Cutie Mark Sisterhood: Manehattan Style
‘Why does it have to be so sunny?’ Babs Seed silently grumbled to herself. The skies were blue and clear on this summer day, allowing the warm rays of sunlight to bounce and glitter off the proud Manehattan skyscrapers. ‘At least give me some gloomy shadows to wallow in.’ Unfortunately for the young filly, it was noon, and the sun was at its peak, so there wasn’t a single dreary nook in sight.
The bright sunlight was creating a far too happy and cheery atmosphere. Why couldn’t it just be dark and gloomy and dreary out? Then maybe the streets would be vacant so she could mope properly. Under these circumstances, all she could do was angrily shuffle along the crowded sidewalk, kick a few pebbles here and there, hang her head and refuse to make eye contact with anypony.
She hadn’t had a bad day, per say. In fact, it had been pretty good. After she had earned her cutie mark in hairstyling, Babs’ parents had snagged her a job shadowing position over the summer. Even though she thought it was a bit early for such things, her parents insisted that the extra training and connections could only help, so Babs decided to humor them (not that she had a choice). She was still in her first week of hanging out at the hair salon, and French Braid, the mare she was observing, was extremely friendly if not helpful. Babs had already learned a lot and enjoyed the experience.
Yet, despite the constant flow of faces in and out of the salon, she realized that she was lonely. More than once, she had attempted to show one of her friends a neat new trick, only to find that she was calling to the wind. She must have seemed especially down in the dumps today, because French Braid had sent her home early.
She hadn’t seen much of her Manehattan crusader friends since earning her cutie mark, and she missed them dearly. It wasn’t that she hadn’t had time- she could pay them a visit now, in fact, and she had indeed mulled over this option. It was just that for the first couple of days at the salon, she was so excited that she had stayed late and got home later, and by the time she got home all she wanted to do was sleep. After getting over the initial rush, though, she realized that none of her friends had even attempted to call on her since gaining her mark. That, of course, had put the disturbing thought in her mind that perhaps they didn’t want to spend time with her anymore now that she had a cutie mark. And that, in turn, led her to the realization that she didn’t qualify as a crusader any longer, either.
Was this her friends’ way of kicking her out, by ignoring her? She had actually been avoiding them as of late, lest her assumption prove true. She knew the best thing would be to talk to them directly, but Babs Seed had always been a bit of a coward. She just couldn’t bear to face them if it meant their friendship would end. She would rather cling to the hope that their friendship still hung by a thread than find out the line had been cut completely.
“Hey, Babs.” Half hoping it was one of her friends and half hoping it wasn’t, Babs twitched an ear, attempting to identify the voice in the bustling boulevard before looking up.
“Hey, we’re talking to you.” That voice most definitely didn’t belong to any of her friends. With an angry huff, Babs finally whipped around, eyes fierce upon being disturbed. Despite the dense, ever-changing sea of moving pony legs, Babs managed to pick out the bright coat of Gold Gown and her two minions, Sterling and Silver.
Gold Gown was the coolest pegasus in school, or so everyone said. Her coat was blindingly yellow, and her pink and purple mane sparkled with what Babs suspected were fake golden extensions. As the fashionista she was, she had a white dress for a cutie mark with a glittery golden streak right down the middle. Silver and Sterling were twins, and they shared the same gray coat, the same black and white striped manes, the same short hairstyle, the same stubby horns and even nearly identical cutie marks of jeweler’s pliers, the only difference being that they faced opposite directions. They looked so much alike, the only way Babs could tell one from the other was the fact that Sterling was the colt and Silver was the filly. At any rate, neither were friendly, and their henchmare was even worse. This group had been giving Babs grief for as long as she could remember.
“Where are your lame Cutie Mark Crybaby friends?” Sterling sneered.
“They finally get tired of hanging with a loser like you?” Silver cackled.
“Did not!” Babs snarled, her green eyes forming deadly, narrow slits. She’d been through enough emotional turmoil for today, and she did NOT need these two stirring up any more trouble.
“Even if they didn’t, it’s only a matter of time before they do,” Golden Gown casually yet coldly rolled her eyes. She nonchalantly strolled forward, towards Babs. The brown filly took a step to the side to make way for her, not because she was afraid of Gown but because she didn’t want that sly, slippery, no-good filly anywhere near her.
