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Never Too Late to Learn

Cody was quietly sitting on the front porch at his home almost hypnotized by the lazy sway of the long green grass from the warm soothing breaths of Mother Nature. Suddenly, Cody's nostrils flared as they picked up a highly familiar scent on the wind. Then he saw his cousin's truck pull into the drive. Chet smiled warmly when he saw his young cousin sitting outside. As he drove up to the house, his smile withered when he clued in to the fact that something was wrong.

Chet parked and stepped out of the truck, trotting over to where his cousin was sitting. Cody slowly looked up and managed to force his soft velvet lips to curl into a rather pathetic attempt at a smile, but it was clear that something was troubling him.

"What's the matter, Cody? I've never seen you like this before. It's such a wonderful day out here too," Chet asked earnestly.

"I ... I don't know how to explain, uncle Chet. I ... I hate gym." Cody took a moment to pause, searching for the right words. He looked up to see his big cousin waiting patiently, and apparently deeply concerned. "We've started P.E. classes this year. Well, the coach is really mean. He's always angry. He puts kids down if they mess up. We're not professional athletes, uncle Chet. He's so mean to us." Cody hung his head gently when Chet reached out to embrace the troubled colt.

Chet spoke quietly, "Did you talk to your dad about this? What did he suggest?"

"I told him, uncle Chet. He just asked if I wanted him to talk to the principal about the problem. Of course, I don't really want to start any problems, but that was the only thing that sounded like a good idea. So dad called the school, and talked to the principal. The principal said he was going to have a chat with the coach. Hopefully things will be better next week."

"Well, I hope so too, Cody," Chet looked down at his young cousin, and slowly his ears perked forward, eyes narrowing as a warm playful grin spread across his muzzle. "Let's see if we can't have a little fun together, and enjoy this gorgeous day together, ok?" Cody nodded slowly and stood up, and picked up a soccer ball, kicking it out into the middle of the pasture area. Both horses nickered and whinnied happily enjoying the rest of the afternoon together.

A day earlier, at Cody's school, Principal Winters hung up the phone and gave a low snarl baring his sharp teeth. He picked up the intercom and calmly announced, "Coach Rubin, report to the principal's office. Coach Rubin to the principal's office." Down in the gymnasium, the coach cringed hearing the order. Straightening the pencils on his desk, the coach reluctantly got up from his chair. The chair creaked and groaned at the release of the weight from the heavy coach. The coach himself groaned as he rose up on his foot paws, walking to the door, and heading to the front office.

Coach took a deep breath as he stood in front of the principal's door. He knocked on the door with two gentle raps from his large knuckles.

"Come in, Rubin." The principal huffed loudly when the door was opened. Coach Rubin stepped in and closed the door gently behind him.

"Yes sir?" The large bear stood quietly waiting to hear the demands from the principal. He half-expected to be reprimanded for something, which was quickly becoming a more and more daily occurrence.

"I just got off the phone with one of the parents of a student in your junior P.E. class. He expressed his displeasure with your attitude toward the students. He mentioned that you have been demeaning and degrading to students for failing to accomplish something. What do you have to say for yourself, Rubin?" The principal leaned on his large wooden desk with his fists clenched. Coach Rubin looked at the principal's semi-threatening gesture and then slowly looked back up at Winters' deadly serious yellow eyes without flinching.

"I'm just doing what you told me to do, sir. You wanted me to quote/unquote whip them into shape. You wanted the students in this school to be competitive against the other schools in the region in sporting events. Remember?"

"Of course, I want them to be competitive. Good God, these students here are mushy and soft. They have no discipline. They have no fitness. They have no drive. They have to learn discipline! We've got to make them hard and fit. But I didn't tell you to be so degrading to them. Don't you try to pawn this off on me and keep your conscience clear, buster! This will have to be a team effort. I've got your back and you'd damn sure better have mine! However, if their parents complain, then we can't do the job, can we?" Principal Winters was apparently highly agitated, but the big bruin remained calm and composed. That only served to anger the principal even more.

