//------------------------------//
// Training Arc 
// Story: Sunshine and Tia 
// by RunicTreetops 
//------------------------------//

Celestia looks down at you with a cocky grin on her face. You aren't exactly uncomfortable, but you'd be lying if you said that this wasn't a blow to your pride.

At the moment, you find yourself pinned down on your bed. You have yet to get out of bed to get ready for the day despite the fact that the morning sun has long since risen already. The reason for that is your large alicorn wife, who has taken it upon herself to ensure that you spend the morning with her in bed by laying herself down on top of you, forcibly pressing down on you so that you cannot escape. Her chest floof is shoved right in your face, and frankly, it's extremely pleasant. Still, you have things you wanted to get done today. The problem is that no matter how hard you push back against her, she doesn't budge. You might be taller than your lovely wife, but she is still a big ol' alicorn. Not only is that a lot of pony in the first place, but she's just plain strong.

A slight groan escapes you as you fruitlessly try one more time to lift your wife off of you. Lo and behold, she doesn't budge an inch.

"Tia, come on. I have stuff to do today."

"You can do them later~"

"What are you, a cat?"

She just chuckles as she lays her head down on the pillow next to you. Great, now you're pinned and she's falling back asleep. Wonderful.

Oh well. If you can't beat 'em...





You struggle to catch your breath as Rainbow Dash continues to fly in front of you. She is moving quickly, but has obviously slowed herself down in order to allow you to somewhat keep pace with her. Despite the pain coursing through your legs and your burning core, you do everything in your power to keep up your running speed.

"Come on, Anon!" She turns her head to look at you, but doesn't slow down whatsoever. "You're not gonna get any better if you keep running at that pace! Step it up!" You don't respond, opting instead to briefly shut your eyes tight and push yourself even harder. You gain on Dash ever so slightly, and she looks mildly impressed. "That's more like it!"

You come to a fork in the road. The dirt path beneath you is leading out of Ponyville, and although you have no idea where you're going, you trust that Dash does. She takes a right turn, which causes your heart to drop. She's taking you directly towards a small mountain.

"D-Dash?"

"What? I'd better not hear you complaining!"

"O-of course not!"

Managing to force a nervous gulp in-between your strained breaths, you continue to run behind Dash. This is not going to be pleasant.





Your foot makes contact with the apple tree. You wait for something to happen, but all that you accomplished was making your foot hurt.

"Nice try, sugarcube." Applejack walks up next to you, a mixture of amusement and pride on her face. "But your posture is all outta wack. Let me help ya."

The farm mare pulls you away from the tree and asks you to wind up again, holding the pose as you do so. You struggle to maintain said pose with your leg in the air, but at her behest you do your best regardless. From there, she begins to adjust the angle of your leg for you. It's extremely difficult to keep your balance.

"How do you even know this, AJ? You have four legs."

"You want me to be honest? I'm winging it."

"Ah."

"Is there a problem? Last I checked, you asked me for help."

"N-no, no problem at all!"

You shut your mouth as she continues her lecture. She teaches you exactly how you should be winding up, where you distribute the force, how to keep your balance, and so on. It turns out to be much more difficult than you were anticipating, but you suppose it wouldn't really be worth it otherwise.

"Now, try again."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Now following her exact directions, you take a deep breath, wind up, and slam your foot into the tree once more. Unfortunately, nothing happens once again. Your foot hurt a lot less doing it, though. In fact, the impact felt a lot more solid.

"There ya go!"

"Ugh. Still not enough."

"You shouldn't expect it to be. Not yet, at least." Applejack gives you a reassuring smile. "Let's do that again. We're only just getting started."





You struggle to maintain the silence that was requested of you. You find yourself sitting on a mat that rests on the grass in a park in Ponyville. You're holding a strange, strenuous pose. Rarity is doing the same right next to you with a strange, tight-fitting outfit that she clearly made herself clinging to her body and a headband holding back her mane. You're wearing baggy clothes yourself, though you do have a matching headband.

"Er, Rarity?"

"Hush, darling."

"I... sorry."

After a few moments of silence, Rarity sighs.

"You don't understand why we're doing this, do you?"

"Not really, no."

"Anon, yoga is good for both the body and the mind. I could explain everything to you, but it's better to discover the meaning for yourself. All I ask is that you follow my lead. Eventually, you'll understand. I promise."

You open your eyes and glance at her. She is maintaining the same pose you are, but she's giving you a warm, genuine smile. 

"...Alright. I'm not sure I get it, but alright. I'll mimic what you're doing as best I can."

"Good! Now, let's try the tree pose."





Months later, you breathe controlled breaths as you make it to the peak of a mountain. Behind you, Rainbow Dash slowly flies in your direction, finally coming to a stop when she catches up to you.

"Haaaaaah... my gosh, dude. You've gotten a lot better."

"I feel a lot better, too. Seriously Dash, thank you for this."

