The rolling hills to the east of Ponyville were quiet as dusk approached, surprising given the blissful views it provided during sunset. It was mostly quiet on this more desolate part of town, with the lone exception of a slight squeaking noise that cut through the air.
“Trixie really should remember to fix that sooner than later” she thought to herself.
The showmare was the only pony for miles and miles as she continued to trot relatively slowly. Behind her was her trademark wagon, all decked out with stars and moons of different blues and purples after a recent paint job a few months ago. The squeaking noise though was a slightly loose wheel, something Trixie had noticed a few days ago, but had not the time or patience to deal with now.
She looked up to see the sun hanging relatively low in the sky, and cursed under her breath.
“Well, Trixie isn’t going to make it to her next destination after all.”
She was a mixture of emotions as she stopped to check her map. Just a few miles ahead was Ponyville, a place where some of her worst, but best memories originated. Even though she wasn’t really public enemy number one anymore, she still was always hesitant on returning, unsure of how many ponies she’d run into that simply didn’t want her there.
Most of all, she was positively exhausted. Trixie gingerly dragged her wagon into a small flattened area off the edge of the trail, and collapsed into a heap. She kicked a couple of pebbled off her right forehoof and hissed slightly as she used her other forehoof to rub it gently.
“I really should have made it there today, so at least I could set up for the next show,” she thought as she started getting her hammock ready to hit the hay, “but I think I would have fainted if I tried going any further.”
Trixie looked at herself in the small mirror hung up on the inside door of the wagon and sighed. She knew she wasn’t unhealthy by any means, but she was a bit skinnier than she remembered, and she felt somewhat weaker as well. A past version of herself would have easily been able to be parked in Ponyville by now and itching to get ready for the next show.
“Hmm…” Trixie pinched the back of her forehoof, “maybe Trixie should work on putting on some muscle before the next bunch of shows. It would definitely help in lugging the wagon around.”
She hopped into her hammock, but her mind raced despite her body’s pleas to fall asleep instantly. She was great at a whole host of things, but Trixie knew she hadn’t any clue on how to form a proper workout program for herself.
“I could ask Starlight, or one of Twilight’s friends? The rainbow maned one would probably have a good idea what to do,” she pondered, before realizing that her personality wouldn’t probably gel well with her.
Then, as suddenly as she had collapsed earlier on, an idea exploded in her mind.
“Trixie knows exactly who she’ll ask!”
Trixie took a deep breath, looking up at the building before her. For a town which was relatively small in stature compared to many other towns she had been to, Ponyville boasted quite a large gym.
“There has to be like 3 floors to this place! Trixie is gonna stand out like a sore thumb trying to look for him,” she thought, staring at the large pair of dumbbells which acted as signage. At least she had a good night’s sleep from being so exhausted the night prior.
Taking another deep breath, Trixie walked inside, pushing open the glass paned double doors wide in the process.
The ground level was full of an endless sea of weights, dumbbells, and from what Trixie could guess, anything that a pony could use to build muscle mass or keep in shape. From what she remembered about him, he had to be somewhere on this floor.
“…Um, Excuse me?”
Trixie froze in place for a moment, before turning her head to see a pony at the front desk. It was a light pink earth pony, who simply looked quizzically at for some reason.
“Do you have your membership card?” she asked, “I have to scan everybody’s before they can go for their workouts.”
“Uh, I don’t have one,” Trixie responded, “The great and pow… I mean, I was looking for a friend of mine here. His name is Bulk I believe?”
The name seemed to perk up the pony’s expression. “Oh Bulk Biceps! He’s one of our favorite members. I think he’s here more than anypony else I can think of too,” she said with a smile. “Normally I wouldn’t let random ponies in, but if you know him I’m sure it’s alright, so go on ahead. He should be by the deadlifts.”
Trixie had no idea what in the world a deadlift was, but it sounded ominous. “Great, uh, thanks!” She continued walking into the expansive first floor, just happy to have avoided an awkward situation.
The floor was quite crowded, and quite loud, with dance beats blaring out of speakers over her head. Mixed in with that noise were a symphony of grunts and the clanking of metal on metal, which Trixie assumed was the weights themselves. She was glad she wasn’t wearing her normal garb, she would be sweating her hooves off if she did, as it felt like it was a muggy summer day.
“Now if I was Bulk, where would I...”
THUD
“YEAH!”
“…be.”
In the corner of the gym, Bulk Biceps was busy doing what his cutie mark proudly proclaimed, as an enormous amount of weight was lifted above his head as he laid on the bench. Trixie simply watched in awe for a moment as he lifted over four times her own body weight up and down with relative ease. She hesitated for a second, unsure if he would be annoyed at her interrupting him.
“Excuse Trixie, but you’re Bulk Biceps correct?” She asked after tapping him lightly on the shoulder.
