Now, one would imagine that, under normal circumstances, a pony would not be all that excited while merely waiting at a train station. To most, it was simply a means of getting from A to B. And yet, today, there was one small filly that looked positively ecstatic at the prospect of being on the Ponyville station today. Apple Bloom, who was hopping in one place with sheer excitement, kept darting her head left and right in anticipation of what she was expecting to happen today. Beside her was her older sister, Applejack, who couldn't help but look with amusement at her younger sibling's behaviour. And beside her was Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, who were also excited about today, though not to the same degree as Apple Bloom. The young earth pony filly craned her neck to look as far along the train tracks as possible, and kept looking there for a good long while, until, at long last, she broke out into a massive smile and pointed far away, prompting the others to see what she was looking at. Sure enough, there was the train, steaming into the station as quick as it could, before eventually slowing down upon its approach. There was a billow of steam as it stopped, and the three young fillies looked on with anticipation as the doors opened. They watched as pony after pony got off, but their eyes never left that door.

"Any minute now," Apple Bloom remarked.

And sure enough, her patience was rewarded. For the last pony to leave the train was a young earth pony filly, like herself, bearing a short red mane and a brownish-orange fur coat. In her mouth she held her luggage, but promptly dropped it on the platform as soon as she was off the train. This new filly looked around a little before catching sight of Apple Bloom and those with her, not like it was difficult to miss them with Apple Bloom frantically waving her over. Although hesitant at first, the filly soon picked up her belongings and walked over, where an overly-eager Apple Bloom took her hoof and shook it.

"Nice ta meet ya, cousin Babs!"

The filly, Babs, was clearly taken aback by this arm greeting, with her luggage falling out of her mouth again, but let out a nervous chuckle before responding.

"Uh...yeah. You're Apple Bloom, ain't ya?"

Apple Bloom nodded at that, paying no heed to her cousin's thick Manehattan accent, before turning to those with her and giving each of them a proper introduction.

"This ere's mah sister, Applejack! And these are mah best friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!"

Each of those three nodded in greeting towards Babs, giving warm smiles in an effort to make her feel welcome. As for Babs, she smiled, albeit in a small way, before turning back to Apple Bloom, who once more took her by the hoof.

"Y'all are gonna love Ponyville, Babs! Come on!"

Without a word, the young filly started pulling her cousin along, much to the latter's surprise, prompting a few giggles amongst their friends. And so it was that Babs was led all the way through Ponyville, past all of the usual sights that visitors got to see, from Sugar Cube Corer, to Carousel Boutique and even the Golden Oak Library. Eventually though, they made it to their destination; Sweet Apple Acres. Upon approaching the front door, Babs turned to see the other two members of the local Apple family, Granny Smith and Big Macintosh, who both waved in greeting as she entered their home, with her smiling and nodding in return. After some time, she had been led up to the house's spare room, complete with a comfortable-looking bed, where Apple Bloom showed her around with great enthusiasm.

"And this is where yer gonna be stayin! Any questions?"

Having been given a pretty whirlwind tour of the town, as well as her new accommodations, Babs was looking somewhat overwhelmed by the whole thing.

"Um...well...it's all looking pretty nice, cous."

Apple Bloom Smiled at that, still somewhat oblivious to the slight nervous tone her cousin had spoken those words in. Soon afterwards, after waiting for Babs to unpack her things, the young filly led her yet again, only this time the two of them left their house, with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo close behind them, and headed into the more wooded areas of Sweet Apple Acres. As for Babs, she seemed more than a little unsure about all this, but looked on with interest as her three new friends led her to a rather well-constructed treehouse in the middle of that woodland. Standing in front of it, the three fillies looked to her with rather prideful looks.

"And this ere's our clubhouse! It's where we meet up fer fun an stuff! Plus, it was our headquarters for our group," Apple Bloom commented.

The fillies looked to each other with sly smiles before speaking in unison, and quite loudly at that.

"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!"

Needless to say, Babs had to cover her ears after hearing that, lest the loudness make her go deaf. After letting that noise die down a bit, she looked to her three companions with some confusion.

"Er...cutie mark what?"

Sweetie giggled a little before stepping forward.

"Not long ago, all three of us had no cutie marks. But then, we got together and formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders! We worked with each other and..."

She looked away slightly, gaining a look of amorousness.

"...with a little help from my Spikey-Wikey..."

Then she looked back to Babs, with determination plastered all over her.

"...we all got our marks!"

