2.Apple Bloom's Cutie Mark

2.Apple bloom's Cutie Mark/Blood of an Apple

Being bullied for having a farming life was bad enough but being bullied for having a blank flank is just cruel. No matter what you did, it was never enough to please your bullies. You would try to ignore them but it always failed and what's worse is that no one really cared. Your family told you to fight your own battles. Others would comfort you but would never help you fight back. Truth be told I hate my life, I hate it to the lowest levels of Tartarus. I'm a filly without a cutie mark and I don't even know my parents. That just leaves me with Applejack,...Big MacIntosh, and Granny Smith. I love them, I love them with all my heart but it only mends but so much after awhile. I remember asking Zecora about a potion which could help get my cutie mark. She told me I would have to wait but I'm sure...no, I know that she has a real potion that could get me my mark and I intend to get it one way or another.

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The night began to reveal itself to Equestria. The Apple Family was finishing up the last of their chores in the barn. Applejack pushed the last of the crates filled with apples into the corner of the barn so that in the morning she could make them into cider. Big MacIntosh was moving all the farming tools inside while Granny Smith simply moved her rocking chair back inside. As for Apple Bloom whom was tasked with moving the bags of seeds inside, wasn't as eager as she normally would be. It was a stressful task because the bags weighted more than her head. Another reason why she disliked it was because it prevented her from finding her cutie mark. Finding her destiny was all she and her friends ever wanted and needed. That's why they created The Cutie Mark Crusader in the first place. They didn't care for the risks as long as they got what they want. Getting bruises just proved how far they would go to actually accomplish their dream.

Once the tasks were done and they closed their gates. The family went to their respected rooms for sleep. Apple Bloom tucked herself into bed and instantly fell asleep. During her dreams, she would imagine what her cutie mark would be. Her imagination was utterly endless. She would think of having apple theme cutie marks like her family or ones based on food. One mark was half an apple and another was a yellow apple with a pink heart behind it. Just having a dream about this would make her wake up disappointed at the site of her flank. Most nights she would wake up crying silently to herself. It was always haunting her everywhere she went, from school, to her house and when she's around her friends. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon never made it easy for her. They never cared about others' well being as long as they could get a good laugh out of it. It enraged her to think they would never sympathize with her yet had no problems accepting Babs Seed even though she was a blank flank. Those memories were best hidden when she had things to do but at night, when she dreamed of what she wanted, they would hit hard. They would break any hope she had in her heart into millions of pieces that could never be fully rebuilt.

This night her dream was different than previous nights. The usual nightmares about the two stuck-up fillies and her cousin played out. Once the nightmare was over, she found herself inside a familiar place. She was inside Zecora's hut, making a potion to give her a cutie mark. Zecora had to leave to get some more of her plants for a recipe she was working on which left the young filly alone in her hut with a book about the cutie pox. Like most of the ponies she knew, they always read in the middle of a book and never in the beginning nor end. Perhaps within those pages she would find a means of getting her cutie mark.

It was near midnight when Apple Bloom had awoken from her dream. She wiped her eyes with her hooves and looked around the room. It was quiet except for the occasional crickets making noises outside. She hopped out of the bed onto the floor and walked over to the window. She looked outside to see the apple orchard being held off by the gates around the farm.

"I know my cutie mark is just waiting to be found and the only one that can help me is Zecora." she said in a low tone.

Apple Bloom saw her bookbag to the right of the window. The bag was empty since she removed all of her school items during the last day of school along with her friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. She grabbed the bag with her mouth and trotted out of her room with a smile plastered across her face.

12 minutes later...

Deep in the Everfree Forest, at Zecora's Hut. Zecora was meditating upside down on her pole as her cauldron was boiling green liquid. Her place was quite a mess lately now that she was helping Twilight with new magic she had found recently. The magic was untested and thus there was no way of really knowing what the side-effects would be but Zecora was a master at understanding how this type of magic would work. Books were spread all over the tables along with various plants and dead insects. In a bowl not too far from the edge of the table was three poison joke plants. Near a red book titled Psycho Magic 109 was a purple scale that likely belonged to Steven Magnet the Serpent. Most of her potion jars were emptied out into the cauldron, thus they were on the ground near the cauldron. The stifled fire was cue for Zecora to check on her brew for the fifth time.

