"All right class, we've got a new student this year."
It had been a year since Saffron Mango had started school, and the teacher was announcing that a new student was attending this class - a unicorn filly. She was looking around nervously before speaking.
"Um... Hi. I'm Bon Jour," she announced quietly.
"Hi, Bon Jour," said the class in unison.
Saffron Mango noticed a mocking tone in the chorus. She recognized one of the voices as belonging to a school bully named Classic Rose. She came from a rich family who spoiled her, and her mother was president of the school board. That was likely why Classic Rose acted as if she could get away with anything. Saffron was bullied by her and her friend Tower Gray, and knew Bon Jour had become their new target.
"Now, go find your seat and we'll get started," said the teacher, and Bon Jour trotted up to an empty seat next to Saffron.
The lesson passed uneventfully and recess arrived soon enough. Bon Jour was making her way out into the schoolyard and Saffron stayed close to her. She felt something towards the unicorn, but thought of it as just wanting to protect her. As they were leaving the schoolhouse, Saffron introduced herself.
"Hey, name's Saffron Mango."
"Um, I'm Bon Jour," replied the filly, a little unsure why the pegasus was so forward.
"You nervous about your first day?" asked Saffron.
"A little," admitted Bon Jour, looking away.
"Don't worry. You'll be fine," assured Saffron. "As long as you don't cross paths with--"
"Well, well... Making friends already?" said a haughty voice from their side.
"...them," finished Saffron in a defeated tone. Bon Jour was visibly uncomfortable with the tone of voice used by Classic Rose.
"Although I must make a comment as to your taste in friends," mentioned Tower Gray, walking up to their other side. "It's, like, terribly poor."
"What's wrong with being her friend?" asked Bon Jour before she could help herself.
"What's wrong is that no one would want to be friends with a flightless pegasus like her," said Classic Rose. "I mean, can you imagine the shame?"
Saffron Mango was visibly fuming, but decided to move in the direction of an opening between the three. Bon Jour started to look concerned at Saffron, and after a moment started in the same direction.
The bullies took notice of this during their demeaning laughter, and Classic Rose stopped her by saying "Oh please, why would you be concerned for her well-being when her own parents would dump her? Face it, she's not worth anypony's time if she can't fly, whereas I have everything!"
Bon Jour's face was one of surprise, but slowly morphed into anger.
"What a mean thing to say!" she squeaked. "I'm sure her parents love her no matter what!" And with that she stormed off.
"Pfff. Whatever," mocked Tower Grey with a roll of her eyes. "If you wanna be in the loser club, go right ahead."
Saffron Mango trudged off to a spot behind the schoolhouse and just sat there. She was angry and was fighting to hide her tears. Despite being picked on for a year now, it had hardly gotten any easier to deal with. Not once did she mention anything about her mothers, yet for some reason the bullies said something about parents abandoning her once before. Saffron wondered if it was because one or both of their families were rich enough to get that kind of information.
"Hey, Saffron."
Saffron Mango was so into her steady plodding to nowhere she had not realized Bon Jour was not far behind and was now taking a seat next to her. Apart from glancing slightly at Bon Jour, Saffron did not show any interest.
"Have they been like this all the time?" ventured Bon Jour. The only response she got was a lowered head and frown. "Look, whatever they've said, I'm sure they're just trying to make themselves feel better."
Saffron Mango mumbled something along the lines of "They're not wrong..."
"What?" inquired Bon Jour.
Saffron stiffened for a split second. She told herself that she would never mention her family situation to anypony, making it seem like she had a normal life with a mother and a father. She was not sure if Bon Jour had not heard what she mumbled or if she was waiting on a clarification on what she had said. She decided to reveal her shortcoming instead.
"I... cannot fly."
"Well that's no reason not to be your friend," said Bon Jour. "And I'm sure you'll get there some day."
"It's just, most pegasi younger than me are able to fly with ease. Why is it so hard for me?"
"If it is any consolation, I find using magic to be pretty hard." To emphasize her point, Bon Jour strained herself in concentration and produced the tiniest bit of spark from her horn. Saffron Mango felt a little bit better that she was not the only one with a handicap. "My sister Porcelain says I'll get there eventually, but she doesn't have time to train me."
This last bit caught Saffron's interest. "Your sister? What about your parents?"
"My parents are barely around. They like to go traveling a lot and they leave me with my sister most of the time."
"My parents are hard working ponies so I barely get to see them myself."
"Looks like we got something in common."
For the rest of the day the two fillies stayed together and tried to keep their distance from the bullies as best as they could. When school ended, they watched as most classmates - including the bullies - were picked up by at least one older pony, whether it be a parent or sibling. The rest stayed behind in the playground waiting for their escort to finish their work and pick them up.
