Perception

by Gusto Starstorm

"Stupid"

Clumsy.

Slow.

Stupid.

Lime Candy had been called many things over the years, but those three came up far more often than she preferred.

In Crystal Prep Academy, reputation was everything. From the moment one enters those halls on their first day of freshman year, fellow students would begin building an image of that person. One had to either be an incredible student or an exceptional athlete to be spared even slightly from the rumor mill’s all-consuming grip.

Unfortunately for her and her twin sister, neither of those labels applied to them.

As the two sat at the hardwood counter of the smoothie shop, soothing smooth jazz buzzing in their ears from the speakers, much of Lime’s energy was focused on ensuring Lemon Zest’s mood was brightened. This day had been a perfect storm of negativity for the music lover; Indigo Zap was not at school, Lemon’s headphones had been taken away, and people were talking badly about her.

Thus, being Lime Candy, she wasn’t about to take that sitting down. She would make her sister smile by the end of lunch if it was the last thing she did.

“So then, Hightail was freaking out, screaming like she was in a horror flick,” said Lime, recalling a humorous story about one of the soccer players. “And next thing I knew, the team was in the back corner!”

A small chuckle escaped her twin sister’s mouth. “All that over a wasp in the locker room?”

“Yep. Then Indi squashed it.”

The ends of Lemon’s lips curled into a smile, signaling success. Lime had always had good ‘emotional intelligence’, according to her teachers, and at times like these, she used it to great effect. Both sisters were missing Indigo, even if they were sure their friend would be back on Monday. Thus, sharing a humorous story seemed like an easy way to bring the mood up.

Lemon took a sip of her mango smoothie. “Man, hard to believe two of ‘em are in the Top 10 smartest students, when they’re freaking out over a little bug.”

“Yeah,” Lime agreed. “But to be fair, booksmarts ain’t everything. I mean, look at Sugarcoat.”

“Once again, point taken.”

As Lime took a sip of her own tropical fruit smoothie, she thought back to Sugarcoat. She had always admired the white-haired girl’s academic prowess, but it couldn’t be denied that she had a hard time in person-to-person interactions. It was certainly a tradeoff, and one she made up for in classes.

Like earlier today, when they were in third period. Due to Indigo being absent and missing the pop quiz, Sugarcoat was the first to complete it. Unsurprising, given she was a ‘Top 3’ student academically, but following shortly after were the likes of Hightail, Jet Set, and even Trenderhoof.

Lime Candy, much to her chagrin, was the last person to finish the quiz, a minute before the bell.

And of course, the giggles from the likes of Hightail and Upper Crust…

“Something wrong, sis?”

Lime Candy turned in her seat until she was completely facing Lemon Zest. “What makes you think that?”

“Dunno, you just seem… off.”

The shorter-haired sister giggled. “Kinda proving my point about how perceptive you are.”

Unfortunately, Lemon Zest didn’t see the humor in it. “I’m being serious, Lime. Is something bothering you? You know you can talk to me about it, right?”

“Well, there really isn’t much to talk about.”

The rocker girl deadpanned. “Liar.”

Lime Candy winced at that. Her own words were used against her…

“L-look, it’s fine,” she mumbled, avoiding eye contact. “I can take it.”

“You shouldn’t have to take it,” Lemon insisted. “Why should I be sitting here having you cheer me up while you’re keeping it all to yourself?”

“Because you’re the one whose headphones got confiscated?” offered Lime, surprised by the frustration on her sister’s face. However, that frustration swiftly melted away to disappointment, as Lemon turned her attention back to the counter.

“Sis… I want to help you too. You know that, right?”

That question hit Lime Candy like a truck. Did Lemon Zest really believe that she didn’t want to share her problems with her? Because if so, that was another thing to throw onto her list of messes to fix; the two always shared things they found important.

It was simply that right now, Lemon’s problems were of utmost importance to Lime.

“O-of course I do,” Lime answered hesitantly. “But I promise, it’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before. I can take it.”

