"I like it," he said, grinning. "So do I," said Rainbow Dash, "It has a sort of Wonderbolt-like ring to it. Anyways, let's start flying, Thunderbolt! Hey, can I call you 'Thunder' for short?" "Sure," said Thunderbolt, "Let's get going, 'kay?" "Yeah," said Rainbow, "You know the basics, obviously, so what do you want me to teach you?" "In short," said Thunderbolt, "How to be awesome like you." "A sonic rainboom?!" said Rainbow Dash, "Yeah, that's not gonna happen. I'll still train you, though. You got a house 'round here?" Thunderbolt shook his head. "Then you're gonna stay with me. Let's go train!" Thunderbolt took off. Rainbow grabbed his tail in her mouth and yanked him down again. "Not in the air! First we work out!" she said. "Okay, expert knows best," said Thunderbolt, flying close on her tail as she flew to her house.
They arrived at Rainbow's house and walked through the kitchen, down a flight of stairs and into her workout room. "Whoa," said Thunderbolt, looking around. There were wing weights and hoof weights and saddle weights. There were ponytail holders and leg warmers and other attire in a box along one wall. And along another wall were mirrors. They lined the whole wall, reflecting the entire room. Rainbow slipped on a set of hoof warmers, a headband and put her mane in a ponytail. "I… don't think I have anything that fits you," said Rainbow as she bent over to search through the large box once more. Thunderbolt stared, hypnotized by her swinging rainbow-colored tail. "No, not…" started Rainbow, cutting herself off and asking, "What are you doing?" Thunderbolt shook his head and said, "Sorry, you… um…" "Have a nice flank?" asked Rainbow. "I was going to say your tail is pretty, actually," said Thunderbolt. "Oh," said Rainbow, "Then you're not as much of a pervert as I thought. 'Kay, well I can't find anything in your size, except…" She pulled a rainbow-colored headband from behind her back and gave it to him. "It never exactly fit me," she said. Thunderbolt tried it on, it fit perfectly.
"Nice!" exclaimed Rainbow, "Now let's get to it! First thing I want you to do is a little warm-up exercise. Run in place for me." She demonstrated, moving her hooves so fast they became a blur. Thunder did the same and nearly tripped over himself before trying again and finally getting the hang of it. "There you go!" exclaimed Rainbow, "But quicker!" He moved his hooves faster, faster, and then he tripped over his hoof and fell over. Thunderbolt immediately got up afterward. "We'll work on it," said Rainbow, "Moving on! We're going to run up and down the stairs. Two at a time going up, one at a time going down. Got it? And NO WINGS. We need to work on your overall strength, not just wings. 'Kay? Ready? Go!" Rainbow bolted up the stairs, wings plastered to her sides. She went three at a time, back hooves, front hooves. Back, front. Back, front. She was almost leaping. She finished a lap and he was barely halfway. "come on!" Rainbow exclaimed, stomping her hooves on the deliberately hardened cloud floor. "I…" said Thundercloud, looking back and getting the evil eye from Rainbow Dash. "Okay," he said, grunting as he leapt up another two steps.
When they finished running up and down the stairs, Thunderbolt's thighs burned and his shoulders ached. "Ugh," he said as he wiped sweat from his brow, "Ever get sweat on your eyelids?" "If you've got skin there, you can sweat there," said Rainbow, "I've had sweaty things loads weirder than that." "Like what?" asked Thunderbolt as he stretched out. "Ears, the base of my wings, near the tips of my hooves…" listed Rainbow, joining him and stretching, "Stuff like that. Anyways, get ready for the next exercise. Now we're gonna do the real work." Thunderbolt felt like groaning, but he kept it to himself, nodded and said, "What's next, coach?" Rainbow looked just a bit shocked. Thunderbolt wondered why, but then Rainbow snapped back into her usual self and said, "Next we're doing wing-ups. I'll do them with weights, but I want you to do them without to start…" But although he was listening for instructions, it was that brief snap that Thunderbolt remembered later on.
After workout, Thunderbolt was totally tuckered out. He hobbled up the stairs after his warm-down and collapsed on the cloud-couch. "Hey, I know a much better place to go after workouts," said Rainbow, "Come with me." She led him out the door and into a little, hidden room under the house. It was barely lit, there was a very soft bed mattress and several massage instruments. "Usually I come here and massage myself after workouts," said Rainbow, "But since you're here, you can do it for me!" "I… Don't know how!" exclaimed Thunderbolt. "Then learn!" exclaimed Rainbow, throwing herself face first onto the mattress and gesturing for him to come over. She flicked her tail a few times before it finally lay flat on the bed. "I'll try," said Thunder, biting his lip as he trotted over.