"It seems that the potion is complete so I must get on my feet." She calmly rhymed while jumping off of her pole.

Zecora walked over to the cauldron to see her potion's progress. The boiling green liquid had changed to clear pink. She grabbed her pole, stuck it in the cauldron and began swirling it around the liquid. It was a hard job to do because the substance was thicker than water and moved in motion similar to oil

"Simply perfect. Hopefully it has no side effect." she rhymed once again.

While her attention was at the cauldron, Apple Bloom rammed the door in with her back hooves. Zecora showed little reaction to the filly's methods of entering her hut since she has done multiple times in the past. What did catch her attention was the filly's bookbag which appeared lumpy and way too heavy for Apple Bloom to carry on her back. Apple Bloom dropped the bag right at the door. There was a loud thud sound followed by metal clanking together. She reveled at the relief she got, even going as far as shaking her body as if she was drying herself off. Zecora was curious about Apple Bloom's bookbag but came to the conclusion it was probably one of her and her friends' little excursions. Apple Bloom walked over to where Zecora was and examined the liquid as it was being stirred.

"What is that stuff?" Apple Bloom asked with a bit of distaste in her voice.

Zecora smiled as her attention was still at the liquid. "This liquid is an experimental potion for Twilight. It will give somepony the power to see past the light."

"See past the light?" Apple Bloom asked. "Can that help me find my cutie mark?"

Zecora's smile quickly faded into a frown, never once looking at Apple Bloom. "Apple Bloom! If you continue to force this action then you'll be doomed"

Apple Bloom was furious, she believed Zecora had a recipe for a cutie mark but would constantly make up these stories to keep her from her goal. It worked for awhile in the past and she even learned a lesson about it, however Apple Bloom was determined this time. She noticed that while they were talking the whole time, Zecora never batted an eye at her.

"It would be easy for me to look around and find that one book from before." Apple Bloom thought. "But she would notice something's wrong, her ears don't miss anything."

"Apple Bloom, are you feeling okay?" asked Zecora. "You seem quite silent this day."

The filly broke from her thought and quickly answered back. "Uh yeah! I was just thinking about what Miss Cheerilee had taught us today."

Zecora stopped swirling the stick around to go grab some herbs from off the shelf. Apple Bloom hurried over to her bookbag to get something out of it. She avoided making much noise by holding some of the items in place with her hooves. After a couple of seconds went by, she had the item she wanted in her mouth. Zecora was searching the top shelf for the herbs. Apple Bloom had closed the bag, turned around to face Zecora, and walked over to her with a knife clenched between her teeth.

"You won't help me get my cutie mark then i'll make you." Apple Bloom thought with a wild grin appearing on her face.

When Zecora couldn't find the herbs,she turned back around to see Apple Bloom inches away from her with the knife. The filly had a long grin on her face complete with dilated pupils. She dropped the knife for a second to better speak with her mentor. Zecora was curious as to why the filly had brought out a knife but her eyes began to move towards the bookbag. Though across the room, she could see four inches of rope sticking out of the opening and what appeared to be a cleaver. She was hoping her thoughts were wrong. That maybe it was all a dream from the fact that she didn't sleep yet because of her potion.

"Perhaps I have been dreaming. I need to –" Zecora felt a row of teeth bite into her front left leg. "– OUCH!"

She looked down to see Apple Bloom was biting her leg with enough force to sever nerves. Zecora moved her pain-stricken leg around to force Apple Bloom off but she wouldn't budge one bit. She swiped Apple Bloom across her desk, hitting every book and empty bottle in an attempt to knock her off but failed. She tried using her right hoof to pry the filly off, however Apple Bloom was resilient in her goal. Her teeth were digging deeper into the skin with every second and pain was becoming difficult to bare. In her desperation, Zecora swung her pain-driven hoof into the cauldron with enough force to crack it.

Apple Bloom's head hit the cauldron hard, giving a loud sound which rang throughout the hut. She released her grip and fell to floor. Holding her hooves to her head as she felt a massive migraine coming on. Zecora had fallen over after prying Apple Bloom's grip and was trying to reach for something to balance her like the scale that belonged to Steven Magnet that was dropped earlier. Apple Bloom saw this and rose up to her hooves, ignoring the pain in her head as she went for her bookbag again. She lifted the opening of the bag and gripped the cleaver with her mouth.

