//------------------------------// // Indigo Zap // Story: Feather Bangs Dates the ShadowBolts // by BrawnyBold //------------------------------// It was P.E. at Crystal Prep and some of the students were running on the track field. Feather Bangs, Thunderlane, and Caramel were sitting on the grass while watching the running students. "This is my favorite part of P.E." Thunderlane said as he gawked at the girls who were running on the tracks. "You said it." Caramel agreed. "Do you have your eyes on a particular chick, Feather?" Caramel asked his second friend. "I sure do," Feather said as he had his eyes on the girl who was in the lead of the running group. She had long hair that was in different shades of blue and it was held up by a pair of orange goggles. Her face showed a lot of determination as she ran much faster than the other runners from the group. Feather sighed. "Indigo Zap is the one for me." Feather said to his friends. Thunderlane and Caramel looked at Feather with surprise. "Seriously?" Thunderlane responded. "Indigo Zap is super athletic and only cares about winning. Wouldn't you settle for the other pretty girls as they're easier to flirt with?" "Hey, I can't help it." Feather said with a shrug. "I prefer a strong girl who goes after what she wants." Feather then got up from where he sat. "Guys, I have decided to win Indigo's heart!" Feather claimed as he pointed a finger in the air. Both Thunderlane and Caramel rolled their eyes in disbelief. "Good luck with that," Caramel said. "As Thunder mentioned, Indigo only cares about winning. Your normal flirting will make Indigo think you're a nuisance." Feather tapped his chin as he brainstormed the perfect plan. When school was over, the students either go home, hang out around town, or attend an after-school club meeting. Indigo Zap made her way to the locker rooms to change into her exercise clothes. She then walked towards the track field as she and the rest of her track team had to meet up there. She spotted the track team members along with some other students who wanted to try out for track team. 'Aw great, another day dealing with track star wannabes.' Indigo thought. 'The team and I don't need anymore members to win this year.' Indigo arrived right before Spitfire blew her whistle. "Alright, newbies," Spitfire said to the new recruits. "You're here because you think you can handle being on the track team. I'm here to show you that we only pick the best of the best. To start things off, I want each of you to line up on the track. When I blow my whistle, all of you will run as fast as you can until you reach the finish line at the other side of the field. The first five runners who make it past the finish line will be on the team, the rest of you will leave." The crowd murmured to each other until Spitfire blew her whistle again. "If all of you are done gossiping, line up already!" Spitfire ordered, rushing the students to run up at the starting line. Feather took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the run of his life. 'You can do this, Feather. Just at least be the fifth person to make it.' Indigo looked at Feather with a smug look on her face. 'That guy is so going to lose this race.' Indigo thought mockingly. "On your mark...get set..." Spitfire blew her whistle to signal everyone to run. The runners began to run as fast as they could on the track field. Feather hurried with his running as he was already lagging behind. He picked up his pace just enough to keep up with the four leading runners. Feather ran passed a few yards before he started to lose his breath from the long running. Just as Feather slowed down, one runner ran passed him, having Feather be on sixth place. He turned to Indigo who showed a look of major disappointment towards the other runners. 'I got to get to fifth place!' Feather thought as he started running faster. Feather's body ached everywhere, but he didn't want to lose the chance to be close to Indigo. Soon, Feather ran past the fifth runner just enough until he made it to the finish line. The first four runners slowed down and panted when they stopped running. Feather, however, collapsed the moment he reached the other runners. "Congratulations," Spitfire said as she approached the five winning runners. "You all passed the tryouts of the track team. Some of you passed with flying colors while some of you..." Spitfire sees Feather still lying on the ground and panting. "just passed out of dumb luck." The members of the track team couldn't help but snicker from seeing how pathetic Feather looked. Indigo just glared at Feather. Spitfire continued, "Just because you made it on the team doesn't mean you will stay on that high horse