Author's Note

...Been a minute, huh? Yeah... let's just say my motivation wasn't the only thing that tanked to all new lows. In fact, I ended up hitting burnout for once in my life. Honestly, it's been pretty crumby as of late. In all honesty I've written most of this on leftover adrenaline from Mario & Luigi Brothership's final boss. Then I got distracted because Stardew Valley's console update came out. Suddenly Holocure 0.7 was announced within the week of both of the previous things and also took my attention (yes I am part of the rabbit hole, sue me) But that really helped my mood, so here I am. I am still unsure if this motivation will continue or not, but I want to thank anyone here for keeping their patience with me. Hopefully the next chapter won't be months away like this one. Until then, make some bonds and cherish those you're connected to, and Koops out!

One Bad Apple

"A little more to the left."

After the school newspaper finally went back to normal, there was a big change in town, and it all revolved around Amity. Everypony in town gained a newfound respect with how she held her dreams of stardom. Now she was another part of town, albeit being quite a unique individual. Of course, the three who were especially attached to Amity, and they were the Crusaders. Of course the feelings were mutual, and they went from a trio to a quartet. Overall the town was back in the friendly and calm. Though now there was a new excitable variable in Amity in town. Today however everyone was working together in setting up for the upcoming harvest festival, with Twilight and Xavier taking charge of preperation.

"No, your left! Not mine!" The human in question shouted, leading two ponies setting up a banner. "Stop! Perfect!" He looked at the clipboard he was holding and checked a box. "Alright, the banner has been set. Now... Wait." He began to look around, confused at a feeling he had. "Is this deja vu?"

"Yo Xavier!" Snapping him out of the feeling, he turned to Alex and Cali walking over. "Everythin' involvin' the food stalls are a-okay."

"Alright. Thanks for letting me know." Xavier said, checking another box. "Let's see, Huston is also helping out with the decorations, meanwhile Twilight is overseeing both the entertainment of the festival and the parade. I think we're all set for the day."

"Good. Hopefully this time-" Alex was about to say something, but was interrupted by Cali smacking the back of his head. "OW! What was that for?!"

"You'd jinx it." Cali simply stated. Alex was about to argue, but he backed down.

"Right... well we should keep working at this. The festival is soon."

"Speakin' of, where is Amity?" Alex asked. "Haven't seen her all day."

"She's with the Crusaders." Cali answered. "Apparently she and the others are waiting at the train station for Applebloom's cousin alongside Applejack."

"Oh right. Ay remember AJ mentionin' that." Alex remembered. "She's got some timin'. She'll be seein' a very excitin' parade."

"As long as it followed the schedule. Come on, let's get to work." Xavier ordered, getting nods from his human friends.

Meanwhile, at the Train Station

To say the four younger girls were excited would be an understatement, as all of them were bouncing around happily (Though Applejack seemed more annoyed than happy)

"Do you really think she'll wanna join?" Scootaloo asked in a moment of calm

"She doesn't have her cutie mark. Of course she'll wanna join the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Applebloom answered.

"I'm just so excited I could burst!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. A moment later they heard a train pull into the station, everyone looking excited.

"Is that the train?" Amity asked.

"Yep." Applejack answered as the doors opened. Applebloom stepped up and began to look around.

"That's her! Oh, wait, no, no, that's not her. Oh! No, tha-tha-that's her! Um, no. Oh, wait, tha– that's not her either, uh..."

"Apple Bloom, you've never met Babs Seed, remember?" Applejack reminded, getting a sheepish look from her sister.

"Oh... hehe... Yeah." Another pair of doors opened on the train, and as steam flowed out, a filly's silhouette could be seen within.

"Ah, that's her!" As the steam cleared, everyone could see that the filly, now known as Babs Seed, had a brown coat, red stripped mane and tail, and some freckles. She looked around nervously for a moment, though only until the Crusaders crowded her.

"Babs! Babs! It's me, your cousin, Apple Bloom! And this is Sweetie Belle, and this is Scootaloo, and the human is Amity, and we are so, so, so glad you're here!" Applebloom greeted in a similar vain to Pinkie Pie.

"Thanks, I'm happy to–"

"This is gonna be the best week of your life!"

