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// Be A Jerk Because It's Better Than Saying Your First Awkward Hello 
// Story: Take My Heart, But Not My Studded Bracelets 
// by Xutiepops 
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The back of the school was a nice place for skipping class, especially fourth period. Teachers were practically done with class clowns, trouble makers, grading papers, and failing students, so they didn't care to ask if students were there earlier in the day and decided to skip their class. 
Rainbow Crash loved it. The bricks against her back, the pavement that made lovely noises when she randomly ran across it, the cold breeze. The anxiety of getting caught, the sneaking around hall monitors, the avoiding other kids on a smoke break.
She loved it. One, because she hated her fourth period, getting her a C in the class. Two, it gave her the free space of mind she needed out of a day, it gave her time to think, or it gave her time to at least be alone and without more worry than usual. 
Though, she preferred it alone. Not with a Applejack and a Sunset Shimmer playing poker poorly. The two table talked so much you practically knew their cards! And they laughed too much! Rainbow wanted to gag them with a spoon. They were friends, she, however, was not their friend. 
Other than the annoying extra baggage, something was off. Was it because her mind was either too clouded or too empty? No, she was usually like that. Was it because she wasn't smoking? Wasn't listening to music to drown out her surroundings? Only one way to find out. 
She pulled out a cigarette from her pocket and turned to Sunset Shimmer to lend her a lighter. Surprisingly, Sunset already had a lighter extended to her, though she wasn't looking at her and was more focused on Applejack. Rainbow was annoyed, but grabbed the lighter anyways and lit the cigarette. 
Something was still off. She sighed and slunk down the wall until she hit the ground. She pulled out her phone and ear buds, ready to be free of the off-feeling she was having. 
She turned on her favorite song, 20 Percent Cooler. She usually only liked songs heavy on sex, drugs, or had a total underlying depression to it. So, her favorite was, of course, the lighter of the three. She was so bothered by something, and she didn't know what it was! So she had to turn on the upbeat song with sexual topics. 
She wanted something easy, and underlying depression wasn't easy. And she didn't feel like hearing a song where people were in love with harmful drugs and acted as if they were too high and mighty to be affected by them. 
She groaned, something was still off. Fourth period was supposed to be her favorite! So why was it so... awful? She tried to think of more reasons as the music blasted into her ears.
She started bobbing her head involuntarily to the music. Though, something took her out of her musical trance that was so close to getting rid of that off-feeling. The lyrics 'Twilight, Sparkle, up in the party' played in her ears and her head stopped moving.
Her mind replayed the images of Twilight, and let the film reel of memory play the events at lunch. She sulked more, already feeling the embarrassment of the situation. How was she supposed to get to know the girl if she was mean to her? And how could she be nice to the girl without ruining her tough-guy reputation. 
She sighed and admitted defeat. Her reputation didn't matter for a girl, a random girl didn't deserve to be spared her awesome insults. She smirked, getting her confidence back. 
She was awesome, wasn't she? How could she possibly let a girl defy her? Oh whatever, at least now she didn't have to put up with the brat. She smiled in content. Someone as boring and eggheadish as Twilight didn't deserve to be in the presence of Rainbow, much less talk to her. Rainbow was too awesome for that. 
"Truth or dare," Sunset Shimmer prompted, grabbing five dollars from Applejack as the latter started collecting cards with a sigh. Sunset smiled, "Whoever wins a round gets to ask the other truth or dare. And no backing out." 
Applejack raised an eyebrow as she started shuffling cards. "Fine," she spat rudely, still annoyed she lost some of her allowance to Sunset. "Dare." 
Sunset seemed to think for a moment, even if the thought wasn't real. That was obvious from her smirk and the outdrawn 'hm'. She smirked. "I dare you to kiss Crash." 
Applejack crossed her arms. She noticed Rainbow staring at them, curious if she would. She shook her head. "This is our game, don't bring Crash inta this." Rainbow smirked and stood up. She walked over to the two and sat next to Applejack with a flirtatious smirk. 
"C'mon," Crash purred sweetly. Then, her sweetness fell to cocky, "Unless you're too chicken to do it." Applejack crossed her arms and stared at her, annoyance fueled her look. 