“What are you talkin’ about?” Babs knew better than to ask. The look on Gold Gown’s face informed her that she would regret it, too.
“Well, you do have your cutie mark now and all,” Gown seized the opportunity, a devilish glint in her eye. Blast! Babs had walked right into that one. “As I understand, the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ are exclusively for colts and fillies that don’t have cutie marks. It would seem as though you no longer qualify.” Babs looked back at the glint of scissors that now marked her flank. There was once a time where she was ashamed of having a blank flank, but now her well-trimmed tail instinctively curled over the hard-earned mark.
“I may not be a crusader anymore, but my friends aren’t just gonna ditch me.” ‘I hope.’ She shook her head. “I just wanna be alone right now. So leave. Me. Alone.” Her nose butted right up against Gold Gown’s as a warning. As always, this gesture didn’t faze the bully. However, according to her victorious smirk, they had riled Babs to satisfaction and, having gotten what they came for, would now depart.
“Keep telling yourself that. Sterling? Silver? Let’s scram before we’re seen talking to this loser.” Within seconds, Gold Gown had melted into the bustling city crowd. Sterling and Silver both turned up their noses and marched off after their leader in perfect sync.
Now that she was alone, Babs could finally drop the tough act. Her eyes and ears resumed their previous drooped posture, and her shoulders slumped. She wished she could just curl up in a ball and hibernate- just the thought of moving made her exhausted. But after she was nearly trampled by a fresh wave of ponies heading out for lunch break, she concluded that leaving was probably in her best interests.
She aimlessly wandered the familiar city blocks for a while with no true destination in mind. She considered paying a visit to her favorite ice cream parlor for comfort food, but then remembered that it was also her friends’ favorite hangout. Her stomach churned with unease at the thought of confronting them there, and quickly scratched that off the list.
There were very few quiet places she could go in the city, and she didn’t really feel like being around a lot of ponies. Though... there was always her apartment. And didn’t her mom just buy a fresh tub of strawberry ice cream? The prospect of bundling up under warm covers and snuggling in with a good book and a sweet treat was quite appealing. Before she realized what she was doing, Babs' little hooves changed direction and began scuttling home.
“Hey, sweetie.”
“Hey, mom.”
“You’re home early. Did you have a good day at the salon?”
“Sure. It was alright. French Braid let me off the hook early today.” Babs walked past her mother, keeping her head down and hoping she wouldn’t ask any more questions. She did stop long enough to pull out a bowl from the cabinet and start shoveling out the ice cream, though. She had extracted a portion that her mother would consider extremely unhealthy, but fortunately, the mare was otherwise engaged preparing lunch. Babs thought she was home free when her mother called her again.
“Oh, Babs! I almost forgot!” Babs shoved her creamy tower of strawberry goodness into the hall behind her before her mother noticed. “You got this in the mail today. It’s from Ponyville.”
“Ponyville? Is it from Applebloom?” She was lucky to get a letter from her favorite cousin, and so her curiosity was piqued when a rather bulky package was transferred to her eagerly awaiting arms.
“Actually, it’s from all the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” her mother elaborated, deciphering the sloppily scrawled lettering on the return address.
“Alright! Thanks, Mom!” Babs took the package and darted for her room, narrowly remembering her ice cream in the process. A package from her Ponyville friends beat a good book any day. She hopped onto her bed, burrowed herself into the fuzzy embrace of the blankets, and carefully settled her frozen treat so it wouldn’t tip over. Now quite comfortably situated, Babs untied the twine and freed the box of all the suffocating brown paper, shredding it to small slips of confetti that soon littered her entire bedroom.
Babs’ breath caught in her throat. The carefully-packed crate contained everything from hair care products to combs, brushes, a few hair bands and some barrettes. Stuffed between the styling equipment were a few stray candies that looked like they had fallen out of the original package (indeed, she later discovered a small pouch of chocolates, lollipops and other sugary treats which had developed a hole in the bottom). But her absolute favorites were the hoof-made gifts, the cards and pictures that her friends had put together for her.