"Sure hope it's gonna be–"

"Seriously, we are gonna have a blast." Babs couldn't get a word in as the Crusaders all talked to her excited. All Applejack could do was laugh and pick up Babs' suitcase as they began to leave. As everyone calmed down for a second, Babs' eyes drifted to Amity.

"So... you're on of those humans going around, right?"

"Hmhmhm... So we have made it to Manehatten, huh?" Amity said smug. "Behold, I am one of the famous humans that have arrived here in Equestria!"

"Huh. Neat." Amity looked irritated at Babs and her laid back answer. She wasn't able to talk further though as Sweetie Belle cut in.

"The Summer Harvest Parade's going on while you're here! You'll get to ride in a float!"

"Really? I've never been on a float before." Babs said, somewhat more interest in that topic.

"And we've got a really big surprise for you!" Applebloom added, getting curious worry from Babs.

"Yeah... uh... a surprise?" Babs wondered nervously, as Scootaloo covered her eyes.

Later, Within the Orchard

Babs was at the mercy of the Crusaders and Amity as she was guided to wherever they were taking her. After some time however Scootaloo released her hooves from Babs' face to reveal that they were in a treehouse within the orchard.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"Yeah... where are we?" Amity joined, question mark above her. "You didn't exactly tell me the plan."

"I give you... the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse!" Applebloom answered.

"Ooh, this is where you all hang out- I-I mean, plan out your goals." Amity realized, though corrected herself to seem cooler.

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Babs questioned.

"A club devoted to helping ponies get their cutie marks!" Scootaloo answered, showing her blank flank alongside Sweetie Belle. Babs' eyes went wide with wonder. "We're its founding members."

"Technically, we're its only members." Sweetie corrected.

"But we're always looking to expand, and you seem like the perfect candidate!" Applebloom said to spin the narrative, getting a curious look from Babs.

"I do?"

"Well, yeah, since you don't have a cutie mark and all." Scootaloo answered, giving Babs' own flank a bop, to which the newcomer backed off and used her tail to cover it up.

"Oh, yeah... That..." She looked at it sadly, and the Crusaders noticed. Applebloom motioned to the other Crusaders to do something, but they looked at her confused. Applebloom then gave a glare to get the two to move, and as they did Applebloom turned back to Babs with a smile.

"Allow me to show you just some of the highlights of our clubhouse, should you choose to join us." She said, turning her cousin and human friend's attention to the others. "This is where we do our roll call..." with a check on the board next to them, they moved on to the next attraction. "This is where we eat our lunch..." The duo began to pretend to eat some lunch, though they didn't stay long as they moved along. "Sometimes we stand here and think of great ideas." Applebloom described, Sweetie and Scootaloo sitting in a red circle.

"Yeah, uh..." Babs wasn't sure how to react, and it simply left a long, awkward pause.

"Uh, could you excuse us for a moment?" Applebloom said to break the silence, dragging her fellow Crusaders and Amity into a group huddle.

"Sure..."

"Thought she'd be more impressed." Applebloom whispered.

"She's from Manehattan. If we wanna impress her, we need to really wow her!" Sweetie Belle mentioned.

"She's right. We need something incredible to get her to join. Any ideas?" Amity agreed.

"Hmmmm."

"*gasp* The float! She can ride with us on our Summer Harvest Parade float!" Scootaloo said.

"That's perfect!" Amity agreed. "She came at just the right time for this to work!"

"This really is a good spot for thinking up great ideas." Applebloom mentioned, looking at the circle they were standing in.

"Huh, I guess it is."

At the Farmhouse

Leading their Manehattan guest back to the farmhouse, the Crusaders and Amity took a detour to head for the barn. Once there, the trio showed off their float to the others, a giant, well-made pumpkin-shaped float.

"Here it is! The official Cutie Mark Crusaders float for the Summer Harvest Parade!" Applebloom announced.

"As a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, you'd be able to ride on it with us! It'd be totally fun." Sweetie Belle added, getting a nervous laugh out of Babs and awe from Amity.

"More like funny..."

