Chapters 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?"
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Chapter 1: The Crusader from the Black Lagoon
One week earlier...
The city of Manehattan, a bustling metropolis teeming with hard-working ponies by day and vibrant nightlife after sundown. Even the foals all across this island toil tirelessly, cutie marks or no cutie marks. Residents of Manehattan often say that those who don't have them yet are the most diligent in all of Equestria, stopping at nothing until their talents are known. Through trial, error and the bullying of their already cutie marked peers, they manage to stick together through thick and thin.
One such foal, a brownish orange filly with a short magenta mane that peered over her eyes and stubby tail, peeked out of a run-down abandoned wagon. She took a few seconds to see if the dark alley's coast was clear. Her clubhouse, upgraded from a simple soapbox, had done its job in sheltering herself and her expanding team from wayward bullies ready to tear it down. Her "two other foals" she told her favorite cousin Apple Bloom about last time had now grown to a total of five fillies, outnumbering the Ponyville branch that started it all. Cracking a small smile, she blew her mane out of her face, poked her head back in and picked up a scroll with her left foreleg. She shuffled into a seat on the wagon and reached for her toy gavel with her right foreleg
"I now declare this Cutie Mark Crusader Manehattan Chapter meeting open!" Babs Seed announced, slamming the gavel down. Her other club members stopped their daily gossip to pay attention. Babs tossed her gavel to the side, picked up her quill with her free hoof and dabbed it in an ink bottle.
"Let's have a roll call," Babs said. "Cirrus Curl?"
"Here," a dark blue pegasus with a short, curly double-toned light blue mane raised her hoof to Babs’ right.
"Sugar Lips?" Babs called.
"Here," a tan freckled earth pony with a straight yellow mane answered across from her.
"Nimbostorm?"
"Present," a grey slightly chunky pegasus with a thick black and streaked yellow mane replied, sharing her seat with Sugar Lips.
"And Middlemist?"
"I'm here," answered the last filly—a burgundy unicorn with a poofy green mane—who sat in between Sugar Lips and Nimbostorm.
"We're all here, that's great!" Babs Seed exclaimed tucked the scroll underneath her seat. "First order of business: Let's review what went wrong the last time we tried to get our cutie marks. What did we learn from miniature golf?"
"That we're not gonna get our cutie marks with putters?" Sugar Lips guessed.
"Well, sorta," Babs said with a shrug. "Mini golf isn't for everypony."
"Not if it isn't your talent," Middlemist sighed.
"I don't understand," Cirrus Curl said, shaking her head. "I must have gotten six holes in one yesterday."
"That one colt was just lucky," Nimbostorm sneered. "He got his after one."
"Come on, Nimbostorm," Babs interrupted. "There are still plenty of things we haven't tried. We haven't done half the things that my crusaders from Ponyville tried already."
"Like what?" she asked.
"Well, there's, uh..."
Babs froze like a snowpony on a cold winter's night. So many ideas her Ponyville friends could have given her and she wasted the opportunity the first time by letting off some steam. She also missed her chance to ask for help the second time she saw her cousin due to the reunion eating up valuable time. Babs hanged her head in shame with a huff, unable to process anything for her friends' benefits. She looked down at the floor of the wagon, her brain unable to come up with any other attempts.
"We need some ideas," she muttered in defeat.
The other four fillies exchanged awkward looks among each other at their leader drawing a blank.
"I've got two cousins who could help," Sugar Lips offered.
Babs picked up her head and leaned forward. "You have cousins, Sugar Lips? Are they blank flanks, too?"
"They still match their coats."
"Invite them over," Cirrus Curl nudged her, breaking into a smile. "After all, the more, the merrier, right?"
"What are they like?" Middlemist wanted to know, a quizzical expression forming on her face.
"Well, they're from Hay Ridge, they're ten years old and-"
"They're twins!" Cirrus Curl squealed, finishing her sentence.
Sugar Lips blushed slightly and nodded.
"Are they identical?" Nimbostorm queried.