"Eh, it turned out to be a workout for the both of us. I know I said you'd get better by the day, but you still crept up on me. Maybe I need to start training harder, myself!"

The two of you share a laugh before you reach into your bag and retrieve two water bottles, handing one off to Dash before taking a swig of the other.

"Well, we're at the halfway point. Ready to head back?"

"Hehe, race ya to the bottom!"

Without hesitation, Dash puts the bottles back into your bag and starts to fly back down the way you came, causing you to happily chase after her. It's still strenuous, but you feel like you could do this all day.





Your foot makes contact with the apple tree. There is a rumbling feeling, but this time, it isn't in your foot. In fact, you feel no pain at all.

Bonk.

"Ow."

Okay, there is a bit of pain on the top of your head. However, it's a good sort of pain, as it's caused by an apple falling from the tree above you. Plus, it's not the only one. About six apples fall from the tree, which Applejack expertly catches in a basket.

"Woohoo! Ya did it, Anon!"

"...Huh. Haha! I did!"

You find yourself grinning from ear to ear. It took a few months, but you've finally built up the strength necessary to "buck" apples. You might not be anywhere near as strong as any of the Apples, but the fact that a human like you can hit that tree hard enough to make some fruit fall at all is an accomplishment in and of itself.

"Hey, you uh... you lookin' for a job?"

"Hah! Thanks for the flattery AJ, but you know I've already got a job."

"Worth a shot!"

The two of you laugh as you move towards the next tree. You've got a lot more to go, but you don't really care. Your efforts are starting to bear fruit... literally!





Your mind drifts through an endless expanse of nothingness. No sounds reach your ears. No sights fill your eyes. Right now, it's just you. You feel calm. You feel quiet. You feel at peace.

You feel somepony tap you on the nose.

Your eyes shoot open, causing you to see Rarity grinning at you. The sun has started to go down, and the air in the park is a bit cooler than you remember. As you start to return to your senses, you realize just how much your core is burning thanks to the pose you've been holding for so long.

"I must say, you've taken to yoga like a moth to a flame, darling."

"Y-you think so?"

You groan a little bit as you struggle to break your pose before bringing yourself back to a standing position. Rarity continues to speak as you start to pick up your mat from the ground.

"I told you you'd figure it out, didn't I?"

"To be honest, I'm still not entirely sure what it is that I 'figured out.' But I definitely feel... something."

"Stronger in both body and mind, darling."

"I suppose that's one way of putting it, even if it is a little vague."

"Well, are you satisfied with the results?"

"I guess?"

"Then that should be enough, no?"

"...Hm."

The two of you start to walk back towards your homes as the sun continues to set, and you notice that you're a lot less sore than you generally were when you started out a few months ago.

Whatever it is that yoga is supposed to do for you, you think you like it.





You once again wake up to find yourself pinned beneath your wife. She looks down at you with a cocky, albeit genuine smile.

"Good morning, sunshine."

"This again?"

"Hmhm. What can I say? I enjoy seeing you struggle." She starts to affectionately nuzzle up against you, still making sure to keep you held down while doing so. "Don't tell me you're complaining?"

"Not really. Though I can't say I'm a big fan of having my autonomy taken from me like this."

"Do something about it then~!" You smile back at your lovely wife. She takes a deep breath and enjoys the feeling of having you beneath her. However, her eyes quickly go wide as she is taken off guard. Slowly but surely, her body begins to lift off of the bed. "H-huh?"

You wrap your arms around your alicorn lover and slowly begin to rise. She gasps as she is gently tossed into the air while you finally manage to sit upright. When she comes back down, she lands gingerly in your arms. You stand upright, and she instinctively wraps her front legs around your neck. The result is you carrying Celestia bridal-style, though it is admittedly a bit awkward considering how large her alicorn body is. Still, with all of the training you've been doing, being able to pick her up and carry her around like this has become almost completely effortless. She looks at you, her eyes still wide as her cheeks begin to turn crimson.

"How's that?"

"...Sunshine?"

"I've always wanted to do this, you know."

"G-goodness me." She practically... no, literally swoons in your arms before regaining her composure. "I never imagined finding someone to carry me. I've always pictured it the other way around."

"Well? How is it?"

She's silent for a moment before she places a kiss on your cheek and cuddles up against you as best she can in your grasp.

"I feel like... well, a princess, I suppose! Haha!" You continue to hold your loving wife for a few more moments before you suddenly turn around, throw her to the bed, place yourself on top of her, and pin her down with all your might. "Huh?!"

"You didn't think I went through all of that training just to pick you up, did ya? Hah, no. I'm getting even."

To your surprise, rather than make a playful comeback like you were expecting (after all, she could easily move you with a few flaps of her wings or even the slightest bit of magic), she only starts to blush even more.

"...Do your worst, then."

...

Well, if you can't beat 'em...