Stage Six: Whitetail Woods! Caught in a Sticky Situation?

[SteelEagle]

Stage 6- Whitetail Woods
 

Beautiful and majestic, the Whitetail Woods is finally allowed to be itself without any other geographical feature drawing your view. The trees, the songs of the birds, it all flows around you as it has this whole time, finally without distraction. Sadly, tree sap also flows around you. Can you keep yourself centered despite the beauty of the Whitetail around you and avoid the tree sap, or will this remain a sticky situation?

OOC: After your first post, I roll a dice. There is a random chance you run into some tree sap! If you do, creative solutions may lead to you getting right back on track. Make sure to contact me after your first post so I can get back to you quickly!

[PyroBlaze]

Tiger nodded as he listened to Midnight’s story about his past. The earth pony could appreciate the fanged look too, scaring predators was definitely a valid defense mechanism. Actually, in a matter of life or death like that, anything was valid as long as it worked. He knew he had played plenty of tricks to get out of fights with beasts that he couldn’t win, or didn’t want to fight for whatever reason. 
 

“Eh, you get used to it.” He shrugged, smirking a bit at Midnight’s comment about Hesperia being more dangerous than the Everfree. It was quite possible, honestly, but he hadn’t had much cause to explore the Everfree, so it was hard to compare. Soon enough, and after some talk of vampires and the unfortunate news that Jade had failed to locate Apple Bloom, they emerged from the dark forest and into a brighter one. The Whitetail Woods, if he wasn’t mistaken. It was downright pleasant compared to the last area, aside from all that sap around. 
 

“Well, good job getting us through that last section. Thanks for letting us tag along.” Tiger said, giving Midnight a friendly pat on the back before continuing on. He decided to keep the branch for now, since it could still prove useful. “Watch your step, I doubt you want to end up stuck in that sap. I’ll help you out if either of you get stuck though.” He winked to Midnight and Berry, smiling. 

[StrongCopper]

Strong Copper

 

Strong Copper had been expecting to have to blink his eyes and deal with them having to adjust to contact with the sun after dealing with the darkness of the underground forest... but running next to Pinkie had more or less ensured that wasn't a problem due to the fact that between the flashing lights and the disco ball that there wasn't enough darkness to adjust to in the first place. Leaving the underground behind and galloping into the Whitetail Woods proper, he couldn't help but slow down just a little as he took in the sight. "Wow... this place is really beautiful... and seems to be lacking things that can maim and kill somepony."

[Blueblood]

Berry Punch

It was a mark of how much of a difference friends could make that Berry Punch was barely noticing that the dark woods in the valleys were thinning out and letting in the sun.  Laughter shared among the pack was enough to keep any potential ghosties at bay.  Aside, of course, from the potential vampire in their midst!  Aw, she couldn't keep a straight face at the thought; Midnight was such a sweet Fuzzy-Wuzzy that she couldn't see him sucking anything more than juice from fruit, fangs or not.  "Well, before Princess Twilight came to town, I didn't believe in much.  Now though?  I'd believe practically anything.  Ponyville does do that to you these days!"

 

Having said that, she still couldn't suppress a shudder at hearing that vampires were, in fact, very real across the ocean.  "Well, glad I'm here, and not there!  Same for poor Applebloom, I'll try to keep an eye out for the filly.  She's not all that much older than my Ruby..."  The very thought of her daughter braving the same things that she had just done made a sort of hot sickness grow in her stomach.  *Oh, I'm going to be in trouble when my little foal grows up a bit more and starts striking out...*

 

Such distracting thoughts were practically asking for a false step into sticky sappy stuckness, so it was a very good thing she was with a pack of concerned ponies!  "Oh, right!  Thank you Tiger, I was spacing out a little there."

[NiktoBarada]

Trotting further along, TT marvelled at the scenery - it looked like something out of a postcard or travel agency poster.

The trees gently swaying in the breeze !

The many colors of the leaves before they fall !

The sap dripping from the trees, to be collected and made into everything from candy to waterproof glue !

"Wait - SAP ?!" she groused as she came to a complete stop and looked further down the course.

"What are you worried about ?  It is just tree sap !" the Abomination noted.

"You DO know what amber is, right ?"

"You are worried about that ?  Seriously ?!  There is nowhere near enough sap down there to encase you !  Even if there were, the race committee would never allow a disaster like that to happen."

"Well, with my luck, I'd probably knock over the whole week's inventory or something.

