Babs' Dilemma

by Yoshi89

Chapter 3: You Don't Know the Colt Like I Do

For a moment, Babs Seed's world and her heart stopped as she looked at the monster's twin sister with eyes wider than dinner plates and her jaw dropping slack. Her pupils never averted the blue filly's dangerous glare as she struggled to find any activity from her voice box. She scrounged for the courage to speak until her co-crusaders filed out of the wagon one by one to accompany her. Each of them with the exception of Sugar Lips gave Babs a look more of sympathy that contrasted Sundae's dagger-shooting glare.

"He did?" Babs finally managed to enunciate.

Sundae nodded. "He and daddy went back to Hay Ridge. We heard everything you were telling your friends and my cousin. You wouldn't give him a chance."

"B-but, Sundae!" Babs yelped, thinking of a way to defend herself. "We never had this problem in my group before!"

"How is not letting a colt in your club a problem?" Sundae asked.

Babs let out a cross between a squeak and a moan. Her friends looked at her again, each with unchanged eyes except for Sugar Lips who lowered her brow. "But, we had a couple of members who thought Fudge would make a good crusader," Babs said before spinning her head to the rest of the club. "Right, girls?"

Middlemist and Nimbostorm looked at each other, exchanging puzzled expressions while Sugar Lips glanced toward one of the dividing brick walls of the alley. Cirrus Curl glanced at the pavement below, her dark blue face showing tints of bright red and a tiny grin crossing her mouth.

"I kind of wanted him to be a Manehattan Cutie Mark Crusader," Cirrus Curl admitted with a chuckle and a growing blush. "In fact, I kind of liked him."

"You just thought he was cute," Middlemist reminded her.

"Nothing wrong with that, is there?" Cirrus Curl asked.

"Yeah," Nimbostorm said, "but you saw him for, what, five seconds, tops?"

"Nimbostorm," Sugar Lips called, sneering at her. "I've known Fudge Cookie all my life, almost,"

"Well, I've known him since I was born," Sundae added.

"Listen, Sundae," Babs said, finding her voice again. "I'm sorry about your brother. We were going to let him in provisionally if he didn't leave."

"She's right," Sugar Lips said, backing her up with disdain in her voice.

"Provisionally?" Sundae reiterated. "Did you decide on that?"

Babs looked up for a moment, thinking of a way to dance around the filly's question. "I thought it would be a good way for Fudge to test our crusading methods first before he became a part of our group."

"Then, what?" Sundae asked.

Babs paused again, thinking of another way she could excuse herself from directly answering the inquisitive Sundae. "You see, I wasn't sure if there was a proper way to bring Fudge into the group. I kind of thought the two of you would be fillies."

Sundae answered with yet another question, her patience wearing thin. "What gave you that impression?"

"Sugar Lips said you and Fudge were twins and that both of you didn't have your cutie marks yet," Babs confessed. "I was so excited about you two joining that I didn't bother to let your cousin explain."

When Babs had finished talking, Sundae glanced toward Sugar Lips who sat on her haunches in front of the wagon. Sugar Lips glared at her leader from the corner of her eye, her forelegs crossed over her barrel. Cirrus Curl walked over and put a hoof over her withers, mellowing her friend out a little. Sundae breathed another sigh through her nostrils and looked back at Babs with the anger leaving her face in favor of disappointment.

"I'm sorry," Sundae said, "but if my brother can't be a part of your group full-time, then neither will I."

With the thought of losing a potential member overpowering her, Babs sneered at Sundae and blew her mane out of her face. "Okay, fine by me," she said out loud without a second thought.

"Babs!" Middlemist and Nimbostorm called together but the leader put a fore hoof in the air, silencing any further conversation from both.

"And that's fine by me, too," Sundae said, leaning closer to Babs. "You were already fine with not letting my brother in."

"I told you!" Babs exploded. "I didn't know he was a colt!"

Sundae leaned even closer until their muzzles nearly touched, unfazed at Babs losing her temper. "Well, if you'd have let my cousin explain, he wouldn't be heartbroken right now," she shot back.

"Oh, yeah?" Babs growled. "If your brother wasn't a colt—"

Babs was cut short by the rest of her crusaders gasping. She looked at all four of her friends' faces, each with wide eyes and pupils the size of dust mites along with their mouths hanging inches from the pavement below. Babs then looked back at Sundae and saw her brow raised, her mouth rounded open and her barrel pulsating from her heavy breathing.

"I-I'm sorry!" Babs pleaded. "I didn't mean it that way!"

Sundae changed her look into a sneer before speaking to Babs in a hoarse tone. "It's too late. Enjoy your colt-free crusaders club. I'm going home, too."

Sundae put her head down, turned about face and started her trek down the alley. Babs took a deep sigh, faced away from the leaving filly and shuffled onto her haunches in front of the wagon. Middlemist approached her left side with Nimbostorm to her right, each putting a hoof on one of her shoulders. Upon receiving the gestures, Babs turned around one last time only to see Sundae stopping a few steps away from the street. Babs gasped when she saw a different set of hooves approaching Sundae—hooves belonging to one of her other club members—rushing to catch up to her.

"Sugar Lips!" Middlemist yelled. "You, too?"

Sugar Lips halted but never did so much as face her friends, hiding her clenched teeth while looking down at the road in front of her. Cirrus Curl casually strolled down the alley to put a hoof on Sugar Lips' withers as Babs turned around to ignore the sight.

"You're not going to let this stop you from crusading from us, are you?" Cirrus Curl asked.

Sugar Lips mellowed her expression, letting the anger escape from her nerves and out of her face. "I don't know," she said finally. "I think I just need a little time with Sundae. She's family as much as her brother is."

Babs spun her head around to look at Sugar Lips, her mouth wide open as she struggled to fight back tears. "But you can't just leave!" she shouted.

"Yeah," Nimbostorm agreed. "What if you never get your cutie mark as a Cutie Mark Crusader?"

"It'll be a lot better than not getting a cutie mark at all," Sugar Lips said.

Babs' lower jaw hanged from her face, unable to find any words to say as Sugar Lips broke free from Cirrus Curl's grasp. The four fillies gazed in silence at their skinny friend strolling with her plump cousin down the alley together. Cirrus Curl never moved a step and put a hoof to her ear, staying close enough to listen in on their conversation as they reached the end of the alley.

"So, what do you want to do?" Sugar Lips asked, the two rounding the corner to walk down the street.

"I'm not sure," Sundae replied, shaking her head. "Any good shows on Bridleway?"

Once they turned down an avenue and out of her sight, Cirrus Curl faced back towards the alley to catch Babs walking solemnly to their clubhouse. As Middlemist and Nimbostorm hopped in the clubhouse to reunite with Babs, Cirrus Curl gingerly trotted back down the alley in the direction of the wagon. She paused at the archway, gazing at Middlemist and Nimbostorm each putting a hoof on Babs' withers as she sobbed soundly.

Comments

[Yoshi89]

6761965

Not necessarily. The show has terms such as "foalsitter" where "foal" is used to describe Twilight which she was at the same age as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The MLP wiki even groups all the fillies in colts under the category of foals, even older ones such as Snips and Snails.

[superfun]

Sugar Lips halted but never did so much as face her friends, hiding her clenched her teeth while looking down at the road in front of her

That second "her" shouldn't be there.

[pokefreak13]

It may be because I'm reading this pretty late, but how come Babs won't allow a colt into the group?