A red and white cloth covered the table that the middle-aged ponies were gathered around. The slightly graying Mrs. Sparkle levitated a handkerchief to her head and dabbed a bit of sweat from her brow.
“Sure is a scorcher, eh?” said the white stallion, his moustache flinging a few crumbs across the table as he spoke. “At least these new threads from Rarity breathe a bit.” His pink wife nodded in agreement. Granny Smith had dozed off during the celebratory lunch and began to snore. It had been a year since Discord had been re-sealed, and Ponyville had thrown an outdoor extravaganza in celebration. The wide open field was filled with carnival games and prizes while tables were filled to the brim with food. A banner was hoisted above the long table that Princesses Celestia and Luna sat with the Ponified Elements of Harmony.
When Granny leaned too far back she snapped awake with a yelp. The white stallion chuckled as the Sparkles contained their laughter. “Did I miss the food?” the green pony asked in a strained tone. “If I helped make the darn food I better get to enjoy it too!”
The rest of the ponies looked down at their empty plates. “There’s still plenty of food at the dining table, I’ll get some for you. Does anyone need anything else?” Mr. Sparkle asked with a smile.
“Just a glass of water, dear.” Mrs. Sparkle replied.
The white stallion scratched behind his ears with the sun burning down on his head. “Maybe make it a pitcher?” he asked.
“Of course.” Mr. Sparkle began to walk towards the dining table, passing through the field of playing fillies and colts.
“I wish that I’d brought the football, would’ve been nice to horse around a little.” The white Stallion sighed as he watched the carnival games. He noticed Sweetie Belle was with her friends, the cutsie crusaders…. Right? The orange Pegasus she was with had just attempted to bob for an apple, and fell into the bucket of water. He grinned as he saw Sweetie and her yellow friend grab her out of the water, wings aflutter. His eyes drifted away from the scene and towards the head table. Rarity was as prim as ever, wearing one of her fancy sun hats. He couldn’t help but admire how much she had grown. From chopping up her mother’s Sunday clothes to an Element of Harmony, whodathunkit?
A whizzing rainbow overhead knocked him out of his daydream. A rush of wind hit the table as the blue element of harmony flew overhead, with numerous pegasi trying to keep up in pursuit. Sweetie’s orange friend (nearly dried out) followed on the ground with her wings buzzing in an attempt to lift off.
Mrs. Sparkle recovered from the sudden, yet refreshing burst of wind. “If you had told me that Twilight, the pony who spent more time in the library than I spent at work, would become close friends with Rainbow Dash two years ago, I never would’ve believed you.” The aging mare watched as Dash came to a halt and flexed her wings in front of the sun. The eyes of the young ponies sparkled as she landed and struck a pose. The orange Pegasus had finally caught up and joined the rest of the group. When the young ones started to take flight again, she desperately tried to obtain lift off. She jumped up and up and on the third try the blue mare maneuvered herself underneath. Holding on tight, she zipped off with the rest of group behind. Mrs. Sparkle couldn’t help but feel warmth in her heart. “Though I can understand why she’s so close now.”
Mr. Sparkle returned from the dining table with a plate of leafy greens and a pitcher of water. Setting the plate down next to the eldest mare, he returned to the seat next to his wife and poured water for the rest or the table. Granny Smith nodded her head in thanks, and began to eat with her quivering hooves.
“I still can’t believe that a year ago this place was under the attack of that… thing,” said Rarity’s mother as she motioned towards the banner above the main table. The banner itself depicted Discord himself being blasted with energy from the Elements of Harmony, the Draconequus in mid-petrification. “Even as a picture he’s terrifying.”
Granny looked up from her food. “Yeah, that was one crazy day. A whole lotta Loopdeloops and floating around as I recall.”
Mrs. Sparkle shifted her focus to her daughter, seated at the right of Celestia. She had heard about what happened that day, from Twilight herself and countless others. She knew that Twilight handled herself well during the crisis, but the feeling of terror she experienced while the event took place never really faded. When the gates closed in Canterlot and the skies were turning from day to night within minutes, the idea of that monster being in contact with her daughter was impossible to conceive. What if something were to happen again? If he broke loose? How can a mother let her daughter put herself in these situations?