Small problems can become larger problems when you can't move very well."

"There are many ways to get around tree sap !  Freeze it, dry it out, pull away quickly, or as a last resort EAT it.  It is mostly sugar after all."

Tongue Twister turned a rather odd shade of green as her stomach roiled in fear of the idea.

"Nononononono !  THAT much sugar would kill anypony short of Pinkie Pie !  Or at least make them violently ill for a few days.

Hmmm - no.  The best way to get out of trouble is to avoid getting into it in the first place.

When you know it is going to rain, you pack an umbrella.

When you know it is going to get cold, you pack warm clothing.

And when you know there is a chance you'll encounter sticky sap, you coat your hooves with flour or dust or even mud ahead of time !  So the sap sticks to that instead of you !"

"You're going to make a mess of yourself willingly ?"

"It's much easier to get dust, flour or mud out of a coat than sap !" she replied inside her head as she rubbed mud halfway up her legs.  "That should be far enough - I'm not going to be shoulder tackling trees and bouncing off them like a pinball.

Well, at least I don't think I'll be ... I don't recall them growing rubber trees around here."

Then she got glum for a moment.  "But there is always the chance that Hou's magic altered the trees somehow when she powered up for that 'battle' to distract Sombra."

With that, she focused on the path ahead, trying to stay as far away from the trees as she could.  

Just in case ....
 

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                         

Apple Bloom ran well and true and fast as always, but she was coming down a little from that less than fully conscious mist that had aggrieved her none too much earlier. Truth teller that she wanted to be, a part of her would rather have been still lost in that fog. Now she had to deal with the onrushing fatigue that overran her sore muscles, the stings of pain where sharp and thin lines of blood drew against her coat due to the whipping branches from before, and the headache that boomed in her head. She'd rather the fog, yes. But she grit her teeth and endured because that's what she needed to do. She knew she couldn't win, so winning was no longer a priority. Finishing was, and finishing well. So her legs pumped even as she had to take heavier breaths and her head kept straight onto the path as she gamely made way for faster racers nipping at her heel like overhungry dogs.

 

But this stretch was easier than most. No great danger, nothing to make her worried or concerned, and no little nephew making her think like her big sister. It was a nice gallop through a pleasant part of the race and she was willing to take full advantage of it, you betcha. It was almost enough to forget that it was a hyper competitive event and almost enough to get her to focus entirely on the swiftly falling leaves that were the real cause of the event. If it wasn't for the Running of the Leaves than autumn would never come, and no autumn meant no winter which meant a really bad snowless Hearth's Warming and she rather enjoyed her snowed-in Hearth's Warming Eves. Let alone how that would throw Winter Wrap-Up into chaos!

 

She was examining the leaves so well that she almost stepped in a large pile of tree sap. Luckily, she saw it at the last moment and leaped over it, essentially pronking her way over it twice. She gave the sap a backwards glance. "Ha! Gotcha!" She said, not paying attention to where she was going. That proved to be a mistake. She pronked right into a tree, which ended up with her front half covered in sap, bark, and leaves as another bunch of leaves started to fall off the tree. She stumbled backwards and fell into the sap she had avoided before, just as the leaves from the tree fell on her, essentially covering her with leaves. She spit one leaf off of her mouth with great effort.
"Gotcha..." 

[Blueblood]

Berry Punch

Of course, it was bound to happen.  Berry, while enthusiastic and congenitally hardy, was no athlete, gifted with great dexterity and situational awareness.  She was just an average earth pony shopkeeper, out to knock the leaves down from trees, and leaves weren't the only thing the trees were shedding!  All it took was one hoof stepping into a sticky glob in the path to throw off her gait, cause her to trip, and eventually tumble head over heels into a pile of branches, bark, and future turpentine.

 

"WAAGH-  Oof!"  She cried out, wincing at the impact and dreading the eventual task of cleaning all this stuff out of her hide and mane.  Fortunately, she had several strong, handsome ponies around to help her out of this mess!  "Don't suppose I could trouble you two to help out- say, I think I see Applebloom now!  Seems she got stuck too."  As awkward as the situation had to be for little Bloom, Berry was actually relieved to see her caught and slowed.  Maybe this would allow others to talk some sense into the filly.

[PyroBlaze]

Well, so much for his warning. Oh well, it wasn’t really a big deal, and actually kinda funny when it was clear nobody got hurt. He chuckled slightly as he moved over to Berry and reached out with the branch he was carrying to help pull her out of the sap. 
 

