The Sweet Taste of Apple

by Icecane

The Cyan Coach

A pleasant sigh escaped Trader as he lied on the ground in Sweet Apple Acres. The soft grassy brushed against his back as he looked up into the sky, seeing the clouds placed by the weatherponies stroll across his field of vision. The sun was in the perfect spot for him, allowing the shadow of the tree he was near to loom over him.

It was a free day for him, the Apple Family taking it as a well earned day of rest and relaxation. Though it wasn't the first day of the sort that the pegasus had experienced since his time with the family of farmponies, it meant so much more knowing what had occurred not too long ago. For the first time, the word free actually meant something to him.

There were no woes weighing him down, no worries that clung to the back of his every thought. All that he could feel was a new found sense of peace, something that was so foreign to him, yet gave such a wonderful feeling. Perhaps lying in the dirt wasn't the best way to spend said time of freedom, but as the stallion stretched himself out fully, he could think of nothing better than giving in to his lazy urges.

It was too much for the pegasus, his eyelids growing heavy as he strained to keep them open. Drifting off to sleep, the scene of the cloudy sky continued to play in front of his darkening gaze. Just a murmur of contentedness escaped him as his eyes fluttered open for just another second, then closing fully.

Before he could fall asleep, there was one last sudden urge to fight the oncoming rest, his eyes opening slightly once again. As he did, the cloud-filled sky above him was no longer there. Engulfing the entirety of his vision, a cyan-coated face looked down at him, a pair of purple eyes looking into his own and the tip of a rainbow-colored man brushing against his chin.

Eyes nearly bulging out of his skull, a startled cry erupted from the pegasus as he bolted upright. With a loud smack, his forehead collided against that of the mare looming over him, forcing a grunt of pain from him as well as from her. His forehooves were brought to his head, rubbing the throbbing spot of flesh as he groaned.

“Ow, what was that for?” asked the mare, tenderly rubbing her own foreleg across her sore forehead.

Looking at his sudden company, Trader was able to quickly recognize the mare. “R-Rainbow Dash!” he said. “What are you doing?! Can't any of you learn how to not sneak up on somepony?!”

“Well, I didn't think you'd react like that!” the weathermare snapped in response, glaring at him as her forehead still held a mild ache. Rainbow Dash then blinked, her gaze drifting down slightly to see what remained of the black eye that the pegasus had. “Hey, what happened to your face?”

“Huh?” he murmured, noticing where the mare was looking. “Oh... uh... I fell down the stairs leading to my room.” A weak smile spread across his lips as he rubbed the back of his head bashfully. “Yup, had a pretty hard day of work that night and lost my balance. Gave myself a good thrashing, but I suppose it could have been worse.” Still feeling her eyes on his wound, the nervous stallion blinked as he remembered just what happened the last time he saw her. “Oh, that's right. You met up with Soarin the other day, didn't you? How'd that go?”

A disgruntled huff escaped the mare as her brow furrowed, a good indicator for the white pegasus. Despite her obvious abrasiveness toward the subject though, Rainbow Dash did do him the courtesy of telling him. Hearing what had happened, how awful it was for the mare, garnered a very strange reaction from him.

Falling over onto his back, Trader's mouth gaped open as he exploded with an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Droplets of moisture formed on the corners of his eyes as his chest heaved, his lungs overworked to provide enough air for his merriment. Rainbow Dash merely stood there, her aggression only growing as the stallion pressed his forelegs against his aching chest.

“Are you done yet?!” the cyan-coated pegasus snapped, quickly fed up with him.

Slowly, the laughter turned to a hearty chuckle, then silence as Trader stood up, wiping his eyes as tried catching his breath. “Oh... Celestia... I really needed that,” he murmured in satisfaction. Feeling the seething glare of the weathermare on him, a short, uneasy chuckle escaped him again. “Heh, sorry, I guess I should have warned you about Soarin. He's not much of a romantic. Really though, an entire pie, that certainly does sound like him.” His clear amusement died down a little as he developed a more serious expression. “but... I am sorry if it wasn't what you were expecting it to be.”

Sighing wistfully, Rainbow Dash gave a simple shrug. “It's alright,” she replied. Her eyes then began to wander about, aimlessly as she seemed to develop her own nervous stance. “But hey, um... Now that you mention it...”

