//------------------------------// // Ch.16 Lead Shackles // Story: The First Star of Twilight // by Arcanum -Phantasy //------------------------------// It is a common belief among those that play games that their setup reflects them in some way. A person with a more reckless way of handling things may build a raging barbarian while someone with a more cautious mindset might play the roll of a cunning rogue or ranger. As such, a more mentally centered D&D player would most likely gravitate towards the caster classes while someone more athletically gifted would favor the martial classes. Twilight and Indigo were prime examples of this phenomenon, the physical differences between them plain as day to all that watched them jog through Six Pillar Park. "I give!" Twilight wheezed, flopping like a dead fish onto the grass. "C'mon, Slugger," Indigo chuckled, barely even winded. "One more lap!" "I can't... feel.... my legs!" she panted. "Bookworm," she snorted, rolling her eyes. It was a nice and sunny day with only a handful of clouds dotting the early afternoon sky. It was the kind of day that dragged people out for fun picnics or barbecues. At the moment, it didn't seem like that many people were willing or able to take advantage of such a good day. The perfect chance for Indigo to try to whip her new friend into shape and spend some time with her outside of the gaming table or school for a change. Guess it's time to take a break, she thought, reluctantly sitting down next to her friend. While she waited for her friend to catch her breath, she stared out into the nearby forest portion of park's jogging trail. "You are really out of shape," Indigo snorted. "Not....an....athlete!" she gasped. "You don't need to be to keep yourself in shape," she sighed. "Just an hour of exercise each day just to keep yourself healthy." "I...try!" Twilight panted, finally managing to gather enough strength to sit up. "Right," Indigo frowned. "Unless you've got a treadmill in your lab, I don't believe you." "I practice my kickboxing once a week," Twilight grumbled, crossing her arms. "For an hour?" she asked, raising a brow. "Um.....no," she relented, slouching forward. "Thought so," she smirked. "I don't have the time!" Twilight whined. "Between school and my experiments, I'm lucky if I can squeeze a few minutes of training in each week!" "Good thing we're friends then," Indigo beamed. "What do you mean?" she gulped. "C'mon, Slugger, you know it takes more than PE grades to be an Elite," Indigo winked. "Right," she awkwardly chuckled. "Speaking of," Indigo added, her cocky smile shifting into a worried frown. "You checked on Lemon yesterday, right? How's she doing?" "Tired, but she was doing fine," Twilight smiled. "She said that she should be able to make it to the Slumber Party tomorrow, too." "That's good," Indigo sighed, sporting a relieved smile. "She also said that she wanted to tell us all what was bothering her tomorrow," she happily added. "Finally!" Indigo cheered. "After all that shit at the school, I was, like, a step away from tying her to a chair and hosting an intervention!" "Right," Twilight nervously chuckled. Thank god she didn't try that, she thought, taking note of how much damage Lemon's Awakening had caused. "Bet she's losing her mind right now," Indigo chuckled. "Take her music gear away and that girl gets twitchier than a five-year-old on a soda binge." "Petal and Sugar are visiting her today," Twilight smiled. "Hopefully, they can get her to recover properly." "Petal and Sugar? Really?" Indigo asked, raising a brow. "I know she said she'd cut her some slack, but I thought they still hated each other." "I guess they came to some kind of understanding," Twilight shrugged. "Huh, wonder when that happened." "I've been wondering the same thing," she said with a thoughtful frown. "I'm just glad their getting along now." "I guess that's all that matters," Indigo chuckled. "I wonder what they're up to right now." *** "What the fuck?!" Petal snapped, glaring down at Lemon's laptop. "You need to push the arrow keys quicker," Sugar deadpanned. "I know that much!" she growled, eyes locked onto the red Game Over screen. "Who the hell came up with this shit?!" "Maybe Friday Night Funk'n wasn't the best game to introduce her to," Sugar mused. "Nah, this is perfect," Lemon giggled, aiming her phone's camera at them from her bed. "She hasn't made it past the dad," Sugar flatly