The six girls stood outside a large building. The name of the gym was called, "Hard Hooves and Bodies."
"Well, let's not just stand here, let's go in!" Applejack said. She opened up the door and was blasted with Dub-step music.
Fluttershy let out an "Eeeep!" and hid behind Applejack. "Oh no! It's that terrible Wub-step music!"
"It's called Dub-step," Rarity said.
The rest of the girls walked up to the door next to Applejack, except for Fluttershy. She was prone on the ground with her two front hooves jammed within her ears.
"Come on, Fluttershy! Let's git!" Applejack said.
Fluttershy didn't budge. "That noise, I mean music. It's just so loud and I'm scared and..."
Futtershy's words trailed off when Applejack came over and grabbed her tail.
"Let's go Fluttershy! We ain't gonna let no Dub-step hurt ya!" Aplejack said with a mouthful of Fluttershy's tail. Applejack easily pulled her into the gym even though Fluttershy's front hooves were digging into the ground.
Rainbow Dash watched Applejack effortlessly pull Fluttershy and said, "Wow, Applejack. You pull her as if she were as light as a feather. I know that you're strong and everything, but I wonder what your full potential of strength is."
"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Applejack said as she continued to drag Fluttershy.
Rarity was holding the door open for them with her magic for her friends and she was the last one to step inside. When she did, she was struck with painful reminders. There was a room in the corner of the gym with glass walls. The lights were dark and ponies were dancing to different music. She could tell that the music was different because even though the walls muffled the sounds, she could feel different beats from the vibrations coming through the floors. The bass was very heavy and they must have been dancing to some kind of popular dance exercise music. The room inside was very dark, but she could see the ponies dancing because there were colorful flashing lights that flashed in time with the music. Rarity's mind flashed back to when she was working at the strip club, Unbridled, before Princess Celestia renovated it into a church. The flashing lights reminded her of being on stage and the vibrations she felt in her hooves were just like the time she worked as a stripper and a prostitute. She could catch glimpses of the dances. They were a little bit risqué, but they weren't nearly as perverted as the dance moves that she knew from working with Sapphire Shores at that former strip club. Still, the dance moves that she saw were slightly suggestive and that brought back painful memories of her past. A tear drop fell from her eye and splashed against the blue floor that was entirely made out of hard rubber mats.
Applejack was standing next to Rarity and saw that tear drop fall off of Rarity's cheek. "Yer not sweatin' already, are ya? We didn't even begin to hit the machines yet!" Applejack stared at her a little longer and waited for a response. There was silence except for the blasting wubs form the Dub-step music. Rarity stared into the dance room unable to blink or move. She was frozen in fear with traumatic memories. Applejack waved her front hoof in front of her face several times. "Hello!? Is anypony home in there?" Applejack saw another tear drop form in her eye and slide down her cheek. "Are ya cryin', Rarity? What's the matter?"
Rarity shook her head quickly several times and snapped out of it. "I'm fine, Applejack. I was just having some thoughts about my past. I'm fine, really." Rarity scooted in closer and was practically leaning against Applejack's body when she saw a group of strong looking stallions walk by her and looked at her body in a rather inappropriate manner. "Just please protect me. I'm a little scared right now."
"Aw, shucks, Rarity. I ain't gonna let no pony lay a hoof on yer body. Ya just stay close to me and yer big strong sister in Christ ain't gonna let nothin' bad happen to ya. Ya hear? Now come on, let's go sign up with the other girls now.
Rarity wiped another tear from her face and nodded her head ok. She walked over to the front desk with her other friends. No pony was currently working at the front desk.
Rainbow Dash leaned against the desk in boredom. She leaned her head against her front hoof and tapped on the counter with her other front hoof.
Somehow, the tapping could be heard by the employee who was bent down behind the desk going through some files. She poked her head back up and said, "That's a sick beat!"
Everypony gasped when they realized who it was.
