//------------------------------//
// Great View 
// Story: Great Gym 
// by Jhoira 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she leaned against the wall. "You done showing off with the big weights, Applejack?" Rainbow Dash turned away from her friend, grinning as she took a long sip from her water. She had been using the weight machine next to Applejack for a while but being outmatched in weight so easily made her sour. Now she was just waiting to move to the next area.

Applejack grinned as she continued to work the machine. Some people swore by free weights but the machines were far more stable. That was what Applejack cared about, not showing off with a bar and some dumbbells. "What? I wasn't complainin' when we were on the treadmills."

Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out at her long time friend. "Well, we've been at the weights and the leg press too! That's two for one, hardly fair."

Applejack chuckled, shaking her head as she did one last set before standing up. Walking over to Rainbow Dash she raised an eyebrow, holding out a hand. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow in return for a few moments before handing over the second bottle of water. "Well, where to next then?"

Rainbow Dash grinned at Applejack. Applejack might be stronger, but she was also more reserved, and that could be exploited. "What do you mean where to next? We could just gonna hang out like a couple of creepers."

Applejack coughed on her water, frowning at Rainbow Dash. "What!? We're not creepers! We're just taking a break!"

Rainbow Dash grinned as she twisted the lid back onto her water bottle before starting to toss it up and catch it. "What? I was only joking! You don't need to take it so seriously, AJ."

Applejack wrinkled her nose in irritation. "Dash, ya know very well..."

Rainbow Dash waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Adopting her best Applejack voice, Rainbow Dash repeated part of the lecture she'd heard before. "It ain't proper to go around to lookin' at pretty girls at the gym. And on top uh that it's especially bad when..."

"Ok, Dash!" Applejack scowled for a long moment before chuckling gently. "Your gettin' better at the imitation ya know."

Rainbow Dash grinned and made a fake bow. "I am a master performer! So, tell me Applejack, you ever make that... Oh!" She motioned over to the elliptical machines. "Should we even out the competition then?"

Applejack chuckled and nodded. "This is just to even up the competition though, right? Two weight, two cardio?"

Rainbow Dash chuckled as they walked over to the bicycle machines, each one claiming the one next to each other so they could chat while they biked. "The bikes are the best anyway. They have the best view." Rainbow Dash motioned forward. A bit ahead of the bikes were the stair machines, but beyond those were large full wall windows that looked out on a very nice park.

Applejack started pedaling after sitting down, though Rainbow Dash was still relaxing for a bit. "Ya lettin' me get the head start? Or ya just bein' lazy?"

Rainbow Dash smirked as she started to peddle, tapping just the slightest bit into her magic. "I'm sorry did you not want this to actually be a competition?"

Applejack shook her head slightly. "Darned magic makin' no sense."

Rainbow Dash frowned, tilting her head. "Whatcha mean? You're strong I'm fast? It makes total sense."

"No, it don't." Applejack motioned to herself. "I can lift hundreds of pounds." Rainbow Dash nodded. "You can do a..."

"Don't you dare!" Rainbow Dash was scowling at her friend.

Applejack snorted. Rainbow Dash was like Rarity in sensitivity to weight. Only for Rainbow Dash, it was how much she could lift or leg press that mattered to her, not her physical weight. "You can do less." Rainbow Dash let out a small harumph but didn't object again. "And leg muscles is what makes ya run faster."

"Hey! It's..."

"I know it's more complicated than that, Dash. I just mean they're related." Applejack grinned as she cut over one of Rainbow Dash's objections on how staying fit, running, and pretty much every sport was a lot more complicated than people gave it credit for. She agreed with Rainbow Dash, but as much as Rainbow Dash didn't want to hear Applejacks 'creeper at the gym' lecture, the turn around was true as well.

Rainbow Dash nodded, shrugging. "Magic's just weird like that I guess. Too bad your magic isn't talking to Rarity."

Applejack flinched like she'd been punched by her friend. But she could give as good as she got. "Yeah, well I ain't heard much about you askin' her either."

