Sisstet sat, waiting for Candy to exit out of the building. Behind him, a few lingering foals played on the school playground equipment, with their parents watching. He was not the only one waiting. Silver Spoon and Twist sat talking with Cheese's mother, Autumn Fire's parents, Principal Doo, and another mare that Cheese had identified as his Aunt Marble. The mean old mare, Spoiled Rich, had hurried out of the building minutes before, giving everyone dirty looks as she passed by, but the Apple clan had yet to emerge.
"What's taking so long?" Autumn Fire grumbled. He was sitting to Sisstet's right, and his tail was lashing back and forth on the dry ground, making a little cloud. Every once and awhile, Sisstet was sure that actual smoke came off it, instead of just a cloud of stirred up dust.
"Do you think they told her that she had to stay in the school there all summer?" Cheese asked from Sisstet's left in a worried tone, voice cracking.
"No," Autumn replied quickly. "They said she wasn't getting punished."
Cheese chewed on his lip. "But they said that she'd still get punished by the principal and the teacher. Maybe that's the punishment they were talking about."
Autumn pointed a hoof behind them. "Miss Silver Spoon and Principal Doo are right back there, and they're waiting too. They aren't keeping her in there. She's just taking forever. It's been like hours."
Sisstet turned to him and blinked. "It has only been a few minutess." He corrected his friend.
Autumn crossed his forelegs over his chest. "Well, it feels like hours."
The kirin's tail flicked even more violently. It struck Sisstet's, singeing him. The burst of pain made Sisstet dive forward, immediately raise his head high, baring his fans, and let off a long menacing hiss. Both Autumn and Cheese fell backward and crawled away on their backs in terror.
"Sisstet, no!"
The fear-filled sound of Silver Spoon's voice snapped him out of his burst of rage. He saw his friends staring at him with wide eyes while they shivered, and he immediately cowered back down upon himself. Autumn and Cheese's parents came rushing over to check on their foals while giving him angry and distrusting looks.
Autumn Fire was the first to shake off his fright and pushed his mother's hooves away. "I'm fine, Mom. It's my fault. I think I burned Sisstet by accident."
"Are you sure?" Autumn's mother fussed as she looked him over. "I want to know if you're completely sure, or halfway sure, or a quarter sure. Did you scrape anything or sprain your tail? I had a terrible tail sprain once, and I didn't think it was a big deal at first, but then when—"
"Um, I'm completely sure, Mom," Autumn answered before his mother could go on a long tangent. "I'm not hurt. The only creature who got hurt was Sisstet." Autumn looked past his mother at Sisstet. "I'm sorry. I was getting a little hot. That's been happening a lot. I might be getting to where I can go nirik soon."
Whatever anger Autumn's mother had about Sisstet's outburst seemed to evaporate immediately, and she started talking to herself. "Oh! Oh my! It's okay, Autumn; your son is just getting older. You knew this day would come. You just didn't plan for it the way you should have. That's not a big deal. It's not like he's going to burn any buildings down. This is a natural part of growing up that all kirin go through. I just need to invest in a fire extinguisher and maybe give him access to the stone room. Oh! Anger management classes. I definitely need to invest in anger management classes for Autumn—for him, not me. You don't need anger management classes for yourself, Autumn; you need them for Autumn. Keep focused. Oh, why did you name your son after yourself? It gets so confusing. I need a third-party. Noteworthy! Have we got fire insurance on the house!"
Autumn's dad started trying to soothe his mother. While that was going on, the ordinarily loud Pinkie Pie silently hugged Cheese. The yellow colt just accepted it just as silently.
Sisstet felt a wave of relief that he hadn't hurt his friends and that his friends' parents seemed to have lost interest in him. That relief went away as he realized that Silver Spoon and Twist hadn't run over to him just like his friends' parents had for them. He had been hurt, his tail still stung, and no one was giving him hugs and making sure he was alright. He looked over to them and saw they were very slowly and cautiously approaching him.
"Sisstet… are you calm?" Silver Spoon asked when she was a few steps away.
He understood why he wasn't getting hugs now, but understanding it made him feel worse. They were afraid that he might bite them. He couldn't blame them. He had already bitten Silver Spoon once, and if Autumn hadn't backed away as fast as he had, Autumn might have gotten bit too. He didn't want to bite anycreature.
"I'm calm. I won't bite," he replied dejectedly.
Silver Spoon changed her pace and reached him quickly. She didn't grab him into a hug, though. She came up beside him and sat, spreading her forelegs to let him know she was offering a hug. Twist sat beside her and looked worried. He couldn't tell if the worry was about him being hurt or if he would hurt somecreature.
He slithered to her quickly, eager to be comforted. Silver Spoon carefully pulled him close to her and hugged him gently.
"I'm trying not to apply too much pressure on you," Silver Spoon explained. "I know you just got a burn, and you're also getting ready to shed your skin. Let me know if I'm hugging you too tight."
She was barely putting any strength into the hug. "You can hug tighter. It's only my tail that hurtss. Can you make it better?"