"Vinyl Scratch?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Vinyl Scratch lowered her trademark sunglasses so that her two eyes could be seen and said, "You can call me by my D.J. name if you want."
Pinkie Pie bounced up closer to the desk and asked, "If you're so good at scratching things, you should play lottery scratch off tickets and win big time!"
"Uh, what?" Vinyl Scratch asked.
Rainbow Dash quickly changed the topic. "I didn't know that you worked at the gym."
"It's just a part time job. Being a D.J. is my dream, but I need a little extra cash on the side."
"So is that why this gym plays so much Dub-step? I knew these songs were made by you," Rainbow said.
"Yeah, and Dub-step makes great music to work out to. Do you girls want to sign up today? We have been having a discount and it's only one hundred bits per member for a year."
"Wow!" Rainbow Dash said. "That sounds even better than that deal you all had going where you slash the price for every member that joins together."
"Yeah, this is our cheapest and best deal ever. We have been trying to attract more ponies to this gym," Vinyl Scratch said. "So if all six of you want to join, that will be six hundred bits."
Rarity used her magic and accidently summoned a rubber chicken on top of the front desk. "Ooops!" she said. She then used her magic to make it disappear. Rarity's horn glowed once more and she was in deep concentration. "Ok, Rarity, you can do this." Rarity squinted her eyes with deep focus. She concentreated so very hard and summoned a single check from her checkbook back at home. She opened up her eyes and said, "Ah-hah! I knew I could do It!"
Twilight Sparkle clapped her two front hooves together with praise and said, "Wow, Rarity! Great job with the spell casting! I didn't know that you were learning new tricks!"
"I try, Twilight," Rarity said. "Summoning a check is pretty important since I do business nearly all of the time. It's really the only thing that I know how to summon." Rarity used her magic to grab a quill nearby on the desk and began filling the check out.
"Wait," Twilight said, "You're filling that out for six hundred bits? We're going to pay you back, right?"
"No," Rarity said. "I want to be generous to my sisters. Especially since Applejack came to make me feel safe."
"That's really nice of you, Rarity," Twilight said. "But if you want us to pay you back, please don't think twice about it."
"I'll be fine, my dear," Rarity said as she finished writing out the check. She put the quill back and then pushed the check over the counter to Vinyl Scratch.
"Thank you very much!" Vinyl Scratch said. She used her magic to bring out six sheets to fill out. "I'll just need you to fill out some basic information before you can start working out. I just need your names, emergency contact information, and all that jazz."
"Jazz?" Pinkie Pie asked? "Did you mean to say Dub-step?"
Vinyl Scratch giggled and said, "Sure. All that Dub-step!"
The girls took their forms and each grabbed a quill to fill them out.
About five minutes later, they were done.
Vinyl Scratch looked at each one briefly and said, "That's it, girls! Thanks for joining and we have additional programs like dancing classes and hooves-on training with our personal trainers. That costs extra money, but the prices are very reasonable. If you have any more questions, please ask me, otherwise, enjoy your workouts!"
Pinkie Pie was already grinning like a mad mare because the lights were so ridiculously bright in this gym and it really set her mania off.
Twilight Sparkle saw her chest rising and falling quickly. "Hey Pinkie Pie, don't do anything crazy and burn the gym down, ok?" Twilight said.
"I can't make any promises on that, but it's time to have fun and make new friends!" Pinkie Pie bounced away from her friends and giggled madly.
"The gym is mainly for working out, Pinkie! Not harassing ponies into being friends with you," Rainbow Dash said, but it was too late. Pinkie Pie had already happily bounced away and didn't hear her.
"Oh boy," Twilight said. "Maybe we should keep an eye on her."
Vinyl Scratch cocked an eyebrow. "Do I need to be concerned about this?"
Twilight giggled and said, "No. She'll be ok. She just gets a bit manic sometimes."
Vinyl Scratch took note of how hyperactive this pink pony was and nodded her head ok at Twilight Sparkle.
