The girls decamped to the house, entering the basement as they went. Inside the room was set up for rehearsals of all kinds. On one side was a stage, with microphones set up. On the other was a set of shelves on which to put instrument cases. Amps were positioned throughout the room, to allow for the best sound quality, and the room was soundproofed so that the sound of practices wouldn’t distract those up above.
“This is where the Crusaders rehearse!” Apple Bloom said triumphantly.
“The Crusaders?” Babs asked, unsure.
“It’s our band,” Scootaloo explained. “I play lead guitar, Sweetie Belle plays piano, Apple Bloom plays fiddle and banjo, Rumble is our rhythm guitarist, Pip plays bass, and Button is our drummer.”
Sweetie Belle cut in. “Rumble, Pip, and Button are friends of ours.”
“I often double the piano part,” added Cozy Glow.
“So, what do ya play Babs?” asked Bloom.
“Er,” Babs paused. Did she dare tell them about her taste in music? “I play guitar and piano. I can also sing, but not very well.”
Babs opened her guitar case, and took out a CD. “I made a couple of demo tapes at home, until my parents told me to stop playing because it was too loud.”
“That ought not to be a problem,” Sweetie Belle reassured her. “Do you want to play something for us?”
“Yeah, OK.” Babs plugged the ¼-inch cable into her guitar, ran it into one of the amps, and strummed to check her guitar was still in tune.
“That’s sounds acoustic,” Cozy added.
Scootaloo wandered over to the amp. “That’s because it isn’t switched on.” She threw the switch and suddenly the guitar roared into life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3-mLr7Yfz4
Bloom took her hands off her ears. “That’s a bit loud.”
Babs smirked. “Well, welcome to NYC! Everythin’ is loud!” She swung her guitar onto her back, and handed the CD over to Cozy, who sat down at the mixing desk and popped the CD into the drive.
“Whenever you’re ready,” she told Babs.
Babs nodded. “I recorded this with my band in the Big Apple.”
The girls applauded after Babs had finished. “That sounded great!” Sweetie Belle said.
Scootaloo walked up to her. “I noticed you were strumming quite aggressively. Is that an East Coast thing?”
“It’s just how I play, that’s all.”
Apple Bloom coughed. “Well, shall we play somethin’ together? We have some songs we’re workin’ on and would like yer opinion.”
Suddenly, three boys walked in. “Hi!” they called.
Scootaloo ran over to one of them. “What took you so long Rumble?” she asked teasingly.
“Sorry, Thunderlane held me back.”
“Well at least you are here now,” the purple haired girl smiled.
Babs looked at Bloom. “What’s goin’ on between them?”
“Rumble is Scootaloo’s boyfriend,” Bloom explained. “Pip is mine, and Button’s got the hots for Sweetie Belle!”
“HEY!” shouted the chocolate coloured one.
“Well, are we going to set up?” Pip asked.
“Hey, yer British!” Babs said.
Pip hopped onto stage. “The name is Pipsqueak, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss...”
“Babs Seed.”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Babs Seed. If you’re wondering about the accent, I’m originally from Nottingham.”
“What song are we gonna play?” asked Button.
“The new one, I’ll just get Babs some music,” Apple Bloom replied. “Cozy, we need ya on the organ!”
The rest of the band members set their instruments up, and Scootaloo stepped up to the mic. “This is one I wrote, with the other’s help. It’s called ‘Hearts Strong as Horses.’”
“Wow Scootaloo, you've got a great voice!” Babs said.
“You should have heard us in our early days,” Sweetie Belle laughed. “She could barely sing in tune!”
“OI!”
Apple Bloom was the next to speak. “So, what do ya think?”
“It’s a nice sound, with impressive production. I especially liked the percussion, but I found a few little problems.”
“Namely?”
“Firstly, the echo on Scootaloo’s-”
“Just call me Scoots, I don’t mind.”
“The echo on your voice could cause feedback, and the mics on Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom are too quiet. I could barely hear the harmonies.”
“At least be glad there is harmony,” Cozy grinned. “’Cause there isn’t on their early ones!”
Her finger hovered over the play button.
