Chapters The seven friends went to the oriental restaurant to eat and hang out. When they were done eating their course meals, they were given each a fortune cookie.
"I don't really like fortune cookies that much," said Rainbow Dash, "I mean, some of the fortunes aren't even true!"
"Well I like them," replied Sunset Shimmer, "They seem to be wise."
"Stop chit-chatting and start cracking these cookies!" said Pinkie Pie as she opened hers first. Her fortune was true, which said:
"Laughter is the best medicine"
"So true!" she said as she was getting excited.
"Yeah, but it can be super annoying," said Rainbow as she opened hers. Her fortune was a little offensive to her, but was also true, which said:
"Think about your friends more than yourself."
"Aw come on!!" she said, "I've been loyal to others!"
"Yeah, but ya tend ta brag on yerself too much," said Applejack.
"Whatever," said Rainbow.
"I'll have to agree with Applejack, darling," said Rarity as she opened hers. Her fortune was a little sour but then sweet, and also was true. which said:
"You don't need to be a perfectionist; you're perfect just the way you are"
"First of all, I'm not too much of a perfectionist!" she said, "And secondly, that's true."
"Everybody knows that," said Rainbow.
"Not everybody," corrected Fluttershy as she opened hers. Her fortune was true and a little helpful, which said:
"Have faith in yourself and you'll achieve towards your goal"
"Th-That was helpful," she said.
"Hey, that should've been MY fortune!" said Rainbow.
"Now now darling, don't forget your fortune," reminded Rarity.
Rainbow was getting annoyed by that reminder. "Why do you have to remind me?" she asked.
"Like I said, ya tend ta brag on yerself too much," reminded Applejack.
"Affirmative," said Sci-Twi as she opened hers. Her fortune was indeed true, which said:
"As a reader you're as smart as a scientist"
That made her smile because she was truly a bookworm and as scientific as she could be. "Wow," she said, "I-Is that true?"
"Of course it is!" said Sunset as she opened hers. Her fortune was confusing to her, but was helpful and true, which said:
"Look ahead of you, never look back"
"It's trying to tell me to forget about the past and think about the future, isn't it?" she asked.
"Most likely," replied Applejack, "Even though ya were havin' some struggles about this topic, maybe yer fortune can help ya." Then she opened her fortune cookie last. Her fortune was truly unexpectedly strange, which said:
"Honesty is fattening"
Her eyes widened in confusion. "What in tarnation?!?" she asked shockingly.
The rest of the friends laughed hard because her fortune sounded ridonculous. They though it was hilarious enough to hurt their ribs from it.
"'Honesty is fattening'?!? What kind of a fortune is THAT?!?" asked Rainbow while she was laughing.
"I dunno, but I do know that it AIN'T true!!!" Applejack said as she was getting very angry, "This fortune is a lie!!! A lie I tell ya!!!"
Of course fortune cookies were usually true and wise, but this fortune she got was unusually weird and ridonculous to her belief. She wanted to know who was responsible for coming up with that idea, so she and her friends left the oriental restaurant, paid for their meals and only Applejack went to Zecora's home to find some answers.
Meanwhile inside her home, Zecora was mixing up some ingredients to make her antidotes and different types of remedies. Then she heard a knock on her door. "Hark! I hear a knock on my door!" she said, "I wonder why someone has come here for." She answered it and saw Applejack standing in front of her.
"S'cuse me fer any of yer doin's but do ya know who's responsible fer comin' up with this ridonculous fortune?" Applejack asked as she handed Zecora the fortune.
While Applejack went inside, Zecora took a closer look at it and realized what it really was. "This fortune is a fake, you indeed know it's a lie for goodness sake," she said, "But the thing is that it's also a curse, so on your own, you'll be able to get it to reverse. When honesty is being used every time, you'll obtain approximately 50 pounds, so if this same process is being used too often, your health will be more likely to get out of bounds."
"Okay, so I'll gain about 50 pounds every time I use my honesty, and my health will be extremely serious if it keeps goin'?" asked Applejack, "And I'll have ta figure out how ta lift up this curse on my own?"
"Yes my friend, with no one to depend," said Zecora as she touched Applejack's left shoulder, "Sometime I'd love to hear your strings musically pluck, but most importantly, I wish you the best of luck." Then she gave her a good-luck smile.
