Applejack ran up the stairs to Rarity’s room in quite a rush, realizing that she only had an hour before she was to meet Babs at the train station. Whoever this new foster mother was, she had no intention of making a bad first impression with her. Of course, she had no idea that Babs was even an orphan, which she was still beating herself up for in her head. She was supposed to be the Apple matriarch, for Celestia’s sake, and in case Granny Smith was no longer able to fulfill that role, she had to know everything about her extended family! Missing a detail like that was just so unlike her. After all, she’d suspected similarly about Scootaloo when Apple Bloom had first met her, but she supposed that after that false alarm, it was only reasonable she wouldn’t come to that assumption again. But then again, come to think of it, the brown filly never exactly came down to Sweet Apple Acres accompanied by a guardian, so perhaps it should’ve been obvious. Anyway, as long as Babs wasn’t under the care of some jerks like Granny had always viewed the Oranges of her youth, she supposed she should just accept the fact that sometimes, you can’t keep tabs on everything about your family. That didn’t mean she had to like it, though.
Tired of brooding about the matter any longer, she opened the door and was instantly greeted by a yell of “I’m going to kill her!” in one of Rarity’s particularly angry tones. Applejack then instantly regretted having ever entered the room.
“Uh…guess I shoulda knocked, huh?” she muttered, honestly more than a tad scared by her friend’s sudden outburst. “Heh, I’ll be sure to remember that next time if it’s really a matter of life or death to you.”
The white unicorn, having just noticed Applejack’s presence, suddenly blushed and waved her hooves back and forth.
“No, no, no, this isn’t what you think it is! I’m not mad at you!” Rarity chuckled nervously after having said this. “I’m not a murderous psychopath unless I have good reason!”
“You’re kinda just scarin' me more there, sugarcube.”
“Never mind, never mind, just my idea of a joke. I suppose there’s a reason why I’m not the Element of Laughter, you know, or perhaps you’re just not in the mood to take one. Besides, my hatred is only going towards Suri right now.”
“So, I guess you did get that letter, didn’t you?” Applejack asked in concern.
“I swear, after this whole little vacation is over and Babs ends up going back, I’m going to have a word with that b—ah, ah, ah, Rarity, vulgarity is not at all ladylike, even if it does rhyme with your name. I do suppose even my most usual of habits slip under extreme anger. I deeply apologize.”
“No need to. So, I didn’t really think this would get to you so much. I mean, Babs is your sister’s friend, but ya weren’t even this mad when Suri got to you.”
“That’s because that was just a crime against myself. This, on the other hand, is a crime against fashion! It’s little wonder we designers are so looked down upon when the world we live in has such ruffians willing to take on our appearances. If you’re just going to copy other ponies’ work, why don’t you just go all the way and become a changeling, for all I care? With the way they exploit ponies, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the same species. Now, don’t get me wrong, Applejack dear, I have never liked knockoff artists, but this makes me like them even less. Fashion shouldn’t come at the expense of anyone, much less a defenseless foal. I would never let my Sweetie Belle so much as touch that disgusting cheap fabric that they use. I would much rather have another of my more expensive rolls drop into the pond like that one time.”
“Are you really sure about confrontin' her, though? You may mean well, but she has ties to the criminal underworld.”
“Applejack, I have taken down dragons, crazed rulers, changelings, and all that, and you’re expecting me to back down in a street fight in a situation like this? If it comes to that, I think not.”
Rarity, slightly back to her old self, examined two scarves, pondered for a few moments which one to put on, and finally asked, “So, now that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are at the barn, shall we get going?”
“I suppose so,” her friend answered. “It’s just that right now, my biggest fear is how I’m going to possibly break it to the little ones. But I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
****
As the train began to approach Ponyville, Babs giggled as the wind blew softly in her face. Her head was sticking out from the open window like that of a small dog, and she was happily gazing at the landscape. If one didn’t know any better, she almost looked like any other filly raised in a happy household right now. But, unfortunately, no matter how hard Coco tried, she knew that any trauma that might have come from her experiences couldn’t be remedied so quickly. While she did like this more innocent side of her daughter, she had to remember that she was no longer just her friend. Though she could have watched her play around for much longer, she had to put her hoof down.
“You should stop doing that before the conductor sees,” Coco advised. “Remember: the rules say that you’re supposed to keep your head and hooves inside the vehicle at all times.”
