It was hot out. Hotter than it had been all summer. Apple Bloom couldn’t help but notice how hot it was, even in the shade of the apple tree that she stood under, the heat was enough to make her uncomfortable. She wished that Applejack would hurry up with the pruning so that they could head inside for some cider.
“Apple Bloom! Stop day dreaming an’ hold on ta that ladder!”.
Apple Bloom snapped to attention as she realized that the ladder she was holding had started to slip out of her grip.
“Sorry sis!” She said sheepishly “I was just thinkin’ about how hot it was.”
“Look, I know it’s hot, but the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can have some cold cider.” Said Applejack from her place on the top of the ladder. “But you have to pay attention if we’re ever gonna get this done.”
Apple Bloom watched as her sister cut off a few more dead limbs before climbing down the ladder.
“Alright, that should be enough for today. How about we go get some of that cider?” said Applejack as she stepped off the last rung of the ladder.
“Really? Oh thank Celestia! I thought I was gonna dry up from all this heat!” said Apple Bloom
“Well first we gotta put the ladder and tools back in the barn.”
They began to gather up their tools when Apple Bloom heard a familiar buzzing sound coming down the road from Ponyville. About thirty second later, Scootaloo slid to a stop in front of the apple sisters. Sweetie Belle fell out of the wagon attached to the back with an “Oomph”.
“Hey Apple Bloom! Are you still on for crusading this afternoon?” Asked Scootaloo as she unstrapped her helmet.
“ Absolutely!” Said Apple Bloom
“Now hold on just a minute! You promised that you would help me fix that wagon wheel that Big Mac broke!” Said Applejack
“Oh yeah…..How did Big Mac break that thing again?” Asked Apple Bloom
“Let’s just say that Mac isn’t allowed to have hard cider while on the job anymore….” Said Applejack with a smirk. “But you promised that you would help me, and frankly you seem to be better at fixing things than me.”
“Ok…I’ll catch up with you guys later then.” Said Apple Bloom dejectedly
“We could help!” Said Sweetie Belle excitedly.
“Yeah!” Agreed Scootaloo
“I don’t know.” Said Applejack
Applejack was suddenly on the receiving end of something the Crusaders called the “D’AWWWW Bomb”
“Ok, Ok. But you two have to be careful, this cart is really heavy and I don’t want it to fall on any of you.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CARPENTERS! YAY!” Shouted the three excited fillies
“Wait a minute…” Said Sweetie Belle “Haven’t we done this before?”
“Um…Yeah, I remember that!...I wonder what happened to that table?” Said Scootaloo
“That thing hardly counted as a table. I think I saw it in Fluttershy’s fireplace later on that night.” Said Apple Bloom
“Well this should be different, we aren’t going to be working on furniture this time. Who knows, maybe we’re really good at fixing wagons?” Said Sweetie Belle optimistically
“A wagon wheel cutie mark? That sounds kinda lame…” Said Scootaloo
“Yeah, I guess your right” Agreed Sweetie Belle “But it’s still worth a try right?”
“Might as well, we don’t have anything better to do anyway” Said Scootaloo
With that, the three fillies followed the orange mare to the barn. After putting the ladder and all of the tools back in their proper places, they went inside to grab a quick lunch and a mug of Sweet Apple Acres cider. After finishing their lunch and mugs of cider, the group went out to inspect the damaged wagon.
The wagon sat in the middle of the barn, with the back end up on bricks. The wagon was missing the left side wheel and was also missing a few boards from the back and side. It looked like the wagon had gotten into a fight with a tree and lost.
“Well,” said Apple Bloom while looking the damage over “It looks like it needs new siding, a new wheel and maybe a new axle…”
“It’s a good thing we have a couple of spares for this old thing” Said Applejack “But I don’t know about the axle, are you sure we can’t repair the one we got?”
“Well….” Apple Bloom began humming the CMC theme song as she thought “Oh! I have an idea! Applejack could you hand me that saw?”
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Two hours later the four of them sat in front of the repaired wagon. They were all sweating and a little worn out from the labor.
“Good work Apple Bloom! I would have never thought of that.” Said Applejack
“Thanks, but you’re the one that did all of the heavy lifting” Said Apple Bloom
“Yeah, but I would’ve never thought to use a horse shoe to hold the wheel in place” Replied Applejack
“You would’ve thought of it eventually” Said Apple Bloom with a slight blush.
