//------------------------------// // Chapter XXXI: Exercise // Story: Distorted Fate // by Silvak //------------------------------// There were more explosions! I thought to myself as I read through Twilight’s notes while using the dictionary she gave me. It had been three days since the party, and with the Crusaders grounded again, I ended up spending any free time I had looking over Twilight’s research. Though Pinkie and her friends confronted me in regards to my revelation yesterday, I was able to pass it off as something culturally related, which they accepted since it wasn’t a topic they wanted to dwell on any further. Thank goodness that I had chosen to wait until I could steal her notes, because some of the tests Twilight performed did not end well. Like that transmutation spell that ended up causing a shard to explode, or the fact that a simple light spell revealed that the shards could magnify the light uncontrollably, which resulted in Twilight being blind for a few hours... though that resulted made me wanted to experiment with my focused variant of the light spell, under controlled conditions of course. However, the news that at least seventeen crash sites had been discovered so far was the most shocking. Equestria now had enough shards to reform into a core that would potentially create dimensional rifts, and I knew that Equestria wasn’t ready for what is out there. While I knew that these ponies were the only known species (in my experience at least) that had magic on their side, they simply weren’t  ready for an encounter with one of the dimensional empires out there, and who knows what will happen if they accidentally open a portal to a Venanite-infested world. Thankfully, they didn't have a clue that these shards were part of a greater whole, evident by how Twilight simply referred to them as crystals in her notes, along with the rather large count of crystals located so far. This, however, was due in part to how badly shattered the Maralus cores are, which rendered the shards so fragmented that one couldn't tell that they are supposed to part of something greater unless they already knew what they were. However, due to the fact that this many explosions occurred at around the sam- tap tap tap - what the fuck? Turning my head towards the origin of the tapping, I saw Rainbow Dash hovering right outside my window, tapping it with a hoof. Opening the window with my magic as I put the stolen research away, I trotted over to it as I asked, "What do you want Rainbow?" Upon reaching the window, Rainbow hovered back a bit as she said, "Oh, nothing. I just came here to get you out for some fresh air. You've been cooped up in your room for so long, and you're not even grounded! Besides, who doesn't want to have a chance to hang out with the awesome Rainbow Dash?" Leaning my head out the window with a disgruntled expression on my face, I was about to make my retort until a pair of pink hooves came into the window from above it, grabbing me and yanking me out of my room as I released a yelp of surprise. Looking at my captor, I saw that it was Pinkie Pie, who somehow grabbed me while sitting on the roof. "Surprise!" Pinkie said with a giggle as I struggled in her grasp while Rainbow started to laugh at me. "Told you that this would be a go-OW!" Rainbow started to say before I kicked her in the face with one of my rear legs. "What was that for?" After calming down, I gave her an annoyed look as I said, "Remember the surprise party?" Even though Rainbow accepted that explanation as she rubbed the spot I kicked, in reality I purposefully kicked her as punishment for this prank she pulled on me, though I was lenient on Pinkie since I cared for her a lot more than I did for Rainbow. "Anyway, since your trick is over, and I go back to my room now?" "No, silly! Rainbow is right. You need to be out there having fun instead of being in that stuffy old room," Pinkie replied as she put me down beside her on the roof. "Besides, you need to lay off the chocolate cake. You're getting fat," Rainbow said as she gave my belly a poke. I would have slapped her for that if I didn't see it jiggle a bit from the poke. "Fine, I'll lay off the cake then," I grumbled, though Rainbow only rolled her eyes at me in response. In my defense though, chocolate cake was irresistible to me, and I did live in a bakery. Still, Rainbow did have a point, since I was having cake everyday for the past month. "No, you need to get that meat off your bones. I mean, come on. You're an athlete! Even if you read almost as much as Twilight does." "I'm a what now?" I said as I tilted my head in confusion. "Arrrrgh, you gotta be kidding me! You have a dictionary but you don't know what an athlete is?" Rainbow said in an exasperated tone. "There are a lot of words! There is no way I would learn them all so quickly!" I countered, as I glared at her, only for her to glare back at me. "Now you two, let's not fight. Why not just tell Aether what an athlete is, Rainbow?" Pinkie said with a nervous smile as she tried to break our staring contest. Rainbow continued to stare back at me before releasing a grunt as she said, "Okay Pinkie. Aether, I'm an athlete, a pony that keeps their body in fit condition while doing extreme sports and stuff." "Oh... wait, is this another attempt where you try to make me think you are awesome? Because it is not going to work," I said, causing Rainbow's face to darken with rage. "How about we go and have some fun now?" Pinkie asked as she began to sweat from the fear of a potential conflict between Rainbow and me as we continued to glare at each other. It wasn't long before we arrived at the White Tail Woods. Looking up at the mares, I asked, "Why are we here?" After Rainbow Dash and I ended our 'staring contest', the mares declared that they had a spot in mind that would serve as a good place for me to get some exercise, though they didn't specify where we were going or what kind of exercise. "We're here for a run through the forest!" Rainbow answered with a smug smile, which only caused me to tilt my head in confusion. Rolling her eyes, Rainbow elaborated, "Hey, you're the one who has all these extreme ways of getting around, so I thought that you would be interested in a run through something rough." "A run, seriously?" "What, scared of having to eat my dust?" Dash said with a smug grin. "No, it is more that you fly than run, or even walk," I bluntly replied. "Yeah, and if you just flew over us, then there won't be any dust clouds for us to get lost in! Oh! How about you run with us Dash? That way we can have fun together as we run through the forest!" Pinkie said. As I turned my head to raised an eyebrow at her question, Rainbow said, "Umm... well, I want to fly... but I suppose it can't hurt to run. After all, the Running