“So, how’d it go?” Silver Screen asked a smiling Button.

After some teachings by the Projectionist, Button was able to go out on a date with his long time crush, Sweetie Belle. The two hit a night on the small town of Ponyville, meeting up at the Hayburger fast food joint, before heading to the theater to catch the latest flick.

From the look on Button’s face, the date went off without much of a hitch. He walks past Silver Screen, hops up on the couch and slowly descends into a laying down position.

“It was amazing.” Button swooned, “We talked for a long time about movies, video games, things we wanted to do when we grow up. She was soooooooo beautiful. She had her hair in a bun….just a little bit of blush on the cheeks. I think her sister helped out, and she has my thanks.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Silver Screen grin, “So, what base did you hit?”

“Mmmmmm first….” Button softly replied, floating on cloud nine at this point. “I took her home, and as I was saying goodnight…she kissed me on the cheek. It was niiiiccceee….”

“Not exactly first base, but alright, go Button.” He raises a hoof up for a high hoof. Button lightly taps it, eliciting a small victory chuckle from Silver Screen. “I’m going to tell your mother.”

“No need.” Milano appears from the kitchen, wiping a hoof with a cloth after cleaning some dishes. “I heard it all. So, Sweetie Belle kissed you on the first date? Impressive.”

“Mmmmmm….yeah….” Button melts on the couch, “It was cooooooollll….”

“I certainly hope you weren’t like this after she kissed you.”

“We both werrrrrreeeeee…..” Button continues to trail off, his eyes alternating between closed and half open.

“I think I should put him to bed.” Milano concludes, picking up Button and bringing him to his room.

After a few minutes of tucking Button in and kissing him on the forehead goodnight, Milano comes back down the steps to Silver Screen waiting for her. He looks up at her descending from the stairs, giving her a welcome smile.

“How is he?” Silver Screen asks as Milano sits closely next to him.

“In a state of euphoria. I think he’ll be like that for a while. Were you like that when you had your first kiss?”

“I wouldn’t really call that a first kiss. More like a peck on the cheek. I’d hate to see what he’s like when he gets his first REAL kiss.” he chuckles, “As for your question… interestingly no. I was more surprised than anything during my first time. The only time I was left in a state of shock and awe, was when YOU kissed me for the first time.”

“Yeah…” Milano giggles, “That was a bit random of me.”

“Random, but cool.” Silver Screen wraps a foreleg around her, “Besides, look at where it led us.”

“You getting gassed by my son, my friends attempting to judge you, and my ex-husband hating your guts for Celestia knows what.” she kisses him on the cheek.

“About that…” he grimaces, “Back at the Nightmare Night party last week…I kind of told him to fuck himself.”

“You WHAT?!” Milano gasps.

“Scratch that, I didn’t ‘kind of’ tell him. I TOLD Almighty Dollar to go fuck himself. He was talking down to me, and said bad things about you. When he asked if I loved you, I told him to fuck himself.”

“Why didn’t you just say yes?”

“Because he asked it in such a condescending way. I knew that if I answered him, he would have had something else horrible to say. So, I shut him down, and went off to have some role play love with you.”

His matter of fact nature of his speech makes Milano laugh. Deep down, she didn’t expect that he would react as such. His pleasant and fun loving personality would have made her think that he would simply brave through Almighty’s words, but to hear that he lashed out at him caught her off guard.

“So, that’s why you were being so sultry before we left his place.”

“I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible and be with you. When you told me that you rented a room in town, then I REALLY wanted to get out of there.”

Milano rests her head on his shoulder, with Silver Screen resting his chin atop her mane.

“You really do love me, then.” she smiles. “I never thought you would ever say that to him.”

“That’s something you should know about me. If I’m pushed too far, bad things could happen. Like Saddle Ranger.”

“You get big and muscly?” she playfully prods at his stomach.

“Hey, I thought you liked my physique.”

“I’m just fooling.” Milano giggles, “Seriously though, do you get all big and muscly?”

“Yes.” he says with such conviction that even he could very well believe his own words. “Yes I do.” He notices Milano continuing to prod his stomach. “Hey, stop that.”

“You going to get mad?”

“Probably just annoyed.”

