It was a beautiful day in Ponyville and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were in their treehouse for another meeting of their club.
Apple Bloom, who was at the tribune, beat with the hammer to begin the meeting.
“Hear ye, hear ye!” she exclamaid. “This meeting of tha Cutie Mark Crusaders is now in session! Who wants tah do roll-call?”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged a look and then the young pegasus replied:
“I'm pretty sure we're all here.”
“Yeah” Sweetie Belle said. “Apple Bloom, what's this all about?”
“Oh, nothin'...” the younger earth pony said, with a smile. “Except this letter from Babs Seed sayin' she's got her cutie mark!”
And showed a letter to her two friends.
“What?!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo asked at same time, excited, going to the edge of the tribune to see the letter better.
“She says it's a pair of scissors!” Apple Bloom said.
“So... she's good at cutting stuff?” Scootaloo asked, frowning.
“Of course!” Sweetie Belle said, arranging her mane in the same way Babs did hers. “She was always fussing with her bangs and tail! I'll bet she grows up to be a celebrity stylist!”
“But if she spends all her time cuttin' hair, who's gonna run tha Manehattan CMCs?” Apple Bloom asked, a little worried.
“Well, not Babs” Scootaloo answered, moving away a little from the tribune. “She can't be a Cutie Mark Crusader if she's already got her cutie mark.”
"Can you imagine how Babs must have felt when she got her Cutie Mark?" asked Sweetie Belle, approaching Scootaloo. "I bet she must have felt radiant!"
The excitement was such that Sweetie Belle’s horn produced small sparks.
"Yes, I can't wait to get mine" Scootaloo said.
"Me too" Sweetie Belle agreed.
"I don't know" Apple Bloom said, approaching her friends. "We've been looking for them for so long and we've experienced just about everything that we had to try to get our Cutie Marks."
"Probably not" Scootaloo said. "I mean, we should be good at something."
"Scootaloo is right" Sweetie Belle said. "We can't give up."
"I know, but..." Apple Bloom said, still with her uncertain tone. "And what will be of our club when we get our Cutie Marks? After all, we can't be the Cutie Mark Crusaders if we already have our Crusaders Cutie Marks."
"Well, I hadn't thought of that..." Scootaloo admitted.
"Don't worry, girls" Sweetie Belle said. "Whatever happens, we will always be friends and Crusaders of heart."
Those words from Sweetie Belle seemed to animate her two friends who smiled.
"That's the way I like to see my favorite fillies" a voice said.
They turned and saw Purple Smoke, who appeared in purple smoke.
"Purple Smoke!" the Crusades exclaimed at the same time, smiling.
"I decided to stop by to see how you're doing with your search for your Cutie Marks."
"Well, we didn’t get them yet" Apple Bloom said. "In other words, it's not good."
"Don't say that" Purple Smoke said. "Just think you’re trying new things."
"Yes, and thus it will only remain just what can lead us to our Cutie Mark" Sweetie Belle said.
"That's what you want to hear" Purple Smoke said. "You'll see, it will be worth it."
"It would be much easier if you could tell us what's our special talent" Sweetie Belle said, trying to use the same persuasive look her sister used to use.
"Nice try, my dear" Purple Smoke said to her. "But I'm not cheating on you about the Cutie Marks."
"At least give us a clue” Scootaloo said.
"You don't need it" Purple Smoke said. "Believe me when I tell you that it won’t take long until you find out in what you are good with."
And, having said that, he disappeared in smoke purple.
"He always says the same thing" Scootaloo grumbled. "If he wants to help, he could say something that makes sense."
"Scootaloo, let him be" Apple Bloom said. "We have tah admit that lookin’ fer our Cutie Marks at tha old way is much better."
That made Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exchange a look and then they smile and nod with their heads, agreeing with Appe Bloom.
That night, a terrible storm arrived to Ponyville. Fortunately, as was a planned storm by the pegasi, all citizens were able to prepare themselves for it.
The next day, Apple Bloom woke up. As there was no school that day, she was planning on thinking about more ways to get her Cutie Mark with her inseparable friends.
However, when she came to the treehouse that served as their clubhouse, they saw that it was completely ruined. The storm had done immense damage to the treehouse. It was even worse than when Applejack showed it for the first time to her younger sister and her friends. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were equally shocked when they saw what had happened.
"I can't believe..." Scootaloo said.
"Our treehouse... is ruined" Sweetie Belle said.
"It's even worse than it was before Ah have restor’d it" Apple Bloom said.
"What do we do now?" Scootaloo asked. "We can't have our meetings of Cutie Mark Crusaders in a ruined treehouse."
"It seems that we have no other choice but to find another place to our meetings" Sweetie Belle said.
"Yeah, it seems not" agreed Apple Bloom.
But, in the end, they couldn't find the perfect place for their meetings. They could do the meetings in one of their bedrooms, but it wouldn’t be the same. That treehouse was special for them. It was more than a place where they used to discuss what to do to get their Cutie Marks. Finally, they returned to the treehouse, without having a new place for their meetings.