Silver Spoon hugged him tighter, and it felt good having her warm fur tighten around him. She also turned to look at Twist.
Twist came closer and examined his tail, not touching it. "I don't see anything that looks too bad, just some inflammation. When we get back home, I'll put something on it. I sometimes get burned too. It's one of the hazards of working around ovens all day. Even when you try to always be careful, it can still sometimes happen."
"For now on, be careful about being too close to Autumn when he's agitated," Silver Spoon advised. "He doesn't mean to hurt you, but accidents can happen. He'll need to learn to distance himself a little when he's getting angry, but you should still pay attention to warning signs he's getting hot."
"And if you get hurt or angry, you should immediately do the same," Twist added. "We know you don't want to hurt anycreature, just like Autumn doesn't. You did the right thing, moving away from them like you did, even if you hissed and scared them."
"I don't want to be sscary," Sisstet cried.
Silver Spoon hugged him tighter and rocked him gently. "We know you don't, but it is better if you give them a scare than hurting them. That's your way of warning them that you might bite. It's instinctual, a self-defense measure, and something that you'll try to do even if you aren't thinking straight. When we get hurt or scared, we don't always think straight, and we can do things we regret in those moments. The thing you end up regret doing should be scaring them rather than hurting them. Don't you think so?"
"But I don't want to sscare...scare them or bite them," he replied, correcting his speech.
"We know you don't," Silver Spoon repeated. "We'll try to find ways of helping you not need to hiss, but for right now, nocreature is mad at you for it. You heard from your friend. He understands."
"I suppose so," Sisstet said slowly, looking over at Autumn and seeing that his parents were now talking and Autumn was just watching him, looking sad.
Silver Spoon released him from her hug. "Now, why don't you just apologize to your friends for scaring them and let Autumn tell you he's sorry for accidentally hurting you."
Sisstet turned towards Autumn. "I'm s-sorry for s-scaring you."
Autumn came closer to him and gave a weak smile. "I'm sorry for burning your tail." He held out a hoof. "Still friends?"
Sisstet placed his clawed hand against the hoof. "Still friends."
He then looked over at Cheese. The colt was free of his mother's embrace and dragging a hoof back and forth on the dirt. "I'm not mad. Can I hug you?"
Sisstet blinked. "Yess, I'm sor-"
He didn't get to finish his apology before Cheese all but lept on him, hugging him. It was a shock, but not the kind of surprise that would make him hiss.
"Aww, ya'll ur so cute," a familiar voice said behind him.
He and Cheese broke their hug and looked back at Candy Apple standing just behind them. She looked tired, but she was smiling. Her family was coming to greet the other adults, and old Principal Cheerilee had moved to speak with Principal Doo.
"It's great to see you, Candy. I love your new cutie mark," Autumn said, almost bashfully. He then licked his lips. "You're you, aren't you, and not some other creature? You sound like you, but I never know."
Candy's smile got bigger. "Yep! Ah'm me, and going to stay me from now on. Ya seem mighty glad to see me." She batted her eyes at the kirin. "Ya know, when Cheerilee was in mah head, she made me see things about ya I didn't before. Do ya think ah'm cute, Autumn?"
Autumn went wide-eyed and backed away. "I-I um… I mean to say-"
"He thinks you're really pretty," Cheese said with a laugh and a giggle.
"Cheese!" Autumn shouted, looking even more like he wanted to run away. Candy added some giggles of her own, but still gave Autumn a shy smile.
Sisstet crept forward towards her. "I'm glad you didn't get in trouble, and that you aren't going to be other creatures anymore. I didn't like all those other creaturess."
Candy stopped giggling and gave him a sad look for some reason. "Ah'm really sorry 'bout some of them. Ah know some didn't treat ya right. Ah saw everythin', but couldn't do nothin' 'bout any of it. Ah promise, mah word as an Apple, that ah'll treat ya right from here on."
Candy's earth pony brother Caramel Apple walked over and joined the group. "Is mah sis gettin' ready ta get ya'll into trouble?"
The little red unicorn filly turned and glared at her brother. "Ah am doin' nothin' wrong!"
Caramel didn't look convinced. "Ma said that ya got an adventurin' cutie mark, and ah need to make sure ya don't do nothin' crazy because of it, and Pa said it was mah job as your big brother ta make sure ta ya keep safe."
Candy growled and stomped her hoof. "Ah am going ta be a great unicorn mage and adventurer, like Princess Twilight's grandpappy. Ah fought off a timberwolf by mah'self. Ah don't need ya watching over me like a little filly."
"Ya are a little filly, and ya almost burned ya'self up fightin' that varmint," Caramel countered.
Candy raised her nose high and sniffed. "Ah'll get better. Plus, ah got all mah friends here who'll be mah posse."
"What's a posse?" Sisstet asked in confusion.