"Thanks, Zecora," said Applejack as she smiled back at her.
After the visit, Applejack went home and saw her dog Winona greeting her. "Howdy, Winona!" she said as she petted Winona's head with a smile.
Winona barked happily in response as she was wagging her tail with the same feeling. When she noticed something bad was going on, she growled and barked constantly at it.
"Winona, what's wrong?" asked Applejack.
Winona placed her front legs on Applejack's right lap to let her know that something bad was inside of her skirt pocket.
Applejack suddenly realized what Winona was trying to tell her. "Oh yeah," she said, "I just got my fake fortune that's cursed."
Winona barked and growled in reply.
"I don't blame ya," said Applejack, "I dunno who's responsible fer comin' up with this kind of a fortune." She sat down while Winona laid down on her right lap. "I'm gonna have ta lift up that curse on my own, but how am I supposed ta do that?" she asked as she then sighed afterwards.
Winona whined in response.
Applejack slowly petted her and hung her head down in confusion and sorrow. She already knew that she got a whole life ahead of her, so she didn't want to risk it by overusing her honesty while she was currently under a curse. She would have to come up with any ways she could think of to lift up the curse, but it could take a long time to find a perfect solution.
The next day, Applejack wasn't feeling like herself since yesterday. While she was at Canterlot High for a school day, her six other friends had been noticing her sad expression on her face the whole time. After it's over, she and they gathered together about her problem.
"I know your fortune said that honesty is fattening," said Sunset, "So there's no need to worry about it." But she was wrong. She didn't know that Applejack's fortune was fake and cursed, and neither did the rest of the girls.
"That IS somethin' that I needa worry about!" exclaimed Applejack, "I went ta Zecora ta ask her who was responsible fer comin' up with that fortune I have, and she said that it's a fake one and also a curse. She also told me that every time I use my honesty, I'll gain approximately 50 pounds. And if I use too much honesty, my health will be in danger! Now I'm supposed ta lift up this curse by myself, no one ta depend on anyone at all!" In no time at all, she grew 50 pounds fatter. "Great," she said as she gestured to her suddenly larger belly, "See what I mean?"
Her friends were surprisingly shocked when they just saw her grow 50 pounds fatter in a split second.
"That's why I'll never say anythin' that has ta do with my honesty," said Applejack.
"We believe you," said Fluttershy.
"Yeah," agreed Rainbow, "Just by watching you grow 50 pounds fatter!"
"Let's just ask Zecora about her curse," said Sunset, "Maybe she'll tell us by using the hints she might be giving us."
"I wouldn't do that if I were y'all," reminded Applejack, "I've been told that I needa lift up this curse alone."
"We know we know," said Rainbow, "We promise not to verbally tell you the whole thing."
Then Applejack became suspicious. "So if yer physically tellin' me that whole thang, that counts as me dependin' on y'all," she said.
"We're not doing that, silly!" said Pinkie, "We're just going to ask her and that's it."
"Yeah, you're still on your own," agreed Rainbow.
When the six girls left to Zecora's home, Applejack was on her way toward home. "My family ain't gonna believe this," she said. When she got there, she went inside and sat down on the couch. She sadly sighed and saw Winona hopping onto it and laid down on her right lap. "Why does this have ta happen ta me?" she asked despairingly.
"Applejack?" Applebloom called as she came down from her room, "Applejack, I--" That was when she saw Applejack with a suddenly larger belly. "Uh....sis?" she said, "How'd ya get that big 'n' fat that fast?"
Applejack handed her the cursed fortune. "Take a look," she said.
Applebloom read it and was surprisingly shocked and confused. "Honesty can't be fattenin'!" she exclaimed.
In no time at all, Applejack grew 50 pounds fatter. "Ugh!!! Not again!" she exclaimed as she was gripping very tightly from her fists, "Next time I'll keep my mouth shut!"
Applebloom handed the cursed fortune to Big Mac in the other room. Big Mac read it and was in the same reaction. "That can't be true!" said Applebloom, "Ain't that right?"
"Eeyup," replied Big Mac as he and Applebloom went to get Granny Smith to tell her about Applejack's fortune. He handed it to her and she read it with her glasses on. And indeed, her reaction was exactly the same as Big Mac and Applebloom.
