Stuck

by NickyD

Exercise is Fun

2:30 P.M.

Cadence and Shining Armor left about a half an hour ago, so its just Twilight, Spike and I once again. When I returned from the bathroom, Twilight, Spike and their majesties were a little concerned about me and asked if I was okay. I told them it was nothing and that I just had to use the bathroom real quick. They could probably tell I was lying 'cause I noticed that the three ponies exchanged a glance. I assured them that I was okay though.

After that, we continued the get together like normal. I got to know them better, they got to know me better and all that jazz.

By the time they left, we left off on a good note and bid each other best wishes. I think everything went well overall.

So what am I doing now? Well, I am tying up my yellow and purple basketball shoes that Rarity made for me. I already put on the the basketball uniform because I am going to get some exercise in. I never really had too much time on earth to do it because of school work and after school activities. I usually get my workouts in during the summer, which is swimsuit season (hello ladies). But since I have time now, best not to waste it.

I finish tying up my shoes and then, a realization hits me; where am I going to get some exercise in? I don't exactly have the right running attire on. Like what I told the crusaders yesterday, long distance running and basketball shoes aren't a good combo. So I can scratch that one off. What about the low hanging trees around the library? I could hang myself upside down and do some hanging sit ups. I could do a wall calf exercise against the base of the library. I can also do pull ups on the branches. I can probably figure out some other things while I'm outside. Perfect! I have a plan.

I make my way downstairs and see Twilight working on the concoction that should help send me back. I wonder how it's gonna work? From what I can gather, unicorns use magic with their horns, not from other things. Maybe it's some sort of enhancer to help "up" the spell, so to speak. "Twilight," I say to her. She takes her attention away from the concoction to look at me. "I'm going to be outside for a bit to get some exercise in."

"Sure thing Nick," she says. "I'll be in here working on this." I head outside and start to stretch. It's always good to stretch out your limbs before you exercise. I used to be on my school's track team before I became a theater kid. Stretching is important because you make your limbs nice and loose so you don't pull a muscle. Pulling a muscle mid workout isn't fun. Take my word for it.

I do a few lunges, arm circles, back of the upper arm, some calf stretches and some high legs. Now, it's time for the real workout.

Let's start with the pull ups now. I head over to a low branch and jump up, hanging on with a reverse grip. Surprisingly enough, the bark doesn't feel splintery. It feels really smooth, like a dining room table that isn't slippery.

"One," I say as I pull my chin up above the branch. I bring my head down to my elbows, and I repeat the process. "Two. Three. Four. Five Six. Seven. Eight." I let go of the branch and drop to the ground, still on my feet. Eight reps. I think that's the average amount. Not bad. Lets move on to the next exercise: hanging sit ups.

I pull myself back up on the branch and put my legs up. I let myself dangle for a second or two, so I can get used to this sensation. I put my hands behind my neck and I bring my self up to my knees and do another count. "One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Sev-"

"Watcha' donin' there Nick?" I hear a familiar, southern voice cut me off. I bring myself back down and see Applejack, upside down. Well, she's upside down in my eyes. Behind her, I see the dog Apple Bloom was playing with the other day. The little one is hiding behind Applejack's hind legs. The poor little guy, or girl, must still be afraid of me.

"Hey Applejack. Hi doggy!" I say the last part happily, trying to tell the dog I'm harmless. "What are you two doing out and about?"

"Just giving Winona a walk through town." So that's the dog's name. "Why ya hanging upside down like a vampire bat?"

"I'm getting some exercise in. It's a hanging sit up. Watch." I do two more sit ups do demonstrate what I'm doing. "It's good for the core." I lift myself back up and put my hands on the branch and remove my legs from it. I hang onto the bark by my hands for half a second and let go, sending me back to the ground.

"How long have ya been going at it?"

"Not to long. Just a couple of minutes."

"You know, I didn't think you were the type to work out." Yeah, I don't come off as the physical type, do I?

"I usually do it during the summer. Other times, school work gets in the way and I wouldn't have time for it. But since I'm here, I might as well use this time to my advantage and burn some calories." I lean my torso and head to the left and see the dog, still cowering behind Applejack. "Hey there Winona, I'm Nick." I get on one knee, using the same method I did with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "Come here, uhh…" Seriously, is Winona a boy or a girl?

"Winona's a girl," Applejack whispers.

"Come here girl." I extend my hand and do a "come here" motion with my fingers. The brown dog comes out of her hiding and slowly makes her way towards me, still afraid. I take a look at her face and just give her a smile. I lay my hand on her head and pet her, slowly. She then lets out a smile out of enjoyment along with a cute whimper and a tail wag. "Good girl," I say. "Aren't you just adorable." Winona is a very cute dog no doubt. She moves her head from my hand and nuzzles herself underneath my chin. Her soft, silky fur tickles a little bit, and I let out a chuckle.