“YEAH! Wait...” he paused, looking at Trixie briefly, before a wide grin broke out on his face “I remember you, you’re that showmare who did that awesome show!” Trixie yelped as she was yanked into the air by Bulk.
“Can’t… breathe…”
Bulk looked down and realized Trixie’s face was turning multiple shades of purple, and dropped her back on her hooves. “Whoops, Sorry about that! But I’m still so PUMPED! That show RULED!”
Trixie couldn’t really hear him that well given how loudly she was trying to inhale oxygen, but she nodded assuming it was an apology. She put up a hoof for Bulk to given her a moment, to which he complied.
“Okay,” she gasped through breaths, “First, Trixie is happy to hear you liked her show so much.”
In reality, Trixie was more than just happy. She was positively overjoyed, and she couldn’t remember the last time she met a pony who showed as much enthusiasm as Bulk showed right now. Sure she had her small legion of ponies that were fans of her work, but to get a bearhug from somebody? Trixie assumed this had to be the new bar to beat when it came to her fanatics.
“Second,” she continued, “Trixie is here to ask you a favor, which is pretty relevant to what you like to do.”
“Hmm, does it have to do with weights!?” Bulk lifted an immensely huge dumbbell as he said this.
“Actually yes! So you know that wagon I have right?” Bulk nodded violently. “Well I’ve been having some problems lugging it around, and I wanted to build up some more muscle to make it easier to do so...”
“I assume this is where I come in!”
“Exactly,” she answered, “Could you help me out? Trixie figured you could put together a workout plan of sorts?” Trixie put on her best interpretation of puppy dog eyes.
Bulk pondered this request for a moment. From afar, it looked like there was smoke billowing from his ears as he went deep into thought.
“Uh… Bulk?”
“I WILL HELP!” He bellowed, “On one condition, but I will let you know that later!”
Trixie was perplexed. She kind of assumed that Bulk was more of a loveable meathead type who would be easy to get help from, but she didn’t expect actually having to return the favor. But what’s the worst he could ask for?
“Great! Trixie is really grateful for the help WAHHH…!” She yelped as Bulk threw her over his shoulder and darted out of the gym.
“THERE’S NO TIME TO LOSE!”
THUD
Trixie looked at the massive amount of weight in front of her. She was certain that it was heavier than herself, maybe twice or three times that. It nearly left a crater in the asphalt area they had moved to outside of the gym.
“…surely you don’t expect Trixie to be able to lift this?!”
“Not lift, but push!” Bulk exclaimed, demonstrating as he took hold of the apparatus a bunch of plates were sitting on, anchored in place with a large metal rod. “This is a sled! You push these around to work your leg muscles!” He flexed when he said this, and Trixie swore his leg was bigger around than her entire body.
“Okay… even then, there’s no way Trixie can move this.”
“Give it a try! Don’t worry, I’ll cheer you on, YEAH!” Bulk exclaimed.
Trixie simply shrugged, knowing there was no way her slim frame would be able to move the sled an inch, unless she used magic, but that would defeat the purpose.
“Well, here goes nothing!”
Trixie put her hooves out to make a strong base, and then pushed.
“YEAH!”
Trixie pushed with everything in her power.
“YEAH! GO TRIXIE!”
She kept pushing, sweat forming along every inch of her body.
“YEAH! YEAH!”
She grit her teeth and pushed even harder, but the weights remained almost laughed at her in response.
“YOU CAN DO IT! YEAH!”
“AHHHH!”
“YEAH!”
“AHHHH!”
“YEAH!”
Trixie fell face first into the pavement, feeling like she burnt off 10 hayburgers. She rolled over onto her back and just stared up into the sky as she breathed heavily.
“Hmm… maybe I should have started with smaller weights,” Bulk said, in the most normal speaking voice he could put on as Trixie shot him a glare.
“You… don’t… say…” Trixie said between gasps.
Bulk pulled out two dumbbells as she continued gathering her breath, this time she could see that they each said ten pounds each. She got up and sighed contently at actually having a weight she could manage.
“This should be more your style!” He placed one of the dumbbells in her left hoof, “Now, remember to hold it with you forehoof straight, and then bend at the joint!”
Trixie did a few experimental attempts at what Bulk had just said. “Like this right?”
“YEAH! Remember not to bend it too much! Watch!”
Bulk picked up the weight and did the exact motion he had described, only he did it at a speed that would rival any member of the wonderbolts.
Both Trixie and Bulk watched as the ten pound weight went sailing into the stratosphere above them. Trixie wondered if she should run now, or possibly be an accomplice to a trial for the poor pony that weight would impact after it came back into the atmosphere. Bulk simply watched in awe and surprise.
“Huh, this was the first time I’ve used a weight that light in ten moons.”
Trixie noted that this was the second time Bulk had sounded relatively normal.
“…Anyway, so you want Trixie to keep her forehoof straighter.” She did another couple more experimental reps.
“YEAH! That’s exactly how you do it! Keep at it, I’m gonna grab some supplies!” Bulk responded and bolted.
