It was past noon, Celestia's sun beginning its descent. Though it was Springtime, the day had been unusually hot and humid... to the point that most of Ponyville had stayed in doors.

At the Acres, Apple Bloom and Babs were excited to finally be outside. As evening approached it began to cool off. Fireflies were out, lighting up the estate... yet, surprisingly, neither filly wanted to play.

As they ran from the farm house, laughing and shouting, the voice of Big Macintosh bellowed their names from across the orchard. They took off in his direction, marveling at the incandescent glow above the trees. Their speed changed to a gallop after they noticed the gray mailmare taking off from his side into the skies above. It became a race to get to him first... a race which Apple Bloom won. They stopped in front of him and caught their breath, looking up to the red farm pony who was smiling down at them both. He passed Apple Bloom a package no larger than her own hoof, along with a saddle bag full of tools. He then nodded his head:

"Ee-yup!"

The fillies knew what this package was about. Both thanked him quickly, then trotted towards the barn with a single goal in mind... one they'd been looking forward to for days.

"Ah can't believe it took us all week just to get one stinking wheel!" Exclaimed Apple Bloom at the lead.

"I know, Cuz," Babs replied, blowing the lock of mane out of her eyes. "But look on the bright side... at least we got it before I go back, right?"

The yellow filly sighed:

"I know... but now we only got a few hours if we wanna do it together!"

"Heh. Don't remind me." Babs smiled awkwardly. "Besides, I think they ordered it a couple days late on account of something might be goin' on around here..."

Apple Bloom opened the door, motioning her cousin inside:

"What makes you say that?"

The filly simply shrugged as she entered:

"I dunno, Apple Bloom. I just got a feeling... think I saw Apple Jack cryin' a couple of days ago while hugging Granny Smith. I'm not too sure what I saw, though, 'cause she was all sniffly... Granny Smith said hay fever's gettin' the better of her."

"That's funny... Apple Jack doesn't have allergies. Babs, Ah don't know what you're talkin' about!"

As Apple Bloom entered and shut the door, her cousin's answer echoed throughout the barn:

"Dunno what to tell you!"

Once inside, the two fillies looked at their project. Gleaming in the faint light was the red scooter. Apple Bloom approached, taking out the new wheel and a few tools. She turned on her brother's flashlight and set it on nearby a bench, focusing its beam on their project:

"First thing's first. We gotta get this old wheel off..."

Babs stood a few yards away, feeling a tad uneasy remembering all that had happened a week earlier on account of her and that darn scooter. Even at a distance she felt too close and tried to look away. As she looked towards the exit, her eyes passed over her flank. The new cutie mark she'd gotten from (as far as she was concerned) beating the tar out of Scootaloo shone brightly even in the dim light. The city filly took a deep breath, knowing it would do little good... she couldn't help feeling sick. Turning back to AB, she faked a smile.

Apple Bloom was attempting to unscrew the bolt on the wheel, but found in to be frozen up. She tried with all her might, yet it wouldn't budge. She looked back at Babs:

"Say, you're strong! Can I get some help?"

"Sure Cuz!" Feigning confidence to the best of her ability, Babs approached.

"'kay..." Apple Bloom said, handing over the wrench. "Just turn this to the left, while I hold here, and it should come right out!"

Babs crouched, looking over at the wheel and up at Apple Bloom... The farm filly had to stand awfully close to help.

"Mind standing back a bit, Cuz? You're making me nervous!"

"Uh... okay. Ah don't think you're gunna be able to unscrew that without using both hooves, though..."

As her cousin backed up, Babs grabbed hold of the scooter's frame with one hoof and the wrench with the other. Because the wheel was so badly crushed, it could no longer turn. Apple Bloom watched as, with a tiny bit of effort, Babs managed to turn the bolt and remove it with just a few twists.

"Wow, you are strong!"

The city filly blew the lock of mane out of her eyes:

"Ain't nothin' to it."

"Ya wanna let me in there so Ah can take a look now?"

Babs smiled up at her cousin:

"Nah. You tell me what to do. This is kinda fun!"

"Uh, okay. Well, first we gotta..."

Babs and Apple Bloom went to work fixing up the scooter. It wasn't too terribly difficult a task, and with Big Mac's high quality tools, it was going to be a breeze... or so it seemed.

The yellow filly watched as Babs wrestled with the bent wheel, attempting to pry it off the frame:

"Babs, you're not pushing that the right way! It's not gunna come off unless you first-"

"Let me figure it out, Cuz," replied the city filly without looking up. "Ain't gunna see what I'm doing wrong if you keep talkin' to me."

