Perception is a fascinating thing. Sometimes, how someone views themselves and how others view someone don't coincide. In fact, it can be absolutely baffling how different the two are.
The girl who seems to have everything together? She might be a wreck beneath the surface.
The girl who seems so inattentive? Perhaps she genuinely doesn't see the attempts to reach her.
The girl who seems so moody? Maybe there's more to it than what people see.
But of course, that's the thing about perception. Sometimes, it just doesn't line up. And few know that better than the girls at Crystal Prep Academy.
(This is a collection of little vignettes I'll be publishing, effectively going into my headcanons for the Shadowbolts. I hope you enjoy it.)
Chapters (6)
i absolutely loved this, lemon zest is my fav of the S-bolts, i ship her big time with Vinyl
The shadowbolts are my favourite EG group so this has gone straight to my favourites!
Why is there a purple cat face in the cover art?
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Because the person who I commission uses that as their watermark.
Ooh, that's a different take on Lemon, I love seeing that. Looking forward to more Shadowbolts headcanons.
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Much appreciated coming from another Shadowbolts lover. And if I had to guess by your profile pic, you're going to like who's next on the list.
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I love the cover art, I'm excited to see your version of Indigo.
This is an interesting idea and I’m excited for more!
Pretty interesting so far...and I can definitely relate to Lemon in this chapter as I too do not have a filter on my hearing. I can't go to sleep if there's a fly in the room, I overhear people constantly without trying to...only difference being that I don't use headphones to block it out, I just avoid big crowds when possible.
I'm not sure that metaphor works though since, well, we've seen what Tartarus looks like in the show and honestly, it looks pretty cold already. It's a dark prison dungeon, not a burning inferno.
Though that is only an extremely minor nitpick, and you can feel free to ignore it if you wish.
I love this so far!
Lemon Zest is my second-favorite Shadowbolt too, though Sugarcoat is #1 for me. I really wish the Shadowbolts had gotten more screentime, there's just so much potential to unearth with their characters. I can't wait to see what else you have in store for them! 
This is cute so far! Also very specifically relatable. I have a tendency to overhear way too much myself so that struck a specific chord with me. Looking forward to what comes next!
Very interesting, I've seen the daughter thing once before (in a Kamen Rider fic of all things) but I feel you've used it to better effect here.
I'm interested in seeing where this fic goes.
The Shadowbolts are a fascinating collection of underexplored characters. I always love seeing people flesh them out. I look forward to seeing what you do with them.
(My own headcanon with Cinch is a bit complicated. Spoiling it if you don't care. She has no kids, but did marry and very quickly get divorced. From the human analogue of Discord. They were young and foolish, and opposites only provided a surface attraction. However, Abacus does have a sister, Zesty Gourmand—sharp features run in the family—and her daughter... is Lemon Zest.)
The shadowbolts are some of the best characters to write stories and make up headcanons, because they are pretty much clean slates.
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Meanwhile, I made them unrelated to each other (though Indigo's dad and Rarity's dad are old friends in my fics). Also, who'd think Indigo is such a good student.
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Have you ever considered shifting that into Equestria proper? The idea of a bizzare, disciplinarian, schoolmistress pony (in a world where such things seem significantly rarer) chasing after the literal embodiment of chaos has all the hallmarks of a zany comedy.
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I choose to believe I am the first person in the history of ever to portray Indigo Zap as an egghead
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Perhaps. I wrote her as an average student.
Apparently, Lemon's not as prepared as Vinyl. Seriously, the girl has her headphones confiscated by Celestia and she just pulls out a pair of ear buds!
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Well it certainly does deviate from the "dumb jock" thing, not that a dumb jock would fit in at CPA.
Great headcanon! Makes her decision of standing up against Cinch with the others at the Friendship Games after Midnight Sparkle's defeat even more of an accomplishment!
Great headcanon! Makes her decision of standing up against Cinch with the others at the Friendship Games after Midnight Sparkle's defeat even more of an accomplishment!
I've heard of the Cinch/Sunny mother/daughter headcanon before, and I must say, this interpretation of it works beautifully. I always felt like there was quite a bit more to Sunny Flare than meets the eye.
Really looking forwards to the Indigo Zap chapter
Interesting take on sugarcoat
Will you be doing this kind of thing for other Equestria Girls characters?
Yeah, I agree with ya on Sugarcoat. Not mean, just really blunt. Makes a good shadow of AJ, who will be honest but with tact and consideration.
And apparently Sugarcoat suffers from No Filter Syndrome.
Yay, it's Sugarcoat!
Out of all the Crystal Prep girls, Sugar has always been my favorite. Her blunt commentary and deadpan delivery makes her such a fun character. My view of her is similar to yours - she means well and tries to be helpful, but just has no tact. I usually imagine her being nicer and a bit "softer" around those that she's close with, so perhaps Nova and Dread here will get to see her nicer side very soon. 
A very well-written chapter once again, and a perfect follow-up to the Lemon Zest chapter. The reveal of the contact lens was quite the surprise, but now I'm curious as to which girl ruined Lime Candy's eye all those years ago. Maybe we'll find out in the next chapter?
Great work with both Sugarcoat and Lime. Given how little concrete data we have on the Shadowbolts, they're two steps away from working with OCs as it is. No surprise that you captured Lime in just as much heartstring-tugging detail as the others. Looking forward to more.
