In the kitchen, Sweetie Belle was frantically trying to stuff paper towels into a wildly frothing glass. It refused to stop. Slick, white foam boiled over like an out-of-control paper mache volcano.

Love Tap had to watch her step in the kitchen, as the tiled floor was slick with the sopping remains of balled-up wads of paper towels. Sweetie Belle had obviously been fighting against this rogue boiling mixture before she called in the calvary, so to speak.

“Wow. You weren't just kidding, were you?” Grumbling, Love Tap pulled open a cabinet and removed a stack of real towels.

“Sorry!” Sweetie Belle scrambled out of the way, nearly slipping in the process. “I was just pouring myself a glass of water, and it all went crazy!”

First, Love Tap tossed some towels on the floor and stomped on them to help sop up the spilled liquid and absorb what was still dribbling over. Then, she picked up the offending glass and poured it into the sink. As if in defiance of her, it frothed and foamed twice as vigorously as before.

“What happened? Water doesn't usually do that.” The foam filled up the sink and threatened to pour over. Love Tap promptly smothered it with a towel. That seemed to be its dying gasp, and while the foaming continued, it did so at a manageable rate.

“I don't know. It just happened,” Sweetie Belle said. “I can never seem to do anything right.”

“At least it wasn't on fire,” Love Tap grumbled. “You know, at first I thought you were being overly dramatic, like when you screamed about his dying—”

“Huh?” Sweetie Belle had started to help out on the floor, but she stopped and looked up with wide eyes.

Rolling her own eyes, Love Tap picked up a sponge and started sopping up the mess on the counter. “He dies, like, all the time.”

“He does!?”

“Yeah. I take it you don't play many arcane games?”

“I, um, oh right, games eh-heh.” Sweetie Belle chucked weakly. “N-no, I don't.”

Love Tap rung out her sponge over the sink, causing a stream of brownish, grimy liquid to pour out. “Don't tell Button I said this, but he's not as good as he thinks. I hardly touch his games, and I have over half the high scores.”

“Wait, so if you don't think he can get a cutie mark for playing games, then why—?”

“Mom! I've finished my lunch. Can I go out to play now!?” Scootaloo yelled from the living room. She was doing her impression of Button again.

“So much for that vow of silence,” Love Tap muttered. “Did you eat your peas!?” she yelled back.

“Uh...”

Back in the living room, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stared at the untouched bowl of peas. They were bland—very, very bland. They remained untouched for a reason. Glancing around the room, Apple Bloom spotted a tall, broad-leafed potted plant in a dark corner. That was the perfect place to dispose of them.

She swiped the bowl and trotted over, but to her surprise, the plant's soil was already covered in several layers of discarded, old peas. She shrugged and just piled on more.

“Yes, mom. I ate my peas. Can I go out now?” Scootaloo yelled.

“Have you brushed your teeth?” Love Tap yelled from the kitchen.

There was a moment of silence as she waited for a reply. When she didn't get one, she yelled again. “Button, it's very important for a growing young colts to brush their teeth. You don't want them to fall out, do you?”

“But mom—” Scootaloo whined in her best imitation of Button yet.

“No buts! Now go brush your teeth!”

There was another lull and Sweetie Belle's ears perked up. She thought she heard Apple Bloom and Scootaloo whispering to each other.

“Okay,” was Scootaloo's reply.

Having finished her discussion, Love Tap went back to scrubbing the counter clean.

“Why do you let him play games so much?” Sweetie Belle asked again, as she unhelpfully tossed one of the soiled cloth towels into the garbage bin.

This prompted Button's mother to give Sweetie Belle a sour look as she fished it out. “Forget that. I have a question for you. When you said that you wanted him to plow your virgin fields—”

“It's a game!” Sweetie shouted.

“Yes. I know. Button explained it to me.”

“Oh. Heh-heh.” Tiny rosy splotches appeared on her little white cheeks.

“But what I don't understand is how you can have so much trouble. Farmcraft is literally the easiest game ever made. How can you possibly need help?”

“Oh. Well. It doesn't look hard, but...” Sweetie Belle frowned and waved a hoof in the air as if she were pointing at something. “First, I pick a plot of land.”

“Yes.” Love Tap nodded.

“Then, I plow the fields.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Then, I plant the seeds.”

“Yep.”

“Then, I water them.”

“Right.”

Snorting, Sweetie Belle sat down and crossed her hooves. “That's when everything catches on fire and burns and I have to start all over again.”

Love Tap blinked. She stopped her work on the counter to look Sweetie Belle up and down. “This... water—it wouldn't happen to be red and glowing, would it?”

“Uh, yeah. How did you know?”

“That's lava.”

“Oh. Um, whoops?” Sweetie grinned and shrugged.

Love Tap just groaned and buried her face in her hooves.

While Sweetie Belle and Button's mom were discussing the merits of watering plants with molten rock, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo dragged Button's corpse back upstairs towards the bathroom and were intent on brushing his teeth.