“Here you go, Berry, grab on!” He said, bracing himself so he didn’t get thrown off balance when she was pulled out. When she was ready, he started to pull her out, being careful to not back up into another puddle. Once that was done with, he smiled at her and moved on to help pull Apple Bloom out too. He stopped near the younger pony, holding the stick out for her to grab. 
 

“Hey there. Looks like you could use some help, huh? Grab on if you want out of there.” Tiger smiled at her, getting ready to pull. 

[NiktoBarada]

TT trundled along, keeping a close eye on where she stepped, and what everyone else around her was doing.

She noticed a small group ahead of her, near a pile of leaves.   Berry Punch, Strong Copper, and Tiger Blood if she recalled correctly.  It appeared that Berry got stuck in some sap, but had two capable stallions helping her get out.

Then she took a closer look - that was no pile of leaves !  It was Apple Bloom in there !

"Berry Punch has two adults helping her out." she noted to herself, "Once she is free, Apple Bloom will have THREE adults to help her.
It looks like everything is under control here.  There is not much more help I could offer without either getting in the way or being sidelined and redundant."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay around and watch anyway ?" the Abomination offered, " There is a slight chance of an error chain, where one pony gets stuck trying to help another.  Then another pony gets stuck trying to help those two, and so on.  

It would be most comical if every pony in the race except you got stuck in the same pool of sap !"

She mused about that for a few moments as she trotted along, "That idea is as amusing as it is extremely unlikely.

 

Hmm - it looks like they got Berry loose.  All is as it should be.  More or less ...."
 

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                                     


Apple Bloom allowed herself to wallow in the sap of misery. It was an appropriate metaphor for the day. What had started off fun and a little exciting had ended up with her being hurt and not even close to winning, which was a double blow to the ego if she had anything to say about it. She had to admit it was a super disappointing first Running of the Leaves. That didn't mean she'd shy away from running again, though. An Apple didn't retreat from hardship. An Apple ran into, through, and over the challenges in their lives, not around them. Some called it stubborn but the Apples understood better than most that out there on the edge of civilization you had to be able to confront these problems and conquer them. Maybe that was naïve now that Ponyville was growing bigger and bigger. But it was part of her DNA.

 

Luckily, she didn't wallow alone nor have to wallow long until somecreature decided to lend her a hoof. Or in this case, a stick. Tiger Blood had done her a solid and stopped on by to help her out, not that she hadn't heard Berry Punch throw over the attention her direction. She was stubborn, sure. Maybe not as much as her sister but she would have liked to run through this obstacle on her lonesome. But that wasn't in the cards, and she was in the sap. The solution seemed simple enough to her. She pushed her head forward, as much as she could at least, and bit down on the stick. She couldn't move her arm to reach it and, well, her tail was a mess. This was as good as it was gonna get!

[StrongCopper]

Strong Copper

 

Unlike some, Strong Copper managed to avoid being sapped by nature as he trotted along, admiring the rare display of beauty that wasn't trying to maim and kill somepony for a change. Granted tree sap could be dangerous under the right circumstances, but he had been able to spy and avoid them easy enough, surely those who were running behind him in the herd could easily do so as well? Or at the very least, benefit from having somepony there to help pull you out if you got really stuck. 

 

In another life, where he had been closer to the middle of the pack of runners, he would have offered Apple Bloom a bit of magical assistance in order to get unstuck. Unfortunately, as far as he was aware he was one of the few outright leading the group, if not actually in first place. Considering that turning and looking behind yourself while moving at speed was generally a bad idea that he avoided (because running face first into a tree was not a fun experience for anyone), so he didn't see the hardships, trials and unity of the pony spirit that were happening back there. Instead, he just focused on keeping going, his muscles starting to ache but not as bad as they could have been. Turns out pacing yourself a little bit at times can pay off in the long run. Who knew?

[Skycoaster]

The way that 'Jade' chimed in made the bat start to doubt if the legend going back in his family was true, as his face went flush of color and he slowed as that information settled. It took a few moments to regain his senses as he quickly trotted back up to Berry and Tiger as the exited the dark woods. Now Midnight had a new problem to deal with...The sun. It was quite a bit brighter out here and his eyes took longer to adjust then he would have liked. "Ugh," he said as the turned his head away. "I'm going to have to catch up to you. I can't take this sun," as he used a wing to shade his eyes as he let Berry and Tiger go off ahead. 