stated crossing her arms. "There's more after this?!" Petal balked, swiveling her chair to face Sugar. "Yep," she stated. "And the mom is ten times harder." Petal blinked, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then calmly said, "Fuck this game and the person who made it with a burning iron dildo wrapped in barbed wire." Both girls blinked at her as she rose from her seat, grabbed one of Lemon's pillows, and screamed into it. A small smile crept onto Sugar's face while Lemon nearly rolled out of her bed with laughter. When Petal was done screaming, she plopped the pillow back onto Lemon's bed before she reclaimed her seat at the computer desk. "Do you want me to take over?" Sugar asked. "No," Petal growled, hitting replay. "Do you want me to get you something?" Sugar asked, staring at Lemon. "Some lemonade would be awesome!" Lemon chirped. "I'll see if there is still some in the fridge," Sugar nodded, making her way towards the door. Not even a second after she closed the door, a muffled stream of curses and laughter could be heard. Sugar rolled her eyes as she made her way towards the kitchen. At least she's back to normal, she thought, a small smile gracing her lips as she opened the fridge. *** "How the heck did the two of you meet anyway?" Indigo asked, laying out across the grass on her back. "No offense, but she doesn't seem like the kind of person you'd hang with." "We...um," Twilight stuttered, quickly trying to remember the cover story they came up with. "We met through Crystal Heart." "Isn't that for students only?" Indigo asked, raising a brow. "She had a temporary account," Twilight quickly added. "You know, for hopeful students?" "Oh, that makes sense," Indigo nodded, shifting her attention back to the sky. Twilight let out a relieved sigh, once again flopping bonelessly onto the grass. We need a better story, she noted, a small twinge of guilt stinging her gut. A moment of peaceful silence settled between them, the rustling of leaves, warm spring sun, and smell of grass, lulling easing the awkward tension out of them. It was a strange sense of being for Twilight, the bookish teen far more familiar with the building tension of studying for an exam or planning a way around her fellow Elites. To have a moment to just lay down, relax, and let her mind wander was, in a word, surreal. "So, what are you planning to do after Crystal Prep?" Indigo asked, a somber tone entering her voice. "Huh?" Twilight blinked, snapping out of her zen. "Bet its something big," Indigo ruefully chuckled. "Like curing cancer or something." "I..." Twilight paused. What did she plan to do after high school? Up until recently, her main goal was to get into Everton and dive headfirst into whatever topic grabbed her attention. Now, that goal seemed so much less important; hollow even. What did she want to do with the privileges her rank afforded her? How did she want to use them to live her life outside of school? "I....I don't know," she meekly answered. "I...haven't thought about it until now." "Really?" Indigo, frowned, rolling over to face her. "C'mon, all of the Elites have a plan. Hell, I've got one." "I'm serious," Twilight stated, her nerves gradually growing by the second. "All I've been doing is trying to maintain my GPA and nothing else! If it wasn't relevant to what I was studying, it didn't matter! The closest thing I have to a plan is going to college, but what will I do when I get there?! What will I study?! What kind of degree do I want?! Will it get me a good job?! WHERE DO I EVEN START?!" By the end of her rant, the teen's breath came out in panicked gasps, her eyes wide with terror. Her limbs started to turn heavy and numb while her head stared to feel light, darkness riming the edges of her vision. Before she could fall further into her anxieties, she was forced to sit up, the snapping of fingers in her face pulling her out of her spiraling trance. "Stay with me, Slugger," Indigo frowned, holding the limp girl up and rubbing her back. "Breath in, then out. Slowly." Drunkenly nodding, Twilight did as she was told. Slowly, the teen's senses started to come back to her, her hand stiffly coming up to rub her gem out of habit. After a few minutes of this, Twilight managed to recover enough to sit up under her own power. With a gentle push, and confirmation that she was okay, Twilight put a small bit of distance between herself and her friend. "Are