why suddenly prepare your place now? Most ponies start a week or two before, you know," Cheerilee curiously questioned.

Cream Heart looked at her and simply stated, "Opportunity."

Cheerilee tilted her head. "Opportunity?"

Cream Heart leaned in close. "Button needs to go outside for once and enjoy himself instead of studying and cramming all day everyday," she quietly spoke. "With you homeschooling him and the workaholic habits he picked up from his father, he never socializes with other kids; I don't even remember the last time he left the house!"

Her face contorted, turning into a slight scowl. "For a fifteen year old, he's sure been wasting his youth. After three years of this, I've had enough of it!"

"I don't mean to interrupt, but why are we whispering?" A combination of confusion and concern persisted on Cheerilee's face.

"Button's window is right above us. I can't surprise him with my plan if he's listening," she pointed out.

"Oh, he's probably too focused on his studies to notice," Cheerilee waved off her friend's concerns. "Still, this is kind of last minute, don't you think?"

"It just came to my mind last night. Better late than never, right?"

"True, but how is this"—she gestured towards the boxes in the house—"going to help Button? Also, that reminds me, be sure to tell him his lessons are on break for next week."

"Will do," Cream responded. "I'm having him help me out with decorations and maybe give out candy this year."

"You think he's going to socialize with the ponies passing by for candy? Will he be dressing up too?"

"Not exactly, but I can only hope for that," Cream shook her head. "No, I'm thinking that getting him into the mood of Nightmare Night will loosen him up. Making him wear a costume would be asking for too much."

She moved to the boxes in the house and began to unpack them. "Mind helping me sort these out?"

"Of course." Cheerilee walked over and assisted her friend. The two mares sifted through the various items in a comfortable silence. "Loosen him up, huh?" she added to the absent noise.

"It's a start." Cream Heart placed a stack of spider web spray cans on the floor and then picked up a collection of skeleton parts. "I don't expect him to start partying or even make friends. I just want him to do something else other than studying." Cream paused for a moment, a bare trace of a smile on her face as she chuckled.

"Pretty ironic considering I used to beg him to study when he played his games too much…"

"Well I hope your plan works out. As great of a student he is, the one thing he won't listen to me about is when I tell him to take a break," Cheerilee sighed.

The other mare frowned; her expression matched the prop skull she held. "It's my fault."

Cheerilee glanced back at her friend, eyes widened. Only vaguely aware of the implications, she carefully chose her next set of words. "...When your son started t—"

The sound of hoofsteps descending the stairs cut off Cheerilee. Turning around, she immediately identified the source as her most prodigious student, Button Mash.

"Morning mom." Button briefly stopped at the sight of his teacher. "Oh, hi Ms. Cheerilee," he said passingly as he entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Button," they both replied, their eyes following him.

Cheerilee watched as Button approached a cabinet and took the nearest cup. He followed up by stepping towards the faucet and filled it with water. Eventually, he finished and took a sip of his drink until he noticed his mom and her staring at him.

"...Is there something wrong?" he said as he slowly lowered his cup.

Cream Heart and Cheerilee gave each other a knowing look, then returned their gazes back to him.

"Button, could you help me put these decorations up?"

Carved out pumpkins and candles were littered across the floor and the coffee table. The whole living room was adorned with fake spider webs and orange and black streamers hanging throughout the ceiling. With the fog cleared up, the evening light easily slipped through the windows; its orange color added to the theme of the whole event.

With the interior of the house mostly completed, Button sought this moment as an opportunity to raise the concerns he had since the morning.

"Mom, why are we doing this?" he calmly said, refusing to add any traces of complaining or whining in his voice.

His mom avoided looking at him and placed down a jack-o'-lantern in front of the doorstep. "Thisbeing…?"

Button motioned around the whole room. "These decorations, mom. Why are we setting up for Nightmare Night out of the blue?"

"You know, that's funny, Cheerilee asked me the same thing this morning. I'm sure glad she's your teacher, because she's such a good influence on you." Cream continued to deflect Button's questions. "My little colt, becoming a philosopher at such a young age," she wiped off the non-existent tears from her eyes.

