Early Morning

As Twilight was walking to school, she heard two female students ahead of her having a conversation. “Say, did you hear a bunch of the sports teams, for guys and girls, have listed openings?” one of them said.
“Oh really? Hmm…if they have any openings for tennis I might be interested…though I heard it’s pretty tough cause you’re running around a lot,” the other said.
“That’s like half of the sports here,” the first girl said. “Anyway, field hockey doesn’t sound too bad…but probably not soccer though. They already have talent as is.”
Twilight had to admit she wasn’t the most athletic of girls, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to keep herself in shape.

Morning

“So yer thinking of joining a sports club?” Applejack asked before class started. She and the other girls were hanging out outside. “Ah heard most of the teams have openings so take yer pick.”
“Obviously she should join the soccer team,” Dash said matter-of-factly. “I mean, sure you got me on the team but any newcomers are welcome.”
“Ah think we should let Twilight decide Rainbow Dash,” Applejack replied, giving her a stern look.
“Well, I’m on the tennis team and yeah it’s pretty tough you’re not really good at endurance,” Pinkie Pie said. “There’s the cross country team though. I mean you do a lot of running but that’s it pretty much.”
“Speaking of running,” Dash said. “AJ, I hope you’re planning on joining the track team this spring. We need shot-put throwers.”
Applejack sighed. “Ah dunno…Ah want to but it’s gonna be hard to leave all the work at home to Big Mac, especially if Apple Bloom decides to do something.”
“So…ask her,” Dash said simply.
“Hmm…Ah’ll ask her once we get close to spring but until then it’s a maybe.”
“Okay, then Twilight, you need to join as well,” Dash grinned. “You got pretty long legs maybe you can do hurdling.”
Twilight could only imagine how terrible that would go. “Um…I’ll think about it. But going back to fall sports, maybe I’ll check out cross country.”
“Ugh, fine…” Dash said. “But if you change your mind…”
“Ah doubt it…” Applejack muttered. “At least she’s doing something…”
“I don’t know why you’re giving me that look darling,” Rarity sniffed. “I simply do not have time when I’m the head of the Fashion Club and besides, I get my exercise when I can.”
“Running on the treadmill at the gym hardly counts,” Dash pointed out.
“Hmph! I don’t see you complaining to Fluttershy about it.”
“Actually, Ah’ve seen Fluttershy carry two bags of chicken feed by herself so yeah she keeps in shape,” Applejack said.
Fluttershy blushed. “Oh…they’re not that heavy…you just build strength from it that’s all.”
“Ya know…I could always ask Fluttershy if she wants to do shot-put,” Dash wondered.

After School

Once classes were over, Twilight headed to the girl’s locker room. When she asked for the cross country coach, she was quickly directed to her office. “So you’re thinking of joining?” the coach asked. “Just out of curiosity, what would you consider your athletic level?”
Twilight was almost ashamed to admit it. “I guess I would say casual…”
“You’re not the first and you won’t be the last,” the coach chuckled. “Well, we have a meet on Tuesday but unfortunately because of the timing you won’t be able to participate in it. However, you’re welcome to tag along and get an idea of what it’s like.”
“That’s fine.” She was probably going to have to build up her stamina anyway.
“For today you don’t have to participate but as you probably know we have practice five days a week unless a meet is scheduled so try to come when you can.”
“I brought shorts so I’m willing to do some running.” “At least until my lungs give out…”
“Excellent. We’ll be meeting down at the field so get changed quickly.”
Twilight quickly changed into a t-shirt and shorts. Thankfully for gym class she always made sure to bring sneakers. She then noticed the shower stalls. “So uh…the showers here get used much?” she said to the student next to her, trying to make conversation.
“We don’t, it’s kind of more of a guy thing, although apparently it’s become a tradition with the girl’s soccer team,” the girl replied with a slight giggle.
Somehow that didn’t surprise Twilight very much. Knowing Rainbow Dash, she was probably the first one in there. But now that she thought about it, she didn’t see Dash at all. Perhaps there was more than one girl’s locker room at the school.
Once they were at the field, Twilight noticed the guys and girls were currently stretching together. Altogether, it looked to be only about thirty to forty people. “Hey, we got a new face.”