“Then, I’m going to have to prod a bit harder.” she does just that, using both hooves to prod at his stomach, alternating the pokes like a beat. She hums a tune while doing it.

“That’s it!” Silver Screen feigns anger, pinning Milano to the couch. She gasps and giggles at his actions. “You have made me angry. You will not like me when I’m angry.”

“I get the feeling that I will.” she smiles seductively.

“Rawr!” he bellows, slavishly kissing her neck. “Face the wrath of Saddle Ranger…if she was a stallion! Rawr!”

The two laugh and rough house, as they tumble off the couch, and onto the hardwood floor for yet another night.

Button descends downstairs at the early morning hours, yawning and wiping his eye from waking up so soon on a weekend day. He gets halfway down the steps, when he sees his mother and Silver Screen chatting in at the dining room table, with his mom drinking from a freshly made cup of hot coffee, and the Projectionist with a glass of water.

Seeing his mother’s smile as she talks with him brings a certain degree of happiness to the colt’s eyes. His mom brushes a loving hoof against Silver Screen’s foreleg; an action that she once did for his father, which he saw a sure sign of love. Watching that gentle caress now has confirmed for him that she has found somepony else.

Milano looks over to see the smirking Button watching them from the steps. Silver Screen catches her gaze, looking over at the colt.

“Good morning, Button.” Silver Screen smiles.

“Morning.” Button replies, finishing his trek down the steps, and into the kitchen. “What happened last night?”

“You were kind of delirious, and then your mom took you to bed.” Silver Screen says with honesty. “You don’t remember that?”

“I remember saying goodnight to Sweetie Belle, then she kissed me on the cheek. I honestly don’t remember much after that.”

“Wow…” Milano seems impressed, “It’s kind of a good thing that you still know your way home, even when floating on a cloud.”

“I was floating on a cloud?!” Button takes this literally.

“It’s a metaphor.” Silver Screen assures him. “It means you were hooked on a feeling and high on believing.”

“Not helping.” Milano says, shaking her head with a chortle.

“I am a little bit.” he shrugs.

Milano gets up off the chair, kissing Button on the top of the mane. Button rubs the kissed spot in embarrassment as Milano goes to the fridge. She gives Silver Screen a knowing look, and he nods back, understanding what is happening.

“Hey, Button.” Milano says, back turned to Button, “Do you know what day it is?”

“Saturday?” Button responds, “I know it’s a Saturday, so what?”

“But, it’s a special Saturday.” she reaches into the fridge.

“What’s so special about this Saturday?”

“It’s you’re…”

KNOCK KNOCK

The sound makes their heads turn to the front door. Milano pulls her hooves out of the fridge, turning the rest of her body to the sound. She closes the fridge, heading towards the front door.

“What in Equestria…”

Milano opens the door to see a sight she didn’t expect to see. Almighty Dollar, Fleur, and Arcade stand before her with a smile, and holding up a boxed cake from a Manehattan bakery. Button trots up to his mother to see his father, his new wife, and brother.

“Dad?! Arcade?! Fleur?!” Button says in surprise, “What are you guys…”

“SURPRISE!!!” they all say, “Happy Birthday!!!”

“WHAT?! It’s my birthday?!” he turns to his mother, “I totally forgot!”

“Yeah…” Milano gives off a disappointed smile, “Happy Birthday, sweetie.” She looks back at the trio, “Come on in.” she angles herself to let the three inside.

They spill into the kitchen to see the very surprised Silver Screen at the dining room table. Almighty places the cake in the center, opening it up to reveal a massively overdone vanilla chocolate cake, with a detailed figure of Button dressed up as a Super Equestrian Fighter II character named Thunder Strike.

Button marvels at the cake; his mouth watering in anticipation, wanting to do nothing more than to eat that cake all by himself.

“It looks so good!” Button salivates, “Where did you get it?”

“Only from Gustave Le Grand, the best baker in all of Equestria.”

“No way, Pinkie Pie is the best baker in all of Equestria.” Silver Screen thinks, glancing over at the understandably saddened and disappointed Milano.

“What do you think, Silver Screen?” Almighty asks in that all too noticeable tone of his, “Pretty incredible, huh?”

