Applebloom had just finished her lunch, and she finished everything on her plate. Well, almost everything, anyway.
Applebloom stared at the terrible green monster that she had to devour. It was terrifying, and the only thing stopping her from crusading. It was broccoli.
Applebloom continued staring at the three pieces of broccoli for several minutes before Applejack spoke.
“Hey, Applebloom, are ya gonna eat the broccoli?” she called as she waved a hoof in front of Applebloom’s face.
“Maybe,” said Applebloom, still eying the vegetable.
“Ya have to tell me a straight answer,” said Applejack “Either yes or no. Ah want ya to be honest too.”
“No,” Applebloom admitted as she pushed the plate towards Applejack. “Ah am not gonna eat the broccoli.”
“But ya have to otherwise you’re not gonna grow big and strong like me,” lectured Applejack, attempting to get her sister to eat the broccoli.
“What if ah don’t wanna grow big an’ strong, what if ah want to stay small an’ weak?” whined Applebloom.
“Suit yourself, but ya may never earn your cutie mark,” replied Applejack. Applejack was trying to see if her sister’s desire to get her cutie mark, was over the one of not eating broccoli.
It turned out that her desire to not eat broccoli was stronger.
“My cutie mark probably isn’t strength. Ah mean, I’m not even that strong. Ah can’t even buck an Apple tree properly,” protested Applebloom.
“Maybe thinkin’ this way’ll help ya,” said Applejack, who was attempting to use a somewhat cheesy metaphor. “Pretend that the broccoli is a little tree, and that you’re a giant that eats them.
“But trees taste terrible,” said Applebloom, remembering the time when she tried to get her cutie mark using Maple syrup. As the syrup dripped from the trees, Applebloom wanted to get a taste of it, so she licked the trunk of the tree.
“Does all of the tree taste terrible, or just one part? Cause otherwise, yer sayin’ that our apple trees taste terrible. ”
“One part,” said Applebloom. “The trunk.”
“Now how in tarnation would you know how a tree trunk tastes?” asked Applejack. She knew that tree trunks tasted bad, but never tasted one herself.
Applebloom told the story of how she licked the bark of a maple tree in order to taste maple syrup. She tasted some Maple syrup, but mostly the trunk.
Applejack needed to think fast, otherwise she would need to think of another metaphor for broccoli. Suddenly, she had an idea.
“Actually, the stem for broccoli is a trunk made of hardened maple syrup,” replied Applejack.
Applebloom was sick of her sister’s attempts to make her eat the broccoli. She would need to get rid of the broccoli to go crusading.
Applebloom excused herself to go to the washroom, and stuck an entire piece of broccoli in her mouth, making sure that her sister saw it.
Applebloom walked to the washroom, and made sure that the broccoli didn’t touch her tongue, and that she didn’t chew. She locked the door to the washroom and spit out the broccoli in the toilet.
She flushed the toilet and washed her hands. One gone, two to go, Applebloom made a mental note.
As soon as Applebloom got to the table, Applejack spoke.
“So now that ya tasted it, are ya gonna finish the rest of yer broccoli?” she asked, hoping that Applebloom would finish the rest of it right away. Then Applejack could have fun with her own friends.
“Yes,”
“Good, now I gotta go and get Big Mac. You stay here and finish yer broccoli,” ordered Applejack as she walked out the door.
Phase two, thought Applebloom. She took a broccoli piece and dropped it onto the floor.
Winona perked her ears up when she heard the broccoli piece hit the ground. Winona, who was sleeping under the dinner table walked up to the piece of broccoli and sniffed it.
Winona licked the broccoli and then began chewing it.
Final piece, thought Applebloom as she stared at the broccoli.
Winona jumped up begging for more, but she didn’t receive any. Therefore, she went back ander the table and went back to sleep.
Big Macintosh arrived and sat in the spot where Applejack once was.
Applebloom put the final broccoli piece in her mouth and walked to the washroom again. This time however, it was locked.
Applebloom kicked and banged on the door. It didn’t open. That meant that it was probably occupied.
Applebloom much of a choice anymore, so she chewed and swallowed the broccoli in her mouth.
There were so many times when she wanted so badly to spit it out, but didn’t. And now that she had braved through the broccoli, she could go crusading.
As Applebloom walked out the door, Big Macintosh asked a question.
“How was the broccoli?”
“It was terrible,” called back Applebloom.
Eating Terrible-Tasting Foods
When Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo got to the clubhouse, they began brainstorming of more ways to get their cutie marks.
“Fishing?” suggested Applebloom.
“Nah we did that before,” replied Scootaloo.
“Jewellery making?” suggested Sweetie Belle.
“None of us are good at that,” protested Scootaloo.
Everypony was silent for a good five minutes before Scootaloo came up with an idea.
“How about an eating terrible foods cutie mark?”
Sweetie Belle didn’t protest, but Applebloom did.
“No way! Ah am not eatin’ terrible food to get mah cuite mark,” she yelled, remembering that she had to eat broccoli.
“Suit yourself,” replied Scootaloo as she walked out of the clubhouse, Sweetie Belle following her.
An hour or so later, both of them returned frowning.
“You were right, we shouldn’t have tried to get our cutie marks by eating terrible tasting food,” said Scootaloo.
Applebloom smiled, at least she wasn’t the only pony to have to eat terrible tasting foods today.
“Hey, Applebloom!” called Scootaloo.”Why are you smiling?”
“‘Cause it’s pretty funny isn’t it?” chuckled Applebloom.
“No it isn’t!” yelled Scootaloo. “Well actually, it is pretty funny,”
Scootaloo chuckled and began laughing. The laughter spread to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle as well.
The trio laughed the rest of the day away.
