Training Day
The playground was a barren wasteland of desolate sandboxes and lonely jungle gyms. It hadn't been touched in weeks, now that school was out for the summer, so of course, it was an amazing place to start training! Familiar territory, no hefty gym membership fees, no sweaty stallions gunking up the machines. Scootaloo sighed happily. It was perfect.
"So, uh, how's this supposed to work, again, exactly?" Sweetie Belle asked from her seat on the merry-go-round. She and Apple Bloom were sprawled lazily on the creaking device. Every now and then, Apple Bloom would reach out and push against the ground to give them another languid burst of speed, sending them slowly spiraling into madness. According to Sweetie Belle.
"It's easy! Dash says, at higher altitudes the air gets kinda thin! If you wanna be an elite class pegasus, you gotta work on your lung power! You know, holdin' your breath n' stuff," Scootaloo explained as-a-matter-of-fact. She had ambled over towards the monkey bars and hoisted herself up, wrapping her fingers as tightly as she could around the cool metal. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom exchanged glances and Sweetie quietly kicked out her legs and climbed to her feet.
"Sooooo how do monkey bars help with that?" she asked. Scootaloo shot her an irritated look and rolled her eyes with a sigh. Her friends were her friends, and she loved them, but sometimes they just didn't get training to be the best, like her and Rainbow Dash obviously did.
"We're not at that part! These are chin ups! They help with arm strength!" Scootaloo replied. Duh. Apple Bloom rose up to a sitting position and peered at Scootaloo in confusion. She shared a glance with Sweetie Belle and frowned.
"So how do chin ups help with flying, exactly?" she called out. Scootaloo didn't bother to respond this time, instead, she simply hung from the bars over her head a few feet from the ground.
"NNNnnnnngh...Strong body, strong flight! Every....ungh...part's gotta be....in peak..nnurf...physical...condition...all part...HNNNGGGHHH of my training!" she snarled and struggled and hung there. The two friends watched as Scootaloo tried in vain to lift herself up. NNNNGGHHH but no dice. She twisted around on the bar, shaking her hips and kicking out her legs. She hadn't managed a single chin up. She certainly tried, however, pulling and tugging at the bar with her slender little orange arms. She wouldn't quit! She'd never stop until she reached the top! All she needed was one good chin up to start her off! After that, it would be easy!
She dangled.
"All you guys gotta do is keep track of how many sweet chin-ups I do, " Scootaloo called over her shoulder. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other, and then back towards the hanging little pony. A slow, wicked smile began to curl along Apple Bloom's lips and she elbowed Sweetie gently. She stood up, and idly wondered over towards the monkey bars, and Sweetie followed suit.
"Lung power, huh? Ya know, I betcha we could help you do both at the same time." Apple Bloom cooed, stepping up behind Scootaloo and resting her hands on the girl's slender hips.
"Wh-what? Hey, leggo! Whaddya mean?!" Scootaloo demanded. She wriggled on the bars, but Apple Bloom held tight, slowly sliding her fingers along Scootaloo's hips until they rested on her sides where she slowly started to tickle.
As slow as the other girl's fingers moved, Scootaloo's reaction was immediate: the girl began to thrash and kick her legs chaotically below her, stifling giggles that threatened to pour out. Apple Bloom was relentless in her cruelty, however. She giggled to herself and worked her fingers underneath Scootaloo's shirt until she found the soft, orange fur underneath.
"Well, all ya'll gotta do is hold yer breath, lung power, right?" She asked with a cheeky grin. Immediately, Scootaloo took as big a breath as she could, and glared a devil's glare at the Earth Pony behind her. Apple Bloom grinned back. This was going to be fun. She gleefully traced her fingers up and down Scootaloo's sides, wiggling them into the soft fine fur with a loving touch. Scootaloo ached to explode into peels of laughter, but she held her breath, and more importantly, onto the bars overhead. She refused to give into Apple Bloom's challenge! Defiant to the last, she kicked her legs out and tried to breathe through her nose as slowly as possible, but her concentration was rapidly diminishing. Still, she wasn't going to break to one pony tickling her.
Until Sweetie Belle got involved.
Scootaloo had been concentrating so hard on holding her breath, she hadn't even noticed Sweetie Belle approaching her from the front! Her fingers clutched at a small tangerine colored feather that Scootaloo swore looked awfully familiar. One that had fallen out while she was struggling to do a chin up? It didn't matter. All that mattered was the plans the notorious pony in front of her had.
"Don't worry Scoots! We promise to help you train every day! Really really hard!" She laughed, stretching out to dance her fingers over Scootaloo's sides too. They took turns, poking and wiggling fingers into Scootaloo's delicate armpits, but she refused to make a peep!