permanently. Things will get more serious once track season starts. I want all of you to be back here on Monday after school. Dismiss!" Spitfire said as she and the rest of the track team exited the track field. The other runners also left, leaving Feather still panting on the ground. Feather noticed that a shadow fell on top of him, causing his eyes to open. He saw Indigo Zap crossing her arms and glaring daggers at him. "Oh....hey....Indigo." Feather said while panting. "What do you think you're doing here, Feather?" Indigo asked in a serious tone. "I was just trying out for the track team." Feather said as he got up. "I'm still surprised that I was able to make it." Indigo Zap lowered herself so she could be face to face with Feather. "Do yourself a favor and drop out of the team." Indigo demanded. "I don't want our track team's winning streak to crumble because of your lack of potential." "I'll pass on the offer." Feather replied. "Even though I'm weak, I was still able to make it on to the team. So I deserve some credit." Indigo groaned in frustration while pinching between her eyes. "Since you won't quit, you will have to train a lot more to keep up with the track team. Luckily for you, I'm willing to offer my precious training time to train you into track team material." Feather's face gleamed with delight. "You're really going to help me?" Feather said with some cheer in his voice. "Don't push it." Indigo said with a deadpan face. "Meet me at the Canterlot Health and Fitness Center tomorrow to get you started on your training." "It's a date." Feather responded. Indigo glared at Feather again. "Training," Indigo said. "I'm going to put you through the most hardcore workouts that you will beg Spitfire to kick you out of the track team." Indigo huffed and marched her way out of the track field, leaving Feather motionless and still sitting on the ground. The next day came and Feather arrived at the Canterlot Health and Fitness Center. It is where people gather to do a variety of athletic activities such as workouts, swimming, etc. Feather had on a dark green tracksuit as he entered the center. He looked around until he spotted Indigo waiting by the workout equipment. Feather couldn't help but gawk at Indigo as she wore nothing but a dark blue sports bra and a pair of dark blue athletic shorts that showed off her strong legs. "Hey," Indigo said while snapping her fingers. "My eyes are up here, buddy." "Sorry, I couldn't help but admire your physique." Feather said as he scratched his neck. "Let's cut the flirting and start the training." Indigo said as she blew on a whistle. Indigo had Feather start with some push-ups as part of his warm-up. As Indigo expected, Feather only made a few push-ups before he started to get tired. Indigo moved closer to Feather's face. "Come on you weakling!" Indigo said sternly. "You do push-ups like a slug!" Indigo blew her whistle, making Feather do a few more push-ups before he collapsed from exhaustion. "Well, I guess we got to start somewhere." Indigo said out loud. Indigo and Feather were at the fitness center's jog track where people did their running. Feather was now jogging while Indigo was right behind him. Whenever Feather was falling behind, Indigo blew her whistle as a signal for Feather to pick up the pace. "Keep running! You will be eating our competitor's dust along with our own team's dust if you keep running like this!" Indigo blew her whistle again to make Feather run faster. Feather and Indigo were at the weights area where people would lift, pull, or push certain kinds of weights to build muscles. Feather was in the middle of bench-pressing some dumbbells upwards while Indigo was spotting him. "Come on, Feather!" Indigo said while blowing her whistle. "You're lifting the smallest weights this gym has!" Indigo said as she pointed at one of the weights Feather was lifting which was only five pounds. Feather struggled as he attempted to lift his weights as high as he could. Indigo decided to let Feather take a break as she knew training him too hard would lower his chances for improvement. Feather sat near the smoothie booth where protein shakes and other workout drinks were served. Indigo came back to sigh from seeing Feather at such a pathetic state. "Here," Indigo said as she placed a smoothie on the table. "This should replenish your energy." Feather slowly picked up his drink and drank from the straw. Feather's eyes popped open and he started coughing. "What's in this?" Feather asked as he examined his smoothie. "It's made out of special kelp that can recharge you from a workout." Indigo said as she slurped from her drink. "Mmm, I feel like running ten more laps from drinking this." "If you