“Wow Apple Bloom, you sure are really good at fixing things!” Said Sweetie Belle
“Yeah! Now that you mention it, she did do a really good job at fixing the clubhouse” Said Scootaloo
“I’ve always liked making things and fixin stuff…I wonder if that’s my special talent?” Said Apple Bloom
As soon as the words left Apple Blooms mouth there was suddenly a bright flash. After about five seconds of blinking Apple Bloom regained her vision and turned to look at where the flash had come from. As she looked around she couldn’t see anything that would have made such a flash…
“Apple Bloom! You got your Cutie Mark!” Said Scootaloo
“What?!” Exclaimed Apple Bloom as she spun around to see her flank. What she saw left her speechless.
Her Cutie Mark was an apple with a flower attached to the stem and underneath was a crossed hammer and saw. She sat and stared for about half a minute before she stood up and started spinning to try and get a better look at it, but she quickly got dizzy and had to sit down before falling over.
“Ah can’t believe it…Ah never thought ah would get my Cutie Mark…” Said Apple Bloom still in shock.
“That is so awesome!” Said Scootaloo excitedly “Its kinda like a skull and crossbones, except better!”
“Well I’ll be! Who woulda thought your special talent was making things?” Said Applejack “Come here!” with that Applejack pulled her little sister into a bear hug. “Ah am so proud of you” Whispered Applejack before letting her sister go.
“Wow Apple Bloom! Your Cutie Mark is great!” Said Sweetie Belle
“Wait a minute.” Said Apple Bloom “Didn’t you say that a hammer Cutie Mark would be stupid?”
“No.” responded Sweetie Belle “I said ‘who would want a hammer Cutie Mark?’ and it looks like that’s what you wanted.”
“Oh.”
“Come on, we should go inside and show Granny. She might make some of those celebration apple fritters!” Said Applejack
“Yeah,” Said Apple Bloom, “Let’s go!”
They all stood up and raced to the house with hopes that celebration apple fritters were in their future.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The party was going great!
It had been a whole week since Apple Bloom had gotten her Cutie Mark, before they could put a party together. But here it was! And it was great!
Everypony seemed to be having a great time. Those who weren’t playing one of the many games were sitting and eating some classic Apple family recipes.
Apple Bloom turned to look at her Cutie mark for the hundredth time that day. All week she had woken up in the morning and checked to see if she still had her Cutie mark. She just couldn’t stop looking at it! Now that she had a Cutie mark she couldn’t imagine it being anything different. Only a week ago, she had daydreamed about what her Cutiemark would look like, but somehow she never thought it would be this perfect. How had she missed it?! She loved fixing the tree house, and she was always fixing or building things on the farm.
Apple Bloom’s thoughts were interrupted by a familiar giggle. As all the hairs on Apple Bloom’s neck stood up, she heard Diamond Tiara whisper something to Silver Spoon which made them both giggle again.
“So, Apple Bloom, I see you finally got your Cutiemark. Or is this like that time that you had the Cutie-pox?” Said Diamond Tiara with a giggle.
“Why are you here?” Said Apple Bloom calmly
“I just wanted to congratulate you on your Cutiemark.” Said Diamond Tiara.
“Wait…What?” Said Apple Bloom as she turned to face the school bully.
“I really am glad that you found your special talent.” Said Diamond Tiara with a smile.
“Uhhh….Thanks?” Said Apple Bloom, confused.
“So how did you find your special talent?” Asked Diamond Tiara with a questioning look.
Diamond Tiara actually looked interested. And her smile seemed… sincere… why was she being so nice all of the sudden? She must be trying to pull something...
“I fixed the wheel on a wagon that Big Mac broke.” Replied Apple Bloom while still trying to figure out what Diamond Tiara was up to.
“Really? That’s pretty cool. So… You like fixing things?” Asked Diamond Tiara.
“I guess.” Said Apple Bloom.
“That’s nice. Well, I gotta go. Have fun!” Said Diamond Tiara as she began walking towards the door with Silver Spoon.
“Wait!” Said Apple Bloom “Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Why would I ever be mean to you?” Said Diamond Tiara with a hurt look “You aren’t a blank-flank like those other two.”
And with that, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon left.
Apple Bloom stood, lost in thought.
Diamond Tiara was right…she wasn’t a blank-flank anymore…did that mean she wasn’t a Cutiemark crusader? Would her friends get jealous of her Cutiemark?
These thoughts made Apple Bloom sad.
What if her friends didn’t want to be her friends anymore? What if they found a new blank-flank to fill her spot? What if……. No. Her friends would never do that! They’re the Cutiemark Crusaders! They’re her friends! They would never do that!....Right?
“Hey Apple Bloom! Come play pin the tail on the donkey!” Said Scootaloo.
“Huh?....Oh yeah! Sure!” Said Apple Bloom as she pushed the dark thoughts out of her mind. She wouldn’t let Diamond Tiara ruin her party.
