The Stands! (Open to everypony)

[SteelEagle]

There were three kinds of ponies in Equestria around the time of the Running of the Leaves. The athletes themselves put hoof to ground in an effort to bring down the delightfully colored autumn leaves for the good of Equestria, and they were lauded for it. Who did the aforementioned lauding of the leaves? The second group of ponies, the throng of thrilled spectators that lined the public sections of the course in bleachers as well as the epic amount of festivities that dominated areas around it. They made up the vast majority of ponies who came and nopony would doubt that they did more than line the pockets of local business. Everypony would claim that their cheering helped family, friends, and simple favorites in the race and that even more than those racing, they were the spirit of the Running of the Leaves. An explosion of energy and joy that signaled the end of the sweetest weather and ushered in periods where one stayed inside all the time. It was also nice that they lined the pockets of local businesses. Or politicians. Sometimes the same.

In any case, the Stands were for everypony!

                                                                          

Bon Bon was pleased at the turnout. Normally she was late getting a good permit and found herself getting stragglers in and out of the largest open area near the start of the race, where the vast majority of the ponies congregated at the start before waiting for the message that they were closing in on the end of the race, when they would all trot on over to the end. It was a good place to be for a businesspony and she finally got the full blast of it! No more stragglers- this year, Bon Bon's Bonbons was open for business in the heart of it all, the Heartland Stands, and she had come prepared for whatever may come. A world of chocolates all around and who could stop her? Nopony! Nopony at all!

She had bonbons for DAYS and DAYS in her cart, packed to the brim without a single space that wasn't used for advertisement or display going unstuffed. She had also made sure that they were a fresh batch, taking the day before and after off specifically to focus on the amazing batch of delicious bonbons that had turned out splendidly. She had special advertisements and packaging, hokey little designs that would keep fillies and colts etranched for a second and were themed around the Running of the Leaves. Galloping mares and stallions and leaves- generic but effective. Her prices had more variance- standard bonbon deals were below normal value, but Running of the Leaves themed little bonbon bags were of course of such limited quantity and of such great quality that everypony should buy one. All in all, a good type of day for the third type of pony, the businessmare.

"Get'm while they're here, Ponyville's very own famous Running of the Leaves bonbon delicacies! Taste the simple country flavor with a bold twist! Bonbons! Bonbons! Get'm while they're hot!" Bon Bon cried out, her very best carnival shystervoice plastered on as best she could. 

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Lyra couldn't help but use her tail to swat her mare on the flank. 

 

"You got me wanting some bonbons, that's for sure!" The unicorn gave a sly wink before using her magic to levitate a tray of samples for the cart. She giggled and quickly chomped a piece of a sweet. It was chocolate, and brown sugar, and a little sea salt. It was heaven!

 

"Dang filly! You've gotten better at making these... if that's even possible!" Lyra moved towards the stands, ready to help Bonnie Bon sell her delicious wares. 

 

"Get your ROFTL special bon bons here! Delicious treats you gotta eat! Try a sample and then buy a bag full!" She glanced back and smiled. "How was that?"

 

---

 

Glitter Drops had watched Tempest until the unicorn was out of sight. She mused, somewhat giddy about the number of times they had been coming into town as of late. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed socializing. Now that her and Tempest were on the mend, Glitter felt good about taking strides back in to normal life. She still loved her job in the frozen north of course buuuuut, it was comforting to come into Ponyville with Tempest by her side.

 

She heard the call for buying bon bons and her interest was peaked. Glitter got up from the stands and trotted down to Bon Bon and Lyra. 

 

"Those look really good!" She smiled with what she hoped was a natural smile. Having a partially blind eye to get used to did sometimes make her feel awkward. 

 

She was about to say more when a certain hot air balloon drifted into view. If one were to glance up they might be able to make out a purple and green young dragon with a mega phone...

 

---

 

 

Radio static crackled through the air as the dragon tapped the receiving end of the bull horn. "Is this thing on?" He muttered to himself without realizing it was amplifying all through the stands. "Come on..." He growled and then realized it was indeed on.

 

"Oh um, h-hi?" He cleared his throat and officially began speaking. "Welcome ladies and gentle colts to this the annual Running of the Leaves! I'm Spike the Dragon coming to you live from the air with coverage of this spectacular event!" 

 

"Who?" Owlawicious hooted from his vantage out the telescope lens Twilight had let them borrow. 

 

"O-oh! Oh yeah, and of course the famous Owlawicious is here to!" He nodded his head to the owl and continued. "I hope you all are ready for an action packed day as our runners have now entered the second phase of the race!"

