Despite the danger looming over their heads, the Cutie Mark Crusaders eagerly huddled together to dig into Button's diary. Sweetie Belle had the widest grin with Apple Bloom smiling next to her. Even Scootaloo had a twinkle in her eyes.

Flipping open to a random page, they all got so close together that they were touching heads.

Sweetie Belle read, “February the twelveth, Top Pony Loader, I completed the special mission on level six, unlocking sniper mode for newgame plus, which I played for four levels.” She blinked. “What?”

Flipping to the next page, she read, “February the thirteenth, I beat my high score on Bale Stacker (35,612 points—sweet!) and constructed three new silos in Farmcraft.”

“Uh...” Sweetie Belle blinked again. Her smile faded. “February the fourteenth, I finally finished the Blackmailing of Wedding Castle-Playset on royalty mode without any help from mom! None! Nada! I mean it! I totally would have found that ponycake powerup on my own even if she hadn't pointed it out first, honest!”

“Are all of his entries about arcane games?” Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie Belle grunted as she flipped back and forth through the book. “Looks like it,” she said flatly.

“Does he play games every single day?” Apple Bloom asked.

Sighing deeply, Sweetie Belle flipped through the pages again. “Looks like it.”

“How sad,” Apple Bloom said.

Pointing at the diary with both forelegs, Scootaoo scowled. “Sad? It's totally lame.”

“Yeah. Where's all the good stuff?” Sweetie Belle held up the book and shook it, as if she were expecting hidden pages to fall out. “How are we supposed to know his deepest secrets if he never wrote them down?”

“Yeah! I really want to know which Wonderbolt he likes best,” Scootaloo said.

“Or the kinds of things he's been tryin' to get his cutie mark,” Apple Bloom added.

“Or which one of us he thinks is the cutest,” Sweetie Belle said.

That last comment got a chuckle out of Scootaloo, who waved her hoof dismissively. “Count me out on that. There's no way he thinks I'm cute.”

“I wouldn't be so sure of that...” Grinning mischievously, Apple Bloom fished a pencil out of her mane and took the diary from Sweetie's magic. She scratched out what Button had written on that page and spoke as she wrote beneath it. “Eh, who really cares about some lame arcane game and the score I got? Today, I couldn't stop thinkin' about just how dreamy Scootaloo was.”

“What!?” The orange pegasus' eyes widened and Sweetie Belle couldn't help but laugh.

“Yep,” Apple Bloom went on, “I wanna cuddle up to her, and brush her mane—”

“No he doesn't!” Scootaloo protested.

“It must be true,” Sweetie Belle said. “It's written in his diary.”

“—and give her lots of flowers and chocolates, and—”

“Give me that!” Scootaloo pounced, knocking Apple Bloom over. The two of them rolled on the squishy carpeted floor, like a pair of chess masters who'd forgotten what game they were paying. While Apple Bloom did try to keep the diary, she was laughing so hard she could only put up a token protest. Snatching it, Scootaloo broke off and hopped up on the remains of the bed, causing the box springs to bow down and squeak in protest.

Pulling out her own pencil, she wrote on the next page, “As awesome as Scootaloo is, the one I really have my eyes on is Apple Bloom.”

“Me?” Now it was Apple Bloom who's eyes widened.

“I just can't get over how that cool red bow she always wears makes her so adorable. She's as cute as a sunbeam in a rainbow,” Scootaloo said as she wrote.

“Ah'm not that cute,” Apple Bloom said, with tiny rosy spots appearing on her cheeks.

“You can't argue with a diary,” Sweetie Belle said. “It's a rule.”

“She's the apple of my eye,” Scootaloo went on.

Pressing her hooves together, Sweetie Belle grinned. “Aw, that's so sweet.”

“I-it's not.” Apple Bloom shook her head.

“She's the flower of my orchard.”

“I am not!”

