//------------------------------// // The Cutie Pox // Story: My Little Pony: Friendships and Magic [Season 2] // by Alpha Wolf 4500 //------------------------------// It was another nice day in Ponyville, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were heading to the local bowling alley with their bowling bags. Chad had 3 bowling balls in total, the only one of the group with more than one. "Today's the day, Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Apple Bloom announced confidently. "I can just feel it! Today's the day we are all gonna get our cutie marks in… bowlin'!" "Whoo-hoo!" Scootaloo cheered. "Mhmmmm!" Sweetie Belle said, the strap of her bag in her mouth before she dropped it. "I mean yay!" "Why, after today, we won’t even be the Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore! We’ll be the…" Rumble started. "Three Strikes!" "That makes it sound like we struck out." Scootaloo said. "Hello, bowling. Three strikes is a good thing." Skeedaddle said as he adjusted his hoodie. "How about the pin twins?" Apple Bloom suggested. "There's seven of us." Chad pointed out. They went back to thinking before Apple Bloom got an idea. "How about the bowling dolls?" Apple Bloom suggested. “The bowling dolls! That’s it!” Sweetie Belle said happily. “Perfect!” Scootaloo said. Then Pipsqueak cleared his throat. The fillies looked at the colts and saw the four colts looking at them with a 'seriously?' face. "Yeah... nevermind." Apple Bloom said. They went back to brainstorming before Chad thought of one. “I got it! Lucky Strikers!” Chad exclaimed happily. The others were all in agreement. “Now that is a perfect name.” Pipsqueak said. “Agreed!” Apple Bloom said. "Alrighty then! Let's get bowling!" Chad said as he took all the bowling balls and trotted inside like the bowling balls were weightless. 5 of the 6 looked confused and shocked. “H-how-” Rumble tried to ask before Pipsqueak closed his mouth. “It’s Chad, don’t question it.” Pipsqueak said as he was the first to follow, the other members of the CMC followed suit. Once inside, Chad placed the names into the computer, with his own name last. Sweetie Belle stepped up, placing her ball down and then rolling it down the lane. The bowling bowl went down the lane and then took a sharp left turn into the gutter. She shrugged and went to sit down while Scootaloo tried bucking her bowling ball, only to have it go flying all over the place and land in the gutter of the far lane. She chuckled nervously before taking off back to her seat. Next up was Pipsqueak, who had a hard time getting the ball up to the lane. He managed to do so and pushed it, only for it to go straight into the gutter. The rest of the group watched as it slowly rolled. "Maybe you should've used the bowling balls from your birthday party." Skeedaddle commented as Pipsqueak walked past him, only to get lightly shoved. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle giggled at that as Apple Bloom stepped up for her turn. "You can do it AB." Chad encouraged with a smile. Apple Bloom leaned forward, picking up the ball in her mouth.  "Uh-" Chad tried to tell Apple Bloom, but it was already too late. Spitting the ball down the lane, she watched as it smashed through the pins.  Well... she thought it did. The ponies began cheering when the red ball knocked down all the pins.  "A bowling cutie mark!" One of them celebrated. "I did it! I did it!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, getting up and looking eagerly at her flank, but there was nothing on it. "Blank?"  Chad walked over and turned her head to the colt who actually earned the bowling cutie mark. "Oh." "Your ball is uh........still rolling down the lane." Chad pointed out. She turned to look at the lane and saw the ball rolled all the way down the lane, tapped a pin, and rolled all the way back. Apple Bloom watched in disbelief. My Little Pony, My Big Changeling too Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh… [Bandit] (My Little Pony) We used to wonder what friendship could be (My Big Changeling too) [Twilight Sparkle] Until you all shared its magic with me [Rainbow Dash] Big adventure [Pinkie Pie] Tons of fun [Rarity] A beautiful heart [Applejack] Faithful and strong [Fluttershy] Sharing kindness! [Lightning Sprint] Motivate the team [Bandit] Heroics makes it all complete You have my little ponies Do you know you're all my very best friends? After the bowling session, all of the CMC were walking together. “That bowling sure was fun, even if all I