"Finally." Button Mash let the joypad fall from his tired hooves. "At last..." With tired... everything he rose to his shaking hooves. He had defeated Swordmasters of Troom. He rated it a 8/10 as RPGs went, staggering towards bed with low groans.

Still, he had completed it, utterly. 100%'ed it! "Yeah..." He nosed open the door to his room and slowly plodded inside. "Time for bed." He struck the soft mattress with the force of a hundred angry suns, so hard he fell through it, right to sleep.

Wait, no, this wasn't sleep. He was falling, literally falling. The wind was whistling past his flapping ears as his hooves began to windmill as if he could catch himself, but there was nothing to catch, just air. Beneath him, the world was rushing up to greet him.

He saw something there, sharing the sky with him. It was a small... no... it was far away. It had big wings, relatively. Oh, it was a dragon, neat! Not one of those two legged ones that visited Ponyville sometimes. It was a big one, breathing a cone of fire at something on the ground. A fight? Neat! Oh wait, he was still falling. That required attention.

He had quite a way to go to the ground. Screaming was an option, possibly a good one. But he also had a whole continent to look at, and it wasn't Equestria. It was... Oh! He recognized that land mass! He was falling onto Troom! He began to clap giddilly despite his plumetting. "Awesome!" But he didn't want to arrive on Troom as a pancake. He had to do something about that.

What would the Swordmasters of Troom do? Hm. Cast Hover to avoid damage! But he didn't have any spells... yet... He had to find magical spells, some in shops. There were few shops to pick while falling through the air. Somepony should fix that...

Wait, there was what they did in Chapter 2! A specific call to summon the Birds of Evelon! He only heard the electronic warbling version of the song. It'd have to do. He opened his mouth wide and let out the low-quality chirp as best he could against the hurricane whipping past his fuzzy face.

He wasn't falling anymore. With a thump of striking something, he was suddenly being carried away on a feathered back. It was a huge bird! There were others taking up formation on either side. He was the pointed from of a flight of the huge birds. He began to laugh, timidly at first, but it rapidly built to a wildly manic whooping. He was on Troom, riding huge flying birds! "Yes! Onwards, my valliant steeds!"

He jumped as something landed on his head. Reaching up, he discovered his propeller beanie had managed to find him. "Today is shaping up!" But he couldn't just fly around forever, right? He had to land somewhere... "The first town." He pointed and the bird veered in that direction, leading the flock for the trip. "They'll have low level monsters for me to beat up!"

Also an inn. That he was tired started to resurface in his mind and body with the threat of immediate doom fading away. Maybe sleeping first would be the right thing to do...

The huge bird landed just outside of town and extended a wing to the ground. "You mean?" The bird nodded at him. "Thanks for the ride." Button hopped onto the wing and slid down with a whooping cheer, only stopping when he crashed to the ground and rolled forward. By the time he got his wits back around him, the birds were gone, flying off to wherever huge birds liked to hang out.

That is when he noticed he had an audience. There was a group of ponies gaping at him. Some where tall and thin ponies with extra pointy ears. Some were stocky and thick ponies with big beards. One of them, coming closer, was a short little pony with fur that went down across their hooves. "Hello!" greeted the smaller pony. "You must be very important, with that mount."

Button peeked back at where the bird had been. "Um. Oh, yes!" He stood up tall. "I'm on a quest! For the sake of all of Troom!" The crowd of ponies gasped in shock. "Have no fear. But I do need a place to rest. The trip here was quite ardu... ardou... hard! It was really hard. Can I stay in the inn? Just one night." The next day, he figured, he could grind up money properly.

A stocky pony got a hoof around the smaller pony and pulled them back. "Just because ye rode one of them doesn't mean ye can go an' make demands!" He had an obvious accent. With his beard, Button placed him as a dwarf! Awesome, a dwarf pony. "Ye not be a noble, so that isn't flying, unlike you."

Button considered his options. "Well... I'm really tired... What can I do?"

The little pony hopped onto the dwarf pony's back. "You can stay with me! You're small enough. I'm about to have first dinner. Want to join?"

First dinner? Awesome, halfling pony! "Yeah!" The crowd was thinning out, with the issue seemingly resolved. "Promise, I'll get some gold tomorrow."

"How?" The little pony hopped clear of the dwarf. "I don't mind you staying the night. You seem nice."

"Yer too trusting, Little Feather." The dwarf huffed softly. "Call if ye need any help."

Little was too busy leading Button through the small town. "I live right... there!" He pointed to a small house, about half the size of all the other houses around it. It was perfectly foal sized. "What's your name?"

"Button Mash." He was looking around with wide eyes. It really was the starting town. It was in way higher resolution up close and personal compared to the graphics he had originally seen it in. "So cool..."

"Are you cold? I'll get a blanket." The little pony hurried inside, leaving the door open.

