The Cutie Pox

The Cutie Pox
Season №:	2
Season episode №:	6
Overall episode №:	32
Original airdate:	November 12, 2011
Written by:	Amy Keating Rogers
Storyboard:	Tom Sales & Dave Weibe[1]
Featured characters:	Apple Bloom Zecora
See also
transcript • gallery • allusions animation errors • statistics • speculation
Episode guide
Previous Sisterhooves Social	Next May the Best Pet Win!

The Cutie Pox is the sixth episode of the second season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the thirty-second episode overall. The episode centers around the titular illness that afflicts Apple Bloom, which causes many cutie marks to appear all over her body, making her constantly utilize the skills they symbolize. The term pox is used to describe a variety diseases characterized by pockmarks, and in the archaic sense, it may refer to disease in general.

Production

The library scene was at the animation rough cut stage on August 2, 2011.^[2][3] Two name options for the owner of the bowling alley that weren't used were Pony Bowl-ony and Mr. Incredi-Bowl.^[4] There were several deleted scenes of Apple Bloom displaying more cutie mark talents, one of which was a 'scootering' talent, which outraged Scootaloo.^[5]

Summary

The bowling alley

The episode opens with the Cutie Mark Crusaders outside a bowling alley, hoping to earn their cutie marks in bowling. They briefly brainstorm new team names (since, after obtaining their cutie marks, "Cutie Mark Crusaders" would then be obsolete) like "The Three Strikes" and "The Pin Twins", before settling on "The Bowling Dolls".

Sweetie Belle rolls her ball into the gutter—but remains in high spirits—and Scootaloo bucks her ball and sends it flying all over the alley before it too rolls into the gutter. Apple Bloom clumsily rolls her ball and appears to knock over all of her pins. The crowd of ponies cheers, with Sea Swirl remarking, "Cool! A bowling cutie mark!" Apple Bloom excitedly examines her flank, which is still bare, and sees that the crowd's cheers were directed toward a colt who'd just gotten his cutie mark. To Apple Bloom's disappointment, her ball hadn't knocked over even one pin.

Heart's Desire

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle comment on how much fun they had bowling, while Apple Bloom dejectedly walks alongside them. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle try to cheer her up with a cupcake from Sugarcube Corner, a party with Pinkie Pie, and a new hat from Rarity, but none of these work, and Apple Bloom remains despondent. She sulks off alone and wanders into the Everfree Forest, where she trips over a tree root, tumbles down a small ridge, and chips a tooth. Zecora finds her and brings her to her hut to give her a potion for her tooth. Apple Bloom expresses her frustration about her cutie mark, and Zecora tells her that she simply needs to wait for the right time for it to appear.

Apple Bloom takes Zecora's tooth-fixing potion, and her tooth is instantly mended. She then looks at the various potions and tonics around Zecora's hut, looking for a possible brew to bring about a cutie mark. When Zecora begins to make a potion to help a rooster fix his morning call, Apple Bloom notices a flower called 'Heart's Desire', which causes one's talent to "come into view" and will supposedly help the rooster crow again. Zecora goes out to find amethysts to complete her potion, and Apple Bloom sets her sights on the flower in the bowl.

Apple Bloom's cutie mark

In the schoolyard, Apple Bloom exuberantly shows off her new cutie mark: a silver hoop. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Twist try to figure out what special talent her cutie mark represents, to which Apple Bloom reveals to be loopty-hooping. She demonstrates her skill at loopty-hooping and various other tricks, with other foals cheering her on, much to the annoyance of Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. Cheerilee hears the foals cheering Apple Bloom on and sees her prowess with the hoop, asking her to give the class a demonstration and help them play with hoops.

