The Truth About Girls (Vol. 1)

by TheMareWhoSaysNi

Wrong Number (part 1)

Already, when she'd got changed, with her garage's door opened wide, people from her neighborhood passing by walking their dogs or taking out their garbage had put quite a funny face. Now she was flying by friskly on Canterlot's downtown sidewalks, it was the rest of the city who turned around on her way in the most skeptical way.

It didn't move Rainbow Dash in the least. She was used to being noticed, and even enjoyed with proud to shake up those who were very narrow-minded. And looks wore by roller derby's players are to be noticeable, if not disturbing.

Even so, for those who knew her well, it could be surprising to see her parading in such an outfit in front of everyone. She was not really famous for being the kind of girl liking to draw attention from males with sexy and alluring styles. If she happened to wear skirts and shorts, it was first of all to look pleasant for herself.

When two masculine voice called her out once she reached the Grand Rue, her first reflex was to think it probably was two clumsy males shooted across to her outfit, who wanted to "compliment" her - which meant, according to her own definition, to saddle her with degrading nicknames while trying to coax her to some bar. She'd have hit the road without looking back if, from the corner of her eye, she wouldn't have recognized Big Macintosh's tall figure and freckles.

She checked out what time it was on her wrist watch and claimed that she could stop for a few minutes in order to chat with a friend. If only he wasn't accompanied by Fluttershy's boring brother...

Since his little sister had integrated her friends' circle, the latter couldn't stop following them as often as possible. He happened to have dropped his fashion school and that his work for Canterlot Street Style was all he could found, thanks to one of his uncles insisting near the site's CEO, who was a friend of their family. He was a boy with no ambition except hitting on girls... How could sweet and kind Fluttershy be connected with such a loser?

Rainbow Dash didn't like at all how he looked at her, from head to toe, with a dirty something in his eyes which made her feel as if he was insidiously taking off her clothes in his mind. When it was about offending some kind of uptight persons, she had no problem with her outfit, but when it came to this kind of attentions, it had the annoying knack of making her feel uncomfortable.

It was true what she wore, despite her cyan helmet, her wrist pads, elbow pads and knee pads, showed a lot. The dark blue lined with red frillies shorts of her "uniform" almost matched the "knickers" kind of clothes, her white t-shirt with the name of her team - the Blazing Angels – and her number – 472 – in the back was so close-fitting it let the sports bra she was wearing under it show, and along with high-knee rainbow socks, she had worn what was the hallmark of her team: a paire of stockings with apparent seams at the back.

In spite of the cold outside, her jacket still was in her gym bag, and she didn't feel the need to take it out, warmed up as she was by her little race through Canterlot's streets.

"Where are you going, Rainbow Dash?", Big Macintosh questionned her, while not being surprised much by her outfit extravaganza.

"Dressed like this? To my roller derby practice, of course!"

The young man rolled his eyes as if underlining the evidence of it although he had asked the question. It seemed to him that a few weeks ago, she had tried to get Applejack into this sport with a female predominance, but his younger sister had declined, only wanting to be involved in rodeos.

Conversely, Rainbow Dash was involved in many athletic disciplines, even outside of school. He admired her dynamism and the committment she put in each of these disciplines. This was the kind of person to inspire him respect...

"What is this, roller derby?" Zephyr asked as well.

Since Rainbow Dash didn't seem very enthusiastic to answer the question, only focusing on Big Macintosh, this latter felt obliged to explain instead.

"It's a sport almost exclusively practiced by girls..."

His coworker's eyes started to shine. He probably was imagining sexy or cute things, made to draw masculine's attentions. The shock was going to be rude.

"You have to go past the opposite players without being thrown on the floor or taken out of the track..."

Zephyr Breeze's mouth took the shape of an odd 'o', and both Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh couldn't help burst out laughing in front of such a reaction. Because what the explanation included was the fact that some of the players were being pushed out of the track in a way that was neither charming or sweet. Obviously, it wasn't at all what had been through his mind when he had heard about a sport almost exclusively practiced by girls.