Oh, she was struggling though, that was for sure. Sweetie Belle would see to that. She quickly pulled up the front of Scootaloo's shirt and peered down greedily at her prize.
The cutest little orange outie belly button that Sweetie had ever seen poked out towards her. Adorable- but not nearly as adorable as it could be with the application of a feather! Evilly, Sweetie Belle lowered the feather down and swirled it around the girl's tummy. Scootaloo gave a squeal, immediately letting out a helpless giggle at its touch. Sweetie Bell frowned and gave a quiet tsk.
"Tickle tickle! Come on Scoots, that was only a few seconds! You'll have to do better than that!" She giggled, watching her friend bounce and squirm cutely on the bars above her.
"Y--ho-ho-ho-ho-h gah-ah-ha-ha-ha-hies! Sthaaaaaap!!" Scootaloo giggled, helplessly, tears starting to spring to her eyes as she struggled to keep herself on the bars. Apple Bloom shook her head, continuing the attack on Scootaloo's armpits.
"But we promised to help ya'll, and that's what we're gonna do! Come on now, hold yer breath proper!" She giggled herself, watching as Scootaloo hopelessly struggled to grab another breath from her string of giggles. Sweetie Belle was doing her no favors, lazily drawing the feather around and around the girl's bare belly.
Finally, it all became much too much for Scootaloo to handle. She threw her head back, giggling as she let go of the bars, dropping down to the ground a few scant inches away. She sat there panting and trying to catch her breath, tossing both her friends a mock look of irritation.
"Aww come on Scoots, you can go longer than that, cant'cha?" Apple Bloom giggled, passing a subtle glance at Sweetie.
"You guys suck!" Scootaloo giggled, and eeped quietly when she suddenly felt herself falling back, and two snowy white arms wrapped around her. Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle had pounced her into a hold that left her completely vulnerable to the orange feather she levitated over to Apple Bloom. Oh no...
"Oh, we suck do we?!" Apple Bloom asked, immediately seizing one of Scootaloo's outstretched legs. She tucked her arm around the orange ankle and grinned at the little spread toes and the healthy curves of her chubby foot. She danced her fingers along the undersides, watching Scootaloo rock back and forth in Sweetie's arms.
"Yeah! You guys suck!! This isn't fair!! This isn't fair!!" Scootaloo squealed mirthfully. Apple Bloom slowly drew shapes and spirals into Scootaloo's foot paying attention what places would make her cackle specifically loudly, or kick out her legs and shudder underneath her.
"Nope! It's training!" Apple Bloom giggled, zig-zagging the feather from toe to heel. And speaking of toes. The plump little digits at the end of Scootaloo's feet were absolutely begging to be touched. She swirled the feather up and down, dipping it in between her toes, and delighting in the sound of Scootaloo's giggles echoing across the empty playground.
Every delicate swish of the feather drew higher and higher pitched screams of laughter. Scootaloo could hardly stand it, writhing and squirming in Sweetie's grasp while Apple Bloom tortured her. Each time the feather would glide across the center of her arch, the girl would let out a high-pitched shriek and tense her body completely. Sweetie did her best to hang on to the struggling pegasus but in the end, Scootaloo rolled onto her side, crossing her arms over over her tummy and kicking herself away from Apple Bloom's torture.
"You are so dead!" Scootaloo grinned, leaping up to pounce Apple Bloom into the grass. The two of them rolled around and wrestled, kicking furiously as an intense tickle fight broke out. Sweetie Belle watched and giggled along with them. She wasn't quiiiite as into rough housing as her friends were, but she enjoyed watching them all the same.
Scootaloo straddled Apple Bloom's hips, digging her fingers into the open armpits of Apple Bloom's overalls. The other girl twisted and squirmed, but it would take much more than that to get Apple Bloom to start laughing. The tough little farm girl was hard to break, but once she did, Scootaloo would have her in stitches. That wouldn't be today, though. Scootaloo felt weak from the first assault and was easily pushed off of Apple Bloom when she bucked her hips. Panting heavily, Scootaloo rolled onto her back, and the other two followed suit. It was over. She was too tired to fight back anymore, and Apple Bloom had her fill of torment. The three found themselves laying on their backs, gazing up at the clear blue sky and the warm, sweet summer sun. Scootaloo looked at Sweetie to her left, and Apple Bloom to her right, and tucked her arms under her head.
"You guys'll really help me train every day?" Scootaloo asked, panting quietly.
"Of course!" Sweetie responded instantly. Apple Bloom nodded her head with a wide grin stretched over her lips.
"As long as it takes, Scoots! We'll getcha to the sky one day, promise!" Apple Bloom announced. Even though her cheeks hurt from laughing so hard, Scootaloo couldn't help but smile. Her friends were the best. The absolute very best.