The sun had begun to set over Sweet Apple Acres as Applejack finished up her daily applebucking. The sound of Big Mac rattling a soup ladle against an old rusty triangle prompted a loud gurgling noise from the mare's stomach followed by a hearty chuckle.
"Applebloom! It's supper time!" she called out towards the clubhouse deep in the orchard.
There was a few seconds of a silence before the reply was heard. "Kay! Ah'm comin'!"
It wasn't long before the filly was on the porch of the family house, shushing her stomach as it voiced it's hunger.
"What have ya'll been doin' out there so often lately 'Bloom?" her older sister asked as their brother helped Granny Smith plate up the food.
"Nothin' much, just practicin' the alchemy Zecora's been teachin' me." The filly responded before shoveling a large portion of her meal into her muzzle.
The rest of her family shared a glance.
"This ain't gonna be like that Cutie Pox incident ah hope." Big Mac spoke around the ladle in his mouth.
"Nah. Ah ain't usin' any Heart's Desire in mah alchemy... Zecora won't let me pick none from her garden." The filly huffed slightly, causing her bow to bob slightly.
"Thank the stars fer that." Applejack muttered to her brother. "So what are ya'll makin' exactly."
Applebloom shrugged. "Ah dunno." she chuckled. "Ah know what each ingredient will do on it's own, but using a mixture of different ingredients in different mixes is like a lucky dip. Ya never know what yer gonna get."
"And that don't worry ya?" Big Mac frowned slightly. "What if ya made a poison by accident?"
"Don't you fret big brother, ah ain't using anythin' that has poisonous properties, ah made sure of that at least." The filly chuckled before taking another mouthful of food.
"Oh quit yer worrywartin' you pair." Granny Smith smiled as she sat down herself. "This alchemy stuff sounds no different than simply messin' with a recipe to make it more to yer likin'. Ya ain't gonna get nowhere by bein' safe."
"Thanks Granny!" Applebloom beamed at her grandmother.
Applejack frowned at the family head before looking back at her little sister. "Well you just remember that if somethin' does go wrong, we all share the blame fer it. If you mess up and somepony get's hurt, we're gonna take some of that blame fer not stoppin' yah 'fore it happened."
Big Mac nodded in agreement.
Applebloom pouted and turned to Granny Smith for more support.
"Don't look at me Applebloom." the elderly mare chuckled. "They're right, but don't let it get ya down. Ya already made sure nothin' yer usin' is poison, so yer takin' a safer risk." she ruffled the fillies mane. "And that's smart, take a smarter risk and you'll get more done with a failure than ya would with a dumb risk."
Applejack fachoofed as the filly nodded and cantered back out into the orchard. "Granny...ah thought we agreed to stop supportin' her doin' stuff that's gonna reflect poorly on the family as a whole..."
The next morning, Applebloom carried her new potion in her saddlebags to school and waited until recess.
She had been smart enough to take the discarded bottle of salad dressing from the picnic spot of the fillies who bullied her and her friends, and so with a devilish smirk she approached the pair of malicious fillies.
"No dressing today?" One of them asked the other.
"No, I thought we had an extra bottle before daddy went to do the shopping, but we didn't." The other responded.
The first one sighed. "Oh well..."
Applebloom cleared her throat when she got close enough. "Diamond Tiara? Silver Spoon?"
The two fillies immediately turned a sour face towards her.
"What do you want blankflank?" they both asked in tandem.
Applebloom stared for a second before shaking her head. "Ah'm not even gonna ask if ya'll planned that, but ya dropped this yesterday and, despite how ya treat me and mah friends, ah thought ah'd be a nice pony and return it to ya." she said before pulling out the bottled potion, which she had also mixed with some food dye to give it the colouration of the dressing that had been in the bottle.
Silver Spoon's face softened somewhat as she took the bottle from Applebloom's outstretched hoof. "But how did..?"
She was interrupted when Diamond snatched the bottle and examined it, finding the cap seal still in place. "I.... must have grabbed a second by accident and it fell out when I pulled the bottle out yesterday." she huffed, "Fine thanks, now get lost."
"Gladly." the yellow filly droned before turning and trotting back to her friends, letting herself chuckle softly when she left their hearing range. "Now....to wait."
"What was that about Applebloom?" Scootaloo asked as she rejoined the group. "What was that you just gave them?"
"Mah greatest creation ever." Applebloom chuckled.
Sweetie suddenly looked fearful. "You haven't been messing with that Alchemy stuff Zecora's been teaching your have you?"
"I hope she hasn't, I still remember when her potion made my tail come to life." The orange pegasus shuddered.
Applebloom rolled her eyes. "Ah have, and ah've gotten real good at it...if that potion ah gave them does what ah think it does...."
Sweetie and Scootaloo looked at each other. "Should we be wary of the sandwiches your gave us today then?" the unicorn asked.
"Nah, yers were untainted." The earthpony smiled. "Unless ah'm wrong, in which case ya'll should probably drink this to counteract it." she added, producing a philter of red liquid.
"Better safe than sorry,and I never thought I'd hear myself say that." Scootaloo said as she retrieved a pair of glasses from Applebloom's saddlebags.
