"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.
She announced quietly, "Um. Hi. I'm Bon Joor."
"Hi, Bon Joor," said the class in unison.
Saffron Mango noticed a mocking tone in the chorus.
She recognized 1 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 Joor had become there new target.
The teacher said, "Now, go find your seat and we'll get started."
Bon Joor trotted up to an empty seat next to Saffron.
The lesson passed uneventfully and recess arrived soon enough.
Bon Joor 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."
The filly replied, "Um, I'm Bon Joor."
She was a little unsure why the pegasus was so forward.
Saffron asked, "You nervous about your first day?"
Bon Joor admitted she was a little nervous.
Saffron assured her, "Don't worry. You'll be fine. As long as you don't cross paths with."
"Well well... Making friends already," said a haughty voice from there side.
"Them." finished Saffron in a defeated tone.
Bon Joor was visibly uncomfortable with the tone of voice used by Classic Rose.
Tower Gray walked up to there other side and said, "Although I must make a comment as to your taste in friends. It's, like, terribly poor."
Before she could help herself, Bon Joor asked, "What's wrong with being her friend?"
Classic Rose said, "What's wrong is that no one would want to be friends with a flightless pegasus like her. I mean, can you imagine the shame?"
Saffron Mango was visibly fuming, but decided to move in the direction of an opening between the 3.
Bon Joor started to look concerned at Saffron, and after a moment started in the same direction.
The bullies took notice of this during there 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 any-pony's time if she can't fly, whereas, eye, have everything!"
Bon Joors face was 1 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.
Tower Grey rolled her eyes and said, "Puff. Whatever. If you wanna be in the loser club, go right ahead."
Saffron Mango trudged off to a spot behind the schoolhouse and just satt 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 1 or both of there 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 Joor was not far behind, and was now taking a seat next to her.
Apart from glancing slightly at Bon Joor, Saffron did not show any interest.
Bon Joor ventured, "Have they been like this all the time?"
The only response she got was a lowered head and frown.
Bon Joor continued, "Look, whatever they've said, I'm sure there just trying to make themselves feel better."
Saffron Mango mumbled something along the lines of, "There not wrong..."
"What?" inquired Bon Joor.
Saffron stiffened for a split second.
She told herself that she would never mention her family situation to any-pony, making it seem like she had a normal life with a mother and a father.
Saffron was not sure if Bon Joor had not heard what she mumbled, or if she was waiting on a clarification on what she had said.
Saffron decided to reveal her shortcoming instead.
"I... cannot fly."
Bon Joor said, "Well that's no reason not to be your friend. And I'm sure you'll get there some day."
Saffron Mango said, "It's just. Most pega-sigh younger than me are able to fly with ease. Why is it so hard for me?"
Bon Joor said, "If it is any consolation, I find using magic to be pretty hard."
To emphasize her point, Bon Joor 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 1 with a handicap.
Bon Joor continued, "My sister Porcelain says I'll get there eventually, but she doesn't have time to train me."
This last bit caught Saffrons interest.
"Your sister? What about your parents?"
Bon Joor said, "My parents are barely around. They like to go traveling a lot and they leave me with my sister most of the time."
Saffron Mango said, "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 2 fillies stayed together and tried to keep there 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 1 older pony, whether it be a parent or sibling.
The rest stayed behind in the playground waiting for there escort to finish there work and pick them up.
Saffron Mango asked "Where's your sister?"
She was expecting to see an older version of Bon Joor coming up the road.
Bon Joor replied, "She is quite busy herself. She might be in the middle of making a fancy dress for some-pony important."
Saffron said, "Sounds like a boring job."
Bon Joor protested, "It's not that boring! I'd like to be just like her 1 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?
Bon Joor asked, "What about you? Isn't 1 of your parents going to come?"
Saffron said, "Nah. They don't get off work until sunset. I usually make my own way home."
"Oh." Bon Joor 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 Joors name.
As Bon Joor trotted off, she said to Saffron, "Oh, there she is. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"There you are," called Porcelain.
Despite both sharing the same white coat color, there 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."
Bon Joor tried to interject, "That's nice, Porcelain. I made a new friend."
Porcelain continued, "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!"
Bon Joor tried again to say, "There are also bullies at the school."
Porcelain just kept going, "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.
Later that day...
"We're home!"
"Mom! Mommy!" shouted Saffron Mango in delight as her mothers came in the door, running up to them.
Spray gave Saffron a hug and said, "Well aren't you chipper today. Had a good day at school?"
Saffron said, "Yeah. A new unicorn started at school today, and we became instant friends!"
Japonica chuckled slightly and said "Well, good for you."
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.
Japonica said, "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.
Spray said, "I haven't seen her this happy for a long while."
Japonica said, "Sure is nice. 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?"
Japonica said, "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 colt-friend?"
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 filly-friend."
That got a laugh out of both of them.
Japonica said, "Still, not to sound mean, if she did spend the night at some-pony else's it would mean less cooking for us."
Spray said, "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.
Saffron then blurted, "Hey, you wouldn't mind if I hung out with her after school?"
The mothers stopped dead in there eating and exchanged looks with each other.
Finishing off her bite and swallowing, Spray asked, "Well, um, for how long were you thinking?"
Saffron was a little unsure if she had overstepped her bounds. She said, "Well, I, uh. Will be home in time for dinner."
Japonica said, "Oh don't worry about that. 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.
Saffron exclaimed, "Really? Thank you!"
Spray said, "Just give us a heads up about it, please."
"Sure thing!"
And so Saffron Mango spent more time with Bon Joor, anything from only a few hours after school, to spending the night at Bon Joors parents place, and very few times at Porcelain's.
There were a few times when Bon Joor asked to go to Saffrons place, and she managed to stay there for a while, but only once.
She never got to meet the mothers.