Celestia's gentle sun had risen over the horizon, causing warm sunlight to filter through the open window. The warm rays landed directly on the face of the solar co-ruler's prized pupil, Twilight Sparkle, or Sparky, to one.
It took a few moments, but the gentle light eventually coerced the purple pony awake. Bright purple eyes fluttered open, blankly staring at the wall for a moment, before her brain finally caught up with her eyes, and yawned.
Sitting up, Twilight took a moment to bask in the warmth of her sheets, the thought of simply curling back up and sleeping the day away was oh-so tempting, but no, not this time.
She had work to do.
A rush of magic wormed its way through her as she powered the spiraled appendage on her forehead, using the arcane energy to lift her bedside glass of water to her lips, before taking several greedy gulps, downing the entire glass in one go.
Feeling just the slightest bit more awake, the scholarly unicorn managed to wriggle herself out of bed, the pull of Nature's Call speeding up her journey partway through.
Minutes later found the same unicorn standing in the shower, lightly humming a song to herself as she scrubbed her tail with her favourite blueberry shampoo.
It was an old song, one her mother used to sing often when she was younger. She couldn't, for the life of her, recall the artist's name, but the tune of the song, 'Advent of the Seas', had never left her.
Finishing up her shower, Twilight was busily drying herself off when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. She hung the towel, and took a moment to look herself over.
Her eyes trailed up her form, and Twilight could tell she'd never be the height of unicorn beauty, like Rarity. Her legs were much too thin, her gut just a little too big, and, while somewhat big, her flanks weren't exactly eye-catching either. She had been thinner, once a upon a time, but then she became friends with Pinkie, and nopony could say no to a couple dozen of that mare's cupcakes.
All in all, Twilight did not like her body. She thought this, even as she brushed down her frizzy mane and tail into their customary style. That was why she was making an effort to change.
Stepping back out into her and Spike's shared room, Twilight's magic reached out, searching for five specific items. It didn't take her long to find them, since they hadn't been moved from where she had previously hidden them, thankfully, and slipped them on.
A set of baby blue sweat bands, one for each hoof, and one for her head, snapped on snugly, as they always had.
She wasn't sure how Pinkie had found out about her resolution regarding her fitness, but she was immensely thankful that the mare had given these to her regardless. A lone saddlebag floated over to her, containing a flask of water and a few apples, was then set onto her back, ready to go. She checked outside, finding that she'd woken up a bit later than usual, but nodded regardless, and headed downstairs, before making her way outside.
Once outside, Twilight carefully looked around, before making her way towards the Whitetail Woods, setting off at a light jog as she did so. It took no longer than usual for her to arrive at her designated secret spot, and in only a minute, she had set herself up, and began to run through her stretches, which she'd gotten from a book on personal health she kept stored in her room.
Ever since that day, that dreadful day, she'd been coming out here every morning to work out. At first, she'd debated with herself on simply going to the gym, both for the access to professional assistance as well as the equipment, but eventually her decision was made for her when she encountered Rainbow Dash and Applejack making their way to the gym not too long after.
They had asked her what she was doing that day, considering that she'd been standing outside of Ponyville's only gym for nearly ten minutes, but, eventually, she told them she'd just been thinking about Starswirl's theory on metaphysical forces interacting with the material world, and they'd been more than happy to leave her be, practically sprinting inside after that.
She might have felt bad for lying to her friends and keeping this a secret, but the memory of their mockery during the Running of the Leaves kept making its way to the forefront of her mind, and she found herself resolutely silent whenever she thought about telling them the truth.
She'd been stuck after that, not sure what to do, but thankfully she'd found the title 'Fit Bit's Guide to Fitness' in the library's catalogue, and she'd immediately set herself upon finding it.
Oh and what a wonderful idea that had been! It was a remarkably detailed book, lining out proper methods of stretching to prevent cramps, allotted times in which she needed to rest, as well as a good diet to keep so she wouldn't be wasting her time!
Unfortunately, most of it was related to using gym equipment, so when it came to her own little self-made workout the information fell short. Of course there was still plenty left for her to use, but she doubted it was as effective as it should've been.
Still, she was sure she'd made some progress. She'd barely been able to jog around Ponyville one time without feeling like she was going to die, but now?
Now she wasn't reduced to flopping onto the ground, greedily sucking in air like a deprived drug addict. Oh no, she could still stand while doing that now!
...
She needed help.
