Apple Bloom’s Folly.
By Zero Man
*SMACK*
*SMACK*
*SMACK* ”OW!” cried a young filly, sweat glistening from her red mane and onto her face.
This filly, known to many as Apple Bloom, grimaced as she placed her hooves back on the solid earth, the sting of the last buck jolting her body. Stepping in place a few times, she turned around and stared at her “foe” for the morning.
“Aw, c’mon,” she huffed. “AJ was able to make one o’ you trees explode! I must be able to do it, too!”
“Maybe you just don’t have it in you,” said a voice to her side. She turned her head and saw her two Best Friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
“Scootaloo’s right,” Sweetie Belle said, getting up from their picnic area. Using her horn, she swiped away the contents of the day’s lunch from her muzzle. “Just because your big sister ascended, doesn’t mean you will too.”
“NO!” Apple Bloom stomped a hoof. “If mah sister can become a super sagan, then so can I!”
“I think you meant ‘super saiyan,’ Bloom,” responded Scootaloo.
“Ah meant to say that!”
She turned around and resumed her “power bucking,” as she called it. A week ago, the Cutie Mark Crusaders helped discover that Applejack ascended to a super saiyan. Even though she was a pony, AJ met all the criteria that makes a super saiyan, well, super.
Green eyes? Check.
Golden blonde hair? Check.
Crazy insane super strength? Check.
Shooting freakin’ laser beams? Check!
Applejack did dispute most of those conditions, but the evidence could not be ignored. Bloom’s big sister was a super saiyan, through and through!
And by her logic, she should be too. It would take time, but Granny Smith said it best: “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe!”
Whatever that meant.
*SMACK*
*RRRRRUMMMBLE*
Everybody stopped, and looked at the tree. It lasted for only a moment, but there was no mistaking the source of the sound. Strangely though, nothing looked out of the ordinary. Slowly, Scootaloo made her way around the tree. Apple Bloom, meanwhile, placed her hooves down to step away.
And tripped over an uncovered root.
“What the…” was all she could say.
Scootaloo, at the same time, stood back away from the tree. She just could not see what made the sound. She stared at the tree, and placed a hoof on her chin in concentration.
She looked at the tree behind the one Bloom was bucking.
“Wait…”
Being in one of the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, the trees are usually planted in a straight line. This tree was no exception. But while Scoots stared at the tree, she noticed that it was slightly slanted; a little too slanted for how these trees were planted.
“Bloom!” she squealed, wings buzzing. “YOU DID IT!”
Bloom, however, shot her an unsure look. “Are ya sure I did? Ah mean, AJ was able to destroy a whole tree, not slightly tilt one..”
“Well, actually,” Sweetie started, “you ARE younger than your big sister. It’d make sense that you’re not as strong as her, after all.”
The other two thought about that for a moment. “You know, Sweetie has a point, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo stated.
“I reckon she does,” came the reply. “But what does that mean?”
“That means that Apple Bloom here might be a super saiyan after all!” Sweetie exclaimed.
“But how can ah be sure?”
Scootaloo was the first to respond. “Well, buck the tree once more. Then we’ll know for sure!”
“Well… awright. That makes sense.” With that, Apple Bloom turned around and reared her hooves for one more powerful buck.
*SMACK*
*SWOOSH*
With a mighty smack of her hooves, the tree was freed from its resting place. The majestic plant soared with the beauty and grace of a Wonderbolt. Okay, maybe a Wonderbolt that was flying sideways and with its uniform stuck around its head, but graceful nonetheless. It didn’t explode like Applejack’s tree, but it was uprooted by her younger sister’s buck just the same.
*CRACK*
The tree crashed into the adjacent tree, splinters everywhere. The airborne tree ricocheted, however, right back into the unsuspecting filly.
“AAHHHHHHHHHHHH” Scoots and Sweetie screamed, ducking for cover.
“AAAAAAAAAAAH-” *SMACK*
*CRAAAASH*
The young pegasus and unicorn looked up at the crash. Splinters were everywhere. At the epicenter lay Apple Bloom, eyes glazed.
“Ah think… we need…” all she saw were stars. “We need… a new way to do this..”
She said nothing else, choosing that moment to pass out.
*******
“NNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGHHH”
Bleary eyes opened as Apple Bloom looked around. Sure enough, she bucked the tree with her super strength. Unfortunately, instead of shattering, it bounced into her head. Besides the slight headache, Bloom didn’t feel too bad. Must’ve been luck, she mused to herself.
