DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own the ponies you recognize in this story. They belong to Hasbro. I do however own The Hartson girls, as well as anyone else you don't recognize.

God loves you

Enjoy!

"Saying the Right Thing"

Chapter 2

The next morning, Molly woke up crying. She didn't want to go to school, but Megan was making her. Megan promised Molly that she would talk to her teacher and get things worked out, but little did Megan know what she was in for.

When Megan reached Molly's classroom later that afternoon, Molly ran to Megan and threw her arms around her older sister's waist. She was crying from fear.

"Shh," Megan soothed as she picked her up. "it's okay, my little sunshine. Megan's here now. You're back where you belong. You're back where you belong, in my arms, safe and sound. It's okay now. It's okay, sweetie. You're going to Paradise Estate while I talk to your teacher okay? Firefly is waiting for you. Go on."

As she set Molly down, Molly went towards Firefly and then they were off. Megan took a deep breath as she waited for the teacher to arrive.

When Molly's teacher did show up, Megan had to hold back from giggling. She looked even more evil than Megan remembered. She had black hair that was unkempt and two more teeth were missing.

'Now wonder Molly called her a witch," Megan thought to herself.

"You Megan Hartson?" Mrs. Marson asked.

"Yes, I am," Megan said, trying to sound professional. "It's nice to see you again."

"Whatever," Mrs. Marson answered. "Let's get this over with. I want to be home in time for soul train."

Megan shook her head.

"Molly told me about what happened yesterday," Megan started, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible, "and I was very surprised and disappointed to learn that you called her stupid."

Mrs. Marson nodded, but her expression didn't change.

"I call 'em as I see 'em young lady. You were bright, she isn't so. Like they say the apple never falls far from the tree. Was your mother a bright woman?"

Megan was beside herself with anger. She never had encountered a more evil teacher in her life. When she had had Mrs. Marson for first grade, she was all right, now it just seemed like old age had caused her to become bitter.

"Molly is not stupid," Megan said again. "Neither was our mother. And neither am I. Are you aware she has a speech problem?"

Mrs. Marson nodded.

"I knew something was off. She can't say any "GE" Words for the life of her. I thought it was just because she was being stubborn, but now that you mention it…."

"Are you willing to help her?" Megan asked, hoping to talk some sense into the old woman.

Mrs. Marson shook her head.

"That's your problem, girlie. I don't help kids outside of this room. They cause me enough trouble when they are here."

Megan sighed and thought it was best to leave. She was going to talk to Molly's principal.

When Megan got to the office, she found Mrs. Pearlson, sitting behind her desk. She smiled when she saw Megan. Mrs. Pearlson was a kind woman and she always liked the Hartsons', even Danny, who could be a handful sometimes.

"Why hello there, Megan," Mrs. Pearlson said. "How are you?"

"I'm doing all right. I need to talk to you. I was wondering if I could get Molly transferred to another second grade class. She's not getting along well with Mrs. Marson."

Mrs. Pearlson thought about this for a moment, and then asked, "Do you want to come inside and talk?"

Megan nodded. She stepped into Mrs. Pearlson's office and was quickly overcome by memories of time she had spent there as a counselor for trouble teenagers. She had helped a lot of kids who just needed a sympathetic ear and someone to listen. She had enjoyed that job immensely.

"What seems to be the problem," Mrs. Pearlson asked.

Megan went onto explain what was going on.

"You know that Molly has a speech problem, right?"

Mrs. Pearlson nodded.

"yes. And I think I might have a way to help her with it."

"You do?" Megan asked.

"Yes. Have you ever considered putting her in speech therapy? There are different classes for different problems. And it actually works. My daughter, Serenity,

had a speech problem with her "SH's" and after a few months of speech class, she was fine."

Megan thought about that, and then nodded.

"Can you give me the number to this speech therapy person?"

Mrs. Pearlson nodded. "I'd be happy too."