 

His speed had effective been limited to a quick walk as he kept his head down. "We just had to be going the way with the sun in our..." he mumbled. With a heavy sigh, he would continue. "You just had to leave your sunglasses at the inn..." As the Bat Pony kept moving forward, his eyes had adjusted enough to see that there where puddles of something near the trees. He could smell the sweetness from the trees as well. "Maples..." he muttered as he kept walking, increasing his pace back to a trot.

 

Catching up to Berry, Tiger, and what appeared to be a living pile of leaves, he would waive, Squinting to make anything out. "Looks like you found some of our favorite snacks. Maple Sap is quite good tasting, and very sweet. Now Pine sap on the other off...."  As he continued towards them, still with his vision temporary compromised. He now smelt some of the very sap he mentioned. That stuff was like tar...

 

And Sap

 

Midnight's vision must not have returned to normal as much as he had wished as soon he found himself in a very large puddle of sap as well...and it seemed the trees over him was dripping it on his back and wings. "Sassafras," he muttered. He had to get out of this situation. Closing his eyes, he would swallow his pride...as well as some of the maple sap. He may have lost some of his dignity, but what else could he do. His wings where useless in their sticky state. At least it tasted good...minus the occasional leaf that he had to spit out. With the puddle down to almost ground level, he fought to get his front hooves free one by one. At least now he could try to pull himself out by grabbing the tree itself for leverage. Finally, with a deep sigh, he would call ahead to Tiger. "If your not to busy, I could use a little assistance please!"

[NiktoBarada]

"At least I'll be past these woods soon !" Tongue Twister noted nervously to herself as she quickly passed tree after tree leaking sap, "Then it's just a direct run back to Ponyville.

But then what ?

I still have expenses, so I need a job.  At least the Devil's Business Card enchantment dad placed should get the word out faster than paying for ads in most papers ever would.

Plus I'm still corrupted by Hou's magic.  And she's still out there.  Somewhere.

Need to deal with those.

What is that ancient curse ?  'May you live in interesting times.'

'Interesting times' would be more fun if there was a good chance of surviving them unaltered and intact !

Hmm - I wonder if any other museums need a linguistics expert ?  Or someone that knows about artifacts and antiquities ?

Hay - I'd even consider the SCP or the BPRD if nothing good comes up in a few months !"

She took a quick look behind her to see how Berry and Apple Bloom were doing.  Just in case.

 

It looked like another pony was stuck there now - the thestral Midnight Oil !

 

She trotted back to see if she could be of some help.

 

She recalled what the Abomination in her head stated : "It would be most comical if every pony in the race except you got stuck in the same pool of sap !"

She'd thought that would be unlikely.  Apparently she was wrong.

 

"We were not aware that sap could trap ponies in a chain." she stated as she approached Midnight Oil, "Need some help before this turns into the La Brera sap pit ?" 

[Blueblood]

Grabbing into Tiger's offered hoof, Beery managed to pull free of the mess that had caught her by the side of the road. Ruefully shaking her head, scattering some sticky twogs here and there, she quipped, "I feel like like such a sap for falling over like that, but that can't be helped. Come on, let's help get the others free!"

 

She helped little Applebloom first, maternal concern all over her face.  "The leaves will still fall if you take a breather, hon. Also, you better get that head of yours looked at after all this, ok?"

 

Moving on from her, she helped to extract Midnight, licking up, some of the sap in the process. "Hmm, that's a real sweet taste. The Maple sap ain't bad either!"  With a goggle and a wink, she went back to the path, picking up the pace to get free of the woods!

[PyroBlaze]

With Apple Bloom prepared, and Berry helping out, Tiger pulled on the branch and eventually freed the young pony. He gave her a smile and nod before following Berry back to help Midnight out. He couldn’t resist following Berry’s lead and licking some of the sap off of the aerion. 
 

“You’re right, Berry, that does taste pretty good.” He added, winking at Midnight before heading off to catch up with Berry. “Not to be sappy or anything, but I’m glad I met you all.” He added, chuckling at his little pun. This had been quite the fun experience, and now they were all free from the sap! Sure, it would’ve made winning more likely if he left them there, but that’d take all the fun out of it. Plus, he wasn’t even actually trying to win at this point, he was more interested in socializing while they ran. 