"They look the same," Sugar Lips began to explain. "One of them's a—"
"Incredible!" Babs beamed. "Single-minded fillies are just what this club needs. They can be an asset to our flanks!"
"Babs?" Sugar Lips warned her leader. "There is something you should know about—"
"Aw, it can wait," Babs pushed it aside. "Bring 'em over, we're always looking for new members."
"Okay," Sugar Lips reluctantly agreed, hopping from her seat. "I'll be back in a little while."
"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Middlemist asked to her as she walked toward the wagon’s exit.
"I think so," she replied. "Their house is just a quick trolley ride across the Bucklyn Bridge. I'll be right back!"
Babs smiled as she watched her friend trot out of the alley and round a street corner. With the rate new foals were joining her club, she could organize her own Cutie Mark Crusaders baseball team! "Wait until Apple Bloom back at home hears about this!" Babs told her three remaining crusaders. "Two foals from Bucklyn about to be Cutie Mark Crusaders! Maybe we should branch out to the other boros or Long Bridleland or Neigh Jersey!"
"But we don't know what Sugar Lips' cousins are like yet," Cirrus Curl reminded her.
"Well, whatever we do, we have to be sure they're both welcome," Babs instructed. "We have to show them that we're willing to stand up for them if any bullies come our way. They'll have our support as long as we can get them their cutie marks."
"Do you still want to come up with ideas in case they don't have any just yet?" Nimbostorm asked.
"Yeah, that wouldn't hurt," Babs said as she reached for her quill and scroll again. "At least until Sugar Lips comes back."
With the slates for their club as blank as their flanks, the fillies discussed the few failures they had since the group formed. Babs sketched spider web diagrams for each failed attempt and stemmed suggestions for each on the scroll.
"Let's see," Babs put a hoof to her chin as she surveyed her work. "From our failed attempt at pigeon catching, we can try bird watching, bird feeding and mouse catching."
"Does it count if you own a cat?" Middlemist asked.
Babs shook her head. "I don't think so."
"You didn't mention when we tried to be zookeepers," Cirrus Curl said.
Babs facehoofed. "Don't remind me. That wasn't worth getting banned from the Broncs Zoo."
"No worse than our window-washing attempt," Nimbostorm recalled.
"How can I forget?" Babs asked, rolling her eyes. "Why bother getting rescued if the fire department's going to yell at you?"
"Babs!" Sugar Lips' voice found its way to the wagon, perking the crusaders' ears. "Hey, Babs! I'm back!" Babs’ friend trotted up to the archway and the leader stood in front with the rest of the group clasping their hooves in anticipation.
"That was quick," Middlemist remarked. "So, where are the twins?"
Sugar Lips stepped aside. "Fellow Crusaders, I'd like you to meet my cousin, Sundae Shake."
The other four fillies watched the archway and a heavyset bright blue earth pony with a brown and cream striped mane tied back with a pink bow walked up to her side. Cirrus Curl, Middlemist and Nimbostorm waved to her while Babs Seed trotted over and shook the new recruit's forehoof.
"Welcome aboard, Sundae Shake." Babs greeted her.
"Thank you," Sundae replied with a giggle.
"Now, you said you had a twin," Babs remembered. "How's about we meet your sister?"
"My sister?" Sundae said, wincing.
"Of course," Nimbostorm deadpanned. "We've heard so much about her."
"You mean Fudge?" Sundae made a face. "Oh, I'm sure Fudge would love to meet you all." She backpedaled out of the wagon, twisted her head and put a fore hoof to her mouth. "Come on in, Bro! Don't be shy."
"Bro?" Babs' stomach did a triple lutz though she froze her face in an attempt to not let it show. "That is a nickname, right?"
"No, Babs," Middlemist corrected her. "I think she means..."
She could not finish, stopping to stare at the upcoming intruder along the rest of the Manehattan crusaders. Babs Seed stood by the archway under the wagon, eyes wide with anticipation at meeting this second brand new club member. What she saw crossing Sundae Shake's path turned her unsure smile into a mouth agape with horror and shrank her half-welcoming pupils to the size of dust mites. Walking right in front of her was the beast who looked slightly shorter and chubbier than Sundae Shake with the same bright blue coat but a fuller face and broader snout. It shared the same brown and cream striped mane as its twin sister, only in the styles of a crew cut and bobtail.
