“Do you think it’s another bogle?” Featherweight whispered anxiously to Pip. Miss Cheerilee nodded toward Lilymoon, who placed a large bag on her desk and glared out at the class.
“I… made treats for everypony,” she said awkwardly. She glanced toward the CMCs, who gave her encouraging nods. Sweetie Belle and her friends had told Lilymoon that sharing sweets was a great way to show the class she was friendly. Sweetie Belle realized they should have told Lilymoon to smile, too. Based on everypony’s reaction, the glaring didn’t seem to be helping.
“Isn’t that nice? Let me go get plates.” Miss Cheerilee smiled, stepping outside. The students eyed Lilymoon.
“What kind of treaths?” Twist asked suspiciously. Lilymoon emptied the bag, revealing a tray of bright-green squares.
“Ew! What are they, frog cakes?” Diamond Tiara said, making a face.
“No!” Lilymoon protested. “They’re cactus bars!”
“That doesn’t sound much better,” Silver Spoon said.
“You eat cactus?” Snails gaped.
“That’th gross,” Twist said, trotting over to peer closer at the bars.
“They’re a family recipe.…” Lilymoon tried to explain.
“Now I really don’t want one.” Diamond Tiara sniffed. Lilymoon shot her a nasty look. Hearing a rustling noise, Lilymoon looked down to see Twist nosing around in her treat bag. Twist pulled out a large candy cane.
“I’ll take thith inthead,” she said, marching back to her desk.
“That’s actually part of my lunch,” Lilymoon protested, but Twist didn’t seem to hear.
Sweetie Belle could see this was not going well. She tried to help. Loudly and enthusiastically, so the rest of the class could hear, she said, “Cactus bars sound really interesting! I’ll take one!”
“I’ll take two!” Apple Bloom chimed in.
“Yeah!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “They sound even cooler than lemon bars!” But when Miss Cheerilee returned with the plates, the Crusaders were the only ones who tried the green treats.
Sweetie Belle could tell Lilymoon was upset, even though she let her blue-and-white-striped mane cover her face so nopony could see her expression. It would definitely take a lot of work to make the rest of the class accept the new student. But Sweetie Belle resolved she wouldn’t give up until they did. Cutie Mark Crusaders didn’t quit!