Unexpected Connections

The maple colored earth pony could see the Ponyville train station approaching. The filly gulped and blew her red mane out of her lime green eyes. Three familiar forms came into her line of sight and she ducked below the window nervously, trembling a bit. She was suddenly thrown into the back of the seat in front of her as the train pulled to a rather abrupt stop. She pulled herself free and with a deep breath, grabbed her suitcase and walked out the door. In an instant she was assaulted by three other fillies, one clinging to her back leg, one on her back and one clinging to her face.

"Hi Babs!"
"How's Manehattan?"
"Ah've missed ya so much!"

Babs Seed grinned beneath the white filly plastered to her face. "I'm doing good guys, but I kinda need ya t' get off." She grinned and the three fillies clambered off, this time settling for normal hugs. She smiled, her worries forgotten as she attempted to wrap her hooves around her fellow Crusaders.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo got off the Manehattan pony and beamed at her. "We sure have missed ya Babs." Apple Bloom stepped towards her cousin and held out her hoof. After a moment's hesitation, a another hoof tapped it and they smiled at each other, eyes twinkling.

Babs frowned and looked at the ground. "I came ta apologize properly. I still feel really bad about what happened last month, so I thought I'd come and we could do some crusading together! I'll be here for a couple weeks." She admitted, looking up at her friends with hopeful eyes. She squealed as once again she was brought in by six hooves and then she found herself on their backs as they carried her.

Scootaloo tilted her head to look up at the surprised red maned filly. "Babs, we forgave you a month ago. Come on, I have crusading ideas!" The three fillies started galloping with a very scared Babs clinging to Sweetie Belle for dear life.

~~~

"Are you sure about this cousin?"

Babs stood in front of the big red building, trembling with nerves. She turned to Apple Bloom and gulped. "I don't really wanna be anywhere near Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, I don't wanna be bullied again." She shuddered slightly and tried backing away, only to be stopped by Scootaloo's rather hard head.

Babs was unceremoniously shoved into the building, despite her pleas to go back to farm and hide. She was instantly set upon by fillies, colts and two mary sues.

Diamond Tiara openly sneered. "Well if it isn't Blank Seed. Had the nerve to show your face in Ponyville again huh?" She called loudly, a malicious grin on her annoyingly snooty face. She jumped from her chair and strut towards the maple colored earth pony. "Are you gonna defend your friends again? Because I can just tell my daddy about you pushing me into the mud." She threatened, putting a hoof the the Manehattanite's chest.

Babs drew back slightly, swishing her tail to cover her blank flank. She then stormed forwards, towering over the pink filly and giving her a glare worthy of Fluttershy's stare. "Listen up, Tiara. You go cry ta daddy if you wanna, but then I'm gonna tell him my side'a da story too. You leave me an' my pals alone, or your dad's gonna hear about it. You got that?" She retorted. glaring down the irritating tiara bearer until she was on her belly and trembling under her menacing shadow.

Silver Spoon stomped over, opening her mouth to defend her friend. She was cut off and backed into a wall as Babs rounded on her, eyes full of rage.

The green eyed filly let out a snarl. "If you insult my friends I'm gonna get really mad. Leave. Them. Alone." She walked away from the cowering filly and took a seat next to a whipped cream colored filly with a poofy red mane. She saw the two bullies sit beside each other in the second row and the Crusaders sat on her other side.

Sweetie Belle leaned over and tapped Babs on the shoulder. "That's our friend Twist. Her birthday is today and we're gonna surprise her by giving her her own membership to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, even though she already has one. She has a speaking problem and gets bullied a lot, so I think she'd like to make a new friend." She whispered, her pale green eyes sparkling.

Babs nodded. She leaned back and looked over at Twist. She smiled shyly and leaned towards the glasses wearing filly. "Hi." She greeted nervously.

Twist turned and looked at Babs, adjusting her glasses with a hoof. "Hi! I'm Twist! Nice to meet you. What's your name?" She asked, trying to keep her voice from going off. She smiled brightly at the red maned filly.

Babs smiled. "I'm Babs Seed. I know that you're Twist, Apple Bloom told me 'bout you. Don't try to change your voice, I won't bully you." She reassured, resting a hoof on the pale pony's back. "You seem really nice, say what's your special talent? It looks really cool." She said, spotting the crossed peppermint sticks on the filly's flank.

Twist blushed slightly. "Alright. Well my sthpecial talent is making peppermint sthticksth. Nice ta meet you Babsth." She said, accidentally spraying some spittle on Babs. She started blushing harder. "I'm so sthorry! Pleasthe don't hate me." She flinched away when Babs raised a hoof, but looked back up when she just placed a friendly hoof on her shoulder.

Babs wiped the drops of saliva off her face with a hoof and gently rested the other on Twist's shoulder. "Hey don't worry 'bout it." She reassured kindly, giving her a warm smile. "Mistakes happen, I don't mind." She added, acid green eyes full of warmth. She gave the small filly a playful bop on the foreleg. "I've never tried peppermint sticks, what are they like?" She asked, rather curious.

The strawberry maned filly blushed a bit and smiled wide. "I can sthhow you after sthchool if you want! My housthe isn't too far from here, I can sthhow you how to make them!" She squeaked, bouncing a bit in her seat.

"Alright my little ponies, time to get started!"

The delicate sing song voice called as Cheerilee stepped in. She smiled brightly, green eyes shining as she sat down at her desk. "Alright class, today we have a new student. She's going to be staying here for a couple weeks, everypony welcome Babs Seed!" She gestured towards the freckled filly, who stood up nervously as she was assaulted with greetings.

"Hi Babs! My name's Archer!"
"Nice to meet you, I'm Lemon Daze!"
"'Sup, I'm Snips and this is Snails!"
"Why is it called a flea market if there aren't any fleas?"

Babs was sliding loyer and lower into her seat, trying to escape the bombardment of cheery voices. Cheerilee calling for the class came to her rescue, though she was already cowering under her desk. Some coaxing from her friends brought her back out, though she was blushing furiously. She gulped as the teacher started teaching and she listened attentively, scribbling down notes on the little notepad and pencil that had been provided for her.