"...looking!" Suddenly from the side of the doorframe of the barn, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon popped their heads into view, getting glares from the Crusaders, a confused and concerned look from Babs, and a yelp from Amity, the human scampering over to the Crusaders with some panic in her eyes.

"W-when did they show up?" Amity questioned, her nerves not calming down around the bullies.

"What is that thing, a giant orange?" Silver Spoon joked as she and her friend got closer, prompting her and Diamond to laugh.

"It's a pumpkin." Applebloom answered, giving their float a loving pat.

"More like a lame-kin." Diamond retorted, earning more laughs.

"...Is this the best they can come up with?" Amity thought, trying to connect the lame taunts to the newspaper plot.

"Who's the new blank flank?" Diamond questioned, Babs flinching with wide eyes as she used her tail to hide her flank.

"She's mah cousin, Babs. She's from Manehattan!" Applebloom answered.

"Manehattan, huh? Well, I guess you have that going for you." Diamond admitted, though there was still sarcasm.

"Suppose you're gonna join their little club? What's it called? The Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Silver spoon mocked. Babs looked at the two sides, her answer being what decides everything. But no one would see what came next as she blew her hair away.

"More like the Cutie Mark Crybabies!" She said with a sly grin, the shadows growing over her as she walked over.

"Hey!"

"Oooo, heh, big city attitude! I like it!" Diamond admitted, this time with actual respect, Silver Spoon nodding in agreement.

"Oh yeah? Well there's more where that came from! Check this out!" Babs continued, walking up to the float and kicking the front wheel off the axel, shocking the Crusaders.

"Oh no she didn't!" Scootaloo growled as the bullies and Babs laughed at them. Babs stopped however when the axel began to creak, and jumped out of the way when it snapped off, causing the float to roll away. After a couple bounces and rolls, it ended up breaking, sending debris all over the place. The Crusaders and Amity ran to the barn door in panic, seeing the float they worked so hard on destroyed, but the other three fillies laughed at the tragedy.

"Looks like somepony's pumpkin just got squashed!" Babs said cockily, earning more laughter from the other bullies.

"When ah tell Applejack–"

"You gonna tell Applejack what?" Applebloom began angrily, but Babs got into her face, intimidating her cousin.

"W-well, y'know, uh..."

"What're you, a snitch?" Babs doubled down, getting Applebloom and her friends to concede.

"Come on, Babs, you should hang with us!" Daimond Tiara offered. "Y'know, the cool ponies, not these babies!" Babs took her up on that offer, walking out of the barn with her and Silver Spoon. Once they were out of earshot, the four friends finally recollected themselves.

"What... just happened?"

"I think Babs just went to the dark side." Scootaloo answered Appleblooom, both shocked at what happened.

"We have to tell Applejack!" Sweetie Belle said, Amity nodding along.

"No! We're not snitches!" Applebloom denied.

"Yeah! And we're not babies! Scootaloo added, sitting like she was pouting.

"Then... why do I feel like crying?"

Later, Back at the CLubhouse

"I still can't believe she ruined our pumpkin float."

"I still can't believe I'm related to such a big stinkin' bully!"

After what happened, the four friends decided to return to the clubhouse and try and hide for a bit. As they were hiding, they were discussing what happened, and none of them were exactly happy.

"What are we gonna do?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"We're gonna build a new float, that's what!" Amity declared. "And it will be bigger, better, and flashier than ever before!"

"Why bother? She'll probably just ruin that one, too." Scootaloo shot down, getting a disappointed look from Amity.

"Well anyone else have a better plan?"

"We could always tell Applejack." Sweetie thought.

"That seems like a good idea." Amity agreed. The others didn't think so however.

"No!" As Sweetie groaned, Amity was confused.

"Why?"

"We're not gonna be a bunch of tattle-tales!" Applebloom answered, walking over to the window and closing it.

"And?" Amity retorted, crossing her arms as Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at her. "It's going to take more than a little name to say that telling someone is a bad idea if it means that justice is served!"

"What are you, an idol or a judge?" Scootaloo questioned.

"Because who knows what they'll do afterwards." Applebloom said worried as she continued to close doors and windows. "Besides, she's only here a couple of weeks. We'll just avoid her like the plague until she goes home."