“You are too. It says so in his diary.” Scootaloo held it up and chuckled. That prompted Apple Bloom to jump and take a swipe at it, but Scootaloo was too quick in pulling it aside. Holding up a hind leg to keep Apple Bloom at bay, she buzzed her wings to keep balance whilst writing as quickly as she could. “She's the most beautiful thing I've ever set my eyes on—”

“Stop sayin' stuff like that!” Struggling to get in range of the book, Apple Bloom's cheeks were squashed up against Scootaloo's hind hoof.

“—and I just can't get over how she sparkles in the sunlight—”

“What the hay!? I don't sparkle!” Rather than keep pushing, Apple Bloom grabbed Scootaloo's outstretched leg and yanked.

“Ack!” Loosing her balance, the orange pegasus collapsed on the box springs. This left her open for Apple Bloom to jump on, but she kept a tight grip on the diary. And that was as far as their fight got.

Sweetie Belle laughed so hard that she fell over and rolled on the floor.

The two combatants saw this, stopped, passed knowing grins and slight nods. They disentangled quickly, and Scootaloo whistled nonchalantly whilst passing the book to her friend. Apple Bloom wasted no time in flipping through the pages, and when she found the spot they'd been writing on her grin doubled.

“Ahem,” she said, right before carving into the surface with her pencil again. “While Apple Bloom might be pretty, the one who really makes my heart flutter is Sweetie Belle.”

That got Sweetie Belle's attention. She sat up quickly then tried to say something, but she'd been laughing so hard that she hiccuped instead.

“I-I love her so much that it hurts,” Apple Bloom narrated. “Ah want to tell to her, but I'm too scared.”

“Love me? He hardly even -hic- looks at me. That can't be right,” Sweetie Belle said.

“If it's in his diary, then it's true and you can't argue,” Scootaloo said.

“Eeyep.” Apple Bloom nodded then went back to writing. “She might not see me lookin', but I do. Ah'm always catching her reflection on the screen of my Joyboy. That's why I carry it around with me all the time.”

“Ap-hic- Apple Bloom, don't you think you've written enough in his diary?” Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and held it, causing her cheeks to puff out.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Apple Bloom said, before winking and passing it to Scootaloo.

Sweetie's eyes widened and she spat out the breath she was holding then promptly hiccuped.

Wasting no time, Scootaloo started writing where Apple Bloom had left off. “I lie awake at night thinking about the things I should say. Should I tell her that her eyes are as vibrant as newly grown spring leaves? That her mane is as fluffy as cotton candy? That she's as fun and exciting as a ball pit?”

Sweetie Belle spat out another breath of air. At this point, her cheeks had turned flush from the stress of trying to suppress her hiccups. “A ball pit? Scootaloo, are you -hic- Are you even trying?”

“What? I like ball pits.”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “The last time ya went to one, ya sunk out of sight and they spent three hours diggin' ya out. You were screamin' and flailin' the whole time.”

“T-that was part of the fun.” Scootaloo shuddered and then gulped. “A-anyway, I, Button Mash, spend my last few waking moments before drifting off to sleep dreaming about just how excited she'll be once I finally talk to her. She'll squeal and jump right into my waiting hooves.”

“I -hic- wouldn't do that.”

“We'll stare into each other's eyes, lean forward, and smooch!” Scootaloo grinned like a madpony as she wrote that down.

“Eww! Scootaloo, that's gross! Every filly knows that colts have cooties.” Sweetie Belle started to stick her tongue out, but her face contorted as she hiccuped again.

“Bah, that's just a rumor.” Apple Bloom waved her hoof dismissively. “And besides, yer blushin'.”

“I am -hic- am not!” Sweetie protested as the reddish hue of her cheeks deepened.

Chuckling to herself, Scootaloo drew a sketch of them kissing in Button's diary. “If you're blushing, you have to kiss. That's a rule too.”

“It's not!”

Apple Bloom hummed a few bars, prompting Scootaloo to join in. Together they sang,

“Button Mash and Sweetie Belle Shippin' on the sea.

K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

“I can't kiss him. He's -hic- a boy!”