say it could refresh me, I guess I'll endure it." Feather said as he attempted to drink from his smoothie again. Indigo rolled her eyes. "Dude, could you just cut the tough guy gimmick?" "What?" Feather said. "I know that you're just doing all this just to win me over or whatever." Indigo said coldly. "Is it working?" Feather asked while smiling. "Let me tell you this, it's pathetic." Indigo responded. This made Feather's smile fade a little. "If you think you can just enter the track team and try to impress me, you're not. The track team competes so we can bring victory to our school, not to impress girls." "Come on, just give me a chance to show you that I can be as determined as you and the track team." Feather begged. Indigo rolled her eyes as she didn't feel a thing towards Feather's begging. It wasn't until an idea struck her. Indigo got up and turned to Feather. "Alright, Feather, let's see how determined you really are to impress me." Indigo said with a wicked grin on her face. Indigo and Feather went back to the jog track with Feather at the starting line. "Now that you trained enough and you're refreshed from the smoothie, let's see how much progress you have made." Indigo said. "When I say go, you start running one lap around the track for one minute. If you fail to make it before one minute, you must quit the track team and never bother me again." "What happens if I do make it before one minute?" Feather asked. Indigo tapped her chin while thinking. "How about this? If you somehow make one lap before one minute, I'll give you a five minute back massage." Indigo said with a sly smile. Feather responded by getting into his starting position. "Oh brother," Indigo said as she prepared her stopwatch. "On your mark...get set...go!" Indigo yelled. Feather immediately ran down the jog track with all of his current speed. As Feather ran, he noticed that he wasn't as tired as he was when he tried out for track team. 'I guess those workouts are starting to pay off.' Feather thought as he continued to run on the track. Indigo also has noticed Feather's improved running. 'Looks like that shrimp is making some progress.' Indigo thought as while looking at her stopwatch. 'Let's see if he will finish in time.' Feather continued to run all around the track until he started to get tired when he was halfway to the finish line. 'I can do this!' Feather thought to himself as he picked up the pace with his running. Soon, Feather ran as fast as he could towards the finish line. "Time!" Indigo yelled as Feather ran passed the finish line. He slowed down before he collapsed to the ground once again. "Huh, I have to say this, Feather." Indigo said as she approached Feather. "You were really close to being out of the track team." Indigo said as she showed her stopwatch which showed that Feather passed the finish line by 59.9 seconds. "Congratulations, you won't be quitting the track team." Indigo said with defeat in her voice. "Looks like I'll also have to reward you for your efforts." Indigo said as she moved closer to Feather. "I'll just turn you over and we can get started." Indigo turned Feather over so his back as facing Indigo. She gently placed both of her hands on Feather's back and began massaging it. "Whoa," Feather said quietly as he felt the sweet sensation of Indigo massaging his back. He could already feel his muscles getting less tense thanks to Indigo's hands. Feather wanted to savor every minute of Indigo touching his back. 'Indigo would make a killing if she worked at the spa.' Feather thought as he felt Indigo's hands rubbing up and down his back. "Feather," Indigo said to get Feather's attention. "Let's make a deal. If you try to keep improving yourself for the track team, I'll give you all of the massages you want." "Deal," Feather said while moaning from another back rub from Indigo. "Good, also," Indigo moved closer to Feather's ear. "If you tell anyone about this, I will personally break your bones into sawdust." Feather gulped as he acknowledged that he needed to keep quiet about the massages. On Monday during the track team meeting, Spitfire had the new recruits run some laps for training. Much to Spitfire and the other track team members' surprise, Feather was running way ahead of the new recruits. Indigo stood at the sidelines while looking proud towards Feather for his improvement. Feather was able to make another lap on the track before the rest of the new recruits. "Wow, I'm impressed by Feather." Spitfire said while looking at her stopwatch. "How did you pull that off, Indigo?" "Let's just say that Feather needed a different kind of motivation to win." Indigo said as she kept watching Feather taking the lead on the track field.