Rainbow Dash noticed in another corner of the gym there was a boxing arena. "Wow! They have a boxing ring here? I bet I could treat Scootaloo to some boxing lessons. She's always being bullied because of her disabilities." Rainbow Dash turned to her friends. "I'm going to go work out now. See you all around," Rainbow Dash said as she sped off to one of the weight lifting machines for Pegasus ponies to strengthen their wings. She also had plans to test out a wind tunnel machine to test her cardio and endurance when it came to flying.
Twilight Sparkle left and decided to keep a close watch on Pinkie Pie as she worked out. She also took notice that they had crossword puzzle books for sale.
"Oh, dear," Fluttershy said. "I think that I'm going to try out their whirlpool for a little while." Fluttershy left and nervously eyed the strong stallions who were banging the heavy weights together as they lifted and dropped them. Each time they did that, it made her nervously jump.
Applejack shook her head no in disappointment as she watched Fluttershy jumped in fear from the sudden and loud sounds of weights that came crashing down.
Rarity was watching a personal trainer helping one of the gym members. He practically had his front hooves on her flanks to help her balance as she was doing her exercise. Even though he wasn't being perverted, it still took her mind back to when she was molested by her pole dance trainer at that strip club she used to work at. "Applejack, do you think that personal trainer is being a little bit too touchy with his hooves?"
Applejack turned her attention away from Fluttershy and looked at the stallion that Rarity was talking about. "I don't think so. It's their job to make sure that the gym members are doin' their exercise correctly so they don't get hurt. I reckon there can be some creeps who like to cop a feel though." Applejack looked at some of the machines. "Hey! They got some kind of apple bucking machine? Let's try it out!"
Rarity looked and said, "I think that's called the hind leg press."
"Come on and let's try it out. I bet that I can max out with the weight on it." Applejack began to walk over to the weight machine.
Rarity quickly hurried over to her and was again leaning up against Applejack.
"Rarity, I know yer scared and everythin', but ya could at least give me some breathin' room. I told ya that I'll keep an eye on ya. Even Fluttershy is actin' braver than you."
Rarity backed away from Applejack and said, "I'm so sorry, dear. I need to get a hold of my emotions."
Applejack got to the machine and read the instructions. "Seems easy enough," she said. Just as she was about to sit her flank down on the machine, a very large white Pegasus stallion rushed in and stole her spot. He had a dumbbell for a cutie mark. "Hey! What in tar-nations do ya think yer doin'? I was here first!"
The stallion took out the pin in the weights and put it in a higher spot. He was the largest pony currently there and had muscles in places that ponies didn't even have places. He looked at Applejack and said, "Sorry, but I'm going down the line of machines to use and everything needs to be timed perfectly or I will not be properly warmed up. You can watch how awesome I am and take notes. Ohhhhh yeeaaaaah!"
His weight lifting partner came over and said, "Sorry about that, girls. His name is Snowflake, or what we like to call him, Roid Rage. He really tends to hog the machines for himself. He needs to make up with big muscles to compensate for other things that are tiny in nature."
Snowflake looked down between his legs and said, "It's not that small, or is it?"
His partner slapped him upside the head with his front hoof and said, "I was referring to the little wings on your back, but now that you mention it, it's unfortunate how fast steroids will shrink what you're referring to. I still don't even know how you can fly with such tiny wings."
Snowflake began to push his hind legs out. He grinded his teeth for a moment and then said, "Oh yeah! I feel the burn!" He did ten repetitions and then got off of the machine. He looked at the two girls and said, "It's all yours! I left the seat nice and warm for you."
The seat on the machine was not only warm, but it was covered in his sweat. He also left the pin in the weights as if to pride himself by just how much he could leg press. "You girls must be new here. I bet you haven't seen a stallion lift so much weight on these machines before, huh?" he asked.