"Hi," it said to Babs in its deeper voice and extended its foreleg. "Nice to meet you. I'm Fudge Cookie, Sundae's twin brother."
Chapter 2: Emergency Meeting
Babs Seed did not speak another word, sliding her pupils from her frozen eyes in between Fudge Cookie's innocent yet dorky smile and his still outstretched fore hoof. His stature remained unchanged even when Babs closed her eyelids and did a double take before opening them wide right at him again. Sundae Shake walked closer to her brother's side, wearing a curious face as Babs' suppressed grin returned and sweat formed on her brow.
"Excuse me for a moment," Babs uttered at last. She waved in Sugar Lips' direction and the pair hopped back into the wagon, leaving Fudge and Sundae by themselves in the alley. The two huddled with the rest of the Manehattan crusaders, drawing in close as Babs glared at the creature's cousin.
"Sugar Lips!" Babs Seed hissed. "You didn't tell me one of them was a colt !"
The other three fillies fell silent and exchanged blank expressions, looking in between Babs Seed and Sugar Lips who started sneering at each other. Middlemist, Nimbostorm and Cirrus Curl each broke off from the huddle and towards the edges of the wagon, unnoticed by their leader and the colt's cousin.
"I tried to warn you," Sugar Lips replied.
"What should we do?" Middlemist asked, taking a step forward.
"I'll tell you what we're going to do," Babs said, backing up so her four filly friends could pay attention. "We're not letting him in!"
"What!?" Sugar Lips gasped, her mouth hanging open. "Why not?"
Babs leaned closer to her devastated tan friend's face and blew her drooping mane from her sight. "Sugar Lips," she said, "do you know what the bad foals in town are going to do to us when they see him in our group? 'Why are you hanging with the loser blank-flanks?' they'll ask him! They'll come after us any chance they get! We'll be the laughingstock in all of Manehattan!"
"We get chased by bullies all the time," Sugar Lips told her. "I don't think it's going to be any different if Fudge joins us."
"He can't hit other fillies though," Nimbostorm said.
"No kidding, Nimbostorm," Babs quipped. "I've had my fair share of fights with colts, especially in my old school. They aren't supposed to hit fillies but some of them don't care."
"Not Fudge, though," Sugar Lips protested.
"Yeah," Cirrus Curl added. "He does seem like a nice colt."
"How's that going to help us from getting bullied, though?" Middlemist asked, turning toward Sugar Lips.
Sugar Lips stared down at her unicorn friend, then slowly spun her head to face the other fillies in the group. She stopped at Babs, unable to give a clear answer to her leader's eyes which had formed impatient slits with green pellets.
"See?" Babs asked. "We'll be helpless if we run into trouble all because of him!"
"No, we won't!" Sugar Lips found her voice again. "He can help protect ourselves from any renegade colts."
"Fudge isn't from here, though," Babs reminded her. "He doesn't know what it's like to be cantering for his life in Manehattan."
"He and Sundae don't really talk much about bullies in Bucklyn," Sugar Lips said. "I don't think they have it as bad as we do."
"Okay, then," Babs said, turning her focus on her four friends. "Who aside from Sugar Lips is in favor of Fudge Cookie joining our crew?"
Babs Seed and Sugar Lips walked together to one side of the wagon and watched as the other three fillies in their club looked in between each other, only communicating through pensive facial movements. Cirrus Curl, standing in between the two fillies put on the spot, darted her head nervously in between Middlemist and Nimbostorm, both appearing more calm and collected than she was. She stared into space for a few seconds and let out a breath before raising a fore hoof in the air.
"Cirrus?" Babs called.
"I'll stand by what I said before," Cirrus Curl spoke. "The more, the merrier."
"That's fair enough," Babs said.
"And besides," Cirrus Curl said with a smirk. "I think he's kind of cute."