For a second, her sister’s frustration returned with a vengeance, but was quickly subdued by another emotion. Lime did not like to see that look, the glint of disappointment in her twin’s eyes almost too much to bear.

“I could at least try to make you smile…” Lemon told her. “Like you’ve been doing for me.”

Neither sister said anything for a bit, Lime eventually turning back to her original position. Unfortunately, as she did, her elbow bumped something. A chill ran down her side as she heard the spill, frozen juice splattering all over the counter.

Sucking on her teeth in frustration, Lime turned to the employee at the front counter. “I’m so sorry, I’ll clean that up.”

“No need, miss,” the employee told her, already grabbing a roll of paper towels. “We’ll get this mess dealt with.”

Sure enough, the offending drink was cleaned post-haste. That was another detail of this little smoothie shop that Lime Candy loved—the employees actually seemed to like their jobs. In no time at all, it was as though it never happened.

‘If only every mess were so easy to clean…’

The shorter haired sister stood up abruptly, surprising her sister.

“Something up, Lime?” asked Lemon.

“Nah, I just have to use the bathroom,” Lime answered lamely; not a lie, but not the whole truth. “I’ll be right back.”

And so, Lime Candy walked away. Along the way, she tripped, but quickly got back to standing before anyone could say something. She was used to little jeers when she tripped, and didn’t want any more today.

And once Lime was in the single stall, a weak sigh escaped her lips.

Truth of the matter was, she didn’t have to use the bathroom. She just needed a moment away.

After a minute or so, she got up and left the stall. Going over to the sink and looking into the mirror, the junior saw her reflection well enough. There, staring back at her, was the ‘stupid’ girl everyone liked to pick on.

Over the last two years, the student body had built an image of Lime Candy. She was the girl who was constantly tripping over herself, or grabbing onto things nearby for some reason. The girl who’s grades were low by Crystal Prep’s incredibly high standards. The girl who always seemed to miss when people were trying to get her attention.

And now she could add ‘the girl who didn’t even notice how her own sister was suffering too’ onto that list. And considering Lime was saying that about herself, it made her feel far worse.

“It’s so bad that she’s considering leaving her headphones back home this Monday…”

The very thought made her stomach turn. Lemon Zest loved her music, so to think someone would make her want to spend the day without it meant it must have been bad. Or maybe it was many incidents that were just building up, and this was her sister’s breaking point.

If the latter, then Lime Candy wanted to smack herself. How could she have been so blind…?

Glancing toward the mirror again frustrated the teen. Lime couldn’t bear to see those yellow eyes staring back at her, and soon found herself staring at the floor once again. After a few seconds, her hands met her face, and with a few practiced motions, she grabbed it out.

Resting perfectly in her palm, frustratingly fragile and irritatingly small, was a contact lens. To most, it was a simple tool for better eyesight, but Lime Candy was not most. For her, this little thing was meant for a very different purpose. It hid a secret that most people either didn’t know, or didn’t care about.

This time, she turned to her reflection again, and found herself face to face with the real Lime Candy. In truth, it wasn’t too far off from the version presented to everyone else—same green hair, same uniform, same button nose. But what made this so different was the very thing the contact was meant to hide:

Lime Candy’s right iris… instead of the bright amber, was a faded gray. There was still a yellowish tint to it, but no amount of light reached this eye, and hadn’t for the last nine, nearly ten, years.

The truth behind her clumsiness—the truth she hid from others on a daily basis—was that Lime Candy was half-blind.

For more than half of her life, this had been Lime’s cross to bear. Ever since one fateful day where she received a punch so strong, it severed the optic nerve entirely. She could still remember the pain vividly, as she had clutched her face, back against the pavement, screaming her lungs out. But the part that had always shook her most was that this blow was not received from an adult or an older bully… but by a girl her own age, whom she’d been playing a game with just a few minutes before.

Eventually, with a little therapy and a lot of time, Lime got over it. Or at the very least, she moved forward from it. Life would never be the same, but she was never one to sit around and mope for too long. And so, she adjusted, finding little ways to make up for her new lack of depth perception.