"And now, what do we do?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yeah, without the treehouse, we can't have our meetings" Scootaloo said.
"We can continue tah have our meetings, but it will not be tha same thin’" Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah" the other two said.
"I think I'm going home" Sweetie Belle said. "Rarity and Shadow Claw should be expecting me for dinner."
"Yeah, my parents also must be waiting for me" said Scootaloo.
And, after they said goodbye, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo went home. Apple Bloom also stood up and, looking once again to the ruined treehouse, she sighed and prepared to leave.
"It's too bad what happened to your treehouse" a voice said.
Apple Bloom turned and faced Purple Smoke.
"It was very beautiful" he said.
"Purple Smoke, what are ya doin’ here?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I came to see how your search for your Cutie Marks was going" Purple Smoke said. "I think I became your fan after learning how much you three were committed to get your Cutie Mark."
"Yeah, well, we're not very committed right now" Apple Bloom said, diverting her gaze to the ground.
"Why?" Purple Smoke asked. "Because of that amount of wooden boards?"
"You don't understand" Apple Bloom said to Purple Smoke. "We spent a lot of good moments in that treehouse. It was there that we had many of our ideas. It was our special place."
"So, if it's so special, why don’t you rebuild it?" Purple Smoke asked.
"Don’t ya see how it is?" Apple Bloom asked. "It was pretty hard fer me tah renew it when Applejack gave it tah me and mah friends. Ah don't know if Ah can do tha same with tha treehouse in this state."
"Well, then I guess this treehouse is not that important, after all" Purple Smoke said. "Well, if it was important, I don't think you'd give it up."
He started walking away, but stopped and said:
"At least, that's what I think."
And, having said that, he turned into purple smoke and walked away, leaving Apple Bloom meditating on his words.
That night, Apple Bloom couldn't get to sleep because of what had happened that day. Moreover, Purple Smoke’s words kept echoing in his head. Was that treehouse really important to her and her friends? After all, none of them tried to tell the others to try to fix it.
But after Apple Bloom remembered all the times they spent there… All the laughs and all the ideas they had to get Cutie Marks… In addition, there was the fact that it was there that she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo made Babs Seeds’ initiation at the Cutie Mark Crusaders after she became their friend.
So Apple Bloom made a decision: she would restore the treehouse no matter what. She got out of bed and her room. She went to get the toolbox that she used to renovate the treehouse and then went to there. Once she got there, she contemplated the ruins before taking a hammer and address to the treehouse, determined to fix it.
The next day, Applejack entered in her sister’s room to wake her up.
"Good mornin’, little sis!" she exclaimed, upon entering. "Rise and shine, breakfast is almost ready!"
But she then noticed that Apple Bloom’s bed was empty.
"Apple Bloom?" Applejack asked. "Where are you?"
Failing to find her sister anywhere, Applejack began to get worried. She then decided to go see at the treehouse. Despite being ruined, Apple Bloom could be there. And, when she arrived, Applejack gasped with what she found.
The treehouse, that was where the Cutie Mark Crusaders used to meet, was completely repaired. It neither looked like it had been ruined by a storm.
"What in tarnation...?" Applejack asked, while approaching.
She headed to the door and opened it and then she saw her sister sleeping next to the tribune with a toolbox on the side. Applejack couldn't believe it. After all, it was her sister who had rebuilt the cabin. She approached her and said:
"Apple Bloom. Wake up, little sis."
Apple Bloom started waking up and, seeing her sister, she asked while she yawned and rubbed her eyes:
"Applejack, what is it?"
She then noticed where she was. Apple Bloom was equally or more surprised with the fact that the treehouse was repaired.
"Ah can't believe..." she said. "Ah did it... Ah did it! Ah repair’d tha treehouse."
"Yes, you did" Applejack said, while her sister jumped up and down with joy. "And Ah have tah admit, Apple Bloom. Ah never thought this treehouse could be restor’d again. Looks like mah little baby sister is quite talent’d in using a hammer."
"Ya think I'm talent’d?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Look what ya've done, Apple Bloom" Applejack said, making a gesture to the treehouse. "Don't you think this is proof enough?"
Apple Bloom looked around for the work she had just done. Applejack was right. Build and rebuild things was his real talent.
Suddenly, a light appeared briefly on her flank and, when Apple Bloom looked, she saw that there was her Cutie Mark: an apple on a hammer.
"Ah got mah Cutie Mark" Apple Bloom said, feeling the excitement growing inside of her. "AH GOT MAH CUTIE MARK! And it's beautiful! Ah can't wait tah show it tah mah friends. They will be so happy!"
"Not as happy as I am now, Apple Bloom" Applejack said, embracing Apple Bloom. "Nor as proud."
Apple Bloom returned the hug, sketching a smile. She was so happy to have finally achieved what she wanted so badly: a Cutie Mark.
Outside, watching the scene through the window of the treehouse, sitting on a branch of a tree, it was Purple Smoke. He smiled and said:
"Very well, Apple Bloom. You made it."
And then he turned into purple smoke and went away.