“No!” Sweetie Belle begged. “Don’t play it!”
Cozy pressed down on the button, and for the next few minutes the group were assailed by a sound reminiscent of cats scratching their claws down window panes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI_b68RcdTo
“Sounded like Cheap Trick. Anyway,” Babs interrupted, once the torture had finished, “I also noted you keep referring to yerselves as ponies. Yer humans!”
Scootaloo grinned awkwardly. “It’s a stylistic choice.”
Apple Bloom interrupted. “Babs, Ah think ya should choose the next one.”
Babs thought for a moment. Then suddenly Applejack came in.
“Howdy there!” she said. “I was wonderin’ where y’all had got to!”
“Babs is now a member of the band!” said Sweetie Belle.
Applejack smiled. “Ah’m proud of y’all for bein’ so accomodatin’, ‘specially with what Babs-”
Babs frantically shook her head.
“-what with Babs bein’ our guest o’honour. So, what you girls singin’?”
“We were about to let Babs pick our next song,” replied Scootaloo.
Babs laughed nervously. “Well, I hope you don’t think me babyish for askin’ for this, but...It’s Gonna be a Great Day’”.
“From King of the Railway?” asked Apple Bloom.
“How’d you know that?”
Scootaloo laughed. “Dude, Thomas and Friends rocks!”
Babs relaxed. “Thanks for not laughin’”.
“That would just be mean!” Sweetie Belle added.
“And, you should get to do lead vocals!” called Cozy.
Babs lined up the chords. “1,2,3,4!”
Applejack applauded. “Y’all sound great!”
“That show has some great music,” Babs admitted. “Besides, Connor is a loco from my home state.”
“He’s a Hudson, isn’t he?”
“Not any old Hudson,” Babs grinned. “The NYC J3a Hudson.”
“There’s one of those on the railroad!” Rumble told her.
“Shall we sing an old family classic to round off?” asked Applejack.
“How ‘bout ‘Apples to the Core’?”
“I know that!” Babs added.
Applejack jumped up on stage, linked up her bass, and was about to start when suddenly Granny Smith and Big Mac came in.
“Yer weren’t gonna start without us, were ya?” asked Granny Smith.
“Nnnope!” Big Mac smiled, pre-empting Applejack’s reply.
Applejack nodded called, “Here we go!”, and led the band into the song:
“Whooowee!” hollered Granny Smith. “I haven’t done that one in a long time!”
“Y’all still remember all the actions,” Big Mac laughed.
Apple Bloom turned to the others. “Fancy goin’ to Sugarcube Corner ta cool off?”
The 8 friends stepped in through the door, and into the warmth of Sugarcube Corner. Mrs Cake was at the counter, and greeted them.
“Good afternoon!” she said to them. “What can I get you girls?”
“The usual please,” Apple Bloom replied.
“OK, 3 vanilla, 3 strawberry, and a chocolate milkshake coming right up!”
“I’d like to order somethin’ too,” Babs asked.
Mrs Cake turned around, and looked at her. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you before,” she said. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Babs Seed. I’m Apple Bloom’s cousin.”
Mrs Cake beamed. “Well, any family of Apple Bloom’s is family of mine! What would you like?”
“Chocolate milkshake please,” Babs replied.
Once all the drinks were ready, Mrs Cake handed them to the girls. “That’ll be $10!” she smiled.
“They’re $1.50 each,” Babs said, confused.
“Loyal customer discount,” Mrs Cake explained.
After paying, the girls went and sat down at a booth and started chatting, when suddenly a commotion started.
2 people walked in through the door, to the jeering of a group of boys. “Hey look!” one of them shouted. “It’s Derpy McDerpface!”
The older girl looked hurt, but a younger one who resembled her stepped forward. “Nobody talks to my sister that way!” she yelled.
The boys laughed. “Clearly runs in the family,” one of them snorted.
“What, being retards?” another laughed.
“It won’t be long till she has the wonky eyes!” the third jeered.
Tears began to leak from the younger girls' eyes, whilst the older one had a neutral expression.
Babs had had enough. She knew enough of what bullying was like, and she got out of her seat and stormed over.