But how could she possibly ask Rainbow Dash or Applejack? If their reaction during the Running of the Leaves was anything to go by, they'd just laugh in her face if she asked.
Twilight gave a sigh, even as she finished her daily stretches and began jogging back to town, getting ready to start her morning run around Ponyville.
It hadn't been easy finding a good time to do this. Since Applejack got up early everyday, she had to make sure that she was far away enough from Sweet Apple Acres to keep the farmpony from spotting her, as well as keeping far enough from Fluttershy's cottage to avoid the shy pegasus.
She knew she wouldn't have to worry about Rarity or Rainbow Dash, since the former wouldn't be leaving her house for too much, and the latter wouldn't even be awake, that only left two others.
Emerald and Pinkie Pie.
Since Pinkie was already aware of her new schedule, she knew she had nothing to fear from her, rather, it was Emerald that scared her.
His schedule was the most erratic. Sometimes he'd head home after eight, sometimes he'd leave early. Other days he'd immediately head into town, his disguise already up, or he'd sit around, enjoying the morning air. Really, the only thing about his schedule that stayed constant was that the dome, and consequently his duties, would be up at one in the morning and down by seven-thirty.
She didn't know how he'd react if he spotted her new routine. He might laugh at her, and give her some tips disguised as teasing, or he wouldn't do anything. He might even do something else entirely, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to take the chance to find out.
Today was going to be just like every other day of her new routine. She'd be out and about at six in the morning, meaning she was taking a risk since Emerald was still working, and be done with her morning routine, hopefully, by eight.
"Twilight?!"
Today was not going to be just like every other day of her new routine.
The studious unicorn stumbled at the familiar voice, which sent her tumbling to the dirt, a few strands of grass ending up in her mouth.
No way, there was just no way this could be happening.
"Are you-" there was a snort, "... jogging?"
Absolutely not! There could be no way that this could happen-!
"Pfft, wait... are you exercising?"
"U-uh-"
"No way! An egghead like you?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at her like a particularly funny comic, "BAHAHAHA!!"
Her face burned at the sound of her friend's laughter. This... this was why she kept it a secret.
"What's going on over here?" came another, terrifyingly familiar voice, causing her blood to freeze.
No.
"Hey Emerald!" Rainbow greeted, still laughing a little, "Look! Twilight's exercising! She's even got a bunch of sweatbands!"
Twilight could practically feel the stallion stop right next to her, feel his gaze settle on her downed form. Hesitantly, she raised her head from the ground, spitting out the grass as she did so, and looked up at him, wide-eyed.
Could this get any worse?
"Howdy everypony!"
Of course it could.
"Applejack! Applejack! Over here, ya gotta see this!"
"Why, what's goin' on?"
"It's Twilight, she's... she's exercising!" Rainbow whispered conspiratorially, before breaking out into mad giggles once more.
"Really?" the farmpony asked, looking down at the form of her friend, before smiling, "Well that's great!" she said, surprising Twilight immensely,
"It is?" she asked,
"Well o'course! Why wouldn't it be?" Applejack asked. Twilight's eyes darted to Rainbow, who was still laughing, and Applejack sighed, "Right..." she muttered, sending the chromatic mare the stink eye.
The mare in question, despite laughing, still managed to catch on,
"Oh come on!" she said, "It's funny! I mean, look at her!" she said, pointing dramatically, "I'd expect Pinkie to wear those things, but not her!"
"Rainbow Dash, ya need ta quit laughin'!" Applejack snapped, "Ya'll didn't like it when ya thought we'd make fun of you fer readin', so quite makin' fun of Twilight fer this!"
Rainbow Dash, who had been all too ready to ignore the mare and keep laughing, suddenly stilled at that, and sighed,
"Yeah, yeah, alright," she relented, crossing her hooves. Applejack nodded,
"Good, now," she turned back to Twilight, "what's this about?" she asked, surprising her once more, "While makin' sure yer healthy is a great thing an' all, it ain't the kind'o thing somepony jus' wakes up one day and gets started on, so what's goin' on?"