“Yeah. It looks great.” Silver Screen replies. He goes over to Milano, wrapping a hoof around her shoulder, “We both think it’s great.”

“It looks amazing.” Milano can feel Silver Screen’s gentle grip tighten just a little bit, subtly letting her know that everything will be okay. She responds her own way by grazing her cheek against his neck ever so slightly. “I’ll cut the cake.”

“I’ll get the figure.” Silver Screen uses his magic to lift the plastic representation of Button off the cake, giving it to Button. “You can place that right next to your other figures. Who knows, it might be a collectable someday.”

“A collectable? Why? It’s the only one in existence.”

“Exactly.” he rubs Button’s mane with a chuckle, “When you get famous, everypony would want an action figure just like that.”

“Oh, stop.” Button blushes, “Hey Arcade, you wanna see the new stuff I got in my room?”

“Sure thing!” Arcade says happily, galloping up the stairs with Button.

The adults are now alone, with Milano finishing up cutting the cake. She places the knife away and washes her hooves in the sink.

“It would have been nice if you let us know ahead of time that you were coming.” Milano breaks the silence.

“Then, it wouldn’t have been a surprise.” Almighty smiles, placing down a bag of wrapped gifts. “I was hoping that we would all go out for a birthday lunch for Button, then come back here to have some cake.”

“What a coincidence! So were we!” Silver Screen exclaims in seemingly genuine excitement. “What were you thinking? Hayburger?”

“Actually, we were thinking something less…that.” Almighty chuckles, “We know that Button likes Jubilee Calendars, so we figured we’d go there.”

“Jubilee Calendars, eh?” Silver Screen nervously chuckles, “That brings back fond memories.”

“Of what?” Fleur asks.

“Just…um…my first time there. It was very nice.” he hides the real memory. “I’ll put the cake away.” He lifts up the cake, bringing it over to the fridge.

Fleur looks over at him opening up the fridge, spotting a box with a Sugar Cube Corner logo on it. It grabs her attention.

“What’s that?” she wonders.

“Oh, it’s…” he pushes the box back, with the even bigger box standing in front of it now. “Nothing. Just some cupcakes from a week ago.”

Button and Arcade come rushing back down the stairs.

“Easy, you two.” Milano attempts to calm them, “Where’s the fire?”

“No fire, Mom.” Button laughs, “I’m just so excited.”

“Well, are you ready to go out to eat?” Almighty asks, “We heard that you like Jubilee Calendars.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty good…” Button nods, “But I’m thinking something a lot better than that.”

“What?”

The ponies sit around in the living room, watching television and eating Pizza that Button ordered himself. They watch as Button and Arcade play video games, after Milano allowed him to move his console to the big high definition television. Milano and Silver Screen smile as Button shows off his fighting game prowess, proving that he’s gotten much better after years of practice.

Fleur also can’t help but crack a smile at the two colts playing so enthusiastically. Almighty seems bored by the whole thing, but smiles and nods whenever Button, Arcade or Fleur turn to him and ask what he thinks.

“YES!” Button yells in triumph, as he beat his brother in a match of Ultra Equestrian Fighter IV, “I got you so good!”

“I just let you win because it’s your birthday.” Arcade tries to play it off, “Yeah…that’s totally the reason.”

“Aw, yeah! Who’s bad! I’m bad! Me! Yeah!” Button dances around the room.

“A NEW CHALLENGER HAS ARRIVED!!!!” The television speakers blare.

Button turns to see that a long time online rival by the name of Rekd34, has offered a challenge for the colt. Button’s face grimaces, knowing that he cannot beat this particular player. For too long, this pony has played in the fighting game circuit, and won a few tournaments as well. Every time Button tries to play the game online, Rekd34 is always there, he always issues a challenge, and Button always loses, despite his best efforts.

“Ugh, I hate this guy.” Button seethes, “Doesn’t he have anything better to do?”

“What’s the matter?” Silver Screen wonders, “Is that a pro level player or something?”

“Very. He always challenges whomever he can find, and beats them in the process. None of my friends can beat him, either.”

“Want me to give it shot?” he asks.

“I don’t know. That might be cheating, since we’re signed in as me.”