An open door was an invitation, one that Button Mash accepted, kicking it closed behind himself. Smells. Every new home had a smell, and Little Feather's was no exception. Delicious was the first word Button Mash could think up, as if someone had prepared a thousand feasts over as many years, each as wonderful as the next, their echoes calling to him, making his belly rumble with need. He hadn't eaten the night before, too busy playing the game that he was instead living. "I'm not cold, promise." It was actually warm and cozy. "Thanks, by the way..." A random NPC didn't owe him anything, he figured. Being polite couldn't hurt!

"You're welcome." Little was rushing back with a pile of blankets in his hooves. "Here you go." And suddenly the blankets were thrown over Button Mash, despite his claims of not being cold. "All better?"

"Great..." Button Mash flicked his ears at his new little friend. "What's for dinner? It already smells great."

"A pony after my own heart!" And off he went, vanishing into the house. "Just wait there!"

He came back in a flash, a platter bouncing on his back. He let it slide off in front of Button Mash and rushed off to get another, and another. Four in total. Little Feather placed his hooves over two of them. "I present, dinner!"

"First," added Button with a nod.

"First," agreed Little Feather. "As if one was ever enough." Pop, he took the lids off the platters, revealing the glistening food and allowing a fresh waft of those old smells turned new again. "Eat up!"

Button Mash ate well, but only once. As soon as he finished the first dinner, which he rated as 'yummy', he flopped into the provided bed. He didn't fall through into a new world that time, other than sleep. The next day he woke up to the sensation of being watched. "Woah!" He turned to see a face right near his. Little Feather was right there. "Were you watching me sleep?!"

"Yes." No shame, no a shred. "How are you going to get gold? I'm realllly curious. Can I help?"

Button considered the little pony. Well, he was about the same size, but he was an adult, and Button Mash was a foal. Button would eventually outsize Little Feather, who would remain the same small size. Halflings were funny... "Well! If you have adventuring equipment, that'd be a huge help... Or I'll be punching slimes."

Little's eyes went wide. "You'd do that!? I usually run away when I see a slime."

Button sagged. "So, no on the equipment?"

"I want to help... Oh!" Little didn't dash away for once, waving for Button to follow him into the kitchen. "Here." He waved at a dazzling array of kitchen knives. "You can have one. Pick whichever you like... Except that one!" He suddenly grabbed one off the display. "My mom gave me that one... And that one!" Another vanished with a snatch. "Been in the family for over thirty generations!"

Proper swords they were not, but they were a step up from punching things. Button felt over the collection slowly, arriving at a large butcher's knife. "Oh yeah..." It was like a sword, right? "You're the best!"

"Aw! Thanks." Little hugged Button without further prompting. "Good luck! Don't get hurt."

"I'll try not to... Off to adventure!" He left a waving Little Feather and rushed out into the light of day. He giggled at all the fantastical ponies around him. He wanted to talk to them all, but he needed money first! Being a beggar didn't get one a lot of friends, aside of Little Feather.

He hurried out of town and looked around. "Alright, random encounter time." But nothing was jumping at him. "Oh, right." He began going in small circles. That was how one attracted random encounters, duh.

A wet gloopy noise drew his attention. There was a puddle of slime, its eyes swirling as if dizzy. Had it been watching him? "Ah ha! My first foe! A slime, perfect." In the game, slimes were the lowest run of enemies. All they could do was bump against you for a single point of damage when they even managed to hit. They were perfect.

It was kinda cute though, wobbling there, dizzy. "Aw."

It recovered from its dizzy spell and leaped at Button Mash in a show of speed. "Hey!" He ducked low under it and popped his knife into his mouth. He began to hum the game's battle music to himself as he took a ready stance. He was a low level adventure. Attack was really the only option he had. He jumped at the slime just as it had a moment before.

It proved it was better at jumping, thumping into his chest with a dull thud and accompanying pain, as if a basketball were hurled at him. "Ow!" That was what a hit point felt like? He didn't like it.

But he had a weapon and could show the slime what it was like. "Hi-yeah!" He thrust forward with his entire body, plunging the dagger against it, but it bounced away instead of being cut. "Oh, right." It was a butcher knife, the edge was on the side. "I got this." He jumped to avoid the counter strike, starting to bounce a bit. "I got this!" He was fighting, and it was kind of fun, if a little painful.

He dove for it with a sweep of his neck. "Gonna cut you up like a carrot for mom!" He brought down the heavy butcher blade with a loud thunk as it hit the ground past the ooze. The creature fell either way, two unhappy pieces that faded away in a rainbow puff of sparkles, leaving behind a few coins and a straw hat. "Loot!"

His adventure had properly begun. He knew the monsters. He knew the locations. He was gonna win the game, and with it, the entire world! And then, maybe he'd go home and tell his mom all about it? That was how that worked, right?

Welcome to a new adventure. Come, walk with me. Button Mash has slimes to battle to get some starting cash and equipment. Nothing can go wrong from here, he has this!

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