While performing an advanced hoop trick, Apple Bloom suddenly sprouts a second cutie mark: an image of plates rotating on top of poles. Diamond Tiara suggests the cutie marks are fake, but Apple Bloom denies it. Snips and Snails throw her two plates and poles. Apple Bloom balances the poles on her nose and spins the plates on top while twirling a hoop around her tail. The class is astounded by Apple Bloom's talents and cheers for her as they make their way down the streets of Ponyville. In the streets, she nimbly performs tricks such as using a well-thrown hoop to style Twilight Sparkle's mane in the manner of Rarity's.

The cutie pox

That night, Applejack takes a tired Apple Bloom home, and Granny Smith and Big McIntosh congratulate her. Applejack tells her how proud they are of her getting not one but two cutie marks. After a long day of performing tricks, Apple Bloom heads off to bed.

Late at night, Applejack is rolling around in bed, being kept awake by an incessant tapping. She gets out of bed to investigate and discovers that the sound is coming from Apple Bloom's room. Upon opening the door, she sees Apple Bloom tapping her hooves frantically, as well as yet another cutie mark on Apple Bloom's flank: a tapping shoe. Apple Bloom, unable to stop herself from exercising her "talents" all at once, cries out for help while Applejack looks horrified.

Unable to stop Apple Bloom from moving, Applejack takes her to Twilight's library to search for a cure. Spike retrieves the book Perplexing Pony Plagues for Twilight, and locates Apple Bloom's affliction: "cutie pox". The book describes this bizarre disease as being "a puzzling pony plague" that afflicted a population of ponies in the Paleopony period. Random cutie marks appeared all over the bodies of those affected, making them perform the talents that came with them. Unfortunately, neither a cure nor the cause of the breakout was ever discovered, and the cutie pox disappeared as mysteriously as they had arrived. At that moment, Apple Bloom sprouts a fourth cutie mark in the form of a fleur-de-lis and starts to speak in French. The three ponies decide it best to seek out Zecora for help.

"Sacrebleu! Plus de marques de cutie! [gasps] Qu'est-ce c'est?! Je parle français?!
(Darn it! More cutie marks! [gasps] What's this?! I speak French?!)"

— Apple Bloom

Seeds of Truth

While on their way to Zecora's home, Apple Bloom's cutie pox begins to progress more quickly, with each new mark causing her to perform strange and arduous talents, mostly at the same time. The townsponies become scared of Apple Bloom's strange behavior, believing her to be hexed, cursed, or enchanted. Spike tactlessly points out the true nature of the disease to the townsponies, causing them to panic, lock themselves into their houses, and run off. When Zecora comes into town, she almost thinks that the ponies were still afraid of her. Twilight and Applejack tell her of Apple Bloom's affliction. Zecora says that around the time Apple Bloom was alone in her hut, some of her ingredients "mysteriously" went missing, especially the rest of a certain special flower. Fortunately, Zecora has the cure for the cutie pox: the Seeds of Truth, which only bloom when "words true and pure" are spoken.

Applejack plants the seeds in the ground and pleads for somepony to tell the truth. Pinkie Pie attempts to confess to eating more corncakes than she claimed she did, but the seeds don't bloom. Apple Bloom, speaking English again, finally admits to her misdeed. She admits her cutie marks are all fake and that she stole the ingredients—most importantly the Heart's Desire—from Zecora. During the process, the townsponies all begin to calm down when they hear Apple Bloom's truth. Just as promised, the Seeds of Truth bloom into a flower, which Apple Bloom quickly ingests, causing her cutie pox to vanish.

Apple Bloom apologizes to everyone for the entire ordeal (including lying) - especially to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo for getting too carried away with her cutie mark quest and to Zecora for taking her ingredients without permission. Realizing how sorry Apple Bloom is for everything and how she learned from her mistakes, Zecora and Apple Bloom's friends accept her apology.

The importance of patience

Apple Bloom writes a letter to Princess Celestia about what she learned: there are no shortcuts to getting something you desire the most, including a cutie mark, and that good things come to those who wait.

However, immediately after Spike sends the letter, the Cutie Mark Crusaders decide they've waited long enough and run off into the distance, eager to again try and get their cutie marks.

