Into the Ocean Blue...by MellowSoulChaptersChallengeCardiovascular BasicsStronger Than BeforeChallenge"You know, R.D., we never really figured out which of us was the best at racing," Applejack told her close Pegasus friend. "That was a weird day," Rainbow Dash claimed. "To say the least." "Are you wanting a rematch?" "A real race wouldn't be fair. You hardly ever work out anything other than your wings." "I guess you have a point." "There was one suggestion I had to change that." "I'm listening." "You couldn't join the wonderbolts, right?" "Yeah. It really stinks." "What about spending some time in the royal guard?" "Are you kidding? Could you go through that type of intense training every day?" "It'd be a little easier for me, probably." "How come you never joined? Your family is really conservative, right?" "Contrary to popular belief, not all of us are stereotypical rednecks that carry spears and swords everywhere." Rainbow laughed a little. "What are you laughin' about?" "Sorry. It's just funny to see you get so worked up over it." "It's always ruffled my feathers a bit. I'm surprised you didn't know." "Okay, I get it. Still, why didn't you join?" "It never really crossed my mind." "Do you think I could actually do it?" "It would definitely teach you how at least." "I dunno. Having the weight of protecting everyone on me might be too much." "You don't have enough faith in yourself. That right there is what's holding you back." "I'm scared, okay?" "You? Scared of somethin'? Never thought I'd hear that." "How many times have ponies ended their service with broken spirits?" "Ah. Now I get it. You're worried about when it's all over." "Yeah..." "Don't fret too much. It's up to you if wanna' join. I just thought you could use the extra boost." "What if I trained before going in?" "Hey, that's not a bad idea! If you catch up with the earth ponies, the training there would be a lot easier, but it'll take some time." "Give me three months. I think I can do it if I give it my all every day. If I do, I'll join." "Let's see what you got." "I think I should visit Twilight. Maybe her books can tell me how to train the right way. I've heard there's a lot of mistakes beginners make in any kind of training." "Good point. What do you say we meet here tomorrow and I can help you a bit by testing your speed in a practice race?" "I'm game." "That's the spirit!" "Hey, Twi, do you have any books on training?" "What?" ""I made a deal with Aj. If I can become as strong as an earth pony in three months, I'll join the royal guard." "Are you out of your mind!?" "Probably." Twilight was getting more confused and flustered by the second. "I'm trying to get stronger than Aj so I can eventually beat her in a contest and prove who the strongest pony is." "So your first thought was to join the royal guard!?" "She's the one who suggested it." "That doesn't mean you have to listen, you know!" "I'm scared too, Twi." "So why are you going through with this lunacy!?" "All my life, I've only been good at athletic stuff. This is my chance to reach the top." "My brother is the captain! You know how taxing the training is for their ranks!" "If I train the right way before I join, maybe it won't be so bad." "Even if you can pass the physical test, what about the written ones!?" "Written ones, huh?" "Yes!" Rainbow Dash's expression turned deadly serious. "Then I'll study too." "You're serious, aren't you?" Rainbow nodded. "Fine." Twilight levitated a book off one of the shelves. "The first thing you should know is the history of warfare itself." "I guess that makes sense." "This shouldn't take too long for you to finish. There's also another one you should borrow. It's a book detailing the proper way to train." "Okay." "I should warn you though, civilian training is different from military training." "Civilian?" "Someone who isn't part of the armed forces." "Oh." "Civilian training is about building your strength, speed, stamina, and endurance to limitless levels. There's more freedom to train how you want by making a custom routine. Military training is specifically designed to help you complete your mission or task. It's much more tactical and strategic. You really need to think about how you execute everything." "How does military training work?" "The pony in charge of training is a drill sergeant, but you'll be calling them sir or ma'am. Their training methods often seem brutal to new recruits and civilians. They're the ones that'll be giving you orders until you've completed training. After that, you take orders from higher ranking officers." "I think I'm starting to get the picture. So actual military training is gonna' be pretty hardcore." "That's an understatement. If