"Avoid her. Yeah, how hard can that be?"

"Quite the cowardly act." Amity groaned, but she begrudgingly joined the plan. Later on, they decided to sneak out of the clubhouse to have a bit of fun and heading over to Sugar Cube Corner.

First, we thought that Babs was so really, really sweet
A new friend to have, and it seemed like such a treat

As they sang, they were having some milkshakes. Unfortunately, Babs burst through the door with a smug face, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon right behind her as they kicked them out and took their shakes.

But then, we found the truth; she's just a bully from the east
She went from Babs, yeah, to a bully and a beast

Everywhere we turn, she's just a step ahead

Babs Seed, Babs Seed, what we gonna do?
Got a bully on our tail
Gotta hide, we gotta bail
Babs Seed, Babs Seed, if she's after you
Gotta run, we gotta flee
Gotta hurry, don't you see?
Babs Seed, Babs Seed, she's just a bad, bad seed

Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

As they kept trying to hide from the bullies, Babs kept on appearing soon after to torment them, keeping the cycle going.

Hiding from a bully, we know it isn't right
But the Cutie Mark Crusaders, we aren't lookin' for a fight

Oh, she'll go home soon, and then we'll have some peace again
But for now, we're staying out of her way 'til then

Everywhere we turn, she's just a step ahead

Babs Seed, Babs Seed, what we gonna do?
Got a bully on our tail
Gotta hide, we gotta bail
Babs Seed, Babs Seed, if she's after you
Gotta run, we gotta flee
Gotta hurry, don't you see?

Why so mean? Why so crude?
Why so angry? Why so rude?
Can't you be nice? Can't we be friends?
Isn't it sad? Is this how it all ends?

Babs Seed, Babs Seed, she's just a bad, bad-
Babs Seed, Babs Seed, she's just a bad, bad-
Babs Seed, Babs Seed-

She's just a bad, bad seed!

Safe to say, their day ended up pretty bad to the point they were walking exhausted to the clubhouse.

"Babs may have run us out of town, but at least we still have the club–" Applebloom was trying to reason, but when they got there and looked up, the four friends went wide eyed at seeing none other than Babs Seen leaning on the railing.

"Hey! What're you doing at my clubhouse?" Babs questioned, confusing or angering the owners.

Y-y-your clubhouse?!" Scootaloo shouted angrily, getting a bit of air when she shouted. "This is our clubhouse!"

"Well, it was yours, and now it's mine." Babs explained cockily, grinning at them.

"And mine."

"And mine." Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara added, joining the Manehattan on the balcony.

"That's not fair, Babs! We never did anything to you!" Applebloom said sadly.

"And let's keep it that way. Now scram, crybabies!" Babs said with no remorse, kicking the ramp to the clubhouse up. The three bullies then huddled up for their little hoofshake.

"Bump, bump, sugar-lump, rump!" They cheered, laughing and entering the clubhouse. The Crusaders were all devastated, though Sweetie Belle was taking much worse as she teared up, resulting in a waterfall of tears. As she was crying though, Amity was conflicted.

The Next Day

Amity was sitting on the couch in the living room of the human household, taking some time for herself. She was conflicted over everything, but most importantly what Babs and Applebloom said about telling someone.

"Is it really that bad if someone else knows?" Amity wondered out loud.

"Who knows what?" Amity jumped at hearing a voice, turning to see Flint behind her a fair bit.

"H-how long have you been there!?"

"I just got here." Flint admitted. "You seem upset. Is something wrong?"

"I-its nothing!" Amity denied, trying to shoo Flint away. Flint was not convinced however.

"Miss Amity, it hasn't been that long since the school newspaper." Flint began. "I can tell that something is going on with the Crusaders." Amity began to panic and was about to explain to him- "But it doesn't look like you're fighting with them." Flint said what she was about to explain, so she sunk down. "It does however involve them. Does this have something to do with Applebloom's cousin?" Amity hesitated, trying to figure out what to say. She paused when Flint put a hand onto her shoulder. "It will be okay. Don't be afraid to call for help at times."

"R-really?"

"Of course." Flint reassured. "No matter who says otherwise. It's much better to tell those you trust than to let it fester into hatred. After all..." Flint's mood dropped slightly.