~~~

Babs's ears perked as the bell rang. She left her stuff on the desk for tomorrow and looked over at her friends, who were waiting. She turned to find Twist, but saw nothing where the filly once sat. She turned back to the Crusaders and smiled. "Twist said she'd show me how to make her peppermint sticks, it's her special talent. She's such a nice pony." She exclaimed, smiling even brighter.

Apple Bloom nodded. "Ah was friends with her before ah met Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Don't get me wrong, we're still friends but we're not as close as we used to be. That's why we want to invite her into the Crusaders, we want to surprise her and make her happy. She's gone through a lot of bullying and we want her to know she still has friends." The bow wearing filly explained, her smile fading as she mentioned the bullying.

Scootaloo was staring off into the distance. "I wonder where that filly went?" She mused, scanning the field for the glasses wearing filly. Something caught her attention and she gasped loudly, pointing with a hoof. "Gals! Look!"

At the swing set were pink and grey figures, standing over a small beige and red circle. They were easily identified as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but why was Twist over there?

"Babs what's-" Sweetie Belle turned to look at Babs but the maple colored earth pony was long gone, racing towards the three fillies. As she neared, her eyes started blazing with rage as the words became clear;

"Loser!"
"Stupid!"
"Nopony loves you."
"You're so ugly that ponies' eyes burn when they look at you!"
"Not to mention your stupid voice. What's wrong with you?"
"My glasses are much better than yours. Ugh, purple? Disgusting."

Babs saw a pair of violet glasses slide towards her and she leaped over them, skidding to a halt in between Twist and the bullies. She could hear quiet sobs from the creamy pony behind her, who was curled into a ball and crying into her hooves. She started advancing on the bullies, her chest puffed out as she made herself taller. "Leave her alone!" She snapped, glaring down at them.

Silver Spoon drew herself up to Babs's level. "You're not gonna scare us again! Just go back to Manehattan loser." She retorted.

Diamond Tiara joined her friend. "Yeah! Stop blinding us with your shining blank flank and leave!" Her voice was harsh and the two mary sues started backing Babs up.

Babs's tail swished to cover her flank as she was backed up. Recovering from the shock of the moment, she ground her teeth together and stood her ground. "Both o' you are jerks! Stop bullying others just ta make yourselves feel better. I learned my lesson 'bout bullying when I was your friend and I know that you only do it so that you don't feel bad about your useless talents!" She hollered, stomping her hoof as she snorted like a bull.

Silver Spoon visibly flinched and drew away, tears in her eyes. Diamond Tiara saw this and turned on Babs, her eyes filling with menace. "Beat it Babs. Nopony here likes you, when they look at you they want to barf. You're a good for nothing waste of space and nopony cares about your feelings!" Her voice pounded against Babs's ears and the filly drew back, whimpering.

Silver Spoon got back up and shoved the Manehattanite with a hoof. "When you get your cutie mark it should be a picture of that dumb mailmare Derpy Hooves, since you're stupid! You're a loser and nopony likes blank flanks. Just look at the Crusaders, they have no friends." She sneered.

Babs crouched down, eyes full of tears. "Stop it." She begged, the dam cracking as tears started rolling down her face. Her tail was hiding her lack of cutie mark as she backed away, turning to discover that Twist had fled in tears.

Diamond Tiara brightened as they hit her sore spot. An evil grin spread across her face and she looked at her friend, who had very much the same smirk on her grey face. The purple and white maned filly turned back to the cowering weakling and leaned down, pushing her face against Babs's. "Is the little baby scared? Do everypony a favour and go-" She cut off as something orange barrelled into her and a very angry Scootaloo held her down with a hoof, wings flared threateningly.