Apple Bloom's cutie pox

Heart's Desire

The Heart's Desire plant is introduced by Zecora as a cure for a rooster who "lost his crow". She says that "with Heart's Desire, his talent comes into view". Apple Bloom takes interest in the plant, and encourages Zecora to leave while she eyes the bowl with the plant's petals.

Cutie pox

When Apple Bloom develops a third cutie mark and discovers that she's unable to stop performing the various talents the marks signify, she's taken to Twilight Sparkle's library. After consulting her books, Twilight diagnoses the ailment as cutie pox. "This puzzling pony plague afflicted a population of ponies back in the Paleopony period. Random cutie marks appeared all over the ponies' bodies, causing them to perform all the talents that came with them. The cause of the breakout was never discovered, and the cutie pox disappeared as mysteriously as they arrived." Twilight suggests that Zecora might have a cure.

Seeds of Truth

The Seeds of Truth are the cure to the cutie pox. Zecora stops by Ponyville and witnesses all the ponies running scared from Apple Bloom's condition. She offers a cure for the cutie pox: "A cutie pox cure I have forsooth, for healing power is in the Seeds of Truth. These seeds must be planted in the ground, with the truth they'll grow and the cure is found." Apple Bloom eventually confesses that her cutie marks are all fake, and that she figured the Heart's Desire would help her get what she wanted most, so she "mixed up a special potion and put the rest of the Heart's Desire in it"; following her confession, the Seeds of Truth grow into a white-and-pink flower which Apple Bloom promptly consumes, and all of her cutie marks disappear.

Cutie pox afflictions

Throughout the episode, various cutie marks and talents afflict Apple Bloom. The following list of cutie marks and talents is sorted by time of appearance.

• Silver hoop – Hula hooping and hoop related tricks
• Sticks and plates – Performing plate spinning tricks.
• Red tap shoe – Tap Dancing
• Fleur-de-lis – Ability to speak French
• Mallet and chisel – Sculpting
• Cap and chimney brush – Chimney sweeping
• Accordion – Playing the accordion
• Whip and lion – Lion taming
• Chess pieces (a rook and two pawns) – Playing chess
• Crossed swords – Fencing
• White long pole – Tightrope walking
• Red glider – Hang-gliding
• Drafting compass – Math
• 1000-lb barbell – Weightlifting
• A pair of sponges – Window-washing
• Tornado – Whirling around

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.

The equations Apple Bloom draws under the affliction of the Math cutie mark are difficult to identify without context, but the first two sections state the equivalence between integration of continuous functions and the sigma operation upon discrete functions - a concept important in digital signal processing. The meaning of the remaining three equations has yet to be determined, and they may be simply random math-symbols to fill the board.

Quotes

For more quotes, see the episode's transcript.

Apple Bloom: Why, after today, we won't even be the Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore! We'll be the... the Three Strikes!

Scootaloo: That makes us sound like we've struck out.

Apple Bloom: Mmm. How 'bout the Pin Twins?

Sweetie Belle: But there are three of us.

Apple Bloom: Okay then... Um... the Bowlin' Dolls!

Sweetie Belle: The Bowling Dolls! That's it!

Scootaloo: Perfect!

Sweetie Belle: I know just what you need to put the bloom back on your apple.

Applejack: Yee haw, little sis! Congratulations on gettin' not just one, but two cutie marks! We're mighty proud of you, right Big McIntosh?

Big McIntosh: Eeyup!

Applejack: I've never seen anything like it, have you Big Mac?

Big McIntosh: Nope!

Twilight Sparkle: Cutie pox. This puzzling pony plague afflicted a population of ponies back in the paleopony period!

Spike: Say that 10 times fast!

Apple Bloom: Sacrebleu! Plus de marques de cutie! [gasp] Qu'est-ce c'est?! Je parle français?! (Darn it! More cutie marks! [gasp] What's this?! I speak French?!)

Applejack: My sister's speakin' in Fancy!

Lily Valley: She's cursed!