Some days it did get the better of her (such as right now, for instance), but on the whole, Lime was able to make it through life despite her handicap.

But of course, most people didn’t realize that was the reason she still struggled to interact with the world around her. The contact lens in her hand was to thank for that; it’s one purpose was to make her eye look normal, and did a very good job as far as that was concerned. No one at Crystal Prep except Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap knew, and part of Lime wanted to keep it that way.

Another part of her, however, couldn’t help but wonder, the same way Lemon was considering the idea of leaving her headphones at home. From time to time, the thought of just ‘forgetting’ to put the darn thing in had floated through Lime’s mind.

Would she receive the same jeers and insults if they knew they were picking on a disabled girl? Or would the treatment be just as unforgiving despite her impairment? So far, Lime had been too afraid to learn the answer, and yet she couldn’t help but wonder.

But then again, she wondered about a lot of things. Like how she and Lemon had gotten so lucky as to move to Canterlot. Or how unlucky it was that Crystal Prep seemed to attract so many jerks to their campus, as opposed to somewhere like CHS. Sometimes, she pondered on if she should consider finding a tutor to improve her grades, or if maybe she and Lemon Zest could form a study group to achieve that.

And more frequently in the past, but still occasionally nowadays… Lime Candy wondered how she ended up friends with the very girl who took her eyesight.

At the end of the day, though, these questions rarely lingered, and whatever guff she got, she mostly took in stride. Lime could do this because she had her friends there; they weren’t many, but they were enough. That was why she always put her best toward making sure that whenever her friends had a problem, they’d work to solve it.

Not that Lime Candy had all the answers, of course. But she tried her best. After all, if they were happy, she would be happy too.

‘I should get back to sis,’ she told herself. ‘She’s probably ordered another smoothie for me, knowing her.’

And so, with another practiced motion, Lime carefully placed the contact lens back in. One last check in the mirror to ensure her appearance was right, and the girl exited the bathroom once again.

Sure enough, Lemon Zest was sitting at the counter, a new tropical fruit smoothie nearby. As she returned to her seat, the half-blind girl couldn’t keep the smile off her face. The same, however, couldn’t be said for her twin, who was looking rather dejected.

“Thanks, sis,” she said casually, taking a sip of the new drink.

“No problem,” Lemon told her, almost finished with her own smoothie. “And uh… sorry if I upset you there.”

That line of thought was immediately snuffed by Lime, with nothing more than a smile. “You never upset me, Lemon. I guess I just was caught off guard. But if I ever do feel like it’s too much, you’ll be the first to know.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

And with that, the rocker girl was happy once again, and Lime could go back to enjoying their break. All of her problems with Crystal Prep seemed small and faraway when she was with her sister—no, not just her sister, but her best friend.

A best friend who had been suffering just as much as she was.

And that still made her feel stupid for not noticing…

But now that she did, she could start making their situation better, and be emotionally supportive when Lemon was having a bad day.

And already, Lime had an idea of how to do so.

“Hey Lemon, you wanna hear another funny story?”

Author's Note:

So, this chapter is a bit different than the last three, mostly due to dealing with an OC.

You may remember Lime Candy from the first chapter, where she interacted a bit with her twin sister Lemon Zest. Well, this chapter is a continuation on that, showing how the smoothie thing went. It's also a chance to show off more of Lime Candy, which I do want to get into. I have some plans for this continuity I've made up, and she does have a part to play, just like the other Shadowbolts.

Also, if you're wondering what Lime Candy looks like, this is her:

Anyway, that's all I got for now, we are 2/3 of the way there, and next in line is going to be a fun one. But instead of teasing you more, I'll just get back to work on that.

Until next time, my friends.

Comments

[Sky Scraper]

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?

[FanOfMostEverything]

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.

[Will Rufus]

11476600
I read it as being Indigo?

We'll see, though.

[equestriagirlsfan]

I am really enjoying this story. Can't wait for the next chapter.