"See Winona, Nick is nice." Winona lets out a happy bark as I pet her back. I do this for a bit, enjoying her soft fur underneath my hand. "Alright, come here girl." The dog obeys her commander and walks back to Applejack. "She's a good girl, isn't she?" Applejack starts to pet Winona herself now.

"Very. She's so adorable." Winona sticks out her tongue with happiness plastered on her face.

"I'm going to get back to my workout now. Wanna' spot me?"

"Sorry Nick, I haveta' get back to the farm. I got some harvesting to do."

"Oh, that's fine. Good luck with your harvesting."

"Thanks. Have fun with your workout." She then walks off with Winona in toe, or hoof really. Now where was I? Right! Hanging sit ups. I hang myself back on the branch, upside down of course, and start over.

"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten." I get down and take a breather. "Pace yourself Nick," I mutter. "Don't wear yourself out just yet. Upside daise." I hang myself upside down again and I do more set of hanging sit ups, but this time, a tad bit slower. "One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten." I bring my self back down and feel my stomach. I feel it getting stronger and starting to burn a little. Is it rock solid? No. I'm far from that. But I am close to a six pack. The lines are just "faint", one may say.

Let's get some push ups in. My arms are probably not strong enough to do my usual set of push ups, which is twenty, since I just used them for the pull ups. But let's see how far I can go. I get into position with my hands on the ground, shoulder length, and my toes are pointed to and are on the ground. I bring myself to the ground, arms forming their own ninety degree angle, and bring myself back up. "One." I repeat the process. "Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten." I made it to ten no problem! Let's do some more. "Eleven. Twelve. Thrit-blag!" I feel a heavy force hop on my back, making me plop on the ground.

"Come on, ya pansy!" I hear a familiar tomboy-ish voice say. "You can do better."

"Seriously Dash?" I say, sounding like air is slowly escaping my lungs. Jeez! How much is she? One-ten? "Can you get off me?" My voice is starting to sound hoarse...no pun intended.

"Do two more, and I'll get off." You know, when one does a push up, they are practically bench pressing three-quarters of their body weight. I weigh close to one-thirty. So I am benching close to ninety or a hundred pounds. Plus, another hundred pounds, and then some, that's like lifting two hundred!

"You're killing me Rainbow Dash."

"No pain no gain." God, how much I hate the fact that she's right. Okay lets do this. I use my arms to push myself up.

She's so heavy! This is a struggle because I feel my arms wobbling like crazy! "You're almost there ya sissy!" She shouts like a football coach. I finally push all the way up and plop myself down.

"One!" I say tiredly. I haven't pushed this hard since I had to lift that tire my freshman year for track. We had to do those types of exercises. But that's unrelated, moving on.

"Come on 'dust-for-bones', put some muscle into it."

"I don't care for that name," I say.

"Come on! Just one more, and I'll get off." Okay, lets get this over with.

With every ounce of my being, I muster up as much strength as I could and try to raise myself. My arms are still wobbling and I feel like gravity is working against me. I have to fight it! During my battle with gravity, a surge of adrenaline rushes through my body and I complete a successful push up. I hold it for a couple seconds and I plop myself back onto the ground.

"Two." Dash gets off of me (finally), leans down and looks at me, giving me a stupid grin.

"Good work." She pats my head with her forehoof. I just groan out of annoyance.

"May I ask why you did that?"

"No reason," is all she says.

"Huh!" I jolt up to stand and look at her. "No reason? You saw me exercising and thought 'I'm going to plop on top of Nick for no reason'," I say that part with one of those mock imitation voices.

"Yeup!" She just grins a little more. "You looked like you could have used a challenge." Oi vey.

"Well, thank you for almost crushing my lungs and rib cage!"

"Any time buddy." She gives off a little snicker. "So, you getting a workout in?"

"Yeah. Since I have time now, might as well utilize it."

"Need someone to spot you?"

"Uhh…" I'm not sure if I should have her spotting me. After that stunt she just did with the push ups...then again, it doesn't hurt to push yourself. Screw it! "Sure."

"Okay! First thing I want you to do: twenty suicides. From the base of the library to the base of that house." She uses her fore hoof to point to a house that's about thirty feet away. An exercise that's pretty simple. I used to do these when I played basketball as a kid. And it's not long distance running. I think the shoes I'm wearing should be alright.

I set my right foot on the base of the tree and have my left one in front of me. "Tell me when."

"Ready?" I nod. "Set. GO!" I jolt out of my starting position and start sprinting. What I learned from track comes back to me out of instinct. Run on your toes, hands go from your waist to face, high knees, and breathe through the nose and out the month. I get to the house and get down low to touch the base. "One!" I hear Dash shout. I sprint back to the library, lean down and touch the base of the library. "Two." I do this eighteen more times, getting a tad slower as I get closer to the end. I think each suicide was only a couple seconds, but getting progressively slower.

By the time I finish, I feel a little out of breath. "Very nice Nick," my rainbow maned coach says. "Okay, ready for the next exercise?"