Once again, the teenage girl checked out her wrist watch. Though she really enjoyed talking with Big Macintosh, if she didn't hurry, she would be late at her practice and her captain didn't like that at all. If there was something Rainbow Dash hated, it was to be scold off.

She was about to open her mouth to say it was about time for her to go when suddenly, coming from behind like an arrow from a bow thrown briskly, someone wearing a woolen bonnet was able to steal her gym backpack.

Without further delay, Rainbow Dash chased after the robber. She was very fast at races, and unluckily for him or her, she was as fast when with roller skates. She wasn't a feared jammer for nothing.

Her bag didn't only contain her gum-shield, her house and scooter keys - it had refused to start - as well as her changing clothes, but also her wallet with the debit card her father gave her each time he was away, which meant three weeks a month. Just because they didn't talk a lot didn't mean she wouldn't face a heavy sentence if she couldn't get a hold of it again. Most of the time, when he had something to say to her, it was a reproach...

The robber wasn't afraid to bump into people on the way, as well trying to be fast than to hinder her path, but Rainbow Dash was doing her best to avoid them, apologizing at the same time. As if she were on the track during a session, she bowed her back to go even faster, and succeeded to pin her opponent against the ground.

It wasn't a really strong person, she observed, pulling her bag off their hands. The other one was struggling as much as she could, intimating her to let her go. This voice... It was familiar. Sure she had already heard it before.

With no hesitation, Rainbow Dash took off her assailant's bonnet. She discovered fire and flame hair and a paire of hostile blue eyes. Yes, she was sure she already had seen this girl - since it was a girl - somewhere.

"Hey, I know you, right? Are you from Canterlot High ?"

The girl made the most of the question and of the fact the one holding her had lowered her guard, and she punched her in the face, in order to get off her control. Rainbow Dash fell on her bottom and placed her hand on her cheek. She felt as if someone had smashed her jaw with a brick of something like that. She had practiced boxing as an amateur and thought this girl had one hell of a right hook - and that, even so, it seriously hurt.

The girl in question had already fled far when Big Macintosh and Zephyr Breeze arrived to help Rainbow Dash to stand back up. Thankfully, she didn't bleed yet she could feel her cheek had swollen and was likely to display ugly colors in no time.

It would be a lie to say she thought she was pretty, conversely, but even so, she wanted to keep a certain picture. She didn't like at all that the others could think she could be surprised and knocked down by someone else. What she wanted the others to say about her was that she was a tough cookie against who it was no good rubbing shoulders with, and not that she was easy to get rid of.

She would learn who this girl was, and have her revenge. Though she wasn't sure of what kind of revenge. It was a matter of reputation...

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Well, here she was. In a single morning, everyone knew and only talked about it. Although Rainbow Dash had lied in good faith and said she had fell at the roller derby, they all were thinking that one of the scary jammers from her team had got the best of her.

As a result, if her friends had moved on to something else and talked with joy about various things, she stayed a bit in the background, lips closed and frowning permanently. It was undoubtedly why, during this lunch, no one at the refectory had dared to sit close to them. Between the group and the others, there were something like a separation.

No one had asked questions when Fluttershy had joined the small group already formed since the beginning of the year - their friendship was dating back from Middle School, a disturbed period if any. Her very timid nature contrasted quite a lot with the rest of the team, but it also brought some kind of balance they maybe had lacked until now. Quickly, it had become almost natural to see her with Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Applejack.

What was sure was that, thanks to this, no one had tried to tease a little too much the pretty and shy new girl, that she wasn't exactly still.

However, some things were a little bit new for her. For example, Applejack and Rainbow Dash's diet. The other girls often treated themselves with little sweet things, fried dishes, that almost never happened to be on their own trays. Their desserts often consisted of fruits and cereal bars, and they asked their vegetables to be cooked steaming, with the least sauce possible.