got was gutter balls.” Sweetie Belle said. Skeedaddle shot a slight glare at Scootaloo. "At least you kept your ball in your lane. Next time, lets not have Scootaloo bowl." Skeedaddle said as he walked with an ice pack to his eye. "I didn't mean for that to happen." Scootaloo apologized. "Forgive me if I have a hard time forgiving you while it looks like I got punched by a boulder with iron fists." Skeedaddle told her. "I think Chad was the only one who actually knew how to bowl. He didn't get a single open frame." Rumble commented, not talking about how he fouled every two frames. “Buttering up Chad won’t mask you fouling constantly.” Pipsqueak smirked. Rumble blew a raspberry at him. Chad looked at Apple Bloom and saw she was looking very down. "You okay Apple Bloom?" Chad asked her, a bit worried. Apple Bloom just softly sighed in response. Chad then tapped his chin. “No worries Apple Bloom, I know how to turn that grim back to your adorable grin!” A few moments later, Apple Bloom was seated at the counter at Sugarcube Corner and Sweetie Belle presented her with a cupcake.  "A treat from Sugarcube Corner will cheer you up." Chad said with a smile. Apple Bloom pushed the cupcake aside. "No, it won't." Skeedaddle tried to take it himself, but Sweetie Belle bonked him, making him recoil. Having enlisted Pinkie’s help, Apple Bloom was now upstairs with a party hat on, though in the same seated position with the same glum look on her face. "A party will cheer you up!" Pinkie happily, and both Rumble and Pipsqueak blew party whistles. “No, it won’t.” Apple Bloom said, a little bit louder. [br] At Rarity’s boutique, Rarity planted a feather-covered hat on her head. "A lovely new chapeau will cheer you up." "No, it won't." Apple Bloom said as she shoved the hat off and stormed out of the boutique. The CMC looked at each other and went after her.  "Come on, Apple Bloom, it's just a cutie mark!" Rumble called out. “Or lack of a cutie mark!” Sweetie Belle added. Skeedaddle shushed her. “How is that supposed to help?” Skeedaddle told her. They saw Apple Bloom still walking into the forest. Chad picked up the speed in order to catch up. Chad then walked alongside her. "You okay Apple Bloom? You're kind....walking into the Everfree forest." Chad asked her, still walking with her as the others began to go home. Apple Bloom didn’t say a word as she kept walking. Chad was gonna say something to offer words of comfort, but rustling in the bushes right behind them got their attention. As they turned to look, they saw a snake come out. Apple Bloom let out a yelp and tripped. "Aah!" She yelped, tumbling off the edge.  "Ah! Ooh! Ow!" she moaned when she landed face first on the ground. Sitting up, she winced and covered her sore mouth with her hooves. "Ohhh…." Chad jumped down, seemingly chewing on and swallowing something on the way down. He picked her up. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Mm-mm!" She said, still holding her mouth. "Open up, let me see what your tooth looks like." Chad said as he used his magic to open her mouth. Letting him do so, he'd see that she'd chipped one of her teeth. "You chipped a tooth." Chad said as he closed her mouth. "Chppd?!" She asked, muffled. Chad nodded his head. "Don't worry, I know how to fix this. Zecora taught me some potions when I was trying to earn my Cutie mark in potion making, with Bandit’s permission of course." Chad said as he walked to the hut. "Yu knw potns?" She asked, slightly shocked to hear that. "A few, come on in. I got written permission from Zecora that I can make potions anytime I want, so long as I replace her supplies." Chad said, pulling out a scroll from his hoodie before putting it back after he was done talking. She nodded and followed him inside. As the 2 of them were inside the hut, Chad was adding all the necessary ingredients needed when Zecora walked in. "Well well well, what do we have here? Chad and Apple Bloom, my Dears." Zecora said as she walked to them. "Hi Zecora! Sorry to trespass into your hut like a sleuth, I'm just making Apple bloom A potion to restore her tooth." Chad rhymed with a smile. "No need for you to apologise. I am just happy to see you making potions before my eyes." Zecora replied, making Chad wag his tail. "Thank you! Making potions is fun. Just two more ingredients and I'm done." Chad said as he put two more ingredients in the potion and sturring. Zecora chuckled, smiling at him and at Apple Bloom. Soon enough, Chad poured the newly made pink potion into a bowl and gave it to Apple Bloom.  "Chug it." Chad told her. With no hesitation, Apple Bloom drank every drop. Chad spotted the opportunity for a joke. "Oh wait. I read it wrong, you were suppose to chug half." Chad said. Apple Bloom looked like she saw a ghost before Chad spoke again. “I’m joking, I’m joking.” She sighed in relief, genuinely worried for a moment.  "Open up." Chad said as he positioned himself to see if it worked. Apple Bloom opened her mouth once again. Her tooth began adjusting as it grew back into place, but soon enough it was perfectly back to normal. "Oh my star apples, you did it, Chad!" She cheered and then looked around with interest at the various potions and ingredients needed to make them. "Golly, Zecora has tonics that heal all sorts of ailments, "Bad bones, bad back, bad breath…" "Sure is, Zecora is fantastic at these." Chad told her. "Teach them well too!" Zecora smiled and ruffled Chad’s mane. "There's so many different kinds too. Not just for getting rid of the bad but bringing on the good." Apple Bloom said. "Apple Bloom, If you're trying to butter her or me up into creating a potion that can make cutie marks appear, I'm afraid you're out of luck. I've already tried." Chad told her. “You’ve tried it already? What happened?” Apple Bloom asked. Chad and Zecora looked at each other. Chad moved a large boulder in front of a cave before looking back at Zecora. "We can never speak of this to anyone." Chad told her. Zecora frantically nodded her head. "Eh…..it would be best if we didn't talk about it. Think of it as a noodle incident." Chad told her. Apple Bloom tilted her head. "What's a noodle-" "I'll tell you later. But yeah, sorry Apple Bloom. I'm afraid there's nothing here that could help you get a cutie mark." Chad told her. This, in turn, made her lower her head in sadness. Chad walked over and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Sorry, but I'll treat you to food when we get back, okay?" Chad offered.  "Okay…." Apple Bloom said, still a bit sad. "I'll meet you there, I just gotta help Zecora replace the ingredients I used when I was trying to get my cutie mark." Chad told her. And with that, Apple Bloom nodded her head and made her way out to head back to Ponyville. As she did, Zecora was preparing a brew as Chad turned around to face her. "I'll get to......hey whatcha doing?" Chad asked her. "I am brewing up another mix for a rooster and his chicks." Zecora answered, her voice becoming muffled while sticking her head into a tall basket to reach something. "It seems the rooster has lost his crow." Her voice returned to normal when she retrieved an unusual purple flower. "Making mornings very slow." "Hey, I've seen some flowers that look like that. They look pretty, what are they called?" Chad asked her. "This is a flower that we call Hearts Desire, a dash will ignite the rooster's fire." Zecora answered as she shook miniature hearts from the flower into the brew. "Ooooooh! What does it do?" Chad asked. "I am adding it to a Rooster's brew, to give him back his cockadoodle doo." Zecora answered with a grin. "Does it work on ponies and changelings too?" Chad asked as he looked at it. "If you're not sure, I can work as a lab rat for you. I'll be fine, the rating means it won't hurt." Chad said with a tail wag. "A lab rat? Could it be? You'd really do that for me?" Zecora asked as she looked through ingredients. "What is this? I've run out of amethyst." "Amethyst huh?" Chad asked. He sniffed the air and began following the scent, a few seconds later he came back with amethyst....the pony. Amethyst looked rather….confused. "Uh, what exactly am I here for?" Amethyst asked. "Visual gag humor." Chad said as he pulled out a bag of amethyst for Zecora. Zecora smiled and took the bag and went to put them away.  Amethyst meanwhile gave Chad headpats. Chad nuzzled into the headpats as he trotted over to Zecora. "I'm ready!" Chad said with a smile. Zecora got to work making the brew as Amethyst waited patiently, not wanting to traverse the forest on her own. Chad was chasing his own tail to pass the time as he waited. Soon enough, the brew was finished. Chad nabbed his own tail before turning to look towards Zecora, who had the potion ready. "Everything ready?" Chad asked with his own tail in his mouth. Zecora nodded her head. "Anything I need to do before I take it?"  "Make sure that you drink it all, don't let any drops fall." Zecora answered. Chad nodded and began chugging all brew without a single drop spilling. Afterwards, he hiccuped. "How long until desires are fulfilled?" Chad asked. "You should feel the effects soon. At least before tonight's moon." She answered. "Okay. I'll tell you if something happens. I gotta take Amethyst back to ponyville. Bye Zecora!" Chad said as he began to walk off. Zecora waved as he left.  Amethyst kept close to Chad as they headed back to Ponyville. The next day, Chad and Spike were playing a game of Checkers before there was a knock on the door. An excited Knock. The two of them looked over as Bandit walked over to the door. Spike took the opportunity to turn the board around so he was on the winning side. "Hello Apple Bloom." Bandit greeted. "Morning Bandit!" Apple Bloom said, her tone incredibly excited. "You seem excited, what's the occasion?" Bandit asked as he raised an eyebrow. "I've gotta show Chad something." She said, practically prancing in place from joy. Chad walked over and climbed onto Bandit’s back. "What is it?" Chad asked as he climbed onto Bandit's head to look. Turning to the side, revealing to them, a cutie mark of some kind of ring. Chad and Bandit's jaws dropped as they saw she had a cutie mark. "What do you think?" She asked them. "You got your cutie mark!?" Chad exclaimed with excitement and a tail wag. "I sure did!" "That's amazing! Congratulations Apple Bloom." Bandit told her. "Thank you. Thank you." Apple Bloom said as she bowed. "I can't believe it! You did it Apple Bloom! You're the first CMC to get her cutie mark!" Chad said happily.  "I know! I can't wait to show the others!" She jumped around happily. Bandit then took a closer look at the mark. "Wait. What is your cutie mark?" Bandit asked. "It's a loop-de-hoop!" Apple Bloom told them. "A what?" Bandit and Chad asked her. "A loop-de-hoop." Apple Bloom said as she picked up the one she placed by the door and started to spin it on her tail. Chad and Bandit then realized what she was saying. "Oh! A hula hoop." Chad and Bandit said to each other.  "You know. For some reason I thought your mark would involve apples." Bandit told her. "Me too to be honest but hey, I got this mark." Apple Bloom brushed off. "Congratulations! I'll see you at the school soon! I want to see how the others react to your mark!" Chad told her. "See you later Chad!" Apple Bloom said. "Bye Bandit!" They both waved as Apple Bloom trotted off. Twilight came over after she left.  "I heard some excited voices over here, what's up?" Twilight asked. "Apple Bloom apparently got her cutie mark." Spike answered, making Twilight's eyes widen. "Really!?" Twilight exclaimed as she looked at Chad. Chad nodded. "I'm glad she finally managed to get one. Now she won't have to worry so much about not-" He gasped. "Oh my goodness."  He took off out the door, leaving no dust cloud of himself. Twilight looked at Bandit, shrugging. Bandit also shrugged before walking by the checkers game. He looked at the board and saw Chad's side, which was the losing red pieces now that Spike turned the tables, and started moving for him, which let him jump over 4 pieces, and drop Spike back into the losing side. Spike looked at him shocked and then at the board before just flat-out walking away from it. Chad made it to the hut and jumped through an open window. "Zecora!" He called. Zecora jumped in surprise, turning to look at him. "It gave Apple Bloom a cutie mark." "I do not believe my ears. Did you say it made a cutie mark appear?" "Yes! On Apple Bloom! I made my desire to be about Apple Bloom. I wanted her to not worry so much about not getting a cutie mark, and it gave her one." Chad said. "Did I just mess up!?" "There is no way you could have known, that something like this could have possibly grown." Zecora said, shaking her head. "Is there a way we can.....undo the mark? I got a feeling only bad news is ahead if we let this set." Chad said with a gulp. "That has got me thinking, on that note. I will get to work on an antidote." Zecora told him. "What do I do until then?" Chad asked. "Keep an eye on Apple Bloom, I will bring you the antidote soon." Zecora answered, already looking for ingredients. Chad saluted and began to run off to find Apple Bloom. Chad trotted back to ponyville and looked around for Apple Bloom near the schoolhouse. Apple Bloom was there, showing off her new mark. Chad ran over, running around ponies to get to her and watch, keeping a close eye on her. Luckily, the only effect it seemed to have on her so far, was the fact that she was hula-hooping with extreme ease using only her tail. Chad sat nearby and watched as