“But he doesn’t know that.” Silver Screen winks, nudging at Button to give him the controller. Silver Screen sits down next to Button, pressing the “Accept” button for the challenge. The other player has already picked his character, the unlockable and tremendously overpowered Faust. “No wonder this guy wins all the time, he picks the power characters. Don’t worry Button, I got this.”

Silver Screen picks the weaker, yet nimbler Quicksilver. Button catches this, raising an eyebrow in worry.

“That character’s too weak. You’ll get slaughtered!”

“I told you…I got this.” Silver Screen winks again, giving Button a reassuring smile.

The stage is set. The music plays. The characters are introduced on the screen, with their usual taunts and quips being played.

“Round one…fight!” the announcer says.

Button watches as Silver Screen does…not that much, actually. He does some flips and moves, but is behaving very slowly, almost as if he’s allowing Rekd34 to beat him.

“What are you doing?” Button asks, “You’re getting destroyed!”

“Just wait…” Silver Screen remains coolly confident.

In a matter of moments, Quicksilver is defeated for round one. Round two readily begins. Suddenly, Milano brings Button closer to her.

“You might want to be back for this, Button.” Milano smiles.

“Round two…” A switch is suddenly flipped in Silver Screen, his eyes show determination, and his lips form into a devious smile. “FIGHT!”

Silver Screen changes from a slow and near unresponsive combatant, to an unstoppable fighting machine. He pulls off multiple combo strings, juggling his opponent around like a flailing marionette, with the once reigning champion getting only a few good hits in, before being played like a damned fiddle.

Button and Arcade’s jaws drop, while Milano looks on with a bit of pride stemming from her smile. Even Fleur was impressed. Almighty…less so.

Within two rounds, Silver Screen was the winner, with Rekd34 simply signing off moments after being thoroughly beaten to a pulp. Button ad Arcade surround the Projectionist like he’s Princess Celestia herself, hopping around in great enthusiasm.

“That was awesome!” Button said, “You beat that guy with barely any health lost!”

“H-how?!” Arcade wonders, “How did you do it?!”

“I used the first round to inspect the way he fights. He’s good, but from the way he fights, I can see that he presses the buttons too quick and recklessly, which break the combo strings. When that happens, it gives off a big opening for the opposition. The opening only lasts for a second, but if pulled off at the right time, he becomes nothing but a punching bag.”

“Sick!” Button exclaims, “You’re awesome!” he goes up for a high hoof, which Silver Screen happily obliges. “Aw yeah!”

“It’s time for presents.” Almighty says, giving Fleur a slight nudge on the side, signaling her to get the presents. She nods, floating the bag over with her magic, setting it down in front of the birthday colt. “I think you’ll like this.”

“Neat!” Button smiles, scrambling to his gift. It’s a sizable box, wrapped in colorful paper. He tears off the wrapping paper like a mad dog, getting to what is on the other side in a matter of seconds. His jaw drops, when he sees the latest system in gaming technology… the Gamestation 4. “Sweet Celestia!” he yells, “These things were always sold out, not to mention super expensive! How did you…”

“It wasn’t easy…” Almighty smirks, “…but we managed to get the last one at the store a few days ago.”

“Wow.” Silver Screen says, impressed. “I don’t even have one of these yet. Who did you have to fight to the death with to get it?”

“Nopony.” Almighty says sternly, “We just went to the store and bought it.”

“However you got it, this is great! Thank you so much, Dad!” Button widely smiles. He looks at Silver Screen, “You think you can help me set this up in the room? Your magic would help a ton.”

“Sure thing, champ.” Silver Screen chuckles, “You wanna check this out too, Arcade?”

“Of course! I got to see how this baby looks!” Arcade gets up.

The three enthusiastic gamer ponies go galloping up the stairs, with the newly delivered gaming device floating upwards along with them. Milano and Fleur look onwards at the huge geeks with a simultaneous chuckle.

“I’ll never understand why ponies like that get so excited about gaming.” Fleur admits, “But I must say, it makes me smile.” She turns to Milano, “Milano, is it okay if I got something to drink from the fridge?”

“It’s no problem.” Milano nods, “Go right ahead.”

Fleur nods back, getting up and walking into the kitchen, leaving Milano and Almighty alone together.