Rose: Hexed!

Daisy: Enchanted!

Spike: No, she's not.

Daisy, Lily Valley and Rose: [sigh of relief]

Spike: She just has some weird mysterious disease with no known cure called cutie pox.

Everyone: CUTIE POX?! AAAAAAAAAAH!

Pinkie Pie: Yesterday I told Mrs. Cake that I ate two corncakes, but I really ate three! [pause] Okay six! I ate six corncakes! [pause] Make it stop! Oh, make it stop!

Apple Bloom: Yup! All good things come to those who wait. [pause] Well! I've waited long enough.

Scootaloo: Actually, that was way too long.

Gallery

The Cutie Pox image gallery

References

1. ↑ Raven Molisee's DeviantArt journal (2012-02-23). Retrieved on 2012 February 23.
2. ↑ Jayson Thiessen's Twitter account (2011-08-02). Retrieved on 2012 July 4.
3. ↑ Jayson Thiessen's Twitter account (2011-08-02). Retrieved on 2012 July 4.
4. ↑ Jayson Thiessen's Twitter account.
5. ↑ Bronycon 2013 Voice Actors Panel II. Equestria Daily.

v • e Episodes, films, and animated shorts

Season one
Episode 1 Friendship is Magic, part 1	Episode 2 Friendship is Magic, part 2	Episode 3 The Ticket Master	Episode 4 Applebuck Season
Episode 5 Griffon the Brush Off	Episode 6 Boast Busters	Episode 7 Dragonshy	Episode 8 Look Before You Sleep
Episode 9 Bridle Gossip	Episode 10 Swarm of the Century	Episode 11 Winter Wrap Up	Episode 12 Call of the Cutie
Episode 13 Fall Weather Friends	Episode 14 Suited For Success	Episode 15 Feeling Pinkie Keen	Episode 16 Sonic Rainboom
Episode 17 Stare Master	Episode 18 The Show Stoppers	Episode 19 A Dog and Pony Show	Episode 20 Green Isn't Your Color
Episode 21 Over a Barrel	Episode 22 A Bird in the Hoof	Episode 23 The Cutie Mark Chronicles	Episode 24 Owl's Well That Ends Well
	Episode 25 Party of One	Episode 26 The Best Night Ever

Season two
Episode 1 The Return of Harmony Part 1	Episode 2 The Return of Harmony Part 2	Episode 3 Lesson Zero	Episode 4 Luna Eclipsed
Episode 5 Sisterhooves Social	Episode 6 The Cutie Pox	Episode 7 May the Best Pet Win!	Episode 8 The Mysterious Mare Do Well
Episode 9 Sweet and Elite	Episode 10 Secret of My Excess	Episode 11 Hearth's Warming Eve	Episode 12 Family Appreciation Day
Episode 13 Baby Cakes	Episode 14 The Last Roundup	Episode 15 The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000	Episode 16 Read It and Weep
Episode 17 Hearts and Hooves Day	Episode 18 A Friend in Deed	Episode 19 Putting Your Hoof Down	Episode 20 It's About Time
Episode 21 Dragon Quest	Episode 22 Hurricane Fluttershy	Episode 23 Ponyville Confidential	Episode 24 MMMystery on the Friendship Express
	Episode 25 A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1	Episode 26 A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2

Season three
Episode 1 The Crystal Empire - Part 1	Episode 2 The Crystal Empire - Part 2	Episode 3 Too Many Pinkie Pies	Episode 4 One Bad Apple
Episode 5 Magic Duel	Episode 6 Sleepless in Ponyville	Episode 7 Wonderbolts Academy	Episode 8 Apple Family Reunion
Episode 9 Spike at Your Service	Episode 10 Keep Calm and Flutter On	Episode 11 Just for Sidekicks	Episode 12 Games Ponies Play
Episode 13 Magical Mystery Cure