 

Spike ducked over to take a quick of the events. "It looks like the runners are making their way towards the babbling brook and it's uh..." He grimaced as he looked again. "It's doing a bit more than babbling today! There seems to be a storm brewing and the contestants are taking two different paths. The high ground, away from the water...(that would be my choice) cough... and the bridge across the water!"

 

"As you all know we have some young runners this year, namely Apple Bloom and Zap Apple! I sure hope that little guy doesn't get himself into trouble out there." He took another look. "They are heading towards the bridge. It looks like Strong Copper and Tempest have come to aide the young colt!"

 

"We'll give you more as it develops here at Ponyville's Eye in the Sky!"

 

Spike turned to Owlawicious. "Eye in the Sky?"

 

"Who?"

 

"Eye in the Sky. That's us, I just thought of it now!"

 

"Who?"

 

"Us! I thought of it... oh never mind!"

 

----

 

Glitter's ears had perked up at the mention of Tempest. She wondered how her mare would respond. She'd seen lots of change in Temy over the past few months and so much of it for the good! Time would tell how much of that hard exterior would crack away from the unicorn.

[PyroBlaze]

This was not typically the kind of event he attended, but this year promised to be quite interesting. There was that unicorn that used to work for the Storm King, an element bearer, two closely related family members of another, and to top it all off Hou was in the thick of it. He had arrived a bit too late to register for the race itself, but that was alright, observing from afar was just as good for now. 
 

Dox, currently disguised as a nondescript unicorn, sat in the stands with a live view of the race. Like a scrying spell, displayed through a sheet of water hovering in front of his face. He was currently locked on to Hou, or Jade as she was calling herself, partially because she was the easiest to track and partially because he wanted to know what she was up to. Maybe they could share, if she was looking for a meal. He didn’t need a soul in his victims to drain them, after all. 

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                                   


Bon Bon looked over at Lyra and winked. "You get the freshest blend of my special recipe every night, so you know I have something extra special for you later," she said as she leaned in and spoke warmly into her wife's ears, biting her ear gently and playfully for little reason other than her impulses sometimes dominated her. And around Lyra, she had a lot of impulses. Her wife then ate some of her bonbons and continued her excellent advertisement, saying loudly how good they were and then joining Bon Bon in hawking Bon Bon's Bonbons. Bon Bon herself got caught up in the hawking of Bon Bon's Bonbons, on account of the hawking mare herself. But that spell was broken in time by the arrival of the mare that was taming the heart of a wild Tempest, Glitter.

 

She wanted some bonbons? Bon Bon loved to sell her bonbons. She loved even more than that making money selling them so she could go ahead and get that vacation she and Lyra deserved. In any case, Bon Bon of Bon Bon's Bonbons was ready to sell Bon Bon's bonbons. Bon Appétit! "Hey there, stranger! Well, not so strange, er, anymore at least. Ha! They look 'cause they are good, sister. Now if you hoof over a few bits- say, five should cover it- and you can get bites outta those bits. Bites out of my bonbons, at least," she said before a shadow made their way over them. For a moment she wondered if Tempest had arrived and was gonna break Bon Bon's back or something else equally frightening (Bon Bon was scared of her) on account of the craven confectionary magnate speaking to Glitter. Then she realized it looked a lot more like a balloon, and that voice sounded a lot like Spike. Hey, he was providing commentary again. Awesome!

 

"Doing good up there buddy! How's it looking?"

 

                                                                                            

Moonlight Glitter still had a little while until the rest of the cheerponies were ready to wow the crowd with their feats of beautiful gymnastic excellence, so she figured now was a good time to get some refreshments. She didn't want to eat with her outfit on because eh gads was that just asking for a stain you couldn't get out and these outfits had been hard work, you know. She found herself a nice low calorie drink and a nice low calorie haycake and jaunted her way into the stands. She ended up sitting next to a unicorn.

"Like, today is so perfect like oh my Celestia. Except for all that weather, like, deeper in the race but the racers seem totally cool with it. Have you ever run a race before, Mister...?" She asked, giving him time to respond. She would then sit down and lay back, crossing her back legs and tapping her hooves to an unseen rhythm. "I did once, but, like, I was a lot less than bitchin', just so grody. Not my style, nope! Like, better back here and then with some dancing to go along with it. I do have my favorites though! You have any favorites?" She asked as she put her sunglasses on and took a big sip out of her drink. "This is, like, almost cold enough but I should find that ice mage. It could, like, do with some frost. Wanna sip?"

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

"Oh come on now Bons!" Lyra couldn't help but giggle at the mare's words. "You're gonna make me blush! I wonder if that would help sell our treats?" She winked at Bon Bon and then nodded as a certain unicorn made her way over to the cart.