"Ya know," Crash relaxed with a smirk. "It would make sense. I mean, I am super awesome, I'd understand if you'd be intimidated. And you being chicken and all makes sense, I mean, you do work on a far-" She cut herself off when Applejack roughly grabbed hold of her collar. Rainbow smirked. 
Applejack didn't make a move, she got that far and froze. Her hand shook as her face flooded with crimson. She tried to ignore the laughing Sunset in the background. She sighed and pushed Rainbow away from her, leading to Sunset holding her stomach and crying tears of laughter as howls escaped her mouth. 
"Ah ain't gonna do it, seems wrong," Applejack held her arms nervously. She took a glance at Rainbow and saw the shocked stare. She looked away. "Games like that are stupid." 
Sunset smiled, coming down from her laughter high. "You know you would kiss Rarity in a second if someone dared you too!" She smirked. 
Applejack growled, "Yeah! Cause ah like her! Ah ain't gonna kiss nobody ah ain't like!" Her hands curled into fists as her cheeks puffed out in anger. Rainbow felt bad for her, she wanted to tell Sunset to leave her alone about Rarity, but she didn't see a point to. 
It would be better if she left it alone, the last time she intervened in Applejack's personal life, she ended up with a massive bruise on her jaw. And even if it would make her look cooler, she couldn't stand the pain that would come with it. 
So, she did the next best thing. Encouragement. "I think you two look cute together," she mumbled, though it was still heard by the other two. Sunset seemed confused, while Applejack was shocked. 
"Really?" Applejack asked, it was obvious she didn't trust Rainbow. The cautious pose gave that away. She looked as if she was stepping on uncommon ground with shaky rocks. Rainbow nodded anyways. 
"Yeah," she started and grabbed a soda from Sunset's lunch box. She popped it open and took a sip. "It would be cute to see a total drama queen with one of the bad girls. Like a romance cliché, but cooler." 
Applejack smiled, then sighed. Her shoulders fell in defeat as her stare laid on the ground. "If only she could at least talk to me. Maybe then ah'd have a chance," she sighed. Her shoulders drew up and her cheeks puffed out in anger, she crossed her arms. "'We've heard brutes ruin appetites,' she's so dramatic! She was being snarky while lookin' nice to her friends! Pisses me off." 
Sunset smirked. "Then why do ya like her? I mean, why like someone who makes you so mad?" Though she tried to sound mean, and she tried to make fun of Applejack, it didn't come out that way. And she didn't mind. 
Applejack sighed. "Ah guess... ah like it when she makes me mad... ah don't know... it's stupid." Her cheeks turned red and she cuddled up to herself, clearly thinking about Rarity. Sunset smiled cheekily at Rainbow expecting her to help make fun of Applejack. She was shocked to see Rainbow give her advice. 
"I heard a lot of guys have been going after her, ya know, since the dance is coming up in two months," Rainbow started. Applejack raised an eyebrow. 
"So?" She asked. 
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "So? Defend her! Maybe then she'll at least think you aren't too jerkish to talk to!" Her determined smile just drove it home. Applejack smiled as she thought over the idea. 
"Yeah..." she muttered to herself. Her head peaked up with a bright smile. "Yeah! That could work!" She seemed so happy, even if it failed, she seemed at least happy to get somewhere new with Rarity. 
Sunset smiled half-heartedly. "Well, good for you. But the bell is gonna ring soon, and I'd rather get out of here before Mrs. Cheerilee comes looking for me. So, see ya." She got up and started towards the parking lot. Rainbow chased after her. 
"Ya know," Rainbow purred cheekily, causing Sunset to turn to her with fear and hesitation. Rainbow snorted at the sight. This was her lackey and she was scared? Hah!
"You could always get with Flash before he chooses Ditzy. He'd love a bad girl as cool as you," Rainbow smirked. She had no idea where all these good ideas or compliments were coming from. Well, she usual was pretty compliment-y when she felt good about herself. 
And having another good fourth period made her feel good about herself. Sunset turned red and looked away. Then, she nodded and Rainbow and as she started thinking about it, the smirk spread across her face with glee. 
