Artist's description from DA:Babs' parents can't quite be considered deserters because neither of them were to be drafted but they still decided to pack up their belongings and move to their time share home in the Crystal Empire. Babs was disgusted by this and refused to go with them. It the first chance she had she ran away and made her way to Ponyville. Granny was surprised when Babs turned up but didn't make her go back. Neither of Babs' parents came to get her even though Granny told them where she was and that Ponyville was not as safe as the Crystal empire.
Babs wasn't entirely up to speed with farm work and it took some getting used to but when she did she, much alike Applebloom, hit a huge growth spurt. She didn't grow nearly as tall as AB but she was much thicker with muscle than the others. She's got the body of a boxer and will kick your flank in hoof to hoof combat. She got that scratch mark scar across her face when defending Pumpkin and Pound Cake from a Griffon soldier.
She used her street and tech savvy smarts to help build a security system around town and a telegraph machine for emergencies after the phone lines went down.
She acquired her cutie mark when she finally stood up to the bully at her school, but not for her sake. She saw them picking on a filly who couldn't have been much older than five. That was the line for Babs. The plucky eleven year old ran at the bully and beat them to a pulp. It's a blue shield with grey rectangles across the top and three apple seeds along the bottom.