Sweetie Belle's flanks heaved as she stared in horror at the cute corpse. Apple Bloom tugged at her mane, and Scootaloo paced in tiny circles with a wild look in her eyes.

“Girls, wait. Before we panic, we should take a moment of silence to pay our respects for the dead,” Sweetie Belle said.

Stopping with her pacing, Scootaloo bit her lip. “How long is that going to take?”

Sweetie Belle frowned, gazing at Button's corpse. “Ten seconds should do it.”

“Well, okay.”

Huddling together, the three of them hung their heads in silence.

Three seconds later, Apple Bloom asked, “Has it been ten seconds yet?”

“No,” Sweetie Belle replied.

“How about now?”

“I don't think so.”

“Now?”

Shrugging, Sweetie Belle lifted her head. “Close enough.”

Respects dutifully paid, now was the time to panic. They screamed, pulled on their faces, and randomly darted about. Kicking up cans and trampling on discarded snack bags, they created a horrible ruckus.

“What's going on up there!?” The loud and firm voice of Button's mom carried through the floor.

Freezing, Apple Bloom yelled back, “Uh... We're playin' tag!”

“Well don't! You'll break something.”

“Aww.” Scootaloo ruffled her tiny wings. “I was having fun panicking.”

“Why doesn't panicking ever solve our problems?” Sweetie Belle mumbled. “It'd make life so much easier.”

“Any other ideas?” Apple Bloom asked.

Glancing at the open window, Scootaloo said, “Well, we could just run away.”

With solemn stares, they locked eyes and made a mad dash for freedom. They'd have to give up their hopes and dreams and spend the rest of their lives on the run, forever living in fear while trying to stay one step ahead of a mad pony out for murderous revenge. It'd be a difficult life, and one that might end horribly, but at least they'd have each other. Well, that is, if they could actually get out of the room.

Piling up against the windowsill, they stared in horror at a brown stallion with a blue jacket and orange hard hat walking off with their ladder slung over his shoulder.

“Hey! What are ya doin'? Ya can't just walk off with that!” Apple Bloom yelled.

“Yeah! Somepony could be using it, like us!” Sweetie Belle yelled.

“And besides—we jacked it first!” Scootaloo added unhelpfully.

The construction worker stuck his tongue out and blew them a raspberry before marching off. They frowned in response, but there wasn't anything else they could do.

“Wait. I heard about somepony escaping from a tall building once by dropping bedsheets out the window,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Ooh. That's a great idea.” Apple Bloom hopped on the bed and started tearing off sheets and blankets. She passed them to Scootaloo, who was only too happy to rush them over to Sweetie Belle at the window. A few minutes later, a pile of changelings-vs-petunias-themed bed covers were lying in a heap next to the house, smothering the tulip garden planted there.

“Okay, now what?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Next we need to tie them together,” Sweetie Belle said.

Both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom glanced at each other, then poked their heads out the window to stare at the blankets lying far out of reach. “How are we supposed to do that?” Scootaloo asked.

“We, um...” Scratching her chin, Sweetie Belle frowned. “...maybe we should have done that first?”

“Ya think?” After rolling her eyes, Apple Bloom slumped against the wall. “This is terrible. Any minute now, she's gonna come up here to check on us an' we're all gonna die.”

“Aw, don't worry, Apple Bloom. I'm sure we'll think of something.” Sweetie Belle said before also slumping against the wall. “I hope.”

“Maybe he's not even dead?” Scootaloo asked. She walked over and poked Button Mash, but he failed to respond. In fact, he hadn't moved once and still had that same vacant, perfectly still, obviously dead look to him that he had when they'd first found him. “Darn. I guess that would have been too easy, huh?”

“How'd he even die in the first place? All that red paint and string doesn't make any sense,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Dunno. Does it matter? Ah mean, he's dead, and his mom's gonna to blame us no matter what.” Sighing, Apple Bloom slumped down even further. She looked like one of those melting clocks that were supposedly art.

“Maybe it does?” Scootaloo wiped away some of the foam from his mouth. “If we know how he died, then maybe we can do it reverse?”

“Do it in reverse?” Raising an eyebrow, Sweetie Belle cocked her head. “Can that actually work?”

“Sure, why not?” Sniffing at the foam on her hoof, Scootaloo blinked. “Hey. This is really minty. What do we know of that's foamy and minty?”

Apple Bloom shrugged and Sweetie Belle furrowed her brow. Neither of them said anything.

“Girls, it's been awfully quiet up there. Is everything okay?” Button's mom asked through the floor.

“Yeah, everything's fine!” Scootaloo yelled back.

“She's almost as bad as Applejack,” Apple Bloom muttered. “We are so dead.”

“Maybe being dead isn't so bad?” Pointing at Button's corpse, Sweetie Belle said, “He doesn't seem to mind.”

“It's not the bein' dead that bothers me. It's the becomin' dead that's gonna hurt.” Apple Bloom shuddered.

“We can't give up yet.” Gritting her teeth, Scootaloo flexed her wings while glaring at the dead body. “This is all your fault. If you hadn't gone and died on us, we wouldn't be in this mess.”

“It's not his fault he died.” Sweetie Belle's lips curled down and she poked the side of her mouth with her tongue. “I mean, I don't think so.”

“Yeah, well, it's not our fault either.” Scootaloo folded her forelegs and put on a huge frown. She then winced and rubbed her forehead. “Gah. We don't have time for this! We have to find some way to undo his death.”

“Undo his death? Ya wanna make him un-dead?” Apple Bloom scratched her mane. “As is a zombpony?”

“What? No—well... maybe...” Sighing, Scootaloo shook her head. “I don't know. I just don't want to be k-k-k-k-k'd, okay?”

Tapping on her chin, Sweetie Belle scrunched up her face, glaring at the ceiling as if it were in the way of uncovering the secrets of the universe, which it was. “Rarity once told me that she'd let me look through her deepest, most personal secrets over her dead body and when I asked her if that meant I could look through them when she died, she said oh no-no darling, she'd return from the dead just to stop me.”

“That sounds like her all right.” Apple Bloom peered at the still-spinning propeller on Button's beanie hat. Poking it with her hoof, the little, multicolored fan came to a stop.

“Maybe Button has something that he cares about so much that he'll return from the dead to protect,” Sweetie Belle added.

“Are ya sayin' that all we have to do is to rummage through his stuff and he'll come back ta life?”

“Yeah.”

“That sounds better than my idea.” Glancing back and forth, Scootaloo walked over and wiped her hoof off on the side of Button's bare mattress.

“It's settled then.” Sweetie Belle clapped her hooves together and grinned. “Cutie Mark Crusader Button's Private Parts Investigators, yay!”

The other two winced and blushed. Lowering her voice, Apple Bloom said, “Never say that in front of his mother, okay?” Scootaloo nodded fervently.

“Huh?” Sweetie Belle looked back at them both with the widest, clearest eyes. Next Chapter: Digging up Dirt Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 8 Minutes