The three of the family members found and saw Applejack with a suddenly larger belly. They were extremely shocked and began to feel devastated extremely badly.
Applejack couldn't help it being honest to others, but she could try to control it if she could. She would have to deal with that later because she had to find out the way to lift up the curse before it could get any worse than it was.
Meanwhile at night, the rest of the girls went to Zecora to get help.
"We saw her growing 50 pounds fatter as she told us what's going on," said Sunset, "So how are we going to help her lift up the curse on her own?"
Zecora sighed and said, "Now that you all know what's wrong, and now I'm concerned that her honesty is too strong. I can feel that it's getting worse than I thought, this curse she's under is too tough for herself to be fought."
"So she does need our help," said Rainbow, "I knew it!"
"When you head out, tell her that I was wrong and I'm sorry," said Zecora with a frown as she gave the remedy spell to the girls, "Take the remedy spell, give it to her and tell her to read it out loud before the sky is no longer starry."
"Oh m-m-my..." stammered Fluttershy as her eyes widened in panic.
"Come on, girls!" said Sunset, "We don't have much time to lift up Applejack's curse!"
While the girls thanked Zecora and left to lift up the curse, Applejack was outside of her house, trying her very best to silence herself from being honest, but she couldn't keep her mouth shut. Every time she used too much honesty, her health would be in danger as Zecora said. So far, she used her honesty about two more times, and grew 100 pounds fatter. "Oh crabapples!!!" she cried, "I can't help it when it comes ta honesty! I mean it's too impossible fer me ta lift up the curse on my own!"
"Applejack!" Pinkie called out.
Applejack turned and saw her friends running towards her. "Huh? What're y'all doin' here?" she asked.
"No time to explain," said Sunset as she gave the remedy spell to her, "Read the remedy spell out loud before the sun rises!"
"Uh, it's only 10:30 at night," said Applejack, "Ya got plenty of time ta explain."
"Um, okay," Sunset said confusingly, "Zecora wanted us to tell you that she was wrong about lifting up the curse by yourself, and she's sorry."
"She also said that the curse is too tough for you to fight on your own," added Rainbow, "So I knew you need help all along."
"The only way to lift up the curse for good is for you to read the remedy spell out loud before the sun comes up," said Fluttershy.
Applejack was confused about the change of remedies. "First off, I've been told ta find a way ta lift up the curse on my own, and now I have ta read the remedy spell out loud," she said, "Now that's confusin'." She sighed sadly, looked down at her huge fat belly and slowly massaged it.
A little while later at one minute till midnight, the girls started to get hopeful for her. Pinkie's fingered were crossed, and Fluttershy started to pray for this moment to be a success.
Applejack then started to read the remedy spell out loud.
"Cursed fortune, it is a fake,
Sufferance I can no longer take.
Under the curse I will never be,
The curse is lifted, now set me free."
The glow suddenly shined bright around her, flaring some light beams. She closed her eyes during her weight transformation. The shining glow shined bright enough to blind friends. Her body slowly slimmed back to its original form and the glow slowly faded away. She was now free from the curse. She opened her eyes afterwards. She looked at her normal body form and felt extremely happy and excited. "YEEEE-HAAAWW!!!" she exclaimed, "I'm at my normal weight! Winona's gonna be super excited ta see me like this again!" Her eyes began to fill up with tears, but she was still smiling, no matter what. She hugged her friends and thanked them for helping her out.
"I wonder if that fortune is still affective or not," said Sci-Twi as she turned to Applejack, "Applejack, say something honest."
"Okay," said Applejack, "I lifted up a table without anyone ta help me."
It turned out that the fake fortune was no longer affective.
"It's not affective," said Sci-Twi, "But is that true? Lifting up the table without anyone at all to help you?"
"Yep, I guarantee ya it's true," Applejack replied, "We didn't know that yer a different kind of Twilight back then."
"That was from the Fall Formal," said Pinkie.
"Anyway, this fake fortune is no longer affective," said Sci-Twi, "So you're officially free from the curse."
Applejack was extremely relieved about it. Since she was free from the curse and the fake fortune was not affective anymore, she could continue her farming life and hanging out with her friends. And it was all thanks mainly to Zecora for helping her out.
