Stage Three: Galloping Glade! Faster than a Speeding Pegasi!

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Pinkie's hooves were a blur as she made a quick bolt down the path with Hawke by her side. Leaves cascaded down around them just like the rain had in the last phase of the run. 

 

ZOOM!

 

Onward they went until they were right up next to Taira and Boulder. She stood on her hind legs and waved as they passed by.

 

"Hi boys, bye boys!"

 

"Hi Gummy! Hi Bandit!" The gator blinked absently as Pinkie careened by. She knew she'd be crossing paths with the kirin often during the run. It was good for Gummy to have some new friends so she didn't want to take him back just yet. "You be a good gator Gummy!" As she spoke Gummy lunged downwards and grabbed the kirin with his toothless jaws. He clung there, looking rather silly.

 

"Gummy! What did I just say?" Gummy let go and sat still next to the raccoon again.

 

 "Cute and quick! Colour me impressed, Pinkie Pie. Say, what are your plans after the race, hm?"

 

Pinkie gulped ans slowed her pace just a little. She was indeed quick but even the Ponk couldn't keep up a bolting pace for that long! Plus, she was trying to save energy for later. No reason to go all out just yet!

 

She had been hoping to spend some more time with the pretty griffon and apparently Hawke had the same idea! The mare's cheeks blushed again, this time deep enough that it might be seen through her cotton candy coat. "Keep it together..." She muttered softly to herself. Which was more than a little awkward since Hawke was smiling right at her. Still, no reason to go all ga-ga over a pretty griffon asking about her plans... oh there was reason to go ga-ga... plenty of reason. Pinkie shook her head to clear it. Nope! She was gonna keep it cool! She wasn't going to let on just how attractive she found Hawke to be...yet.

 

"You're pretty quick...and cute yourself Hawke!" As she spoke she slowed to a more rhythmic gallop rather than try to keep the bolting pace. Pinkie winked slyly at her new friend, a cute smile spreading over her muzzle. "Well, after I collect my trophy for winning the race," She giggled. "My plans might depend on what your plans are!"

 

So much for keeping it cool... who was she kidding? She was Pinkie Pie! She never played it cool!

[Dubstep]

While the Running was a friendly competition, it was still a competition never the less. When Hawke spied Taira trying to retake the lead from over her shoulder, she smirked and would move in the lane to try and stay just in the way of the encroaching qilin. Gotta try harder than that to outwit this cat! She was in her element! Okay, close to her element. If she were able to fly through this, the griffon was certain that no creature here would be able to keep up with her. But that would make this so much more boring too! There were so many new faces to get to know. Speaking of faces, the cute pink one was still keeping pace with her quite well.

It seemed that Pinkie Pie was pretty receptive to the idea! And a bit of a flirt herself. Nice. Well that certainly changes priorities up a bit. The need for the lead wasn't quite as important right now as hopefully sealing the deal! "Well since I am real new to Ponyville, I was thinking maybe a pretty perky pink pony here might be interested in showing a griffon around~ And lo and behold, you fit the description to a T. Or should I say to a P?" Hawke giggled and winked at Pinkie once again. "As for that trophy? Well we'll see if it'll grace your mantle or mine. Who knows, maybe we'll get to share~"

[Dashman562]

Boulder Dash felt the hair of a sassy blonde haired tail brush past his face and this was followed by the athletic flank of the pony who possessed it.  Smiling happily he winked at AJ as he watched her pass him giving him the perfect view of her plot.  He felt a surge of energy shoot through him as he closed the gap between him and AJ.

 

"Oh sugar cube if you think teasing me with that purdy back side of yearn is the way to go then ya'll in fer a surprise!  Yer jist giving me something to run fer.  Yehaw!" he called out as he closed in on her.

 

As he did he looked back and saw someone stuck to a tree.  Hoping the pony was okay he soon saw a bubble gum pink flash closing in and he smirked calling out to AJ.  "Yo AJ, we got a sweet pink comet closing in!  I thought you were da Element of Laughter not fair Element of Speed Cutie Pie" he shouted out.

 

From there Boulder Dash put all he had in his tank and ran as fast as he could

  Pulling ahead of AJ and putting all he had left into the final stretch of the race.