“But the girls set him straight, I’ll tell you that.” Granny said.
Twilight got up from the table along with Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie and called for dash to meet them in the middle of the party grounds. As Celestia began to retell the story of Disharmony and how friendship won the day , Granny wore a soft smile through her wrinkled cheeks.
“Amazing what those gals can do when they put their heads together, huh?”
“Yes. It certainly is.” Mrs. Sparkle replied, as her fears melted away like the ice in the pitcher.
*CLANK* “No, you don’t just drop them when you’re done!” Cried Rainbow dash as twilight let the dumbbell crash to the ground after completing a rep. “You lift it and slowly put it back down, otherwise there’s no point in doing it at all!”
Twilight didn’t look Dash in the eyes as she attempted to try lifting the weight again. Ever since the Running of the Leaves, Twilight had begun to like the idea of getting in shape. Every book she had read on pony physiology had commented on the importance of physical exercise and though twilight was far from being unhealthy, she admitted that she could do better.
“Alright, slowly curl your foreleg as you bring the weight up. Keep your back straight!”
Twilight let out an exhausted sigh as she dropped the weight once again, and regained her normal quadruped posture. Twilight had also read about the importance of having a physical trainer to help her, and Dash happily took up the offer. The floor of Twilight’s library was not littered with books, but an assortment of dumbbells, bars, and equipment that Twilight had never even seen before. Dash put a hoof to her forehead and readjusted her sweat band. She reached for her whistle and blew. This would be a bit harder than she thought.
“Okay, maybe starting on curls was a bit too ambitious. Maybe we could just do some pushups?” Twilight nodded and began to lower herself to the ground. Despite her tendency to be on all fours during the day, this position was uncomfortable, and caused plenty of tension in her forelegs. Dash blew her whistle and began to count.
“One!” Whistle. “Two!” Whistle. “Thr- Back straight, Egghead!”
Twilight pushed her hooves deep into the ground. Her forelegs began to shake as she brought herself up. Down closer to the ground she strained to avoid crashing her head into the ground. The books never said that it would be this hard! As she tried to lift herself again, her forelegs began to give out. She looked up at Dash who frowned and shook her head. Twilight tried to think of a way to keep going. As she held herself half way off the ground, she glanced up and caught her horn in her peripheral vision. With a furrowed brow she began to slowly channel her magic and levitated her body slightly, relieving the pressure from her forelegs. After reaching the apex of the push up she used her magic to carry her through the motions, the hue of purple guiding her body up and down in near perfect form.
“A-Amazing Twilight!” cried Rainbow dash, not aware of the magic at work. “Thirteen! Fourteen! Fifteen! I can’t keep up!” Twilight began to move faster and faster, and in a moment of pride switched to only one hoof. However the shift caused her to lose balance and she toppled over on her side, leaving her torso levitating in mid air. It took Dash a second to realize what was exactly going on. At first she felt a twinge of confusion, and then a moment of anger. “You! You were using magic! That’s cheating!”
“I’d hardly consider it cheating,” the mare replied matter-of-factly.”The point of exercise is to work out the muscles; I was simply working out my brain at the same time.”
“Even I’m not falling for that one Twilight.” Dash said with a frown, flicking Twilights horn. The purple mare slammed to the ground. “Magic doesn’t solve everything, remember Winter Wrap Up? The time travel thing? The Want-It-Need-It Spell?” Twilight eyed the floor as she brought herself back up on all fours. She was still a bit shaky as she shook her head in reply. Dash used her hoof to bring twilights eyes to meet her own. “Magic is your thing, I get that. But wouldn’t it be good do something on your own, with your own body?” She removed her hoof and began to fly around the room. “Knowing that you’re faster, stronger, healthier!” She began to speed up. “All of that because of the effort YOU put into yourself!” Some books began to be sucked off the shelves as Dash reached a higher velocity. “All of that because you invested in yourself using what you were born with and making it better through pure willpower!” She stopped hovering in mid air while the airborne books fell to the ground. “That’s what being fit is all about.”
Twilight prodded the ground with her hoof, raised her head and smiled. Dash reached for a dumbbell and put it in Twilights hoof and blew her whistle. “Now, keep your back straight and try again.”