Twilight stared at her friend for a moment, allowing her eyes to drift to the two fliers on either side of her, lingering on the male one for a moment longer, before sighing,
"... A few weeks ago, when Fluttershy was foalsitting the Crusaders and Wisp, I asked Emerald if he could come with me to Zecora's to get some more of my tea. While we were coming back into town, we got attacked by a cockatrice, and we ran," she said, the words flowing out of her mouth without stopping, "We were running nonstop, but I just couldn't keep up for very long. I was going to have to catch my breath eventually, and the cockatrice would catch me, so Emerald sacrificed himself to give me some time. After that, I couldn't help but think, 'If only I was a little bit faster' or 'If only I could've run a little longer'... I made a promise to myself, afterwards, that I'd work out, that I'd get in better shape so if something like that ever happened again, nobody would have to sacrifice themselves, at least not for me. I don't want to be a burden," she admitted.
"Sparky..."
"Geez..." Rainbow muttered, "That's... pretty dark stuff, Twilight,"
"Well... if that's how ya thought, then why didn't ya jus' come ta one of us?" Applejack asked after a moment, "I mean, I ain't no trainer, but I know a thing or two 'bout werkin' out,"
"Yeah, sure Aj," Rainbow scoffed, "but seriously, you totally could've just asked me, I mean, I'd have you whipped into shape in no time!" she boasted. Twilight looked away for a moment, then spoke,
"How could I, when you two just laugh at me?" she asked timidly. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack flinched at her response, though she didn't see it,
"Hey... I'm sorry, Twi," Rainbow muttered, just loud enough for her to hear, "I mean... I didn't mean to make you feel bad, I just..." she gave a dejected sigh, "You remember Gilda, right?" Twilight nodded, "Yeah, well, the two of us used to poke fun at each other all the time... guess I'm just used to doing that with my friends," she admitted, then sent Twilight a small, guilty smile, "I'm sorry if what I say hurts, alright? I don't mean anything bad, I'm just not good at being all sappy, and stuff," she finished, shrugging.
"An' I'm mighty sorry too, Twilight," Applejack added once Rainbow finished, "I ferget sometimes that yer still kinda new ta this whole 'friendship' business, an' I jus' get carried away at times. I hope this don't affect our friendship, none," she added morosely.
Twilight looked down, hoping to spare her friends the sight of her crying. But it was for naught as a pathetic whimper escaped her, causing the tears to flow. She heard Applejack call her name, and even heard Rainbow panic a little bit, but it wasn't until a welcome warmth suddenly appeared by her side, draping itself across her back in the process, that she looked up.
Emerald had laid himself next to her, and had even enveloped her in his wing, an act that she knew, had he been a pegasus, would've been extremely intimate.
Despite the knowledge of this, as well as Rainbow's furious blushing as the pegasus turned away, she couldn't help but lean into his embrace, feeling a not unwelcome warmth blossom in her chest once again.
Once upon a time she hated that warmth, but now?
She wouldn't mind having more of it.
"Life can be hard sometimes," the stallion's voice washed over her ears, "Especially when it comes to you ponies. So emotional," he muttered, then chuckled, "Might as well take 'em up on their offer, eh, Twilight?" he asked, "I mean, what have you got to lose?"
What did she have to lose?
She had her friends. Her home here in Ponyville. She even had family, both here and in Canterlot.
"Alright," she finally said, looking up at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the latter of whom was still turned around, her face and ears having gone red, "When should we start?" she asked.
She was nervous. Very nervous. Extremely nervous.
And who could blame her? Twilight Sparkle: Ponyville bookworm; personal protege to Princess Celestia; a unicorn who literally could have avoided doing hard work her entire life and still come out successful-
-Was about to be trained by a farmpony who'd been doing hard labor since she could walk and a hyper-competitive pegasus with dreams to join the Wonderbolts, a team of pegasi who were considered top-of-the-line-athletes in Equestria.
She was doomed.
"Okay Twilight," she said to her reflection in the bathroom mirror, "you'll be fine. Just fine! Applejack and Rainbow Dash know you're not the most athletic pony yet, so surely they'll take it a bit easy, right?"
"Yeah right," her reflection spat back at her, "Applejack, a mare who tried harvesting her entire orchard in a week, by herself, and Rainbow Dash, who resorted to blatantly cheating and sabotaging two different competitions just to get ahead of one other pony, know how to take it easy."
"Oh sweet Celestia, you're right," she muttered, horrified. They were going to kill her!
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*
The sudden knocking startled her out of the downward spiral that was her thought process,
"Come on Twilight!" she heard Rainbow Dash yell, the sound muffled slightly by the walls, "Get your lazy butt down here so I can kick it into shape!"
Twilight gulped.
Here we go, she thought.
