//------------------------------//
// The Call to Adventure 
// Story: She Kills Monsters 
// by chiko 
//------------------------------//

The Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse had been reclaimed by nature. Apple Bloom had to borrow one of her older brother's hunting knives to take it back from the encroaching forces. However, spending the afternoon cutting the branches with Scootaloo was worth it to get a little bit of her childhood back.

Prom was coming fast and then grad night and then graduation. It seemed like everything moved too quickly. They hadn't even decided their majors. Scootaloo wasn't even sure she was going to pursue a higher education. A half-hearted verbal commit to Canterlot Community College didn't amount to much. It made her mom happy that she had a full ride at least.

The treehouse was always a safe retreat from the world, where one could get lost for days or even weeks in an adventure only to come out just in time for dinner. Maybe there would be some stability waiting for them.

Maybe she'd be waiting for us in there.

Apple Bloom forced the door open and coughed at the dust. Light was scarce. Branches covered the windows, letting them know that it wasn't for them anymore.

"Whelp," Scootaloo hummed. "This blows."

"Shut up. Give it a chance," Apple Bloom said, pushing through. She kicked over a board game. Its pieces spilled onto the floor. Brushing them aside with the tip of her boot, she made her way to the center of the clubhouse.

"Feel any younger yet?"

"Was it always this small?" The drawl in her voice emphasized her disappointment. "We couldn't have been any smaller than we are now."

"Even then, it still feels..." Scootaloo didn't finish. She looked to the wooden seat sitting near the window. That was her chair. 

Apple Bloom rubbed her nose. The dust was getting to her. She went to work, picking up the pieces she had just spilled. "D'ya think she'd be mad that we let the clubhouse get like this?"

"Your sister?" Scootaloo asked. Her breath shortened, and she rubbed her arm. "Oh. She always was the clean one."

With her immediate surroundings free, Apple Bloom began to clear the windows, cutting as much of the tree she could and letting light and air ventilate the club house. The two traded shifts. As one hacked at branches, the other tidied the room. 

Eventually, night fell, and the clubhouse began to resemble its former self. However, they left a particular telescope still. It pointed out the window, one that Apple Bloom had delicately freed of branches as to not disturb the telescope.

"I was born under that star."

"Quit lyin', Sweetie Belle."

Apple Bloom bit her cheek and looked through the lens. She found a small, humble constellation waiting for her: Cassiopeia as she came to learn. She remembered her friend's lectures about it all too well.

"We should probably return the telescope," Scootaloo suggested. "It was Rarity's, right?"

"It stays here."

The two fought over it. In their struggles, they broke through the rotted floorboard, uncovering a little leather book.