"Mom, that doesn't really explain anything…"

"Ah, right. These decorations, well," his mom droned on. "They're—, we're—, I think that this year's Nightmare Night is something we can't miss out on!"

"I feel like I'm in the mood for it, you know?" she grinned nervously at him. "It's been so long since we last celebrated, but I think it's about time we started again!"

Button narrowed his eyes at his mom's behavior. He opened his mouth to prod once more, but had an epiphany. The sooner I finish decorating, the sooner I can go back to studying, he realized.

He accepted her excuse and resumed with his final touches on the house.

"Oh, this will be so great! I can't believe we missed out on this for so long!" Button's mom walked to the door to head outside, an extra skip in her step while doing so.

"Right, mom," Button said as he picked up a toy candle, rotating it to find a switch on the bottom side.

"And I heard Twilight's visiting the town tonight! It's been so long since Cheerilee and I had tea with her. Oh, I hope she's staying for the night."

"Right, mom." He absentmindedly flicked the candle's light switch on and off.

"Button, is there something on your mind?"

"Right, mo—uh, no! Not at all!" Button put the candle down and hastily stuck extra plastic spiders on the webs around the living room. "I'll just finish this up and go back to studying."

His mom nearly tripped over the door frame at his last statement.

"Actually, Button, would you like to..." Cream Heart halted in her question. Concern began to rise in Button's head. "Will you help me pass out the candy tonight?"

Dammit. How am I supposed to say no when you ask like that? Button moaned internally. "Sure thing, mom."

"Great! On that note, could you grab some bowls from the kitchen?"

Button nodded in defeat and went to the kitchen. In the cabinet were bowls of various sizes.

"Which bowls and how many?" his voice echoed to the front door.

"The two largest ones, thanks sweetie!"

Button returned to the living room with the bowls and set them on the coffee table. He grabbed the bags of candy and poured them out.

The pieces fell, each in different shapes and sizes. Curiosity took over as he bent his head to get a closer look at them.

"Whoa," he exclaimed.

Button quickly picked up a red, rectangular wrapper. Upon further scrutiny, he saw the text that made up the logo.

'Monch!'

A faint smile appeared on his face as he felt around it. The logo consisted of an italicized bold lettering surrounded by a dark red-brown outline. He flipped the chocolate bar and admired each detail. There was a black flap that listed the expiration date, a list of ingredients on an off-white background, and the trademark catchphrase emboldened in deep red, 'Monch away!'

It was exactly as he remembered.

Hoofsteps approached behind him. In panic, he threw the piece of chocolate under the table and prayed his mother wouldn't notice.

"What's next, mom?"

She beamed back at him. "Looks like we're all done!"

Through the windows, Button watched as the sun outside slowly disappeared from his view. The Nightmare Night festival was about to begin.

"Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!"

Cream's heart swelled at the sight in front of her. A mixed size of pirates, astronauts, bearded wizards, lions, and monsters from obscure literature lined up one-by-one and held out their bags and baskets.

"Aw, you kids are so adorable! One moment—Button, could you be a dear and refill the candy bowls again?"

On the other side of the room, Button Mash sat at the coffee table. His head was buried in a book, too engrossed in the history of Manehattan's Industrial Revolution to notice his mother calling for him.

"...Button?"

Cream Heart looked behind her and frowned upon noticing Button's lack of response. She gave a nervous smile to the waiting fillies and colts and dashed to Button's makeshift study setup.

"Button Mash!"

"Gah!" Button's head shot up.

"I thought I told you to take a break from your schoolwork!" she scolded.

Button swiftly rose and snapped to his mother. "Sorry mom. What did you need?"

Cream Heart facehoofed and took a deep breath. "We have kids waiting," she pointed towards the small crowd standing at the door. "Would you kindly refill the bowls and pass out candy to each of them?"

Without another word, Button rushed to the candy bags and filled the empty bowls per his mother's request. He passed out two pieces of candy to each pony in the line. A series of thank you's were scattered throughout the process.

