Beneath a cloudy sky, in the shadows of skyscrapers, and among a throng of ponies that trotted rapidly as they made their way through the streets of Manehattan, a small voice desperately tried to make itself heard.
“Ah, excuse me, but… oh! Pardon me, but you see I… Er, if I could just get a moment of your—”
“Outta the way, pipsqueak!”
“How did you know… oh, all right, then…”
The crowd of pedestrians hurrying by eventually thinned, leaving a very small colt standing alone on the street corner. His white coat was mottled with brown spots, including one over his eye, and he gingerly brushed dust off of himself. Getting lost in a crowd was easy for one of his tiny stature, but in this city, it seemed inevitable. He heaved a sigh in the momentary silence and unfolded a map, looking up with searching eyes to try and figure out where he’d gone wrong.
Pipsqueak swallowed. “If I can’t find my way soon, Gran’s going to be so worried…”
He was lost in thought when all of a sudden a voice cried: “Hey, pal!”
Pip gave a start and dropped his map. A breeze caught it and it started to flutter away, but as he turned, the pony who spoke quickly snatched it from the air, pinning it to the ground with her hoof.
“Whoa, that was a close one!” she laughed, turning to face him. His gaze was instantly locked onto the sight of her green eyes.
“I… uh…” he stammered.
“Here ya go, pal,” the filly said, returning the map to his hoof. “Didn’t mean to surprise ya. Just saw ya starin’ at that map an’ thought I’d see if ya needed a hoof. Ya lost or somethin’?”
He swallowed, taking in the sight of her. She was a subdued orange color with a reddish mane and a pair of scissors for a cutie mark. And she was smiling at him. And the sight of her made his throat go dry and his heart start to beat.
“Uhhh… everything all right, there, pal?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
He blinked and managed to find his voice. “Oh! Oh, yes, actually, I am! I’m dreadfully sorry, but do you think you could perhaps help me find my way?”
She looked back at him, her ears twitching. Then she smiled. “Sure thing,” she said, unfolding the map and looking at it next to him. “Pretty clear ya ain’t from around here, pal. An’ my big sis would nevah let me live it down if I let an out-of-townah get lost in the Big Town like this.”
Pip smiled and felt his pulse quicken as she briefly brushed against him as they each held up their half of the map.
“So, where ya headed?” she asked.
“Well, I’m supposed to find my grandmother’s house. She lives at 234 Neighgle Avenue. I was told to take Hay Road for a few blocks from the station, and then take a right onto Freemare Alley—”
“Ah, there’s ya problem, pal,” she said, tapping a hoof loudly on the map. “This map’s outta date. They renamed Freemare Alley after some bigshot named LaGarrano.”
“Oh, like the airship port?”
“Not really, I prefer the train.”
Pip blinked for a moment. The filly blushed in the awkward silence.
“Oh! Oh, I get it!” he said, laughing.
“Heh. Yeah, sorry, just an old joke I heard at the salon. I’m workin’ as an apprentice ovah there.”
“Really? You’re working already?”
“Eh, in the city ya gotta pull down the bits. I’ll tell ya all about it on the way.” She turned and began to walk up the street.
“You… on the way?”
“It’s a real pain in the flank to just hoof it if ya ain’t evah been that way,” she said, looking back over her shoulder and giving him a smile that just melted his heart. “So come on, pal. I’ll walk ya there.”
“You’d do that? Even though you don’t know me?”
“Hey, we Manehattan ponies ain’t all hard-boiled,” she said as he caught up to her. “Besides, I got time, an’... well…”
Pip tilted his head to look at her quizically. “Yes? What is it?”
“Honestly, I kinda just like hearin’ ya accent,” she chuckled, her blush returning.
He beamed, his cheeks coloring as he looked up at her. “W-well, thank you, Miss. And I rather like yours as well.”
“It’s Babs,” she said, as they made their way up the road. “Babs Seed. Nunna that ‘Miss,’ stuff, pal, all right?”
He nodded. “And you may call me Pipsqueak.”
“Ha! Cute nickname!”
“Er… thank you, but it’s… actually my name.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
He bit his lip, turning away until she punched him in the shoulder and laughed. “Sorry, pal, I’m just teasin’ ya. Pipsqueak’s a good name for ya.”
“Well, thank you, Miss. And most ponies just call me Pip,” he added quickly.
“Heh. Pip it is, pal,” she replied. “And it’s Babs. Seriously, just Babs from now on.”
He nodded eagerly.
“So, Pip, where’d ya get an accent like that?”
“Well, I’m from Trottingham, but I’ve lived quite a few years in Ponyville now…”
“You serious?!” she asked. “I got a cousin who lives there!”