 

Boulder Dash is fired up more then a ghost pepper in southern desert in the middle of July

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

Taira flinched a moment and rose a brow as he felt ... well a gum-less bite. He glanced back at gummy as he was now left flailing around on thin portion of that flowing banner that was his tail. Thanks to Pinkie's words the creature soon returned to his place on Taira's back, "Thanks again, Pinkie-san! I promise he'll be right as Re---...rain when I get him back to you!" The words flowed quickly as the party-pony surged by with Hawke, although his words sounded slightly breathy and unsteady. If Pinkie took to the time to look she might also had noticed the kirin's eyes tearing up.

 

Every time Taira would list to the lift, so would Hawke. He'd applaud her attentiveness if he wasn't busy running and fighting a constant battle against his allergy to the racer ahead of him! His muzzles scrunched and his expression began to appear more and more dazed. It was a wonder he was still able to keep up his gallop! Taira's resolve finally began to waver beside Fire as his jaws parted and took in several deep gasps. Mists began to waft out of his nostrils and from the back of his throat, his chest swelling with a massive amount of air. Making an effort to simply force his body to ignore this reaction she only galloped ahead further... only to find his snout being repeatedly flicked by the end of Hawke's tail!

 

That was all for him! 

 

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Hawke and pinkie would have no trouble hearing that massive desperate gasp from behind them but before they could react Taira let loose with a thunderous sneeze, "HWAAAAH-TSHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Along with that powerful roar came a surge of wind that blew up a large cloud of dust and leaves, but must importantly enough force that Both Hawke and Pinkie were sent rocketing forward as if shot out of a cannon! If the two managed not to stumble than they would likely catch up to AJ and her musical friend! From the stands it would have looked as the weather ponies messed up again as mist flooded across the plain.

 

Taira in the meantime wasn't as fortunate as the sneeze sent him flying backwards in a rough tumble all the way back to the tree his rival had left his mark upon.  He felt his back slam into the tree down the track... he didn't leave as impressive a mark on the foliage as Discord had but there was not a large dent in the side of the tree. Taira let out another thunderous sneeze that seemed to shroud the tree in another gout of mist. He snorted and shook his head before realizing something was missing! The bulky kirin leapt to his feet and glanced all around, "GUMMY?! BANDIT?!"  He took a deep breath, pulling his mist back into his lungs then letting his jaw drop as he saw the still serene  gator and racoon plummeting to the ground. Welp, this was his mess and he had to fix it! Taira let loose a breath of mist that caught and slowed the pair's descent and he waited in place, positioning himself to catch them. Once he had he galloped off, still trying to keep a steady pace but pushing himself ever so slightly. If he couldn't come out on top he could at least come out higher than Discord!

[SteelEagle]

The world around Ra-Ra seemed to writhe to the rhythm of her blood-pumping speed. Like soft bass lines rocking her vision at a concert when she was younger, the world moved with equal parts precision and chaos. From behind she heard titanic sneeze and could feel the aftershock. She didn't want to know how or why, but she could almost tell who it was and had to say...she was happy she wasn't around the Kirin when she went off! Ra-Ra found herself soon running neck and neck with Applejack. For a few more moments there was silence, but that died quickly when friendly competition was in play.

"You...are one heck of an...athlete, Applejack. How many of these...things have you won?" Ra-Ra asked, her pace still as frantic as ever as they neared the end of the Glade. The terrain started to get denser and the ground less often, but Ra-Ra was still fighting her natural body to go full tilt.

Applejack huffed as she tried to banter more with the music mare while still running.  She knew that any talk about how many times Applejack had won the running of the leaves, of which she never has, would only give fuel to the suddenly sassy speedster.  So instead, she responded with the most honest non-answer she could think of on the spot.  "Let's just put it this way.  My favorite first place trophy of all time is the next one."

Ra-Ra smiled. "You're...going to be awfully disappointed in a few hours, Applejack, when they're giving this trophy to me. I'll let you hold it for me later though when we're at dinner," she teased, jumping over a log as she ran, and then ducking some tree branches. She looked around, the various colored blurs behind them moving erratically and quickly on their heels, yet struggling to gain much. "I'm thinking you can buy."

