//-------------------------------------------------------// Something Not Expected... -by 1987Snave- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// "Wha, what is that thing?" //-------------------------------------------------------// "Wha, what is that thing?" "So, do ya think this thing will actually work?" "Of course, Apple Bloom, this is guaranteed to show what is in store for you."     Lately, a couple days ago, Zecora has been pondering over the lack of time the Crusaders have appeared to have cutie marks, and thought there must be something abnormal about their cutie marks' appearance, so she decided to create something that could help.  In that being, she has stirred a brew that could give fazely guess what the Crusader's cutie marks will be.  After completing that earlier today, she immediately invited Apple Bloom to be the subject of her new brew, but Apple Bloom may not be too sure... "I thought you said that no one could tell the future of somepony's cutie mark, or somethin'?" "Well, yes, but this is merely a prediction, and I feel you three most likely have a slower time-span than others as some," Zecora rhymed, "Can't you test this out for me, please?" "Well... ugh, fine." Apple Bloom moaned, trusting Zecora once again for one of her crazy potions.      Zecora shifted towards her giant witch pot and began to stir again, this time adding showers of powder into the pot, creating a glow.  As seconds past, the glow shined brighter, as Apple Bloom raised a hoof and began to back away from the liquid.  As expected, Apple Bloom predicted there would be a huge, "poof!" and the future of her appearance of her 'butt-sticker' would magically appear, because that's how it would work, wouldn't it?  It seems to not matter much, because Apple Bloom highly doubted Zecora's suggestion; maybe because she was tired, or highly shocked about this upcoming news.  Either way, she seemed to forget that her cutie mark is the main thing she has been striving for this whole time, and thought of bringing Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell over, to see if they were interested at all, too.      The pot about bursted the whole hut on fire with its light, but still showed no sign of progression.  Apple Bloom decided to ask if something was wrong, "Umm, Zecora, is somethin' wrong?"  There was no sign of sound from Zecora, and Apple bloom wouldn't dare open her eyes under the light she sensed to see her, but she began to notice faze chants of some foreign language coming from the other side of the hut.  Apple Bloom has never heard Zecora do anything like that, and that sort of spooked her out, and was a bit nervous of what was going to happen next.      It had been a couple minutes past the same chant over and over again, until an abrupt silence surrounded the hut, and Apple Bloom flinched up and waited for a surprised to happen.  Suddenly, Zecora broke the silence, "Apple Bloom, you can open your eyes now."  Apple Bloom slowly lowered her hoof and blinked her eyes open, noticing the bright glow was gone, and Zecora smiling behind the pot.  Inside, the pot noticeably had turned from a sewage green to a beautiful purple inside.  Zecora looked at Apple Bloom, and slightly giggled because of Apple Bloom's reaction from uninterested to slightly anxious of what was going to be the Cutie Mark Crusader's cutie marks.  Change in mood, Apple Bloom swiftly walked to the pot and pulled herself up to peek in a closer look of what was inside. Zecora began to inform, "The process is not yet done, but, a piece your mane would finish it, mind if I have some?" Apple Bloom turned to Zecora in confusion, "Uhh, okay..."      Zecora turned her head and bit into a pair of tweezers from a shelf, and stretched a small piece of apple-red hair from Apple Bloom's mane, which showed to sting a small bit.  Zecora raised her mouth over the pot and dropped the hair in the purple liquid, creating white swirls surrounding the liquid.  Apple Bloom once again tried to protect herself of some upcoming explosion by her small hoof, backing away the opposite direction.  Her heart was racing and filling with fear this time, for an uncertain reason, as her whole body frosted in shivering from her freighted self.  Apple Bloom slowly peeked over the pot, and saw that the pot was definately going to do something crazy now.  The pot was wildly bubbling and the rumble from the pot was equal to the sound of a whole stadium, all enclosed in one pot. Apple Bloom was a tiny bit frightened now, and asked ever so silently, "Umm, that thing won't do anything to us, right?" Zecora even looked slightly spooked, "Well, it shouldn't—"      Suddenly a rocket of light from the pot instantly shot up towards the sky and filled the whole hut in blinding light.  