“I don’t wanna go!”

Tasty Delight wiggled her brown-furred leg, attempting to break free of the filly clamped around it. “Bonnie, please... you’re making a scene...”

Bon Bon looked up at her mother with pleading blue eyes. “Please don’t make me go!” she begged. “I wanna stay home with you and daddy!”

The blue-maned mare knelt down to match her daughter’s height. “Oh, Bonnie, there’s no need to worry! I promise you; kindergarten is going to be a lot of fun. See, look!” She pointed to a group of fillies a few yards away, playing and laughing. “There’s a bunch of foals here, all your age! You’re gonna get along great!”

The filly sniffled. “Really?”

“Really. I’m sure that by the end of the day, you’ll be the most popular pony in school. Now, are you ready to be a good little filly and let mommy drop you off?”

“I guess,” Bon Bon sighed.

“Great!” Tasty Delight cheered. “Now, let’s go. You don’t want to be late on your first day, do you?”

The two walked calmly down the road leading to the school house, Bon Bon pouting the entire way. “You keep frowning like that,” Tasty scolded, “and your face is going to stay that way.” Bon Bon immediately stopped and switched to staring at her own hooves. She ignored the many ponies running around, laughing, screaming.

‘Kindergarten is too noisy.’

After a minute, they arrived at the large red building that was the schoolhouse. A few teachers were out front, greeting ponies of all ages as they came. Tasty Delight took Bon Bon to an older yellow earth mare with a full brown mane. Upon noticing them, the mare immediately shot Bon Bon a gaze. The filly resisted the urge to clamp onto her mother’s leg again.

“Hello, Mrs. Sharpener!” Tasty called. “How are you today?”

“Fine,” the pony newly introduced as Mrs. Sharpener answered. “And yourself?”

“Great, great. Bon Bon here is really excited for her first day of school!”

With a start, Bon Bon suddenly realized that both mares were staring at her. She squeaked and hid behind her mother.

Tasty laughed nervously. “Oh, she’s just a bit shy. Come on, Bonnie, there’s no need to be nervous. Mrs. Sharpener is a friend!”

Bon Bon peeked her head out. “Hi,” she murmured.

Mrs. Sharpener gave a warm smile. “Hello there, Bon Bon! I’m Miss Sharpener, your teacher! You’re going to have a great time here, I promise. Okay?” Bon Bon nodded. “Wonderful! Now, Miss Delight, you can leave little Bon Bon with me. I’ll make sure she gets where she needs to go.”

Tasty Delight smiled. “Of course.” She leaned down to her daughter. “Have a great day, Bonnie. Give mommy a kiss before she goes?”

Bon Bon looked at her mother for what may as well have been the last time, before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I love you, mommy.”

“Love you too, Bonnie.”

Bon Bon gazed around the room. Her eyes lingered on the new ponies, the new surroundings, even the new smells. Where was Mrs. Sharpener? Was she doing what she was supposed to be doing? Was she...kindergartening right?

The classroom was nearly three times as big as her bedroom, and the walls were covered with different posters, most of which had rules or reminders on them. There were supplies and crafts on the shelves. She sat at one of six wide tables, accompanied by three other vacant seats. At the very front of the room was a big desk, which was piled high with papers. Behind it was a chalkboard.

A few other foals sat around fiddling with the papers on the tables. Most were coloring. One black colt seemed to be priming a paper airplane for takeoff, straight toward a table of fillies. As more foals entered in a steady stream, Bon Bon held an internal debate over whether she wanted somepony to sit next to her or not.

Alas, after a few minutes, the seats adjacent to her filled. To her right was a pure-white unicorn with a deep-purple mane. She seemed to regard her stool with disgust, like it was covered in mud.

To her left, was a deep-mulberry earth mare with purple-and-gray hair. She smiled widely, and began organizing everything on the table. At that particular moment, there were only blank papers and a few markers, but nevertheless, she straightened them out.

After a minute, Mrs. Sharpener trotted back into the room, a light grin on her face. The teacher grabbed a piece of chalk in her mouth, turned to the board, and in complex mouthwriting, wrote: “Mrs. Sharpener.”

She turned back. "Hello there, students!" she called. Nopony answered. "I said, hello!"

"Hello?" a few ponies called out.

Mrs. Sharpener nodded. "Good! We're going to practice saying that every morning, alright?" Most of the class nodded in response. "Good! Now, we're going to play a little game. It's called The Name Game! Does anypony not know how to play? Come on, there's no need to be—"

Every foal in the class raised a hoof.