The rest of the Manehattan Crusaders looked wide-eyed at the innocent pegasus filly who tried to hide her blushing with a foreleg. "Cute?" the four repeated the dreadful word.
"Is that why you want him in as a crusader?" Nimbostorm asked her.
The blush spread wider across Cirrus Curl's face and she let out a nervous giggle. "Not exactly," she answered. "When Sundae introduced him, he gave me butterflies in my stomach, that's all."
"Yeah, that's great," Babs said, rolling her eyes. "But I didn't organize our Cutie Mark Crusaders chapter to look for coltfriends!"
"I know you didn't," Sugar Lips added. "But Fudge is still my cousin. I brought him here because I thought he'd like crusading with us."
"I didn't think colts could crusade for their cutie marks," Middlemist said, shaking her head.
"I haven't seen them get pushed around for not having one," Babs huffed. "Sometimes, I think they have all the luck."
"What about when we started out, Babs?" Nimbostorm asked. "I even asked a few colts to join but they didn't want—"
"You what!?" Babs asked her, clasping her front hooves on her face.
Nimbostorm defended her action with a shrug. "It was worth a shot."
"See, Babs?" Sugar Lips raised her tone. "Nimbostorm tried to get colts here before I did."
"Any cute ones?" Cirrus Curl wanted to know.
Nimbostorm facehoofed in reply but refused to let the other pegasus' question sink in. "So, that makes me, Sugar Lips and Cirrus Curl," she then said. "Looks like you're outnumbered, Babs."
"I'm just fine with whatever you girls want to do," Middlemist announced.
"All right, all right," Babs groaned, giving into her friends. "We'll let him crusade with us. It'll be provisional, though."
"Provisional?" Cirrus Curl asked her.
"Just to see if he's crusading material," Babs explained.
"You welcomed Sundae with no problem," Sugar Lips said, rolling her eyes.
"Speaking of which, let me have a word with his sister about our compromise," Babs said. "I'm sure she'll understand."
Babs shuffled back out of the wagon and her first glance down the alley stopped her heart from beating. She could not see the beast anywhere in her field of vision but his twin sister remained. The cheerful demeanor Sundae Shake wore when Sugar Lips first introduced her turned into a glower, her pupils following Babs as she walked closer. Babs felt a strangeness in her gut, not helped by her nerves coursing through her body the closer she got until she halted half a foal's length away. Sundae took a deep breath and let it out through her snout, quivering the leader's drooping mane.
"Hey, Sundae?" Babs addressed her. "Where's Fudge?"
"He left ," Sundae replied coldly.
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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.
Chapter 4: A Clubhouse Divided
Babs Seed raised her face from her forelegs and gasped heavily as she wiped a hoof over her once-teary eyes. She then swiveled her head from where she sat and looked toward her other three members still in the clubhouse. Cirrus Curl slowly walked across the wagon to join Middlemist and Nimbostorm in the space surrounding Babs between them. The entire wagon remained silent, at one time occupied by the remorseful sobs of their leader until one of their members spoke up.
"Babs, are you okay?" Middlemist asked.
Babs sniffled before whispering in a hoarse voice, "I'll be fine."
"Come on, Babs, we forgive you," Nimbostorm said.
Through her unfocused vision and the darkness of the wagon, Babs could barely make out Nimbostorm smiling. She then saw the brightening expressions on the faces of the other two Crusaders and smiled as well. She rubbed her eyes each of her front hooves, drying off the last of the tears.
"Yeah," Middlemist agreed. "We're your friends, remember?"
"It's gonna be okay," Cirrus Curl said, giving the toothiest smile out of the four in the clubhouse.
"Thanks, girls," Babs said. "I don't know what I'd do without you." She opened her forelegs as Middlemist and Nimbostorm walked closer to wrap their hooves around her. Cirrus Curl trotted over and joined in on the group hug until the four fillies broke free.
"Do you think Sugar Lips is coming back?" Cirrus Curl asked.
Babs shrugged. "I don't think her cousins are. Not after the way I treated them. We could have had two new members. Instead, we may have lost one."
