The Bodybuilder

by Crayonpaste

King Khan Anon

The door to your room is shut. The curtains are pulled down all the way as well, which would have kept your room in complete darkness had your laptop not been on right now. The glowing screen illuminates the entire room with a pale, artificial light as you sit on your chair, hunched over and sipping away on a can of Pepsi as you scroll through your Facebook feed. Suddenly, you hear your notification bar light up and you hit Home, sending yourself all the way back to the top of the feed.

It's......Applejack.

'Going to an event: CHS Fall Formal......' You read, staring at the laptop screen before taking a large gulp of soda.

Normally on a Friday night like this, you'd be playing League of Legends with your friends, but after having one really bad game, but you really don't feel like playing video games at the moment right now; in fact, you don't really feel like doing anything at all. You finish up your can of soda, and just sit back, reclining on your chair. However, no matter how comfortable you can get on your seat, you can't get rid of this huge cavity of nothingness you feel in your chest; that same exact feeling you had when Applejack rejected you.

Suddenly, you hear someone knocking on your door... is it Mom? It can't be; she's watching the college football game of Canterlot University vs. Appleoosa College right now. You can hear the television still going on.

"Who is it?" You ask, not bothering to get up from your chair, let alone turn and face the door.

"It's me!" You hear your dad call out. "I got out early from work today, and I was wondering if you wanted to go to the gym with me."

"I'm good." You reply, going back to your laptop. "My arm still hurts."

"We don't have to exercise arms today though." Your father says. "We can still do legs, and cardio! I can show you how to squat! Heck, we could even do some relay races with each other at the indoor track with other people there! It'll be fun!"

"Squats are for girls." You mutter.

"What?!" Your dad bursts into your room. He has a look of complete disbelief on his face, like you just told him the world was flat or something. "What kind of meathead told you that?! Squats exercise the largest group of muscles in your entire body! They're essential for anybody who wants to have strong quadriceps, abdominal muscles, and hamstrings! Most bodybuilders even-"

You tuned him out a long time ago; you should've just said you don't feel like working out instead of making an assumption in a field you know nothing about. Trying to talk about bodybuilding, and workout stuff to your dad is trying to debate physics with Stephen Hawking.

"Anon, are you even listening?" Your dad asks. "This is important! Squats are probably the most important workout you'll ever do and-"

"I just don't want to go work out, okay Dad?" You cut him off.

"What?! Why?!" His frown of disbelief sinks even more; your dad looks genuinely offended now. "I thought you told me you finally wanted to start getting in shape, Anon!"

"I did, and now I don't anymore."

"Oh, come on, you weren't even there for a week, Anon!" Your dad presses on, pointing at your body. "Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will you!"

"No means no dad." You grunt, going back to your computer screen.

"Is it because of that whole bench press incident?" Your dad asks. "If it really bothers you that much, then I can find a new gym for you."

"I just don't want to do it anymore dad." You repeat yourself, getting annoyed with your dad's persistence. "I want to quit."

The second that last word leaves your mouth, your entire room goes silent. You can almost hear your own heart beating. The football game your mom's watching which was white noise before now seems deafeningly loud. But these heightened senses all come to an abrupt end the second you hear your father let out a sigh.

"Oh, so that's why......" Your dad says calmly. You turn back, and see him crossing his arms, his t-shirt barely managing to contain the mass of his body. You can even see the individual abs through his shirt.

"So then I guess all that money I spent on your membership at The Forge was wasted then..." He casually comments.

"If you're trying to guilt trip me, it's not gonna work dad." You reply to your dad, looking at him straight in the eye.

"Well... dinner's at five Anon. Pasta night, your favorite."

And with those final words, your dad closes your door, leaving you in complete solitude. For a moment, you're about to go back to your computer to do nothing, but you stop. You look behind yourself, and see your door still closed. Judging from the sound, you dad went downstairs to go and watch the game with your mom. You look over your computer screen one last time, seeing Applejack's smiling profile picture back at you, and get up from the chair.

Slowly, you begin to walk back towards the mirror in your room, and your reflection stands before you. You try flexing, but barely notice a difference as you do; sure your shirt gets a little tight, but there was pretty much no difference. Your reflection stares back at you, arms crossed with a look of contempt on it's face. It's almost as if it's egging you...... egging you on to do something about it.

"Well?" Your reflection raises an eyebrow. You jump back in surprise for a moment, seeing your own reflection acting independently of you. "Are you really gonna quit?"

"Wait wha-what the hell's going on?!" You shout.

"Don't dodge the question." Your reflection demands. "Tell me right now...are you going to quit?"

Ignoring the fact that your own reflection is talking back to you, you sit back and seriously think about what he just asked you...are you? You stare at the ground for a couple seconds, and only look back up when you see your reflection tapping his foot impatiently.

"It's hopeless..." You murmur back. "She's already taken..."

