A red ceramic bowl full of orange crackers sat on the living room table. The box they came in claimed they smiled back, but that would have required her to be smiling in the first place. Instead, Lyra frowned in distrust. There was something fishy about them. She poked one with her hoof.

“Oh, come on,” Bon Bon said. “Just try one. They’re not gonna kill you.”

“How do you know?” Lyra replied.

Bon Bon sighed. She reached over, scooped up a hoofful, and popped them in her mouth, giving a flaunt as if to say ‘I told you so.’

Lyra rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to see or hear any of it. There was something sinister behind those smiles. Anything excited to be eaten wasn’t trustworthy.

“You and your conspiracy theories...” Bon Bon sighed. “You need help.”

Lyra brushed off her friend’s remark. They were up to something. She was sure of it. World domination? Foalhood obesity? A bad tummy ache? They looked so innocent, but she knew better.

Bon Bon groaned. “For Celestia’s sake, just try one!” She shoved the bowl in Lyra’s face.

Eyes wide, Lyra reared back, falling out of her chair with a loud thump. “What’s wrong with you!? Are you trying to poison me!?”

Bon Bon set the bowl on the table and sighed into a facehoof. “Just eat one... please?”

Lyra sat up, giving Bon Bon a wary eye, then the bowl. The crackers smiled up at her as they had before. Eyes narrowed, she sniffed them carefully. A bit of cheese. A hint of salt. A tad burnt.

Cautiously, she picked one up, scrutinizing it. Satisfied with no outward dangers, she tossed it in her mouth and chewed with discrimination.

Allergic? Poisonous? Deadly? She swallowed the morsel.

Delicious.