//------------------------------//
// Epilogue - Memories of a Great Crusade 
// Story: Finding True Talents 
// by Rakoon1 
//------------------------------//

The day after Melody’s musical, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle went to their tree house. Once they were no longer blank flanks, there was no reason for the club of the Cutie Mark Crusaders continue to exist, so they went there to get their things.

Once they got in there and saw the place where they spent much of their time, the three fillies felt a great longing inside of them.

"So this is it" Apple Bloom said. "Looks like it’s the end of the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"I guess so" Sweetie Belle said. "There is no reason for us to be continued to be called Cutie Mark Crusaders. After all, we've all got our Cutie Marks."

"Yes, but it's a shame" Scootaloo said, looking around. "We've been through a lot here."

"Yeah..." her two friends agreed, sadly.

There was a moment of silence and then Sweetie Belle asked:

"Remember when Applejack gave us this treehouse?"

"Of course, how could I forget?" Apple Bloom asked. "It was falling apart. I think this treehouse was the first thing I repair."

"Yes, I remember that" Scootaloo said. "That's when Miss Cheerilee was organizing that talent show."

"Yeah, we should had realized which our talents were" Apple Bloom said.

"But I'm glad we didn't" Sweetie Belle said. "Otherwise, we would never have lived great adventures. Remember when we went to sleep at Fluttershy’s cottage and we set off on a crusade in the Everfree Forest?"

"Don't remind me that" Scootaloo said, jumpy. "I still have nightmares about that cockatrice."

"But fortunately, Fluttershy saved us with her stare" Apple Bloom said. "And remember when I got Cutie Pox. With that, I've learned that I shouldn't force things when it’s about our Cutie Mark."

"And you also learned to not meddle with Zecora's spells without her permission or supervision" Sweetie Belle added.

"Yeah, that too" Apple Bloom replied, blushing and scratching her head.

"And when we tried to make that Big Mac and Miss Cheerilee fell in love for each other?" Scootaloo asked.

"Don't remind me of that" Apple Bloom said. "It was the cable of the jobs to keep them away from each other for one hour."

"Yes, but we should have read the book Twilight lent us altogether" Sweetie Belle admitted. "Maybe that confusion would not have happened and we wouldn’t have to do Big Mac’s chores as punishment."

"But what gave us a great lesson was the whole thing with Gabby Gums" Apple Bloom said. "We almost lost all our friendships."

"Yes, but Diamond Tiara also complicated for us to not let us give up" Scootaloo said.

"But fortunately she's changed" Sweetie Belle said. "It's not worth it to be reminding us how much she tormented our life."

"You mean like when she and Silver Spoon manipulated Babs Seed and we were ran out of our own treehouse until we made Babs understand what side she should be?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Really, we've been through a lot as Cutie Mark Crusaders" Scootaloo said. "I wish we didn't have to end with the club."

"Me too” the other two said sadly.

"So why end it?" a voice asked.

They looked and saw purple smoke getting in through the window and then Purple Smoke appeared.

"Purple Smoke!" the three fillies exclaimed, rising up.

"What are you doing here?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I came to see how my favorite fillies are after all of you got your Cutie Marks" he replied.

"Well, on one hoof, we're very happy, but on the other..." Sweetie Belle started.

"We just don’t like we have to end the club" Scootaloo completed.

"But you can keep your club" Purple Smoke.

"Wait, don't tell us that we will take our Cutie Marks" Scootaloo said.

"What?" Purple Smoke asked, caught by surprise. "Of course not! I mean, I can do that, but I never use that skill. It doesn’t match well with my ethics as General of Talent. What I mean is that you don't need have flanks in blank to find Cutie Marks. I mean, there's probably more foals without Cutie Marks needing for help, right?"

"You mean we can continue to be the Cutie Mark Crusaders but helping other foals getting their Cutie Marks?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Or show them their true meaning, as Sweetie Belle did with Diamond Tiara" Purple Smoke said.

"Wait, how do you know that?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Hey, I have my sources" Purple Smoke said. "So, what do you say... Cutie Mark Crusaders? Do you want to be my colleagues and help me help young foals to find their true talent?"

The three fillies shared looks between them and then nods. Apple Bloom turned to Purple Smoke and asked him:

"Do you want to know what our answer is, Purple Smoke? Our answer is..."

And so the three fillies bumped their hooves together and shouted in unison:

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS FOREVER!"

Purple Smoke smiled, seeing that now he had new allies.

"And is there room for two more Crusaders?" a voice asked.

They turned to the door and saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"You, here?" Apple Bloom asked.

"What are you doing here?" Scootaloo asked.

"The truth is what we came here to ask if we could join your club" Diamond Tiara said.

"What?!" the three Crusaders asked at the same time.

"Well, at first, we wanted to know if we could hang out together" Silver Spoon said. "Now that we're friends, we could try to get to know each other better."

"But we ended hearing you are going to continue with your club, helping other ponies, and we realized that if we join you, we could make up for all the bad things we've done" Diamond Tiara said.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were astonishment with the request Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had done. They turned to Purple Smoke, as if asking him for advice, but he just said:

"Don't look at me, the club is yours."

But then Sweetie Belle replied:

"For me, you can join us."

"Really?" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo asked.

"Why not?" Sweetie Belle asked them. "After all, they are our friends now. In addition, Diamond Tiara helped me get my Cutie Mark, besides being the living proof that even ponies with Cutie Mark can be helped by us."

The other two Crusaders thought in Sweetie Belle’s words, exchanged glances and then waved.

"Okay, that's fine by us" Apple Bloom said, making smiles appear on Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s faces.

"But, as initiated, you will have to do what we say" Scootaloo said. "But don't worry, I'm sure you will not be initiated for much longer."

"So, what do you say?" Apple Bloom asked while she extended hull, which was then overlaid by Sweetie Belle’s and Scootaloo’s.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon traded looks and nods, then they extended their hoofs, putting them over the other three’s. And the five then exclaimed:

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!"

And they dropped a laugh.

Seeing them laughing as a united team, Purple Smoke also smiled and then turned into purple smoke and walked away, knowing that, with the help of those fillies, his work to spread the magic of Cutie Marks would be easier.

The End