"What would you have me do then?"

"Be more clever with your motivational techniques. Ultimately, we want the kids to get into better shape, right? Are you clear about our goal now, James?"

"I think I've got it. You want me to solve a problem that you have, but you have no ideas or advice other than what I've done is wrong. Got it, boss. Anything else?"

"I won't tolerate this insubordination, Rubin. Watch your step. You might be big and strong, but if you push me, I'll see your ass in the unemployment line before you can even spell the word hibernation! Got that?" The principal looked directly at the huge bruin of a P.E. coach. Rubin still didn't flinch. He quietly turned and walked to the door, gripping the handle and turning it, pulling the door open and walking through it, closing it slowly. He could still feel the principal's piercing yellow eyes on his back.

Monday morning arrived quite on schedule. Coach Rubin still had no idea how he was going to get these kids to embrace fitness. The bell rang and shook coach Rubin from his daydream. He grunted softly to himself and went out through the door, only to find just one student already changed and ready for P.E. class.

"Cody, I see you're here and ready for class. Where's the rest of those slackers?" Coach Rubin almost appeared to bite his lip after he said that, but Cody heard the words clearly and hung his head slightly. The slander hit him hard too.

"Don't hang your head, son. You're here, and you're ready to go. Plus, you set a model example. You're quite fit, and active. I wish the other kids were like you."

"Why do you call us names? Why do you make us feel like we're all disappointments then, coach? We're just kids." Cody looked up to the coach's broad thick muzzle. His ears perked straight up hoping for an honest answer from the coach. But their private time was interrupted by the rest of the students grudgingly emerging from the change room. The gym filled with soft moans and groans of dread.

Coach Rubin looked around and looked utterly lost for a few moments. The kids stood around, not knowing what to do, but they waited for the instruction. Cody stood there as well. Finally, Coach Rubin took a breath and demonstrated the drills and exercises for the class. He was unsure how to interact with the kids. Many of them clearly didn't have the skills that they needed for the activities that the coach showed. They fumbled the ball. They couldn't pass it accurately. Their feet were all over the place and their motion was very disorganized. Coach just held his head low, watching and feeling utterly hopeless. The bell rang and once again startled the coach back to reality. The children all cheered and ran happily to the change rooms.

Cody walked slowly to the locker room, but before he walked in, he looked back to Coach Rubin. "Coach, I might have a way to help you out. Can I ask my cousin to talk to you about how to motivate the students?"

"Who's your cousin, Cody?"

"He's a bodybuilder, coach. He might be able to motivate us, or he might be able to you help you think of ideas. It's worth a try, isn't it?" Cody's ears perked up enthusiastically.

"I'll think about it, son. I'll let you know soon." Coach walked back to his office and closed the door, feeling rather dejected by the day's lesson. Cody also folded his ears to the side and felt a bit disheartened once again.

Inside his office, coach Rubin thought to himself and his muzzle turned into a dark scowl. "I can't stand those high and mighty bodybuilders. They think that they are all that and a bag of chips. They look down on others. He'll come in here, think he can run the show. I'll teach him a thing or two about fitness, and muscle." The coach grinned wickedly and slowly flexed his own biceps. The muscles bulged thickly with dense muscle and some striations, filling out the sleeve of his tee-shirt to almost the point where the fabric would tear through the seams. He chuckled lightly, then opened the office door just in time to see the young colt trotting past.

"Cody, go ahead and have your cousin get in touch with me. I'll see what we can work out together." Cody's ears once again perked up enthusiastically and he let out a soft whinny, nodding to coach Rubin before heading off to his next class.

Later that afternoon, Cody eagerly called his cousin. "Uncle Chet, I talked to the coach today at school, and ... and ... and, I said that I wanted to ask you if you could go and meet with him and maybe ... maybe you could work together and ... and ... and come up with ways to help him reach his goals or something." Cody finally stopped his excited rambling and took a deep breath before continuing. "Could you do that, uncle Chet?"