“Oh? Well, perhaps I know them. It is a rather small town, after all.”
She nodded, remembering her brief time out in the quiet, rural village. “Yeah, that’s true,” she said. “Seems like everypony there knows everypony else. Well, her name’s Apple Bloom, and she’s got this club called the Cutie Mark Crusadahs, and…”
She trailed off, seeing the stunned look on his face.
“Uhhh, you okay, pal? Ya keep hangin’ ya mouth open like that, a pigeon’s gonna build a nest in it.”
Pip snapped his jaw shut and shook his head. “No, it’s just… well, she’s my classmate!”
“Get outta town!”
“I did,” Pip said. “And I came here for a visit, remember?”
“No, I mean…” She paused when she saw that he was grinning. “Ahhh, ya had me goin’, Pip!” she laughed (to his considerable relief). “But how about that! Small world, right?”
“Not only that,” Pip continued, “but she and the other Crusaders were instrumental in helping me become the Class President!”
“Ooh, we got a politician ovah here!” Babs said, elbowing him in the ribs. “Didn’t know I had a big shot on my hooves. Does that make me some kinda ‘presidential escort’ or somethin’?”
Pip reddened. “Ah… i-it’s nothing so special,” he mumbled.
“Aw, don’t sell yaself short… at least not any shortah than ya already are!” She laughed and ruffled his mane, causing his blush to deepen. “But now that ya mention it, I think AB wrote about that in her lettah. Yeah… hey, that means ya helped my cuz get her cutie mark!”
“I… I suppose I played a small role,” he said, raising his head with a bit of pride (and not noticing Babs chuckle at his unintentional pun). “Though I must say it was quite an event for us all.”
“All right, well, we got time on our hooves,” Babs said as they stopped at a crosswalk. “Go ahead, tell me the whole story while we’re on our way.”
“Well, if you must know, it began when I showed up at their clubhouse to ask them to become my new campaign managers…”
The two of them made their way through the streets, down several city blocks, talking eagerly the whole way about their homes, about Ponyville, and about their hitherto unknown connection to Babs’s cousin.
“—And in the end,” Pip said as they rounded a corner, “we all just went back to the camp. I still didn’t get my cutie mark, but I’m sure that it’ll show up sometime soon.”
“Definitely! It’s a pretty big deal gettin’ it. I heard about that camp thing, but it’s a little harder to pull off here in the city. I’m still thinkin’ about what I should do instead. Can’t be a Crusadah unless ya actually help ponies get their marks, right?”
The two of them were approaching a corner when a burly pony in a tanktop suddenly rounded the corner and nearly knocked the two of them over.
“Hey, I’m walkin’ here!” the pony growled as he sent Pip sprawling.
“Ah! Oh, pardon us!” Pip cried as he fell to the ground.
Babs immediately went over to her new friend and helped him up. “Don’t apologize to that big palooka!” she hissed.
She then glared after the burly pony who was now hurrying on his way.
“Yo, watch where you’re trottin’, ya meathead!”
The burly pony screeched to a halt and whirled around to face the two foals.
“What did you just call me, pipsqueak?!”
“Ah, well, it wasn’t me, sir, but—”
“Shh,” Babs hissed, whispering to him. “Let me handle this!”
To the burly pony, she said, “I called ya a meathead! The least ya could do is apologize aftah crashin’ into a coupla kids!”
The burly pony drew himself up indignantly. “Don’t ya gimme that, ya smart-mouth! I’m in a hurry, here!”
“Yeah?” Babs asked, raising an eyebrow. “If you’re so busy, then why are ya hangin’ around here, pushin’ us around?”
A vein bulged in the burly pony’s forehead, and he took a step closer to them.
“Babs, really, we should just leave!” Pip hissed.
“Nah, don’t worry, Pip,” she said with a smirk. Then she set her jaw, fixing her gaze squarely on the larger stallion.
“Well maybe,” the burly pony growled, “I just don’t like bein’ backtalked by some punk filly and some tourist!”
“Hey, we all come from somewhere, pal,” Babs shot back. “So what, ya think you’re bettah than us? Pushin’ ponies around, tryin’ to act tough to a filly half ya size? Yeah, you’re a real tough guy, pal.”
At this, the burly pony noticed a small crowd of ponies were gathering, and many of them were eyeing him with disdain.
“Y-ya know what?” the burly pony sputtered. “You ain’t even worth it!”
Babs smiled as the pony whirled around and retreated.
Pip, meanwhile, was transfixed. The world itself seemed to slow down as Babs blew her bangs out her face and turned to look at him, giving him a confident wink.