"But Sugar Lips and Sundae Shake were upset," Middlemist reminded her. "You were, too. It happens."
"Yeah, but Sundae told me I sent her brother home crying," Babs said. "I upset him the most."
"Maybe he needs some time alone," Nimbostorm suggested.
"Exactly," Middlemist agreed. "You can explain once everything blows over."
"I hope so," Babs said. "You know Sugar Lips better than I do, Middlemist. After all, you are the one who brought her over."
"I know," Middlemist recalled. "I remember how excited she was when she saw we were blank flanks."
"But those things you told us before," Cirrus Curl said. "You know, about Fudge. Did you really mean them?"
"At first, I did," Babs admitted, pausing to swallow hard. "I've been trying to be a better pony ever since my cousin showed me how. I still don't know what I was thinking, rejecting Fudge just because he's a colt. He didn't do anything wrong. All he wanted to do was join our club. With our group getting bigger, I wasn't sure how we were going to protect each other with him in our group."
"Is it because he'll attract bullies?" Middlemist asked.
"No," Babs replied. "Sugar Lips said he'd never hit a filly. That would make him a softie here in Manehattan."
"So, wait," Nimbostorm said, holding up a hoof. "You were actually looking out for him?"
Babs nodded. "And now that I think about it, I should have told him we'd have his back and his sister's."
"What about Sundae?" Cirrus Curl questioned.
"I didn't mean to fight with her like that," Babs followed up. "I feel really bad about saying those things about her brother to her face."
"You should have just let it go when she said she didn't want to join us," Middlemist recalled.
"That's because I was afraid of losing her as a crusader," Babs sighed. "If I'd have known trying to make friends would mean being more accommodating to her, too."
"Yeah, you also gave a bad impression about our group," Nimbostorm said.
"You got that right," Babs deadpanned, rolling her eyes.
"So, are you still going to let him in provisionally?" Cirrus Curl asked.
"If I had the chance, I'd do more than that," Babs explained. "There has to be a way I can make it up to him."
"What about Sundae Shake and Sugar Lips?" Middlemist asked.
"I figure if I can reach out to Fudge Cookie and show that I can welcome him with open hooves," Babs said, "they'll see things our way."
"But Fudge isn't from Manehattan, remember?" Nimbostorm checked.
"And you don't even know his address," Middlemist also told her.
"Sugar Lips said he and his sister are from the Hay Ridge neighborhood in Bucklyn," Babs said. "That narrows it down a little."
"Have you been to Bucklyn before?" Cirrus Curl asked.
"Yeah," Babs affirmed, nodding. "I went to Poney Island last year. I thought I could maybe get my cutie mark playing the carnival games. Aunt and Uncle Orange threw a fit after I spent my entire allowance."
"You're going to have to talk to his dad, too," Nimbostorm told her.
"That's it!" Babs remembered. "Sundae Shake told us that he brought her and Fudge over today. If I can find him, I'll explain everything."
"How are you getting there?" Nimbostorm wanted to know.
"I'll take a taxi," Babs explained.
"By yourself?" Cirrus Curl asked, making a face like a sad puppy.
"You're right," Babs conceded. "Middlemist?"
"Yes?" Middlemist answered.
"You've known Sugar Lips for a while. You'd better come with."
"Well, okay," Middlemist sighed, hesitantly stepping forward.
"What about us?" Nimbostorm wanted to know.
"You two see if you can find Sugar Lips and Sundae Shake. If I want to apologize to them in pony, I'd better talk to his parents before I bring Fudge back to Manehattan."
"We'll check out Bridleway," Cirrus Curl told Babs. "I heard them saying they were going to see a show."
"Don't worry about a thing," Nimbostorm reassured her. "We'll explain everything when we find them."
"Thanks, girls," Babs complimented her friends. "I'll look for you on Bridleway once we talk things over with Fudge and his dad."
Nimbostorm and Cirrus Curl trotted down the sidewalk while Babs led Middlemist to the curb and held out her hoof. "Taxi!" she called and a cab pulled over. Babs and Middlemist hopped in the passenger's row and watched her friends round a corner as the driver looked back.