Rainbow Dash smirked but had to concede the point. "True. But I did come up with a plan..."

Applejack didn't really want to take the bait. She and Rainbow Dash had a stable relationship. Admittedly they did butt heads a fair amount but it was stable. They could use a bit of a buffer, a sweet, thin, attractive girl who had the more feminine touch to keep the peace. Applejack groaned as she let her mind wander down that logic path again... And now she couldn't stop herself from asking. "What's that then?"

Rainbow Dash grinned. She'd known the bait was just too good to ignore. "Well, we aren't wanting to approach her because we're intimidated, right?"

"I ain't..."

"Oh come on, AJ! Why else wouldn't we have asked that little hottie out?" This time Rainbow Dash didn't let Applejack throw up false protests. "And don't try to blame me! You've had the hots for her for years! I've only been interested for a few months."

Applejack sighed and nodded. "Fine. Well, she's not exactly Fluttershy, ya know?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, grinning mischievously. "Exactly, she's as intimidating as anyone in our group, and a half. But she's not twice as intimidating as any one of us!"

Applejack chuckled as she leaned back. "Work together? I guess that would make more sense."

Rainbow Dash nodded, barreling over her friend's objections. "Yeah! We'll double team her!"

"Rainbow Dash! Do you have to purposely phrase everything to..."

"I don't mean that!" Rainbow Dash smirked at Applejack. She liked teasing her more conservative friend. "Jeeze, Applejack, not everything I say is a joke about that."

Applejack frowned a moment before sighing. She could give Rainbow Dash the benefit of the doubt. "Ok. Ok. Maybe ya didn't..."

Rainbow Dash interrupted her. "I mean, at least not before the first date. I think she'd take exception to..."

"Rainbow Dash! I swear!" Applejack wasn't sure what she'd swear... But she would do something if Rainbow Dash kept it up!

Rainbow Dash was snickering uncontrollably as Applejack blustered in irritation. Rainbow Dash let Applejack calm down before continuing. "But seriously? Whatcha think? No jokes this time."

Applejack frowned slightly but nodded. "If it'll get me a break from your dirty jokes..."

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Aww! But ya love me!"

Applejack chuckled, shaking her head. "Yeah, I do. But I definitely could use a break from you every now and then. I'm guessing Rarity would like ta watch you doin' your sports more than I do." She grinned as she did her best to match Rainbow Dash's jokes.

With a small chuckle, Rainbow Dash leaned back and rested a bit from her pedaling. "Heh! Good one." She smirked a bit and took a hesitant glance at Applejack. "So, AJ, serious though?"

Applejack smiled a bit and took a short break of her own, leaning back. "We can talk ta her. Though I'm not so sure she'll go for it."

Rainbow Dash grinned and nodded. "Well yeah! It's not like we're going to kidnap her ya know!" She snickered at the thought.  "Although from what I hear about some of her preferences..." Applejack blushed gently but raised her eyebrow. To which Rainbow Dash shrugged non-committally. "Some people talk, ya know?"

Applejack was about to probe more but their conversation was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Darlings!" Rarity smiled at her two friends, walking over to them still dabbing at her forehead with her towel. She put in a lot of effort to not work up a sweat. "What brings you two out here?"

Rainbow Dash glanced at Applejack, but seeing the other stoically remain silent. Rainbow Dash thought that was probably a good idea, after Rainbow Dash thought of the propensity of the other for blunt truth. "It's just a gym, Rarity. They're all over the city."

Rarity giggled and shook her head. "Oh, I know, don't be silly, darling. I meant why are you all the way out here? It's not exactly close to your homes."

Rainbow Dash started to open her mouth for one of her ready-made excuses but Applejack had to blurt out, "the view!"

While Rainbow Dash glared at her girlfriend, Rarity turned towards the windows, smiling. "It is a beautiful view."

Though Applejack's and Rainbow Dash's eyes weren't on the window, they agreed in unison. "Yeah."