Button's Clues (Prologue) by Nomine

 

(01/06/2016)

 

 

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A little prologue for an idea that hit me in the shower.

 

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It had started out as a great day for me. The sun was bright and shiny, the skies were blue, the birds were singing, and I had just helped to capture a filly! My promotion was surely guaranteed now, I had helped bring in the very first filly to be put on trial! Sweetie Belle wasn’t easy to catch, either. I had to trick her to get her to walk where we could grab her. But we did it! We brought her in, had her all ready to go, and then…well…

 

It all went down the drain when the door flew open. Miss Cheerilee, Miss Gusty, /and/ Sweetie’s Mom were all standing there. And they looked mad. Really mad. Like, madder than just normal mad. All us colts scattered once it sank in we had been caught. I managed to get away, and wiped my mane in relief before trotting on home.

 

Things really got worse when I got home, though. My mom was standing there, looking at me like I was a horrible villain in a cartoon. She told me Miss Cheerilee had called her and told her what happened. So I did the only thing any sensible colt would do. I ran. I ran like the wind, but then I tripped over my Joyboy.

 

Then she was over me, glaring down as she shook her head. “Button, I don’t even know what to say! I don’t know what came over you and all those other foals, but to do that to poor Sweetie Belle? You can just forget about playing video games for the next two months, young colt!” she barked at me.

 

Two months…two months without saving the villagers! Without fighting a dragon! Without farming in a valley filled with stardews! I had no choice. I did what I had to do. I bargained with great dignity, arguing my side with wit and cleverness.

 

“Please, Mooommm, not that! Anything but that! I’ll take a spanking, just don’t take away my gaaa-aahhhmmmesss!!!!! Anything!”

 

My words had an effect. Mom looked down at me, frowned, and then nodded.

 

“Alright. If you’re sure, then don’t go straight to bed after your bath. We’ll take care of it then.” She said.

 

Oh sun, what did I get myself into?

 

...

 

This is only the second part of the story, the real story begins after this.

 

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It was a cloudy, overcast evening. I had taken my bath, eaten my dinner, and was slowly climbing the stairs to my bedroom, knowing certain doom awaited my flank when I got there. So I was taking my sweet time. If it was gonna happen, I wanted to wait as long as possible. Maybe Mom would get tired and go to sleep if I just stalled for long enough! It could happen…

 

“Button!” her voice called out, sealing my impending execution. I decided not to make her angrier and rushed into my bedroom, only to find her sitting on the bed with her hairbrush sitting right next to her. I paled She’d never used the hairbrush on me before. Maybe it was a bluff…I hoped it was a bluff.

 

Mom was patting her leg, so I gulped and hurried over, climbing up next to her and giving her a big hug and a kiss. “I love you, Mom!” I said, hoping it might soften the upcoming blows.

No such luck. “I love you too, sweetie, but you asked me to spank you, and I’m going to. Now, get down where you need to be, and let’s get this over with.” She told me, kissing my cheek back. When I showed no sign of moving, she gently grabbed me and laid me down, pinning my tail to my back.

 

I didn’t struggle. Not much. And I didn’t cry either. Not…not until I saw her reach out and pick up the hairbrush. I may have shed a few tears then. “Not the brush, Mom! Not the brush!”

But nothing I said moved her. I saw her pick the brush up. I felt her shift her legs slightly, holding me tight on them. Then came the first spank.

 

“AAOOWWWW!” I yelped out as the hairbrush smacked into my left cheek, then my right. Mom wasn’t pulling any punches on this one. I stayed still, though, keeping my struggling to a minimum as I felt the sting of spanks three and four connect. This was going to be a bad night for me.

 

Mom just kept spanking me, concentrating on my poor flank as she turned it a bright red. Soon I couldn’t control myself anymore, and I broke down crying. It’s not girly to cry when it hurts so much, we all cry when we get spanked! And Mom was spanking me even harder now, making me dance and wiggle on her lap as the brush kept slapping my poor butt.

 

Finally, I couldn’t take it, and I tried to thrash off her lap. I got off, but she grabbed me and hauled me right back up. I knew I was in for it then…she crossed her legs under me and started spanking my sit spots.

 

I was just howling by that point, screaming and squirming hard, but Mom was much too strong. I couldn’t escape…and it was my fault. I had asked for this. And I was the one who caught Sweetie too.

 

Mom’s next spank interrupted my thoughts as she began spanking me faster. Now I couldn’t even count the individual swats, it was just a burning sensation building up all over my butt, dragging more tears out of me until finally…

“I’m sorry, Mommy! I’m sorry!” I cried, begging her to stop.

 

And she did. The moment I said that, I heard her toss the brush back down and then felt her hooves under my belly, lifting me up into a hug as she nuzzled and held me close, rubbing my back. “I know you are, Button. But I’m not the pony you need to apologize to. Tomorrow, I want you to go and say you’re sorry to Sweetie Belle, and to Miss Cheerilee as well. Understand?”

 

After I told her I did, she just held me for a while before tucking me into bed and reading to me. Then, right as I was about to fall asleep, she smiled. “I love you, Button.”

 

“Love you too, Mom.” I said, rolling onto my belly and trying to sleep.

 

Both of us jumped, though, at the next sound we heard. A filly yelling in pain and the repeated sound of smacking. And it sounded like Sweetie Belle!

 

...

 

It was a dark and stormy night, and my flank was burning like the fire in my heart. But I heard something, and it sounded like trouble. And I know trouble when I hear it. Especially when “it” is the sound of a poor little filly getting her flank tanned after we colts had tanned it for her earlier. The question was, who would do such a vile thing as to spank a poor filly whose bottom was already sore?

 

This, I decided, was a job for me.

 

The smacks and cries had long since faded by morning, but then, I wouldn’t be much of a private eye if I needed a clear trail to follow. I already knew this was gonna be a tough case…the dame wasn’t gonna talk to me easy. Not after I dragged her in for questioning just the day before. Turns out I’d fingered the wrong filly…she had some goons to protect her. Not to mention when my landlord found out about the whole thing, I wound up with my flank in some serious hot water.

 

But a detective’s gotta do what a detective’s gotta do. I went over to my desk, pulling out my notes on the dame in question. I’d recognize those cries anywhere, after hearing them so much yesterday. The smoke from my gummy cigar mixed with the sweet smell of the air freshener mom put in my room as I leaned over.

 

Yeah, that’s me. The ‘Stache. Private Eye extraordinaire. I got eight slugs in me to help keep me going, seven apple juice, and one of cider I swiped when mom wasn’t watching. If business was as good as I was at my job, I’d have been playing Shadows of Equestria all day. As it was, I had to deal with a landlord who made me go to school every day until Summer came around.

 

But enough about that…I had a case to solve. Who would be so cruel and so callous as to paddle a poor filly who had already caught it across the flank? It was my job to catch the vile criminal and bring justice to THEIR rear end!