you sure you're okay?" Indigo pressed. "Y-Yeah," Twilight nodded, forcing a small smile. "Good," Indigo sighed. "Sorry, for freaking you out like that. I just kind've assumed, y'know?" "It's okay," Twilight frowned. "But I really do need to start thinking about that kind of stuff soon. What's your plan?" Indigo smiled, puffed out her chest and said, "I'm shooting to become an Olympic Athlete then move on to become a personal trainer." "Really?" Twilight smiled. "Yep!" she chuckled. "I'm taking all kinds of classes centered around biology and nutritional science. That way, I can learn all about different body types and the best ways to push them to their absolute limits!" "Like what?" Twilight asked, leaning in. "Like, for example, you're body type is one built on flexibility and quick-reflex evasion. This makes you fairly good at sports that require quick muscle memory, but low stamina and strength investment." "And what kind of sports are those?" she asked, raising a brow. "Off the top of my head, I'd say Fencing, Archery, Kendo, and maybe Golf." Twilight nodded, humming in thought at those options. "Going off of that, Kickboxing is a poor fit for me then." "Nah," Indigo chuckled. "You make it work." "Huh?" Twilight blinked. "Sure, you don't have the raw power most practitioners have, but you make up for it with precision. I see it like this, you could throw a punch hard enough to break rocks, but it doesn't do you much good if you can't hit your target." "I guess you're right," Twilight blushed. "Still," Indigo continued. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to raise your stamina." "Please no more running," Twilight whined. "I literally don't think my heart can take it." "Nah, that's all for today," she chuckled. "What do you say we head off to get some smoothies? I know this neat place at the mall that makes some really good ones." "Sounds good," Twilight beamed. *** The Mixing Bowl was one of the most popular drink shops in the Crystal Emporium Mall. In addition to smoothies and shakes, the shop had a wide selection of mixed sodas, floats, and a section cut off from the rest of the shop that held a fully stocked bar. On top all that, the shop was situated in a part of the mall that gave it access to an outdoor serving area. Twilight and Indigo sat merrily at one of the outside tables, said tables made to resemble half-cut orange slices with a yellow sun umbrella standing in the middle and red metal chairs surrounding it. They laughed over traded stories or a few Hooftube videos on their phones, their drinks adding to the good cheer of the moment. "Really hits the spot, huh?" Indigo smirked taking a swig. Twilight happily nodded, taking a sip of her own drink. "What did you get?" Twilight asked. "My usual," Indigo shrugged. "Cranberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry. pomegranate, and a little bit of bitter melon. What'd you get?" "Blueberry," Twilight giggled. "I'm surprised they could get all of that into one cup." "They're pros," Indigo smiled with a shrug. "Good thing too, cuz I need all of that to keep myself going." "Why's that?" Twilight asked, taking a sip. "I don't feel like getting into the specifics of it all, but all of those specific fruits have an antioxidant called anthocynin in them that can help keep your body in top shape." "How so?" Twilight blinked. Indigo sported an impish smile as she said, "It boosts your metabolism, clears your heart, balances hormone levels, reduces visible signs of aging, reduces muscle pain, and gives you a ton of energy." "Wow," Twilight gaped, staring down at her drink. "I didn't know that. I mean, I know that eating certain things could lead to specific health benefits, but I never thought of looking into it all that much beyond that." "Well, it's not some magic potion or anything," Indigo nervously chuckled, scratching the back of her head. "You need to take in a lot of berries on a daily basis to make it work and some body types can't process them all that well. Plus, some of the fruit are pretty expensive." "Right," Twilight hummed, still staring at her drink. "So, to make it work, you would need a way to introduce a concentrated variant of the antioxidant that is both reasonably accepted by the body and is cost effective enough to be more readily available for mass production. With a proper lab, funding, and a dedicated staff, it should be possible." "Sounds like something