[NiktoBarada]

Since her help was not required, Tongue Twister turned back to the race, trotting along a shade faster than usual to make up some time lost from attempting to be helpful.

"It appears my social invisibility talent is kicking in again !" she noted to herself, "You'd think that would be a key skill for espionage or investigative work - but only if ponies KNOW you have that talent !

The best spies are known only by their results, not their names or faces.

And if they do things right, nopony could even be sure the spy did anything at all.  Or was even there in the first place."

She was struck by the sheer absurdity of it : if all your work is secret, you have NOTHING to put on a resume !  Thus everyone will assume you've done nothing, or ARE nothing.

If you save the universe in secret, everypony will assume you're a good for nothing layabout, because OBVIOUSLY you've never done anything anyone has ever noticed.

"Well, might as well get in a little linguistic practice to stay sharp ...

Which language to try ?  Oh, I know !  Why not a medley ?"

So she trots along, singing Let It Go (Frozen) - in 25 languages.
 

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Pinkie bounced her way into the woods. Leaves were falling from the trees thanks to all those pounding hooves up ahead of her! One particular leaf caught on the head of a certain gator as the Pink bounded on. 

 

"Nice hat you got there guy?" She giggled as the gator dangled on her mane to a level where she could see him. "Looking really festive!"

 

The gator just hung there by his claws until the leaf blew off and he sprung himself back up onto the top of the pony's poofy head.

 

"Hang on gummy...we got...a sticky situation up ahead!"

 

Pinkie started trying to avoid puddles of sap. It was flowing from some of the trees and was making the trail a little less than easy to follow...

 

Would she get stuck? Time would tell...

[Skycoaster]

 

Midnight would smile at the mare whom tried to assist him, however it seemed that Tiger and to an extent, Berry had it under control, pulling the bat stallion out of the sap. Being licked, he would blush, however would attempt to return a lick to Miss Punch as well. "Same back at you," before looking to Tiger. "I don't think I need to know what Tigers taste like," he laughed. "You know, sap is mother nature's energy drink. Full of natural sugars and sweet...though sticky." He would try to stretch his wing, but to no avail. "I think we're all going to need hot showers after this..."

 

As he looked forward to see the filly back on the trail, he would smile. "It's good to see that you got Apple Bloom back on the straight and narrow...though I do worry about her little brother was it? Hopefully nothing happened to the little pegasus ether...especially if he was as hard headed as the other Apple."

 

Looking ahead, he saw that the caped mare had moved on forward. "If you'll excuse me, I have to thank that mare for offering assistance as well. Don't worry, I'll catch you guys by the finish line for that shower...." he winked before trotting ahead to catch Tongue Twister.

 

"Thanks for offering assistance back there. I don't think I caught your name earlier. I'm Midnight Oil. It seems that Jade has run off ahead and Berry has Tiger to keep her company," he said giving a friendly smile. "You look like you could use a running mate for company," as he picked up his pace a bit to a slow gallop. "As I've found out, the Running of the leaves isn't so much about winning, as it is making friends, and of course knocking down the leaves." Looking her over, he would pause. "It's a tad warm still for a cloak, isn't it? Perhaps that's just me though. My line of Aerions has thick coats." Not wanting to pry too much however, he would shift subjects, as well as his speed. We're almost back to Ponyville. Time to use up some of that energy that us moderate pace ponies have been saving, right?"

[NiktoBarada]

Quote

 

 

"Thanks for offering assistance back there. I don't think I caught your name earlier. I'm Midnight Oil. It seems that Jade has run off ahead and Berry has Tiger to keep her company," he said giving a friendly smile. "You look like you could use a running mate for company," as he picked up his pace a bit to a slow gallop.

 

Tongue Twister looked to the aerion stallion and gave him a slight nod.

 

"Our name is Tongue Twister." she stated, "And some company is always preferable."

 

"It's a tad warm still for a cloak, isn't it? Perhaps that's just me though. My line of Aerions has thick coats." 

 

TT briefly frowned.  "We had a very - unpleasant - interaction with an ancient evil sorceress recently.  Our wings were altered.  We thought to prevent a scene by keeping them covered."

 

She thought for a moment.  "Your line of Aerions has thick coats ?  Does that mean you have a family with similar thick coats ?"

 

We're almost back to Ponyville. Time to use up some of that energy that us moderate pace ponies have been saving, right?"

 

TT smirked.  "Most definitely !"