Button couldn't have been more miserable even if he had tried. Today was the day of the party and he was thoroughly humiliated by the likes of Diamond Tiara and all his possible crush interests. Honestly, this day went about as bad as he predicted, with him being frequently bounced around and mocked by the young colts and fillies at every turn, with only one exception. Rumble, whom was the birthday colt at this party, seemed to be keeping his distance from Button. The colt clearly had a lot on his mind.

After the party concluded, Rumble approached Button and stood there quietly for a moment, contemplating what to say. Button expected the worst to come out of his mouth. Perhaps he would declare that their friendship was over or that what he did earlier this week was unforgivable. What came out of his mouth however were words that even he couldn't predict.

"Button, I never knew what kind of a friend you were until now. All this time, I took pity on you for not having any friends. I never thought you would do what you did." Button knew this was it, this was the moment where he would be forever friendless. Doomed to be the towns laughingstock for the rest of his life; "You sacrificed your pride and dignity for me. You listened to my troubles and did the unthinkable to buy me more time to finish the assignment. I can't think of a greater friend who would do that for me. Button, I'm never going to take you for granted again!" Rumble said as he hugged the Button balloon tightly.

The tightness of Rumbles hug was so strong that the air suddenly began flowing out of Button's mouth as he was deflated back to his normal self, all be it with a few pounds added from all the sweets he ate; "So wait? You're not defriending me? Even after what I did?" Rumble gave out a chuckle; "Are you kidding me? What you did was freaking hilarious! I was a little shocked at first like the rest of the class but when I got home, I never laughed so hard in my life. Button, you've brought me joy in my darkest hour and for that, I owe you one."

"You owe me one?" Button asked, a bit confused; "Yeah, I want to pay you back for what you did for me. So, if you want something, just name it and I'll be at your service." Button thought about this for a moment and then an idea popped into his head; "Hey Rumble? Would it be alright if I stayed at your place for a few days? I kinda wanna wait for the heat to die down here in ponyville before I go back home to my mom."

"You've got yourself a deal! I'm sure my big brother wouldn't mind; I could just tell him we're having an extended sleepover. Oh, and I got the latest Daring Doo video game! We could totally spend the weekend playing through it together!"

"Sounds like a blast! We should hurry and get going though, before Pinkie Pie returns to take me home."

"Alright then, oh and Button, one last thing."

"yeah? What is it?"

"I don't really know how to describe it, but while you were the balloon for my party, it made me feel things inside I never felt before."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, the only way I could really describe it is that you looked, well, cute?" Rumble blushed heavily as he said that; "Cute?!" Button yelled, utterly baffled, but also blushing intensely; "Rumble! I'm not a filly! You can't just say I'm cute like that out of the blue!"

"Yeah I know, I'm sorry, lets just forget about it and get outta here. We'll have plenty of time to talk about personal stuff later." With that, the two left Sugarcube Corner, being careful not to be spotted on the way to Rumble's place. Pinkie Pie watched the two leave out the window and sighed happily that the two found joy in being together.

Pinkie Pie eventually returned to Button's residence and knocked on the front door; "OOOooo Cream Heart?!! Are you home?!!" moments later, the door opened and a tidal wave of what looked to be "milk" began pouring out of the house with Cream Heart looking to have Been covered in the stuff; "Oh? Pinkie! How did the party go? And did you bring home my Button safe and sound?~" Pinkie gave a sheepish smile; "Well um, you see, the situation got a bit more complicated. Button decided to go to his friend's house and I think they are going to be spending the next few days together."

Cream Heart's eye seemed to twitch for a moment but then relaxed; "You know what. I think that's perfectly fine, it's good for Button to spend some time out of the house every now and then. I've got a lot of cleaning to do here anyway; so, this place could probably be cleaned up for whenever he decides to come home. And speaking of-" Cream Heart then immediately grabbed Pinkie Pie and squished her in her hoofs like a ball of clay until she made the shape of a sponge; "I'm probably going to need your help. Think of this as your punishment for not fulfilling your end and bringing Button home to me like you promised." Cream Heart smirked as she went back inside the residence with the Pinkie sponge in hoof.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading through the story. It took me half a year to write and I hope you found it very entertaining.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below if you want. All feedback is worthwhile to me and I'll be sure to respond to your comments.