"Now about Mrs. Marson. A couple of other parents have complained to me about her, not just you. I know Molly is a bright child and a very sweet one, so I'm going to help you get her out of there any way I can."

"The sooner the better." Megan said.

"I agree," Mrs. Pearlson replied.

After their conversation was ove,r Megan thanked Mrs. Pearlson for her help and left the school building.

Firefly was waiting for Megan by the apple tree.

"So did you get everything sorted out?" Firefly asked, nuzzling Megan gently.

Megan sighed.

"I hope so. I really hope so." With that, the two best friends headed back to Ponyland.

When Megan returned to Paradise Estate, she told Molly what had happened. Molly was happy that she was getting out of Mrs. Marson's room, but when Megan brought up the subject of speech therapy, Molly's smile disappeared. She became very quiet and all she wanted was to spend time with Fizzy. She didn't want to talk about it anymore and Megan finally resigned to putting her down for an early nap.

After Molly was tucked in, Megan went to talk to Danny. She found him playing a game of soccer with Ribbon, Paradise and Fizzy.

"Can we talk?" Megan asked.

"Okay," Danny said reluctantly. "Am I in trouble?"

Megan laughed.

"No. I just want to know what happened with your math teacher, that's all."

Danny sighed.

"You can't do anything about it. I just don't understand fractions. I never will get it."

"Never say never," Megan encouraged. "You'll get it. And I have the perfect solution." She left and returned with Wind Whistler.

"What's going on?" Danny asked.

"Meet your new math tutor." Megan said. 'I'll leave you guys alone. I need to check on Molly."

Danny stared at Wind Whistler for a moment, before regaining his senses and opening his math book to the page that he was supposed to do for homework.

Meanwhile, Megan went into the nursery to find Molly awake. She was sitting up and Fizzy was trying to get her back to sleep.

"I'm not tired," Molly insisted.

"Molly?" Megan asked, her tone full of concern. She came over and sat on the edge of the bed. She held out her arms to Molly. "Come here, sweetie. Come to Megan."

"Where I belong." Molly said as she dove into Megan's loving embrace, clinging on for all it was worth.

"That's right, honey. In your big sister's arms where you belong. Now, what happened, my little sunshine? Did you have a bad dream?"

Molly shook her head.

Without warning, Molly burst into tears and buried her face in her older sister's shoulder.

"Megan, please don't' make me go to speech therapy, please!"

"Molly, it's okay. I promise it's not going to be scary. I can even come with you if you want. I promise, this teacher is not going to be mean like Mrs. Marson. If anything she's going to be like Miss Elle. Remember your pre-kindergarten teacher?"

Molly nodded. She had liked Miss Elle a lot.

Megan started stroking Molly's hair and rubbing her back, trying to get her back to sleep.

Fizzy did her part by rubbing Molly's shoulder with her front right hoof, trying to bring her some comfort.

Finally, about twenty minutes later, Molly was in dreamland once again.

Megan made sure Molly was going to be okay before she left to fix dinner.

Fizzy volunteered to stay with Molly, to which Megan was grateful.

When Megan and Molly arrived at school the next day, Megan took Molly to her classroom and promised to pick her up after school.

After Megan had given Molly a kiss good-bye, Molly went over to her seat and sat down. She clutched her own Rainbow of Light and hoped that the day would go fast. She wanted to be

back with Megan. She didn't like being in Mrs. Marson's class.

"Allright you little brats," Mrs. Marson said. "Take out your reading books and turn to page 43. And hurry up about it!"

Everyone did so and held their breath as they waited for Mrs. Marson to call on the first person to start reading.

Mrs. Marson looked around the room for a moment, and then her eyes fell upon Molly. The child looked so scared, so small. The perfect victim for humiliation this early in the morning.

"Molly Hartson, would you be so kind?" Mrs. Marson asked, her voice was full of malice and sarcasm.