Taking one final breath, as well as one last look at her current appearance, Twilight gathered her sweatbands, saddlebag, and headed downstairs. It took her a minute, but she eventually made it to the front door, and swung it open, revealing her chromatic friend hovering in the air, hooves crossed impatiently.
"Finally!" she exclaimed, "Yeesh, you take forever to get ready, you know that?" she asked. Twilight rolled her eyes,
"Everything takes forever to you, Rainbow," she pointed out. Rainbow thought for a moment, then nodded,
"Yeah, totally," she said, sounding smug, but shook her head, "My awesomeness aside, we're burning daylight! You ready, Twilight?"
No, she thought.
"Yes," is what she actually said.
The two of them soon migrated over to Ponyville Park, bringing some unpleasant memories to the resident bookworm, before she threw them aside. Apart from that, the park looked no different than it did during the Running of the Leaves, bar the lack of party supplies that Pinkie had no doubt cleaned up once everything was over.
"Okay, so what are we going to do?" Twilight asked, setting her saddlebags on a nearby bench, levitating a notepad and quill from the bag as she did so,
"Well, first off we'll do some stretches," Rainbow said, "'Cept I don't know any for unicorns," she muttered. Twilight shook her head,
"That's fine, Rainbow. I know plenty,"
"What, from books?" she asked,
"... Yes," Rainbow snorted, but a glare from Twilight shut her up,
"Sorry," she said, holding her hooves up in surrender, though she kept smirking.
Once it was clear she didn't have anything else to say, Twilight started going through her stretches. They weren't anything complicated, since she wasn't trying to improve her flexibility, so the majority of them only lasted a few seconds at most. Still they served their purpose, and would hopefully keep her from cramping or getting stiff later.
"Okay!" Twilight announced once she finished, "What next?"
"Finally," Rainbow muttered, "Alright, let's do some push-ups to get started. So, drop and give me twenty!" Twilight blinked, but nodded and did as she was told. Push-ups shouldn't be too difficult, right?
She was wrong.
In hindsight, Twilight should have seen this coming, but a combination of her nerves and excitement had blinded her.
Ten push-ups had her legs shaking from the strain, but she had pushed herself, and managed to complete the final ten, but-
"Good job, now let's do some crunches!"
Rainbow continued to run her through those various exercises, but no matter how hard she pushed herself, it was not enough for the chromatic mare.
"Come on, Twilight!"
It certainly didn't help that she had difficulty doing them in the first place.
"You can do another lap!"
Ten push-ups had been a stretch for her. Five laps had her gasping for breath. Ten crunches had caused her abdomen to hurt. Rainbow kept pushing her, and pushing her, and pushing and it just didn't let up! She ran until she had stitches. She did crunches until she felt sick. She kept doing push-ups until her legs felt like jelly and she kept pushing.
Finally, she hit her limit.
It had been during, what must've been, her hundredth lap around the park when her legs just gave out on her. She hit the ground hard, landing face-first in the dirt, and she was immensely glad that no one had been around to see that, especially considering she was breathing like a fish out of water.
"You alright, Sparky?"
Nevermind.
Hearing Emerald's voice startled her into shooting right back up onto her legs, but the suddenness of the action, coupled with how sore her legs had gotten, only caused her to go crashing back to the ground. Or she would've, had Emerald not caught her,
"Woah," he breathed, gently easing her onto the ground, "what's going on?" he asked again, looking both confused and worried. Twilight tried to answer him, but her breath just wasn't coming back to her.
"Hey Emerald," Rainbow's voice answered for her, as the mare in question walked up to them, "I'm training Twilight," she added simply, seeing the questioning look on his face.
"Training?" he asked, glancing down at her, his eyes locking with hers for a moment, "This looks more like torture to me," he said. He frowned, and when he realized that Twilight wouldn't be able to answer his next question, he turned to Rainbow, "Where's her saddlebag?"
Twilight tuned out their conversation for a moment, instead choosing to focus on her breathing. It was coming fast and in short breaths. Breathing was hard, she could scarcely get one in before the next forced itself out. Her heart beat frantically in her chest, its rapid pace starting to hurt. She tried to swallow, but her throat was too dry.
Water. She needed water. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't- she couldn't-!
A hoof gently grabbed her chin, and tilted her head back, her mouth coming open during the motion. Her eyes focused on the green stallion holding her-
Her flask!