Scootaloo grunted and heaved as she pushed him up over the last step. Pausing to catch her breath, she wiped the sweat from her forehead. “This is so much harder going up than down. Why are we intent on brushing his teeth again?”

“Ya heard what she said. He's gotta brush his teeth after his meal,” Apple Bloom said. She tapped a hoof impatiently. Of course, Scootaloo had been doing most of the work.

“Yeah, but he didn't even eat anything.”

“Of course he didn't. He's dead. Now c'mon, we gotta hurry.” At this point, Apple Bloom grabbed one of Button's legs and started dragging him through the hall by herself.

“Stop that. You're going to tear his costume.”

“So help out.”

“Fine.” Running up, Scootaloo grabbed Button's other foreleg and yanked it up. Between the two of them, they were still dragged him, but it was only his hind legs that were dangling. “What I was saying is that there's no reason to brush his teeth. We did all the eating.”

“Ya think we should brush our own teeth?” Apple Bloom asked.

“No! I'm not saying that either. Let's just not do it and say we did.”

“But what if she checks?”

“If she checks, don't you think she'll notice that he's dead?”

“Oh. Good point.” Apple Bloom stopped to set the corpse down and rubbed her chin. Scootaloo flopped on the floor, panting. “But it don't feel right to just lie about that.”

Sitting up, Scootaloo waved a hoof in front of Apple Bloom's face. “Um, hello? Are you crazy? How can you be worried about lying? That's pretty much all we've been doing.”

“Hey. Maybe I don't like it? Maybe I wish we didn't have to? Maybe we've already dragged him up here and it wouldn't take very long to go ahead and do it?” Apple Bloom shrugged.

“Yeah, whatever, but you'd better not mess it up somehow.” Grunting, Scootaloo smacked open the bathroom door and shoved Button over the threshold.

The interior was still just as messy as they'd left it with red paint smeared all over the walls and soiled towels scattered on the floor. Dribbled toilet water still lingered in small, red-stained pools. Apple Bloom looked up and her eyes wandered around as she followed Scootaloo in. “It looks like somepony got murdered in here.”

“We're going to be murdered in here if she catches us. Quit gawking and go brush his teeth.” Scootaloo huffed, and hopped up on the toilet. She pointed at the sink.

“Me? Ya want me to do it? But...”

“Apple Bloom, this is your idea. I've already had enough of putting my hoof in his mouth.” While making a face and sticking her tongue out, Scootaloo shook her hoof in the air as if she were trying to dislodge imaginary filth.

“Well, Ah guess it can't be too hard,” Apple Bloom mumbled to herself. She frowned while staring at Button's cold, dead corpse and shook her head. Rearing up, she peered over the marble counter to get a better view of the items by the sink. Scattered about, there was a small brown ceramic cup, a little green toothbrush with blue-tipped bristles, a tube of toothpaste, the clogged and jammed automatic razor, a circular hair brush full of rust-colored hairs from Button's mane, a small white block of soap, one of Button's spare beanie caps, and a rusted Spiderpony action figure. After blinking a few times, Apple Bloom picked up the soap.

Turning around, she held it out. “Can ya lift his head up? That'll make this easier.”

“Apple Bloom, what are you doing? That's regular soap. Use the Brushie gel. That's what it's for.”

“It is? Oh. So it is. Heh-heh. I knew that.” With a sheepish grin, she tossed the soap in the waste basket. Scootaloo rolled her eyes in response.

Leaning over the counter again, Apple Bloom furrowed her brow and took another look at the items. “Now let's see...”

Squeak squeak went the toilet paper roll as Scootaloo started spinning it. Reams of perforated paper piled up on the floor.

Apple Bloom gave the little orange pegasus sitting on the potty a sidelong glance before picking up the tube of toothpaste. “This is...” She wiped off some caked white substance that partially obscured the lettering. “Dr. Colgate's Magical Foaming Extra-Strength Triple Mint Swirl Brushie™ Gel. This looks promising.”

Flipping it over, she squinted as she read the tiny print on the back. “Active ingredients, fluoride, magic foam, bla bla bla. Um... It whitens teeth, helps prevent gum disease, et cetera, warning, product may, er, what the?” Apple Bloom blinked, wiped the label, squinted harder and read it again. “It says it stops rigor mortis. That's an odd side effect. Scootaloo, do you have any idea what rigor mortis is?”

“No. I don't. And would you quit goofing off and actually do something productive for once?” Scootaloo said as she continued to spin the toilet paper roll, completely unaware of the irony.

“Okay, okay.” Grumbling, Apple Bloom muttered to herself, “I've got the gel; now I just need the brush, hmm...” There were two brushes on the counter, so she grabbed the bigger one. After all, it must be Button's because it had his hair on it. Following the instructions, she squeezed out half a drop of gel. It looked like a tiny speck on the large hair brush. “That can't be right.”

Pressing her lips together, Apple Bloom's mouth formed a thin line. She tapped on her chinny chin chin. Then, she went ahead and squeezed out the entire tube, forming a huge, extruded, white, green, and blue-striped blob so heavy that it bowed down the bristles. “Much better.”

