The Cutie Pox

The Cutie Pox is the sixth episode of the second season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, and the thirty-second episode overall.

Introduction
The episode opens with the Cutie Mark Crusaders exclaiming that they will be obtaining their cutie marks today at the bowling alley. They have a go at thinking of names for their trio after they obtain their cutie marks, since "Cutie Mark Crusaders" would be obsolete, and they settle on "The Bowling Dolls".

Once inside the bowling alley, Sweetie Belle bowls first, but her ball rolls into the gutter. Then Scootaloo's turn is up, and she bucks her ball, ricocheting it around the alley, knocking other player's balls around, after which the ball ends up in the gutter at the other end of the bowling alley. Apple Bloom bowls her ball accurately, but after thinking that she gets a strike, it turns out that another player did, and her ball in fact did not have enough speed to knock over even one pin.

Going to Zecora's
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exclaim the fun they had bowling, whereas Apple Bloom walks sadly alongside them, not saying anything. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle try to cheer her up with a cupcake from Sugarcube Corner, a party with Pinkie Pie, or a new hat from Rarity. Apple Bloom walks away from her friends, but trips over on a tree root, and falls down, chipping her tooth. Zecora finds her, and brings her to her hut to give her a potion to fix her tooth. Apple Bloom expresses her feelings about her cutie mark to Zecora, who tells her that she simply needs to wait for the right time.

After Apple Bloom takes the potion, her tooth mends itself. She then takes a look around Zecora's ingredients, looking for a possible brew to force her to get a cutie mark. When Zecora begins to make a potion to help a rooster fix his morning call, she shows her a flower which will induce him to attempt to fix his morning call. Zecora goes out to find amethysts for her potion, and Apple Bloom sets her sights on the flower in the bowl.

The Schoolyard
In the schoolyard, Apple Bloom finally obtains her cutie mark, a silver hoop. She then proceeds to show off her skill with hula hooping and various other tricks with a silver hoop, much to the dislike of Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. Cheerilee enters the schoolyard, and after seeing Apple Bloom showing her prowess with the hoop, she asks her to give the class a demonstration and help them play with hoops.

While performing a very advanced trick with her silver hoop, she suddenly sprouts another cutie mark just under the first one - an image of plates rotating on top of poles. Diamond Tiara suggests Apple Bloom's cutie marks are fake, but Apple Bloom denies it entirely. At that time, Snips and Snails throw her twoplates and two poles. Apple Bloom balances the poles on her nose and manages to keep the plates spinning, all the while twirling a hoop around her tail. The class is astounded and cheers for her as they make their way down the streets of Ponyville.

The Apple Family's House
After performing a few tricks and astounding the whole of Ponyville, Applejack takes Apple Bloom home. When they get there, Granny Smith and Big Macintosh are there to congratulate her. Applejack tells her how proud they all are of her getting not one but two cutie marks. Apple Bloom heads up to bed to rest up after such a big day.

Late at night, Applejack is shown to be rolling around in bed trying to keep herself from hearing something that sounds like hooves tapping. She gets out of bed eventually to investigate, realizing the sound is coming from Apple Bloom's room. Upon opening the door, she sees Apple Bloom tapping frantically and she notices yet another cutie mark on her sister, this time of a tapping shoe. Apple Bloom looks to her and asks for help while Applejack looks horrified.

In Town
Spike points out the nature of the plague to the townsponies which causes them all to begin panicking, running into their houses and locking their doors. When Zecora returns, she is surprised to see that the town is in full evacuation, thinking she had managed to overcome the town's fear of her. Applejack reveals the nature of Apple Bloom's curse to her, Zecora mentions that around the time Apple Bloom was alone in her hut, some of her ingredients went missing. Fortunately, Zecora has the cure for the Cutie Pox - the seeds of truth, which bloom when the truth is told. The resulting flower can be eaten to end the pox. Pinkie Pie attempts to confess to eating corncakes - first three, then six, before admitting she can't handle it. Finally, Apple Bloom, speaking normally again, admits to her misdeed. She admits her cutie marks are all fake and she stole the ingredients - most importantly the Heart's Desire, from Zecora in her absence. Just as promised, the seeds of truth bloom into a flower which is quickly eaten by Apple Bloom, ending the pox.

She apologizes to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo for getting too carried away with her cutie mark quest, and to Zecora for taking her ingredients without permission and recieves forgiveness back from all of them.

Letter to Celestia
Apple Bloom then writes a letter to Princess Celestia about learning a new lesson - there are no shortcuts to getting a cutie mark, and that good things come to those who are patient and wait for it.

Immediately after Spike sends the letter, however, the Cutie Mark Crusaders decide they've waited long enough and escape into the distance, eager to try and get their cutie marks.

The Cutie Pox Symptom
The following list of Cutie marks and talents that appear on the episode, by time of first appearance. Times are approximate.
 * Silver Hoop -- performing hula hoop and hoop related tricks
 * Sticks and Plates -- Performing Plate spinning Tricks.
 * Clog Shoe -- Tap Dancing
 * French Seal -- Able to speak French
 * Mallet and Chisel -- to do Artistic Sulpture
 * Cap and Chimney cleaner -- Chimney sweeper
 * Accordion -- able to play accordion
 * Whip and Lion -- Lion tamer
 * 2 pawns & King chess piece -- Playing chess game
 * Sliver & Gold Fencing swords -- Play Sword Fencing
 * ??? -- Perform Tightrope walking
 * Red Glider -- Hang Gliding
 * ??? -- Doing Math Equation
 * 1000pt Dumbell -- Wightlifting
 * 2 handbrushes -- Window washer
 * Tornado -- Perform a pony whirlwind

Trivia

 * Zecora makes her fourth appearance in the entire series.
 * At the bowling alley, some of the background ponies look similar to characters from the film The Big Lebowski, which features the theme of bowling.
 * "Was your zebra sense tinglin'?" is a reference to Spiderman's catch phrase "My spider sense is tingling".
 * The version of the painting American Gothic, with ponies for people, can be seen in the Apple family's house.
 * This is the first episode to show the inside of Applejack's house.
 * This episode marks the first time Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith's house is seen from the inside.
 * This episode marks the first time Big Macintosh has been called "Big Mac" on the show.
 * One of the cutie marks Apple Bloom receives is a red shoe which causes her to dance uncontrollably, like the main character in the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Red Shoes.

Gallery

 * The Cutie Pox image gallery