Applejack got closer and sat her flank down on the seat. She was about to lean back against the cushioned back, until Rarity let out a shriek and said, "Ew! Ew! Ew! Applejack, aren't you going to make him wipe down that machine? It's covered in his sweat!"
Applejack looked back at the seat that was covered in sweat. She shrugged and said, "Nah! A lil' sweat ain't gonna bother this farm girl. If a lil' sweat is so repulsive to you, Rarity, then I'd hate to see how ya would react to some of the stuff I do on the farm. Besides, I'm sure that whatever is in those spray bottles are just chemicals and not organic like the stuff we use on my farm. I'd much rather sit in somepony else's sweat rather than chemicals." Applejack made a face that spoke of disgust when she thought about that.
Snowflake and his buddy stood there and watched the newcomer on the machine.
Snowflake snickered and said, "She didn't even lower the weight on the machine. Watch her struggle to try to lift all of that weight. She's going to strain herself."
Applejack put her back hooves against the large metal plate and looked at Rarity with an unsure look on her face. "So all I'm supposed to do is just buck my back legs, Rarity?"
"That's what the instructions say," Rarity said as she pointed her hoof to the instructions on the side of the machine.
"Well, here goes nothin'." Applejack pushed her back legs and the seat went flying backwards. She went back so far that her back hooves had left the metal plate that she was pushing against and the seat made a loud noise as it reached it's maximum distance. Applejack jolted upwards in fear that she broke the machine. "Golly! I hope these machines are well made and I didn't do any damage to this one." Applejack looked down and noticed that the pin wasn't even near the highest amount of weight on the machine. She took the pin out and dropped it. Thankfully, the black coiled cord attached to the pin kept it from falling to the floor. "Dern things can be so slippery." Applejack picked the pin up and placed it in the highest amount of weight. "I guess I'd better be more gentle with this machine." Applejack put only one back hoof onto the metal plate and did a few repetitions. "Hmmm. Not bad," she said as she continued to pump her one left hind leg. "It's unfortunate that this machine only goes so high in weight." Applejack looked over at the free weights and said, "Hold on a second. I bet I could make this a lil' bit more challenging if I put some free weights on top of the weights on this machine.
Rarity and the two other stallions watched with shock and awe as Applejack went over and picked up some large free weights. She carried them back over and placed them on top of the weights on the hind leg press machine. She kept going back and bringing more and more weights over to the hind leg press machine and piled them up as high as she could. When she couldn't put any more weights on top because she couldn't reach up any higher, she noticed a ladder near by and brought it over. She got some more free weights and climbed on top of the ladder. Many ponies on the second floor of the gym above had no idea what she was doing. When the weights were stacked up almost all the way up to the ceiling, she became satisfied. She sat back down in the chair and leaned back as she put her back hoof on the machine and pushed. "I can't do it! I guess I need to humble myself and use both of my back legs, huh?" Applejack put her other back hoof against the metal plate and she pushed. "Mmmph! that's some good weight." She pushed a little harder and to everpony's surprise, she was doing reps and there was a loud sound of the weights hitting the top ceiling of the building. Applejack's face was so very focused on her back hooves as she pushed. Her cheeks were red and she counted out loud as she did each repetition. "Seven.....Eight.....Nine...." Applejack struggled greatly and her back legs were shaking tremendously as she pushed with all of her might. "T-t-t-ten!" The moment Applejack finished her last repetition, the cable to the weight machine snapped and she went flying backwards. A very loud crashing sound was heard throughout the gym. She fell out of the seat and landed hard on the floor. "Ooops!" I didn't mean to break it. Shucks, they should really make these machine do-hickeys stronger."
Snowflake was stunned and horrified at the same time. "How did you do that?" he asked.
Applejack looked up at him and said, "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. I reckon the Bible tells us to be strong in the Lord."
Some stallion yelled out, "Who the hay took out every single free weight from this gym?!" He turned and saw the massive pile of every single free weight in the gym piled on top of the leg press machine. "Holy horse apples! What kind of sick joke is that? Please tell me that somepony was seriously not able to lift all of that weight!"