Being helped to her feet by her friends, she wondered, “So does this make me a super saiyan now?”
Sweetie held a hoof to her chin in thought. “Well, maybe! But… we need more proof so that all the other ponies can’t dispute it.”
Bloom nodded in approval. Despite Applejack’s ascension, there were complications along the way. Namely, Applejack didn’t believe the proof. Even with the confirmation by the Princesses and her friends, she was still apprehensive about the whole change.
Her little sister, however, couldn’t WAIT to prove it once and for all.
“So,” Bloom began, “what else do we oughtta do to prove that I am a super saiyan?”
“I know!” Exclaimed Scootaloo. “Super saiyans can fly! So you should try and fly now!”
“But... don’t ah need wings for that?”
“Super saiyans don’t need wings, so you shouldn’t either!”
Apple Bloom’s eyes lit up. “‘Course! That makes perfect sense!”
“How do we get her to fly, though?” chimed in Sweetie Belle.
“Well, DUH. We use a springboard!”
The other two stared at the pegasus. “That’s… the greatest idea ever!”
The three shoved their hooves together.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SUPER SAIYAN AND TRAINERS!”
*******
Bloom stood nervously at the Apple Family barn. Beneath her hooves was a solid plank, lying in wait to launch her sky high. High above her, on top of the barn roof, was Scootaloo, goggles in place and all.
The filly stuck her head over the side of the roof. “YOU READY YET?” she yelled.
Bloom responded, “NOT REALLY. I DON’T THINK I WANNA GO THROUGH WITH THIS.”
“YOU WANNA GO? ALRIGHT!”
With that, the pegasus dove off the side. She kept her legs flush with her body, and gained speed. At the last moment, her wings spread out, and she assumed a cannon ball position.
*CRASH*
Scootaloo landed hard, and Bloom was off!
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH”
Apple Bloom freaked out. She didn’t want to fall! Frantically, she tried to swim and swim through the air, eyes shut. She kept on going and going, until all she heard was the wind.
Taking a cautionary glance, she opened an eye to her surroundings.
She was definitely in the air, but she wasn’t falling! She looked around, making sure this wasn’t a trick of some kind.
Satisfied, she took off! A quick zoom towards the barn. Then, at a split second, she pivoted up towards the sky again. She was free! She was flying!
*BOOOOOOONK*
She was falling!
As quickly as she took off, she fell to the ground. Something hard crashed right into her; a thing that she had no time to think about as the ground approached her quite quickly. Her body cratered into the ground with a thud, though not as hard as that tree.
Looking up, a blue pegasus popped her head in the hole. There was a slight bump on her head; the “something hard” that was up in the sky.
“Whoops, sorry about that, Apple… Bloom?”
Rainbow Dash looked around. “...What’s going on?”
“OMGRAINBOWDASHWE’RESORRYWEDIDN’TMEANTO-” A blue hoof stopped the excited filly.
“What Scoots was TRYING to say,” Sweetie began, “is that Apple Bloom is discovering her super saiyan po…Uhhhh…”
Before she could finish, Dash was off, her rainbow streak aimed towards Ponyville.
“Well, what do we do now?” Apple Bloom asked as she fumbled out of the crater.
Scootaloo thought for a second. “There’s one more thing to do.”
Sweetie and Bloom thought for a moment, and then asked simultaneously, “Laser blast?”
“Laser blast.”
*******
“This… this wasn’t what ah had in mind…”
Apple Bloom stood there, sweat poured down her face.
Shooting a laser blast was the last thing she had to prove. Normally, she wouldn’t be so nervous to attempt something in front of her fellow crusaders.
“APPLE BLOOM! APPLE BLOOM! APPLE BLOOM!”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t just them. Bloom looked to her side, where Rainbow Dash was cheering on. Along with all of the other Elements.
And the Princesses.
And the entirety of Ponyville.
“Thanks, Rainbow Dash..” Apple Bloom grumbled, a slight furrow in her brow.
“APPLE BLOOM! APPLE BLOOM! APPLE BLOOM!”
She got into position, braced for her display of power. Her whole body tensed, each muscle taught with energy. With her eyes closed, Bloom attempted her final test.
“HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGH…” she strained out. The crowd went silent, anticipation in all of their faces.