"Take us to Bucklyn, please," Babs requested.
"Aren't you a little young to be taking a taxi by yourselves?" he asked with a sneer.
Babs lunged over and showed a hoof full of bits to the driver.
"Which neighborhood?" the driver said, raising his brow with a grin.
Chapter 5: Bucklyn Bound
A fresh breeze flew through Babs Seed's mane, flapping her bangs in all sorts of directions as the taxi pulled her and her friend across the Bucklyn Bridge. She looked behind her to see the wind combing Middlemist's once poofy mane into straight strands. Babs then looked through the lower skyline of Manehattan's shimmering steel and chrome bathing in the sun and contrasted it to the dreary sandstone buildings of the outer borough. Poney Island near the southern tip of Bucklyn stuck out like a sore foreleg with its roller coasters, boardwalk and docks. A double bump of the taxi's wheels rocked her awake and the two in the taxi flew off her seats for a second. Both let out a whoop to the amusement of the driver.
"Watch out!" he barked. "That bump's always a doozy."
The two fillies blushed and let out a soft giggle as the driver looked at the cobblestone road off the bridge ahead of him. All kinds of buildings littered the streets as the taxi traversed through town from palatial brownstone houses on one strip to red brick apartment buildings on another to an abandoned block-wide factory with wiped out windows on yet another. The vehicle passed a few townsponies—mostly earth ponies just like Manehattan—walking, eating at fruit stands or talking with their neighbors.
"How much further?" Middlemist called out.
"Hay Ridge, right?" the driver yelled back.
"Yeah," Babs and Middlemist answered in unison.
"Almost there," the driver assured them. "About ten more blocks."
"Do you come here often?" Babs asked.
"Sometimes," the driver replied. "It depends on where my passengers want to go."
"Know of any hot spots?" Middlemist wanted to know.
"We're coming to a great burger joint ahead," the driver said. "I've been coming here more often since they got this new cook."
"New cook, huh?" Babs said. She heard her stomach growl over the taxi's rattling over the cobblestones. "We might as well try it out. I'm getting hungry myself."
"Okay, right here," the driver gestured with his hoof. He crossed an intersection and pulled the taxi over to a storefront on one corner. Babs and Middlemist could see a flag flying in the breeze with a picture of a hayburger and an oatburger. Beneath the flag on the store's magenta awning, the golden words "Hay Ridge Burgers & Fries" reflected off Celestia's sunlight.
"Thanks again!" Babs called.
The taxi driver saluted Babs and Middlemist as they hopped off the seat and then pulled away.
Babs pulled open the door to the restaurant, exposing its light tan wallpaper rising over wooden paneling along with its neatly arranged wooden chairs and leather booths. A yellow young earth pony mare in a white paper hat and apron stood in front of the cash register, striking up a conversation with a middle aged unicorn customer. Seated across from each other in the inner corner to Babs' left were two local colts about her age. The first was a pegasus with a peach-colored coat and a straight dark brown mane partially hidden by a baseball cap. The other was a light gray earth pony with a messy grass-colored mane. They both sat at the table, the pegasus on a chair with the earth pony across from him on the bench, talking to each other. Babs walked down the aisle and cleared her throat, the two colts stopping to look at her.
"Excuse me," Babs said with Middlemist approaching her side. "We're looking for a colt. His name's Fudge Cookie."
Babs could have sworn she saw a mirror in front of her. The pair of colts looked at each other and back at her at the same time.
"Fudge?" the pegasus asked, breaking off the not so identical reflection.
"Yeah, do you know him?" Middlemist asked.
"Know him?" the other colt repeated before saying, "We go to school with Fudge."
"Okay, good," Babs said.
"He's not in our grade, though," the pegasus told her. "He's a year younger than us."
"Do you know anything about him?" Babs wanted to know.
"Fudge's mom makes some pretty good cookies," the pegasus added. "I think that's how he got his name."
"He's been acting kinda strange lately, though," the earth pony told his friend. "Don't you think, Heat Engine?"