Applejack shook her head several times quickly and said, "I guess we should move on before we get into any more trouble. Maybe I'll take it a lil' easier this time. Applejack grabbed Rarity by her front hoof and together, they made their way to the other machines in the gym.
Vinyl Scratch had heard that loud crashing sound and came over. She watched Applejack and Rarity flee and shook her head several times in disappointment as she taped a sign on the machine that read, out of order! She sighed and said out loud, "I wish I could use my magic to somehow place every single free weight back into its proper place. This is going to take me a while."
"I can help," a voice said from behind her. "I'm sorry about my friend Applejack, she doesn't know her own strength."
"Huh?" Vinyl Scratch turned and saw Twilight Sparkle. "You can use your magic to help put the free weights stacked up on this machine back over to the racks?"
"I sure can! This mare practices and knows lots of tricks when it comes to magic." Twilight looked at the weights and then looked at the empty racks nearby. Her horn glowed and she closed her eyes as she concentrated so very hard on where each free weight was supposed to be. The free weights teleported back into their proper place. Twilight opened up her eyes and said, "I did it!" Twilights cheeks turned red with embarrassment when she realized that she had made a slight mistake. There was a dumbbell on the floor and a yellow rubber chicken where the dumbbell should be placed. "Ooops! It happens to the best of us. That rubber chicken can be so distracting sometimes! I think that happens from having too much Pinkie Pie on the brain!" Twilight Sparkle used her magic to make the rubber chicken disappear and she teleported the last free weight into its proper place. "There! Everything's back to normal now."
"Hey, you're really amazing!" Vinyl Scratch said. "I never saw a pony as smart or as good with magic as you."
Twilight giggled and pawed her front hoof in the air at Vinyl Scratch as if to say with her body language, "Oh stop it, you!" Twilight Sparkle smiled and said, "For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul."
"Where did you hear that from?" Vinyl Scratched asked.
"It's from the Bible," Twilight joyfully responded.
"Hey, that's pretty awesome. Do you think God likes wub wubs and likes to party?"
Twilight looked back over at Pinkie Pie who was now dressed in a cheerleader's uniform and had two pom-poms in her front hooves. She was getting a work out by cheering on other ponies and tying balloons and party streamers on the machines. Twilight turned back to Vinyl Scratch and said, "I think God REALLY likes to party, and I'm sure He loves Dub-step music too. He did make a very talented D.J. like yourself."
Vinyl Scratch beamed with a smile and said, "Now that's my kind of God I want to follow! Do you know of any group Bible studies I can get into?"
"There's always my group you can attend. It's getting quite busy, but there's always room for more!" Twilight happily said.
"Hey! I want to attend your group. You're really cool. I can bring my D.J. equipment and we can have a party after the studies."
Twilight Sparkle nervously pawed at the ground with her front hoof. "I just may have to decline that offer because we have houses around us and sometimes ponies come over for studies when it's rather late. I don't think it would be appropriate to blast any kind of music. I heard that your bass cannon can practically shake down the walls of buildings, but that doesn't mean that we can't enjoy your music if it's at a reasonable volume for other ponies nearby. I do teach in my public library after all."
Vinyl Scratch giggled and said, "I understand. Maybe I can bring my friend, Octavia and she can play some softer sounding classical music too." She looked back at the front desk and realized that there was a pony waiting for her. "Hey, I'll catch up with you later. I'm defiantly going to attend your studies!" Vinyl Scratch gave her one last bright smile and then trotted off.
Twilight Sparkle watched her trot off for a moment and then went back to seeking other machines to try out.
Snowflake and his buddy were still staring at the broken hind leg press machine.
His buddy spoke up and asked, "How does it feel to be humbled by a mare?"
Snowflake sighed and said, "I think that it may be time to read the Bible."