He placed the cool metal against her lips, and she nearly latched onto it like a foal as he poured the refreshing liquid down her throat, letting her take greedy gulps of it. Eventually the flask ran out of water, and he took it away, peering at her with thinly veiled concern in his eyes,
"Feeling better, Sparky?" he asked. Her breath was coming easier now, her heart not beating quite as painfully,
"Y-yeah..." she breathed. Emerald frowned, and looked back at Rainbow,
"What the fuck were you making her do, anyways?" Rainbow scoffed and waved him off,
"Just some warm-ups, why?" Twilight's eyes widened in horror.
Those were just warm-ups?! This mare was going to kill her!
"Warm-ups?" Emerald asked, sounding just as incredulous, "No warm-up is supposed to be intensive enough to render anyone unable to breath, Crash," he sneered. Rainbow shook her head,
"Oh come on, I do these warm-ups almost everyday and I'm totally fine!"
"Of course you're fine, Crash. But Sparky isn't you, moron. She can't do the same shit you can,"
"How the hay is she supposed to get fit quick?!"
"You of all ponies should know that's not possible," Emerald snapped, then looked back down at her, "C'mon Sparky, let's get you someplace to rest, and somethin' to eat. You look exhausted,"
Rainbow hadn't been happy about him taking her away, but, frankly, Twilight was much to busy thanking him for saving her from that nightmare of a training session to really care.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!" she gushed, hugging him around the middle. Emerald turned his head away from her, his nose scrunching up,
"Thank me later, Sparky," he said, "And by later, I mean after you've taken a shower or two," Twilight blinked, the statement confusing her for a moment, before her eyes widened and she jumped back, turning beet red in the process,
"Sorry!" Emerald rolled his eyes,
"It's fine, c'mon, let's head over to Horte's," he said, walking off without a response. Twilight followed dutifully behind him, a thought crossing her mind,
"So, um... Emerald?"
"Hmm?"
"What were you doing in the park?" she asked. It made sense. Today wasn't Sunday, and she was pretty sure he didn't just skip work to take a walk.
"Mrs. Cake is at the hospital, so Sugarcube Corner is closed," he said casually, not noticing the falter in her step, "Her due date is coming up, and they're both getting worried the foals might come early," he explained. Twilight sighed, placing a hoof against her chest,
"Thank goodness," she breathed, "you scared me for a moment there," Emerald hummed,
"I suppose," he said, turning as Horte's Cafe came into view.
A few minutes later and the two of them had found their seats and placed their orders. Now they sat in a semi-comfortable silence, though it was quickly becoming anything but comfortable for Twilight.
"Were you serious?" Emerald suddenly asked, breaking the silence just before Twilight could. She blinked, not understanding,
"Serious about what?"
"About what you said the other day. About not wanting to be a burden,"
Twilight froze for a moment, not expecting that particular topic. But his question got her to think. Was she serious?
"Yes,"
The answer was easy. Easier than anything she'd ever done. Her friends were precious to her, they meant everything to her. If she could lighten their burden by helping herself, then she'd make sure they'd never have to worry about her again.
Emerald didn't seem surprised by her quick answer. If the small grin he now wore was anything to go by, then he'd been expecting it.
"I had a feeling you'd say that," he said, his grin growing slightly. Twilight felt her cheeks flush slightly, but she didn't look away. It was strange, seeing Emerald smile, but a good kind of strange. Like Rainbow Dash reading.
"Howdy Twilight!" Applejack's voice suddenly cut through the silence, causing both of them to turn,
"Applejack?" she asked, wondering why the farm mare was here. Shouldn't she be at her stand?
"That's right!" she said, then frowned, "I ran inta Dash a couple'a minutes ago, an' it jus' ain't right what she was havin' ya do," she said, then brightened, "But don'tcha worry, Twilight! I'll have ya fitter than a fiddle in no time! The right way!"
Twilight's ears flattened against her head,
"What?"
Thankfully Applejack had been kind enough to wait for her and Emerald to eat their food before she had dragged her off towards the orchard. Twilight had asked him to come along, but he said that it was about time he checked in on the Cakes.
Although, he did drag Applejack off to the side and spoke to her for a moment. Seeing as how Applejack came back looking both amused and a little pale, she wasn't sure she wanted to know what was said between the two.
