AUTHOR'S NOTE: Amber is an OC character created by ANdy (aka BerlinBronyANdy). For additional information/backstory on the character, please refer to my profile page.

Brainy was walking home from school one day, when he noticed he was being followed by an older kid. A fifth-grader, to be exact. As he tried fruitlessly to get the older boy off his trail, he found his path intercepted by another fifth-grader, and he was forced to cut into an alleyway which, unfortunately, led him to a dead-end mired in shadows.

"Hey there, squirt," said Wolfgang, the head fifth-grader. "You're late on your monthly lunch money payments."

Brainy backed away from the boys, and pinned his body against the brick wall of the alleyway. He wheezed heavily, partly out of fear, partly out of habit. "Uh…I forgot…"

The other fifth-grade boys chuckled derisively.

"You forgot, huh?" Wolfgang cracked his knuckles and pounded his fist one time, threateningly, into the palm of his other hand. "Well…then I guess we'd better teach you a lesson so you don't slip up again…"

Wolfgang closed the distance between himself and Brainy. Brainy tried to escape, but Wolfgang grabbed him with one hand by the shirt collar and slammed his back against the wall. He raised his other fist in preparation to strike…

Something hard bounced off Wolfgang's head. Wolfgang looked up but saw nothing but clear sky. He looked to the ground and saw something round and metal roll next to his feet. He kneeled to pick the item up, then frowned. "A can…?"

He turned to look at his friends. "Alright, who's the wise guy that threw this?"

The other fifth-graders exchanged confused glances, but no one said a word.

"Oh, so nobody's gonna own up to it? Real mature, guys…"

Burp!

All eyes turned to look at the entrance of the alleyway. There was a young girl, likely Brainy's age, eating straight from a can of spaghetti. When she was finished, she tossed the can aside and wiped the tomato sauce from her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt.

Wolfgang stared at the girl, perplexed. "Uh…"

The girl approached the fifth-grader and stopped right before him, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Hiya. Whatcha doin'?"

"None of your beeswax, kid. Now scram this doesn't concern you."

"I know what you're up to…You're being a bully, aren't you?"

"Didn't you hear me? I said GET LOST!"

"I don't think that's very nice. I think you ought to be taught a lesson."

Wolfgang smirked in spite of himself. "Oh really? And what are you gonna do about it, widdle girl? OW!" The "widdle girl" had kicked him straight in the shins. Wolfgang dropped Brainy and brought both hands to his injury.

The girl took a step back, and then assumed a faux kung-fu fighting pose. "I'll give you one last chance to disperse. Are you gonna leave? Or am I gonna have to get nasty?"

She was trying Wolfgang's patience. "Alright, that's it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. I don't generally hit girls, but for you, I'll make an exception."

"You gotta catch me first!" The girl ran underneath Wolfgang's legs, and before he had time to react, she had given him a good solid kick in the butt.

By now Wolfgang was enraged. He charged towards the girl like and angry bull, but just before he made contact, she ducked down and vanished.

"What?" Or rather, he had lost sight of her in the shadowy regions of the alley.

He heard a whistle. Wolfgang turned and saw that the girl was standing near two of his buddies, waving at him. "Hey, big boy…!" she taunted.

"Don't just stand there, grab her!" barked Wolfgang. The two boys jumped into action and simultaneously tried to grab her, but once again she disappeared into the shadows, and the two boys collided, knocking the other out.

He could sense the movement of air. Wolfgang looked around frantically but could not pinpoint the source. He suddenly doubled over; someone had gut-checked him. Then he felt as though someone had kicked him in the back. As he struggle to maintain his balance, he could feel solid blows connecting across his jaw, and he stumbled to the ground. He groaned in defeat.

"Had enough?" When he lifted his head, there was the girl standing before him, arms crossed and smirking defiantly. Wolfgang could not leave alleyway fast enough. He stumbled to his feet and hightailed it with his tail between his legs.

"And don't come back!" yelled the girl after him. When the other two boys came to, she simply went "boo," and they followed suit after the other fifth-grader.

She sighed. "I hate bullies." The girl turned her attention to the fourth-grader, still curled up against the wall and trembling. She walked up to him, crouched down so that her face was level with his, then gave him her biggest smile.

"Hey," she said. "You're kinda cute."

She straightened and extended a hand to the boy. Brainy noticed a tiny metal band on her finger before she grabbed his wrist and brought him to his feet.

"What's your name, kid?

Still unsure how to deal with the situation, Brainy avoided her eyes and rubbed his arm nervously, wheezing. "Uh…Brainy…"

The girl crinkled her nose. "Brainy, huh? That like a nickname or somethin'..?

"Uh…sure, whatever…"

He walked past the girl but was halted when he realized the girl was still holding his wrist. Her hand migrated down to meet his, and she smiled broadly again, revealing she had a gap where a tooth probably should have been on her left side.

"My name's Amber. Nice to meet ya."

"Ok…gotta go…" At last Amber freed him from her grasp, and Brainy hurried out of the alleyway.

Amber stood in place for a while and looked at the hand she used to grab Brainy. She brought it to her nose and breathed in deeply, then let out a dreamy sigh. "Mmm…nougat."

She cartwheeled into a heavily shadowed part of the alleyway and disappeared.