There was a card from each of the three crusaders, all of which congratulated her on earning her cutie mark. Sweetie Belle sent a drawing of what she guessed Babs’ cutie mark must look like in hers, and based on the description she’d sent in her last letter, Sweetie hadn’t been too far off. Apple Bloom had attempted a picture of the four of them together, and Babs couldn’t make out what nonsense Scootaloo had scribbled down. Still, it warmed her heart to see that she tried.
In the very middle of the tub, nestled between two bottles of hairspray was another letter, but this one was carefully tucked in its own envelope and was labeled as having come from all three of the crusaders. Babs carefully unfurled the paper. Judging by the rather neat writing, Babs assumed that Sweetie Belle must have taken down the note. Instantly, Babs’ nose buried itself in it like she was at the climax of a Daring Do novel.
Dear Babs,
Wow! You got your cutie mark! We’re all so happy for you!
You know, when we heard you’d gotten your cutie mark, it made us start thinking about what getting ours would be like. For the first time, we actually started to worry about getting our cutie marks. What if we ended up with something we didn’t like? What if other ponies started judging us for our special talents? What if our friends didn’t want to be our friends anymore?
Wow, that was exactly what Babs was worried about! She read on,
But then a friend of ours came along and helped us see that none of that mattered. No matter what our cutie mark turned out to be, we’d still be the same pony. It won’t change who we are or how anypony feels about us.
The same goes for you too, Babs. You might be feeling kind of scared or nervous about getting your cutie mark, but we just wanted to let you know that we’ll always be here for you.
Love,
Applebloom
Sweetie Belle
Scootaloo
P.S. I hope you like the candy! That was my idea.
P.P.S. ^ That was Scootaloo.
She didn’t really need to be told, considering the poor hoofwriting, but evidently Sweetie had felt the need to clarify.
P.P.P.S. ^ That was Sweetie Belle
P.P.P.P.S. ^ That was Apple Bloom.
Babs leaned back in her cozy cocoon, chuckling as the chain grew longer. Their words of encouragement were just what she’d needed. They were right, after all. She almost wanted to laugh at how naive she’d been. As if a cutie mark would change things between her and her friends!
Her friends. Babs’ stomach lurched once more. She’d been so stupid to stay away. What if they thought she was ignoring them now that she had a cutie mark? Well, admittedly she had been, but what if she’d given them the impression that she was now ‘too cool’ or didn’t have time to hang out with them anymore? Had she hurt them?
Babs jumped up. She had to go find them right now and apologize. She just hoped they wouldn’t be too angry.
“Babs?” The filly almost upset her basin of ice cream when she jumped in surprise. Speak of the devil.
“Sugar Glaze! Dew Drop! What’re you guys doin’ here?” After steadying the bowl, she leapt off the bed to greet her two crusader friends.
“We missed you,” Sugar Glaze, the slightly pudgy unicorn filly explained. She was purple in color with a snow white mane, brown eyes and fashionable glasses. “So we dropped by the hair salon to come visit, but French Braid said you already left.”
“She said the same thing yesterday, too, but that time we did check back a little late.” This time it was Dew Drop, a meek, light blue little pegasus that had spoken. She had a tiny frame but well-developed wings, and (recently styled) dark blue and black hair.
“Sorry. We would’ve dropped by sooner, but we thought we should give you time to adjust. Ya know, now that you’re at the salon and all...”
“We hope you didn’t think we were avoiding you,” Dew Drop bashfully shuffled.
“What’re you apologizing for? I was the one avoiding you!”
“You were?!” both fillies exclaimed in perfect unison.
“I was worried that you didn’t wanna be friends with me anymore... that my cutie mark changed things somehow,” Babs blew at her bangs. “Ya know... ‘cause I’m not a crusader anymore.”
“What?! Are you kidding?” For a moment, it was unclear as to whether Sugar would laugh or cry. In the end, she did neither, and instead gave Babs a big hug. “You may not be a crusader, but you’re still our friend, no matter what happens.”
“You’re more than our friend, you’re family!” Dew chimed, joining in.
“I know that now,” Babs sighed, returning the embrace. Tears pricked at her eyes. Celestia, she’d needed that! “It was stupid and petty, and I’m real sorry for staying away.”
“It wasn’t stupid or petty- it mattered to you,” Sugar stated in her best matter-of-fact voice.