"Alright, now, I don't know 'bout all those fancy little exercises ya've probably been readin' 'bout," Applejack began as they neared the barn, "but I find that good ol' fashioned hard work is the best way ta get in shape," Once they made it to the Apple Family barn, Applejack all but threw the doors open, revealing the familiar, hay covered barn, without all the party decorations this time.
"Hard work?" Twilight asked, following behind Applejack as she started towards the back of the barn, "What kind of work?"
"Well," she began, pulling a out sizable wagon from behind the large pile of hay, "since we've got Cider Season behind us, and Zap Apple Season ain't till early Spring-" Twilight filed that away in 'questions to ask later', "-we don't got much ta do. Luckily, Winter's comin' real quick, an' we need some new firewood,"
That surprised Twilight. Was Applejack thinking of cutting down one of her family's trees? It made sense, but with how well they take care of their trees, Twilight couldn't imagine any of them being in poor enough shape to warrant being cut down. She voiced her thoughts, which caused Applejack to laugh,
"Yeah, it's hard ta imagine all right," she said, but her smile dimmed slightly, "Not all of our trees 're good fer harvestin'. Much as we like 'em, apple trees aren't the only thing we grow,"
"They're not?" Twilight asked. That was a shock to hear,
"'Course not," Applejack responded, smirking, "If all we grew was apple trees, then we couldn't cut many of 'em down. We got a small patch jus' fer regular oak trees. We mostly use 'em fer repairs when we need 'em. That don't mean we never cut down some of our apple trees, o'course," she explained.
Twilight nodded at that. It made sense, after all. But, it was a bit of a shame that she never really gave any thought to Applejack's line of work. There was definitely a lot more work that went into the orchard than she thought.
"Right, so... you want me to help cut some of them down?" she asked, confused. Applejack snickered,
"'Course not!" she said, gently patting Twilight's side, "Ya ain't got the kind'o muscle I'd need ta cut one down," she turned back to the wagon, "I'll be the one doin' the cuttin. I jus' need ya help me lift it inta the wagon an' drag it back ta the barn. I reckon we'll need 'bout two or three trees ta last us fer awhile," she said, "After that, we can think of somethin' else ta help ya get in shape,"
...
Twilight, once again, regretted her decision. Thankfully it was much better than when she'd been working under Rainbow Dash, but her previous soreness had not quite faded yet, making this much harder than it needed to be.
That, combined with Applejack's insistence that she couldn't use magic, which made complete sense to her, and the work took marginally longer than it probably should've.
The first tree hadn't been too bad. There had been something strangely relaxing about watching her farming friend swing her axe into the tree, over and over. Something about the rhythmic *THWACK*'ing just felt soothing. Her first obstacle happened when it came to loading the tree onto the cart. That tree was heavy. Thought it was nowhere near the largest tree in the orchard, it still stood almost twice as thick as she was, and more than triple her height, and, as such, weighed a lot. Her legs had nearly buckled when she and Applejack worked to lift the chopped end onto the cart, despite Applejack clearly lifting the majority of the weight. Despite that particular fact, she had insisted that Twilight be the one to lift the other end and push it forward, mainly because she herself needed to brace the cart to keep it from rolling. So she did. She had crawled underneath the space between the lifted tree and ground, and pushed against the heavy shaft, before walking out until she reached the end, and began to push it onto the cart.
That had been terrible. Her legs shook, her back hurt, and, quite frankly, it hurt to walk. The only saving grace was that, unlike the apple trees, the oak ones they were to work with had been stripped of their leaves during the Running of the Leaves. But she kept her complaints to herself. It wouldn't do for her to try to weasel her way out of a promise. So, in spite of her exhausted soreness, she pressed on with a fake smile, savouring the rest as they brought the tree back to the barn, before setting out again.
If the first tree had been bad, the second had been torture.
It had proceeded much the same way as the first, up until when she was to lift the tree and push it onto the cart. She had managed to crawl over to the end of the tree, mindful of the branches, but as she tried to take a step forward, shaking all the way, her leg had given out underneath her, sending her nearly tumbling to the ground. It hurt. It hurt sooo much, and it was all she could do to keep from yelling out in pain. Thankfully, she managed to work herself back to her hooves and bush it back into place, ignoring the sharp pain in her hoof that had her walking with a small limp the rest of the trip.
And here she was. Currently staring at the behemoth of a tree that was their final task of the day. Her legs were already shaking, and Applejack hadn't even started to chop it down yet!