Trixie kept doing reps slowly as he ran off. “Huh, Trixie can actually feel a good burn going! Bulk, its work…”
She was interrupted by a loud racket of items. Bulk had indeed returned with supplies, which included an endless array of weights, bars, jump ropes, and every piece of athletic equipment she could even think of. Using the care of a foal, Bulk placed all the items into one big pile with a resounding crash.
“Are we using all that?” Trixie questioned, gesturing to the mountain of stuff.
“I hope so! Bulk is determined to get you as STRONG and POWERFUL as you want!”
“Strong and powerful huh,” Trixie mused, “I like the sound of that.”
“GREAT! Also, one more thing,” Bulk started digging through the leaning tower of workout equipment, before pulling out a large boombox, throwing it cartoonishly into the ground by Trixie. He pulled a CD out of the back of his left wing, stuck it in, and pressed play.
Trixie’s ears were assaulted by some of the cheesiest rock music she’s ever heard. “We have to listen this? Really?”
“Try it, It’ll PUMP YOU UP!” Bulk bellowed. “Now, let’s get this workout really started!”
Before he could however, the ten pound weight which was given its own personal orbit of space returned, slamming into the ground right where the boombox sat. Trixie jumped and took cover as the boombox promptly was eliminated from existence, its mangled remains buried Celestia knows how many miles under the earth.
Bulk and Trixie simply stared at each other, not wanting to acknowledge the destruction.
“…I’ll grab another boombox.”
It was the third time Trixie heard Bulk speak normally.
Trixie looked at her figure yet again in the mirror which hung inside her wagon as she got ready for encore. She still had her slimmer build, but she had put on some muscle, and could even make out a good bit of definition, especially along her legs. She actually felt the difference already just today alone, as she pulled her wagon to the stage in Ponyville she had last used as a show.
“I gotta hand it to you Bulk, you really made Trixie more great and powerful than I was before,” she said, doing a couple of little flexes in the mirror for her own amusement.
“I knew you had it in you!” Bulk replied in the most aggressively happy manner, “Some ponies just need some help, but anybody can workout and get healthy and strong, as long as they try!”
“Seriously though, Trixie thanks you, a lot. I wasn’t sure how welcoming some ponies would be after the stunts I pulled, even though some have already forgave me… GAH!”
Trixie was pulled into yet another rib crushing bearhug by Bulk, before being put down by the pegasus who laughed at her reaction. “Everybody deserves second chances! Plus, I consider you a friend now, even if you were evil before!”
Trixie smiled. “Heh, thanks Bulk. Now, you ready for your side of the deal?!” She asked, putting back on her trademark hat.
“YEAH!”
The pair trotted back onto the stage and immediately were met with a roar of cheers and applause from all the ponies in the crowd. Trixie looked out on the crowd with the most gleeful smile on her face. She saw Starlight in the corner of her eye and gave her a wave, and Starlight responded with a wink and a nod.
“Ladies and gentlemares, is everypony ready for the grand finale for the show!” Trixie was met again with rousing cheers. “For my final trick of the night, the great and powerful Trixie’s assistance for the evening… will be sawed in half!”
Trixie heard a mixture of gasps, applause, and cheers from the crowd, the exact reaction she was looking for. “Now Bulk, please lay down in the wood box to my left.”
Trixie had sawed herself in half on occasion depending on the crowd, and she was a pro at that. She even had done it on volunteers from the crowd, and always using the same trusty rectangular box. Only problem this time was that Bulk Biceps was much, much larger than the average pony, and her normal box would most likely explode if he tried to fit himself into it.
To her left, was a massive box decorated with her trademark designs, more than twice the size of her former one, and plenty big for the pegasus to fit into. Bulk climbed inside, giggling as he did so, and shut the lid so only his head and bottom hooves were visible.
“Is everypony ready!?”
The crowd roared.
“Bulk are you ready!?”
“YEAH!”
Trixie took a few steps back as her horn began to glow “Drum roll please!” She conjured up a small snare drum and two drumsticks which began to play a drum roll.
With the utmost focus and concentration, Trixie’s horn summoned an enormous jagged saw blade, which she used to begin sawing her way through the massive box as the crowd looked on with baited breath.
Then, the drum roll stopped, and Trixie used her newly built muscles to separate the two boxes, showing off that perfectly clean cut.
The crowd roared in approval as fireworks shot out in perfect time over her head, and while Bulk laughed like maniac. “AHAHAHA, my hooves are all the way over there!”
“You know, maybe Ponyville isn’t as bad as I thought.”
Author's Note
So yeah, it's been 5 years since I published something on this site. With all the stuff going on nowadays, and how 2020 has positively been pretty terrible, I ended up back here for a bit, and wrote a small comedy story for that Original Pairings contest.
I don't expect to win, but this was a fun this to keep my mind at ease. Hopefully you'll get a smile out of it!