"I always did want to throw him for a loop..." she thought cockily. She smirked and shot Rainbow a thumbs up before racing off to the parking lot. Rainbow turned to talk to Applejack and saw the girl racing towards the parking lot as well. She groaned as she had no one to talk to. 
She decided to let it go and to just listen to some music. She pulled out her phone and played her second favorite song, a metal song that she didn't understand any of the lyrics to. She walked over to the parking lot, leaning against her motorcycle, since she didn't want to go home yet. 
She recognized the white car next to her motorcycle. It was pretty popular and more than a fifth of the seniors had the car. Though, the more she glanced inside it, the more she didn't relate it to anyone's she had seen. 
Not many had the car in white, but she knew most of the seniors and juniors that did. Yet, this one wasn't familiar. So, she decided to wait until she saw who it belonged to. She took pride in knowing all of the juniors and seniors who had the car.
The bell rung and students started piling into the parking lot and out onto the buses. She soon saw cars start out of the parking lot, including the rustic orange truck that belonged to Big Mac and Applejack. 
She soon saw the purple egghead from lunch start over to her. She fumbled to look relaxed against her motorcycle and to act as if she didn't notice the egghead. Too bad she looked so stiff and fake that it made Twilight conscious of her own self. So, Twilight followed suit in acting as if she didn't see Rainbow standing there. 
She started worrying that she'd be sitting in the passenger seat, and Rainbow would involuntarily being staring at her as she looked down at her phone. Her racing mind and attempt to make it seem as if she didn't notice Rainbow Crash caused her not to notice the car pulling out of a parking spot.
The honk! made her jump and startled her. She laughed nervously as she turned to her and Shining's car. "Sorry," she muttered to herself.
"Bahahahaha!" Rainbow Crash started laughing. Twilight's cheeks went pink from embarrassment. She bit her lip and rubbed her arm. Rainbow didn't notice and kept smiling.
"Better watch out egghead!" She laughed happily, not noticing how uncomfortable she was making Twilight. "You might fall off the wall and break like Humpty Dumpty! ... Bahahahaha!" She continued her laughter. 
Twilight stared at the ground nervously, her hand gripping on arm tightly and digging into her skin. Suddenly, she was tired of being laughed at. "Alright! Fine! I wasn't paying attention!" She yelled, which immediately caused Rainbow to stop laughing. Twilight's cheeks puffed with anger. "Stop laughing!" 
Rainbow was so shocked, and Twilight was even more embarrassed by her outbreak. Her hands flew to her mouth and she stared at Rainbow's shocked expression. She looked at the ground again. "S-s-s-sorry." 
She glanced up and saw Rainbow shaking her head. "Nah, it's fine. I tend to go overboard sometimes with that type of thing." The two stood in awkward silence for a bit. 
Rainbow was so nervous, her stomach had butterflies swarming as her mind raced with what to do. "Sooo," she started, noticing she caught Twilight's attention. She shoved her hands into her pockets and kicked her foot. "You're Twilight, right?"
Twilight was cautious, but nodded anyways. She had no idea why the brute was talking to her. But she decided to play along and not make her mad. "Yeah, and... you're Rainbow." 
Rainbow earned back her confidence at hearing her name. She puffed out her chest and smirked. "Yep! Rainbow Dash-" her chest fell, as did her confidence. She shook her head. "Uh, Crash!... Rainbow Crash."
Awkward silence ensued. Rainbow was mentally slapping herself while Twilight's mind ran with reasons why the confident girl would make a mistake at her own name. 
"So. You have a senior as a sibling?" Rainbow asked, she cursed herself for keeping the conversation going. But she'd rather have gotten good things and her mistake in there than just her mistake. Twilight was hesitant once again, but nodded anyways, again. 
"Y-yeah," she said nervously. "How'd you know?" 
Rainbow rolled her eyes, "You're a sophomore, and only juniors and seniors can drive. I doubt your parents were crazy enough to have kids not even a grade level apart... I'm surprised they were crazy enough to have only a whole grade level apart." 
Twilight giggled. "You must be an only child," she smiled. Rainbow could've sold her soul to the devil right then and there to have that smile last forever. This nerd... smiling at her?... After experiencing how mean she could be? And Rainbow had a slight-unexplainable-interest in her? This was a dream come true!