"Uh... you alright, Twilight?" Applejack's voice startled her out of her thoughts, "You aren't tired, are ya?" she asked. Twilight swallowed, and rapidly shook her head,
"N-no! Of course not!" she lied unconvincingly, "I'm just... a little... um..."
"Twilight," Applejack said, her voice firm, "Are. Ya. Tired?"
"... Yes," she admitted, turning her gaze away, feeling guilty. Applejack nodded,
"Alright," she said, "why don't ya head back ta the barn? Get some water," she suggested. Twilight's head shot up,
"What? No! I'm fine, I can-!"
"Twilight," Applejack cut her off, voice firmer than before, "Get. Some. Rest," she said, "I shoulda known this kinda thing would be a bit too hard fer ya," she continued, sounding guilty, "but ya were doin' real well,"
"B-but..." Twilight tried weakly,
"Twilight, don't make me drag ya back there m'self," she threatened, setting the axe against tree. Twilight sighed, and began to walk off,
"I'm sorry I couldn't keep up," she said, only for Applejack to shake her head with a smile,
"It's perfectly fine, Twilight," she said, "It jus' looks like farm work ain't yer thing. Even if it was, we ain't got much else ta do. Sorry, Twi, wish I could do more fer ya, but ya jus' ain't strong enough fer much else we do 'round here," she apologized. Twilight swallowed, but nodded,
"I-it's fine..." she muttered, "I mean..." she trailed off, then shook her head, "Sorry, I-I... I'll just be going..." she squeaked out, and sped up until she was certain she was out of sight.
Had she turned around, she would've seen the guilty grimace on her apple picking friend's face.
Twilight sighed heavily as she walked through town, ignoring the occasional question about her sweatbands.
Today had turned out much worse than she thought it would. Rainbow Dash had put her through Tartarus, and Applejack had inadvertently made her feel guilty for not being strong enough to properly help out.
Still, she should be a little proud of herself, she mused. After all, she might not have been able to finish the job, but she did manage to help with two of those trees, something she never would've been able to do back in Canterlot. So it wasn't all bad, at least.
But now where did that leave her? There was no way she'd ask Rainbow for help with this again, since apparently she took her word too seriously when she said she'd get her in shape in no time. And Applejack had nothing else for her to help with, and she wasn't strong enough even if she did. So, again, where was she?
"Hey, Sparky," Emerald's voice called out to her, breaking her from her ruminations. She looked up, and found him walking up to her,
"Oh, hey Emerald," she muttered morosely, he frowned,
"I take it that things didn't go as well as you hoped?" she shook her head, "I see..." Twilight sighed,
"I just.... I want to be better..." she began, "And.... I can't do that alone. But there's no way I could ask for the other's to help me, since I doubt they'd know any better either," she began to pace back and forth, "I could just go to the gym now, since Applejack and Rainbow Dash know about this, but after what happened today there's no way I could possibly face them in that setting, so now I'm stuck on my own and I just don't know what to do!" she snapped, coming to a stop in front of him.
Emerald frowned as he stared at her, before his eyes slid to the side,
"Before we continue this conversation, let's head somewhere more private," he said, already turning to leave. Twilight blinked at the sudden statement, before glancing around.
She flushed when she realized that everypony was staring at her.
"Uhh... hehe?" she laughed, before quickly following after Emerald.
She managed to catch up to him quickly enough, but was left confused by the direction he was heading in.
"Umm... Are we heading out of Ponyville?" she asked, sending a worried glance behind her as they passed by the welcome sign,
"Yes. We're heading over to my house," he replied, glancing back at her with a frown, "Wasn't that obvious?"
"You live outside of town?" Twilight asked, surprised, "I didn't know that!"
"You don't?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, before his eyes glossed over slightly, "Oh... right. Of course you wouldn't. Anyways, yes, I live just outside of town, like Fluttershy," he said, "It made it easier to avoid waking up anyone during my patrol," Twilight nodded,
"That's makes sense... although, what's that barrier for?"
"Hmm? Oh, it's an alert," he said, "Let's me know if something's gotten into town,"
"It sounds pretty boring, though," Twilight said, frowning, "I've never heard anything happen outside," she admitted. Emerald chuckled,
"That means I'm doing my job right, then," he said, looking back at her with a grin. Twilight giggled lightly, feeling a little better than earlier. It was surprising, just how talking to a friend of hers, especially Emerald, could make her feel so much better than before.
Dear Celestia, why had it taken so long for her to realized how amazing having friends was?
