Jump to content

Stage Seven: Ponyville, The Home Stretch! One Last Push, Everycreature!


Recommended Posts

Stage 7- Ponyville, The Home Stretch
 

After quite the journey and race, the racers can nearly taste the finish line. Friends, family, and fans line the home stretch, cheering for somecreature as everycreature has something to root for. Buoyed by this adulation, the racers prepare themselves for a mad scramble for the finish line.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strong Copper

 

The whole point of pacing oneself throughout the race had been to avoid tiring out. After all, if you needed to stop and catch your breath because your body was screeching at you, then you likely weren't going to be first over the finish line. Now that the end was within sight, Strong Copper lowered his head and abandoned all pretense of reservation as he took off at an outright gallop. Yes, the strain of the race was starting to make itself known, but seeing the end in sight was wonderful motivator... and unlike some who were less conservative with their energy, he had taken it easy at certain parts of the Run in order to be in top shape for this final push.

 

He couldn't help but suspect those who had tried to gain an early advantage by going all out during that calm, peaceful section of the trail were almost certainly regretting the decision by now. Then again... this was a remarkably long race and he suspected he was going to be taking the next day off in order to recover.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was about time we saw the end! Ponyvill was coming back in to view and by the gods she was tired from all this running, rock dodging and rushing over flooding rivers. What she needed was a toasty fireplace and some Hot coco with her friend. That was a mare. A mare friend. But not like that! Maybe? Ok maybe they were. Well whatever it was, Temy was ready to lay down and get snuggles from her Glitter. But first she had to be done with this race! Hopefully she did not fall too far behind, she got rather sidetracked back in the woods and lost her way. Not her fault, she found a cool old shed that needed exploring…

 

But with a clean path ahead with no danger it was her last shot as pulling ahead and win something. She had a feeling she was going to lose again. But that need to win at the start of the race was less pushing now. She just wanted to be done with this in truth. Maybe she was just getting too old for this nonsense.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Berry Punch

 

Once the pack began to pull out of the Whitetail Woods, Berry Punch was surprised to find herself near the front.  She hadn't entered the race with any intention to take home a medal, though other ponies were a different story!  Still, whether it was choosing to stick to safe and steady paths, or the buoying by her fellow runners, she was just behind Strong Copper, who himself was trailing the front-runner.  *Might just be plain earth pony endurance.  Still, I should probably take up running as a regular thing; help keep this figure nice and attractive!*

 

Speaking of which, she shot a glance back over her shoulder at the particular ponies who she had attracted over the course of the race.  The exotically handsome Tiger Blood, the fuzzy bat Midnight, and the mysterious Jade Beaker.  All who were invited to chill and cool down at her wine/juice bar later in the day.  Though, after their sappy detour, several of them would need a shower first!  "Come on, slowpokes, you don't miss me at the finish line, right?"  She called back, laughing, shaking a burgundy tail at her followers as enticement as they all came into the home stretch,

  • Like 4
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would a lie to say that Hou wasn't slightly infuriated that Apple Bloom...SIMPLY WASN'T IN THE FOREST!!!

 

 

 

.....That said it would be a lie to also say that her time spent there was a wast either....for what she found quickly turned 'Jade Beaker' frown back into radiant smile.

 

Just as Ponyville rooftops stared to become visible, a sound in-between roar and a loud hiss could be heard behind everpony. It couldn't have come from a mammalian throat....

Gaining ground, 'Jade' once again closed on her competitors.....an following her, was twelve ton predator!

 

Those who had some knowledge about various monsters and beasts could quickly identify it as a wyvern - a very distant cousin of dragons, a genus that instead of developing sentience , evolved various venoms. But this wyvern was unlike one even those in the know recognize - forest green with a tiger like strips running along it's body. Despite being a winged beast, it obediently followed sorceress on foot. It even had a leash! And ribbon!  Apparently all that time, she spent taming this monster.

 

"Sorry it took me so long. But look what I found!" 'Beaker' greet her companions, clearly very pleased with herself. She wandered off to find a kind, and instead came out with true lazarus taxon! And this supposedly extinct species produced not one but TWO potent venom's!...Which until now, couldn't be obtained anymore! Shuren couldn't help but be excited at all potential research that awaited her back in Wūyún!

  • Like 2
  • Surprised 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Off in the distance, Tongue Twister could see the crowds gathered near the finish line.

 

She started galloping at full speed.  True, she couldn't maintain that pace for very long; but, then again, SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO !

 

She was up to full speed when she heard a roaring hiss from somewhere behind her.  She was so startled she leapt straight up and just managed to NOT run off in a random direction in a blind panic.

 

She took a quick look behind to see what made that racket - it appeared to be a very large creature that sort of looked like a green dragon with darker stripes.

 

"I don't recall any of Dragon Lord Ember's subjects entering this race." she noted to herself, "And none of them would ALLOW any creature to keep them on a leash like that without the Dragon Lord's command !"

 

She took a closer look.  Instead of having two arms, two legs and two wings like all other flying dragons, that beast just had two legs, with wings being formed from the arms.  And from the look in its eyes, it seemed to lack anything resembling intelligence, replacing it with pure animal cunning

.