Molly looked down at the page and frowned. There were several hard "GE" Words on it and she knew she was going to have trouble. She hadn't started speech therapy yet and she was bound to make a mistake. She took a deep breath and started to read.

"Sagwa ran to find Fu-Fu. She wanted to get to the party before Dongwa. She was hungry for the oran…. Oran… oran ran to the field and saw a stran… stran…stran… animal running in front of her."

"You skipped a word," MRs. Marson said, her voice full of evil delight. "In fact, you skipped two words. Go back and read it again. And this time, no skipping. This isn't recess."

"Can you pick someone else, please?" Molly asked, hoping her manners would get her somewhere.

"Can you pick someone else please?" Mrs. Marson mimicked. "No I cannot pick someone else. I picked you. Now do it, you stupid good-for-nothing brat. NOW!"

Molly felt her hazel eyes brim with tears of fear and anger. She wanted to call Mrs. Marson something bad, but she knew that Megan would never approve of it and she also knew that she would be in even greater trouble with Megan if she did it, so she held her tongue. She wanted to be anywhere but sitting in this classroom. She wanted to be in Megan's arms. She wanted her big sister. She wanted Megan. She wanted Fizzy, she wanted anyone to help her.

As Molly sat there, she felt her cheeks burn with anger and embarrassment. She threw the book to the ground and ran for the door. She wasn't going to stay

here anymore. She had to get out of here.

As Molly ran through the hallway, she crashed into Danny. He was talking to his friend, Jake and he didn't notice Molly, until she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Uh Danny," Jake said. "It looks like you have a girlfriend. But ain't she sort of small for you?"

"Shut up!" Danny said playfully. He then bent down and picked Molly up. "What's the matter, squirt?" He asked, using his nickname for Molly. "Did something

scare you?"

Molly was crying so hard, that her breathing was labored a little. Once she got control, she said the only thing that was on her mind.

"Megan," She said. "I want Megan!"

"She's in her classroom," Danny said. He then turned to Jake and said, "I'll be right back, buddy. I have to take my little cousin somewhere."

"Whatever man," Jake said. "Mrs. Forester is going to be ticked off if you're late again."

"She can kiss my butt." Danny said, glaring towards the classroom door.

"Danny!" Molly said through her tears. "That's not nice!"

"I know, I know. Come on, let's get you to Megan before my math teacher has my head." Danny carried Molly to Megan's biology class. He knocked on the door

and waited for someone to answer.

When the science teacher, Mrs. Patterson, answered the door, Danny felt his heart leap in his throat. She was the prettiest woman he had ever seen. She had long brown hair and lovely green eyes. He had always had a crush on her.

"May I help you?" She asked.

"Uh, yes, I mean, yes Ma'am," Danny said, regaining his senses. "I need to see my cousin, Megan. her little sister Molly, needs her."

"Of course. I'll be right back." As Mrs. Patterson walked away, Danny smiled after her.

Molly then hissed in Danny's ear, "Danny has a crush!"

"Be quiet," Danny said. "You're lucky I brought you here at all. I could have just left you to fend for your-"

"Danny?" Megan's voice brought Danny to a stop. "What's the matter? Why are you-" She stopped when she saw Molly and gasped. "Molly, are you okay? What happened, sis? Come here."

As Molly felt Megan take her from Danny, she remembered why she had sought her big sister's help and the tears gushed forth again. She was just so relieved to be away from the classroom of doom that she didn't care what happened next.

"Molly, what happened?" Megan asked. "Danny, go back to your classroom. I've got it from here. Molly will be okay."

Danny nodded and then he made his way back into Mrs. Patterson's room.

"What are you doing?" Megan asked.

"Getting a pass," Danny said, his tone was one of excitement like it was Christmas.

Megan rolled her eyes. She didn't quite understand what had made her younger cousin so happy. She then turned her attention back to Molly, who was now crying and shaking in her arms…