"—shy. Well, that’s no problem! Here’s what we’re going to do: we’re going to go around the class. When we get to you, please say your name, and something you like!” Mrs. Sharpener walked over to the leftmost desk in the room and smiled at a bright-pink filly with an equally bright yellow mane. “We’ll start here!”

The filly’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, um... my name is Starlight, and... I like, um... playing with toys?”

Mrs. Sharpener chuckled. “Excellent! I’ll be sure to remember that.”

The game traveled across the room, from right to left. After Starlight was caught off-guard, everypony made sure that they were prepared before speaking. Excluding a small argument between three fillies over who liked flowers the most, it went remarkably well. The colt who had thrown the paper airplane, a pegasus named Thunderlane, ended up being the only boy in the class.

"My name is Derpy Hooves!" a gray pegasus yelled. Her golden eyes shot off in two different directions, sending chills down Bon Bon's spine. "I really like snack time, because snack time means muffins! And I love muffins, even more than bubbles!" Three pegasus fillies at the table next to Bon Bon started laughing. One of them, white with a green-and-pink mane, made a weird face and rolled her eyes around, just sparking another fit of laughter. Mrs. Sharpener shushed them.

Next were the pegasus fillies who had laughed. The one with the multicolored mane grimaced. “My name is Blossomforth, and I like to fly, I guess?”

Next were two lilac fillies with icy-blue manes. Bon Bon figured they must be twins. “My name is Cloudchaser,” the first said in a monotone. Her mane was spiky and wild, like she hadn’t even bothered to brush it in the morning. “I guess I like to fly too?”

“My name is Flitter,” the other twin added. Her hair was smoother, and had a pink bow on top. She smiled. “I like manestyling.” The other two glared at her. “I mean, uh, I like flying... I guess.” She tried to look bored.

The last pony at their table was a turquoise unicorn with a white-and-mint mane. She looked around the class for a moment before grinning, standing up, and yelling: “My name is Lyra, and I love music!” She sat down, a smug look on her face.

Almost immediately, the three pegasi burst into laughter. Blossomforth nearly fell out of her seat. As Cloudchaser giggled incessantly, Flitter leaned over and whispered into the unicorn's ear. Lyra’s smile immediately turned to a growl, as she glared at the fillies, her golden eyes afire. The reaction just made them laugh even harder.

“Girls, please! Be respectful!” Mrs. Sharpener scolded. “That’s wonderful, Lyra. I’m sure you’ll love our music classes.”

The next table was Bon Bon’s. The white unicorn lifted her nose high into the air. “My name is Rarity Belle,” she said, “but you may call me Rarity. I enjoy designing dresses.”

The mulberry filly across from her looked right at Mrs. Sharpener and beamed. “Hi! My name is Cheerilee, and I love making my little baby brother smile!”

Now, everypony was looking at Bon Bon. The filly’s pupils narrowed. “Oh, uhm...m-my name is, is...Bon Bon...” she whispered.

“What was that?” Mrs. Sharpener asked. “There’s no need to be shy! We’d love to hear your name!”

Bon Bon swallowed and sat up. “My name is Bon Bon,” she answered. “And I like... um... ooh, I love candy!”

Blossomforth snorted. The other two pegasi looked at her strangely. However, after the white filly leaned over to them and whispered into their ears, they too began to wear the same devilish looks.

Bon Bon looked down at the table and tried to ignore the snickering.

“Great!” Mrs. Sharpener said. “Well, now that we’re all acquainted, let’s get started! Now, first off... how many of you know how to read?”

Only Cheerilee and Rarity raised their hooves. Bon Bon began to raise her hoof; her father had taught her how to read over the summer. But she didn’t want to attract any more negative attention to herself than she already had, so she kept it down.

A frown flickered over Mrs. Sharpener’s face. It was going to be a long year.

“Hm... that should go... there.”

Bon Bon moved a rectangular block over a few inches.

“Good. Now, that square should fit in right...there!”

Bon Bon picked up the wooden square and pushed it into the middle of her—well, Rarity’s—structure. It wobbled a bit, but stayed strong.

Rarity marveled at the wooden block castle she had designed. “Oh, it’s marvelous! Don’t you think so?’

“Uhm...” Bon Bon stammered, staring at it. “It’s nice.”

“Nice? Well, what does that mean?”

“Oh, uh, nothing! I mean, I like it! I really like it!” Bon Bon insisted.

The white filly eyed her partner for a moment before smiling and nodding. “Of course you like it!” she said. “After all, you are a mare of taste!”