Once the line cleared up, he closed the door and turned back around. His mom stood behind him, grimacing while shaking her head.

"I'm going to the restroom. When I come back I better not catch you on those books again."

Cream Heart made it to the stairs and began ascending. She was only a quarter-way up before shouting, "And remember, two pieces for each pony. We're not cheapskates!"

The moment his mom disappeared on the stairs, Button released a large sigh. He paced back and forth around the room.

Huh, I actually have nothing to do, Button thought.

Without his books or his mother's presence to occupy him, his ears picked up the noise outside all at once. Beyond the front door was the yearly Nightmare Night festival throughout all of Ponyville. Rapid hoofsteps were accompanied by chatter, laughter, and a mixture of terrified yet excited screams. These were the sounds of happiness.

To Button, it was noisy and annoying.

*KNOCK-KNOCK*

Button was released from his thoughts as he heard snickering from the other side of the door. He pulled the door open and was greeted with the sight of nothing.

Nopony was at the doorstep.

Button stepped out of the doorway to search for the 'ding-dong ditch' culprit. Nothing unusual was to be found outside his house. In the neighborhood, fillies and colts of varying ages ran to other houses that were similarly decorated with pumpkins, skulls, and spiders in search of more treats. Behind every younger group of treat-seekers was an adult or two supervising them, not to keep the kids safe, but to ensure they wouldn't cause trouble.

Trouble like ding-dong ditching.

Despite the extensive investigation, nothing noteworthy was found. Unable to identify any possible suspects, he began to turn around.

Without warning, three heads popped out of the bushes at his front door.

"BOO!" they shouted.

Button yelped and fell backwards. "Ow, that hurt." He cursed under his breath as he rubbed at the dull pain on his flank. The sources of his suffering began to cheer in the meanwhile.

"Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give the Crusaders something sweet to bite!"

Celestia, give me strength, he prayed. Button noticed three strangely familiar fillies staring at him expectantly. "Oh uh, evening," he managed to mutter before retreating inside for one of the candy bowls. He returned with the candy, and took a second to absorb the appearance of each pony.

The three appeared to be about the same age as him. On his left was a yellow earth pony. Her whole body was decorated with fake stitches and a large, poofy black and white wig sat atop her head. In the middle was an orange pegasus with claws attached to her front hooves and a demonic wolf head covering half of her body; it looked like it was in the process of eating her. Finally, on his right was a white unicorn: she had slicked back purple-pink mane, a long black-grey coat, a red amulet across her neck, and fangs to top off the entire costume.

"Okay, so two for, er, Frankensteed?" he said as he dropped two pieces of candy in the yellow filly's bag. She dropped her jaw at Button's comment and glared at him.

Fortunately, Button was too preoccupied with giving candy to the other two to really think about it. "Two for the wolf-pony, and two for...Nosferatu?"

The two fillies on the side gaped at Button and pushed their heads close to his.

"Ah'm Frankensteed's Bride!"

"The name's Dracula! Who the hay is Nosferatu?"

"Heh, at least he got me right," the pegasus said behind them.

With their faces shoved right in front of him, Button was able to recognize them. They were his friends during his years at the Ponyville Schoolhouse: the infamous Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle?" The two fillies shrieked at the mention of their names from a stranger and jerked back in shock next to their pegasus friend.

"Is that Scootaloo, too?" he pointed out.

Sweetie Belle appeared as if she had seen a ghost. "Wait a minute, Button?!" she squeaked.

"That really you, Button Mash?" Apple Bloom asked, her country accent rose high in disbelief.

"That's definitely him," Scootaloo excitedly chimed in with her raspy voice. She approached the brown colt and prodded his chest with her wing. "Hey, I thought you moved away like, way long ago!"

Button backed up from the close contact with her. "Uhh, no. I've always been here," he stomped his front-right hoof twice on the ground. "In Ponyville."

"Really? I thought you moved out with your brother or something."

"My...brother?"

