The Bodybuilder

by Crayonpaste

A Knight in Shining Armor

"No..." You whisper to yourself, shaking your head. "No....Anon, stop thinking about her..."

As much as you know it's a bad thing to do, the painful memories of Applejack's rejection keep coming back, no matter how hard you try to forget it. You try to distract yourself with more important things going on in your life like homework, community service projects to buff up your college resume, and Ms. Harshwinny's history test that's been sitting in front of you for the past thirty minutes.

'Who is Lord Tirek, and why is he considered by many historians to be the most important figure of the First Generation?' You read the first question on the test.

What the hell is the "First Generation"? This sounds more like random T.V. show trivia bullshit than history. How is the hell is this test fair in any way?! Well it's not stopping Twilight Sparkle's faster-than-light writing that she's doing two seats in front of you. To your left, Rainbow Dash has this small mirror in her hand --- she's trying to use it to reflect Twilight's test onto it and copy her answers, and it looks like it's working.

"Fifteen minutes remaining." Ms. Harshwinny announces in a booming, authoritarian voice that causes several students to jump in their seats. Rainbow Dash nearly drops her mirror, but catches it at the last second, and continues to cheat off of Twilight, who's still writing like a maniac.

Sweating, you take a deep breath and begin jotting down random words in an attempt to sound as intelligent as possible. Every now and then though, you take a couple glances at Rainbow Dash's paper when Ms. Harshwinny's not looking. So long as you don't make it too obvious, you should be safe...

...Right?

******

Ms. Harshwinny seemed to be in an extra rough mood today for some reason; she would eye every student suspiciously when they hand in their paper, and even when you were done with your test, she still wouldn't let you go on your phone. You really don't know how people as crabby as Ms. Harshwinny can live with themselves, but maybe one day she'll change; you don't know. But one thing you know for sure is that you bombed that test hard, and wouldn't be surprised if everyone else did too except for Twilight Sparkle.

The bell finally rings, sending every student packing up, but not before Ms. Harshwinny announces a last minute homework assignment that causes everyone to groan in annoyance. You quickly jot down what she just said on your textbook and make a run for it before she pulls another assignment out of her ass. After making it out of the hallway, you take your book out your bag again to double check on the homework, and groan upon seeing what she gave to your class.

"Four pages?" You open your mouth in disbelief. Nope. You change your mind; no way someone as spiteful as this woman could ever change.

"A...Anon?" You jump in surprise, and turn around, finding it only to be Fluttershy.

"Oh, hey there Fluttershy." You smile. "Didn't see you; you kinda snuck up on me there."

"Oh..." She droops her head. "I'm...sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"Naww, it's alright." You say reassuringly. "What's up?"

"I...I just wanted to ask..." Fluttershy says slowly. "How did you think you did on that History test?"

"Awful." You answer back, shaking your head. "My GPA's gonna tank from that one..."

"Yeah, it was hard." Fluttershy agrees. "That first question about Lord Tirek was the hardest one for me..."

"I never remember her even going over that stuff in class." You complain. "Then suddenly, she puts in on the test and- wait a second, how do you know? You didn't even take that test!"

"Uhmmm...I'm in your class......?"

In this past week, a lot of crap has happened to you; you got rejected by love of your life, you narrowly avoided death by suffocation from a one hundred pound metal bar, you butchered a History test that was probably worth a fourth of your grade, and now, Fluttershy has given you another opportunity to feel stupid all over again.

"I'm also in your Physics and Chemistry class." Fluttershy says as you stand there, dumbfounded by your own stupidity. "And did you know we're also in the same lunch period too, Anon?"

"Wow..." You chuckle nervously, as you feel cheeks starting to flush red with embarrassment. "...How did I never know?"

The two of you walk awkwardly together in the hallway as you make your way to Physics class, which of course Fluttershy has been with you all this time. As the two of you walk however, you feel Fluttershy poking your side with her finger, and you turn to face her.

"By the way, did you know that we're having a pop quiz fourth block in Chemistry today?" She mumbles.

"What?"

******

As you hand in your quiz and leave the classroom, you feel your mind enter a state of complete bliss, and inner peace; you know that no matter how badly you did, that quiz will never be as bad as what you're going to get on Ms. Harshwinny's History test. And to top it off, it's also Friday too, so you'll have two whole days of not having to care, see, or speculate about what you got on that test.

You're practically skipping down the hallways right now; at the moment, it feels like nothing can ruin your mood. You failed Ms. Harshwinny's test? No problem. You got like no sleep today? You'll make it up over the weekend. There's a million people standing in the hallway in front of you for some reason? You'll just go through them then.

"Sorry, coming through." You say cheerfully as you wade through the sea of students. A student accidentally steps on your foot as you try to cross the sea of students. Then another. And another. How many people are here anyways?

"You think she's gonna say yes?" You overhear Lyra Heartstrings asking Bon Bon.

"Just wait and see." She hushes her friend.

You raise your eyebrow. What's going on? And why is it attracting the attention of half the entire school on a Friday? Normally, people would be racing down these hallways to try and get home as fast as possible. You eventually get impatient, and look up to see what's going on. Your eyes stop however when they suddenly spot Applejack, who's standing in the middle of the crowd with someone. You squint your eyes and...

"Is that Shining Armor?" You ask Bon Bon. "What's happening?"

"Quiet!" Bon Bon shushes you. "And yes, it is him! He's about to ask out Applejack to the Fall Formal!"