Apple Bloom turned back around to see Zecora reaching for the scale. Zecora was within reach of the scale, stretching out her right hoof to try and grab the scale. The second she touched the scale with the tip of her hoof, a sharp object had entered Zecora's backside. Zecora turned her head to see a wide grin across Apple Bloom's face. She then turned her attention towards the item that was stuck in her back. It was the cleaver from the bookbag.

"Why!?" Zecora asked in a state of shock and disbelief.

"You keep me from getting my cutie mark with all your it will come in time and don't rush things!" Apple Bloom yelled out in a fit of rage. "Everypony always keep me from my goal of finding my destiny. But this time I will get my cutie mark even if it's in MURDER!"

Apple Bloom ran towards Zecora and jumped high into the air. She drove both of her hooves into Zecora's back, ramming the cleaver even deeper through the flesh and tissue. Zecora was writhing in horrible pain and Apple Bloom couldn't help but giggle. She was enjoying her mentor's pain and wanted to see more. With her mouth, she quickly removes the cleaver from Zecora's back and

flung it to the side. Seeing Zecora begin to cry made her heart beat faster and her mouth begin to water. She knew she wanted more.

"I wonder what my cutie mark will be once I'm done with you." Apple Bloom moved over to the purple scale and shoved it further away from Zecora's grasp.

Apple Bloom lifted Zecora's head up with her hoof so that they were now face to face. Zecora was frightened at what she saw. She didn't see the same adorable filly that once asked for help when needed. What she saw was a monster that could care less about those around her as long as she had what she wanted.

Zecora had a hard time reading Apple Bloom, the filly's expression was psychotic at worst. Her eyes showed no remorse, had little sanity left in them and whatever sanity was left could not fight against the growing darkness in Apple Bloom. With her other hoof, Apple Bloom struck Zecora hard against her head with enough force that it knocked Zecora hard onto the floor. With both of her hooves, Apple Bloom stomped against Zecora's head. She continued this process for two minutes. Every time she made impact, a loud crunch sound could be heard and Zecora's voice would become more slurred and distorted. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she had began to drool uncontrollably. Within seconds she had began releasing her excretions in unison. The smell of urine and feces filled the hut quickly.

"This smell is amazing, Zecora!" Apple Bloom gave off a disturbing smile to the now deformed Zecora. "Zecora."

Apple Bloom stopped her attack to examine the mess she made. Zecora was a mangled mess at this point. Her head was completely unrecognizable, both eyes were pushed out of their sockets and had been pushed several inches from the head and only still connected by the veins. The muzzle area was flattened with blood drooling from the nostrils while some of the teeth had been pushed upward into the inner nostrils. The head cavity had caved in, leaving little bits of brain matter scattered across the floor. The bigger chunks of the brain were lodged in her throat, suffocating her while her head was stomped in.

"If I had known it be this easy –" Apple Bloom slowly looked a book, on the floor that was open to the cover page. "I wouldn't have brought the extra stuff."

She happily trotted over to the opened book laying on the floor near the desk. She examined the book before noticing it was the same book as before.

"I found it!" The book's cover read "True Desire for One"

Before she could flip past the cover page, she felt a tingling sensation on her flank. It lasted for a second but she remembered it from when she gave herself the Cutie Pox. She looked at her flank with excitement in her eyes. On her flank was an green apple covered in blood. Apple Bloom jumped in joy over her accomplishment. Her dream finally came true and all it took was the death of a friend to get it.

For the next couple of weeks, she remained at Zecora's hut pretending that the death of Zecora never happened. She propped Zecora's body with some strings that she wrapped around the ceiling's structure and have conversations with it. Anypony that got close to Zecora's hut would be turned away by Apple Bloom telling them that she was not home or saying that she had to go on an important mission elsewhere. They'd buy it and she was safe for another day. When the last day came, Apple Bloom burned the hut down to keep all evidence out of reach. To make sure no one would suspect her of the "disappearance", she covered her cutie mark with paint to match her coat. The guards did question her due to her being close to Zecora but her brother and sister, Big MacIntosh and Applejack defended her without question.

Apple Bloom continued to go unnoticed for the remainder of her days. Zecora's murder was never solved and eventually it was dropped due to no real concrete evidence. Apple Bloom was the only one out of her friends to ever get their cutie marks.