 

"Hi there Glitter Drops!" Lyra called out. It seemed Glitter and Tempest had become regulars in Ponyville as of late. That would have been fine and dandy except for...well...except for pretty much every pony in town was either slightly awkward around Tempest or downright afraid of the soldier turned wanderer turned northern warden and Glitter's paramour.  "Just wait til you try these amazing bons bons! Made by Bon Bon herself of course!"

 

Glitter smiled, trying not to notice the slight quail that passed over Bon Bon as they spoke. She knew her beloved had quite the reputation and only time had a chance at healing some of the trouble that had been caused. It was in the past now. Of course Tempest was still an imposing unicorn and she still had the power and strength to make ponies tremble, but her motives were changed. It wasn't worth trying to explain. As she'd thought before, these things just take time.

 

Bits levitated to Bon Bon's cart and she looked through the assortment before her. "Hmmmmm, what do you think I'd like?" She asked Bon Bon while the scent of sweet treats tantalized her senses. 

 

Then the sounded of a dragon in the sky assailed her ears. Glitter glanced up as Spike gave a quick run down of what he could see. She smiled as she heard that Temmy was dropping her lead to assist some young ones in their quest. See, Tem Tem was changing, one heroic deed at a time!

 

----

 

Spike leaned over the side a little and waved down to Bon Bon as she called up to him. "Hi Bon Bon! Hi everypony! Yeah, doing good! Speaking of which, gotta get back to it!"

 

The dragon used the scope to view what was happening out on course.

 

"Spike and Owlawicious here with Eye in the Sky! Looks like events are unfolding out on the track! We've got a bunch of ponies on the far side of the bridge now, and others taking the high ground and avoiding the whole scene! There's Strong Copper and Tempest, galloping out in front, the bridge waaay behind them! Tongue Twister has made it over! Here comes Pinkie Pie! And we have Apple Bloom and Zap Apple too! Over they go! Wait...the water is raising! This flood is getting pretty intense! The water is going over the bridge and it looks like Apple Bloom is having some trouble out there! And she's back up! All of them are across!"

 

Spike took a breath. That was a lot of action!

 

"Good thing they all made it safely! Whoa! And there goes the bridge! Swept away by the storm! The others on the high ground are making their way back to the main trail now. This is quite a race mares and gentlecolts!"

 

[PyroBlaze]

Well, at least Hou seemed to be enjoying herself out there. He couldn’t exactly say the same, sitting here and watching. It didn’t help when the mare sat next to him and started talking. It was really hard trying to parse what was said into understandable sentences, so he looked over at her with a bit of confusion. 
 

“Race? Yes, I’ve done my fair share of them.” He responded, glancing at the drink as she kept speaking and complained about it’s temperature. His horn flashed a bit brighter as the drink cooled, turning his gaze back towards the sheet of water he was watching the race through. He had no idea what she meant by the favorites talk, so he decided to just ignore that part. “No thank you, I am not thirsty at the moment. Besides, it is generally a bad idea to share drinks with random strangers.”

[Blueblood]

 

Chipper Demise was currently a very happy pony.  Of course, one could look at his perpetual grin and frequent laughter, and conclude the blue-coated colt was always happy, but that wouldn't be any more accurate than saying Pinkie Pie was always happy.  Both of them were happy most of the time, with the few exceptions being very serious business indeed.

But that needn't concern anypony in the stands, for Chipper was currently skipping and humming to himself.  The clippety-clop of his hooves was joined by the jangle of a coinpurse to his side; his adopted family had sent him some spending money while he was at the school of friendship, and he'd heard that the local candymaker was out here!  Ever since they'd met on the first day of his arrival, the young mage had developed a fondess for BonBon and her bonbons, as all colts do when first introduced to chocolate.  And there she was!

"Hey there, Bon-Bon!  Papa Halvard sent me my allowance, and then I heard you were out here!  I was so excited, I left Huginn and Munin behind.  Here's hoping they don't crow any resentment, else they'll go stark raven mad!  Nyahahahah!"  Laughing like a loon, he plonked down the requisite bits upon her booth counter.  "One bag, please.  Oh, actually, better make that two!  I don't if my brother Calder is gonna be coming out here, but it'd be shame if he didn't get any!"

 

Noticing he was not alone, he gave a grinning wave to the sea-green unicorns on either side of the booth.  "Hi, I'm Chipper Demise!  I'm from up north, but I'm currently going to school here!"