“But we’re sorry too. We should’ve come earlier to support you instead of leaving you all to yourself,” Dew added.
“I did really miss you guys,” Babs confessed, scratching her neck and probably mussing her hair. That was the last thing on her mind now, though.
“And you know what? I think Babs can still be an honorary crusader. Right, Sugar?”
“Let’s take a vote. All in favor, say I.”
“I,” both fillies raised their hooves.
“Huh. Unanimous vote. Looks like you’re back in, Babs,” Sugar slyly smiled.
“I...” The tears finally dripped. Babs surged forward, catching her friends unaware as she usually wasn’t one to initiate group hugs. “I love you guys.”
“Aw, we love you too,” Dew snuggled comfortably between her two friends before realizing that she was stepping in a pile of shredded brown paper. “Um... Babs? What’s this?”
“Oh! My cousin and her friends sent me a package. I got a little carried away with the wrapping.”
“Ooh! Presents!” With just a couple of strong beats, Dew’s wings brought her up to the bed. Sugar jumped up to the other side of the box, almost landing in a bowl of softened and untouched ice cream.
“Whoa, girl! Were you gonna eat this all by yourself? There’s enough here for all of us!” Sugar scolded, gazing hungrily upon the sweet treat.
“Hey, that’s a good idea. I’ll get more spoons,” Babs offered.
“Then, maybe we can try out some of the stuff your friends got you,” Dew suggested, scrutinizing the label on one of the hair gel containers.
“I have been wanting to play with Sugar Glaze’s hair,” Babs slyly grinned.
“What?” Sugar worriedly clutched her prized ponytail. Even knowing Babs’ love for styling, she had been unwilling to share the white locks up to this point.
“Oh, come on, Sugar. It’ll be fun. Besides, Babs is overqualified. She’ll have you looking like a model in no time!”
“You know, I do work at a hair salon, now.” Babs Seed said as she struck a teasing, very important pose.
“You’re shadowing. Big difference!” Sugar shuddered.
“Well, you can play with mine some more. Maybe cut it short this time?” Dew Drop tried pulling her mane back, gazing at herself in Babs’ vanity mirror.
“I don’t think your parents would be too happy with me,” Babs giggled, silently imagining all the adorable short haircuts she could inflict on Dew.
“They won’t mind, so long as you make me look fabulous!” Standing on her hind legs, the pegasus dramatically flipped her hair back, sending the other two sprawling in bouts of laughter. While quiet in public, Dew was an absolute riot with her friends.
“Well, if you do good with Dew, I might consider letting you cut mine,” Sugar wheezed, finally recovering from their fit.
“I’ll get the spoons,” Babs grinned.
“You girls staying for lunch?” Babs’ mother popped her head in.
“I’d love to, Mrs. Seed,” Dew beamed.
“Hey, you think we can stay the night?” Sugar offered.
“Ooh, ooh! Can they, Mom?” Babs smiled ear to ear, but the two spoons protruding from her teeth ruined the effect.
“If it’s alright with their parents, then I suppose it’s fine. You girls can go home and get permission after we eat.”
“Alright!” All three girls high-hooved, and Babs almost stabbed Dew’s eye with a spoon.
“Ouch!”
“Sorry!”
“What are those for?” Mrs. Seed happened to inquire.
“Um, for...” Babs’ eyes darted as she desperately sought an excuse. It was then that her mother found the ice cream on the bed.
“Girls! Dessert before lunch?” She sternly looked back to the blushing fillies. “I don’t think so.” She scooped up the bowl and promptly returned it to the freezer.
“Aw. So close,” Sugar pouted.
“Sorry, guys.” The only one that didn’t seem to be put out was Dew, who had adorned herself with one of Babs’ sweaters fashioned into a cape.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders!” She proudly declared, leaping off the bed. The ‘cape’ fluttered out behind her like a superhero.
“Cutie Mark Sisterhood,” Sugar corrected, grinning with one arm slung around the earth pony.
“I like it!” Babs laughed. Leave it to these two fillies to turn her day around. Now, as light filtered through her window, she was glad the sun was shining. It meant there was still plenty of daylight left for her to be hanging out with her friends.
Nothing- no cutie marks, no argument- would ever break up this sisterhood, ever again.