"Where's your sister?" asked Saffron Mango, expecting to see an older version of Bon Jour coming up the road.
"She is quite busy herself," replied Bon Jour. "She might be in the middle of making a fancy dress for somepony important."
"Sounds like a boring job," said Saffron.
"It's not that boring!" protested Bon Jour with a squeak. "I'd like to be just like her one day. Sewing some of the most beautiful dresses in all of Equestria."
Saffron Mango rolled her eyes slightly. She never understood the point behind ponies wearing clothes. She asked her mothers once about it and there was no single answer. Something about formality, showing off a status, showing which team or department a pony belonged to, or when it got really cold. While it did sound reasonable she still could not quite grasp the concept, except for being cold. Although why would ponies be cold in the middle of summer?
"What about you?" asked Bon Jour. "Isn't one of your parents going to come?"
"Nah. They don't get off work until sunset," said Saffron Mango. "I usually make my own way home."
"Oh." Bon Jour felt a little sad at that thought. She so wanted to accompany Saffron to her home, but she knew if she left without giving any advanced notice to her sister Porcelain, Porcelain would get mad and hysterical. They spent about an hour in the playground before a sophisticated voice called out Bon Jour's name.
"Oh, there she is. I'll see you tomorrow then," said Bon Jour to Saffron as she trotted off.
"There you are," called Porcelain. Despite both sharing the same white coat color, their manes and tails did not match. "So sorry for being late, darling. I was finishing off the touches to a very gaudy dress. The patterns this mare was asking for aren't exactly what I would call chic, although I must admit the colours she chose do have a certain charm about them."
"That's nice, Porcelain. I made a new friend," Bon Jour tried to interject.
"Yes, yes, very nice. I mean, I swear, why in all of Equestria does she not want a single straight line in her dress? The only thing symmetrical about that dress is where the legs go and how long it hangs!"
"There are also bullies at the school..."
"Yes, of course. Oh! I'm almost running out of the blue silk. I should probably buy some more on my way home. Wait, am I running out of cornflower blue or picton blue? I should probably get the whole set just in case..."
The monologue faded off as they got further away. Saffron Mango almost felt lucky she only had her mothers who cared deeply for her, even if they were not around all the time.
"We're home!"
"Mom! Mommy!" shouted Saffron Mango in delight as her mothers came in the door, running up to them.
"Well, aren't you chipper today," said Spray, giving Saffron a hug. "Had a good day at school?"
"Yeah. A new unicorn started at school today, and we became instant friends!" said Saffron.
"Well, good for you," said Japonica with a slight chuckle. Saffron did make some friends during her first year at school, but never had any of them made her this excited. It seemed to them as though she made a special connection with this new friend of hers. "Let's get dinner going and you can tell us all about your new friend."
Saffron Mango went off to help set the table, Spray went to the fridge to bring out some ingredients, and Japonica brought out the kitchen utensils in order to prepare said ingredients.
"I haven't seen her this happy for a long while," commented Spray.
"Sure is nice," said Japonica. "What are the chances she'll be asking to stay the night at her friend's place?"
Spray did a slight double take. "You really think it could come to that?"
"Well, sure. Just look at her." A thought suddenly crossed her mind and she gave a teasing smirk. "Are you afraid she's gotten herself a coltfriend?"
Spray chuckled as she sorted through the ingredients. That question did catch her by surprise, but she still managed to retort with a wink "Or a fillyfriend."
That got a laugh out of both of them. "Still, not to sound mean," said Japonica, as she chopped the food, "if she did spend the night at somepony else's it would mean less cooking for us."
"I may feel a little guilty for saying that. But it would be nice to just grab a cracker and head right for bed now and again."
During dinner Saffron Mango practically exhausted her mothers with the tale of her day at school, only mentioning the bullies once. The mothers were surprised to hear Saffron took the initiative in talking to the new unicorn filly and warning her about the bullies.
"Hey, you wouldn't mind if I hung out with her after school?"
The mothers stopped dead in their eating and exchanged looks with each other. Finishing off her bite and swallowing, Spray asked "Well, um, for how long were you thinking?"
"Well, I, uh, will be home in time for dinner," ventured Saffron, a little unsure if she had overstepped her bounds.
"Oh don't worry about that," said Japonica. "As long as you get homework done, you could even spend the night."
Spray gave a look as if to protest it was too soon to bring that up.
"Really? Thank you!" exclaimed Saffron.
"Just give us a heads up about it, please," said Spray.
"Sure thing!"
And so Saffron Mango spent more time with Bon Jour, anything from only a few hours after school to spending the night at Bon Jour's parents' place, and very few times at Porcelain's. There were a few times when Bon Jour asked to go to Saffron's place, and she managed to stay there for a while, but only once. She never got to meet the mothers.