“Ah, but it feels good!” Babs protested. “You should try it! I never got so much breeze back home. But I suppose you’re right. I’m sorry.” A bit disappointed, she sat back in her seat, settling for having just her mane being stroked by the wind.
“We’re almost there, aren’t we?” Coco wondered. “I’ve never been by this part of the country before, only as far as Canterlot.”
“Yeah, I think we should be there in a few minutes. It’d be cool to go to Canterlot, though. I like Ponyville because of the change of pace, but then again, I’m used to the larger cities. I heard my friends even got to be in a royal wedding there. The whole throwing petals around part doesn’t appeal to me much, but it still would’ve been interesting. Assuming I didn’t, you know, get stuck in a cocoon and replaced or anything.”
“Maybe someday, when I get my big break, we could go over there together. I’d prefer not to go during invasion season or anything, though?”
“There’s such a thing?” Babs questioned in confusion.
“If there were, things would be a lot easier here, but no. Point is, though, if I really do get commissioned to do work across Equestria, I’m not about to leave you behind because of that. I know it might be inconvenient for your schooling, but—“
“Are you kidding?! Traveling, seeing the land with you, would be the best life I could imagine. And who knows, maybe your show will end up on a tour, and we could do all those things. But anyway, I consider that a promise, and I know that you’re not about to break it because I have that much faith in what you can achieve.”
“No,” Coco corrected, curling Babs up into a hug, “it’s what we can achieve. Ever since I met you, it’s never been just about me. We’re at the point where we can’t just be separated anymore. Being a mother is almost like binding your spirit to somepony else.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’ll understand when you get older,” Coco sighed. “But for now, just know that I love you, and I always will.”
****
As the two visitors to Ponyville knew that they were only staying for a few days and therefore did not need too much assistance with their luggage, Coco had decided quite a bit in advance that they would go straight to Sweet Apple Acres and was generally under the assumption that nopony would try to meet them at the station in the first place. After all, such customs were nowhere near as common back home in Manehattan, where the train stations tended to be too cramped and full of ponies hectic to get to where they were going. As such, it was only natural for Coco to look out at the crowds as the brakes squeaked by on the train, taking extra notice of all those she would need to swerve past or otherwise avoid in order to get to her destination in the most efficient fashion possible.
All that careful planning, however, quickly went down the drain when she and Babs exited the locomotive and ended up bumping into a strange pony who, for some inexplicable reason, appeared to be in that very spot just so that she could block her path. Regardless of how impolite this figure seemed to be, Coco merely wished to apologize and forget about the incident.
“Were you about to take the next train?” she questioned sincerely, attempting to hide any and all ill will she was currently bearing towards the other mare. “I’ll get out of your way, then.”
“Actually, I’m here to pick somepony else up,” the stranger explained. “My little cousin is supposed to be on this train, and I was waitin' for her to arrive. I figured she’d be so excited to come here that she’d be the first one out, so it’s honestly more my fault, if anything.”
As she carefully examined the other pony beside her, Coco couldn’t help but internally curse her own inattentiveness. While there were a few fillies in the background that she didn’t recognize, she definitely should’ve been able to notice Applejack as soon as she saw her—or, for that matter, her friend Rarity, the one who’d been able to make so much of this possible. But, then again, she’d spent so much time in her own little world that it hadn’t occurred to her that they would be meeting her at the station.
“She’s right behind me,” she answered. “I’ll admit I didn’t recognize you at first, though, since it’s not like we’ve really met one-on-one.”
Meanwhile, as her mother was apologizing far too profusely, Babs carefully sneaked past her and began to talk with the other Crusaders.
“So that mare’s your mom?” Sweetie Belle questioned. “She isn’t exactly the type I imagined her to be.”
“What did you think she’d be like?” Babs answered with a small chuckle.
“Well, I always just thought that, since you were part of the Apple family, that you might’ve been adopted by one of the other relatives who show up at the reunions,” Apple Bloom responded. “After all, it sure seems like a good amount of them come from Manehattan.”
“I actually don’t have many relatives back home,” Babs corrected. “I mean, I don’t think so. It’s not like my fillyhood so far has really allowed me to meet ponies. The only ones I really know of are the Oranges, and there’s no way I’d want to live with them.”
“Oh, Applejack was like that too,” her cousin explained. “She hasn’t really gotten along with them ever since she was a filly. Their ways of life are just too different, I guess.”