"Wait wait wait!!" Amity waived her hands to stop him, sweatdrops flying off her. "Please don't go there! I don't want you to feel sad!" Flint smiled, seeing how much Amity cared. "B-but I guess it does have to do with Babs..."

"Is something wrong with her? Is she not having fun here?"

"It's not that... but is Jasmine or Xavier here?"

"They shouldn't be. Jasmine is at the spa and Xavier's taking care of the harvest festival. Why?"

"Because they'd become scary if they knew Babs was being a bully with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon." Amity said.

"What?!" Flint immediately became concerned. "Are you and the girls okay?!"

"We're okay." Amity reassured. "We're not hurt or anything, but Babs is quite ruthless. She's basically driven us out of town and the clubhouse."

"I can't believe this..." Flint groaned. "You've only been here for a short time and you've been subjected to so much bullying. Forgive me."

"Hey, it's not your fault." Amity returned, sweat flying again. "But what should we do?" Flint brought a fist to his chin thinking.

"Maybe a second opinion is needed." Flint suggested. "Alex is in the house and he talks with Applejack quite a lot. Perhaps he knows something about Babs."

"We won't tell Xavier or Jasmine, right?"

"They might be scary, but they are only looking out for everyone." Flint comforted, thinking about how similar the two are.

"...Okay. Let's ask Alex." Flint nodded and went to fetch him. Some time later Amity told the athlete everything that happened with Babs and the others, Flint listening as well. Once she was finished, Alex looked confused instead of concerned however.

"That's... are ye sure we're talkin' 'bout the same Babs?" Alex wondered.

"That's not the reaction I would have expected from you." Flint admitted.

"Well how could ay not be confused?" Alex returned. "AJ said Babs wasn't a bully but bein' bullied herself."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. Apparently she was bein' bullied back in Manehattan fer her blank flank and was having trouble. So AJ invited her over ta Ponyville ta get a break of it all."

"Wait, if that's the case..." Amity began to think, symbols rising up as she thought. "Babs might've joined Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to protect herself from getting bullied like back home."

"Which means she might not really mean all of it." Flint concluded. "Though some of the things she did does rise some eyebrows."

"If what yer sayin' is true, she probably did all them to gain the approval of Diamond." Alex added. "You'd think that she'd wisen up after goin' face-ta-face ta 'full-rage' Xavier."

"But what should we do?" Amity asked. "Should we confront her about it?" Flint began to think about it.

"I think that would be the best course of action." Flint admitted. "She's worried that she would be alone again, but from what I understand, she does not have anyone in Manehatten to lean on for support. Here in Ponyville though, the Crusaders are there for her. If she knows that, we can get everypony to make amends and return to being friends."

"Sounds like a plan then." Alex agreed. "Ay hate ta see a girl fall down such a path, so ay'll help out in anyway ay can."

"In that case, could you find the Crusaders and tell them to meet with Babs tomorrow at the festival? That should be the best place to meet and have some fun as friends."

"Fun atta fair with good games an' food? Sounds like the perfect plan." Alex cheered as he went to the door. "Don' worry, gang! Leave this ta me!" As Alex left the house to get the Crusaders together, Flint put a hand onto Amity's shoulder.

"As for us, we'll look for Babs."

"She might be at the clubhouse!" Amity declared. "Let's look for her there to start." With a nod from Flint, the two went to Sweet Apple Acres to find Babs.

Some Time Later, Clubhouse

As the duo walked up to the clubhouse after their walk, they saw that the ramp was still up.

"Hmm, is she still inside?" Flint wondered.

"Hey! Babs!" Amity called out. "Get out here! We need to talk!"

"Whaddaya want!?" They heard Babs respond, still being rude. "Didn't you hear I ain't giving you this club-"

"Just get down here!" Amity shouted.

"Nice try." Babs refused. Amity growled with a tick mark on her head, annoyed at the filly. Everyone paused however when the ramp to the clubhouse fell down. The three bullies ran outside to see what happened, seeing that Flint was up the tree the ramp's rope was tied to, basically telling Babs and the other what was going on, though Babs shrank a bit seeing a guardian-type person, especially seeing how big Flint was.