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I read it as being Indigo?
We'll see, though.
I am really enjoying this story. Can't wait for the next chapter.
Excellent job with this! Yet another great entry in this story. Happy to have lent my assistance, and thanks for the shout out. You're awesome-er!
While sour sweet is pretty good, I'm not too sure about seraphino
Oof. You may not have been in this situation, but I have. Not with the same frequency as Sour, but emotional outbursts hounded me for much of my early scholastic career. They still do to an extent; I've just gotten better about spotting and controlling them. A fine job in portraying the impact they can have on one's peers, and how great it is to find friends who can look past them. (Credit to Sour, I was hardly ever so coherent.)
Looking forward to the cover story. I imagine Indigo has quite the tale to tell.
This is really good!
I decided to jump back into this story, and I've been enjoying it. I like all the individual looks at the various Shadowbolts, it's pretty neat to see them all like this.
Keep up the good work, I can't wait to read the next one!
Very nice as always! I think we've all had "Sour Sweet days" from time to time, where we're trying to hold it together but everything just seems bent on inconveniencing us. I know I've certainly been prone to angry outbursts in the past - it never did me much good.
Can't wait to see the finale!
Honestly, I really love this take on Indigo. And I can see this parallel existing in real life for a lot of athletes too.
A great way to cap off this series! Unfortunately, Indigo seems to have run herself into the ground trying to maintain her formidable image, while keeping other sides of herself hidden at all cost. Can't wait to see what you come up with next!
What a neat take on Indigo. I'm really glad that our takes are so different, seeing how other people portray her helps me feel more inspired to look at her from different angles.
I really liked the porcelain analogy. That was great!
Tragic in the sense of isolation that pervades the stories. I can only hope Cadence’s tenure as principal will make the school more open and trusting, or at least make students less afraid to reveal their vulnerabilities.
(That said, given what they saw at the Friendship Games, I imagine the others will be a lot more accepting of sketches of cartoon horses than Indigo fears.)
Thank you for a great collection. It’s always nice to see more being done with these girls.
"Social Butterfly"
God, but I love your MLP naming skills
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Glad to have finally gotten around to this. You did an excellent job punctuating this fic, and it leaves me wanting even more. Thank you again for allowing me to help you along, and for the shoutout! I'd love to work together again in the future.
Loved it! Especially it all being tied into the "Obsession-verse". Each of the Preppers tics being not character faults, but legitimate issues they struggle with is a fascinating take.
Have you written Lemon Zest as ADHD? That hyper-awareness of one's surroundings to the point of appearing oblivious really reminds me of myself here.
I like those Shadowbolt characters. They really have potential and lots of cool headcanon.
Being assumed as the "Uppity" is not a good thing, because people who like to go to her are either shallow Or treated her like one.
Her character is probably the least for people to work with, but there is one thing that made her interesting, although that has nothing to do with this story though~
derpicdn.net/img/view/2018/6/1/1746496__safe_artist-colon-uotapo_screencap_indigo+zap_lemon+zest_pinkie+pie_sci-dash-twi_sugarcoat_sunny+flare_twilight+sparkle_dance+magic_equestria+girls_equ.png
There's a wrist device on her arm that no one else has, so people just went from there to beyond!
The artist of this pic is uotapo, and he said:“The idea that ’Sunny Flare is a Fallout fan who always wears a Pipboy’ is totally my crazy headcanon. But I am extremely curious to know what that thing really is.”
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Cool, good for you.
and I believe you're the one behind these lovely pictures?
ponerpics.org/img/view/2023/1/19/6605257__safe_artist-colon-twilite-dash-sparkleplz_imported+from+derpibooru_indigo+zap_sci-dash-twi_twilight+sparkle_human_equestria+girls_alternate+hairstyle_d.png
ponerpics.org/img/view/2023/3/24/6647608__safe_artist-colon-twilite-dash-sparkleplz_imported+from+derpibooru_indigo+zap_sugarcoat_equestria+girls_alternate+hairstyle_clothes_duo_duo+female_fema.png
ponerpics.org/img/view/2023/8/4/6758426__safe_artist-colon-twilite-dash-sparkleplz_imported+from+derpibooru_indigo+zap_sour+sweet_human_equestria+girls_alternate+hairstyle_clothes_duo_duo+fema.png
She's indeed very lovely!
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This comment made my day for three different reasons.
1.) A lot of love for Sunny Flare. Can't get enough of that.
2.) A piece of Egghead Indigo art that I didn't know existed. Thank you!
C.) Yes, those are art pieces I commissioned. Absolutely worth the price tag and the waiting period, if you ever consider commissioning from Twilite-Sparkleplz.
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Well you're welcome! These characters really got potential, all I did is helping people find interesting stuff.
And that Indigo art? She's likely that way, and she could really be smart and have the power to show, but she could also be this way because she doesn't socialize much aside from competitions for being too shy deep down and she spends lots of time working hard alone. She was the only one absent from the Dance Magic EG special, so making her an egghead is a good guess.
And I found those art by derpibooru, twilite-sparkleplz is indeed pretty excellent! Good taste there~
One more thing, I commented on the Sunny Flare chapter, and I can only get a reply notification from comments replied directly to me in that chapter, but you replied here. Good thing that I get to the last chapter only after you commented, or I might never get your reply…