//------------------------------// // Trouble is Brewing // Story: What Your Heart Desires // by DbzOrDie //------------------------------// “Scootaloo, add that ground up Poison Joke now, be careful not to touch it though. Sweetie Belle, you just keep stirrin’ the potion, I’ll add the final ingredient.” And in went the final, heart-shaped ingredient. A small cloud of smoke erupted from it. The three crusaders eyed the white substance with caution. After spending the entire afternoon finding the ingredients in the Everfree Forest and mixing them together in just the right way, it was finally done. The perfect Heart’s Desire potion. “Are you sure about this?” Sweetie Belle nervously asked. She had reasons to doubt the plan. More often than not, their plans would go up in smoke, figuratively and literally. “Of course she’s sure,” Scootaloo responded enthusiastically. Ever since she mastered the art of flying, she was even more convinced that every idea was a good idea. Yet, she still whispered, “You are sure, right, Apple Bloom?” “Yup! Zecora told me she mixes Heart’s Desire with another potion so that the bad things from the plant don’t happen.” Sweetie Belle didn’t look really convinced yet. “Just which bad effects are we talking about here?” “Like when I got my cutie pox. I only wanted one, but I got lots of ‘em and I had to keep doing what they meant. With this potion, I would’ve gotten only one. One that I didn’t have to do all the time.” Sweetie Belle still had a pondering look on her face, and Scootaloo’s burst of confidence was fading. “How did you even manage to find out how the potion’s made? When we tried to get our potion-making cutie marks, it didn’t exactly work out.” Scootaloo shuddered with the memories of the explosion still clear in her mind. “I saw it in that book Zecora used to find a cure for Poison Joke. The potion is actually named ‘Heart’s Desire Bad-Go-Away’. It wasn’t really that hard to find, it even uses milk as one of the ingredients.” After a few seconds of silence, Sweetie Belle spoke up. “If that potion makes it work the right way, then why don’t we just use it to get our cutie marks?” Scootaloo’s face lit up as the possibility of an easy way to get a cutie mark became available. “It’s because we don’t know what our cutie marks should be. The potion would give us a cutie mark, but we wouldn’t know if it was actually our special talent. But we can still use this potion and bring happiness to other ponies. Maybe that’s our special talent!” A solid explanation like that seemed to remove any lingering doubts they had. After a short glance at each other, they all jumped up and shouted, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HAPPINESS BRINGERS, YAY!!!” After a short while, they made their way from their makeshift alchemy station towards Sweet Apple Acres, the three of them thinking of all the possible ways on how they could help the ponies around them. “So, the potion still has to rest for a short while. I’ll keep it at my room and when it’s done, we’ll start lookin’ for our first customers.” Apple Bloom was almost giddy with excitement. She was certain that this would be their special talents, helping friends get what they wanted most. A cutie mark like that wouldn’t only show that they were grown fillies, but also that they were great friends. It was a beautiful day. The park was full of ponies enjoying the sun, kids were playing outside, and even at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack wasn’t working for once. Well, she would be working if she wasn’t in an important conversation with Fluttershy. For now, the two ponies were sitting outside, at the table that Big Mac had made once for a school assignment. The chairs had been crafted by Apple Bloom out of boredom. Stacks of hay to sit on weren’t usually that comfortable. The sun was shining down on them as one of them responded. “Honestly Fluttershy, I don’t see why y’all are lookin’ to rid the cows of their fear of snakes. It’s natural. Like Rainbow’s stagefright, and your fear of... well, everythin’. Hay, even I get a mite silly sometimes when I walk through the orchard in the dark,” said Applejack as she calmly sipped her coffee. There was nothing like a good cup of coffee to drown out any lingering drowsiness from getting up early. Sure, she hardly needed it, but better safe than sorry. “Oh, I know, Applejack, but I’m just so worried. What if they get scared again and start another stampede? They might hurt themselves, or run into other ponies.” “Don’t you worry, Mooira knows to stay clear from grazing spots with snakes from now on. She knows what she’s doin’.” “But what if a new family of snakes just recently moved in? They would run into each other after a while.” Fluttershy