The cream-colored filly beamed. "Thank you!"

She was glad she had picked the blocks as the area to spend her free time. The various foals were scattered around the classroom, exploring and utilizing the new toys and objects. There were only three stations that had really interested Bon Bon: the play-dough, drawing, and blocks. But the three fillies from before were over at the play-dough, so that activity was out. And the filly that had called herself Derpy Hooves was over by all the paper and markers and eating glue, so that was out, too.

Bon Bon wondered where the loud unicorn from before had gone. Was she with the pegasi? She had been sitting at the same table as they. Maybe they were actually friends?

As Rarity began to plan the final stages of their fortress, Bon Bon took a nervous glance across the room to where the play-dough was. Mrs. Sharpener, Applejack and Starlight were there, but no pegasi. Where had they gone?

"Hey there, fatty!"

Both Rarity and Bon Bon turned around. Worry shot through Bon Bon as Blossomforth walked closer, flanked by Cloudchaser and Flitter.

Rarity gave the three an incredulous look. “Excuse me? Do you know to whom you are speaking?”

Blossomforth rolled her eyes. “We’re not talking to you, mule!”

The unicorn gasped before gritting her teeth. Her face went red for a second. “I am not—” she began, but stopped short. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her nose high in the air and began to walk away. “My mother says that fillies like you are not worth my time. Good day.”

Bon Bon wanted to ask her to stay, but the filly had already left. She looked back at the bullies. “Y-You... d-do you mean me?”

Cloudchaser laughed. "Duh! I mean, look at you!"

Bon Bon looked down at herself. When she sat on her rump, her haunches did jut out a bit. And her auntie had always said that she had the "cutest chubby cheeks." But she had certainly never thought of herself as fat.

"I'm... no, I'm not."

"Uh, yeah, you are!" Flitter stated. "I mean, your favorite thing in the entire world is candy? Faaaaatty!"

"I'm n-not," Bon Bon insisted, retreating a little bit. "Stop it..." Every step she took backward, the three fillies matched. It was only a matter of seconds before she had backed up right into her block castle, sending it tumbling downwards. Bon Bon jumped. "Oh, no!"

Blossomforth guffawed. "Look! She's so big, she's knocking everything down!"

With a small whimper, Bon Bon began to cry.

"Awwww!" all three fillies mocked. "She's crying!" Blossomforth continued. "Aww, does little baby need some candy?"

"Leave her alone!"

Bon Bon looked up. Standing behind her tormentors, was a fuming Lyra. "Stop being mean to her!" she yelped. "She didn't do anything to you!"

Her protests just made the fillies laugh more. "Oh, look!" Flitter called. "It's spaz!"

"Don't call me that!" Lyra growled. "Or else I'll—"

"Spaaaaazzz..." Blossomforth interjected, walking over to the unicorn. "Spaz, spaz, spa-"

Faster than Bon Bon had ever seen a filly move before, Lyra proceeded to grab Blossomforth, and chomp down on her leg.

"Ai-yeeeee!" the white filly squealed. "Get her off! Get her off!"

Bon Bon stared in abject fear, not knowing what to do. Part of her cursed her mother for sending her to this warzone.

The twins looked at each other, then back to the scene unfolding before them. “Mrs. Sharpener!” Flitter yelled. Cloudchaser sprinted forward, and forced the two apart. Lyra ran over to Bon Bon, and Blossomforth just stared at her leg, which now had a large bite mark on it.

“Oh!” she moaned. “I’m dying! I’m dying!”

“Come on!” Cloudchaser offered, grabbing her friend. “Let’s get out of here! That filly is crazy!” They ran off.

“Yeah, you better run!” Lyra spat. She turned to the filly on the ground, and offered a hoof. “Hi! I’m Lyra! You’re Bon Bon, right?”

Bon Bon blinked. “Y-You just... bit her!”

“Yeah, but she deserved it! Besides, it’s not like I broke skin or anything. She’s just being a crybaby,” she explained. Bon Bon looked down at the ground, still shaking. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Are... are you going to bite me too?”

Lyra looked offended. “What? No! You’re cool!”

“...I am?”

“Yeah! You have a really pretty mane, and who doesn’t like candy? And, we both don’t like Blossomforth and those twins! Friends like us have to stick together!” She offered her hoof again. “Right?”

Bon Bon considered the hoof carefully. She didn’t know why, but Lyra didn’t seem like a bad pony. Even if she had just tried to take a chunk out of another foal. The earth filly took Lyra’s leg in hers and lifted herself up.