she performed, much to the delight of those watching. Apple Bloom looked towards him, smiling, which prompted Chad to wave back with a smile, since nothing bad happened just yet. "That looks amazing!" Skeedaddle said. "I can't believe you got such an awesome Cutiemark." Scootaloo said. "Can you teach us your tricks?" Pipsqueak asked. She nodded her head. "I sure can, but you'll have to get a hoop of your own." Apple Bloom said. Eyes looked at Chad. "Lemme guess, y'all want me to make them?" Chad asked. "Pleeeeeease?" They all asked. Chad sighed and started to use Transfiguration to make lots of hoops from nearby sticks. In little time, all of the foals had a hoop and they were all trying to hula-hoop. Some of them were a little more successful than others but none of them were as good as Apple Bloom.. Except for Chad. Apple Bloom watched him, smiling. "Hey, looking good!" "Do I ever not?" Chad asked as a joke, getting a giggle from the Apple filly. Rumble was having a very hard time with the hoop.  "Everything alright?" Apple Bloom asked him. "Y-yeah, just-" He heeled over and fell. "Dang it!" "You're doing great." She told him, to keep him from feeling discouraged.  "You know any other tricks. Ones that will be fun to look at?" Skeedaddle asked. Apple Bloom gave him a smirk.  "Watch this." She said, rolling the hoop up her body to spin around her neck before launching it up into the air and watching it spin around the flag pole. Stopping it at the bottom, she launched it into the air and jumped up to meet it, doing a somersault and then landing whilst still spinning the hoop. "Ta da!" Chad's jaw dropped, as did the other students who witnessed this. "What do ya think of that?" She asked. “I think that was the most amazing hula hoop, ever. Of all time. Have you always known how to do that, or is that something you learned when you got your mark?” Chad asked with a head tilt. “I picked up somethings here and there.” Apple Bloom answered. Chad raised an eyebrow at that. “What?” Chad tossed her a few more rings to test something. The hoops came toward her and she repositioned to deal with them. She was able to spin those too and it was all going well. But then there was another flash and another mark appeared on her flank. Chad’s eyes went wide eyed. “Oh no.” Chad said. The next cutie mark was of dinner plates and sticks. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon zipped over and had malicious smirks. “Another cutie mark? Ha!” Diamond Tiara said before turning to Silver Spoon. “I guess that last trick was a lot of hoopla. Those cutie marks are fake!” “What?! No they’re not!” Apple Bloom exclaimed in defense. “Miss Cheerilee, have you ever heard of a pony with two cutie marks?” Diamond Tiara asked her upon walking over to her. “I must say that I never have.” Cheerilee admitted, then Skeedaddle walked over and spoke up. “Well, no one’s ever heard of a changeling getting a cutie mark either, but it happened for the first time in Equestrian history not to long ago.” Skeedaddle said. “Yeah! Maybe Apple Bloom is so good, she’s got two special talents!” Pipsqueak spoke up. Silver Spoon was not having it. “Oh yeah? Then let’s see you do that.” Silver Spoon said as she pointed to the spin plates cutie mark. "Spin plates! Yeah!" Snips and Snails said before Apple Bloom could protest. They tossed her a pair of sticks and a pair of plates.  She caught the sticks and plates on the tip of her nose and found that she could indeed spin the plates, and the foals gasped in amazement. “Two cutie marks?” Sweetie Belle and Rumble asked. “Two talents?” Skeedaddle and Scootaloo asked. “Twice as awesome!” “One big issue.” Pipsqueak and Chad said. Pipsqueak looked at Chad, disappointed that they didn’t say the same thing at the same time. “Aw yeah!” Apple Bloom cheered happily. “Our friend is the most special pony ever!” The CMC, bar Chad, all cheered. “Alright, everypony, and Changeling, you ready for a real show?" Apple Bloom asked, and the group nodded eagerly. Chad tugged his hoodie a bit. The school group headed into town and caught the attention of the ponies, who were amazed to see Apple Bloom had two cutie marks, and she put on a performance. The ponies cheered as she did different tricks with both the plates and the hoop, which she used to cut a circle out of the cloud that Rainbow Dash was sleeping on, and didn't even wake her up. When Apple Bloom saw Rarity and Twilight, who had been brought over by Sweetie Belle, she threw the hoop so that it spun really fast on the