you could pull off, number one," Indigo frowned, a faint hint of venom entering the end of her sentence. "S-Sorry," Twilight flinched, leaning back from her friend. "No, I'm sorry," Indigo sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "That wasn't cool." For a few seconds, the two sat in silence, sipping their drinks. All the while, Twilight watched her friend's expression subtly shift, as if she wanted to say something, but just couldn't find the words. Eventually, Indigo broke the silence with a defeated sigh and a hint of frustration in her eyes. "Can I level with you for a minute?" Nervously, Twilight nodded. A small smile graced Indigo's lips at that. "Thanks. Okay, see, the thing is, I..hate being in the bottom five. I mean, sure, it's awesome being an Elite and everything, but being on the bottom of the totem pole just drives me crazy sometimes." "Do you need help moving up?" Twilight asked, concerned. "No, it's not that," Indigo tiredly chuckled. "If I tried a little harder, I could easily jump up to rank six in a couple of weeks." "Then if it's bothering you that much, why haven't you?" Indigo let out a bitter groan and took a long sip of her drink before she continued. "A bunch of different reasons. If I move up too fast, Sunny and Sour are going to give me more hell then they already do. Plus, I know I'm not going to be happy being stuck in sixth place for the next two years and I don't want to knock my friends off of their thrones. Because of all that, I have to be super careful with my grades so I can keep my spot, but not do so well that I accidentally paint a bullseye on my back! It's so fucking annoying!" At the end of her rant, the sporty teen let out an irate groan, roughly leaning back into her seat and crossing her arms. A deep frown marred Twilights face, the bookish teen all too familiar with Sunny and Sour's particular brands of pressure. Had it not been for her dedication to her studies, she could've easily fallen victim to a similar trap. Even now, she could hear their falsely friendly voices in the back of her mind, turning her accomplishments into jeering taunts. "I think I know what you mean," she bitterly sighed. "Huh?" Indigo blinked. "Trying not to draw to much attention to yourself. Having people judge your every move. Keeping all of your stress hidden from the people you care about. It's awful. Suffocating." She wanted to say more, but a sudden tightness in her throat stopped her. She felt as if she was sitting in a dark pit, the air frigid and thick in her lungs. It coated her skin, sliding across her body like refrigerated tar, its embrace growing heavier by the second.The familiar building of tears brought her back to the present. With a small sniffle, she wiped away what few tears slipped past her guard. "Twilight?" "I'm okay," she sighed, slowly managing to regain her composure. "Anyway, have you told Lemon and Sugar about any of this?" "No," Indigo frowned. "Don't you think you should?" "Don't see what good it'll do," she sighed. "It wouldn't hurt to try, right?" Indigo frowned at that, a part of her humoring the thought, but still largely unconvinced. "I'll...think about it," she relented. "Okay," Twilight nodded, then smiled softly as she added, "Thank you for telling me." "Yeah, yeah," she smiled. "Just make sure you keep all of that to yourself." "Of course," Twilight nodded, crossing her heart. "And while we're trading secrets, why don't you tell me how you learned kick boxing?" Indigo smirked. "Oh, one of my sister-in-laws taught me," Twilight beamed, instantly lightning up at the change of topic. "Well, technically, she's my sister-in-law's friend, but she's practically her sister. So I guess that counts, right?" "Hell if I know," Indigo shrugged. "So, is she some kind of self-defense coach or something." "Former Special Forces," Twilight shrugged, casually taking a sip of her drink. Indigo blinked at that, her brain struggling to process what she had just heard. When it finally did, she let out a shocked, "WHAT?!" and nearly dropped her drink on her lap. "Okay, this I've got to hear," she smiled, leaning forward in her seat. As Twilight started to talk about her sort-of-sister-in-law, a couple from a table in the balcony's far corner watched them with mild interest. One, a pink girl wearing a red trench coat and the other a violet boy dressed in semi-formal clothes and star-like sparkles dotting his skin.