“Hey, you’re doing it wrong!” said Rainbow Dash.
Bloom grunted, and continued to try and raise her power level. All the while, Dash threw in the occasional “Hey!” “Hey, listen!” and “HEEEEEY!”
“WHAT?!” Bloom exclaimed, her concentration lost.
“You’re supposed to yell loudly,” RD replied, looking at her point of reference, which may or may not have been a comic book.
“Oh… Mah bad,” Apple Bloom responded. She shook her head for a second, and doubled her focus. This time, she tensed up, but allowed herself to express her power raising in a more vocal manner.
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”
The crowd leaned in. Something special was about to happen!
“...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…”
Apple Bloom’s hair stood on end, an aura shimmered around her entire body. rocks and dirt started to rise around her.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-”
“OH GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!” Rainbow Dash bellowed, her patience gone.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGH!!!”
Apple Bloom had had enough of Rainbow Dash’s shenanigans. She screamed as loud as she could, and her hair seemingly caught fire! Anger fueled her eyes, and energy began to gather above her head.
The crowd ate everything up, oblivious to their impending danger. “YES! YES! YES!” they shouted.
Apple Bloom opened her eyes. She gathered as much energy as she could. Strangely, it collected into a sort of disc, but that mattered not. With all her frustration, she launched the disc at Rainbow Dash, who was watching with piqued curiosity.
The disc zoooooomed straight towards her. Waiting until the last second, RD took a simple step to the side, where the disc passed harmlessly. It zipped straight into Ponyville, slicing through lamp posts until it just disappeared. Naturally, nobody questioned where the wayward disc ended up.
Everyone turned back to Apple Bloom, and gasped.
She stood there, panting and shaking from the effort. Around her hooves, her mane lay dead and burnt.
She was shocked. A super saiyan’s hair was supposed to turn golden blonde, NOT fall out!
Her fellow Crusaders galloped towards their friend, grabbing her attention.
“Apple Bloom,” they both said, “look at your flank!”
“You have your cutie mark!”
Excited, she looked at her flank, and…
“Huh?”
Right there, for everyone to see, were six red dots, similar to those found on dice.
Silence dominated the crowd.
“AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAA,” Rainbow Dash laughed. “YOU’RE KRILLIN! YOU’RE THE KRILLIN OF THE GROUP!” At this point, RD was on the ground, laughing so hard tears formed in her eyes.
The rest of the crowd stood there in stunned silence. That is, until Celestia spoke.
“Well, um…” she began, “isn’t that… nice, my little ponies?” Nobody was sure whether that was a question or a statement. Leaning close to her sister, she whispered, “Let’s get out of here.”
With that, the Princesses took off. The majority of the crowd dispersed, disappointed in how this day turned out. One of the members, a mint unicorn wearing giant foam fingers, swiped her arms across her body, screaming, “NO! NO! NO!”
The rest of the elements gathered around Rainbow Dash, trying to get her to stop laughing. Instead, Pinkie joined in with the laughter, getting caught in the joyous mood of her friend.
Apple Bloom just stood there in shock, her eyes staring at nothing in particular.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were unsure of what to do, so they said the first thing that came to mind.
“...Cutie Mark Crusaders Krillin Trainers?”
Apple Bloom could only respond in one way; she threw herself to the ground, completely done with the day.
*******
In Ponyville, Spike was taking a delightful walk through town. He stopped in front of a house, and smelled the flowers that grew in the garden. He reached over to pick one to bring to Rarity.
*SHOOOOM*
And he fell to the ground. Staring up, he saw his lower half still standing. He became an unfortunate victim of the energy disc.
“Not again…” he remarked. He had enough problems when Applejack ascended. He was done with their shenanigans.
Concentrating, Spike focused on his missing lower half. Suddenly, new legs, tail, and lower torso sprung from his wound! He stood, testing out the new appendages. He turned to continue on his merry way, when he noticed a colt staring at him.
“Yes, is something wrong?” he asked.
The colt stood there, mouth gaping. Then, nervously, he said, “A-are you… a… Yoshi?”
Spike considered his question for a moment, before breathing fire in the colt’s general direction. He threw his head up, and answered the only way he could:
“FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU”
Is Apple Bloom really the Krillin of the Group? Has Spike finally had enough? All this, and more, on the next, MY LITTLE PONY!