Twilight turned around and saw a guy about her size with short red hair with a red t-shirt and white shorts. “Er…yep that’s me. New girl, new face,” she replied.
“That’s right…Twilight right? I’m Heath, captain of the boy’s team.” They shook hands. “I’m surprised to see you here actually; I would’ve thought you’d be pressured into the soccer team.”
“Oh…I did, technically,” Twilight laughed. “But I’m more cut off for something simple like running.”
“Hey, you two gonna get stretching or what?” one of the other athletes called out.
“Sorry, I’m already a bad influence,” Heath said. The two of them started stretching. “I’m guessing you’re kind of new at this.”
“What gave it away?”
“Just a guess. Coach always says it’s good to have a running partner during practice to help everyone keep pace. Mind if I partner up with you?”
“Oh!” She was now lying on her butt stretching and needless to say she was stretching muscles she wasn’t even aware of. “Well, considering you’re captain you must be pretty good so I don’t want to hold you back.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it, but don’t think I’ll go too easy on you. Truthfully, cross country just keeps me in shape for track and field in the spring. Besides, sports like football and soccer have way too many risks for injury and I’m not taking those chances.”
Again, that said a lot about Rainbow Dash. “Well…alright if you insist. I’ll try not to do too badly today.”
The practice was pretty straight forward. They did warm-up laps and then jogged all the way into downtown. As Twilight expected, she was one of the slower runners but Heath kept coming back to her, trying to keep her from quitting so easily. By the end of it all, she was exhausted.
“Not too bad Twilight,” her coach said, patting her shoulder. “It may seem rough at first but after a few days you’ll start building up your endurance and a simple 5K will feel like nothing.”
“Nothing…right…” Twilight panted.
“Like I said, it’s just running but we all try to keep it entertaining,” Heath said. “So…any second thoughts?”
Twilight managed a laugh before coughing slightly. “I’ve never been known to be a quitter so no…I think I’ll stay on.”
Suddenly there was a flash of light and Twilight could hear a soft, deep voice speaking into her ear.

Thou art I…And I am thou…
Thou hast established a new bond…
Thou shalt be blessed when creating
Personas of the Magician Arcana…

In that moment it was as if time stopped all on its own. But once the words faded, time seemed to resume. “Well, I better get going, there’s someone I need to get a hold of,” Heath said, chuckling slightly as a slight blush crossed onto his face. “Again, welcome to the team Twilight.”
After he left, Twilight went back and got her stuff and changed back into her school clothes before heading home.

Evening

“Twilight!” She was greeted with a hug from Cadance once she went through the door. However, the hug didn’t last long. “Wow um…I guess school has kept you busy cause you smell like sweat…”
“Sorry,” Twilight giggled. “I may have…signed up for the cross country team.”
“What!?” Suddenly Shining Armor was in the living room. “You’re actually doing a sport and you didn’t tell me!?”
“Don’t you dare Shining,” Cadance said with a stern look. “She’s your sister and you’re not going to act like her coach.”
“But…”
“And you’re not going to hold anything against her because she now represents Canterlot High,” Cadance continued. “Understood?”
Shining quickly deflated under her gaze. “Understood…”
“Well, then this calls for a celebration, luckily I brought some home-cooking for all of us.” Cadance then walked back into the kitchen. “Oh yeah Twilight, I managed to get the rest of your stuff from Crystal Prep. I put it all outside of your room.”
Twilight’s eyes sparkled. “Cadance you are the best!” She then looked over and gave her brother a look. “You weren’t going to give me a hard time about this, were you?”
“What? No, I wouldn’t do that Twily…”
“Good, so you’ll have no issue cheering for me, especially if we play Crystal Prep.”
Shining sighed. “Right…no issue.”
Cadance’s home-cooking just happened to be a pre-made lasagna she had whipped and needless to say Twilight was quite ready to dig in. Afterwards, the three of them spent most of the evening chatting about school and then watching TV. Thankfully there was nothing big on the news.
Later on in her room, Twilight got a call from Rainbow Dash. “Hey Rainbow Dash, what’s up?”
“Yo listen, I’m not sure if anyone already told you but our first soccer match is tomorrow at the school. All of the girls are coming so I hope you can too.”
“Oh…no I guess I wasn’t paying attention to that but I’ll certainly be there. What time is it at?”
“One o’clock so don’t be late okay? You’ve seen me talk the talk so now I gotta walk the walk.”
“Right…hey Dash?”
“Yeah?”
“Is it true you…use the showers at school?”
“Ya heard about that huh?” Twilight could tell she was grinning on the other end. “Yeah…proud tradition that I’m holding up. Actually, as far as I know Spitfire started that but yeah after all that running and sweating I’m the first one to jump in and-”
“Okay, okay, I don’t need to hear anymore!” Twilight facepalmed and felt quite awkward now.
Dash burst out laughing. “What’s wrong Twilight? Afraid to show a little skin around other girls? Or does me talking about my voluptuous-”
“That’s pushing it.”
“Ouch…hehe, well anyway, you better be there tomorrow and make sure to cheer loud!”
Dash then hung up and Twilight leaned back in her chair shaking her head. She then looked over to Spike, who had been sleeping and had one eye on her. “I tell you Spike…Crystal Prep doesn’t even come close when it comes to how weird some of the people here are.”

Author's Note

Twilight has established the Teammate Social Link!

The Teammate Social Link has now reached Lvl 1.