IP2012 Barrel Weave

[SteelEagle]

Hind sighed. He had said it before and he would say it again, but the poor pegasi were so out of sorts on the ground that they constantly produced results that set back their kind generations. Still, he was willing to give her points for effort- too bad points for effort didn't impact the standings. He gave her the pegasus a polite nod as he wrote the time down.

[Boss_Hoss1]

(Third post for Judging)

Almost prancing in place by now, the sweaty pegasus mare looked to the leader board and sighed seeing Gilda was at the top.

Shanna hoped Gilda wouldn't be too much of a in-your-face braggart about it if no one knocked her score down and the griffon won. Unfortunately, this was a griffon she had heard the citizens of Ponyville speak of in less than flattering tones, so she was not going to hold her breath over that possabilty...

Her glance went over to the stallion toting up the score and he still did not look impressed with her.

In fact, he even sighed in a weary manner looking at her. Was it Pegasi in general?

She thought he was familiar somehow, but she rarely followed sports news, and ground-bound sports was barely a blip on her radar. -Until the Iron Pony started last year between Rainbow Dash and Applejack, anyway.

Too bad Rainbow Dash was not around to give her a clue. She probably knew all the sports figures as well as she knew her own hindquarters... hind... Hind?!

Her black-tipped ears perked as her mouth opened in surprise. This was a famous barrel racer judging this race! And here she was, somepony who had never done a barrel race before racing in his turf.

No wonder he looked so frazzled!

Well that made her feel a lot better and worse at the same time. Oh well, nothing to do but act in grace and style whatever the score came out to be.

Shanna forced herself to relax and stand up straighter as she awaited the results on the leader board.

As she waited, she had time to think. Perhaps she would try out more barrel races for fun sometime. It had certainly been challenging even for a long distance flyer like herself. Maybe somepony would start a Pegasus barrel-racing league?

[Blueblood]

(If you wanted to continue RP'ing with Flying Brick, she's in the infirmary here: http://www.canterlot.com/topic/11018-post-game-recovery-ponyville-after-iron-pony/)

[Hippo]

Applejack was having a good time during the Iron Pony Competition. Everything was going as planned. She competed well in her events, she made new friends, she was selling plenty of replenishing apple juice to athletes, she missing the Barrel Weave. What!? "Ah'm missin' the Barrel Weave!? Consarnit!" Applejack abandoned her apple juice stand and made a mad dash for the competition. Several ponies had already competed. And the time limit to compete was almost up. Applejack quickly retied her mane back and licked the brims of her hat in order to get ready for her attempt. All she needed was some energy.

Applejack waited at the start line where one by one, ponies were making their best efforts through the barrel weave. Applejack remembered very well what happened last year. A five second penalty kept her from beating her rival and best friend Rainbow Dash. And those events, as the orange mare would describe, may have snowballed into what ended up being Applejack's lack of an Iron Pony title because of a lack of fairness. Not this time, Applejack thought. No pony is gonna steal it from me this time, not even... Applejack looked at the leaderboard, where atop the standings listed a familiar name not of a pony, but of a griffon. "Gilda!?" Well now, this changes everything.

Applejack set her hooves as close to the start line as possible, angling her flank in the air, and setting her rear legs to catapult her launch into the race. With a wry smile, she said, "Just say the words and I'm off."

[SteelEagle]

1- Gilda, 25.1 seconds.

2- Electric Vibe, 26.2 seconds.

3- Harrington Sleuth, 27.5 seconds

4- Douglas Trotter, 28.34 seconds

5- Mojo, 28.95 seconds

6- Wind Runner, 29.01 seconds

7- Shanna, 29.5 seconds.

8- Guiding Light, 29.80 seconds

8- Flying Brick, 31.90 seconds- Disqualified

"You were a fast one, but hitting that barrel cost ya. Good run!" Hind stated as he out the time up,

Then he saw the last hope for the Earth ponies, an orange Earth pony mare. Looked agile and strong, just the type he needed.

"I blow, you run. Got it?" He asked, trotting up to his position as time was running out. He waited a second and this time didn't bother with the preliminaries; he just blew that whistle.

[Hippo]

When the whistle blew, Applejack's center of gravity shifted to what felt like 3 hoof steps in front of her. She kept her balance, heading towards the first barrel. As Applejack looked up front her starting stance, staring at the ground, She had noticed that this was indeed a barrel weave, but a much more complicated one that she ran last year. This one had the same amount of barrels, but was about twice as long, and looked like the barrels got tighter and tighter together the further down the course a pony ran. She weaved the first one easily, banking her hooves against the dirt as she passed it. By the time she drifter her body back to a straight up position, the second barrel was needed to weave. She weaved the second one, mirroring her motions against the obstacles. She was making good time.