"I don't know, Spear Leaf," the pegasus, Heat Engine, said as he shook his head. "He hasn't been the same since his best friend got his cutie mark."
Out of the corner of his eye, Spear Leaf could see Babs swishing her tail on her flank, prompting him to turn her way. Middlemist abashedly looked the other way. "Are you all right?" Spear Leaf asked Babs.
"Oh, I'm fine," Babs blurted with a giggle.
"Order up!"
The four foals looked to the back of the restaurant where a pair of metallic double doors swung open. A mustard-colored unicorn colt with a wavy blond mane emerged from the kitchen's entrance, levitating a tray of two oatburgers and a haystack-shaped portion horseshoe fries. Babs and Middlemist stepped aside to let the young waiter place the food on top of the table and the two colts tore right into the food.
"Excuse me," Babs asked the unicorn, "do you know Fudge Cookie?"
"Fudge? Yeah, I do." he said with a nod.
"Can we talk to you?" Babs asked.
"Well, I break in a little while," he said. "I suppose my boss won't mind."
The unicorn colt led Babs and Middlemist to the front of the restaurant, letting Spear Leaf and Heat Engine eat their lunch in peace. Babs covered her flank with her tail again as she glanced at the unicorn's upper hind leg, partially exposed by his flapping apron. She saw his cutie mark for the first time—a shiny silver spatula with a black grip—before darting her eyes at the other two little ponies. Her eyes widened when she saw they were blank flanks just like her and Middlemist. She kept her own flank covered and watched Middlemist's own as the three ponies took their seats at another table.
"We ran into him and Sundae today in Manehattan," Babs explained. "I wanted to make friends with Sundae but I said some things I shouldn't have said and I hurt their feelings. I want to apologize to Fudge because they were about him."
"Sundae's like that sometimes," he said. "She's very protective of him. They're inseparable, those two."
"If I had a twin brother, I'd act the same way around him," Babs said with her head down.
"Where do they live?" Middlemist asked. Babs picked her head up, hoping the colt did not hear her gasp. The colt was about to speak when Babs saw the same young mare at the register waving her hoof at him.
"Hey, kid!" she called. "We've got orders to fill!"
"Coming!" the colt yelled back as the cashier swung the double doors and disappeared behind them. The colt looked at Babs and said, "Here, let me give you his dad's card. It's a home office so Fudge lives there."
He hopped off his chair and trotted to the counter. Babs and Middlemist followed him until he opened the flap and slithered through. The fillies could hear a drawer clunking open followed by papers shuffling and the colt muttering softly to himself. "Here it is!" he exclaimed. The colt grunted as he hoisted himself above the counter and held out a small business card with his unicorn magic.
"Here, take this," he told them. "I need to get back to work."
"Thanks!" Babs called out, as the colt dropped the card on her hoof. She and Middlemist waved at him and he smiled back before entering the double doors. Babs looked down at the card which had two names printed across the top and their professions—Fussbudget and Refund Check: Certified Pony Accountants.
"Refund's his dad," Heat Engine called out to her.
Babs and Middlemist looked over at him and Spear Leaf, almost forgetting that they were still in the restaurant. Two empty plates rested on their table as Spear Leaf wiped his muzzle with his napkin. Middlemist glanced over at the card, picked up the address in her mind and turned back to the colts.
"Where's 415 Avenue P?" she asked.
"Not too far from here," Spear Leaf answered, hobbling off the bench. He crossed the fillies' paths and pointed outside with his hoof. "We're on Avenue M. You have to go three blocks south. You can't miss the place."
"Great," Babs said. "We'd better get going, Middlemist."
The two fillies strolled across the restaurant floor and Babs pushed the door to let Middlemist out first. Babs waved to the two colts who waved back as she closed the door.
"See if his mom can make you some cookies!" she heard Heat Engine call to her from the window. "They're really good."
Babs stayed to watch Spear Leaf glaring at Heat Engine. The pegasus raised his brow, raised his forelegs and asked, "What?" Babs giggled at the exchange before sticking the business card behind her ear and trotting after Middlemist, slowing her pace when she caught up.
