Through Another's Eyes

“So, what are we gonna do next?” Scootaloo said excitedly, still unfazed by the event that had just occurred

“I know!” piped up Sweetie Belle “Cutie Mark Crusaders Potions Maters!”

Apple Bloom gave a knowing nod. She had just managed to conjure up some Heart’s Desire only yesterday. She knew that nothing else could go wrong! In fact, the potion had come off perfectly, other than the disastrous side effect of giving her Cutie Pox and nearly kill herself for being too good.

“Come on, gals!” Apple Bloom, unofficial leader of the infamous Cutie Mark Crusaders said proudly “Zecora’s place is thatta way!”

With a loud yell, the three dove into the Everfree Forest without hesitation and sprinted through the familiar paths. Obviously, these paths were well known to the three fillies, seeing as they spent more time here than all the other ponies in Ponyville combined.

The dangerous forest, known for its tendency to kill most of the ponies that had ventured deep into its bowels without any proper knowledge or protection, has become more or less a playground for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Day in and day out, the three friends would enter the dense vegetation of the forest in search of their hidden talents, albeit knowing fully well that their professions would have nothing to do with the dangerous place in the first place.

That didn’t stop the fillies anyway, and they took the forest’s dangers as a kind of “Test of Perseverance” to see just how chicken they (mostly Scootaloo) were. Due to this fact, they had been quite accustomed to Zecora and were on speaking terms with the zebra.

The story of Zecora, however, would be for another tale, seeing as we are running astray from the original topic at hoof.

As we have left off earlier, the three crusaders barged straight up into Zecora’s forest hut and knocked excitedly, eagerly awaiting their possible future abilities. Their patience, which was usually as small as their chances of getting their cutie marks by testing out dangerous feats, was soon rewarded as the kind zebra opened up the door with a smile.

“Aah, sweet Cutie Mark Crusaders! I should have known you wouldn’t waver” Zecora said in her rhyming, sing-song tone “What can I do for you? Or do you want a Heart’s Desire or two?”

Apple Bloom shivered at the mention of the flower that had caused the entire town of Ponyville in great distress. However, she soon fixed her composure when she saw her friends almost break into fits of giggles seeing her so weak all of a sudden.

“Well, ah was just wonderin’ if you could help us get our cutie marks in potion makin’” Apple Bloom said with a small blush, hoping that Zecora would forgive her for the previous events

“Are you sure about that, my dear?” Zecora questioned back “A mistake in potion making is all that I fear”

“Come on!” Sweetie Belle said, making her best pouting Rarity impression “Apple Bloom could do it the first time, so why couldn’t we try it again?”

“Tell me, cute Sweetie Belle” Zecora said “How many potions masters are known so well?”

“I know! I know!” This time it was Scootaloo’s turn to speak up “I’ve read about a guy named Stallinus Snape in this book called Harry Colter before!”

She received confused and shocked glances back from her friends and Zecora, making her a little frustrated. What, a filly couldn’t read without getting strange looks from everypony else? She looked at her friends and roughly asked what was wrong.

“Nothing, it’s just…” Sweetie Belle started to say “You don’t seem like the reading type”

“The pony you speak of is only in fantasy, not somepony that you could see” Zecora finally said with a laugh, hoping to break the tension that was forming “But still you have given me an example, maybe you could help me make a sample”

The three girls cheered loudly once more, finally able to try and see if their special talents might be potion making despite it being a long shot from their true talents. With much unneeded haste, they ran into the hut and skidded to a halt right in front of Zecora’s boiling pot, raising some dust from the ground.

The fillies gave a small cough but shrugged it off. It was rare to find help in their mischief, especially after they tried to become Cutie Mark Crusaders Lion Tamers. To this day, nopony knew where they had managed to get the lions and Ditzy Doo had never made another delivery to and from the Canterlot Zoo anymore, especially if the box was trashing around.

“So, what could we do?” Sweetie Belle asked as she jumped up to see the cauldron better “A potion for fixing broken teeth? Making your mane grow? Sprouting an extra leg?”

The mention of her third wanted potion made both of her friends look at Sweetie Belle warily. Sure, maybe the extra hoof would work whenever she had sewn a dress that had five leggings, but other than that it would bring more harm than good.

“What?” Sweetie Belle asked, always slow on the intake.

The other fillies only sighed once more and looked at Zecora, who was setting up some ingredients for them to use. It didn’t look like much, more like flowers and herbs rather than mysterious liquids which were mostly described in books and stories. When she had finished, the zebra turned to see the three overexcited fillies.

“I’m surprised to see you waiting so eagerly, But you must remember to handle the potions gently” Zecora reminded them as she prepared some smaller pots in front of the crusaders “You shall try in small quantities, you see. This way it would not be as bad as it may be”

Disregarding the insult that was hidden inside that sentence, the Cutie Mark Crusaders quickly trotted over to the table and picked up the ingredients, hauling them back towards their respective pots. After trying their best to fill their pots with boiling water which resulted in Apple Bloom requiring a new one, they started on their work.