But then, the barrels got increasingly closer, and Applejack's agility would be put to the test. With ever barrel, she angled her body against the dirt more and more. In order to be fast, she had to slow down, as hitting a barrel would not only decrease her time, but take her out of contention for sure. She would not make the same mistakes again. As she weaved, Applejack felt determined. All she could think about was her personal expectations...

Apple Bloom cheered for Applejack. "Whoo-whoa! Whoo-hoo! Applejack, you're sure to knock everypony's hat off at the Equestria Rodeo competition!"

"Aw shucks, Apple Bloom. I sure hope so." Applejack always played it modest. She had too. There wasn't much she could do for herself otherwise. It was always better to have other ponies bragging about you, then have to boast about yourself.

"Hope so? I know so! After all, you're the ten-time rodeo champion of Ponyville! Why, you got more blue ribbons than anypony in Ponyville ever! And I can't wait for my big sis to win every blue ribbon in Equestria and bring home the title of Equestria Rodeo champion." Apple Bloom trusted her sister, so much that she knew that Applejack would succeed, no matter what. It was this kind of trust that fueled Applejack. And at times, it would also be her undoing, a time where she would have to face the facts that she didn't have to be worried about letting people down. In response to her sister's encouragement, Applejack blushed and bounced her eyes.

Everypony expected her to succeed. But if she didn't, well that was fine, everypony knows she would have tried her best. And this time, there would be no Mayor pressuring her with the prize money, as the only prize here was for bragging rights. Of course, Applejack would just trade those rights to her little sister, if she ended up winning them.

Applejack continued to weave the barrels, each getting more narrow as she neared the finish. She got so close to one barrel, that she could feel the tiny strands of orange pelt hair bending across the metal rings that lined the barrel. But Applejack was evasive, agile, and competitive, and she remained completely focused. After the last barrel, she made a short sprint towards the remainder of the race. And after she crossed the finish line, her eyes closed with the over-determination she held in her mind. She was successful. She did not make the same mistakes again. Nope. She made a completely different one. After the finish line, Applejack stumbled and fell face first into a large pile of hay, in her failed attempt to slow down and stop. A moment later, her head would pop out of the pile her her eyes boggled and her head bobbled. "Did- did I win?"

[SteelEagle]

It had been a fine run to be sure. Indeed, had she seemingly not been so pre-occupied with some sort of metal charade it would have been more than the best run of the day. It would have challenged all records. As it was, she would have to be content with what she got- Hind smiled. It was still a superb run.

"Well, you'll see in a moment, Applejack," Hind responded as he wrote the time down, lazily making his way to the final stand board.

[Hippo]

"Wa?" Applejack shook her head. "Alrighty then." She jumped out of the pile of hay and shook herself of any extra straws that remained on her body. Applejack felt that she had just let it all on the playing field. Somewhere, between the barrels, still rested Applejack's ability to calm herself down and think straight. She danced in place as she nervously looked at the leader board which was taking forever to refresh. She looked around at the other competitors, who were well rested after their sprints, and it made Applejack feel a bit overwhelmed. Of course, she had experienced this kind of competitive pressure before, but ever since she lost last year's Iron Pony, and ever since she failed to bring home any prize money from Canterlot's annual rodeo, she was feeling a bit nervous about how well she might have done. It could have easily been another second place performance.

And Applejack was fine with losing. It was just these darn score board writers. Slowly, they referenced the names of the ponies and chalked out corrections as the events were held. The new scores could never be put up fast enough. Applejack thought that maybe she would be able to make another attempt and perform even faster in the amount of time it took for the score ponies to write the score. Applejack continued to jog in place, nervously looking up at the leader board, still unchanged. Finally, she belted. "Come on. Hurry it up! Who won!?"

[SteelEagle]

Hind nodded his approval as the impatient mare shouted behind him. So touchy, these mares, and very rarely did they just let him do his work. Still, there was little to be done about it as the time went up.

1- Gilda, 25.1 seconds.

2- Applejack, 25.5 seconds

3- Electric Vibe, 26.2 seconds.

4- Harrington Sleuth, 27.5 seconds

5- Douglas Trotter, 28.34 seconds

6- Mojo, 28.95 seconds

7- Wind Runner, 29.01 seconds

8- Shanna, 29.5 seconds.

9- Guiding Light, 29.80 seconds

10- Flying Brick, 31.90 seconds- Disqualified

"Good...but not good enough! You ran distracted, it seemed. Why, some lucky stallion catch your attention?" Hind flashed a grin, which was missing some key teeth.