"So you did tattle on us!" Tiara shouted, clearly irritated as Flint climbed down the tree, reaching for the plank that was a part of the ramp. Placing it, he climbed up carefully to reach the trio, his stature being quite imposing to them, Babs especially.

"W-what do you-?" Babs tried to question him, but she was grabbed and put under his arm like a log.

"Come on, Amity wants to talk to you." Flint stated, his face neutral as he turned to the others. "Stay here unless you want Xavier to know." The two flinched as Flint walked back to Amity as the two brought Babs somewhere private. Once they were alone, Flint put Babs down, who backed off.

"Didn't I warn you about telling somepony?!" Babs questioned, trying to sound tough. To Babs' surprise however, Amity knelt down to reach her level.

"Babs, tell me. Are you being bullied in Manehatten as well?" Amity asked with genuine concern. Babs however flinched.

"W-what!? Why would I-"

"You don't have to lie, Alex said you were invited to come here by Applejack because you needed a break from it." Amity explained, Babs' "tough guy" persona breaking down more.

"I... Um..."

"You joined Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in their bullying so you didn't get bullied yourself, right?." Amity, continued, wearing Babs down even more. "Babs, nopony's going to judge you here. We're all just concerned." Amity's concern finally broke through, the filly's eyes having some tears.

"I didn't want to go through it all again!" Babs finally admitted. "Nopony was ever on my side, how else could I avoid getting bullied-" Babs stopped when Amity hugged her.

"You had somepony on your side since you got here." Amity said. "Me, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were on your side since you arrived. Even then, there are ponies and people here that those two have no intention of making angry, so if they began bullying you, someone would find out. So please, why don't we start over?"

"Y-you'd want to start over?" Babs wondered, breaking off the hug.

"I mean, yeah. You're not doing this to be a bully, so we could become friends again." Amity said. "I'm sure the others would love that too."

"B-but I've caused so much trouble for you all! How can you be sure that they'd want to be my friends again?!"

"Don't worry, my friend Alex is telling them the situation. If you're up for it, we'll all meet up tomorrow at the harvest festival and have fun together." Babs looked into Amity's eyes for a moment, seeing that there was a light within them. After a bit, Babs gave a smile.

"Yeah... I guess that's a nice idea."

"Yay!" Amity shot up happily. "Don't worry, I promise that we'll have the best time there to make up for lost time!" Amity danced around for a bit, and as she did Flint walked up.

"Babs, know that you're scared of getting bullied, but life is much nicer when you have allies to stand by." Flint said. "Besides, it's better to make allies than enemies. Trust me on that." Babs watched Amity again, smiling and thinking, maybe things aren't all that bad.

The Next Day, Few minutes before the parade

"I can't believe I overslept!!!"

As the festival was going into full swing, almost everyone was there to watch the parade get going. All but one, and that was Amity who somehow ended up oversleeping. Now she was running over to the meetup spot, panicking.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up!?"

"Don't worry about waking me up tomorrow! It's a big day, so I'll be the one to wake up myself!"

"Oh, right..." Amity said embarrassed, growing a blush. Fortunately, she made it to the festival. And after a bit, she manadge to see Flint and Alex.

"Took ye's long enough, lass."

"Oh shut up!" Amity shot back, stomping the ground a few times. "Am I late?"

"You're just in time." Flint said. "There's only about a minute until the parade though."

"And where are the others?"

" Over there." Alex pointed.

"And did you-?"

"Yep. Told the Crusaders that ye suggested that all five of ye got together and ta give Babs the time o' her life." Alex explained. "The three said they would work on one hell o' a surprise fer Babs too."

"Great!" Amity gave a thumbs up. "You're not as thick-headed as I thought."

"Now that was uncalled for." Alex said grumpily as the three walked over. After a bit, they saw the Crusaders giggling to themselves.

"Hey girls!" Amity called out.

"Hey Amity." Applebloom greeted.

"So glad we could do this! So where's Babs?"

"On the surprise float we made." Scootaloo said, a lightly sinister grin on her.

"You three made a float that fast?" Flint asked.

"Yep."