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                                   

Bon Bon's Bonbons were the right bonbons for any mare with a taste for bonbons and the good things in life, and sure as rain wasn't gonna go ahead and tell Glitter anything that wouldn't make her gums salivate with the possibilities. "Oh I've got so many. Plain chocolate ganache, caramel, boozy whole cherry, pistachio cream, raspberry purée, lemon curd, nougat, toffee, praline, brittle, butterscotch, fondant, fudge, gianduja, marzipan, truffle, and even dragée! But looking at you, you have this mysterious way about you that speaks to something cold, something exotic, something warm, something familiar. Sooo..." she said as she grabbed a bag of her marzipan bonbons and set it down. "Here you go! You'll love it. The same chocolate blend as always but the marzipan is made from the best ingredients I've ever received, if I say so myself. And I do. Five bits it is!" She said as accepted the bits when offered. She then looked up. "Keep up the good work, Spike. I'll set aside some special ones just for you, you little fiery-breathed stud you," she said with a laugh, coming back down and-

 

                                                                                            

-Yep, it was that creepy colt again. Not a bad colt. Just a creepy one. He loved her sweets last time and she had no reason to doubt that she would pass his test again this time, as she prepared to get him his treats once again. She wanted a pair of colts running around. He wouldn't make for a bad friend, maybe? Would definitely need supervision though. Didn't want the colts to grow up to be too scary to all the fillies and mares out there, right? "Hey there cutie! Nice to see you again. I hope you've been staying out of trouble?" She asked with no hope behind it. As she did so, she got a bag ready for him. "One bag of bonbons for the colt from the cold lands, some nice nougat this time. Ever have nougat, sweetie?" She asked as she leaned over, opening the bag and revealing the contents to him while her tail whisked around Lyra's legs. She wanted some babies soon, and her wife better prepare for it because after hearing Applejack scream out Bon Bon knew she wouldn't be the one carrying!

 

                                                                                                   

 

Oooh, he was a little prickly, though he could be as prickly as he wanted as long as he made her drink cold. "Oh my Celestia, thank you!" She said with glee as she greedily started to suck down her drink, enjoying the rich cooling as he hooves bounced to and fro. "That's super nice of you. Remember: We're only strangers if, like, you make it that way," she said as she nudged her drink towards him. She loved making new friends, especially friends who did her favors all sweet like. "I have a favorite. See, I'm Apple Bloom's cousin and she's totally, like, gonna win this. You can't keep Apples down, you know? You know. I mean, whatever, right? Nopony else has a chance. Maybe I'm, like, biased and stuff but- well I'd like to think I'm a little more woke than that but, like, nopony's perfect. Yet," she winked behind her shades as she scanned the area and saw...was that a new unicorn? He seemed familiar. And cute, which she would note, even if she was taken. "Yoo-hooo cutie, come sit up here with all the cool critters!"

[PyroBlaze]

Dox glanced over at the mare as she thanked him and nudged the drink towards him again. He sighed slightly, but accepted since he didn’t see any harm in it. He could expunge any diseases she may pass to him anyways. Picking up the drink, he took a sip before putting it back down to watch his screen as he listened to her talk. So that’s what she meant by favorite, huh? 
 

“Earth ponies typically are more geared towards endurance and physical capabilities, but I would keep an eye on Jade Beaker and Tempest Shadow. They may be unicorns, but they’re stronger than that implies.” He responded, watching the two unicorns running through the open field area together. When the mare next to him called to a different pony, he looked over and immediately focused on Chipper. Now that he was paying attention to the stallion, he was certain he was looking at a necromancer. They tended to be interesting to talk to. 
 

“Yes, why don’t you come sit up here? I have a good view of the race.” He smiled, gesturing to the ongoing scrying spell. 

[Blueblood]

 

Chipper received his candies with undisguised elation, though the question about keeping out of trouble made his ears droop, a truer picture of his mood than his perpetual grin.  "Aw, I try, I really do!  Papa Halvard made me promise not to use my special magic except to help my friends, and that's what I did!  How was I supposed to know you guys let your animal friends stay dead down here?"  Hoo boy, that filly had not been happy to get her hampster back!  Though, to be fair, there wasn't much that dark magic could do to fix the smell...

 

Speaking of smell, though, these chocolates were mouth-watering, so much so that he popped one right in his mouth before Bon-Bon even told him what was in it.  "Mumph?  Noph, I dunno.  But I hope You-gat some more, 'cause its real good!  Nyaaahaha!"

 

It was at this point that he heard a filly call out his name.  Fortunately, not the one to whom he had excitedly presented a zombie rodent, but one of his fellow students at the academy.  Some kind of flashy name, Moonrock Glamour?  Moon-something, anyway.  "Aw, sure thing Moony!"  He bounded off, making sure to secure another bag of sweets for his little brother to give to him later.

"Oh, there's a race on?"  He asked, once he finally got up.  "I didn't know there something like that going on, what's it all about?"