What the rainbow-haired girl had more than her best friend was these odd black cans she drank permanently. It intrigued Fluttershy a lot, and she always wondered how it tasted like but never dared to ask.

She dared even less seeing how Rainbow Dash didn't seem about to loosen up. In fact, this grumpy attitude was starting to bother the rest of the band. Someone needed to do something...

"Hey, won't ya stop bein' in a huff? Ya look like a scaresow in a corn field!"

To root out the evil, one could always relied on Applejack. Doublespeak wasn't her native language, quite the reverse. With her, things always went out in the loutest way ever, torrent of words like non-filtered water.

"I'd like to see you there... Imagine you're falling from a bull in the middle of a competition, would you be smiling? I don't think so."

"It's not da same. Ya know it's not da same. And yar scaring Fluttershy."

The young girl opened her eyes wide, surprised to be so suddenly meddled with this conversation though she was doing her best not to incur the wrath of her friend. She saw Twilight putting her hand on her face from dismay. It was a chorus she knew too well. Even if it was clear that Rainbow Dash and Applejack were very close and adored each other, their strong characters often made them have confrontations.

Of course, it never seemed to shake Pinkie Pie up, but Twilight always felt some torment when it happened in front of other persons. She still found it hard to handle curious glances from outsiders, and wondered what they were thinking about it.

And so, Twilight realized that, without knowing it, she also cared a lot about her repuation - the one of a quiet and reasonable girl - and that her friends, with their very peculiar exuberance , always jeopardized her a little.

They both were busy arguing when suddenly, Applejack saw Rainbow Dash breaking off with a surprising suddenness, and rolling up into a ball on her chair.

They all exchanged glances, startled. It wasn't Rainbow Dash's kind to put an end to a dispute without trying to have the last word, neither by camouflaging herself this way. What happened next baffled them even more when she left her chair hiding under her table.

From their eyes, they followed her walking like a toad towards the table of behind. A group of girls were sitting there, and savored their lunch while chatting. Although she had told them the truth, her friends didn't immediately made the connection between this band and the other event of the day.

Quickly, the knot of four girls noticed Rainbow Dash who, always crouching, had come closer to one of them in particular. To be honest, no one in the refectory had missed this new eccentricity, and many whispered as if none could see them, wondering what was going on.

There was no need to precise: Twilight was red from shame, and tried to hide her face with her bangs and her long blue hair.

Squinting, Rainbow Dash gazed at the girl in uniform, looking innocent and most importantly very disconcerted by this tactless inspection. There were not many hair colors like this in Canterlot High, even though some of them were really fanciful... starting with hers. And the color of her eyes... It made no doubt.

"I knew it!" she said standing back up. "You're the girl who stole my gym bag, yesterday."

The other tables probably hadn't heard it, but nothing was so sure about the closest ones. It was undoubtedly the reason why the accused one didn't speak at all, and lowered her head toward her tray, slightly blushing, like a child caught with her hand in a bag of candies.

One of her sidekicks, a tall skinny girl with hair blue like ice cold water, talked instead of her.

"Sunset Shimmer would never do something like that. Aren't you ashamed to accuse someone of such a thing without any evidence?"

"I don't need evidences, I know it."

"Are you dumb or what?", a second girl took part in the discussion, this time her hair like lavenders in bloom, styled with pigtails. "We're telling you Sunset Shimmer isn't a robber."

"I don't care about the theft... All I care about is the punch she gave me!"

The announcement had a strange impact within their small group. Although the four girls seemed to be close, some kind of tension was floating in the air, and echoed in their attitudes, a little less relaxed. The girl named Sunset Shimmer in particular looked as if her neck was disappearing inside her shoulders.

Something was wrong, of this, Rainbow Dash was sure. Her certainty was strengthened when the third girl who hadn't said anything yet, a girl with massive curly strawberry blonde hair, started to stroke the teenage girl's red and fire hair. She was still sitting. Her gesture looked soft, but there was something sneaky in the enactment that smelled really bad.