It wasn’t long before Apple Bloom had forgotten all about Diamond Tiara, and started enjoying herself. The party lasted into the afternoon and well into the night, all the while with Apple Bloom dancing, playing, and giggling along with her friends.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Apple Bloom sat on the porch with her older brother’s carving knife firmly in her right hoof, and a small chunk of wood in the other. She sat and pondered the hunk of sweet smelling wood. What would she carve this time? So far she had carved two small figures, one looked suspiciously like a certain mare with a cowpony hat. The other looked like a miniature apple tree. She inspected the wood, looking it up and down while waiting for inspiration. Then she was struck with an idea. She lifted the wood and knife, and began working… only to be interrupted by a familiar voice.
“Excuse me miss Apple Bloom, is your grandmother about?” Asked Filthy Rich
“Oh hello Mr. Rich! Um, yeah, she’s in the kitchen.” Replied Apple Bloom
“Thank You.” Said Mr. Rich as he walked in the front door.
“Hey Apple Bloom, what’s up?” Said Diamond Tiara
Apple Bloom groaned “What are you doing here?”
“My dad needed to talk to your Grandmother about the next Zap Apple harvest, so I thought I would tag along.” Said Diamond Tiara
“What, so you could pick on me?” Replied Apple Bloom bitterly
“What? Why would I do that?” Asked Diamond Tiara
“Because that’s what you usually do whenever you’re around.” Said Apple Bloom accusingly
“Actually, I came to apologize for that.” Said Diamond Tiara. And at Apple Bloom’s questioning look she began to explain “Before you got your Cutiemark, I picked on you because I thought you were different, and that made me jealous. It’s like what Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell said, you could be anything you wanted. But then I realized that it was wrong of me to pick on you just because you hadn’t found your special talent yet.”
Apple Bloom was stunned. She had just gotten an apology from her sworn enemy…an actual apology…but wait a minute…
“But what about what you said at the party? You said you wouldn’t pick on me because I wasn’t a blank-flank anymore?” Asked Apple Bloom confused.
“I said that because Silver Spoon was there. She still thinks that anypony with a blank-flank isn’t cool. She’s my only friend, and I’m afraid that she won’t want to be my friend anymore if I stop picking on blank-flanks.” Explained Diamond Tiara with the beginnings of tears in her eyes “I’ve wanted to apologize for weeks now, but every time I saw you, I was with Silver Spoon. Now that you have your Cutiemark, Silver Spoon doesn’t care about picking on you. That’s why I was nice to you at your party.”
Apple Bloom watched as the filly that had terrorized her for years, began to cry.
“I’m so sorry Apple Bloom. I should have apologized sooner but Silver Spoon..” Diamond Tiara’s voice cracked as she began to cry more. “Im so sorry. I know that you won’t ever forgive me for the horrible things I’ve done to you, and that’s ok. I just wanted to tell you I was sorry. I have to go now, goodbye.” Diamond Tiara wiped her eyes on her foreleg as her father came out of the farm house.
“Thank you again Mrs. Smith! Come along Diamond Tiara.” Said Mr. Rich as he began down the steps of the farm house porch.
Diamond Tiara whipped her eyes and trotted up to her father, leaving a thoroughly dumbfounded Apple Bloom sitting on the porch by herself.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
“….and then she said she was sorry about pickin’ on me.” Finished Apple Bloom.
Both of the other two Crusaders sat, listening intently to Apple Blooms story. They were all sitting inside of their clubhouse, each with a box of juice and a plate of cookies, courtesy of Applejack. Apple Bloom paced in front of them, but after finishing her story, she sat and began eating her cookies.
“So that’s it? She apologized, and then just left?” Asked Scootaloo incredulously.
“Yep.” Replied Apple Bloom around a mouthful of cookies. “She even started crying too!”
“well that’s weird….She must be up to something!” Said Scootaloo.
“What if she really just wants to be friends?” Asked Sweetie Belle.
“No way! This is Diamond Tiara we’re talking about! She never wanted to be our friend before. Why would she suddenly start trying to be our friend now?” Said Scootaloo.
“I thought that too, but the way she started crying…” Said Apple Bloom trailing off.
“That just means that she’s a good actor! Look, Apple Bloom, stay away from Diamond Tiara. Whatever she is planning its not good.” Said Scootaloo with a serious look on her face. “But enough about Diamond Tiara! Let’s get down to business.”
At this, Scootaloo grabbed a parchment from behind her, and laid it out for the others to see. On the parchment was a crudely drawn picture of a mountain.
Scootaloo began to explain “This is one of the mountains outside of ponyville. I think we definitely have a shot at getting our cutiemarks in rock climbing! But first we have to get enough money to pay for the harnesses and the rope….”
The Crusaders spent the rest of the afternoon brainstorming on ways to raise money for the gear that they would need. And as the sun set on the horizon they each started on the way home.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