you come back the same pony, I'll be amazed." "..." "Having second thoughts yet?" "If no one's ever come back the same, I'll be the first. I might be smarter and stronger, but I'll still be me." "Your confidence will be smashed to pieces. Trust me, it's not going to be fun. I'm telling you now, just drop this and do regular civilian training." "Sorry, but i can't back out. If what you're saying is true, maybe I actually need that sort of direction." "I just don't want you to get hurt." "I won't." Rainbow Dash was reading her new books in her bed. She wasn't very far in, but the knowledge she was gaining would be invaluable. "So I need to rest for a day or two after an intense session. At least my diet's already pretty decent." Rainbow looked over at her sleeping pet, Tank. "I should probably leave him with somebody. Fluttershy will take him in." Because it was so late, Rainbow wouldn't get very far into the books that night. However, this was only the beginning. Tomorrow was her first day of civilian physical training. By the end, she intended to surpass the other recruits by a long shot. Cardiovascular Basics"Amazin'. You showed up on time." "I don't read near as much as Twilight you know." "Hey, there'd be no harm in it if you did." "Actually, there could be. Part of training is getting enough rest. While you're sleeping, the muscles recover from being torn and strained. They do that after exercise anyway, but sleeping speeds up the process a bit because you're almost completely inactive." "Slow down there! I get the picture." "I wonder how strong you'd be now if you slept in a little more." "Well, can't really help that. We got work to do on the farm." "I guess we should start." "Right. We're runnin' from our end of the field all the way to the other." "Get ready to eat my dust!" "You wish Ms. I only use my wings to move." When the race was over, Applejack was proven correct. Rainbow Dash was one of the slowest runners she had ever raced. By the time Rainbow caught up with her, she was out of breath and almost to the point of coughing up spit. "You okay, R.D.? We've only been running for maybe ten minutes." "Guess you were right after all. I'm not used to this," Rainbow replied between breaths. "You wanna' stop?" "I just need to slow down. If we stop right away, it could kill us." "Come again!?" "Completely stopping after a run can shock your nerves and heart. It's better to just cool off and lower the pace. It happens more to ponies than other creatures." "That ain't right!" "Tell me about it." "You sure you wanna' keep this up?" "You can actually run for about the same amount of time after a short break. Our bodies are good at replacing blood and air fairly quick." The mention of blood made Applejack cringe. It wasn't often she would see someone bleed unless it was an incredibly painful accident. Even Derpy wasn't known to bleed much. "Yo! Earth to Aj! Anybody up there." "Uh, Yeah. Sorry." "Is something up?" "Nah. Ya' just know me and blood; not really a fan." "No worries. I always thought it was weird I could bring it up without being too bothered." "Really? Doesn't surprise me at all, actually?" "Why's that?" "You always struck me as one of those alternative lifestyle types." "You mean one of those weirdos who always surrounds themselves with vampire novels and stuff?" "Yep." "No way. I'm not into all that stuff." "You could be a little bit nicer about it at least. Twilight could be into that for all we know." "I doubt it, but I get your point." "You never know." "Fair enough." "Anyway, you ready to get back into it?" "Sure." In total, half an hour of running went by without much incident. Rainbow stopped a couple times to rest and catch her breath, but her immense recovery time kept her going for a while. "I think we should call it a day Aj." "You worn out already?" "The book Twilight gave me told me to start out with less time." "I suppose that makes sense." "I'll probably have a coughing fit today anyway. No point in making that worse." "How long should we be able to run as a species, anyway?" "I'd imagine for earth ponies, you guys could run quite a while. Unicorns and Pegasi, I'm not sure about." "How 'bout Alicorns?" "I'm not even going to try to figure that out." "Welp, I'd better get back to the farm. Those apples aren't gonna' come off the tress by themselves." "Sure they will. Just hire a bunch of poltergeists to do it for you." Applejack stuck her tongue out in disapproval. "By the way, what did Twilight say about the royal guard thing?" "Took a bit of convincing, but she came around. I'm definitely going to join." "What about the others?" "I'll probably just mention it in passing." "Ya' can't really pass that off as