Scootaloo's eyes were livid with rage. Her face was twisted in an angry glare and her hoof was pressed rather hard on Tiara's ribcage. "You better back off or I swear you're gonna end up stuck in a tree. You got that?" She snarled, lifting her hoof and giving the earth pony a smouldering look that if looks could kill, she would've exploded. The pink filly back pedalled from the furious pegasus, but found herself circled by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with Silver Spoon pressed against her in her haste to get away.

Apple Bloom stormed up to them, eyes burning. If they thought Scootaloo looked angry, then Apple Bloom looked positively ferocious. Compared to her, Scootaloo looked like a small foal throwing a tantrum. She was beside herself with anger to the point where her mane was smoking and her coat was steaming. "Ya better apologize to Babs or ah swear yer gonna wake up hogtied!" She hollered, eyes starting to turn red.

Now most ponies would be afraid of this. Indeed, the two were terrified. But being scared can make you do stupid things. Silver Spoon is a very prime example of this;

"Nopony cares, take your hissy fit and your lame cousin and beat it!"

Silence.

Apple Bloom froze. Her eyes narrowed and turned red, her coat faded to a burning white and her mane burst into flames, her bow turning to ash in an instant. She advanced on the ignorant silver maned filly, literally blazing with rage.

"YA BETTER APOLOGIZE OR AH'M GONNA KICK YER SORRY FLANKS!"

Her voice was like thunder and the five other fillies covered their ears as they trembled in fear of the normally gentle pony. Diamond Tiara took the chance to book it, dragging a very dazed Silver Spoon with her. Apple Bloom tried chasing after them, but was stopped as a certain little unicorn tackled her to the ground.

Sweetie Belle threw herself on top of the burning filly and pinning her the ground. "Calm down Bloom! Let them go, they're just cowards!" She begged, sighing in relief as the earth pony underneath her turned back to pale yellow and her mane resumed a slightly charred strawberry red.

Scootaloo was comforting a sobbing Babs. She ran her hoof soothingly down the trembling filly's back. "It's ok Babs... She's just doing it to make you feel bad... None of it's true." She reassured, her eyes still blazing with anger. "When I get my hooves on them I'm gonna make sure they go home with black eyes, broken glasses and that stupid good-for-nothing wearing that tiara as a dress." She spat, venom in her voice.

Babs lifted her head, eyes red and puffy. "T-They were bullying Twist and I-I tried to stop them but they started bullying me." She whimpered, tears still leaking from her eyes. She returned to sobbing into her hooves until the tears ran dry and she was crying with no tears left to spill. After a couple minutes she lifted her head again to look at Apple Bloom, who was quite literally smoking. "Thanks guys." She sniffed, managing to get to her hooves and hug her cousin.

Apple Bloom smiled and hugged her back, the smoke rising from her turning to thin wisps of steam. "No problem Babs. That's what family's for." She whispered, running her hoof down her cousin's back. "We'll teach 'em a lesson. Don't worry." She added, her face still holding the cold glare. "Ah'll kill 'em for ya." She vowed.

Scootaloo picked up the pale glasses. "They must've knocked Twist's glasses off, the jerks. Come on, let's return them to her." She said, pointing her hoof at a tree which had a cream colored filly beside it. They saw a pale grey colt moving towards it and Sweetie Belle suddenly exclaimed, "I have an idea!"

Twist was curled up beside the tree, crying. Something tapped her lightly on the shoulder and she looked up, sniffing her tears away. There was a tubby grey colt standing there, his eyes sympathetic as he sat down next to her, wrapping his front hooves around her in a hug. He ran a hoof through her mane. "It's ok Twist, I'm here." He soothed.

Twist buried her head in his chest, sobbing. "T-They told me nopony likesth me." She cried, feeling her tears dry out. Her hooves wrapped around the grey colt and she whimpered, looking up at him. "You like me, don't you Truffle?" She asked, eyes full of sadness.

Truffle Shuffle smiled. "Of course I like you Twist. If I didn't like you than why would I be here trying to cheer you up?" He pulled her back into the hug and and she snuggled against his chest, a small smile creeping it's way onto her face. Something tapped the black maned colt on the front leg and he turned his head to see Sweetie Belle holding the glasses out to him. "Give them to her, Scootaloo found them." She whispered in his ear before trotting off, leaving the two foals alone.

Twist looked up again and noticed something purple in his hooves. Her vision was all blurry so she couldn't make it out. "What'sth that Truffle?" She asked. It was placed on her face and suddenly her vision focused and cleared so that she could see properly. "My glassthes! Thanksth Sthhuffle!" She beamed, wrapping her hooves around him even harder.

Truffle was positively beaming, despite the fact that he could barely breathe. He decided not to tell her that it was the Crusaders who had found them and instead let her hug him, his eyes full of happiness. "Happy Birthday Twist." He murmured, giving her a friendly kiss on the forehead.