The room is silent. Milano can see that there is something troubling on Almighty’s mind; his shifting and grimace says it all. She looks away from him, hoping that Fleur comes back sometime soon.

“Is he living here?” Almighty asks.

“No. He still lives in his apartment.”

“Is he planning on living here?”

“We haven’t talked about it, but I was thinking about it.”

“Why?”

“Because I love him? I figured that was a good reason.”

“Do you? So soon after…”

“Please don’t.” Milano glares, “You got re-married the second I signed those divorce papers, so you don’t deserve to judge me.” she scoffs, “It’s Button’s birthday; let’s have fun and hate each other later.”

“I don’t like him.” Almighty grumbles.

“I like Fleur. The least you can do is like who I am with.”

“I don’t understand why he’s here.”

“He’s here to celebrate Button’s birthday. It’s the same reason as to why you’re here. I also recall you coming over here uninvited.”

“I bought this house. I’m allowed to come here to see my child.”

“What the hell is your problem, Almighty?” Milano’s voice cracks under frustration, “You’re the one who had the affair. You’re the one who left us. Why am I the bad guy here? Why is Silver Screen?”

“How many times have you two fu…”

“Don’t!” she growls, “Don’t make this about that.”

“It’s the reason why I did what I did.”

“Because you couldn’t keep it in your pants; yes, I know. You reminded me of that ever since I caught the two of you on the couch.”

“Where is that couch?”

“I burned it. That hurt, too. I really liked that couch. Is this the reason why you’re so angry? Because we make love often?”

“When we were together, it was one excuse after another. I would come home night after night exhausted, looking for some form of comfort or release, but no. You were always sleepy or exhausted. Now, it’s nonstop with you two.”

“Do you want to know why that was?”

“Yes. Very much so.”

“Because while you were out there in Manehattan doing your job, I was here taking care of our foals. Button was born two years after Arcade, and they were both challenging to raise. Day in and day out, I would care for them, change them, bathe them, feed them, call for a sitter if I had work. I would buy them clothes, school supplies, games, movies, backpacks.”

“With my money.”

“And mine! I did everything for them. You weren’t there for any of that. It was always business. Even when you were home, it was always work. I was tired, because I had to do everything myself. I knew you were frustrated, and I understood. But, I always told you that it would be fine. If you had just waited a few more months, then this wouldn’t have happened.” Milano feels good letting the air out, even as the thought that Fleur is taking an awfully long time with the drink enters her mind. She doesn’t care anymore, she wants to let it out. “So tell me, Almighty. Tell me how I’m the villain in this story. Tell me how I’m the one being out of character and horrible.”

She sees him looking away from her. Disdain fills his eyes, preparing an answer that could probably lead to a much worse response.

“I loved you, Almighty. I loved you with everything I had. I was willing to walk through fire for you. Why? Why did you do it?”

“My father taught me many things. One of which is that wives are only made for two things. Having foals, and providing for the husband’s needs.” He looks her dead in the eyes, “You weren’t providing for me. You weren’t giving me what I wanted. So, I moved on to somepony that did.”

Milano’s eyes go wide at his words. Tears well up in her eyes. Everything that they had. Every moment they shared. It was all for nothing. A relationship only created to suit his needs.

“That’s…all I was to you? Everything that you did for me, everything that we did together…it was all an act? I was some kind of foal factory that was required to put out whenever you wanted it? I was just some plaything?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I did feel some form of affection towards you. But you had a role to play, and you didn’t perform it like you were supposed to.” Every word from his mouth sounded like a growl, “All I asked was a little something in return. Now, I see that you are giving what was rightfully mine to some pathetic, loser stallion, without a bit to his name, and is nothing but a…”

Suddenly, Almighty is instantly surrounded by a blue bubble of magic, and is violently thrown THROUGH the door, shattering it into splinters. He is flung outside onto the dirt, sliding across it and leaving an impressive indentation in the ground.

He stumbles upwards, turning back to see Silver Screen rocketing towards him; rage filling his different colored eyes, and slamming into Almighty with incredible brute force. He drags Almighty further into the ground, pounding his hooves into the stallions muzzle, screaming with such hatred and fury that other ponies run towards the scene of the once playful and kind Projectionist’s outburst of violence.