a casual thing, Rainbow." Rainbow sighed remorsefully. "I know. I just don't want them to be worried." "Why not wait until you're a bit tougher? If you prove to them you can handle it, they won't worry as much." "Leave it to you to come up with a solution on the spot." "Told you I wasn't a hick." "This must be Rainbow is wrong day." Applejack and Rainbow burst out laughing at the thought. Stronger Than BeforeThe next morning, Rainbow woke up with her own plan for the day. She had read further into Twilight's books the night before, and was beginning to know what to expect. During this civilian training phase, she could prepare her body for much more intense strain in the guard. Her idea for the day was to start with a good breakfast and wait two hours before training. In hindsight, it was a good thing she hadn't eaten yesterday before going to meet Applejack. Another interesting thing she learned is why ponies didn't eat other animals. Apparently their microbial structure couldn't handle tough foods. It was just the way they evolved. They were pretty much nature's vegetarians. "Let's see..." Rainbow went through her cupboards and fridge. "Guess I could go for some waffles. Better lay off the syrup though." She yawned and stretched. "It's kinda' funny. I only started training yesterday, but I feel different than before. I wonder why." After a brief monologue, there was a knock at the door. "Rainbow Dash, it's Twilight. I forgot to cover something important the other day." "It's open." Twilight opened the door and let herself inside. "Sorry to barge in, but you remember what I told you about the written exam, right?" "Yeah." "I forgot to mention what all it covers. You need to pass the exam to be considered an official member of the guard." "Oh boy. We're gonna' have a grand old time with this, aren't we?" "You sound like a police officer." "What's that mean?" "Nothing. Never mind." Twilight took a seat at the table. "The exam will test your knowledge of math, science, technology, and literary comprehension." "Yeesh. I remember math in High school. Wasn't really my strongest field." "It'll really help in engineering though. If they recruit you to construct weapons, knowing the approximate measurements will make it a lot easier. I brought a book with me to give you some sample problems. This'll probably be a regular thing until you can answer most of the questions correctly." "Okay. I was about to make some breakfast real quick. You want any?" "Sure. I was kind of in a rush to get over here, so I didn't think to eat anything." "Guess me and you are in the same boat then." "Huh?" "I didn't eat before I went to see Aj yesterday. If I was smart, I would've gotten up earlier and eaten a couple hours before I left." "So you just found out about the meal scheduling I take it?" "Yep. Last night." "How far are you into those books anyway?" "About a third of the way done. I'm up to injury recovery and medieval warfare." "Have you had any trouble so far." "Not really, but some of the names behind the anatomy and physiology of it are way too long." "I agree." "Looks like the waffles are done." After close to two hours of studying, Rainbow had to cut the session short. "Hey Twi, it's almost time for my strength training. Can we pick this up later today?" "Actually, we might not need to do anymore today. Your grasp on some of this stuff is more phenomenal than I expected. You're still struggling in math a bit, but you're doing really well in everything else. I think two hours a day is enough." "Do I get weekends off," Rainbow joked. "Brain training works similarly to physical training. A couple days off will relax your mind and help you as long as you commit everything to memory." "Oh. I was just taking shots, but if that's true, I'll take it." "Anyway, I guess that's a wrap for the day." "I'll see you later." "Hey, Rainbow?" "What's up?" "Have you told anyone besides me and Applejack about what you're planning to do yet?" "No. Aj told me to wait until I could prove I was strong enough to handle it." "That's wise." "I know you're worried, but I'll be fine. Think about all we've been through together. We've always come out on top, together or separated." A small smile spread across Twilight's face. "I know. You're right." "Go ahead and get going. I'm sure spike is missing you about now." Twilight made her way to the door, but stopped for a second after opening it. "I hope you meet someone nice there." "You really are an old soul Twilight." "Should probably start with a few push ups. The book said to exercise for about the same time as I did cardio." Rainbow stood at the back of her house. She would need the flat surface later. She got down on her