Chet was gob-smacked by his shy young cousin's initiative, but he nodded, then spoke, "Sure thing Cody. Just tell me where and when, and we'll see what I can do."

By the middle of the week, Chet had contacted coach Rubin and they both agreed on a time to meet. Chet drove to the school after classes and reported to the front desk. They guided him down to the coach's office. Chet knocked gently on the door.

"Come in." Coach Rubin greeted Chet with a smile that instantly made the stallion feel unsettled. There was something he couldn't quite put his finger on in that smile. However, Chet reached out his hand for a friendly handshake in greeting, nodding his head.

"Nice to finally meet you, coach. Cody mentioned that there are some problems with the class. What can I do to help out?" Chet cut off his question, finishing his speech slowly as his eyes trailed down to the handshake. He could see coach Rubin's forearm muscles bulging thickly and the pressure from the large hand was growing in strength. Chet sighed softly to himself and just endured this challenge politely.

"That's quite a strong handshake you have there, coach. Impressive!" Chet tried to encourage the coach to break off the squeeze. After a few more seconds, he did. He snarled a little bit. Chet watched the reactions carefully.

"Let me guess, coach, you don't like bodybuilders, do you?"

Coach Rubin slowly shook his head. "I haven't met a bodybuilder that didn't think he was above everyone else. I've met plenty of them too. Used to compete, in fact. Still got some of the size I had when I was younger. Being a bear is a bit of a cruel joke though." At that, he slowly patted on his rather thick bulging midsection.

"I can definitely see the muscle in your body. You could really be a great inspiration for the kids here. Such a shame."

"Cut the crap, pony. You're basically here to make me look like a heel. I'm going to show you that you're not the end all and be-all of fitness." The large bear snarled openly at the chestnut stallion in challenge.

Chet looked at the coach sadly, and he sighed long and slow. "Please don't go down this road, coach. I'm really just here because I love my cousin very much. Cody really wants to help you out with the problems here. I'm trying to help make the situation better. I didn't come here to make you look bad, or make myself look good, honest. Let's just focus here." Chet pleaded, hopeful to get the angry coach to calm down.

"Nuts to that, pony. I've had it with being stepped on. The principal. The kids. Those other damn bodybuilders. You're just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's nothing personal." Coach Rubin pounded at his fists, threatening to fight the muscular stallion.

Chet just sighed loudly, hung his head a little bit with his expressive ears folded sadly to the side. He slowly turned and walked out the door into the empty gymnasium. He looked around for several moments then finally walked over to the rack full of basketballs. He picked one up and turned back to see the angry muscular bruin still baring his teeth and pounding at his fist. Chet tossed the basketball at the coach, who panicked at first, but then caught the ball. He looked down at it, squeezed tightly with both massive paws making the ball deform visibly before quickly throwing the ball back at the stallion. Chet caught the hard pass, gripped the ball between his own two hands and looked at the bear straight in his eyes. Their eyes locked together until coach Rubin's eyes trailed down to the ball, which was deforming greatly between those two strong hands.

"I'm serious here coach. I definitely didn't come here for a fight. Before this goes too far, you might want to chill out a bit." Chet flexed his chest and arms harder, making the ball squeeze thinner until a massive pop erupted and echoed around the concrete walls of the large gymnasium. Chet calmly looked back at coach Rubin and tossed the exploded basketball to the rack.

"Are you sure you want to take all your aggression out on me, coach? I don't think you'll feel much better. Let me help you reach the kids. Please. I want my cousin to learn important things about health and physical fitness. That's what he's supposed to get out of P.E. classes." Chet looked back at the coach, reading the expression of absolute disbelief at what he'd just seen.

"Th ... that ... That's impossible!"

"You just saw it with your own eyes. You even felt the same ball with your own big strong mitts. I promise there weren't any tricks there. Can we just move on, though?" The coach grudgingly nodded and sat down on the bench against the wall feeling defeated once again at the hands of yet another bodybuilder.