"Just a sec," I say a tad winded. "Lemme catch my breath." I but both hands behind my head so I can catch my breath more easily. After a few deep breaths with my hands behind my head, I regain a bit of my stamina. "Okay, what's next coach?"

"Crunches."

"How many?"

"As many as you can do."

"Alright. Hold me down?"

"You got it!." I get down on the ground with my knees up and the rest of my body flat on the ground, hands behind the head once again. Rainbow Dash is holding down my feet so I won't move. "I'll count." I lift my shoulder blades off the ground and go back down. "One." I do the same thing again. "Two." I repeat this process about thirty more times, core heating up as I go. "And thirty-two." I stop here because I feel my stomach starting to burn. Doing thirty-two crunches and close to twenty hanging sit ups will definitely put a burn on the core.

"Whoo!" I let out while I hop back up on my feet, feeling pumped.

"Feelin' the burn pal?"

"Yeah I do, and I love it! Whoo! Let's go baby!" I do a quick clap. I must have some sort of adrenaline rush going on now. I'm starting to sound like Terry Tate.

"Alright bud, take a chill pill."

"Sorry Dash, but I'm pumped!" A smirk slowly forms on her muzzle. She's going to make me work hard now isn't she? I think I smell a montage coming on.

"Alrighty then, let's have some fun with that energy spurt you got goin'."

Okay...now I hear montage music playing. Okay...that's weird. Not sure why- f##k it! It's a cartoon, this stuff happens all the time. Sometimes I keep forgetting that I'm in a children's TV program. I should just go with it.

As the song is playing (wherever from), Rainbow Dash is making me do exercises that have me sweat buckets and make me feel more tired as we progress. She's making me do two sets of ten for each exercise: jumping jacks, leg raises, leg pull ins, the jump ins exercise, climbers, and she even had me bench press her for five reps. She also makes me spend time with the wall sit and planks. I hate that plank exercise with a burning passion now.

By the time all this is done (music dying out too), I am tired, breathless and dizzy. I see that everything has a more pale tint to it for some reason and everything is sort of moving on its own. Yeah, I'm ninety-five percent sure that that's a dehydration side effect. I should've brought some water out here.

I sit down and lean my back up against the tree."You okay Nick?" Rainbow Dash asks, concerned.

"I just need," I stop my self to wheeze in a breath, "some water." She quickly flies into the library and comes back out with a tall glass of water in nearly ten seconds. Damn, she's fast!

"Drink up pal, you deserve it!" I swipe the glass from her hoof and chug the cold liquid down. "You worked hard today Nick."

"I don't think I have ever had that hardcore of a work out before. Then again, there was that time when I was on the track team my freshman year. For one practice, the team had to run various distances while holding up hurdles the entire time. That was fun."

"That last bit was sarcasm, wasn't it?" She says, stating the obvious.

"Of course! It was a terrible practice. I felt like dropping dead that day." No joke. "Every fiber in my being was sore for a few days."

"Yeesh, you're coach must've been tough."

"He was, but that was his process to make champions. Except for me. I quit track after that one season and pursued theater the next school year. Best choice of my life to be honest. Now, I just work out for fun." Rainbow Dash raises her eyebrow, giving off a questionable look.

"Work out for fun?" I nod my head. "Ponies do it to lose weight and look good. Is working out for fun something that humans do?"

"In my case it is. For others, they do it to maintain a healthy lifestyle, look good and lose weight, just like what you said. I do it for those purposes too I'll admit, but I mostly do it because I think it's an enjoyable experience, for the most part."

"Ah, I see! You know, when you think about it, if you're having fun with it, it seems less like something of a chore."

"That is a factor to!" I exclaim. She catches my drift. "It feels less like a requirement and more of something you want to do." I take another big swig of water, feeling a lot more refreshed...and feeling like I need to freshen up. "I'm gonna hit the showers."

"Good. That sweat is going to make you smell worse than a diamond dog." Diamond Dog? Like that David Bowie song? "Catch ya later than. And try not to pass out." She takes off to the skies and does...whatever Rainbow Dash's do.

I shakily get up and, using the tree as something to keep my balance, make my way inside. I see Twilight is still working on a concoction. It's now glowing for some reason. What did she put in that? A glow stick? "Hey Twi," I say. She turns her head to me, smiles, then giggles at me. Probably because I look like a mess with all of this sweat.

"Let me guess, Rainbow Dash was coaching you?" She asks. I nod as she giggles again. "I thought so because she busted in here and zipped out before I could even utter a word to her." She lets of a little sigh.

"I'm going to get a shower. I feel sweaty and disgusting." I start to make my way upstairs and I hear her call out to me.

"Don't forget to wash behind your ears!" She says this sing-song like.

"Yes Mom!" I can hear her burst into laughter and I make my way into the bathroom. Finally! One way ticket to cold shower city please.

Comments

[zaku666]

nice to some more interactions with the main six