With that, all three of them turned slightly, showing off their own marks, with Sweetie Belle's heart and musical note, Scootaloo's wheel and lighting bolt, and finally, Apple Bloom's apple and hammer. Although those three fillies couldn't help but feel proud, even now, at having their marks, they noted with some confusion that Babs had reacted in an entirely different way. She had turned away from them, using her short tail to cover up her own blank flank, while bearing a look of great discomfort. Given this, the three friends turned to each other, not entirely sure of how to react to this. After thinking it over for a while, Apple Bloom gained a look that made it clear that she'd just had an idea, and stepped forward. She looked to Babs, who only now was looking back to her, and gestured in a new direction, before starting to move that way. Although hesitant, a little urging from Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle soon caused her to follow. Shortly, afterwards, the four of them made it to the big red barn adjacent to the Apple family home, where Apple Bloom threw open its doors in a dramatic manner. After doing so, she ran in, with the other three close behind her, and revealed to Babs what was inside; a massive parade float, shaped like a big red apple. Standing beside it, she assumed the stance typically seen of a magician's assistant, as she presented the thing to her cousin.

"Ta-Da!"

While all three of the fillies looked to their creation with clear excitement, Babs looked on, yet again, with some confusion, prompting Scootaloo to start explaining things.

"There's this big parade in Ponyville soon, and we wanted to contribute. So Apple Bloom started making this beauty here, with a little help from the two of us."

Babs looked up, clearly impressed at this point that the three of them had made something like this. She approached it, looking the thing over, all while Apple Bloom and her friends watched, happy that their new friend was taking an interest in this. Unfortunately for all four of them, this moment was short-lived, as a pair of familiar, yet unwelcome voices now arrived on the scene.

"Well well well! We heard Ponyville got itself a new blank flank, but we had to come and see it for ourselves."

The four fillies turned, with the Crusaders gaining looks of annoyance as they saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon enter the barn, their eyes fixed on Babs. The latter looked on with some concern, positioning herself in such a way that her hind quarters were hidden. As for the other three fillies, they stepped forward, with Apple Bloom seeming quite irritated at the other two fillies' presence here.

"And what are y'all doin here?"

Diamond merely scoffed at that.

"Well, we heard there was a new arrival in Ponyville, all the way from Manehattan no less, so Silver and I figured we'd drop in and say hello."

Scootaloo frowned at that.

"Yeah right! You just wanna make fun of her!"

Silver rolled her eyes.

"Well duh! With you three having marks of your own now, who's left for me and Diamond to make fun of?"

Needless to say, this caused Babs to retreat somewhat, prompting the Crusaders to stand in front of her, defending her from this verbal attack. The Manehattan filly looked on, showing some surprise at the Crusaders' behaviour, especially when Diamond started talking again.

"You know, girls...since you're not blank flanks yourself anymore, you don't have to stick around somepony who is."

Apple Bloom snorted at that.

"And let the likes of y'all get to her? Not on our watch!"

Babs stood there in silence, watching as her three friends stood there and defended her in this manner, clearly shocked at that kind of behaviour. She turned, looking to Diamond and Silver, who at this point were looking to each other, silently debating whether or not it was worth sticking around at this point. In time, they clearly decided that it wasn't worth the effort, and simply huffed in that spoiled-rich-filly way that only they could do, before turning around and walking out. The Crusaders stayed where they were, waiting for their agitators to be gone completely, before looking back to Babs.

"Y'all okay there, cous?" Apple Bloom asked.

The Manehattan filly stayed silent for a while, before nodding her head slowly.

"Yeah...I guess. Thanks for saying what you said."

Scootaloo smiled and nodded at that.

"No problem! Those two used to pick on us all the time when we didn't have any marks. There's no way in Tartarus that we'd let them do that to somepony else."

Babs looked away after hearing that, instead looking to her own flank.

"You're...the only fillies with cutie marks that have ever helped me like that."

Hearing that, the Crusaders turned to each other, each bearing looks of confusion, before looking back to Babs. They studied her face, the clear discomfort and even some degree of unhappiness, and in an instant, they understood. After all, they had seen that look many times upon their own faces, back when they had been the target of ridicule for being blank flanks. In that moment, they understood. Understood Babs' quite manner, the way she covered her flank, the way she'd retreated almost instantly when Diamond and Silver had started saying what they'd said. They understood, and realised that her visit here was most likely for far more than just a getaway from the city. With realisation and understanding covering their faces, Apple Bloom stepped forward, placing a hoof upon her cousin's shoulder, and thus gaining her attention. Although silence persisted between the two fillies for a time, that ended when Apple Bloom put on a sympathetic smile and spoke softly.

"Cousin...if y'all wanna talk...we're here for ya."

Babs stood there in silence, seeing the truth in her cousin’s eyes, and looked to both of her friends, each of whom shared the same sentiment in her expression. The new filly paused for a moment, her breath catching at just how much these three were being nice to her, and even understanding her, before finally breaking out into a smile.

"Thanks...cousin."