purple unicorn's horn before flying off, and Twilight blinked when she saw that her mane now looked like Rarity's and she scowled while Rarity looked very happy at the style of hair on Twilight, Spike looked at the hair with heart irises. Bandit was walking towards the library with some kind of board game with Apple Bloom rolled over on her hula hoop. He stuck out his hoof for Apple Bloom to jump on, and when she did, he launched her for her to do one heck of a flip. The performance drew the attention of Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Applejack, and they were amazed to see the filly doing her tricks, especially when she spun the hoop around her neck and Granny Smith's neck. Applejack then whistled to get her sister's attention before bucking into the air a large apple pie and a stack of plates. Apple Bloom caught them on her nose and she tossed them high into the air, where she used her hoop to slice the pie into neat slices. First, the plates landed on the nearest picnic tables, and the pie slices landed on them. A whole pie went towards Big Mac, but it was intercepted by Bandit, who swallowed it whole. Big Mac glared at Bandit who smugly shrugged. Soon enough, time made the sun rest, and it was time for Apple Bloom to head to sleep. The apple family walked through the door, and Applejack was excited in particular. “Yee haw little sis!” Applejack started as she walked through the door. “Congratulations on getting not just one, but two cutie marks! We’re mighty proud of you, right. Right Big Macintosh?”  Big Macintosh was seemingly in the other room, but he poked his head in. “Eeyup!” “I’ve never seen anything like it, have you big mac?” Applejack asked. The tv was heard turning off. “Eenope.” Big Macintosh said. "Why, the way you were a-hoopin' and a-hoppin' and kickin' and spinnin' reminded me of when I was a spry young filly," Granny Smith remarked and struck a pose, only to have one her hind-leg cramp up on her. "Guh, charley horse, charley horse!" She yelped. Big Macintosh walked over and gave her a jab to her side and her leg returned to normal. "Ooh, that's better." “Why Apple Bloom, I think you’re ready to hit the rodeo circuit right now!” Applejack suggested. “Actually, I’m ready to hit the hay right now.” Apple Bloom said as she started walking to the stairs. “I’m plum tuckered. I’ll see y’all in the morning. G’night!” Applejack peeked over and watched her walk up the stairs with a smile. “Night!”  Granny Smith and Big Macintosh came over to watch as well. “Oh my. Little Apple Bloom has finally blossomed--hasn’t she Big Mac?” Applejack asked. “Eeyup.” He said with a smile. Then Applejack snapped over to face him. “Now what you gone and turn the tv off for?” She interrogated. Big Macintosh took off. Applejack was shocked at his speed. “Hey! Get back here you!” “Nope!” Big Macintosh exclaimed. Applejack ran after him and caught up. She snatched the remote and turned on the tv, but it was a talkshow. She hit the return button, but it was just one channel above. So whatever Big Macintosh had on the tv before, he managed to cover his tracks. “You win this time.” Applejack told him. Big Macintosh stuck his tongue out at her. The next morning arrived though the sun was yet to be up, but the sounds of tapping came in with the morning, which woke up Big Macintosh and Applejack. The two of them got to her room and Applejack opened the door. "Apple Bloom, what is all that awful… tapping?" she began and gasped when she saw that her sister now had bright red, yellow-ribboned tap shoe cutie mark on her flank. "Three cutie marks?!" "Help me!" Apple Bloom pleaded, unable to stop tap dancing, and she was still spinning the hoop on her tail and the plates on her head, unable to stop any of her three talents. Big Macintosh walked over and used his mouth to grab the hula hoop on her tail, only to be thrown into the wall. “I’m sorry! I don’t know how to make it stop!” Apple Bloom told them. “We know someone who might.” Applejack said as she stood up.  At the Library, Apple Bloom was still tapping away as Twilight and Bandit were looking at what was happening to Apple Bloom. “Three Cutie Marks. Three talents. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Twilight said as Bandit tapped his chin. “What kind of illness could this even be?” Bandit asked. “Cutie pox!” Chad said as he came out of his room with a book in his magic. Spike turned to look at him. “Did you just wait by the door for someone to ask that question?” Spike asked him. Chad shook his head. “No, I was looking for the name of the condition in this book when I heard the tapping. I found it right before-” “Chad, not the time. What’s cutie pox?” Bandit asked. “Oh, right.” Chad said as he looked back at the book and began reading. “This puzzling pony plague back in-, wait. It’s not a plague, it’s not contagious. It’s a noncommuniable disease.” “Chad!” Bandit called. “Continuing. This puzzling pony plague afflicted a population of ponies back in the Paleo-Pony Period.” Chad read. Spike opened his mouth. “Spike, if you say, ‘say that 10 times fast’ I’ll eat that gem you’re saving.” Bandit told him. Spike closed his mouth real fast. “Random cutie marks appeared all over the ponies' bodies, causing them to perform all the talents that came with them!" Chad continued. "Just like me!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, alarmed that this was happening to her. “Yes, but what’s the cure? What’s the cure?!” Applejack asked. “There uh….there’s not a known one.” Chad said as he showed where it was written in the book. Jaws were dropped as a result. “It says the cutie pox disappeared as mysteriously as they arrived. The cause of the breakout was never discovered.” "Oh, no!" Apple Bloom said in shock. It was at that moment when a fourth cutie mark, shaped like a fleur-de-lis, and she started speaking in French. "Sacré bleu! Plus de marques de cutie! Qu'est-ce c'est?! Je parle Français?!” “My sister's speakin' in fancy!" Applejack yelped. “It’s called French Applejack. Languages have names.” Bandit pointed out. “Bandit, not the time. I’ve gotta get to Zecora, pronto.” Chad said as he was about to zip out the door, but Twilight grabbed his tail. “Oh no, you need to explain yourself, mister. Why were you researching the Cutie Pox?” Twilight asked him. Bandit put his hoof on her back. “Twily, let him go grab Zecora first. Then we can interrogate him on whether or not he caused this.” Bandit told her. Twilight sighed, nodded and let go. Chad zipped out of the door. Bandit watched him run before looking at the others. “Let’s try to keep Apple Bloom from-” He would then notice Apple Bloom was gone. “Where’d she go?” Big Macintosh also noticed. “I took my eyes off of her for a second!” Applejack said as she looked around. They soon spotted her outside, chiseling a sculpture after a new cutie mark appeared. Chad teleported to Zecora’s hut and began knocking on the door. “Zecora! Are you in here?” Chad asked as he then opened the door and walked in. “You opened my door in a rush to see me. What happened to cause this urgency?” Zecora asked. “The cutie mark turned into cutie pox. Please tell me you found that antidote.” Chad practically begged. “It seems as though things might turn bad. Luckily, I have the antidote Chad.” Zecora told him. Chad sighed in relief. “Thank goodness, come on! Apple Bloom needs our help.” Chad said as he started to run out of the hut. Zecora runs out after him. When Chad and Zecora got back to Ponyville, they were shocked to find it as empty as the first time Zecora came to the town. It was so empty, a dead tumble weed bounced past them. “Seriously, what is with those tumbleweeds?” Chad asked. “Chad, Zecora! Over here!” Bandit called. They looked over and saw Apple Bloom solving equations on a board while also being covered in cutie marks. “Why is this place so empty? I was gone 5 minutes.” Chad asked. “I may have let slip that Cutie Pox was a disease she had with no known cure.” Spike answered. “Really? That slipped out?” Chad asked. Spike was gonna answer, but Chad continued talking. “Nevermind, Zecora’s here to help us.” Bandit walked over to her. “Zecora, good to see you again. What kind of cure do you have?” Bandit asked as Apple Bloom started to clean a window with sponges as two ponies inside put on Hazmat attire. "A cutie pox cure I have forsooth." Zecora began, pulling out three yellow seeds from her bag and held them up with her tail. "For healing power is in the Seeds of Truth." "Well, well then give 'em to her! Quick!" Applejack yelped. "These seeds must be planted in the ground. With the truth, they'll grow, and the cure is found." Zecora told the group. "The Seeds of Truth do hold the cure, but one must speak words, true and pure." “No time to lose!” Chad said as he used his tail to dig out a hole before using his magic to plant the seeds and cover it. "Now we just need someone to tell the truth." Bandit said before looking at the others. "Any volunteers?" A tornado cutie mark appeared on Apple Bloom’s body and she started spinning out of control. Ponies, and the CMC all looked on in worry as this went down. “Anyone at all?!” Bandit asked. Chad was gonna say something, but Skeedaddle somehow broke first. "Okay okay! I'm the one that ate Sweetie Belle's blueberry pie Rarity made for her and told her Opal ate it!" Skeedaddle exclaimed.  