She tried to recall some of the texts in "Obscure Beasts That Might Eat Ye" that she'd translated from Ancient Ponish for the museum years ago.

 

"Holy crud ! That creature is a wyvern !" she recalled, "A very distant cousin to dragons.  Not much known about them for certain in the usual academic circles - short of 'can eat ponies in one bite', no two accounts agree.

...


Wait - did Jade find that thing in the dark forest under the Roundbottom Hills ?


DANG !  Now I'm really glad I took the longer 'over-the-hills' route !


Going to be a real hoot if she shows up in town with THAT thing in tow."
 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tiger was running a bit behind Berry and another stallion at this point, but he didn’t really mind. It was quite the nice view after all, and he was happy to watch those flanks ahead of him. He caught Berry looking back at him, and he winked at her before her gaze moved on. He was really looking forward to later when he was going to meet up with Berry, Midnight, and Jade. They were going to have so much fun together, he could tell. 
 

And then Jade arrived on the scene with her new pet. Tiger blinked a bit as he looked back at her, then turned his gaze forward and sped up to stay ahead of the creature. He didn’t want to deal with that right now, he had no reason to doubt Jade’s taming skills, but she hadn’t been alone with that thing all that long. The fact it looked like some kind of dragon was even more worrying, but he supposed he’d deal with it once they arrived at the finish line. For now, he kept running and kept his eyes on the prize. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strong Copper

 

There was very little that would have made Strong Copper look behind him under the circumstances. The monstrous mixture of roar and hiss coming from behind was one of the few exceptions to that rule. Risking a glance over his shoulder more out of instinct then an actual thought out decision, the source of the noise was quickly discovered because one kind of had to be actively trying to pretend the bloody wyvern wasn't there to miss it!

 

Granted, Copper had never had the pleasure of traveling out to the dragon lands and seeing one in the scales before. Back when he was a little colt, he had been obsessed with dragons because... well, dragons were awesome! (and even through time and experience had lessened the obsession, he would still happily fight someone over it). Granted, there hadn't been a lot of research material on dragons back in those days because it turned out that most pony researchers were cowards when it came to situations where they could possibly be hurt, but the stuff that had been there had recognized the relationship between dragon and wyvern and thus most credible sources tended to include both... if only to compare the two.

 

 Granted this subspecies of Wyvern was new to him and it seemed that one of the other racers had... 'tamed' it... including a leash and ribbon of all things. It didn't seem like it was about to go on a rampage and thus Copper could continue focusing on the race as he swung his head forward and kicked things into high gear because nothing got the heart pumping like having a very dangerous and questionably tamed creature moving at speed behind you while his mind focused on a very important thing that he needed to do after the race was over: Whomever had been in charge of mapping out and ensuring the route for the Running was safe was going to receive a savage beating. He was not a violent unicorn at heart, but missing a freaking wyvern of all things could have gotten ponies killed! For all he knew the young colt was dead because he hadn't seen him for a while! All he could hope for was that one of his parents had caught wind he was running and had swooped down to grab him earlier on before he got hurt.

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was rare that Tongue Twister ran full out.


For raw speed, she preferred to fly.  But THAT was out of the question for the foreseeable future, for Hou's corruption had converted her wings into alchemic mercury.


They were far heavier than her normal flesh and blood wings, and she couldn't properly feel the currents of mana that enabled pegasi to fly.


Before, she could 'read' the patterns like a book; but now, the conductive mercury blurred the currents, and she couldn't tell if she was dealing with the sensory details between a doctoral dissertation or a foal's coloring book.  As a result, she couldn't get any lift at all.


So she had to run.  No reason not to do so as fast as she could.


"Really need to see how fast and how far I can run now, since I might be doing it much more often." she muttered to herself, trying to enjoy the feel of the wind rushing past her.


Her eyes turned red on black, with a vertical slit pupil as time seemed to slow down.


 

Spoiler

 

"You know, if you fused us back together, we would probably have useful wings again." the Abomination suggested, "So why keep up this ridiculous resistance ?


It's a farce !  I can feel your rage at your diminished condition.


Why be the universe's chew toy, when I can not only return you to what you once were, we can be greater than you can imagine !"


"Fuse together and become YOUR plaything ?  No to that." she replied, "Besides, if you had the ability to restore my flight, you would've done so already.  Just for a few minutes to give me a taste.  THEN bargained.


I am my father's daughter.  And he's a con artist that once sold counterfeit tea.


So you're going to need to come up with something actually convincing to get anywhere.


And one of my jobs was translating foreign comic books.  So my imagination is probably greater than what I am allowing you to know."

 



With a shake of her head, she returned to normal, still running all out towards the finish line.


She looked around, and seemed to be alone.


"Wait - am I in the lead or something ?"
 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Midnight would smile to Tongue Twister. "Yep, all my family is a fluffy, though not as sticky," as he joked about the sap in his coat, though he was still confused about her using the royal 'We' in her speech. None the less, it was time to use the energy that he had saved. Squinting, he could see a few of his fellow guards in the stands, snickering from a distance. Now was the time to prove himself.