They then looked at the ingredients sprawled in front of them, all labeled according to what they were. Most of these herbs looked very foreign to them, with names such as lacewing, knotgrass, fluxweed, and many more. Despite not knowing what any of them were used for, they set off to work.

Apple Bloom was the first to brew her potion. She inserted numerous amounts of something known only as a Bezoar and a hoofful of another ingredient known only as wolfsbane. She didn’t dare ask what these were, seeing as they had some strange names. Although, she did think that the stranger the name, the better the potion.

Sweetie Belle tried a different approach. Instead of adding a lot of one ingredient, she took her time to add small bits and pieces of all the ingredients. Her daring act made Zecora wince; some of these ingredients weren’t meant to be put together. Of course, she knew that trial and error was the best way to learn. However, failing drastically on this task might be the last time they would ever be allowed to enter their hut for a while.

Scootaloo, of course, tried the extreme approach. She had taken two ingredients; namely the powdered root of asphodel and a ton of wormwood. She didn’t care what these were, only the fact that they looked cool. Zecora looked at her expectantly, seeing as she was actually making a real potion. That is, until she added some lacewing and fluxweed in it, Zecora shuddered when she did so.

And so they continued on, adding ingredients and stirring their boiling pots. After an hour or so, they stopped and looked at their results gleefully. They had done it, three wonderful potions that didn’t explode upon contact! Or so they thought.

“Zecora, wanna try some of ours?” Apple Bloom asked, her eyes twinkling in hopes that the zebra would do it.

“These liquids are really good… I think” the zebra started to say as she backed off “But maybe the it should be for others to drink”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea!” Apple Bloom continued as she motioned for the other Cutie Mark Crusader to follow her “Come on, this is gonna be awesome!”

Zecora looked at the three fillies run back towards Ponyville with a depressed expression. Honestly, those three were going to be the death of her. Still, she must always look at the positive sight of life. Maybe this could amount to something good?
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The three fillies had split up when they entered the colourful town. Strangely, the sight of those three made most ponies quiver. Perhaps it was the terrible misfortunes they always brought, maybe it was the strange vial in their mouths? Nonetheless, the three fillies were oblivious to their surroundings.

Apple Bloom trotted up towards a familiar sight, Ditzy Doo. The kind grey mare was always helpful, and had helped them in most occasions. Surely this simple task wouldn’t be met with a ‘no’.

“Hey, Derpy!” Apple Bloom cried out, making the local mail mare jump

Her face had the usual wall eyes expression, making her seem as if she was looking at two places at once. However, this time she looked rather fearful at the sight of the young filly and decided to fly away.

“Derpy, wait up!” Apple Bloom called back, hoping to catch up to the Pegasus

“No! No more deliveries!” Ditzy Doo screamed before diving towards the ground, hiding inside a bush

“Ah ain’t got nothin’ for ya to deliver today!” Apple Bloom said as she trotted up towards the bush.

Ditzy Doo had other plans in mind, however, as she zipped past the filly in a speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud. She stopped behind another mare, a yellow mare with a bright orange mane. Her cutie mark was a bunch of carrots. It was Ditzy’s best friend, Carrot Top.

“What’s wrong, Derpy?” asked Carrot Top, usually the mother-like mare to most ponies “What’s got you all jumpy all of a sudden?”

Ditzy pointed towards a location, showing an excited Apple Bloom trotting towards them holding the vial. The scene made Carrot Top chuckle, wondering what the Cutie Mark Crusader could have done to make her best friend so scared. She just stood there as Apple Bloom finally stopped, putting the vial in front of the mare.

“Excuse me, Carrot Top?” Apple Bloom said nervously “Mind if ya taste this stuff ah made?”

“Sure, Apple Bloom” replied Carrot Top “What’s the worst that could happen anyway?”

The mare took a big gulp of the mysterious potion, noticing the strange taste in her mouth. It was terrible, as if she was force fed a bunch of live slugs. Worse, it was moving. Covering her mouth desperately, Carrot Top barfed. What made her shocked wasn’t the fact that she had barfed out, it was the very fact that live, wriggling slugs were squirming where she had just puked.

Carrot Top felt another upchuck coming, so she just let it all out. Again, more slugs dropped out of her mouth in a sickening stream. Ditzy Doo quickly held her friend, patting her back in fear of more slugs coming out.

It didn’t stop there. Soon enough, the grass surrounding the three ponies were covered in slugs. When the mares tried to look at Apple Bloom for a solution to their predicament, she had disappeared. Ditzy Doo then did the most logical thing to do: bring her to Nurse Redheart. All the while, more slugs were dropping out of Carrot Top’s mouth.
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“Hey, Pip!” yelled out Scootaloo, calling out to one of her friends from school

“Evening, Scootaloo” replied little Pipsqueak with his accent “What’s up?”

Scootaloo, who was riding her scooter, quickly stopped abruptly in front of the colt. His white and brown coat was already dusty from all the dirt that the scooter had kicked up. Nevertheless, he didn’t mind. What was life without a little dirt?