of the Leaves is coming in a couple months. I need to keep all of myself in tip top shape so that I can beat Applejack with ease." Hmm? Seems like those two have some rivalry of sorts. Rolling my eyes, I said, "Fine, I will do the run, but can we go for the thickest part of the woods?" This caused the two mares to look at me, though Rainbow's face was taking on a hint of suspicion. "If we are going to run through rough terrain, then make it a challenge, this part of the forest looks... too easy." My response seemed to please Rainbow, for suddenly I think I saw some fire in her eyes as she said, "Oh yeah, the more extreme, the more awesome it'll be! You in, Pinkie?" "Yuparooni!" Pinkie exclaimed as she smiled at me. I returned an awkward one of my own, for I knew that if I didn't smile back at her from time to time, she'd go out of her way to make me smile. That lesson I learned the hard way over a month ago, and which I sort of mentally blocked out, with only the faint memory of a cannon, streamers, a trumpet, and one giant ass balloon being involved in that particular incident. It wasn't long before we reached the thickest portion of the woods, where Rainbow Dash finally landed and drew a line on the ground with a hoof. "This will be the starting line, as well as the finish line. First pony to reach the other side of the thicket will be the winner, which we all know will be me," she said. "I thought this was a run, not a race," I said dryly. "Well, yeah it's a run, but why not make it more fun and make it a race?" Rainbow replied, to which I just let out a huff as I took my place behind the starting line. Better give her what she wants or she'll just complain some more, I thought to myself as Rainbow and Pinkie took their places, Rainbow with a serious expression on her face while Pinkie just giggled. "On the count of three, we start. One. Two. THREE!" Rainbow said as she dashed off right when she said three. Rolling my eyes, I started to gallop as Pinkie just bounced at a leisurely pace as she normally did. Looking ahead of myself, I saw Rainbow weaving through the trees and brush, doing her best to dodge any obstacles in her path. This brought a smile to my muzzle as I knew that each time she went around something she wasted time doing so. Instead of doing the same as Rainbow did, I looked onto my path, taking note of every branch, bush, stump, rock, and tree in my path, as I planned out my route. It only took seconds before I charted out my course as I jumped onto a branch, using my lighter weight (despite my fat gut) to run up the branch. After reaching the end, I jumped onto another branch, and then another, using the thickness of the area to my advantage. Even when the brush began to grow too thick to run through I just increased my elevation by simply jumping onto higher branches. Looking at Rainbow Dash again, I saw that she was now forced to try to push through the thicket, which only slowed her down even more. Though, regardless to my advantage in this terrain, I could see Pinkie Pie at the edge of my vision, simply bouncing over and through her obstacles without a care in the world. It wasn't long before I was close on Rainbow's tail, though she didn't notice, partly due to her being too frustrated by the thicket that was slowing her down. Grinning to myself, I jumped onto a branch that ran along just by Rainbow, and as I ran on top of it, I called out, "Having trouble Rainbow?" Upon hearing my voice, Rainbow snapped her head at me as she gaped in surprise, while I just shot her a smug smile. I bet she was thinking that I was too far behind, and probably dragging Pinkie with me too, I thought to myself before I jumped onto a higher branch and made my way past Rainbow. Looking back at her, I saw her fuming with rage as she ran with newfound strength as she plowed through the thicket now, no matter what harm it may bring to her. Shouldn't have agreed to my request, I thought to myself as I returned my attention to the forest ahead of me, trying to keep my lead. However, this didn't last long, for my lack of exercise and overeating finally caught up to me and I began to pant from lack of breath, though I continued to push on despite the pain my lungs were beginning to experience. Regardless of my efforts, though, I began to slow down, which allowed Rainbow to slowly catch up to me from below. It wasn't long before the thicket began to clear, at which point Rainbow finally caught up to me as we were neck to neck near the end. Eventually we broke out of the thick thicket into a small clearing, only to see Pinkie Pie sitting down smiling in the middle of it. Jumping down from the branches, I finally sat down as I tried to get some much needed air, as Rainbow sputtered in confusion on how Pinkie got past us, till she stopped and said, "Oh yeah... cause she's Pinkie." "Tee hee, that was fun," Pinkie said as she beamed at us, to which Rainbow only shook her head in disbelief before turning to me. "I can't believe you got past me there, though it was probably just luck, we both know I was going to win in the end," Rainbow said. "It was not luck, it was because of the... area. I knew that by going to a thicker area, you would be slowed down by it, because since you normally fly, you always dodge and go around things, and I figure that you would follow the same idea when you run. I however know how to go through stuff or use them to my advantage. If we went through a clearer part of the forest, you would be ahead of me the entire time," I replied. Staring at me for a moment, Rainbow said," So you're saying that you only got ahead of me for a short while ‘cause you used your head?" After giving her a nod, she sat down on her haunches as she said, "You're hanging out with Twilight too much. Only an egghead like her would think of that kind of stuff for a race." I laughed at her for jumping to such an obvious insult, which only caused her to frown at me before I said, "Hey, you still beat me in the end." Since I wasn't as prideful as the cyan mare, I was more willing to admit that I lost than she was. Though, if I was more fit, I probably would have beaten her, but saying that would only justify her stance on my weight-gain issue, as well as annoy her more than I would have liked to. "Well, yeah. Of course I beat you, I'm just awesome like that," she said as she beat a hoof against her chest, causing me to roll my eyes at her. She then stood up and walk over to me, poking a hoof at my belly as she said, "Now if only you lose that belly of yours, then maybe you can be half as awesome as me, though you're still half the egghead that Twilight is." In response to that, I just stuck my tongue out at her, though that only caused her to laugh, I joined in along with Pinkie, as our laughs rang throughout the forest.