Button Mash was your average everyday filly. A couple of days ago, his mother, Maternity, grounded him for playing video games all night when he should've been sleeping so he wouldn't be tired in the morning when he had to go to school.
Because of that foolish mistake, Button Mash had a lot of trouble staying awake when he went to school. Miss Cheerilee scolded him so many times during that day for dosing off in her lessons. That was 6 days ago. From tomorrow, his grounding time would be over.
Not only would Button Mash be able to go and hang out with his friends again, but he can also spend more time with his marefriend Sweetie Belle, who he hadn't spent time with due to him being grounded.
At this moment in time, Button Mash was looking bored, trying to focus on Miss Cheerilee's class. Although, for a colt like him, it was difficult to keep focus in class, knowing that once you were finished, you had to go back to the prison that's your room once you go back home. He could just spend some time outside of home, but he knew it would only prolong his prison sentence in his room, doing nothing, only allowed to leave the room to have dinner or have a shower.
His thoughts were interrupted when a scrunched up piece of paper landed on his desk, startling him out of his daze. Lucky his desk is in the right corner furthest from the front of the class. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the chance to notice it since Cheerilee would've took it immediately off him. With concern, he looked around the class to see who threw the paper at him. Everypony seemed to be as still as a statue, all focused on the front of the class where Cheerilee was, lecturing her students.
Curious, he opened up the paper and had a look at it. It was a note of some kind. The writing on it looked scruffy, as if whoever wrote it was in a hurry for something. He quickly gazed over it. It was a short poem. Before he could start reading it, the bell suddenly rang. Fearing Ms. Cheerilee seeing it, he quickly hid the paper under his propeller cap.
Once the bell ceased to ring, many of the fillies darted out of the door to move onto their personal lives. Personal lives that Button Mash had been cursed to live without the rest of the day. Yet, the more he thought about it, the more he began to think that his normal life wasn't so different compared to when he was grounded.
Button Mash trotted out of the classroom along with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo & Sweetie Belle. "Hey girls! Ah think ah finally know how we're gonna get our cutie marks!" Apple Bloom said, perking up Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo excitedly responded with "Well, how?"
Apple Bloom explained excitedly "Well, when ah was playin' around Sweet Apple Acres, ah found this cave and ah thought there might be hidden treasure inside it. Maybe we can get our archeology cutie marks in that cave!" Sweetie Belle replied with "That's perfect! We can look around the treehouse to see if we can use anything as tools."
Scootaloo then turned around to face Button Mash. "You wanna come with us, Button?" she asked him. Button Mash looked up, opening his mouth smiling as if about to say something, but then frowned and shut it. "Sorry girls, I can't come with you. I'm grounded until tomorrow."
Scootaloo looked disappointed. "Well, that sucks. That's okay Button. we'll see you tomorrow?" Button Mash looked up and said "Yeah, sure. Maybe I'll come with you after school." Apple Bloom already took off down the road to Sweet Apple Acres. "Come on guys!" she called to her two friends.
"Apple Bloom! Wait up!" Scootaloo called, running after her. Sweetie Belle turned to face her coltfriend and pecked his lips. "See you tomorrow Button." she said before running off after her friends.
When the 3 fillies were out of his eye sight, Button Mash took out the piece of paper from his hat and sat down underneath an apple tree. He then opened up the paper, which had scrunched back into a ball when he put it into his hat, and now, with no distractions, he could read this poem in peace.
The first thing that surprised him was what the poem itself was about. It wasn't just a normal poem, it was a love note. Did Sweetie Belle somehow pass it back to his desk when he wasn't paying attention? After getting over the surprise, he began to read.
Brown coat with a heart of gold, as courageous as the knights of old.
When I see your face, I slip into a dream, and you speak, in glee I wish I could scream.
Other ponies may see you as a Ponyfolk civilian, but to me, out of all, you're one in a million.
There's so much to say, but I'll be frank. Your flank may be blank, but you've got a heart like a tank.
Your propeller hat's funny, always spinning like it's loose, with you, even Cupid's arrows would be of little use.
All of this is true, coming straight from my heart, Your personality? A pure work of art.
You fly around my heart like a dove, an angel from above. In closing, with all my heart, I give you my love.
Well, that was quite the poem. Button Mash couldn't help but smile. He didn't realise Sweetie Belle was a poet. He shut his eyes and held the paper close to his chest, right where his heart was. He had never been so moved by such beautiful literature. And it was about him! Things like these were why Button Mash choose Sweetie Belle over other mares for his marefriend. He couldn't wait to show his to his mother. Oh how she would-.
He snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh Celestia! Mom will kill me if I'm not back immediately after school!" he thought. Immediately, he placed the paper back into his hat, got up and ran down the street to his home.
After quite some running, he managed to make it back home. He hid the paper into his hat and walked through the door. Almost immediately after he walked through the door, he heard "Hello Button. How was your day at school?" from Maternity, his mother. He sighed before answering "Fine mom. Another boring day like usual."
Maternity smiled at this. "Well, if you wait until tomorrow, you'll be able to go out with your friends. Maybe even spend more time with a mare you like. What's her name? Sweetie Belle?" to which Button Mash blushed and quickly replied "Yes that's her name, but she's not my marefriend! She's only my friend! I swear!" Everytime this occurs, she would giggle at her son's obvious attempt at lying. She knew too damn well that Sweetie Belle was her son's marefriend and when he denied it, she would always play along with it. But inside, she knew the truth. Of course, this wasn't a problem for Maternity. In fact, she found it wonderful that her son was in a relationship.
As for Button Mash, he went to his room to do some homework that Ms. Cheerilee set for the class tomorrow. After a couple of hours of homework followed by doing nothing (since Maternity took his games consoles and toys out of his room when he went to school the day he was grounded), Button Mash was called down to dinner.
And so there he was, eating dinner with his mother, father and brother. His father, Rusty Nail, was a dark grey colt with a beige mane and a cutie mark of a hammer and nail, showing he has a talent for crafting and woodwork. As for Button Mash's brother, Dusk Flash, he was the polar opposite of his brother's colour scheme. He had a moderate tangelo coat and a dark amber mane. Like his brother, he had no cutie mark either.
Anyway, after a couple of minutes of silence between them, Rusty Nail asked Button Mash to remove his hat at the table because according to him, nopony can focus on their dinner with his propeller spinning constantly. Reluctantly, he took it off and the piece of paper he hid under it fell out. He silently cursed at himself for not remembering it. He hoped nopony had seen it.
"What was that piece of paper that just landed on the table?"
Maternity did however. Before Button Mash could quickly reach over and grab it, Dusk Flash picked it up. Button Mash went red in the face as Dusk Flash opened it up and read it. After he was finished, he burst out laughing.
"Oh man! Mom! Ya gotta see this! Button Mash got a cute little love letter from Sweetie Belle!" Dusk Flash said through his laughter.
"Dusk! Sweetie Belle is just a friend!" Button Mash whined as Dusk handed the note to Maternity. "It's nothing to be ashamed of sweetie. I think it's wonderful you're such 'friends' with Sweetie-." she said before stopping abruptly, shock on her face. Everypony looked towards her, wondering why she stopped. After a few seconds, she spoke.
"Button..." she began. Button Mash perked up at his name being mentioned. Maternity looked like she couldn't find the words to explain this, but she then said "Sweetie Belle, didn't write this." Everypony at the table was confused. Sweetie Belle didn't write that poem? Why would Maternity say that? Button Mash then asked "What? How would you know mom?"
Quickly, she left the dining room and came back a few seconds later with a bunch of papers. She placed them besides Button Mash's plate. All the papers were little drawings and writing. "Two reasons Button. One, the handwriting on the poem doesn't match Sweetie Bell's handwriting at all. And two, the pen she uses to write and draw, although the plastic used on the pen itself is blue, uses phlox purple ink. The ink on this is dark blue."
Button was still not convinced.
"Well, maybe she had to borrow another pen for some reason." he said before replied "Well, if Sweetie Belle borrowed a pen, why would she change her handwriting?" Button Mash couldn't answer that. He just tried to go back to his dinner.
A couple of hours passed and the question of who wrote that poem still rang in Button Mash's head. He thought about it whilst he was in the shower and whilst he was brushing his teeth and washing his face. He thought some sleep would ease the stress of this mystery.
However, he lay in bed for nearly an hour and that question still burned in his mind. He didn't want to believe some other filly wrote that poem, but he couldn't argue with the proof that his mother showed him.
The drawings and the writing all had Sweetie Belle's purple ink. He quickly looked back at the love poem as he pondered who in his class had a pen that had dark blue ink. Nopony came to mind. He sighed before putting the note down and falling asleep.
But he had a burning feeling that not even sleep would erase this mysterious conclusion. The question repeatedly echoed in his head.
If Sweetie Belle didn't write that love note, then by Luna's horn, who in Equestria did?
Alright! That was chapter 2 of Zero Tolerance.
BTW, the chapters names will all be in different languages. I will put a translation of them at the end of the chapters.
In this chapter, the title was in French and 'Juste Une Normale Poney' translates to 'Just A Normal Pony' (Obviously).