"Anyways, Sparky, I think I know what your problem is," Emerald said, catching her attention,
"Really?" she asked, perking up,
"Mhmm," he began, "you need a goal. Something more tangible than just 'being better'," he said, "I understand that you don't want to be a burden, really I do, but that's not enough," She swallowed nervously,
"Then... what is?"
Emerald didn't say anything, but he did up his pace quite a bit, forcing Twilight to have to jog to keep up.
Eventually a small house came into view. It was a quaint little thing with bright sky blue walls, a cheerful yellow roof, and white door. It was actually a little surprising. She'd imagined Emerald's house being much darker in colour.
As they approached the house, however, it was becoming abundantly clear that they weren't actually going to go in, rather, Emerald's path seemed to be aimed towards the forest behind his house, much to her confusion. Her thoughts were proven correct when he led them around the small home and through the trees. They came to a large, grassy area, where the grass almost came up to her chest, but that was an observation that came second to the large structure she found waiting in the center of the clearing.
It was a large wooden walkway, filled with all manners of different obstacles. At the start there was a large rock climbing wall that led into a small pit, where multiple sets of barbed wire hung. That section then led into another with a rope hanging above another small, but empty, pit. On the other side of this pit, there was a large gap filled with large poles sticking up from the ground, seemingly placed in random spots across the ground. This led into yet another section where several large walls stood, forming a path in the center, which was filled with a wide net.
Apart from the obvious obstacle course, there was another area filled with multiple wooden and straw dummies, the latter of which looked slightly cut up and the former appearing a little singed.
"Wh-what is all this?" Twilight asked, looking around with wide eyes,
"Well, Sparky, this is my training ground," Emerald said, walking forward, "Not a lot happens during my patrol, so I needed a place to keep in shape, and let out some of my excess energy while keeping my skills sharp. Luna was nice enough to give me this as a birthday gift," he said, sounding a little happier than usual, "It's small and extremely basic, yes, but it does what I need it to do," he said, then spun around, "It will also be your training grounds from here on out as well,"
It took a minute for his words to register in the unicorn's mind, but when they did-
"WHAT?!" Emerald laughed,
"You heard me, this is where you'll be training, alongside me. I run it before and after patrol every. Single. Day," he turned back around, and walked over to a small clothing rack beside the course that Twilight hadn't seen. He picked up a small watch from the box beside it, "We'll start out small. You'll run the course a few times when you're able, and I'll time it with this watch," he held up the small timepiece, then set it back down, "and once you've gotten the hang of it, we'll try beating that time, again and again, until I've deemed you good enough," he said, then gave her a wicked grin that sent shivers down her spine, "If you haven't given up by then," he intoned darkly.
Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat,
"I-I don't know..." she began, "How is this any better than before....?" she asked. Emerald's grin fell, replaced by a small smile,
"Because this time, it's all up to you," he said, Twilight tilted her head, not understanding, "When Crash was 'training' you," he began sarcastically, "it was up to her standards, and her standards alone. I'm guessing it was similar with Applejack, right?" Twilight hesitated, thinking back on the work they did, before nodding, "Right. With this course, your standard is set by your first run. Your goal is to simply beat that time," he explained, "Beating that time requires effort. It requires you to be able to run faster. To react quicker. To be better," he said firmly, "If you don't manage to beat it, then you keep trying and trying until you do. And after you've beaten that time, you can then try to beat that one. And so on and so forth, until you've reached a point you're satisfied with,"
Twilight blinked, and glanced back at the obstacle course in a new light. This... this could help her. It was a perfect idea. A training regime that was set by her standards, and at her pace. If she wasn't doing good enough, then it would be evident by how long it took her to run and it would keep track of her progress near constantly!
"Keep in mind, even though I'm willing to let you use this thing, I use it too. So please try to keep it clean and in one piece," Emerald said, startling her from her thoughts, "You can use it anytime you want, except while I'm on patrol," he stressed that part hard, "but I'd recommend a half hour break between each run for you, at least at first," he added, "Understand?" he asked. Twilight nodded,
"Of course!" she said confidently, then gave him a gentle smile, "And thank you, Emerald. This.... this means a lot to me," she added sincerely. Emerald turned away suddenly, chuckling nervously,
"N-no problem, Sparky. Now... I'll give it a go, just to show you how it's meant to be run, alright?" he asked, then held the watch out to her, "Mind timin' it for me?"