Babs Seed

Babs Seed is a school-age Earth pony. She is Apple Bloom's cousin from Manehattan, and speaks with a heavy Bronx accent. She is one of a handful of school-aged ponies without a cutie mark, and is an official member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She is likewise the founder of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' Manehattan branch. Her name is a play on words of the idiom "bad seed", which denotes an individual, usually a family member, who behaves rudely and often brings misfortune to others.

Development
On November 27, 2012, Cindy Morrow, the writer of the episodes One Bad Apple and Apple Family Reunion, was asked, "Please tell me we will see Babs seed again in a future episode/season I mean she's the 4th CMC for ponys [sic] sake! & adorable" and replied, "We will see Babs seed again in a future episode/season I mean she's the 4th CMC for ponys [sic] sake! & adorable. Good enough?"

On November 29, 2012, Cindy Morrow was asked if Babs is Aunt and Uncle Orange's daughter and replied, "not that I know of?"

At the San Diego Comic Convention on July 20, 2013, Jayson Thiessen was asked if there will be more appearances of her in Season 4. He replied "No."

Depiction in the series
Babs Seed is introduced in the episode One Bad Apple. She arrives at the Ponyville train station, where Apple Bloom introduces her to the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, who then show her their clubhouse and their giant pumpkin float for the Summer Harvest Parade. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon arrive shortly after and berate Babs for not having a cutie mark, which she seems self-conscious about. Babs often covers her blank flank with her short tail at the mention of a cutie-mark. Ultimately, Babs makes fun of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, wrecks their float, and joins Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Diamond Tiara commends Babs' "big city attitude".

Babs then spends much of her time tormenting the Crusaders, who are scared of being "snitches" if they tell Applejack. In the song "Babs Seed", Babs chases and bullies the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who are doing their best to avoid her. Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Babs sleeps in Apple Bloom's bed, forcing her cousin to sleep on a bed of hay with a newspaper blanket. She even kicks the Cutie Mark Crusaders out of their clubhouse, turning it into a hangout for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. The Crusaders resolve to get revenge, and secretly rebuild the float the night before the Summer Harvest Parade. On the day of the parade, Babs is successfully lured onto the booby-trapped float and begins to ride it down the street. The Crusaders are horrified to find out from Applejack that Babs was bullied in Manehattan for not having her cutie mark, which is why Babs herself turned to bullying to avoid becoming a victim again. After Babs is rescued from the sabotaged float, the four make amends, and Babs joins the Cutie Mark Crusaders, becoming the official fourth member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. At the train station, she tells Applejack that she will talk to her older sister about the bullying when she gets back to Manehattan. Babs also promises to start the Manehattan branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Before boarding the train, she stands up to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon when they start teasing the Crusaders again and manages to effectively subdue them, which Sweetie Belle says makes her a true "Bad Seed" (in a good way).

Babs makes her second appearance in Apple Family Reunion. Apple Bloom is overjoyed that she RSVP'd for the reunion, and the two greet each other warmly upon her arrival. The two start up a conversation about Babs' new school, but Applejack interrupts by having them compete in an obstacle course of her own design. They try during each leg of the course to talk (during which it's learned that Babs has followed through on her initiative to try and recruit foals for the Manehattan branch of the Crusaders) but the effort to keep up in the activities leaves them unable to get many words in edgewise. After the race, they try to talk in private only for Applejack to lead them to the hay ride, during which Babs expresses admiration at seeing real fruit bats for the first time. After the barn gets wrecked from the bat fiasco, Babs helps with raising the new one and, like the whole family, takes part in the picture. As the relatives start to depart back home, she and Apple Bloom both express excitement about the next family reunion, though both agree that they ought to meet up way before then, and the two bid each other a warm farewell.

Depiction in the comics
In the IDW comics, Babs Seed appears on page 12 of and is shown on cover A of. A human counterpart of Babs appears in IDW's My Little Pony Annual 2013.

Promotional material
On November 21, 2012, GetGlue released a virtual sticker depicting Babs Seed with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, which was available for a limited time.

Personality
When first introduced, Babs is very shy and meek, and to avoid being bullied, she acts mean and aggressively to Apple Bloom and her friends. After being saved by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who abort their chance at retaliation, she reverts back to her kind ways and is forgiven. She even protects them from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's bullying. She has a habit of blowing her mane out of her eyes, and previously had a habit of covering her flank with her tail when reminded of her lack of a cutie mark.

Quotes
"Looks like somepony's pumpkin just got squashed!"

- One Bad Apple

"See ya later, Cutie Mark Crybabies!"

- One Bad Apple

"Hey! That's not how you talk to my friends!"

- One Bad Apple

"What am I, gonna miss out on spendin' time with my favorite cousin? Forget about it!"

- Apple Family Reunion


 * Apple Bloom: I can't wait for the next reunion!
 * Babs Seed: Me neither!
 * Apple Bloom: I mean, obviously we have to get together before then!
 * Babs Seed: [chuckles] Obviously.
 * — Apple Family Reunion

"Heya, cuz! How y'been? Sunny an' me have been lookin' forward to meetin' you."

- My Little Pony October 2013 annual