forehooves and placed her hind legs in a straight line behind her. She spread her forelegs exactly shoulder-width apart and made sure her body was perfectly aligned in a straight position. With nothing left to prepare, she began to lift herself off the ground. "HOLY MOLY, THAT'S A LOT OF PRESSURE!" Despite the fact rainbow knew she would be lifting about two-thirds of her body weight, it was strenuous all the same, and that was when she was doing the correct way. She could only imagine what doing them wrong would feel like. After only three, she had to stop for a minute because of the intensity. "I'm expected to do 200 of these every day!? I'll be lucky if I can make it to fifty! Mother of...DAH!" Rainbow was correct in her assumption. After getting to thirty, her forelegs felt like boiled noodles. She had to force herself to do the last twenty. She had to tap into her willpower to keep from cursing. "Crap. That was a pain. At least the crunches should be a little easier." The book recommended Rainbow Dash try for crunches instead of traditional sit ups because of the safety risks to the lower spine. Unlike sit ups, which require at a least a full 90 degree angle change, crunches only required about 30 degrees and worked the abdominal muscles just as effectively. She placed her hind legs in the sit ups position with her hooves behind her ears. She slowly started lifting her upper body until she was approximately 30 degrees up, then gently lowered herself back down to the ground. "Hey, that wasn't too bad!" Rainbow could've easily done at least twice as many crunches, but the book advised against this as it could cause muscle imbalances. When she was done, the next thing on the list was pull-ups. The tower in the middle of town had a few horizontal pieces she could lift herself up on. There were no specific requirements other than maintaining a firm grip on the tower, avoiding head injury, and lifting with all her strength. After that was a few minutes of balance practice and she was done. The book recommended two rest days to fully recover from the strain. That was fine with Rainbow since it would allow her time to make progress in her studies. "I hope Pinkie doesn't want me to try a bunch of sweets. I need to stick with a consistent diet. Speaking of which, what do I tell her if she asks why?" Rainbow thought for a moment. "I'll just tell her it's for personal reasons."
Challenge"You know, R.D., we never really figured out which of us was the best at racing," Applejack told her close Pegasus friend. "That was a weird day," Rainbow Dash claimed. "To say the least." "Are you wanting a rematch?" "A real race wouldn't be fair. You hardly ever work out anything other than your wings." "I guess you have a point." "There was one suggestion I had to change that." "I'm listening." "You couldn't join the wonderbolts, right?" "Yeah. It really stinks." "What about spending some time in the royal guard?" "Are you kidding? Could you go through that type of intense training every day?" "It'd be a little easier for me, probably." "How come you never joined? Your family is really conservative, right?" "Contrary to popular belief, not all of us are stereotypical rednecks that carry spears and swords everywhere." Rainbow laughed a little. "What are you laughin' about?" "Sorry. It's just funny to see you get so worked up over it." "It's always ruffled my feathers a bit. I'm surprised you didn't know." "Okay, I get it. Still, why didn't you join?" "It never really crossed my mind." "Do you think I could actually do it?" "It would definitely teach you how at least." "I dunno. Having the weight of protecting everyone on me might be too much." "You don't have enough faith in yourself. That right there is what's holding you back." "I'm scared, okay?" "You? Scared of somethin'? Never thought I'd hear that." "How many times have ponies ended their service with broken spirits?" "Ah. Now I get it. You're worried about when it's all over." "Yeah..." "Don't fret too much. It's up to you if wanna' join. I just thought you could use the extra boost." "What if I trained before going in?" "Hey, that's not a bad idea! If you catch up with the earth ponies, the training there would be a lot easier, but it'll take some time." "Give me three months. I think I can do it if I give it my all every day. If I do, I'll join." "Let's see what you got." "I think I should visit Twilight. Maybe her books can tell me how to train the right way. I've heard there's a lot of mistakes beginners make in any kind of training." "Good point. What do you say we meet here tomorrow and I can help you a bit by testing your speed in a practice race?" "I'm game." "That's the spirit!" "Hey, Twi, do you