She nodded and rubbed the back of her neck, "Yeah. Kind of easy though, till they kinda want some one new and don't get one." Twilight giggled again. 
"My parents must've gotten tired of my brother pretty quick then," Twilight giggled happily. She forgot she was talking to the brute, she only saw the awkward confidence of the girl by the motorcycle. The fact that she had made fun of her, called her an egghead, and was rumored to be one of the worst kids in school by her new friends went out the window. 
Rainbow started laughing as well. "Well, I could see why they didn't get tired of you," she said without thinking. Her eyes instantly turned to Twilight to see the reaction. Her heart shattered and rebuilt again. She got the most cliché reaction ever. And it was perfect. 
She got a nervous smile and a set of crimson cheeks. Not shock, not disgust, just... a schoolgirls face when she gets news her crush likes her. 
Twilight played it off as nothing, she didn't see the romantic factor behind it. "I think they just wanted a girl to match my mother." She giggled. Rainbow was almost mad. The girl was oblivious too! How cliché could this get? And where was her stupid brother?
She growled, she might as well stop trying here. Besides, the purple egghead would get on her nerves sooner or later. "Yeah, whatever," Rainbow scoffed. She kicked up the stand on her motorcycle and climbed onto it. She took one look at Twilight and instantly looked away. 
The fallen shoulders, the slouch, the hurt eyes, the parted lips. Everything Twilight did at that moment explained hurt. She shook it off as nothing. She started up her bike. She was too awesome to even like the company of an egghead anyways. 
"Uh," Twilight started as Rainbow started up the bike. Before Rainbow could leave, she yelled, "Bye!" 



Five in the afternoon is a nice time to be texting and not doing your homework. Well, it's a good time for Twilight to be texting since she already did her homework. 
She was listening to some music Lemon Zest sent everyone, if she didn't listen to it then Lemon Zest would spam the link until she did. 
She smiled. Her friends were complaining about it, well she assumed at least Indigo Zap and Sunny Flare were telling the truth. Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet were probably lying and saying they didn't like it since they wouldn't even if they listened to it. 
'How was it?' Sour Sweet asked. 'You better not have better friends than us.' Twilight sighed in relief, seeing the switching personalities made her feel somewhat at home. Of course she was failing to keep memories and happy wishes and sorrowful comments under the surface. 
She smiled sadly, then started giggling to herself. 'Nothing is better than you guys, and it was interesting. I got a few friends,' she typed and smiled as a song she liked played. 
'Hey Twi, like the songs? They're awesome, right?' Lemon's peach box appeared. Twilight smiled and nodded as if Lemon Zest was there. She shook her head and replied with a yes.
'How are your new friends? You know, they're probably better than Sunny and Sour,' Icy blue appeared. Twilight laughed. She really missed her friends. 
And the vague feeling of not living near them made it feel as if they didn't exist. She sat up and pulled her pillow to her chest. Memories of her childhood imaginary friend played in her mind. Ever since she lost that imaginary friend, things got so vague if they weren't around. She hated it. 
And sadly, she had no one to go to talk about it. No one but her knew of this familiar feeling. She almost wanted that friend back, just so she didn't have to feel like that anymore. She tried to combat this vague feeling of memories with something, the only something that appeared was sadness. 
She wouldn't be feeling so vague and so off if she didn't leave her friends. She sighed and started typing, 'They're nice, they kind of remind me of you guys.' 
She knew she couldn't talk to them about it. They weren't the nicest, and they weren't the most understanding. Indigo Zap and Lemon Zest would literally send her voice messages of laughter. 
'Ooooh! Me first! Me first! Who do I remind you of?' Sour Sweet typed. Twilight waited for the personality switch. Once she didn't get it, she assumed Sour Sweet was too excited to think. 
'Pinkie Pie, she's really funny and sweet. Don't worry, she can be intimidating in her own way,' Twilight typed happily, not really thinking as the music played in her ears. 
'Yay!' Sour Sweet typed. 'Don't think she's better than me though? 'Kay?'
'Got a new homework buddy?' Sunny Flare prompted next. Twilight smiled. 