"Don't be stupid, Anon." Your reflection laughs at you. "Just because Shining Armor asked her out to a dance doesn't mean she's automatically his girlfriend."

"Hey, if you're calling me stupid, you're also calling yourself stupid!" You point an accusing finger at your reflection.

"Jeez, I'm just trying to help, why're you getting so offended by this?" Your reflection puts his hands up defensively.

"My point is...don't call it quits just because you've had a small setback." Your reflection says. "You're still in this, and Applejack can still be yours! Think about Galileo; when he said the world wasn't flat, everyone laughed at him! Now go in public and say the opposite, and see how much crap you'll get! And what about Genghis Khan? His father was murdered when he was nine, and then he later turned into the ruler of the biggest empire on Earth!"

"What the hell does Genghis Khan have anything to do with me having a crush on Applejack?" You throw your arms up in outrage. "You're just ranting about nonsense now!"

"And you're the idiot talking to himself in the mirror!" Your reflection retorts. "Genghis Khan would've already stuck a sword through Shining Armor's liver, and be pounding Applejack on a horse right now!"

"I'm not Genghis Khan though!" You shout at your mirror.

"And you never will be if you keep your crappy, spineless attitude!" Your mirror shouts back.

"Well SCREW YOU!"

"I'm just trying to help you get laid, Anon!"

"SCREW YOU AND YOUR SHITTY METAPHORS!" You rush forward, and grab the mirror. You're about to throw it and smash it down on the floor but suddenly, you spot your dad, staring at you with a look of confusion on his face.

"Hey uhmmm......is everything alright?" He asks nervously. "I heard...screaming...and......something about Genghis Khan?"

"Oh ummmm....everything's fine." You say reassuringly. "I was...I was just talking with a friend. We were arguing about something in History class. That's all."

"Oh, okay." Your dad smiles. "I just wanted to say that dinner's ready; see you downstairs, son." Just before your dad closes your room, you quickly grab his arm.

"Dad? There's something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it, Anon?" He asks.

"I...uhmm......I...." You fumble with your words. "I changed my mind about the gym. I don't wanna quit; I still want to get in shape. You were right when you said Rome wasn't built in one day, and I won't either."

As if someone flipped a switch, you watch as your dad's face instantly lights up. He takes a hand, and pats you on your head.

"Attaboy, Anon!" He says enthusiastically. "I'm glad you realized that just because you've had a setback or two that you're not completely out of the game just yet. You'll bounce back, and you'll be better than before, son! Think Genghis Khan, Anon; when he was nine, his father got murdered, and look at what he's become now: the ruler of the biggest empire ever!"

"Oh..." You say blankly. "That's...a pretty cool metaphor, Dad."

Author's Note:

Sorry for taking ten centuries and a half to update; three more weeks and classes will be done, and then I'll probably be able to update this story a lot faster. It's frustrating as all hell when you've got all sorts of ideas swimming in your head, but you never have the time to do something about it.

Comments

[Seether00]

Squats are difficult to master. I hate them. They are essential but you don't have to like them though.

Also, Anon is coming off as a stalker. Exercise for yourself and look for a girl who will like you for you.

[Crayonpaste]

8102418
I agree. Squats suck but you need to suck it up and do it if you ever want to get in shape. If I have the time and self-discipline, I usually try to get two leg days a week.

Also, when I was writing this, I didn't really want Anon to come off as a Mary Sue character. I'm sure there's other ways to do it without making him come off as unlikable but I haven't found a way around that. I'm mostly trying to have Anon come off as the kind of guy who you know is a good person, but has some insecurities that make him do some pretty questionable things. aka. almost everyone I know.

[Silent Echo]

Ugh i hate exercies and burpis are the worst.

[Dustchu]

Hohohoho... squats, also, I feel like in a funny way... this could go the Saitama from OPM route >v>

Nicely done

[Guy With No Name]

All of this, just for a girl he cannot have....

It's going to make his failure all the more cringeworthy....

[Sunny Starscout]

Great. Now he's mentally deranged

[2x]

One thing I learned when I started working out is that impressing a girl is a terrible motivation, but a motivation nonetheless. The moment you finally realized that- that girl is not into you, you're just gonna up and give up working out. I just hope Anon doesn't fall under that one. Plus squats are hard but squat thrusts and more challenging and great but the aftermath would leave your legs and arms limping.

[Wiltrose]

So it's Fluttershy who wants him, guess that's fine with me. It'd be no surprise if AJ turned him down because she knew Fluttershy likes Anon, it also gives me Flutterrape vibes only more Stalkershy for now.

[Orrm]

8106778
I hate that word but in this case i believe it is justified.

I am genuinely not sure whether to pity this loser or just shake my head and walk away.

Four pushups?!

I've seen a guy 300+ pounds do more than that and he doesn't even work out! What the knock-blasted polly-infested brazen jack-arsed Fuck?!

[redandready45]

Trying to prove you're a man will often make you look even more childish.