“I need you to drink this up” Scootaloo said hastily, forcing the vial she had brought along into Pipsqueak’s hooves

Pipsqueak looked at the small bottle indifferently, unsure of what to do. Eventhough he had just moved here a few months ago, he was already close friends with the three Cutie Mark Crusaders. Sadly, he’s also heard of their dangerous stunts and acts. This thought made Pipsqueak hesitate.

“You sure about this?” Pipsqueak asked, holding the vial closer to his eyes for a better view

“Sure I’m sure!” squealed Scootaloo as she took the vial back and opened it up “Drink up!”

Scootaloo force fed the vial into Pipsqueak’s mouth, ignoring his screams of horror. When the vial was finished, she threw it away and looked at the colt again, hoping for some changes to occur. However, she gave up when nothing happened.

“Do you feel anything?” she asked, bored of waiting for something to happen

“Where have you been all my life…” Pipsqueak said in a monotonous voice, making Scootaloo look back in surprise

His pupils slowly changed, transforming into big pink hearts. In fear, Scootaloo charged back towards her scooter and zipped off, not realising that Pipsqueak was following her from behind. She took a few detours and dangerous turns, finally stopping after a good ten minutes.

“Hope I lost him…” Scootaloo sighed, scooting away

“Scootaloo, come back!” Pipsqueak’s lovestruck voice yelled out from a distance, making Scootaloo rush away into the Everfree Forest
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“So you want me to drink this?” Twilight asked a pouting Sweetie Belle

“Yeah, nopony else wants to…” said the unicorn filly with a sigh “I mean, Zecora helped me make it! I think…”

Twilight Sparkle looked at the vial, wondering what could possibly be inside. Sadly, she did not know. The contents were completely alien to her and she hasn’t read about such a strange looking potion in any books. Still, who wouldn’t fall for that pouting face?

“Okay…” Twilight finally said, lifting the bottle up with magic and popping it open “But just this once”

Sweetie Belle’s face lit up with excitement, finally able to see what her self made potion was capable of. Slowly, Twilight took a few sips of the potion and put it back on the ground, smacking her lips.

There was a strange spicy feeling in her mouth, as if it tasted familiar. Then she remembered a strange memory: The one where Pinkie Pie put hot sauce in her punch during her first time in Ponyville. Slowly, but surely, her face started to turn bright red and her mane started smoking.

With a huge gasp, Twilight jumped into the air. Her mane was ablaze and her body was pale white, indicating the heat in her body. She then zoomed away, trying to find the nearest body of water that could satisfy the burning sensation.

“I didn’t know you were a Rapidash” muttered Sweetie Belle as she trotted back into the Everfree Forest, wondering what was the outcome of her friends’ potions and what just happened before her eyes.
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Sweetie Belle’s journey wasn’t a long one, as she quickly found Scootaloo and Apple Bloom stuck together at the base of a tree. Somehow, they were both covered in tree sap. The unicorn still wondered how they ended up in sticky situations, literally.

“How’d your potions go?” Sweetie Belle asked, pulling her friends apart

“Carrot Top’s still burpin’ them slugs…” Apple Bloom muttered

“We’ve gotta go, now!” Scootaloo screamed as she pushed her friends as quickly as possible “Before Pip finds me!”

“Why Pip?” Sweetie Belle asked again, trying to push back

“Don’t ask!” screamed the orange pegasus as they stopped in front of Zecora’s hut

The three of them pushed the door open uninvited, knowing that Zecora would let them in no matter what. Luckily, they found the zebra meditating on the floor, lost in he thought. Her concentration was cut, however, when Scootaloo pushed her to the ground rather roughly.

“It looks like you three are back, how did the ponies react to your little snack?” Zecora said with a fake smile, knowing fully well that it must have been a disaster

“Terrible!” Apple Bloom screamed and added “Can’t ya help us fix it?!”

Zecora shook her head, making the three fillies groan in desperation. This was it, they had probably ruined the lives of their friends. Maybe they wouldn’t even forgive them. Sadly, Scootaloo wondered how she was ever going to go back to school with Pipsqueak.

“Do not fret for they don’t need a treatment, your potions are not permanent” Zecora said with a smile “I’ve seen what your elixirs have become, they will wear off when the time has come”

“So Pipsqueak wouldn’t be madly in love with me anymore?!” Scootaloo said happily, earning surprised looks from her friends “Don’t. ASK!”

“We’re not, okay!” Sweetie Belle finally said before a thought came to mind “Say Zecora, what colour is Scootaloo?”

“Little Sweetie Belle, her coat is orange” Zecora said before realising something.

What word rhymes with orange?

The zebra turned to see the three fillies had, once again, disappeared from view. She tried to say something, but no voice came out of her mouth. Nothing would, until she could find a word that rhymes with the infamous orange. She cursed silently, hoping the three would come back and help her.

Obviously, they won’t be coming back for a while.