Both mares rapidly took cover with hooves-over-heads and bodies on the floor, risking for any protection from the sudden explosion.  A loud crackle of sound came from the explosion, and could of made either pony deaf by the second.  After the explosion, a whistle of sound from the sudden shot upwards was getting fainter by the second as the rocket disappeared into the bright sky.  Both ponies slowly unraveled their guarded bodies and looked around the room, noticing a huge gap in the ceiling.  After spotted, Zecora immediately shot upwards, concerned about her roof suddenly torn by an explosion.  As all this was happening, Apple Bloom sat there and thought to herself suddenly, that's where the big "boom!" comes in...  Zecora glimpsed at the hole in the ceiling with total distress on her face, maybe thinking of the price she will pay to get this recovered.  Apple Bloom knew that Zecora was fully focused on the gap in the ceiling, so she took the time to glimpse into the hole again.  The pot had been steaming this time from the sudden explosion, and there was what seemed to be this gray substance bubbling in pure hotness, almost overlapping the sides of the pot. "Zecora, look!" yelled the bow-maned pony, finally catching Zecora's attention.  Zecora noticed that the discovery was almost done, so she put a calmed look on her face and trotted to the pot. Zecora informed Apple Bloom once again, "Looks like your waiting is soon over now, because your destiny's future has arrived somehow."  Apple Bloom began to fill with joy, realizing once again the journey's she had with her friends, and all the tough times being bullied my Diamond Tiara.  Apple Bloom's face took over in suspension, as she grew to be joyfully nervous of her cutie marks's future.      Zecora grabbed a set of larger tongs and poked it into the liquid, digging for some source of any object.  Both mares were expecting some kind of object that would be played with, possibly a basketball or baseball, or a tool to use, like a chainsaw or a cooking tool— but what Zecora fetched out was something far more surreal. First sight of the object in hand and Apple Bloom's face dropped in suprise, "Wha, what is that thing?!"      In the tong's grasp was a stacked layer of foods: like cheese, buns, lettuce and tomato, but a suspicious layer of thick, dark, brown-colored food.  Both ponies stared in disgustion at the thing, completely shocked of Apple Bloom's cutie-mark. Apple Bloom finally dared to ask after a few moments, "T-that's suppost to be my trait?" "Well, I'm not sure..." Zecora answered in confusion. "Do you even know what that thing is?!" Zecora stood silent, still wondering.  "What do we do with it?" "Well, it's got lettuce and tomato in it.  Maybe I'll eat it?"      Zecora rushed thoughts in her head, deciding if it's safe, or even if this is Apple Bloom's soon-to-be cutie mark.  She finally decided to go ahead and give the thing to Apple Bloom, since none of her potions or such have done any damage to others.  Zecora found a nearby table and set the thing down, inviting Apple Bloom to try it out.  Apple Bloom trotted over to the table, balanced the thing on her hoof, and slowly took a bite.  Apple Bloom was prepared to automatically be disgusted by the thing, but it turned out to be that exact opposite.  The flavor aroused her mouth with the refresh ness by the vegetables, but a juicy, wonderful sensation by the strange meat. She almost immediately took another bite, and then another.  This was one of the most delicious thing Apple Bloom has tasted— even better than apples! While gouging down the sandwich, Zecora began to take notice and ask, "So, that thing actually tastes good??" "Mmmmmmhmmmm," Apple Bloom mumbled, still taking in chunks of the delicious food. After Apple Bloom devoured the thing, she wondered, "Can you make more of that stuff?  That was amazing!" "Yes," Zecora answered, "The pot makes unlimited objects under your future of your cutie mark." Then Apple Bloom remembered something, "Wait, hold on, I need to get Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle over here, pronto." And then she burst out of the shed to go fetch her friends. //-------------------------------------------------------// "I'm sorry, but your kinda crazy." //-------------------------------------------------------// "I'm sorry, but your kinda crazy." "Ok, Apple Bloom, what is this meeting about?" "It's a long story, but I think your going to like it."      After Zecora invented a new brew that could predict one's cutie mark, Apple Bloom was the test subject of the new experiment.  