Sensing that something had the mare on edge, Trader tilted his head slightly in curiosity. “Yeah?” he murmured questioningly.

“Well,” Rainbow Dash said, stiffening her posture slightly while her eyes seemed to look everywhere but in the direction of the stallion in front of her, “I just... never really thanked you for what you did. I wouldn't have even gotten close to the Wonderbolts like that if it wasn't for you.” Quickly loosening up, a large smile spread across her cheery face. “I figured out how I could thank you though! Since you're such a weak flier, I've decided to train you up and make you the best pegasus you can be!”

“T-train me?” Trader muttered, looking at the mare in confusion. It then hit him, surprise showing clearly. “Uh... no, th-that isn't really necessary. I might not be much of a flier, but I'm fine with-”

“Nonsense!” Rainbow Dash blurted out, flying into the air to hover over the stallion. “You're a pegasus, you should try to be the best that you can be at everything!” A proud smirk soon appeared on her face. “Consider yourself lucky too, I've helped train nearly every pegasus in Ponyville, making them all faster and stronger fliers. Nopony could ever ask for a better teacher!”

“Is that right...?” the white-coated pegasus murmured. It was obvious enough to the stallion that the determined mare wasn't about to let him go easily. With a resigned sigh, the pegasus relented, not wanting to put up a fight with her. “Alright, if you really want to help. Who am I to say no to such an offer?”

Rainbow Dash seemed elated at his acceptance, much more so than he figured she should be. “That's great!” she exclaimed, elevating herself as she did a backflip. “Gimme a few minutes and meet me at the track that's just outside town.” Not waiting for the stallion to reply, Rainbow took off toward Ponyville, leaving him to stand by himself.

Another sigh escaped Trader as he stretched himself out, breaking the drowsy kinks that gripped his body. Idly, his eyes fell to the wings at his side, the feathered appendages flapping lightly. “So much for being lazy on my day off,” he murmured to himself, trotting off to where he was to meet the vibrantly colored mare.

---

The track outside of Ponyville was as basic as one would think. Oval shaped, it stretched a good distance across the ground. All around it, the area was widely open, only a few trees dotting the landscape. After several laps under the blazing sun, they would certainly be a wonderful places to rest.

Rainbow Dash was already there waiting by the time Trader made it. She didn't seem too mad about the time it took him to get there, actually looking happy that he showed up at all. It was clear as well that she had come prepared. A sizable pile of supplies was set next to her. With bottles of water to rehydrate, towels, strange pieces of equipment that the pegasus didn't recognize and a few other things. The mare herself was also dressed a little different, with a thick sweatband running across her forehead that lifted her mane up slightly, as well as a whistle dangling from her neck.

“There you are,” she said cheerfully, “I didn't think it would take you that long.”

A mild shrug was the stallion's first response. “Sorry,” he then replied.

Still Rainbow Dash kept her smile as she turned to her supplies for a moment. “It's okay,” she returned, looking through what she had taken. “Here, put these on.” With a short toss, five sweatbands landed before the white pegasus.

“Um... okay,” Trader mumbled. Not being one who ever worked out, he was out of his element and not fully sure what the mare was wanting from him. One of the sweatbands was larger than the others, the stallion quickly figuring out why as he stretched it over his head and wore the others around his legs.

Equipped and ready to get started, Rainbow Dash pointed off to the track. “Alright then!” she barked, her eyes narrowing with a determined glint as she took on an authoritative tone. “Now, I want you to do a full lap around the track. Fly as fast as you can, flap with all of your might, push yourself as far as you can!”

“Gotcha,” muttered the stallion as he took a position on the simple course. Trotting in place for a moment to pump himself up, he set his eyes straight down the track, wings unfurling and stretching to their fullest.. With a single push of his hooves against the ground and a mighty flap of his wings, he took off into the air and sped across the track.

Staying low to the ground, the pegasus was worried about speed rather than height. The flat surface of the track was just a blur as he fought against the wind blowing against his body, eyes stinging as he kept them focused on his path. Though it was clear that Trader wasn't the fastest pegasus around, he still held his own as he sped through the track. Of course, he was made all the more nervous knowing that the rainbow-maned mare's eyes were riveted to him, being such an accomplished flier.