Chet calmly walked over to the large bear, and once again offered his hand in a friendly handshake. Coach Rubin reached up and took it. This time, he didn't try to crush Chet's hand in his grip. Chet smiled and helped the big bear back up to his feet. "Let's see if we can't work on a plan to get these kids excited about fitness."

Coach Rubin looked back at Chester's expression, seeing nothing shady or underhanded. He slowly smiled and gave the big stallion a playful chuck on his shoulder. They both headed back into the office to work out their plan of attack.

Days later, the bell rang, signaling the change of subjects in the school day. Cody was once again the first student to arrive and get ready for gym class. This time, Coach Rubin met him at the door with an inviting smile and a nod. Cody looked back a little bit shocked at the change in the teacher's demeanor, but he smiled warmly and nodded back to the coach. Soon after, the rest of the boys dragged their feet and hooves heavily into the gym. Coach clapped his hands together a couple of times to get their attention. "C'mon boys, let's get ready. We've got a surprise for you today!"

The boys all turned to look curiously at each other to try to find out if anyone had any inside information about what this "surprise" could possibly be. They all ended up shrugging, then scrambling into the change room to get ready for their surprise.

Coach Rubin smiled and waited until the boys returned, ready for the lesson. The boys looked back at the coach curiously. It was an expression they rarely saw on the big bear's muzzle. They all slowly began to smile; Cody especially smiled and let out a soft whinny like a playful young colt.

"Boys, today we're going to be talking about your muscles. You might be thinking to yourself that you don't have any. You might be thinking that mine are too big in some places. You might never have thought about muscles at all. The reason we're going to talk about muscles is because if you want to be healthy, or healthier, you need to know how to use them. We want to build your skills and coordination. I want to make you more excited about being healthy, and active. If you're healthy, you'll have a lot of fun as a child. You'll be able to run, and play for a long time."

The boys looked back at the coach, listening carefully to his words. Their expressions all showed the same reaction. Coach was finally making sense.

"How are you going to talk about muscles, coach? We don't have any pictures here to see. None of us know the names of most of the muscles anyway. Well, Cody says he knows a few of them."

"That's what the surprise is, boys. We've got a special guest to help us learn more about muscles." At this, Cody perked his ears up. "Boys, meet Chester. He's going to be showing us a few things for the lesson today."

Chester opened the office door and walked out. "Uncle Chet!" Cody erupted ecstatically. Chet blushed a bit at the sudden outburst from his cousin, but then he smiled warmly to Cody and then to the other kids, and then nodded at the coach in greeting. He was wearing his oversized sweatshirt and sweat pants, which didn't show any of his physique. Cody let out a playful squeal, while most of the other boys just giggled. Chet looked back at the coach and let him get control over the class.

"Boys! That's not polite. Let's show our guest some manners." As he got close to finishing that sentence, coach slowed down and realized what he was saying. Then it dawned on him as he looked at each of the students and he understood something deeply important for the first time in a long time. "Show him the same manners that you would want someone to treat you with." Chet looked over at coach proudly, giving him a nod. The kids all stopped giggling and stood attentively.

"Thank you boys. So you all wanted to learn something about muscles, right? Good for you. But let's see if we can show you not only what they look like, and what they do, but also, how they're going to make your lives more fun. Does that sound good?" The boys each nodded in agreement slowly. Most of them were still not sure how this apparently fat out of shape horse was going to show them about muscles.

Chet reached down to the hem of the sweatshirt and pulled it up over his head. For a brief moment, the added layer of fabric covered his ears, so sounds were muffled. Once he'd pulled the shirt over his head, the boys all gasped in pure shock. That reaction made Chet blush, but the boys didn't notice the stallion's reaction. Their eyes roamed over the cobbled muscles on the horse's midsection, the thick slabs of sinew shielding his chest, the thick, corded and vascular mounds on his arms, and the sheer width of the shoulders, tapering down to the narrow waist.

