A Clone Gargoyle's Equestrian Tale

Royal Lessons: One Bad Apple

S3 E4 everypony! Magic Duel is up next!

Malibu had woken up early in the morning around 9:30 by Applebloom's stressed out sounds from her room. Confused at what was going on he decided to check it out.

"What to wear, what to wear?!" He heard Applebloom yelp out, seemingly sorting through her clothes, which made him wonder why when they normally don't wear clothes too often.

"Applebloom, are you ok?" He asked while Applejack also peeked in, looking rather irritated. Before Applebloom replied AJ spoke. "Scoot your boot, Applebloom! It's not like it's the Harvest Day Parade! We're just goin' to the train station!"

Malibu couldn't help but laugh when watching the little filly trying too hard to find the perfect outfit but knew inside though that something is stressing her out. "Is it because of your cousin?" He asked, for a while ago he learned about Babs Seed coming to Ponyville for a visit from Manehattan, looking forward to meeting more Apple relatives.

Applebloom nodded. "This is my first time meetin' her, and she's from Manehattan! I gotta make a good impression!" She said while still trying to figure out the outfit. Applejack glared. "You know what would make a good impression?"

"What?" Applebloom asked. "Bein' on time to pick her up!" Applejack replied sarcastically, beginning to drag her to the door. Malibu was about to follow until Applebloom was back to finding an outfit, making him roll his eyes slightly. She really was stressed. But he never had any cousins before, so Malibu never knew what it was like to feel like this.

Applejack then smiled in assurance. "You got nothin' to worry about, Sugarcube. Y'all are gonna get along great. You already got somethin' in common."

Her sister now wore a snorkel and mask. "Oh yeah? What's that?" She asked. Malibu himself also knew about Babs Seed from what Applejack told him about. "No cutie mark?" He then asked, gesturing to his own.

Applebloom now gasped aloud, throwing off her outfit. "What?! How could you guys forget to tell me somethin' like that?"

Applejack's ears lowered a little. "Well, I—."

"Oh, this changes everything! Meet you both at the train station! I'm gonna go tell Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!" Applebloom called out, though leaving the room a big mess.

Applejack glared around. "You know your cousin is supposed to sleep in here!" She yelled, starting to pick up. Malibu helped with his alicorn magic so they could get to the station faster, still nervous about meeting Babs himself.

"Will she like me?" Malibu asked Applejack from his nerves while they walked to the station. Applejack smiled. "I'm sure she will. Her family probably told her all about you from the time you and Twilight were here for the family reunion, which is comin' up again soon."

Malibu smiled at that, excited at the opportunity to actually really participate in it, once they arrived, they saw the cmcs already there, bouncing around in excitement. "You think she'll wanna join?" Scootaloo pondered.

AB looked pretty enthusiastic. "She doesn't have her cutie mark. Of course she'll wanna join the cutie mark crusaders!"

"I sure hope so," Malibu then said, Sweetie Belle jumping a couple inches in the air. "I'm just so excited I could burst!" Malibu felt his heart melt when seeing a small burst of magic from her horn, though he pondered how come Sweetie Belle never used her magic so much yet, maybe because she was still so young.

That was when the train whistle came from the tracks, Malibu's ears perked up from the sound, feeling nervous now about actually meeting Babs. Applebloom looked through each window, trying to find her. "That's her! No, that's not her. Oh, oh that's her! Um, no. Oh, wait, tha— that's not her either uh..."