Button stood still, stunned at the thoughts expressed by the three. There was absolutely no reason for him to move with his brother; somepony had to stay with his mom. He couldn't just leave her, not while Gibson and his dad were away. He refused to be a worse son than he already was.

Nopony spoke after Button's brother was mentioned. A staring contest between the two groups began; one versus three. Button was thankful for the low-lit environment that came with Nightmare Night as beads of sweat began to drip down his face. He wasn't used to the focused attention of other ponies besides his family or teacher.

"..."

"..."

"Button! Where'd you g—oh, there you are." Cream Heart returned from her break. With her present, he deeply exhaled, unaware that he was holding in his breath for so long.

Button's mom glanced over the guests engaged with her son. Upon seeing the trio, she gasped in wonder.

"Girls! Sweetie Belle! It's so good to see you! You've all grown into such beautiful mares!"

Sweetie Belle had been awfully quiet up to this moment. Since calling Button's name the first time, she hadn't moved a single muscle, and instead gawked at him with wide eyes and her mouth hung ajar.

"Ms. Mash! I, uh…" her voice dropped off.

While the Crusaders and his mom engaged in an animated conversation—mostly his mom scaring the girls with her enthusiasm—Button turned to re-enter his house. He was mentally exhausted from his short-lived interactions with the trio.

"Wait! Button's flank!"

Button's head shot back to see Sweetie Belle pointing at him as if he had just performed some act of heresy. He stared at his rear, "My flank? Yeah, it still hurts from the scare you guys gave me earlier." He rubbed the afflicted area once again as pain resurfaced from the reminder of its existence.

"No no no, your blank flank!" Sweetie corrected. "Girls, Button doesn't have his cutie mark yet!"

"Well ah'l be!" Now Apple Bloom crossed the borders into his personal space. "Button, how'd ya manage to still be a blank flank after all these years? Ya should've come to us."

"Uhh, I—, well—, you know, um…" Button stammered. "I don't know?"

"Ya don't know? Yer uh…" Apple Bloom put her hoof up to her mouth, a thoughtful look on her face. "Yer fifteen, just like us, ain't ya? I ain't never heard of a pony that old not have their cutie mark."

She was right, most ponies naturally had their cutie marks before they were even nine years old. The rare exceptions to this rule extended to twelve years at most, leaving Button as an outlier at fifteen. This was unheard of, at least without any magical interference, which he was certain was not the case.

A sense of inadequacy surged through Button. He thought the awkward reunion was as uncomfortable as it could get, but the mention of his cutie mark—or rather lack of—set a new record. Suddenly, after three years of forgetting its existence, three years of working his way to becoming a productive member of society, the moment he stepped outside it quickly became a flashing target. He wanted to hide.

"Well, no matter. Big Mac always told me 'no times more important than the present', and we can totally help ya get yer mark now! Right, Crusaders?" Apple Bloom turned to the other two fillies, who still remained next to Button's mom. They both nodded rapidly in agreement.

Button frowned. To any other pony, a chance to catch up with old friends as well as the opportunity to discover one's destiny sounded enticing. But to him, it was a distraction. There was only one thing he needed to do right now, and that was to study. "Thanks for the offer, guys, but...I have oth—"

"Of course! You girls are too kind to help my son out," Cream Heart said as she walked to the house entrance. "Button, you should go with them. I'll take it from here. Don't worry about coming back late either." For what seemed to be the hundredth time that day, Button's mom intervened with his plans.

"Heck yeah! Nopony's flank stays blank on our watch!" Scootaloo cheered.

In what seemed like a bleak situation, hope remained. Button had one ace up his sleeve to get himself out of his current predicament. He'd been planning for it all day long in case his mother tried to push him further beyond candy giving. The battle wasn't over yet for him.

"But mom, I don't—"

"Bye now, sweetie! Have fun!" The door slammed shut; its banging echoed throughout the neighborhood. Even though he could simply open the door or rush back inside with the next wave of kids, he'd just be kicked out again. Once his mom had her mind set on something, there was no return; he wasn't coming back home.

"I don't even have a costume…"