Chet's eyes went to Cody's expression and saw that even he was rather shocked by his cousin's physique. Chet quickly tried to get their attention back to the task, "Let's see if I can show you what the muscles do. Ready?" Even the coach was stunned by the condition of the horse's body. What's more, he wasn't even flexing yet.

"Yes, uhh ... let's get the demonstrations under way. Now boys, I'm sure the most obvious muscles that everyone thinks about are the biceps. Did you know that the word biceps actually refers to only one arm? You can't flex one bicep. It always has to be plural, because the muscle is a group. I'll bet that Chester can show us clearly." Chet's ears perked and he nodded, holding out his arm in front of his body so that all the boys could see the long tubular muscle. Chet closed his fist and made the biceps muscle bunch thicker and harder. Instantly, the deeply-etched split between the two heads of the biceps muscle showed through the tight skin. The boys all squealed with awe at the sight. Chet curled his arm a little more closed, making the muscle grow into a craggy peak, the one head of the biceps rising slightly higher than the front head.

"So, you can all clearly see that the biceps on Chester's one arm are actually two muscles. We say that the muscle group has two heads. That's why the term is "bi-ceps". Even though Chester's body is very well developed, and he has incredible control over all his muscles, no matter how hard he tried, he could NOT flex just one bicep. Both heads work together." Chet blushed a bit at the compliment and at the physical shortcoming inherent in the muscle groups.

"So, boys, now that you know about the name 'biceps', what would you be able to tell me about a muscle called the "triceps"?" Coach Rubin was so pumped up seeing all of the students suddenly so excited by this approach.

One of the boys spurted out, "It's gotta have three parts." Another student jumped in and said, "It's probably got 3 heads, coach, right?" Coach nodded and grinned at the enthusiasm from the students. The two who piped up and answered the question got pats on their shoulders from the other classmates.

"You're both absolutely right! Excellent. Where on the body do you think you'll find a muscle that has three heads?" Coach pressed the students to use logic and guess a bit more.

"I don't know, coach." One boy threw up his hands helplessly unable to even make a guess. "I don't see a group of three muscles on Chester's body right now, coach. Is the muscle showing? Is it on the legs?" Another boy asked, sincerely trying to figure out the answer. Coach Rubin used this chance to praise the student for trying to use the available source of Chet's body to find the answer.

"Actually boys, the triceps in on the arm. It's under the biceps. Well, it's on the back of the upper arm, to be honest." Coach still grinned at the good guesses and effort from his students.

"Coach, doesn't the shoulder have three heads?" Cody asked earnestly. He had more knowledge of muscles than the other boys because of his cousin's hobby.

"You're right Cody. It does. But since the heads of the shoulder are in a sort of triangular shape, they're called the Deltoids. Chester, why don't you show us both of those muscles?" Coach looked at the stallion and Chet nodded back, relaxing his biceps, turning his arm slightly to highlight the back of the arm, then pressed down hard, forcing the thick shredded muscles of his triceps to show through clearly. Cross-striations riddle the outer and inner heads of the muscle with deeply etched detail.

Once again, the boys, even Cody, gasped at the size and definition on the stallion's mighty arm. "Can you see three parts there, boys? I know it's a pretty complicated group of muscles. This much detail is really hard to get. Chester has worked super hard to get to this kind of conditioning. Here's the long head. Here's the middle head, or medial head, and there's the short head. Coincidentally, people say this is a horseshoe-shape. We get to see a most perfect display of the horseshoe shape on a real horse." Chet blushed again at the comment, but still kept his triceps flexed very hard.

"Now for the deltoids muscle, Chester. Boys, this might a bit hard to really see the three heads. I'm sure that Chester's body will have so much detail when he flexes his shoulders that it will look like dozens of muscles in the group." Chet paused for a moment while he listened to the coach's description. Instead of flexing with all the definition he could muster, Chet relaxed his triceps and showed his shoulder more relaxed. The muscles were so thick and clearly shredded. Without even flexing, the three distinct heads of the mighty shoulder were clearly detailed for the students.

