Babs' Dilemma

by Yoshi89

Prologue: A Letter from Babs

Apple Bloom sighed as she turned her head away from her desk to look at the clock above the chalkboard. Why can't three o'clock come sooner? she thought as the minute hand teased her, stalling in between the eleven and the twelve on the clock's face. Cheerilee sat at her desk, shuffling papers which pumped Apple Bloom's nerves. She can't assign homework now! she thought again. Not on a Friday of all days! Her worst fear became a reality when the teacher hopped off her chair and then handed some worksheets to Tootsie Flute to the left of the yellow filly. Cheerilee cleared her throat to address the foals.

"Here's your math homework, class," she said, expecting the groans from her students. Apple Bloom accepted her stack from Cheerilee and hesitantly took one, then brought the rest of the papers back. Apple Bloom glanced in time to witness the last foal receiving her worksheet, then the school bell rang, filling the classroom with cheers as the students gathered their belongings.

"Remember, you also have a test on cloud formations on Monday, so study hard!" Cheerilee shouted to the foals as they dispersed for the exits.

"All right!" Scootaloo exulted, trotting away from the schoolhouse. "I should ace that test no problem! Rainbow Dash knows all about clouds."

"Shouldn't you know, too?" Apple Bloom asked her as she and Sweetie Belle caught up to their co-crusader.

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle added. "You are a pegasus, Scootaloo."

"We can study another time anyway,” Scootaloo told her friends. “Let’s go crusading this afternoon!”

"What should we do to get our cutie marks today?" Apple Bloom asked.

"How about, like, not getting them?"

The three fillies froze upon hearing the familiar taunt before they could enter the woods. They turned around and gasped at the cackling crown-wearing pink filly walking their way, accompanied by her bespectacled smirking silver sidekick. The crusaders sneered at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stopping in front of them, Diamond weakening her laughter to a slight snicker.

"Oh, yeah, Diamond," Apple Bloom snapped. "We haven't heard that one before."

"Then, we'll say it again," Silver Spoon chimed in.

"You'd better not!" Scootaloo warned her, aiming her hoof.

"Who's going to stop us?" Diamond Tiara asked. "Your baby blank flank cousin's all the way back in Manehattan right now."

Apple Bloom smiled at Diamond's mention of her favorite cousin and slitted her eyes. She stepped forward and halted in front of the two bullies, much to the dismay of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo who cowered near a tree.

"Babs Seed may not be here," Apple Bloom said, "but if you two don't leave us alone, Filthy Rich is gonna hear about y'all!"

Diamond Tiara gasped and did a double take, her pupils shrinking. "Okay, okay!" she yelled, sweat forming on her brow. "Silver Spoon and I were, like, totally late for our mane-styling appoints anyway!"

"We're getting our—Ouch!" Silver Spoon began but Diamond Tiara nudged her and twitched her eyebrows twice in the opposite direction of the crusaders. Silver Spoon nodded, complying, and the two fillies trotted away from the crusaders to the town square. The three fillies exchanged sighs of relief as they rounded a corner and disappeared from their sight.

"That was awesome, Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo congratulated her.

"I wish your cousin was still here, though," Sweetie Belle said.

Apple Bloom sighed, her smile leaving her face as she looked down at the dirt path. "Yeah, I miss Babs, too. It's only been two weeks since the reunion. I wonder how she's doing in Manehattan. She said she made friends with two other foals."

"It's a start, at least," Scootaloo told her.

The three fillies walked deeper into the woods until they crossed over to Sweet Apple Acres with their clubhouse sticking out of an apple tree cluster. Apple Bloom stepped on the ramp leading to the structure but stopped short when she heard a mare calling for her. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo halted in their tracks as well with the three fillies together turning to see Applejack canter down the beaten path.

"Apple Bloom!" the orange mare shouted. "You got a letter from Babs Seed!"

"All right!" Apple Bloom cheered. She darted in between her two friends whom she almost knocked over and ran up to her sister with the smile growing back across her face. Applejack picked a scroll off her Stetson, gave it to Apple Bloom and watched as the filly tore with her friends back to the clubhouse. The crusaders unfurled the scroll across the floor of the clubhouse and read Babs' letter.

Dear Apple Bloom,

Life in Manehattan has been great! I'm doing well in my new school and more foals have been joining my Cutie Mark Crusaders branch. We now have seven members and counting, including two from across the Bucklyn Bridge! The bullies back at home aren't bothering us as much as they used to but everypony in our group looks out for each other. I owe everything to you, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo for showing me how to make new friends. Without you, I wouldn't have met all these awesome foals. I just can't thank you enough. Wish us luck in getting our cutie marks!

Your favorite cousin,

Babs Seed

"Seven foals! Wow!" Apple Bloom beamed upon finishing the letter.

"Guess her club is a rousing success," Scootaloo commented.

"Wait, there's more!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

Sweetie Belle pulled out a sepia-toned photograph out of the scroll and held it so she and the other crusaders could see. Babs, sitting in a posh Manehattan soda fountain, waved to them with one foreleg, the other holding a milkshake. Half a dozen other blank flanked foals surrounded her at a circular table, each with a different delectable dessert. The three foals' mouths watered just looking at the treats across the table.

"Who knew that bad seed could be so popular?" Scootaloo joked, earning a nudge from Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle looked at one foal in Babs’ club in particular while Scootaloo and Apple Bloom giggled and traded playful shoves. She noticed this foal looked different from the rest of the Manehattan crusaders but she just could not put her hoof over why she had this feeling.

"Apple Bloom?" she called, silencing her friends' laughter. "The one eating that hot fudge sundae."

Apple Bloom shuffled next to Sweetie Belle on the wooden paneling and looked in the direction of Sweetie Belle's hoof. "Yeah?" she asked. "What about her?"

Comments

[Nyperold]

Looks like color photography isn't affordable for everypony...

Interesting. I shall be tracking this.

[HaloEssence111]

An interesting beginning, but I suggest you work on that cliffhanger. It feels a bit incomplete, as opposed to making me want more.