Scootaloo was too busy amusing herself to help, so Apple Bloom pried Button's jaw open, yanked the sponge out, and rammed the huge mass of gelatin in.

It crackled and popped, with that distinct hiss and hint of ozone that she'd come to recognize from working with potions as a mass of unstable magic about to explode. She ducked for cover, and none to soon, as an entire geyser of magical foaming bubbles erupted from Button's mouth.

The force from the blast was so strong that the hairbrush shattered the mirror when it shot out.

Scootaloo jumped and stared at the scene. “Apple Bloom, what did you—aaah!”

The recoil was so strong that Button slid back against the wall, causing his head started to bobbing around, spewing oral hygiene all over the place. “Ackpth!” Scootaloo winced as the forceful stream of bubbles broadsided her. Spitting out a splattering of foam that'd gotten in her mouth, she shook a wing and fanned herself to get as much off as she could.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Apple Bloom pounced on the corpse and held the head down. That kept the frothing blast low, splattering against the sink cabinet.

“What did you do!?” Scootaloo raised a hoof as if she were going to jump down from the toilet, but hesitated. Instead, she remained perched on the potty and watched Apple Bloom struggle with the frothing corpse.

“I was just tryin' to brush his teeth!” Attempting to shove the sponge back in his mouth, Apple Bloom got splattered on the side of her face. She lost her grip and it slipped out, flopping against the wall in a dull squick.

Scootaloo winced when Apple Bloom slipped on the growing layer of minty foam and Button Mash's head thudded against the wall. A heavy bottle of expensive, ambrosia-scented shampoo tipped off a high shelf and bounced off his noggin with a loud crack. Good thing he was already dead, huh?

The whole room was thick with the sharp tang of mint—enough to make Scootaloo's eyes water. She blinked, then reached down to help her struggling friend get back on her feet. The layer of suds was up to their knees, and the walls weren't much better off, being splattered with a thin layer of white foam.

“Apple Bloom, how much of that gel did you use?”

Shaking herself like a dog, Apple Bloom flung even more foam in the air. “All of it.”

“All of it? But that's a lifetime supply!”

“How was I supposed to know it was gonna explode like that?” Grunting, Apple Bloom used a paint-stained towel in a vain attempt to dig him out of the growing mountain of foam.

Scootaloo still sat on the toilet, looking up and down at the huge mess now layered on top of their previous huge mess. It was messception. “Haven't you ever brushed your teeth before?”

“No!”

“No?” Scootaloo'd raised her leg, but set it back down. She blinked her eyes, squeezing them tight against the mint onslaught. “How do you keep your teeth so clean? They're always sparkling white.”

Giving up on Button Mash for the moment, Apple Bloom pushed open the door, allowing the foam to spill out into the hallway. She hadn't realized just how stuffy it'd gotten until a waft of fresh air hit her in the face. She paused to take a deep breath. “I eat like ten apples a day. I don't hafta brush 'em.”

“That doesn't—huh.” Scootaloo tapped on her chin. “I guess that does make sense.”

Apple Bloom suffed her head into the suds and reared back, lifting Button Mash by his tail. She had trouble keeping her footing, but managed to drag him into the hall. He wasn't spewing like a garden hose anymore, but foam was still pouring out of his mouth.

“Wumbth yapftd—” She spat out his tail and let him slump to the ground. “Would ya quit gawkin' an help me?”

Taking a short breath, Scootaloo hopped down and gingerly squished her way through the foamy mess. She paused at the threshold to wipe her hooves on the carpet and fan herself with her wings. “Eww. Now I'm going to smell like minty fresh breath all week.”

“Tell me about it.” Apple Bloom also wiped herself down and sighed at the soggy mess that was Button Mash's corpse. He was still oozing so much foam that it'd be pointless to try to clean him off.

Scootaloo's eyes widened as she took a better look at him. “Augh! His costume's soaked. It's completely ruined.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Now what are we going to do? That was the only one in his closet.”

“There isn't much we can do. We're gonna hafta carry him out and hope his mom doesn't catch us.” Apple Bloom leaned down to grab one of Button's forelegs.

Biting her lip, Scootaloo shook her head. “I really don't like this.”

“Neither do—huh.” Holding Button's leg, Apple Bloom gave it a tug and flopped him back and forth. “Is it just me or is he extra-limp right now?”

“That's what you care about? How limp the dead pony is?” Scootaloo bit her lip when she grabbed his other leg and picked it up. The soggy fabric of his costume clung to his hide and she couldn't avoid the growing puddle of foam by his head.

“No, it's just—nevermind.” Apple Bloom shook her head as they positioned his weight between them. “Sorry, Scootaloo. I had no idea it was gonna explode like that. I should never have insisted on brushin' his teeth.”

“If his mom murders us all because you screwed this up then I'm going to give you such a noogie.”

“Sorry. Sorry!”

Scootaloo sighed and grit her teeth. “Let's just get this over with.” Next Chapter: Departing Ways Estimated time remaining: 24 Minutes