"He's what?" You blurt out, but you're met with another shush. Shaking your head with disbelief, you stumble to the front of the crowd to see for yourself.

There's no mistaking it, it really is Shining Armor; and he's got half the Canterlot High School's swim team right behind his back as he stands in front of Applejack with his arms crossed. Even from a distance, you can see the muscles bulging out of his black Under Armor compression shirt.

"Hey Applejack...you got a minute?" Shining Armor says slowly, inching closer and closer to your crush.

"Why sure, I could spare a couple minutes." Applejack replies, turning to face him. "What's up, Shining?"

You watch as Shining Armor briefly looks around, and notices just how many people are watching him about to ask Applejack out to the Fall Formal. For a brief moment, even him of all people looked vulnerable as he takes a deep breath, and prepares to say what he's about to say.

"I've been thinking." Shining Armor begins. "Thinking about the Fall Formal an everything, Applejack..."

"Oh!" Applejack looks at him surprised. "What about it?" All around you, the crowd goes dead silent. So silent, that you can hear Ms. Harshwinny yelling at some poor student all the way on the other side of the hallway. But right now, no test, lecture, or anything that woman could throw at you can match the sheer level of anxiety you're having right now.

"I was looking for someone to go with to the Fall Formal, and I thought it would be great if you and I could go together." Shining Armor says the words of doom.

You keep silent, along a bunch of girls next to you who are all near the brink of crying as they slowly mouth 'No' over and over again. You on the other hand, already know what the next words coming from Applejack are going to be; you can see it in her eyes. What girl wouldn't want to go to the Fall Formal with the six foot three Captain of the Swim Team?

You take a deep breath, and begin carving a path through the mob of students, but not before Applejack quickly glances over you for a moment. It was mostly a look of surprise, but for some reason you swear you could've felt a hint of sadness from those emerald eyes. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking. You shake that image out of your head, and continue walking through the crowd of students, and it's not until you reach the front doors of Canterlot High do you hear the sound of distant cheering, marking Shining Armor's success.

"Hi dear, how was school?" You hear your mom roll down her windows and smile cheerfully at you.

"Pretty good." You force a smile. "It's a Friday."

Comments

[Brony Soprano]

Regretting that you were such a bitch when he asked you, Applejack? Bit late for that.

[Crayonpaste]

7862627

Is this really the impression I'm giving off with Applejack? I'm trying to make her seem like a generally good person who just happened to reject someone who she doesn't find attractive.

[wille179]

7862644
I'm not 7862627, but in general, whenever X causes the sympathetic protagonist emotionally pain, people's opinions of X are stained. Then, whenever X does anything, the reader sees that action through that lens. In other words, having had no time to build up sympathy for your rendition of Applejack, we as the readers have our entire perspectives tainted by the protagonist's thoughts; thus, a girl who's intended to be decent comes off as less so.

It's a consideration you have to face. How many words can you spare and how much are you willing to spare to make her sympathetic without bogging down the story too much? Or, is it good enough as is?

[Silent Echo]

Way are you writing about Me? He's exactly like Me in real life no mucels and a Love for applejack. ;)

Love this do its so good!

[Brony Soprano]

7862644 It's in the way she went about rejecting him. She basically as good as said she doesn't even consider him a man because he isn't stacked with muscles, which was completely unnecessary, and why I say she acted like a bitch.

Maybe she is decent overall, which could explain how she looks at him with regret and sadness as he walks away, but that doesn't change the fact that she was unnecessarily harsh when rejecting him.

[Guy With No Name]

Things have to go right for Anon someday..... right?

7862644

Right now, in this story, I'm not exactly pleased with Applejack and the way she went about rejecting Anon.... which is why I'll be sorely disappointed if you keep him hung up on her through the entire story, because there's not really enough to show that she is decent.

[Dustchu]

Mmmm, this isn't how I would go about things, but eh... alas. Nicely done man, nicely done.

[Brony Soprano]

7863018 Agreed. Frankly, if her primary criterion for a "real man" is bicep diameter, then she's a bit shallow for my liking. Anon can aim higher, and should do so post-haste.

In any case, it's early in the story as yet, so let's wait and see where/how it goes.

[Seether00]

Why would Shining ask Applejack? Zero chemistry.

[Sunny Starscout]

Now that.. was good

[NoLongerSober]

7864120 What these guys said.

Tracking for now, but... Shining Armor? Really? That one made me scratch my head.

[Seri]

I agree that the rejection sounded like 'You are nice, but I want... no, I NEED someone that looks hot. The rest doesn't matter as much.'
She seemed more focused on looking good and not being embarrassed being seen with a stickman at the Formal than anything else.
This Applejack seems judgemental at the least, if not actually shallow being that 'You aren't hot' was her stated reason for rejecting him.
She could have given him some 'advice' on working out/etc if she wanted to be more subtle.
I'd be disappointed if Applejack effectively goes 'Whoa, you're hot, let's go out.' later on in this story.

[MoshKing]

I'm having flashbacks to high school, except girls didn't want to go out with me because I'm heavy.

Either way, fuck you, Applejack.

With an apple tree.

Sideways.

[MoshKing]

There better not be any friendship between Shining and Anon prior to him asking her out, because if there is, then Shining just violated the Bro Code so badly that he should be publicly executed.

[GreenPony]

There should be a time skip where hes like a fuck boy now y'know like he's fucking every chick including the main 7 in school

[Big boi]

7919391
Oh hell nah man not slideways!!