“That’s enough!” she yelled, loud enough that the entire café went quiet.
“What’s this, protecting Derpface?” said one of the boys.
“How'd you like it if people mocked you over how you looked?” Babs continued walking over, her hands curling into fists. “The way you spoke? The way you walked?”
She was eyeball to eyeball with one of them. “I don’t think you’d like it, would you?”
“What you gonna do, huh?”
“Ban you permanently from the premises!” shouted a voice behind them. It was Mr Cake!
“Dude, you’d be an idiot to do that,” the first boy said.
“We’d totally organise a boycott,” said the third.
“And tell the police you’ve violated our Constitutional rights,” added the second.
Mr Cake had turned a shade of red. “Your right to speak is overridden by Ditzy’s right to not be verbally abused in public! Now scram, before I call the police!”
The three of them stormed out of the door, giving rude gestures as they walked out of the door.
Mr Cake sighed, and went over to Babs. “I appreciate you wanted to help her, but you need to let the adults deal with problems like this. You could have easily started a fight there.”
Babs sighed as well. Again? “I can’t stand bullies,” she replied. “I know what it’s like-” she suddenly froze, realising she’d accidently let slip.
“I’m not blaming you, I’m just suggesting not to act so rashly, OK?” Mr Cake smiled. “Now go enjoy some time with your friends.”
Babs sat back down, when the two girls came over. “Thank you for standing up for me,” said the smaller one. “I'm Dinky Hooves.” She had purple-blue skin and blonde hair, and was wearing a green dress. “This is my big sister, Ditzy!” She indicated to the older girl.
‘Ditzy’ had grey skin and blonde hair, and was wearing a blue shirt and green skirt. However, Babs couldn’t help but notice her eyes were wonky.
“Could you move to the left a bit?” she asked Babs. “I can’t really see you?”
“Can I ask what happened to your eyes?” asked Babs.
“They’ve always been like that, I’m afraid,” said a third voice, coming in through the door.
This fellow had brown hair that seemed to stick up permanently, as well as stubble. He was dressed in a blue suit with a brown shirt and tie, as well as a pair of tennis shoes.
“Daddy!” Dinky exclaimed, and ran over to him.
“Howdy Professor Turner!” Apple Bloom called.
“He’s one of the science teachers at the school, he’s really fun!” Scootaloo admitted.
“But I’ve never figured out why he keeps a blue box in the lab,” Sweetie Belle added.
“That’s my equipment shed,” Turner quickly said. “You can call me ‘The Doctor’.”
“Doctor What?” asked Babs.
“Just ‘The Doctor’”.
Ditzy spoke again. “I like you Babs,” she said, in a simple, yet sweet and endearing way. “Would you like a muffin?”
“OK,” Babs replied. She took out her wallet.
“It’s for free.” Ditzy placed the muffin down in front of Babs.
“If anything’s certain, it’s that Ditzy’s muffins are amazing!” Button exclaimed.
Babs bit into it, and her taste buds were assaulted with the wonderful taste of chocolate chip and caramel. “How do you make them?” she asked.
“I bake them,” Ditzy replied.
“Sorry about that,” said Turner. “She often answers questions literally. The process of making them is quite complicated.”
“I was just wonderin’ if I could take some back with me to NYC, that’s all.”
Dinky looked upset. “You’re not staying?”
“I’ll gonna be here for a few more days, till Thanksgiving’s over.”
“Dinky’s a great singer,” Scootaloo told her. “How about you show them?”
Dinky looked a little embarrassed. “I’d need somebody to accompany me.”
“I’ll do it!” said Babs.
They made their way over to the piano. “So, what’s the song?” Babs asked.
Dinky whispered in her ear.
“Great choice! I know that one from heart!” Babs placed her hands on the keyboard, and started playing:
The café erupted in applause. “You two make a great duet!” said Mrs Cake.
Dinky looked at her. “How long have you been playing the piano?”
“Since I was 5.”
Dinky hugged her. “You’re amazing! I’m so glad I met you!”
Pip smiled. “I think Dinky’s found a friend,” he said.
Time Turner spoke to them. “Anybody want a lift back in Bessie?”