Quickly enough, Trader made a full lap across the course, landing where he started. His breathing quickened, sweat beginning to form on his body, he aimlessly stared at the ground in front of him before glancing over to his only spectator. Rainbow Dash held no expression of mockery or pity however. Instead, her eyes were focused, with a look of deep thought in them as she silently evaluated his performance.

“Not bad...” the weathermare eventually said, nodding her head in approval. “Of course, I see obvious room for improvement. But you aren't half bad, all things considered.” A small, hopeful smile appeared on the stallion's face. Without giving him much time to actually catch his breath though, Rainbow pointed off to the spot next to her. “Now, drop down and do some push-ups.”

“Alright,” Trader replied, his tone sounding much more spirited. Trotting onto the grassy ground, the stallion stretched out his hindlegs and bent his forelegs down, resting his stomach on the ground as he prepared to start.

Just as the pegasus was about to begin, Rainbow Dash held up her hoof, shouting, “Hold it!” Freezing the stallion in place, he looked at the mare expectantly, not knowing what he did wrong. “Remember why we're here? You're doing push-ups with your wings.”

Trader eyed the feathered appendages with a frown. “My... wings...?” he questioned, noticing the silent nod from his 'coach'.

With a steady breath, the stallion stretched out his wings and slowly bent them downward, the tips flattening against the ground. Pausing for another moment to ready himself, he raised his forelegs off of the ground and pushed himself up with his wings as hard as he could. To his surprise, his wings were actually holding him up, steadily rising to as high as they would allow him.

Getting into the swing of things, the action was repeated over and over again. Much like how one would do with their forelegs, the pegasus pushed himself up with his wings and slowly drifted down, focusing on lifting his weight continuously. The bigger strain was not giving into the temptation of using his legs. But once again feeling Rainbow Dash's gaze locked on him, he pushed himself to not fail.

After a while, the number of actual push-ups had been lost to the stallion. Trader at least figured that his so-called trainer would tell him when she was satisfied, leaving him to simply focus on doing the action instead. Even as droplets of sweat dripped from his face onto the warm ground, his body trembling with each strenuous lift, Trader did the best he could, just like when working on the farm.

Trader then let out a gasp as his body nearly collapse, feeling a sudden onset of weight placed on his back. It took a bit of effort to turn his neck far enough to see the rainbow-colored mare sitting on him, forelegs crossed as she never let her gaze on him falter. “What... what are you doing?” he managed to ask, having difficulty adjusting to the change.

“Adding a little weight,” Rainbow Dash answered in a matter-of-fact tone. “No sense in not changing things up for you now and then.”

A snark huff blew from the stallion's nostrils as he shot back, “A little, huh?”

The statement only caused the cyan pony to thwack him lightly across the head, once again nearly bringing him to the ground. “Just get back to it,” she said, keeping herself as still as possible to better balance on him.

Huffing slightly once again, Trader did as he was told. Small grunts and groans of exertion occasionally escaped him as he focused solely on doing his latest push-up. Eventually though, the untrained pegasus' body couldn't handle any more of the strain. With his tongue lolling out of his mouth, panting like a dog, his wings and legs gave out, collapsing flat on the ground.

“Not too bad,” Rainbow Dash remarked, still sitting on the stallion's back. “You did better than I expected. All that work you've been doing up at the farm must be paying off for ya.”

Trader didn't reply right away, his heavy breathing impairing his ability to speak. After catching his breathe however, he was able to breathlessly remark, “You... you think so?”

“Yup,” the mare nodded before finally slipping off of the pegasus' back. “You may not be the strongest pegasus out there, but you have plenty of endurance. I bet you could become one of the best with me helping you.” A large grin spread out across his lips. “Of course, you'd never be able to match up to me.”

A light chuckle came from the stallion as he managed to pick himself up, no longer heaving every breath he took. “We'll see about that,” he replied playfully.

There was a noticeable smirk from the mare as she held a competitive glint in her eye. Perhaps thinking she was helping potential competition. Trader payed it little mind however as he ran his dry tongue across his lips, realizing how thirsty he was. Soon enough, his eyes became trained on the water that Rainbow Dash had set up nearby.