“Thanks,” she said, wiping her eyes. “So... we’re friends?”

Lyra grinned widely. “Yep!”

“Lyra!”

Both fillies winced, one more than the other. Mrs. Sharpener was trotting up to the duo quickly, a stern look on her face. The three bullies were trailing close behind her, Blossomforth sobbing loudly every few seconds.

“Come here!” the teacher ordered.

“Aww!” Lyra complained. She shot Bon Bon a mischievous look. “Meet me after school, okay?”

Bon Bon opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She resorted to nodding.

“Young filly, we do not bite other ponies!” Mrs. Sharpener told Lyra. “Now, come with me; you are getting a timeout!” The yellow mare escorted Lyra away from everypony else.

Blossomforth, Cloudchaser and Flitter glared at Bon Bon for a moment before turning up their noses and trotting away.

“Mommy, look what I made!”

“Oh, that’s great, sweetie!”

“Hey, dad, I love school!”

“That’s great, kiddo!”

Bon Bon sat outside the schoolhouse, waiting for both Lyra, who hadn’t come back all day, and her mother. It was only noon, as the kindergarten class only lasted a half day. The pegasus trio hadn’t said a word to Bon Bon since the incident, instead preferring to shoot her dirty looks from across the room.

A few minutes after the last few ponies had trailed out of the schoolhouse, Lyra cantered into the schoolyard, followed by Mrs. Sharpener. The unicorn’s face seemed to light up when she saw her new friend, and she would have galloped right over, had her teacher not stopped her.

“Now, Lyra,” Bon Bon overheard Mrs. Sharpener say, “I trust that you’ve learned your lesson?”

“Yes, Mrs. Sharpener," Lyra recited.

“Can you tell me why we don’t bite other ponies, even if we don’t like them?”

“Because it hurts them, and it can make ponies sick, and we should use our words when somepony does something we don’t like, not our teeth.”

Mrs. Sharpener smiled. “Good! Now, run along. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Lyra smirked and ran over to Bon Bon. “Hey, you waited for me!” she remarked.

“Well... yeah,” Bon Bon replied. “You asked me to.”

“Yeah, but, uh... ponies don’t usually do things when I ask them to. They just think I’m weird,” Lyra admitted, kicking the ground. “You don’t think I’m weird, right?”

Bon Bon hesitated for a moment before saying: “No. I think you’re nice, and brave, and funny. And we’re friends, right? So of course I’ll do what you ask!”

Lyra gaped for a few seconds. Her face then proceeded to explode into the biggest grin Bon Bon had ever seen. She giggled excitedly. “You and me are gonna be fast friends,” the unicorn cheered.

“Bonnie, hey!”

Bon Bon turned to see Tasty Delight trotting up quickly. “Mommy!” she squealed, running up to the brown mare.

Tasty Delight caught her daughter and gave her a tight hug. “Oh, Bonnie, how was school? I missed you.”

“It was great! I have a new friend!”

“Oh? Who?”

Bon Bon turned and pointed at Lyra, who was blushing a bit. “This is Lyra! We’re friends now.”

Lyra smiled. “Hi, Bon Bon’s Mom.”

“Hello there, Lyra! Nice to meet you. I’m assuming you’re both in the same class?”

“Yep!” both fillies chirped. “Hey, Bon Bon’s Mom?” Lyra began. “Can Bon Bon come over to my house for a playdate? We didn’t get to do much during school.”

Tasty Delight beamed. “Well, of course she can! But first, where do you live, Lyra?”

Lyra thought hard for a moment. “Uh... 322 Clydesdale Street, I think.”

“Really?” Tasty asked, astonished. “Because, if that’s the case, you and Bon Bon live only about a block away from each other!”

The fillies glowed. Lyra grabbed Bon Bon’s shoulder and squeaked: “We’re neighbors!” Bon Bon nodded enthusiastically.

“Well,” Tasty began, “I suppose we should wait for your parents to pick you up before we leave, Lyra. We don’t want them worrying about you.”

“Nah, my parents let me walk home on my own,” Lyra answered.

Bon Bon gasped excitedly. “Mommy, can I—”

“No, Bonnie,” Tasty answered, shooting her daughter down. Before the filly could protest, she started again. “Well, in any case, why don’t I walk you home? We live so close together, after all.”

Both fillies began to walk in line with the older mare, happily recounting the events of the day. At the same time, they made a silent agreement not to mention Lyra’s biting another pony.