"We've told you she has nothing to do with it... If you don't immediately stop this harrassing, we won't hesitate to tell it to Principal Celestia."

Without even finishing their food tray, the small bunch left the table they were at, and Sunset Shimmer followed them speechlessly, her head so low her face was invisible. Yet, it had seemed to Rainbow Dash that she was someone with disposition, given the way she had struggled to outrun her. This extremely fearful attitude, and the muddled behavior of her classmates made her think something strange was going on, and if she insisted, she would take the risk to add more alcohol to a burning down building.

She wasn't the only one to notice. Behind her, all her friends were feeling it too, and none of them could help but watch the bunch until they disappeared behind the doors.

Alright, what happened under the others' roof was none of their business. All the same, they all were intrigued, and worse, they thought it announced nothing good. When they went to sit at their favorite spot near the stadium, to wait until the afternoon classes, they kept discussing about this event. They came to one single conclusion that they had to beware, if not to expect some blow lows to come.

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Since a few years now, the small group had chosen a second meeting point downtown, out of the police station where Shining Armor was working. In fact they've known this place thanks to him. On weekends and when her schedules allowed her to, Pinkie Pie was working there and could even rent the main restaurant to organize a few parties.

Sugarcube Corner acted as a tearoom and a bakery. A lot of students from Canterlot High and the rival school met there around ice creams, milkshakes, cupcakes and other pastries and hot drinks. The owners, nicknamed Mr. Et Mrs. Cake, were a couple of thirty-year-olds pleasant and smiling, always swift to pamper their little blue-eyed girls.

The inside was embellished with lovely round tables with pastel colors, wrought iron chairs and velveted bench seats, and the counter of the back displayed behind its window handcooked mouth-watering cakes, prepared at morning by the couple.

It already had happened to their group to settle here just after lunch and to stay until the night had fallen. Time seemed to go by smoothly there, like a mellow break in the middle of the teenagers' frantic lives.

Gathered around a generous after-school snack, they were talking while reviewing, and taking breaks by leafing through magazines.

For Zephyr Breeze, sitting here was like living a dream. The fact that he had pushed himself on them and had pushed Big Macintosh on them as well, who kept on saying they should go back to work, didn't seem to move him much. Here he was surrounded by girls that he thought were all lovely, though he had a strong and obviously not shared preference for one of them.

He was feeling disconnected from reality, and watched them as they smiled, laughed, brought their spoons to their mouth, drinking in their cups, and exchanging what he thought were impassioned confidences.

"I think I'm in love", Rainbow Dash said, with starry eyes in front of a magazine centerfold.

Immediately, Zephyr imagined she had fell for some fashionable dress, or maybe the most popular actor of the period... And felt as if hearing the CD of the sweet melody playing in his head skip when she lowered the magazine, and he distinguished a racing bike, black and gleaming.

Then followed a conversation he just couldn't believe.

"That's exactly the kind of machine I'd like to have once I'll get my motorcycle license. Do you think my father will agree to buy it?"

"Don't ya want a car like anybody else?"

"I hate traffic jam, there's no risk with a bike."

"Well, dat's safer, still..."

"Depends on who's behind the wheel. Have you ever climbed in Pinkie Pie's big pink candy?"

"Pussy isn't a candy. She's a Beetle", the main affected one answered with a wide smile.

"Neon pink. Looks like a dolls car. And who gives a name to her car?"

"Especially a name like Pussy", Applejack cried. "As if Ah called my SUV Peter… or Dick."

"Pussy, it's cute, it's a little cat. Purr."

"Personally", Rarity suddenly took part to the conversation. "I prefer how comfortable my coupé is. It's garantee free of a nickname and as elegant as it is sober."

"Yeah and ya never drive it. Ah don't know what's da point of having a ride if she's sleepin' in your garage."

"My darling, roads of this city are like hell. I like it best when it's the taxi driver who loses his faith rather than me."