Applejack chuckled at the thought of Ra-Ra winning the running of the leaves in her first attempt.  At least Twilight didn't expect to win her first try.  "You're not going to want to be eatin' anything after the race after eatin' all of that dust!"  Applejack said as she attempted to speed forward, making a gap of a few pony lengths between her and the countess.  As the terrain grew more creative, Applejack began adjusting her gait so that she could hit the path just right to make her way around turns in the road.

Ra-Ra licked her lips, the adrenaline surging through her as Applejack gained more ground. Oh no she didn't. Ra-Ra put her head down and charged forward, gaining slowly but surely in the growing narrowness of the curved path. After a few more moments she was again next to Applejack, deliriously beyond her normal threshold. "I've...eaten...pounds after shows, Jackie. I've got enough in here for a victory and some good food! Loser buys. Where're you taking me?" She prodded. No expert in the terrain she instead opted to full-pony leap across obstacles, full extension and all.

As Ra-Ra pulled aside Applejack again, the two ponies were leaping and ducking under overgrowth.  The path had seemingly disappeared.  But it didn't distract Applejack from continuing the battle of the great taunt war.  "Listen Tulip, you might be able to sing your way out of a problem.  You might even be able to curl your mane into submission.  But you ain't never,"  Applejack stressed heavily in her voice as she slowed down to jump over several branches, "NEVER gonna beat me in this race."  Applejack had been forced to a stop as the density of the forest was so thick, Applejack could not squeeze herself through the large trunks.  "Um.  Ra-Ra?"  Applejack looked around, seeing trees in every direction.  "Where in tarnation is the path?"

Ra-Ra continued running, the friendly jabs they shared enveloping her along with the race entirely. When they came to a seemingly dead end it took her a few seconds to recognize it. She ran into a tree- well, in theory. In practice she ran up the tree, going completely horizontal before jumping off and crashing in front of Applejack. She got back up, the adrenaline dying down slightly as a small trickle of fresh blood raced down a small cut near her cutie mark. Too engrossed, she laughed. "Well, yeah, I guess this isn't...the right path. Did we miss a small turn?" She asked with a deep breath as she started checking their surroundings.

Applejack wasn't sure how long they had been off the path, but she decided to attempt backtracking a little.  This little mistake in the route running had completely annihilated Applejack's desire for smack talk, at least for now.  "Imma check back here, maybe the path was covered er somethin'."  Applejack quickly looked around where they had been running, and noticed the sound of the stampeding ponies and griffons that trailed them.  Unfortunately for Applejack, she realized the irony of running back towards the pack would make them lose ground, but would also bring them back to the race's track.  "I think it's over here, Ra-Ra.  Oh.  You're hurt!  Here, let me wrap that for ya."  Applejack undid one of her manebands (she had several) and used it to wrap Ra-Ra's wound.  She wrapped it around and through one of her friend's hindquarters as the cut was on the lower side of her cutie mark.

Ra-Ra sighed, her tail flicking nervously. Every moment that flittered away was one that was flittered away forever from the mustang whose burning and fiery energy was dying slowly. It was never going to be something she could sustain but as the adrenaline died and the pain come slowly towards her, the desire to push herself more and more died along with it. It was a sad day when her very best couldn't get her as far as she would like, but alas, such was life. She wasn't an athlete, not somepony who could generally compete with athletes like Applejack. But as her friend started to dress and address her small wound- Ra-Ra's tail seemingly swishing more than normal for some cause- she had to admit it was fun. And not only was it fun, but it would give Applejack the proper competition she deserved. And for all the kindness Ra-Ra had been shown by her friend she knew she had to pay her back. And a competitive mare loves competition.

So she summoned the mustang, the burning embers of which was a bright star in the dark, pushed away the aches and pains which threatened to rebel against her, and smiled. "Thank you, Applejack. This is a lot more fun than I thought it would be," she said, wiping the sweat from her brow.  In little time the pair would find the track, which was lower than where they were. A very small leap.
"Well..fillies first, AJ!"

Applejack leapt from the faux path onto the correct path and started running. She looked back to make sure Coloratura could continue running under her own power despite the small cut on her quarters. At the same time she saw the bulk of the running group approach her. "Oh, pickled pears, it's time to move again!" She started increasing her speed once again, not submitting to the beginnings of race fatigue, and not slowing to the adversaries behind her.

Ra-Ra was already running.
"See you in the winner's circle!"

OOC- River provided AJ!