Although the idea was crazy at first, the cutie mark prediction was more enjoyable to Apple Bloom than it seemed.  Now, Apple Bloom fetched her friends in their tree house to tell them about the experiment, and how she thinks it will work. "Well, Zecora told me that she invented this weird contraption thing that told somepony's cutie mark.  And I think it actually worked!  Isn't that awesome?!" Sweetie Belle's face lit up in excitement, "Oh my gosh!  That's amazing!  What was the cutie mark prediction?" "Well... it was like this food with buns on the bottom and top, with lettuce and tomato in it, but there was this brown, crispy stuff that tasted so juicy and amazing.  You guys have to try it!" "Wait, hold on," Scootaloo seemed concerned about the experiment. " 'crispy brown stuff?'  I don't think I want to eat that... and besides, how is this random food thing suppose to be our cutie marks?"  Scootaloo placed a more queasy look on her face, a seldom amount of trust between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. "Awww, c'mon, Scootaloo!"  Apple Bloom taunted Scootaloo, "This thing may get us our cutie marks!  Don't you want that?!  Besides, I thought you liked takin' challenges, n' stuff..." Scootaloo was point proven, "Alright, fine.  But if this food poisons me, I'm going to kill you." "How will you kill me if you'd already be dead?"  Apple Bloom smirked a cocky smile, while Scootaloo simply rolled her eyes.      The three ponies ventured back to Zecora's house, where Zecora gave the bunch a big greeting.  The bunch soon were told that Zecora did some experiments, and proven the food is not poisonous, and not harmful.  She also created some more foods, but they turned out to be different things then what Apple Bloom tested out.  When they entered the hut, there was a whole table set up this time, where the three were planned to stay.  When they all took a seat, the food was then brought out... "Zecora, you didn't have to do this," Sweetie Belle moaned, "really, you didn't." "Aww, of course I would do this for you to, Sweetie Belle you!  I mean, can I have a speck of respect, for little ponies earning their cutie marks, you suspect?" "Well, that's true—" Scootaloo interrupted. "Scootaloo!  Please have some respect."  Apple Bloom yelled. As a few moments passed, Zecora then passed out the food.  Everyone had a big plate of the same food Apple Bloom had tried earlier, with a side of these long, salty, tan sticks.  There were also big cups of this brown, cold liquid.  On the side of the cup, it showed a big logo, "Coca Cola." "Well, this name is pretty stupid," Scootaloo showed the logo on her cup, "Who in all of Equestria would ever name something, "Coca Cola?" "I dunno, that is a pretty weird name."  Sweetie Belle repeated.  "Zecora, I don't think I'll be able to eat all of this food.  I just ate a second ago, and I'm really full,"  Sweetie Belle turned to Zecora. "Don't worry, little pony.  I have this drink to keep you hungry and going."  Zecora snagged a jug of this drink inside it, with the label, "Arubo Smoothie."  It seemed Scootaloo recognized that drink.      "Oh yeah!  Rainbow Dash told me about that drink at Pinkie Pie's house.  After since she got injured, she said that the smoothie has been helping her a lot."  Scootaloo instantly looked more into the idea of finding her long lost cutie mark, suddenly.  There were three more cups given to everybody, filled to the top of Arubo Smoothie.  Amazingly, the three were completely emptied after the smoothie, so everyone began eating.  Maybe at least 3 sandwiches each were chowed down, also 5 packages of those crispy, tan sticks disappeared.  Who knows how much Coca Cola they drank, and maybe a full cup or two of Arubo smoothie were drank each.  After the enormous meal, the three were stuffed. "Oh my gosh, I'm sooooooo full."  Sweetie Belle moaned, "I doubt I'll be able to get up."      Their stomachs were all hard as rocks and stuffed, but sure to be soft in the morning.  They had put a few inches or so to their stomachs, and their legs were a tiny bit bulkier.  Their cheeks were chubbier, and a double chin was on it's way.  Although, their flanks were hit the most.  Their diameter had grown as much as an inch, but no cutie mark had still shown up.  Although, all ponies agreed to try this again, with the wonderful, juicy taste still in their mouths.  Exiting the hut to return to the CMC hideout, they noticed their flanks being shifted, and their stomachs had dropped down and jiggled.  Although, the fazes the ponies were in made them oblivious to how fat they were, and how fat they will get. This was the start of their cutie mark journey.