"Am I the only one taking the bus? No... The real question is this: am I the only one reviewing?"

"I take the bus too, Twilight", Fluttershy answered with a smile. "And I'd like to review as well... But I don't want to bother anyone."

Zephyr took a glimpse at Big Macintosh, sitting at his right. He wasn't surprised. Conversely, he listened to them talking about bodyworks with a wide smile, livening up their arguments with "eeyup"s and "nope"s. This, he couldn't understand...

It was as if the world was topsy-turvy. The complete opposite of what he had dreamed since his first excitements as a boy. Here he was with a bunch of blooming teenage girls around him, and they didn't pay a single attention to him. With it, they didn't have at all the kind of conversation he had expected. Maybe he really was dreaming... or having a nightmare.

"But", he dared muttered. "What kind of girls like to talk about cars and bikes?"

"What kind of girls?", Rainbow Dash asked raising an eyebrow. "I don't know... those who drive cars and bikes?"

"That's not what I meant. I meant... shouldn't you all be talking about shopping sprees or handsome actors?"

"I'd like to talk about pastries and party supplies. Oh, it makes me think... We have a new uniform at lacrosse, Dashie?"

"That's what I heard. I don't give a care, as long as we got new sticks and new nets. I can't break the records with a lousy equipment! Well, I can because I'm the best but well... You got it."

"You do this again", Zephyr said putting both hands on each side of his head.

"My dear, like everyone, at least I hope so, our discussions are very diversified. I'm fond of talking about the latest trends, but I also like talking about the price increase of raw materials, because I'm concerned as a freelancer."

That even elegant Rarity had in her mouth words as uncouth as "prices increase of raw materials" was for Zephyr the ultimate heavy blow. His dreams had just been crushed with high heels. Yet, he was sure, he knew womankind very well. There always was this trio of girls following him around, almost all those had had hit on seemed to be sensitive to his charms, and above all, he had a shy little sister, soft and adorable, who like animals, quietness and reading of sentimental novels.

So, where had he been wrong?

Two adults dressed with long raincoats stepped into Sugarcube Corner, and glanced all around the room. When Mrs. Cake came to them, and they told her who they were looking for, she opened her mouth wide, before reluctanly showing them the long table where the whole bunch was.

They came closer, their faces serious and shut, and they all raised their heads toward them, not sure of what to expect.

"Are you Miss Rainbow Dash, from Canterlot High?"

"Well, yes, what's happening?" she asked chewing a bit of vanilla ice cream.

"We're from the Juvenile Squad. We need to ask you a few questions. Follow us, please."

"Uh? But... What did I do? Is that because I ran a red light the other day with my scooter? I swear, when I passed it by it was orange, I didn't have the time to brake."

"It has nothing to do it a traffic problem. You're accused of soliciting and raided aggression."

Rainbow Dash almost strangled with her saliva. She was agree to take the red light run upon herself, it was dangerous not to respect Driver's Manual at a moment where streets were busy. Alright, she had a fake ID card to get into nightclubs and to order alcohol. Well, and she had bought aerosol paint because she wanted to try street art. But soliciting... Her? Until recently, she was still believing Jack Rabbit was the character from a cartoon - and his wife's name was Jessica.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Do the Dazzlings appear in this story?

[Dusk_Writer]

That escalated quickly

[TheMareWhoSaysNi]

7838732 I didn't plan it but like your idea, so I change the physical description of the three girls with Sunset Shimmer to match with the Dazzlings

[NeoTensai]

The story in itself is good and enjoyable, but it needs a bit of love from a proofreader.
Incorrect spellings, jumbled up sentences and bad grammar are pretty noticeable and while they don't ruin the story/experience, they do distract from what is an interesting story.

I strongly recommend getting a proofreader or someone you know that is proficient in English to do a once over the chapters and fixing any glaring grammatical issues as it will make the story easier to read and understand, which in turn will bring you more reader.

Best wishes