Season four
Episode 1 Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1	Episode 2 Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 2	Episode 3 Castle Mane-ia	Episode 4 Daring Don't
Episode 5 Flight to the Finish	Episode 6 Power Ponies	Episode 7 Bats!	Episode 8 Rarity Takes Manehattan
Episode 9 Pinkie Apple Pie	Episode 10 Rainbow Falls	Episode 11 Three's A Crowd	Episode 12 Pinkie Pride
Episode 13 Simple Ways	Episode 14 Filli Vanilli	Episode 15 Twilight Time	Episode 16 It Ain't Easy Being Breezies
Episode 17 Somepony to Watch Over Me	Episode 18 Maud Pie	Episode 19 For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils	Episode 20 Leap of Faith
Episode 21 Testing Testing 1, 2, 3	Episode 22 Trade Ya!	Episode 23 Inspiration Manifestation	Episode 24 Equestria Games
	Episode 25 Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1	Episode 26 Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2

Season five
Episode 1 The Cutie Map - Part 1	Episode 2 The Cutie Map - Part 2	Episode 3 Castle Sweet Castle	Episode 4 Bloom & Gloom
Episode 5 Tanks for the Memories	Episode 6 Appleoosa's Most Wanted	Episode 7 Make New Friends but Keep Discord	Episode 8 The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone
Episode 9 Slice of Life	Episode 10 Princess Spike	Episode 11 Party Pooped	Episode 12 Amending Fences
Episode 13 Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?	Episode 14 Canterlot Boutique	Episode 15 Rarity Investigates!	Episode 16 Made in Manehattan
Episode 17 Brotherhooves Social	Episode 18 Crusaders of the Lost Mark	Episode 19 The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows	Episode 20 Hearthbreakers
Episode 21 Scare Master	Episode 22 What About Discord?	Episode 23 The Hooffields and McColts	Episode 24 The Mane Attraction
	Episode 25 The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 1	Episode 26 The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2

Season six
Episode 1 The Crystalling - Part 1	Episode 2 The Crystalling - Part 2	Episode 3 The Gift of the Maud Pie	Episode 4 On Your Marks
Episode 5 Gauntlet of Fire	Episode 6 No Second Prances	Episode 7 Newbie Dash	Episode 8 A Hearth's Warming Tail
Episode 9 The Saddle Row Review	Episode 10 Applejack's "Day" Off	Episode 11 Flutter Brutter	Episode 12 Spice Up Your Life
Episode 13 Stranger Than Fan Fiction	Episode 14 The Cart Before the Ponies	Episode 15 28 Pranks Later	Episode 16 The Times They Are A Changeling
Episode 17 Dungeons & Discords	Episode 18 Buckball Season	Episode 19 The Fault in Our Cutie Marks	Episode 20 Viva Las Pegasus
Episode 21 Every Little Thing She Does	Episode 22 P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View)	Episode 23 Where the Apple Lies	Episode 24 Top Bolt
	Episode 25 To Where and Back Again - Part 1	Episode 26 To Where and Back Again - Part 2

Season seven
Episode 1 Celestial Advice	Episode 2 All Bottled Up	Episode 3 A Flurry of Emotions	Episode 4 Rock Solid Friendship
Episode 5 Fluttershy Leans In	Episode 6 Forever Filly	Episode 7 Parental Glideance	Episode 8 Hard to Say Anything
Episode 9 Honest Apple	Episode 10 A Royal Problem	Episode 11 Not Asking for Trouble	Episode 12 Discordant Harmony
Episode 13 The Perfect Pear	Episode 14 Fame and Misfortune	Episode 15 Triple Threat	Episode 16 Campfire Tales
Episode 17 To Change a Changeling	Episode 18 Daring Done?	Episode 19 It Isn't the Mane Thing About You	Episode 20 A Health of Information
Episode 21 Marks and Recreation	Episode 22 Once Upon a Zeppelin	Episode 23 Secrets and Pies	Episode 24 Uncommon Bond
	Episode 25 Shadow Play - Part 1	Episode 26 Shadow Play - Part 2

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