“Alright then,” Rainbow declared, regaining her commanding tone. “Let's rehydrate you and get back to more training!”

The white pegasus only blinked with sudden surprise at the mare. “M-more?” he questioned, his body beginning to ache even more.

A small, indignant huff escaped the athletic pony, a firm nod being given as her answer. “Of course!” she blurted out loudly. “We've only just gotten started!”

Only a weak, uneasy smile could be given by the stallion, realizing what he had gotten himself into.

---

After a long day of training with Rainbow Dash, being pushed harder than working with Applejack ever did, the simple feat of being able to sleep was one of the grandest gifts for the stallion. The pegasus barely had to lie down in his bed to fall asleep, passing out as soon as his body touched the comforting embrace of his mattress.

Stuck in a heavy sleep, it was impossible for Trader to be able to catch the soft hoofsteps making their way down the stairs leading to his room. There wasn't a chance for him to hear the approaching figure standing at his bedside. Not even the prolonged inhale happening right next to him caused him to stir. It wasn't until the exhale was put to use did he awaken.

A sharp, loud and piercing whistle stabbed into the stallion's ears. He cried out in frightened panic as his body jumped straight out of bed, smashing into the ceiling above him before he came crashing back down to where he was lying peacefully moments ago. Eyes so wide open he thought he'd never be able to blink again, his breaths were rapid and a hoof was pressed on his fluttering heartbeat.

It took several moments for him to become fully aware of what caused his sudden distress, spying Rainbow Dash standing there guiltily. “R-Rainbow Dash?!” he blurted out. “What... What is the matter with you! Oh, Celestia, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“It's time to wake up!” Rainbow said in response, as though the stallion's ire didn't exist. “We need to get started now if we're going to make any headway in your training I have planned for you.”

“Wha...? Get started?” Trader questioned, his mind not processing her words correctly, on part from his still drowsy thoughts as well as nearly being scared to death. “You... you can't seriously mean-”

“You didn't think we were done with your training did you?” she asked, sounding like it was a joke. “I said I'd help you become a better flier, and you can't just do a single workout and expect that to be all.” She lifted her hoof and began pushing against the mattress the stallion rested on. “So come on. The sun hasn't risen yet and we can get started, breathing in that cold, pre-dawn air.”

An agitated glare came from the stallion as he buried his head underneath of his pillow. “I can't just workout again. I have a job to do in the morning!” he snapped. “Just let me sleep!”

“It's fine,” Rainbow tried to reassure him. “I've talked to A.J. about it already. She's said you guys don't have much work now anyway, since she's preparing for the big trip she has soon.”

Trader raised his head up for a moment, looking at the cyan-coated mare in confusion. “Big trip?” he questioned, having heard nothing of it himself. “I... that doesn't matter! Just let me sleep for a little longer! I'll get out of bed when I'm good and ready!”

Burying his head back underneath of his pillow, the stallion kept himself still as he tried to find sleep once again, even with the mare standing next to him. While Trader remained stubborn, Rainbow Dash simply stood there, a flat expression on her face. Waiting just a few moments for the stallion to get relaxed once again, the weathermare didn't waste a second longer as she pressed her forehooves underneath of his mattress and flipped it over. Trader was tossed from his bed yet again, landing on the hard floor as his mattress landed on him soon after.

“Good, you're out of bed,” Rainbow Dash said coyly. “I'll be waiting for you outside. Don't make me come back down after you.” With that, she flew back up the stairs and left the stallion alone.

Groaning, Trader pushed himself up off the ground, lifting his mattress up along the way. Shaking his weary head, he envisioned just what his day was going to entail for him. “That mare...” he murmured to himself, “she's even more physically demanding than Spitfire ever was...”

Comments

[Icecane]

You know, you'd think it'd be every stallion's dream to spend their days being worked over by two mares. Sadly, it's not what you'd think means.

And that last line... just ignore... that one...

[Mobytums]

2866245

Impossible.

[trooper7051]

i would happily work my flank and wings off for the attention he is getting.

and i agree with Mobytums.... Impossible

[saloony78]

Can't wait for the next chapter!