Silver Screen stops, looking upon the half conscious and bloodied Almighty, not regretting for one second of his actions. Slowly, he leans downwards, whispering into his ear.

“I know you can hear me. I bet you’ll want to sue me after this. But know this; you deserve everything that I gave to you. You are a horrible excuse for a stallion, and you don’t deserve a mare such as Milano. You gave her great kids, and for that I am thankful. However, the fact of the matter is that you’re a miserable pile of shit, and if you EVER talk to Milano like that again, I will kill you.”

Words fall on deaf ears, as Almighty went unconscious in the middle of his speech. Silver Screen, drained of adrenaline, starts to sob from all the rage that poured out of him within those two minutes of violence. He heard almost every word that Almighty said. He was coming down the steps to show them the system, when he happened upon their conversation.

He saw that Fleur was in the kitchen, shaking from what was being spoken, drinking her beverage with a combination of sadness and shock. Hearing those words come out of him filled his heart with nothing but contempt. Something inside of him snapped, and he took it out on the pony that was causing the mare that he loved emotional harm.

Silver Screen looks around to see the townsfolk staring at him; baffled that he was capable of such a thing. Some folks were taking pictures, even video.

Soon, the police arrived, surrounding Silver Screen and placing cuffs on his hooves.

“Wait!” Milano calls out, pushing past the crowd. She reaches Silver Screen, grazing her cheek against his. Button comes in as well, eyes watering from the sight.

“I’m so sorry, Milano.” Silver Screen whispers. “I couldn’t control myself. I was so angry at what he said that I…”

Milano says nothing; she only connects her lips to his. Their eyes close for a strangely tender yet passionate kiss. The cops stand there, letting them finish. They separate, but continue to say nothing. Silver Screen looks down at Button. He gives him a friendly smirk. Button feels conflicted, but sees the gentleness in the Projectionist’s eyes.

“Sorry I ruined your birthday.” Silver Screen hangs his head. “You guys can give my apologies to Fleur and Arcade as well.”

Silver Screen turns back to the officers, allowing them to take him away. Milano and Button are tempted to follow them to the station, but instead go back to the house. Fleur and Arcade walk outside, carefully stepping over the destroyed door.

Almighty is put onto a stretcher for the ambulance. He starts regaining consciousness. Through the pained groans, he sees Button walking by.

“Button…” he whimpers, holding a hoof out. He sees Button stop, turning to look right at him. “Come here. I want to tell you something…”

Button pauses, with an expression of nothingness on his face. Through his eyes, the emotion is clear as day. There is no love, but hatred and disdain for his father’s words. Button knew that his father was in the wrong to leave his mother for another mare, but the reasoning was far worse than he ever imagined.

With a quick turn, Button goes back to his mother’s side, walking into the house together. Fleur and Arcade follow them, leaving Almighty all alone as he’s being taken to the hospital.

The four go into the kitchen, where Button, Fleur and Arcade sit down at the dining room table. Milano opens the fridge, taking the cut cake that Almighty brought. She places it on the table, with the other three looking at it, getting their plates ready.

Then, Milano reaches back inside, pulling out the Sugar Cube Corner box. Placing down on the table, she opens it up to reveal another birthday cake.

It’s decorated with a cartoonish drawing of Milano and Silver Screen looking up, marveling at the image of Button, who is standing on a pile of defeated video game enemies in triumph.

At the bottom, it reads “Happy Birthday to the best gamer in Equestria.”

The three at the table lightly smile at the image and the message, putting their attention on that cake instead. Milano slices up the cake, and they take a slice. The eating that followed was quiet, as they hear the sounds of ponies outside still taking pictures, and workers doing measurements on the door for its eventual fix.

Police Ponies walk inside to see them all eating cake in silence.

“Ma’am.” the Officer says to Milano, “We’re going to need your statement.”

“In a minute.” Milano replies quietly, “We’re celebrating my son’s birthday.”

The Officers wait patiently for them to finish eating the cake. Once they are done, Milano stands, starting to walk towards them to give them her account of the events prior.

“Mom?” Button stops his mother; a tear going down his face.

“Yes, sweetheart?” Milano asks.

“I don’t want to see Dad anymore.”

Author's Notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FONN-0uoTHI