Everyone looked at the buried seeds, and nothing happened. Sweetie Belle bonked Skeedaddle in his head. “Ow!” “Anyone else?” Bandit asked. Next to break was Rumble. "I actually am a fan of the Wizarding Pony series!" Rumble confessed. "I knew it! You made fun of me for weeks, you closet fan!" Pipsqueak exclaimed. “Shuticus Upus!” Rumble exclaimed back to him. The seeds, again, didn’t grow. Chad finally had enough. "Okay! Everyone stop talking!" Chad exclaimed. "I'm the reason Apple Bloom has Cutie Pox!" A collective gasp filled the town as all eyes fell on Chad. "Zecora told me about a plant that when ingested, could make true your deepest desire, after Apple Bloom was bummed out for not getting her cutie mark, I wanted to make her happy, so when I took the plant, my desire was her getting her mark." Chad confessed, the seeds began to grow. Though he kept it a secret that he volunteered to be Zecora's guinea pig. "I just wanted to make her happy, so she wasn't so down. I really didn't know it would end up like this, and I'll do whatever it takes to make it right." Chad added. As fast as his words were spoken, a beautiful white flower grew out of the ground and bloomed, making the ponies awe in amazement. Chad snatched up the flower and shoved it into Apple Blooms mouth. Apple Bloom wasted no time eating the flower, resulting in a sigh and of relief. She fell to the ground and the cutie marks disappeared left and right. She stood back up with a smile on her face, seeing that she was now a blank flank. “Are you okay Apple Bloom?” Chad asked her. She smiled and nodded. “I’m great, and I have never been happier to be a blank flank in my entire life.” She said very grateful. Chad then rubbed his arm. "Apple Bloom, I want to apologize." Chad said to her. "I didn't mean to have this happen. I just saw how down you were when you didn’t get a cutie mark, I was willing to do whatever it took to put that smile back on your face.” As Chad lowered his head in sorrow, Apple Bloom practically glomped him with a hug. “Apology accepted! I know you didn’t do this on purpose Chad. Your heart was in the right place.” Apple Bloom told him as she released the hug. "Which is exactly why you aren't gonna be grounded." Bandit told him. Chad smiled and did a backflip. "Alright!" Chad exclaimed.  "But you are cleaning up this mess." Bandit told him, pointing to the aftermath of Apple Bloom’s cutie mark escapade. Chad sighed. "Don't worry, Zecora said she'll help you, didn't tell me why." Chad looked at Zecora and winked, Zecora winked back before the other CMC members spoke up. "I'll help too!" Apple Bloom volunteered. "Me too!" Pipsqueak said. "I'm in." Skeedaddle said. "Same!" Rumble said. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both nodded. "Yeah!" "This is another attempt at cutie marks isn't it?" Bandit asked them. "....how does he always know?!" Skeedaddle whispered to the others. Bandit rolled his eyes. "Go."  The CMC were off, with Zecora’s help and began to fix the messes that was caused. Chad then looked at Zecora. “Hey, Zecora, did that rooster get his-” Chad tried to ask. Zecora covered his mouth and nodded his head. Chad smiled and continued to clean the town. "Dear, My loving mother. Today I learned a very cliche but incredibly valuable lesson. Be careful what you wish for. I know it sounds weird I had to learn this lesson, but it's true. I thought that I would be able to wish for a desire to be fulfilled for a friend of mine. But now I understand that without patience and hard work to earn what you want, the desire you receive wouldn't be worth it. And I understand that now more than ever. I learned that you can’t rush things that your heart desires. And good things come to those who wait. Sincerely, your loving son, Chad." Chad wrote before sending the letter. He looked at the town and saw everything was fixed and cleaned up. Apple Bloom walked over to Chad and tapped his shoulder, getting his attention. “Hey Chad, I got another cutie mark we can try to get.” She told him. Chad tilted his head with a raised eyebrow before he was booped on the nose. “You’re it!” She took off running, Chad started laughing before getting up and running after her.