“First comes a peck and then comes a smooch,

then comes a diamond wedding brooch!”

“I can't kiss him. That's gross!”

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

“I can't kiss him! He's dead!”

Sweetie's shout was so loud that it bellowed through the room, easily passing through the walls and reverberating throughout the entire house. Once she realized what she'd done, she shrunk down, ears wilting, and covered her mouth with both hooves. One tiny, final hiccup escaped from her lips, as if making a bid for freedom from her doomed lips.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo likewise froze, and they all listened intently to the noises coming from downstairs. A faucet was running and they heard the subtle smack of a closing fridge door, then a whack-whack-whacking of something that was probably an egg beater.

“Do ya think she heard that?” Apple Bloom whispered, pointing a hoof down at the floor.

“She'd have to be deaf not to,” Scootaloo hissed back.

“I'm sorry! It just came out,” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

They waited a while longer, but when the normal kitchen noises continued and no angry mare came bounding up the stairs to throttle them, they relaxed again. Well, they were all tense, and would likely jump at the faintest bump, but they weren't frozen in fear anymore. They were rapidly running out of time, and not only did defiling his diary not cause Button Mash to stir, but Sweetie Belle had also failed to scream loud enough to wake the dead.

“What's the last entry say?” Apple Bloom asked, pointing at the diary still clutched in Scootaloo's hooves.

Flipping through the pages, Scootaloo stopped about halfway through. “Uh, this is from yesterday.” She squinted and tilted her head. “His hoofwriting's really awful—like, way worse than usual.”

“What's it say?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I'm now on the third day of my Phony Filly Fantasy Forever marathon challenge. I haven't slept in fourty-eight hours, and my supplies of Cheese Oats and Rabid Pony are running low, but the most legendary achievement...” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “That's weird.”

“What's weird?” Apple Bloom asked.

“That's all he wrote.”

“He got sucked into the game!” Sweetie Belle said. “That has to be it! All we have to do is beat it and, uh...” Her enthusiasm died at the sight of the shattered Yaystone. “Please tell me it's a Mane Event game.”

“Ponycade, actually.” Scootaloo rubbed her mane and frowned.

“That's the first one ya broke!” Apple Bloom smacked Scootaloo on the side of the head.

“Ow!” Rubbing the spot, Scootaloo glared at her friend. “Hey! That hurt! And I didn't break the machine. It was already broken. I was trying to fix it.”

“Yeah, but ya made it worse.” Sighing deeply, Apple Bloom hung her head. “Sorry, Scootaloo. This whole thing is stressin' me out.”

Quietly, Sweetie Belle walked over and poked her head out the window. “Maybe we should jump? If we break our necks, that would save time.”

“Don't give up! There has to be something we can do.” Scootaloo looked up at the ceiling, staring at the hole where the ceiling fan used to be. “I just wish I knew what.”

“What about that?” Apple Bloom pointed at the poster from the Hornsaber trilogy. “I saw a costume in the closet. Ya think if we dress him up, we can sneak him out?”

“Ooh. That's a good idea. With a mask on, it'll be hard to tell that he's dead.” Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin. “But then what?”

“I... uh... I don't know.” Apple Broom frowned. “But it's better than stayin' here.”

Pulling open the closet door, Scootaloo rummaged through the heap of beanie hats looking for the costume. “Well, if we do manage to sneak him out, we'll be able to try all sorts of things.”

“Yeah! And if it takes a while, we could stash him in the clubhouse—call it a sleepover, or somethin'.” Apple Bloom pointed up at a shelf above the rack of coat hangers. Sure enough, the mask was up there, far out of reach.

Sweetie Belle nodded and pulled it down with her magic. “So it's a plan, then. The Cutie Mark Crusaders will run off with Button Mash and sleep with him!”

The other two nearly choked. Trying not to blush, Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom, “And that's coming from somepony who refused to kiss him.” Next Chapter: Dining With the Dead Estimated time remaining: 48 Minutes