have any books on training?" "What?" ""I made a deal with Aj. If I can become as strong as an earth pony in three months, I'll join the royal guard." "Are you out of your mind!?" "Probably." Twilight was getting more confused and flustered by the second. "I'm trying to get stronger than Aj so I can eventually beat her in a contest and prove who the strongest pony is." "So your first thought was to join the royal guard!?" "She's the one who suggested it." "That doesn't mean you have to listen, you know!" "I'm scared too, Twi." "So why are you going through with this lunacy!?" "All my life, I've only been good at athletic stuff. This is my chance to reach the top." "My brother is the captain! You know how taxing the training is for their ranks!" "If I train the right way before I join, maybe it won't be so bad." "Even if you can pass the physical test, what about the written ones!?" "Written ones, huh?" "Yes!" Rainbow Dash's expression turned deadly serious. "Then I'll study too." "You're serious, aren't you?" Rainbow nodded. "Fine." Twilight levitated a book off one of the shelves. "The first thing you should know is the history of warfare itself." "I guess that makes sense." "This shouldn't take too long for you to finish. There's also another one you should borrow. It's a book detailing the proper way to train." "Okay." "I should warn you though, civilian training is different from military training." "Civilian?" "Someone who isn't part of the armed forces." "Oh." "Civilian training is about building your strength, speed, stamina, and endurance to limitless levels. There's more freedom to train how you want by making a custom routine. Military training is specifically designed to help you complete your mission or task. It's much more tactical and strategic. You really need to think about how you execute everything." "How does military training work?" "The pony in charge of training is a drill sergeant, but you'll be calling them sir or ma'am. Their training methods often seem brutal to new recruits and civilians. They're the ones that'll be giving you orders until you've completed training. After that, you take orders from higher ranking officers." "I think I'm starting to get the picture. So actual military training is gonna' be pretty hardcore." "That's an understatement. If you come back the same pony, I'll be amazed." "..." "Having second thoughts yet?" "If no one's ever come back the same, I'll be the first. I might be smarter and stronger, but I'll still be me." "Your confidence will be smashed to pieces. Trust me, it's not going to be fun. I'm telling you now, just drop this and do regular civilian training." "Sorry, but i can't back out. If what you're saying is true, maybe I actually need that sort of direction." "I just don't want you to get hurt." "I won't." Rainbow Dash was reading her new books in her bed. She wasn't very far in, but the knowledge she was gaining would be invaluable. "So I need to rest for a day or two after an intense session. At least my diet's already pretty decent." Rainbow looked over at her sleeping pet, Tank. "I should probably leave him with somebody. Fluttershy will take him in." Because it was so late, Rainbow wouldn't get very far into the books that night. However, this was only the beginning. Tomorrow was her first day of civilian physical training. By the end, she intended to surpass the other recruits by a long shot.
Cardiovascular Basics"Amazin'. You showed up on time." "I don't read near as much as Twilight you know." "Hey, there'd be no harm in it if you did." "Actually, there could be. Part of training is getting enough rest. While you're sleeping, the muscles recover from being torn and strained. They do that after exercise anyway, but sleeping speeds up the process a bit because you're almost completely inactive." "Slow down there! I get the picture." "I wonder how strong you'd be now if you slept in a little more." "Well, can't really help that. We got work to do on the farm." "I guess we should start." "Right. We're runnin' from our end of the field all the way to the other." "Get ready to eat my dust!" "You wish Ms. I only use my wings to move." When the race was over, Applejack was proven correct. Rainbow Dash was one of the slowest runners she had ever raced. By the time Rainbow caught up with her, she was out of breath and almost to the point of coughing up spit. "You okay, R.D.? We've only been running for maybe ten minutes." "Guess you were right after all. I'm not used to this," Rainbow replied between breaths. "You wanna' stop?" "I just need to slow down. If we stop right away, it could kill us." "Come again!?" "Completely stopping after a run can shock your nerves and heart. It's