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// Endless Rejection 
// Story: Another Member of the Band 
// by Magic Step 
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	Adorabelle Beauty was the most gorgeous pony at Gifted Unicorn Academy, and she knew it.
Like all great beauties, this was due in equal parts to both nature and nurture. Nature had given her sparkly blue eyes, an adorably small muzzle, and a shiny white mane with two streaks, one blue and one gold. Under her nurture, she picked only the best looks to suit her style; her mane was bobbed, her tail long and luxurious. Her periwinkle coat was clean and her hooves and horn were polished. And then there was her outfits. Today she’d chosen a headband with several large clear rhinestones, a light pink long-sleeved shirt with darker pink hearts spotted about, and silvery thread wound about her tail to make something like a braid. It was an outfit designed to turn heads, and that it did. The pony at the desk next to her had been glancing at her all day. Or perhaps he was just looking anywhere but at the teacher.
Professor Rigid glanced at the clock and nodded. There were twenty minutes left in speech class. He sorted his papers and called the next victim.
“Chemical Formula?”
The pony next to Adorabelle stood up slowly, swallowing nervously.
Adorabelle leaned over and smiled at him. “Knock ‘em dead.”
Chemical Formula whipped his head around to glance at her. His green eyes widened; no doubt he was wondering why a beauty like Adorabelle would notice a plain-looking newbie. Adorabelle hoped she hadn’t distracted him too much.
“We don’t have all day,” Rigid hissed. Chemical Formula gasped and cantered to the front of the class. After he got there, his notes none-too-subtly floated off his desk to catch up with him. Sour Sweet snickered from somewhere in the back, and the filly sitting on the other side of Adorabelle, Test Tube, gave a strangled cry of dismay. Adorabelle felt her hair tugged, and she turned to see Test Tube, her horn lit and tears in her eyes.
“How could you?” Test Tube whimpered.
“Be quiet and listen,” Rigid snapped in her direction.
Test Tube turned to face the front again, but gave Adorabelle’s mane one more telekinetic tug. Adorabelle winced and tried to ignore it.
Chemical Formula was not a very good speaker. He mumbled and stammered and got his note cards mixed up. He spent most of the first half staring at his cards, or the floor, so Adorabelle stopped taking notes and tried smiling at him. It did encourage him to look at the class more.
When he finished, the class clapped politely. Chemical Formula sighed with relief and headed back to his desk. Professor Rigid’s quill flew across the grading rubric.
Chemical Formula sat down and turned to Adorabelle. “So how’d I do?” 
There was a thunk as Test Tube pressed her face to her desk. Chemical Formula didn’t seem to notice. 
“What’d you think?” Chemical Formula asked Adorabelle, his green eyes shining with anticipation.
Adorabelle smiled at him.
“Well, like, you know, I thought it was cool how you, like, had all those numbers… and stuff, and, uh, y’know, glue is cool…”
Chemical Formula’s face shifted to shock, then to annoyance. “I was talking about plastic.”
Adorabelle gasped. “Oh, uh, yeah, I was just, y’know, making conversation, totally…”
Chemical Formula leaned way over and scowled at Adorabelle’s notebook. “You haven’t been taking any notes!? You’ve just been scribbling!?”
“She does that all the time,” Black Snooty, the stallion in front of Chemical Formula, said as he turned around in his chair. “She doesn’t even know how to write.”
Chemical Formula looked hurt. “You didn’t even care, did you?”
From the other side of Adorabelle, Test Tube muttered miserably, “I care…”
Chemical Formula’s ears perked up at this new voice. He leaned forward to look around Adorabelle at the reddish brown mare who had spoken. He smiled. “Uh, hi. My name is…”
“Test Tube!” Test Tube blurted. “I mean, that’s my name. I heard yours earlier…”
“Oh, right,” Chemical Formula said, blushing. “Uh, I didn’t catch yours…”
“You… missed the first few days of summer semester because you were sick, right? You probably just missed my speech.” Test Tube smiled and tried to brush her thick bushy black mane into place, but it was a losing battle.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Uh, what was it about?”
The two chatted a little longer, signs of puppy love dancing in their eyes.
Meanwhile, Adorabelle screamed inwardly. Somehow, she’d once again managed to lose before she’d even started to play.
Adorabelle Beauty was the most gorgeous pony at Gifted Unicorn Academy.
But the ponies at Gifted Unicorn Academy knew that brains were more worthwhile than beauty. And brains were something Adorabelle had in short supply.