"Amazing! I'm sure Babs'll have a great time!"

"Oh she will." Applebloom then pulled Amity over into a huddle. "In fact, we added a little surprise to the float."

"Surprise?" Amity wondered, a question mark appearing.

"Yeah." Scootaloo began. "We rigged the float to lose control!"

"An amazing pl- WAIT WHAT!?" Amity's excitement shifted into concern, an exclamation mark to confirm this.

"Yeah. It should crash around the ditch near the river-" Before Scootaloo could finish, Amity shot off running to find Babs and the float, but concerning everyone. It would be difficult though, as while the parade only started a few moments ago, Amity would have a hard time catching up to the one she wanted, let alone figuring out which one was the one Babs was in. The onlookers, once happily cheering, paused for a moment when they saw Amity running around the floats. Amity however kept looking. It was then she noticed a golden glint amongst the floats, seeing a golden apple when she got abetter look, and she realized that the girls must have made their float look flashier to attract Babs. This became her target, but unbeknownst to her, the river was coming up soon. A bit more running and Amity reached the float and did see Babs inside, but the river was at the next turn, and the timer was up. The float began to sway wildly, with Babs panicking alongside many ponies who were almost rammed by the float. It wasn't before long that it reached the river, and without any control it began to roll down the ditch, Amity a few steps behind.

"BABS!!!" Amity shouted, exhaustion hitting her. But she wouldn't stop. She finally reached the doorway into the apple, Babs panicking. Without thinking, Amity jumped inside and tackled Babs out of the float, just in time too as the float hit the water. The two tumbled a bit but managed to stay out of the water.

"Amity! Are you alright!?" Babs asked worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Amity comforted, her and Babs trying to get up. "AAAHHH!!" Try though, as Amity clutched her ankle. "NOPE! NOT FINE!"

"Babs! Amity!" Looking up, Babs saw Flint, Alex, and the Crusaders at the top of the ditch. "Are you two okay!?"

"I think Amity's hurt!" Babs called out.

"Shit." Alex flinched as he and Flint went down to meet the two. Once there, Flint went to look at Amity's ankle.

"Looks like she twisted it." Flint confirmed, taking a cloth out and tying it up. "Stay strong, kid. I'm going to carry you to the hospital." Flint did just that as he took her in a princess carry. "Alex, you get answers from the fillies please."

"Don' haffta tell me twice." Alex nodded. Flint also nodded as he took Amity away.

Some Time Later, Hospital

"How are you doing, Amity?"

"Better, at least."

With haste, Flint moved Amity over to the hospital for the doctors to look over her foot. It was a bit awkward since the doctors and nurses weren't used to human biology, but they managed to get the twisted ankle bandaged with instructions to help the healing process. Now Amity was sitting in a chair with Flint standing nearby.

"That's good. Now can you tell me what happened?"

"..." Amity was hesitant, as it involved her friends again. But looking at Flint, she thought back to what he said before. "...The Crusaders rigged the float to crash."

"They did what?!"

"I was shocked too." Amity admitted, blue lines under her eye. "But thinking back, maybe Alex though AJ told him to tell them that the five of us should get together. And they thought that this was the perfect opportunity to get back at her."

"Yeah... that does sound like them." Flint admitted. "Don't they know that two wrongs don't make a right?"

"Don't know..."

"I won't deny that you did what you did to protect a friend..." Flint began. "But next time, tell me before you run off. Then again, it's also my fault for not running after you when you did. I'm sorry." Flint bowed with his apology, but Amity became worried with sweatdrop flying.

"Don't apologize!"

"AMITY!" Suddenly, the door to the room burst open, Babs running in with tears in her eyes. "You're okay!" She jumped up to hug the human, the human returning the favor.

"Yeah, but I'm happier that you're okay."

"No thanks to us..." Looking up, Amity and Flint saw that the Crusaders were at the door with Alex behind them. And the three of them looked quite guilty.

"Alex filled us in." Scootaloo said.

"We didn't realize it was you who suggested the idea." Applebloom added.

"And because of that, Babs almost got hurt and you did." Sweetie Belle finished.