better to just cool off and lower the pace. It happens more to ponies than other creatures." "That ain't right!" "Tell me about it." "You sure you wanna' keep this up?" "You can actually run for about the same amount of time after a short break. Our bodies are good at replacing blood and air fairly quick." The mention of blood made Applejack cringe. It wasn't often she would see someone bleed unless it was an incredibly painful accident. Even Derpy wasn't known to bleed much. "Yo! Earth to Aj! Anybody up there." "Uh, Yeah. Sorry." "Is something up?" "Nah. Ya' just know me and blood; not really a fan." "No worries. I always thought it was weird I could bring it up without being too bothered." "Really? Doesn't surprise me at all, actually?" "Why's that?" "You always struck me as one of those alternative lifestyle types." "You mean one of those weirdos who always surrounds themselves with vampire novels and stuff?" "Yep." "No way. I'm not into all that stuff." "You could be a little bit nicer about it at least. Twilight could be into that for all we know." "I doubt it, but I get your point." "You never know." "Fair enough." "Anyway, you ready to get back into it?" "Sure." In total, half an hour of running went by without much incident. Rainbow stopped a couple times to rest and catch her breath, but her immense recovery time kept her going for a while. "I think we should call it a day Aj." "You worn out already?" "The book Twilight gave me told me to start out with less time." "I suppose that makes sense." "I'll probably have a coughing fit today anyway. No point in making that worse." "How long should we be able to run as a species, anyway?" "I'd imagine for earth ponies, you guys could run quite a while. Unicorns and Pegasi, I'm not sure about." "How 'bout Alicorns?" "I'm not even going to try to figure that out." "Welp, I'd better get back to the farm. Those apples aren't gonna' come off the tress by themselves." "Sure they will. Just hire a bunch of poltergeists to do it for you." Applejack stuck her tongue out in disapproval. "By the way, what did Twilight say about the royal guard thing?" "Took a bit of convincing, but she came around. I'm definitely going to join." "What about the others?" "I'll probably just mention it in passing." "Ya' can't really pass that off as a casual thing, Rainbow." Rainbow sighed remorsefully. "I know. I just don't want them to be worried." "Why not wait until you're a bit tougher? If you prove to them you can handle it, they won't worry as much." "Leave it to you to come up with a solution on the spot." "Told you I wasn't a hick." "This must be Rainbow is wrong day." Applejack and Rainbow burst out laughing at the thought.
Stronger Than BeforeThe next morning, Rainbow woke up with her own plan for the day. She had read further into Twilight's books the night before, and was beginning to know what to expect. During this civilian training phase, she could prepare her body for much more intense strain in the guard. Her idea for the day was to start with a good breakfast and wait two hours before training. In hindsight, it was a good thing she hadn't eaten yesterday before going to meet Applejack. Another interesting thing she learned is why ponies didn't eat other animals. Apparently their microbial structure couldn't handle tough foods. It was just the way they evolved. They were pretty much nature's vegetarians. "Let's see..." Rainbow went through her cupboards and fridge. "Guess I could go for some waffles. Better lay off the syrup though." She yawned and stretched. "It's kinda' funny. I only started training yesterday, but I feel different than before. I wonder why." After a brief monologue, there was a knock at the door. "Rainbow Dash, it's Twilight. I forgot to cover something important the other day." "It's open." Twilight opened the door and let herself inside. "Sorry to barge in, but you remember what I told you about the written exam, right?" "Yeah." "I forgot to mention what all it covers. You need to pass the exam to be considered an official member of the guard." "Oh boy. We're gonna' have a grand old time with this, aren't we?" "You sound like a police officer." "What's that mean?" "Nothing. Never mind." Twilight took a seat at the table. "The exam will test your knowledge of math, science, technology, and literary comprehension." "Yeesh. I remember math in High school. Wasn't really my strongest field." "It'll really help in engineering though. If they recruit you to construct weapons, knowing the approximate measurements will make it a lot easier. I brought a book with me to give you some sample problems. This'll probably be a regular thing until you can answer most of the questions