"It's a group of creatures that go out an' fight All the bad guys, right all the wrongs, and do good things," Candy explained. She then suddenly smirked. "Ah know! We can be the new agents of S.M.I.L.E! That was what Princess Twilight's grandpappy was in charge of, but they went away."
"I smile all the time, but what does it mean to be an agent?" Cheese asked.
"Trouble," Caramel muttered.
"Ah, thought ya liked it better when ah was doing stuff like this!" Candy shouted at her brother.
"That was before. Pa said, ah gotta keep ya safe now. He said it's a big responsibility," Caramel replied. He then softened his expression and looked pleading. "Ya almost died, sis. Ya can't be doing that stuff. Ah don't want ya ta die. Ah was really scared when ya were lost out in the woods, both times, and Ma, Pa, Aunt Applejack, Aunt Applebloom, Strawberry, Rainbow Dash, and Bright were all scared too. We're ya family, don't ya care 'bout us?"
"Ah care!" Candy retorted. "Ah'm not gonna-"
"Excuse me, students," Principal Doo interrupted. She had come over to them, flanked by Silver Spoon and old Principal Cheerilee. "Since the majority of you were in Miss Silver Spoon's class, we felt like we would break some news to you now."
Candy immediately shifted her attention and gave them a suspicious frown. "What ya mean, were?"
Principal Doo smiled at them. "Miss Silver Spoon is not going to be your teacher next school year; she'll be taking over my old class, from before I was promoted."
"Aww, but we like Miss Silver Spoon!" Autumn protested.
"We don't want her to go away! She's our favorite teacher!" Cheese cried.
"She's been ya only teacher," Caramel said to the younger colt.
"She's still my favorite," Cheese replied.
Sisstet felt a wave of panic. Miss Silver Spoon was supposed to watch over him. He didn't want to have a different teacher. He felt like crying. "Why? Why can't ssshe ssstay our teacher?"
Principal Doo sat down and touched a hoof to his shoulder. "Actually, because of you, but that's not a bad thing."
"It's Sisstet's fault?!" Autumn yelled while giving him an angry look.
Principal Doo looked up. "Students, please, let me explain. Miss Silver Spoon is trying to adopt Sisstet, and we aren't allowed to have teachers teaching their own foals. Somecreature would say he only gets good grades because Miss Silver Spoon is his mom, and she boosts his grades. It might not be true, but the rules are in place so nocreature has any reason to accuse anycreature of anything like that."
"Miss Silver Spoon is going to be Sisstet's new mommy?!" Cheese exclaimed excitedly. "That's great! We need to throw him a party, a you got a great new mommy party!"
Autumn still didn't look happy, but he didn't look angry anymore. "I suppose that's alright. I still think it's unfair they make her go to a different class. She wouldn't cheat his grades."
"I agree with you. I know she wouldn't do anything like that, but the rules are the rules. They're in place to protect us, and we all have to follow them," Principal Doo replied.
"So… who is gonna be the new teacher?" Candy asked.
Dinky Doo looked to her side at old Principal Cheerilee. "Miss Cheerilee is coming back to Ponyville and will be taking over the class. I tried to convince her to take back over as principal, and let me teach, but she wouldn't do it."
Cheerilee held a hoof to her mouth and chuckled. "You were such a quiet filly, but you've grown into a highly capable mare, and you're going to be a great principal. You've proven you can stand up for all our students against bullies like Spoiled Rich early on, and you're an excellent administrator. I'm sure you'll only get better with time, and you have a lot more years left in you than I do. I feel better for our school, knowing you're going to be at the helm."
"Cheerilee is gonna be our new teacher! This is awesome!" Candy crowed.
The teacher coughed into her hoof. "It's Miss Cheerilee, Candy. I know you and I have a special bond, but I am not going to show you favoritism. On that note, I'm also giving you notice that you won't be allowed to demonstrate potion making in my class."
"Aww! But Aunt Applebloom was gonna to supervise it!" Candy protested.
Cheerilee smirked. "And she's the one that caused me to institute the ban, and she's still banned from demonstrating potions in my classroom. That's what a lifetime ban means. You've heard my thoughts on the matter, so you know I'm serious."
Candy sat and crossed her forelegs over her chest. "Well, there goes looking forward to that."
"I'm sure Applebloom will be more than happy to teach you about potions still, just outside my classroom," Cheerilee said. "I also am the one who'll be dealing with your summer punishment. I decided that you can help me and Miss Silver Spoon get our respective classrooms set up. She needs to move her decorations and supplies to a new room, I need to decorate the classroom the way I prefer, and Principal Doo still needs to get her stuff out of that other room."
Candy flicked her tail. "Ah suppose that's better than cleaning gum off desks."
"That's all we needed to say, you can all go back to playing," Silver Spoon said, then the adults turned and left, chatting with each other as they went.
"Sso what is S.M.I.L.E?" Sisstet asked. He didn't want to think about having a new teacher next year. Miss Cheerilee was always nice, but she wasn't Silver Spoon. There was no point complaining about it, though.
Candy grinned. "We're going to hunt monsters!"