"But Babs, Ah-"

Babs looked up and narrowed her eyes:

"I said lemme figure it out..."

Apple Bloom put up her hooves and sighed. She watched as her cousin continued to struggle with broken the scooter, getting increasingly annoyed by the second:

"Gahh... Do it yer own way."

AB sat with her forelegs crossed as her cousin looked over the scooter again and again, attempting to turn the bent wheel every which way. As if being stuck in the role of bystander wasn't enough, the next step was so easy it was driving the farm filly crazy... but her understanding nature got the better of her. She could see Babs was new to this and just not very good at it yet. Babs had strength on her side, though... quite a bit of strength. The wheel came free eventually, but not because Babs did anything right... it happened because of her strength. While trying to pry the wheel off, she torqued it from the frame and popped one of the rings holding its ball bearings clean out. Since the ring was warped in the crash, the bearings spilled to the ground. With nothing holding the wheel in place anymore... it fell right off.

"Wow! Did I just break it?" She asked.

"Naw, you're fine." Apple Bloom said, approaching. "Here. Lemme help you-"

The city filly shot AB a familiar look which caused her blood to freeze. It was the same cruel look Babs had back when she was hanging around with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon almost a year before. Apple Bloom knew to back off:

"I'll just stay over here then..."

Babs chuckled:

"Heh. You're finally learning to keep outta my mane... aren't ya, Cuz?"

Apple Bloom said nothing.

Everything the city filly needed was right next to her as she occasionally asked for some of Apple Bloom's vague and disinterested instructions. The farm filly stayed at least 6 feet away while her cousin worked, only giving hints was asked... peering when she saw a lot of straining or heard a frustrated grunt.

"We're set for the wheel now, aren't we?" Babs asked, grabbing it before her cousin even answered.

"Well, yeah... but there's one thing you gotta know about the axle."

"I'll figure it out... I just need that wrench." Babs motioned towards Big Mac's utility bag which had gradually been pushed further and further over because of all the moving they'd been doing.

"Babs, if you'd just..."

"It's just a wheel, Apple Bloom. I think I know what I'm doin'. Now give me that wrench!"

"If you'd just listen, Ah could..."

Babs finally turned towards her cousin, her eyes wide as they'd been during the worst of her bullying:

"Blah, blah, blah... you're a regular chatter box, you know? I don't wanna hear it, Cuz, I want that wrench!"

"Okay," Apple Bloom slowly walked forward a few feet, picked up the wrench from the bag in her teeth and tossed it to her cousin. "Here."

"Thanks."

Apple Bloom didn't hear her cousin at this point. A tiny, white hot flame was burning at the base of her pony skull... she wanted to slug Babs very badly, but knew better. The city filly could easily tear her apart, and the only martial arts she knew were from the movies. She was wondering if she should tell Apple Jack what was going on, when suddenly Babs exclaimed, with a huge smile:

"I did it! I did it all by myself, wouldn't you know?"

She held up Scootaloo's ride with both hooves, like fixing it was some great accomplishment... a task which would have taken Apple Bloom ten minutes or less took over an hour. Babs had actually managed to figure the axle out herself, too... not that Apple Bloom cared. The yellow filly did her best to force a smile, but wanted more than anything to be out of the barn by this point:

"That's wonderful, Babs. Now how 'bout we try it out?"

The city filly smiled at her cousin and set the scooter on the ground, putting together the loose materials and tools:

"That's a great idea!" She ran up to her cousin and gave her a hug. "Thanks much for your help, Cuz!"

"Don't mention it..." Apple Bloom said, through her teeth.

Babs and Apple Bloom went to work picking up the rest of the mess they'd made in the barn. At first Apple Bloom kept her head down, avoiding eye-contact with her cousin... but her anger subsided after just a few short minutes.

By the time the fillies were out of the barn, playfully fighting over the scooter, they were talking about what they were going to after their joy ride. Babs was back to herself again at the drop of a hat, and Apple Bloom just wanted to let it go. The farm filly was aware something had happened in their barn, but... she'd grown to realize from her time not talking to Scootaloo that holding grudges was a waste of energy. Babs never realized she'd been acting like a bully again... and was quick to forget about the entire hour once she was on the scooter, with AB holding on behind her, laughing.

The fillies were happy again.

Author's Notes:

I profess little to no knowledge of how to fix a vintage-esque scooter. The problem of a wheel being crushed into an oval is more likely to happen with a bicycle.

That said, I spent a long time editing this particular chapter. Origionally, this was all just a couple of paragraphs. I hope I made it pretty clear without having to explicitly say why Babs went back to the dark side for a bit.