correctly." "Okay. I was about to make some breakfast real quick. You want any?" "Sure. I was kind of in a rush to get over here, so I didn't think to eat anything." "Guess me and you are in the same boat then." "Huh?" "I didn't eat before I went to see Aj yesterday. If I was smart, I would've gotten up earlier and eaten a couple hours before I left." "So you just found out about the meal scheduling I take it?" "Yep. Last night." "How far are you into those books anyway?" "About a third of the way done. I'm up to injury recovery and medieval warfare." "Have you had any trouble so far." "Not really, but some of the names behind the anatomy and physiology of it are way too long." "I agree." "Looks like the waffles are done." After close to two hours of studying, Rainbow had to cut the session short. "Hey Twi, it's almost time for my strength training. Can we pick this up later today?" "Actually, we might not need to do anymore today. Your grasp on some of this stuff is more phenomenal than I expected. You're still struggling in math a bit, but you're doing really well in everything else. I think two hours a day is enough." "Do I get weekends off," Rainbow joked. "Brain training works similarly to physical training. A couple days off will relax your mind and help you as long as you commit everything to memory." "Oh. I was just taking shots, but if that's true, I'll take it." "Anyway, I guess that's a wrap for the day." "I'll see you later." "Hey, Rainbow?" "What's up?" "Have you told anyone besides me and Applejack about what you're planning to do yet?" "No. Aj told me to wait until I could prove I was strong enough to handle it." "That's wise." "I know you're worried, but I'll be fine. Think about all we've been through together. We've always come out on top, together or separated." A small smile spread across Twilight's face. "I know. You're right." "Go ahead and get going. I'm sure spike is missing you about now." Twilight made her way to the door, but stopped for a second after opening it. "I hope you meet someone nice there." "You really are an old soul Twilight." "Should probably start with a few push ups. The book said to exercise for about the same time as I did cardio." Rainbow stood at the back of her house. She would need the flat surface later. She got down on her forehooves and placed her hind legs in a straight line behind her. She spread her forelegs exactly shoulder-width apart and made sure her body was perfectly aligned in a straight position. With nothing left to prepare, she began to lift herself off the ground. "HOLY MOLY, THAT'S A LOT OF PRESSURE!" Despite the fact rainbow knew she would be lifting about two-thirds of her body weight, it was strenuous all the same, and that was when she was doing the correct way. She could only imagine what doing them wrong would feel like. After only three, she had to stop for a minute because of the intensity. "I'm expected to do 200 of these every day!? I'll be lucky if I can make it to fifty! Mother of...DAH!" Rainbow was correct in her assumption. After getting to thirty, her forelegs felt like boiled noodles. She had to force herself to do the last twenty. She had to tap into her willpower to keep from cursing. "Crap. That was a pain. At least the crunches should be a little easier." The book recommended Rainbow Dash try for crunches instead of traditional sit ups because of the safety risks to the lower spine. Unlike sit ups, which require at a least a full 90 degree angle change, crunches only required about 30 degrees and worked the abdominal muscles just as effectively. She placed her hind legs in the sit ups position with her hooves behind her ears. She slowly started lifting her upper body until she was approximately 30 degrees up, then gently lowered herself back down to the ground. "Hey, that wasn't too bad!" Rainbow could've easily done at least twice as many crunches, but the book advised against this as it could cause muscle imbalances. When she was done, the next thing on the list was pull-ups. The tower in the middle of town had a few horizontal pieces she could lift herself up on. There were no specific requirements other than maintaining a firm grip on the tower, avoiding head injury, and lifting with all her strength. After that was a few minutes of balance practice and she was done. The book recommended two rest days to fully recover from the strain. That was fine with Rainbow since it would allow her time to make progress in her studies. "I hope Pinkie doesn't want me to try a bunch of sweets. I need to stick with a consistent diet. Speaking of which, what do I tell her if she asks why?" Rainbow thought for a moment. "I'll just tell her it's for personal reasons."