'Nope, haven't met anyone like you,' her fingers zipped across the keys and hit sent. 
'Hey! No one's as cool as me, no one even compares!' Indigo Zap boasted. 'So, who you think can beat me at something? Maybe I'll agree, Twi.'
Twilight smiled and without thinking, she typed the name. 'Rainbow Crash.' She instantly regretted it. She didn't even know Rainbow Crash, and from what she knew, the girl was a jerk. How could she compare Indigo to such a jerk? 
She sighed. There were reasons Indigo Zap reminded her of Rainbow Crash. After learning Rainbow was captain of the soccer team, that was kind of obvious. But, what really made it clear was the stupid conversation she had with the brute. 
That rude start sliding into awkward conversation that fell into actual conversation and a brewing friendship. It reminded her of when she first met Indigo Zap. 



Twilight was reading one of her books near the doors, waiting for her parents to come and pick her up. She watched kids leave the courtyard until she was one of five left. 
She was so worried her parents had forgotten her. Of course, she tried reasonable ideas to calm her down. Like, how could her parents forget her first day of fourth grade? They wouldn't shut up about it the night before. So, of course they would be there.
So, she concluded they got stuck picking Shining Armor up from his middle school. But as more kids left, her reasonable thinking dissipated into panic and fear. So of course, being the little fourth grader she was, she did the only thing she knew how to do. She cried. 
She didn't make a scene or anything, but she did silently cry as she read her book. She soon shut the book, she couldn't read with blurry eyes. 
She was a lonely kid, so she was surprised when someone talked to her. "Hey! Dork!" A girl yelled. Being the only kid who had glasses and read books, she considered herself the dork. 
She looked up and saw a girl with light beige-peach skin and blue hair. Her hair was shades of blue and her orange eyes popped. She smiled and ran over to Twilight. She plopped down next to her. 
"What'cha doing here, nerd? Aren't your parents super rich?" The girl asked. Twilight noticed the gold necklace with a lightning bolt charm on it hidden underneath the goggles hanging around her neck. 
Twilight shook her head. "Uh, I'm waiting for my parents, but they're not rich." The girl laughed at her. She sounded so happy, Twilight was jealous and furious that the girl was laughing at her. "Quit it!"
Her hands flew to her mouth. She never usually got mad enough to do anything, but she always regretted it when she did. The girl blushed and looked away. 
"S-sorry, it's just," the girl started. Twilight was surprised she was apologizing. The girl rubbed the back of her neck. "Everyone who goes to Crystal Elementary has rich parents, otherwise you'd have to drive across town to that Canterlot school." 
Twilight shook her head. "S-sorry, I guess you're right, though." Awkward silence ensued over the two girls. Suddenly, the girl stood up and extended her hand with a smile. 
"Hey! You know how to help people, right? I mean, like, when they get a scratch or something." She smiled. Twilight was confused, but she took the girls hand and stood up. 
"Yeah, doesn't everyone?" Twilight asked. The girl laughed again and nodded. 
"Yeah, everyone on the team does. I'm just trying to get an excuse for ya to come with me over to the soccer field while you wait for your parents," the girl smiled. Twilight was so touched and happy. She giggled and nodded. The girl smiled and led her over to the soccer field. 
"I'm the captain, Indigo Zap!" The girl smiled proudly once they got there. 
Twilight smiled back. "Twilight Sparkle."
Indigo Zap snorted. "Your name's even dorky." She was happy to see Twilight laugh at it with her. Twilight was too happy to find offense to it like she would've before.



'Hey, Indigo Zap,' Twilight typed. She was so overwhelmed with emotions of the memory, she started crying. And being the weird-o she is, crying made her really tired. 
'What's up Twi?' Indigo Zap's blue appeared. Twilight smiled. 
'Is Twi dorky too?' She sent and put down her phone, keeping her music playing. She didn't wait for the replies, she didn't care for the questions as to what it meant. 
She knew Indigo Zap had no idea what she was talking about. How could she? She didn't have the memory-replay-flashback like Twilight. Still, somehow Twilight knew she knew what it meant. 
And for some reason, she heard Rainbows laughter as she imagined telling Indigo Zap in person. They were a lot alike, weren't they?