"Whoa, Chester, that's remarkable. You didn't even have to flex to show the heads clearly. See these lines of separation here, guys? There's the one head, there's the second one here, and the back head over here. Excellent, Chester! Thanks for showing us so clearly."

"My pleasure, coach. Now how about we let the kids figure out what these muscles do. C'mon over here coach. We'll show them how to test the movement." Coach nodded and then came closer. Chet and coach Rubin put their hands up against each other. The boys watched as the two muscular furs pressed against each other hard. Both stallion and bear flexed their triceps. They showed very clearly. The boys chittered and whispered to each other with excitement. Each of them paired up with another boy and imitated the two. They all looked at each other to see who had some triceps muscles showing. Chet looked over at his cousin, whose arms were developing quite nicely. Cody's arms had already shown some firm biceps development also.

"Coach. What do those front muscles do on Chester's body?" One of the bigger students asked and pointed at Chet's midsection.

"Well, to be honest, Terry, it's hard to explain what those muscles do. They are very desirable, and they are very difficult to achieve. Again, Chester's conditioning is amazing, so the muscles are even quite visible when he's not really flexing them. That's also why it's hard for most people to understand what they do, and how to exercise them."

"All due respect, coach, maybe I can show him what they do." Chet interjected almost timidly, not wanting to overstep the coach's control over the class. Coach nodded and stepped a little to the side. The kids turned their attention back to the chiseled stallion.

"The abdominals are a really confusing muscle. Essentially, they keep your upper body stable. They don't have a lot of movement. In fact, all they do is ... this." Chet laid down on his back on the floor in the gym. His shoulders were flat against the floor. Chet turned his head to look at the boys again. "If I flex my abs only, all you'll see is that my shoulders lift off the floor. That's all they do." Chet did just that, flexing his ripped abs, making the flat wall of muscles form and curl his upper body slightly off the floor. He stopped in that position, holding his body there. "I'm sure you guys have seen people do sit ups and they swear that they're working their abs. Indeed they do, but the only part of the sit up that actually works the abs is the beginning of the movement. If I sit up all the way, you won't see my abs change their shape at all." Chet continued the sit up movement, and all the kids nodded when they saw that the abs didn't change shape, or grow any further.

"If I flex my biceps harder, the muscle grows higher. It changes shape because it is actually working to pull my forearm further inward. When it stops changing shape, that means that it's not doing any more work. Make sense?" Chet quickly surveyed the students and smiled as everyone was nodding slowly.

"Wow, uncle Chet, you really explain things well. Now I think we all know so much more about our bodies and how we can be more active. It's good to know which muscles we use." Chet stood up and swished his tail softly. Cody nickered softly and spread his arms around Chet's narrow waist. Coach Rubin patted the muscled stallion on his shoulder and grinned, giving him a slow nod, which they agreed meant that Chet should pose a classic double biceps pose for the boys to see all the muscles on the upper body. Chet nodded and brought his arms up in a dramatic swinging motion, flexing his biceps slowly. His arms grew into a display of absolutely rock hard mounds of biceps muscles. The boys squealed and gawked at the pose. Chet's back flared wide in the pose, showing the dramatic V-shape, tapering down to his chiseled midsection. The cobbled muscles of his abs tightened into marble-hard mounds. Just then, a few of the other students gave a youthful squeal, and two of them carefully climbed up to Chet's massive shoulders, one on either side, straddling the flexed arms. Another one hugged the stallion's legs. Coach Rubin chuckled warmly at the affection his students were showing the guest. Then suddenly, the other students piled onto the new-and-improved coach. He blushed at the excitement, but then accepted the warm reception, holding the kids close.

"Best lesson ever, coach!"

Coach Rubin looked at Cody, and smiled warmly. He simply winked to the colt and mouthed the words "Thank you."

Chet stood and flexed under the mass of adoring students, blushing at the attention, but looked down at Cody with a wide smile, proud of his young cousin.