obviously had given this a lot of thought. Applejack considered that particular problem. She fidgeted a bit with her Stetson before she finally replied, “Well, I guess I can send word to Mooira to keep an eye out for snakes. She knows how to deal with ‘em and might get them away before the others spot them. Speakin’ of cows, I’m gonna go get some milk with my coffee, ya’ want some?” “Oh yes, that would be lovely. I’ll also talk to some of the local snakes, maybe they know if there are others around Daisy Jo’s herd and they can keep an eye out as well.” Applejack headed inside and removed her Stetson. A hat was handy for when the sun was shining, but on a hot day like this, it was way too hot to wear it inside. AJ opened the refrigerator, letting the cold air soothe her skin a bit. Now where’s that milk? I swear we just got a brand new bottle... I bet Apple Bloom has it, that little filly drinks it like there’s no tomorrow. AJ thought to herself as she closed the refrigerator. Applejack grudgily made her way up the stairs. Every time a bottle of milk went missing, there was a 50/50 chance that it was still in Apple Bloom’s room. It seemed like she did it for the sole purpose of making Applejack run up to her room to demand it back. Applejack knocked a few times on the door to her room. “Apple Bloom, get out of there. I know you got the last bit of milk! Mooriella just brought a fresh bottle yesterday.” No response came. Applejack, too frustrated to consider waiting a bit longer or knock a second time, decided to just enter the room. She opened the door and immediately felt cold air wash over her like a reinvigorating shower. Apple Bloom’s room was always the coldest during the summer. Ever since Twilight found out that Apple Bloom could hardly sleep with this heat, it took one simple enchantment to keep her room nice and slightly chilled during the rising temperatures. It took more than a few puppy-faces and some chore-giving to convince AJ that it was necessary, but now she was overwhelmed by how good it felt. “Apple Bloom, you in here?” Applejack called to an empty room. AJ, not one to simply give up in the face of defeat, decided to look around the room a bit. And there, like some unguarded treasure, she found the milk sitting on one of the numerous shelves in the room. As AJ looked around to see if Apple Bloom hadn’t returned in the meanwhile, she failed to notice bubbles rising in the white liquid for a few seconds, only for it to return back to normal by the time she cast her gaze back towards the cup. Now why would she keep it in a cup instead of the bottle? oh well, it’s mine now. thought Applejack as she hastily took the cup and hurried out of the room before anyone spotted her committing petty theft. Making sure to grab a spoon while passing the kitchen, she made her way back outside, trusty Stetson back on her head and milk in one hoof, towards the table where she and Fluttershy were sitting. Fluttershy was busy talking to Winona, probably asking her if she’d been healthy or something. “Sorry ya had to wait so long, one particular overeager filly had taken the last bit of milk back to her room... again.” “Oh, that’s ok. Winona kept me company,” Fluttershy assured her. Winona just barked happily and ran off again as her owner sat back at the table. “So, how much milk do you want? A little? A lot? I’m thinking about taking quite a bit of milk myself.” “A little bit should be fine,” said Fluttershy as she moved her coffee closer to the orange pony wielding the cup. Applejack deposited the milk as she poured nearly half of it in her own cup. She stirred her coffee a bit, letting the milk mix entirely with it. “So how’s Rarity these days? I’ve rarely seen her ever since you two got hitched together,” Applejack said as she sat down and took a big sip of her cup, and immediately wished she hadn’t. “BLARGH, what’s wrong with that coffee?! Tastes like it’s been made by Discord!” She desperately tried to spit out the drink she had swallowed but had no success with it. “Applejack, is everything alright? My coffee tastes fi-” As Fluttershy took a tiny sip from her coffee, she too noticed the peculiar taste. She did, however, manage to swallow everything as to not offend Applejack, who had generously offered the beverage in the first place. “See? T-t-there’s nothing wrong with it.” “I don’t know about yours but there is no way I’m drinkin’ this. Somethin’ must be wrong with that milk.” As Applejack went to throw her coffee away, Fluttershy quickly deposited her coffee on the ground. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. I just hope the grass will be fine. By the time AJ returned, Fluttershy was grinning sheepishly, with an empty cup in front of her. “Now then sugarcube, if there aint anythin’ else you wanted to ask, I’m gonna go and lie down a bit. I’ve gotten dizzy all of a sudden.” “Oh, that’s alright Applejack, I’m getting rather dizzy myself as well. Erm.. not that’s it’s your fault in any way,” she added quickly. “I’m probably getting a cold from that storm yesterday.” She thought back to that horrible weather. Her animals were terrified by the lightning. Fluttershy did look a bit ill. Although dizziness wasn’t usually a symptom of a cold, with Fluttershy, nopony could ever be sure. Whenever she was sick, she always got the worst case of the illness. “I’ll see ya later, then. Be sure to keep warm, it’ll cure that cold just fine,” Applejack said as Fluttershy turned to leave. Fluttershy offered her goodbyes as well before she headed towards her small cottage. On her way back to the farm, AJ suddenly got a sharp pain in her back, intense, as if something was trying to burst out of it. The pain faded after a few seconds, and Applejack just wrote it off as some pain from working too hard. As Applejack neared the farm, she swore she could hear the door to Apple Bloom’s room open and close again. She must’ve just gotten home. She thought to herself. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” a shout bellowed from her room. Apple Bloom ran down the stairs just as Applejack headed inside. “Applejack, Applejack, have you seen my po-” “Why yes, I’ve seen the milk that you kept in your room. It’s bad manners to hog it and keep it all for yourself. You also need to be careful - that milk was clearly spoiled, judgin’ from the taste.” “What are you talkin’ about? I put the mi.... Wait, you drank it?!” Apple Bloom asked with a growing look of terror on her face. “Of course I did, you know I drink milk with my coffee,” Applejack responded swiftly, although she didn’t quite get why Apple Bloom looked as if she just saw a ghost. “Of course, if a certain filly is gonna keep takin’ all the milk then I might need to chain it to the fridge.” The look on Apple Bloom’s face shifted from terror to apprehension. “Wait, so you’re tellin’ me that you drank from it and it tasted terrible. Besides that, everythin’s still fine?” Maybe it was just her mind getting hazy because of her dizziness, but Apple Bloom appeared to be smiling. “Well, I’m feelin’ a bit dizzy and all, but I reckon that’s from workin’ in the sun all mornin’.” Apple Bloom quickly caught on to the fact that is was likely to be an effect of the Heart’s Desire potion. Applejack didn’t need to know this, however. “You are absolutely right, sis. Maybe you should take a break.” “Well, I was gonna, until you came down screamin' like your room was on fire. I didn’t know your milk meant that much to ya” “Um... yeah, you know how important it is to drink healthy, and Mooriella always brings real good milk," said Apple Bloom as she was getting a bit nervous, tiny drops of sweat appearing on her forehead. "I'll just head off now and let Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle know how important it is.” Before AJ could respond, Apple Bloom hastily ran off towards the clubhouse. Applejack didn’t miss a beat. Her sister’s poker face was terrible, only rivaled by her own. She's up to somethin', bet I'll get a angry mob at the door sooner or later. Those were concerns for later, however, as the dizziness gradually became worse. She managed to stumble into bed before she finally fainted. "No, Scootaloo, we're not gonna slip ponies Heart’s Desire drops when they're not looking," Sweetie Belle exclaimed in protest. "Oh c'mon, why not? We could be like Mare-Do-Well! We'd give everypony what they want and nopony would know who did it... until we unveil our awesome cutie marks that is," Scootaloo said with a grin. "We're sticking to the original plan. We ask ponies if they want to take it.” "Awww, but that's so boring! We could at lea-” "Crusaders, we have a problem! My sister drank the potion!" Apple Bloom yelled as she kicked the door of the clubhouse open. "She said she was feelin’ dizzy when I saw her." "Wait, does that mean that the potion's no good?” Scootaloo asked, a whole lot less enthusiastic. "I don't rightly know. I mean, we don't know how Zecora's potion worked for the rooster," Apple Bloom replied as she searched her memory for possible mistakes while creating the potion. Sweetie Belle still had a grin on her face. "Girls, you know what this calls for? Investigating!" A short glance indicating it was time yet again. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS APPLEJACK’S HEART’S DESIRE INVESTIGATORS! YAY!!!” "That might've been a bit too much of a mouthful." "How 'bout Cutie Mark Crusaders Investigators?" "That'll work." "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS INVESTIGATORS! YAY!!!"