"We're sorry!" The three bowed, for both Amity and Babs. Before Amity could respond, Babs hopped down to meet the three.

"I'm sorry too." Babs apologized. "I was the one who started bullying you when you wanted to be my friends. I'm the one at fault."

"This incident could have been avoided entirely if you'd tell someone sooner." Flint said.

"That's what I kept saying!" Sweetie declared, the other two flinching.

"Ahahaha! Ye four are young, take it as a lesson." Alex chuckled.

"Now that everypony's on the same page..." Amity began. "Why don't we all start over. As friends."

"Yeah, can we?" Babs asked, holding her hoof out.

"Definitely."

"Yeah."

The Next Day, Clubhouse

Now that everyone was back together, they decided to finally initiate Babs into the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Now all five of them were in the clubhouse, the Crusaders in their capes and Amity in a chair resting her ankle. Now the ceremony was beginning, Scootaloo banging on a timpani, quite a lot though as it was basically an earthquake. With a final bop on the drum, Sweetie Belle began to read from a scroll.

"We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Babs Seed to join us as a sister, friend, confidaynte, alley, boss-om buddy, gal pal, compader, chum of chums..." As she read the paper though, she realized that there were quite a lot of synonyms for friend. It was to the point Scootaloo coughed to try and speed things up. "Well you wrote this."

"Oh, uh, yeah..."

"Homegirl... Amiga... Blah blah blah blah blah. Oh, yes, here. ...and fellow Cutie Mark Crusader! You are solemnly sworn in, here this day, in witness of your fellow sisters, friends, confidantes... boss-om buddies... compadres..."

"Congratulations! Gotta remember to revise that." Scootaloo cut off to speed everything up, saying the last part under her breath. As she did, she and the other Crusaders reached behind them and tossed a cape out to Babs, landing on her perfectly as they all laughed. Amity smiled on the sidelines, but was startled when a cloth hit her face. Taking it off, she saw that it was another cape. She looked at the others, and seeing their smiling faces said everything as she excitedly tied the cape around her neck. It was now official, she was a part of their team, and she would help them as much as she could.

Days Later

The five friends, now that their differences were settled, had plenty of fun hanging out around town. Sometimes trying different things for their cutie marks, sometimes meeting ponies and humans around town, and sometimes just having fun. But all things must come to an end, as Babs' time in Ponyville was close to ending. The girls however weren't sad, as they all were happy knowing that Babs had a goal. They were now all at the train station, hugging it out with Applejack nearby.

"So you promise you're gonna start our Manehattan branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, right?" Applebloom asked.

"Yeah, and I promise to keep talking to my big sis about the teasing back home." Babs promised, getting nods from her new friends.

"Good. And if you have any problems, we've got your back too, y'hear?" Applejack added, the others nodding.

"Yeah! We'll make sure they stop for good!" Amity said confidently, little sparkles floating around.

"So you're leaving huh?" The mood however damped when they heard the original bully call out, the other half right behind her. "Great! Now we're stuck here with these lame blank flanks." The Crusaders faces fell a bit, Amity and Applejack getting angry. However none of them saw what would happen next.

"Hey! That's not how you talk to my friends!" Babs shot back, using the attitude she used against the Crusaders against the bullies.

"F-friends?" Silver Spoon stuttered, not sure what was happening as Babs got closer/

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

"Well, what if I do? What are you gonna do about it?" Diamond Tiara tried to fight back. But Babs looked back at her friends, and gave a smug smile.

"Tell ol' Xavier about your bad attitudes!" She threatened, putting the fear of him into the two. WIth one final step and a lean in, the two fell of the station, falling into mud nearby. With those two dispatched, Babs went back over to her friends, giving them a high hoof as she boarded the train. As the train left the station, all of them waived back at each other happily.

"I'm sure gonna miss that bad seed." Sweetie Belle said, confusing Applejack.

"Bad seed? I thought y'all were friends now?"

"No, see, first we called her 'bad seed' as in actually a bad seed, but now she's bad as in good. Get it?"

"Yea... No." Applejacks stated, to getting it. The Crusaders laughed at her confusion, their bond even more solid than ever. It seems that they are stronger than ever with Amity on their side. Who knows what could happen next.