“That’s not entirely it. See, my side of the Apple family, from what little I know of it, has always basically clashed with them. I have no clue why, and I’ll probably never need to find out. Probably just some really old dispute or something. Besides, from what I’ve been hearing on stage, one of them keeps heckling my mom for some reason. Some ponies say that he wants her to quit this job like she did the last one.”
“On stage?” Sweetie Belle questioned. “Is your mom an actress or something?”
“No, she does costumes, kind of like what your sister does. In fact, I think they’ve met.”
“Did you say your mother is doing costumes for a stage production on Bridleway?” Rarity questioned. She placed her hoof to her chin for a moment in deep thought, but then shook the idea off. “No, no, it can’t be who I’m thinking of. There are plenty of ponies in Manehattan with that line of work. It’d be too much of a coincidence, and I’m sure plenty of others are aware of Suri’s existence.”
“It isn’t a coincidence this time,” Applejack replied, taking a step back so that Rarity could see Coco. “It really is the same pony we met back in Manehattan that one time.”
“Yeah, and she gave Sweetie Belle’s sister a magical spool of thread that would help to save Equestria!” Babs chimed. “She helped defeat Tirek!”
“Uh…no, I didn’t,” Coco answered. “For the last time, Babs, that was just an ordinary spool of thread. It didn’t actually do anything; it was just symbolic of the Element of Generosity.”
“But doesn’t that technically make it the new Element of Generosity?” Babs countered. “And, because you gave it to her, that makes you a hero!”
“But I barely did anything—“
Coco then trailed off, realizing it was kind of pointless to continue engaging in the argument when her daughter so stubbornly insisted on seeing things in her own way.
“Let her think of you that way,” Applejack advised. “I’ve heard about adoptions not going well and about foals not liking the parents they end up with, but the fact that she sees you this way means she’s taken a liking to you. Besides, my sister can get like that too, what with the role model worship and all. The more you try to stop them, the more they cling to you.”
“While we’re on the subject, though,” Rarity interrupted, “what happened in Manehattan while Tirek was around in the first place? I hope there wasn’t too much damage.”
“It was the strangest thing, actually,” admitted Coco, “but nopony sensed him anywhere near the city. Not only that, but the only Manehattan ponies who were affected by the magic draining were ones that had traveled to other towns. Some of my coworkers ran into him while getting supplies from the next town over, but other than that, nothing. Rumors have been going about that he was so desperate for alicorn magic that he ignored a lot of earth pony towns, even big ones like Manehattan. I guess he figured there would be less opposition in places like Appaloosa with lower populations and that he didn’t need much more power to tip the balance. All I can say is that we got lucky this time around.”
“I’m glad everypony over there was okay, then,” Scootaloo replied. “It would’ve been really sad if we heard that he’d gotten to either of you. I don’t know about everypony else, but I’d never want to see you hurt without doing anything about it, Babs. It was bad enough that we weren’t able to help you back when you first got bullied at that school in Manehattan.”
“It’s not a problem now, though,” Babs dismissed. “Really. There’ve been some new students coming in, and I’m getting along fine. I even try to step in once in a while when they’re getting picked on to make sure they don’t have to go through the same thing.”
“But…why were you even bullied in the first place?” Apple Bloom wondered. “I mean, I know there’s always going to be those idiots who think that way about blank flanks, but you’re such a great friend. I don’t get why anypony wouldn’t like you.”
“There’s a lot to me you don’t know,” sighed Babs. “An awful lot. If you would’ve seen the place I was in back then, you would’ve known why.”
“But what could possibly be so bad that nopony would want to be around—“
“This is gonna be a sensitive topic, Apple Bloom,” Applejack admitted. “We probably ought not to discuss it in public, or else the news will spread to Ponyville and Babs might end up being treated like she was before she met you.”
“Then tell me! I just don’t understand why the ponies around here wouldn’t take it well!”
“We’ll talk about it at the farm. And Apple Bloom, don’t you tell anypony about this that shouldn’t know. The same goes for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”
With that, the group of ponies left the station in silence. The three young fillies awaited the story with excitement, innocent to the situation as foals often are. On the other hoof, however, Applejack and Rarity dreaded the conversation just as much as their sisters awaited it. How could telling ponies so young about something so dreadful affect their mostly untainted psyche? What would they end up doing as a result?
Looking up to the sky, both older sisters hoped with all their hearts that they wouldn’t end up taking it out on the one who’d already suffered the most.