She’s… amazing!
“...Uh, Pip?” she asked. “H-hey, come on, quit starin’ already, you’re embarrassin’ me.”
Pip broke into a beaming smile. “Babs!” he exclaimed. “That was just brilliant!”
“Nah, nah, I just… you know, ya gotta learn to handle yourself in the big city is all,” she said, brushing her mane back, though she couldn’t keep the smile from her face as he effusively gushed about her bravery.
“Well… I still think it was quite impressive the way you handled that bloke! He was an absolute pillock!”
She blinked. “What the hay is a pillock?”
For the majority of their journey, Pip simply asked Babs about the various places they passed until Babs herself took the initiative and started tell him about them on her own.
“That place on the cornah? That’s Famous Original Neigh’s Pizza. A lotta tourists go there for a slice, but, if ya ask me? Patsy’s Pizzeria. Best in the city!”
“I’d love to try it!”
“And that place? That’s a bookshop that sells nothin’ but mystery novels. Not really my thing, but the place is pretty cool… they also sell a buncha old detective magazines.”
“Oh, Sweetie Belle’s sister Rarity adores mysteries! I should stop by and have a look sometime.”
Babs nodded. “Oh, and here,” she said, slowing as they passed a building with a royal blue facade and large windows, “is Maregenstern’s Ice Cream parlor. They got like a hundred flavors or somethin’! My big sis comes here with her coltfriend a lot for the milkshakes. She’s always sayin’ it’s a great spot for dates.”
Pip nodded slowly, observing the ponies inside, including the mares and stallions dressed in aprons and immaculate white paper hats.
“We have some wonderful shops in Ponyville, of course,” he remarked. “But that sign says they have 88 different flavors! I’d love to try it sometime!”
Babs chuckled. “Well, while you’re in Manehattan, you’ll get the chance! Anyway…”
He continued listening to her as they moved on, with her pointing out more landmarks and mentioning how to get to things like parks, boutiques, and even when it would be the best times to visit each of them.
He was so enthralled that it took him a few seconds to realize that she’d actually come to a halt.
“Er, is something wrong, Babs?” he asked.
She smiled weakly. “Yeah, uh… we’re here.”
He blinked and then looked around. They had stopped in front of the stoop of a tall, narrow brick building. The address on it was 234. They’d arrived at his grandmother’s house at last.
“Oh… so we have,” he said, his ears drooping and his heart sinking as he realized that their time together had come to an end.
“Yeah… guess ya bettah go in and talk to ya gramma.” She rubbed the back of her neck with her foreleg. “She’s probably waitin’ for ya. An’ I need to get home before my big sis does.”
He nodded and began to ascend the steps. “Well, thank you for all your help, Babs Seed,” he said, smiling weakly. “It… was lovely to talk to you. Perhaps I’ll see you in Ponyville someday?”
“Yeah… yeah, that might be nice,” she said, nodding. “Well, take care, pal!”
She turned to go, waving to him once again over her shoulder.
He swallowed. His first crush, this friendly, brave, and boisterous filly with amazing green eyes, was walking away, and there was no telling when she would come to Ponyville next or what would happen between now and then.
“Ah, B-Babs?!” he called loudly, his voice cracking as he broke out into a sweat.
She whirled around. “Yeah?” she asked.
“I… I j-just… w-well, I was wondering if I might accompany you… that is… well, you see, I…”
She smiled, placing a hoof over her mouth to stifle a chuckle. “Hey, Pip, spit it out already… we ain’t gettin’ any youngah here.”
Her quip managed to make him chuckle in return and he found his voice again.
“That ice cream parlour you pointed out on the way… would you like to meet there tomorrow?”
“Maregenstern’s?” she asked.
He gulped and nodded, and there was a pregnant pause between them as she realized that she’d mentioned it as a good spot for a date.
At last, she smirked. “Well, that depends,” she said, brushing her mane back to give him a sideways glance. “Ya buyin’?”
He bolted upright. “Well! As a proper gentlecolt, I suppose it's only right that I—”
“Jeez, I’m just joshin’ ya, pal!” Babs laughed. “I’d love to. Seriously. Tomorrow at 2 work for ya?”
He beamed. “Absolutely!” He then cleared his throat and added, “See ya there, ya… ya big palooka!”
She burst into laughter and then drew herself up, taking a breath. “Right-o, you pillock!” she added with a final wink.
Pip watched her as she made her way back up the street, and only when she was finally out of sight did he knock on the door, and the first thing he said to his grandmother was the story of how he got there and the filly he’d met on the way…