 

As the bat pony prepared to give this last leg of the race his all, he heard a familiar voice behind him. Turning his head to look, it would appear that she was not alone. The creature that Jade found in those dark woods..it gave him a chill up his back. She even had it wearing a ribbon and on a leash. "Cool discovery," he would yell back at her. "Now then, lets see if you can catch and tame this pet..." well that came out wrong as he tried to flirt from a distance. None the less, he had a race to finish and the sight of Berry in front of him was a rather enjoyably view.

 

Midnight would give it his all, lowering his head as he picked up speed, his hooves kicking up dust behind him as each step of his gallop brought him closer to his friends. His breathing would grow more labored, though he still had more to give. His hadn't pushed himself this hard since basic training, and even since then he had grown stronger. Winning the race wasn't the main goal for Midnight, as all he wanted to do was finish near his new friends, though it wasn't off the table. He still had a bit more to give. Even completing this race should be enough to prove himself in front of the other guards, but getting a kiss from a pretty mare in front of them would be the icing on the Celestia sized cake.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Berry Punch

A louder-than-usual series of crashes and thumps prompted Berry to shoot another look back over her shoulder, meeting the pleasant sight of Jade Beaker... and the much less pleasant sight of her new pet.  "What the buck!?"  As much as she thought she was used to Ponyville Weirdness (TM), a pony trying to tame a wyvern was just on the far side of what Berry Punch was willing to deal with.  Heck, not even Fluttershy would let one of those hang around the cottage.  Sure, she'd probably still do medical work for one, but she wouldn't try to bring one home.

 

"That... thing, is not going inside my house!"  She shot back at the unicorn, suddenly much more motivated to put some distance between her and the poison lizard.  Perhaps that burst of speed would be enough to take home the prize, though right now she was more motivated by what she didn't want to bring home.  Which would include Jade if she kept up these shenanigans!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strong Copper

 

His personal anger at whoever had been in charge of scouting out the course and completely justified fears that the lack of some ponies in sight was a grim omen of sorts aside, Strong Copper had two things on his mind that he was going to have to focus on for the near future. The first was attempting to win the race itself; He had come this far and was in good condition, he was going to bucking try and get the gold on this one! The second and more important one was what tactics and spells to make use of once the wyvern neared the crowd at the finish line... and possibly for the mare herself.

 

There was no way in tartarus that wyvern was tame. One had to have a pretty strong talent with animals to even attempt such a feat and even then, it would be a timely endeavor. Even then, actually having a strong enough relationship with a wyvern for it to willingly let somepony put a leash on it and lead it around would be the magnum opus of a lifetime of hard work... and likely would require starting from the wyvern hatching. What Strong Copper was witnessing was mind magic; The only way that somepony would be able to 'tame' an adult wyvern for any length of time in minutes would be to use magic to dominate its mind. The fact that the mare seemed to know that kind of magic at all was a major red flag in Copper's head, but there were other concerns.

 

Most animals didn't think in a sapient manner... at least not in a way recognized by species who had sapience. They were instead largely driven by instinct and experience. While the mare might have believed herself currently in control of her new 'pet', in her arrogance she was forcing the wyvern to go against its instincts... and she was about to bring it into the middle of a crowd that its instinct and experience would likely be screaming at it 'food' or 'threat'. Sooner or later, the fight or flight drive would grow too strong for her to maintain control... and that's assuming her control didn't slip first. A confused wyvern would likely respond to the situation with anger and... well, things would get messy in a hurry if that happened. 

 

Of course, if she was able to maintain control throughout the situation... while upfront that would be a less terrible thing to happen, Copper couldn't help but shudder slightly mid gallop. Because if she could dominate a wyvern for a long period of time while actively forcing it to do things against its interests and instincts... she was a lot more powerful and dangerous then she appeared. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Man, it was times like this that he wished he could take his spear everywhere. He had left it at home though, since there was no real reason to take it with him. It would have made running the race harder for one, plus there had been no reason to think things would end up like this with the whole group running away from Jade and her new ‘pet.’ 
 

For now, Tiger was truly going all out as he ran towards the finish, hoping there was something back there he could use as a weapon if the need arose. Of course, he more hoped he wouldn’t need to use any weapons right now, but he wouldn’t be a very good guard or warrior if he wasn’t ready for the possibility anyways. He had to get there first in any case, so he tried to focus on the finish line, running full-tilt towards it. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Right?!" 'Jade answered Midnight, barely suppressing an excited giggle. She always had affinity for reptiles, and it's been a long while since she had a pet. If anyone would asked her, she would take beast with her, even if it wasn't Forest Stripped-Stingertail.....

 

"Ohhh I think you challenged the wrong mare Hoofsome!" unicorn answered. "When I put my mind to it.There's Nothing. I.Can't. CATCH!" 'Beaker' proudly proclaimed before addressing her new pet. "Come, Flappy!" sorceress encouraged the creature.

 

And the wyvern...the twelve ton wyvern had nuzzled her! While also speeding up. hose taming skills of hers! It's like magic!

 

 

 

Well, actually it WAS magic, but anypony looking for dark arts, would come out empty. Hou just found a way to use her new acquisition....

 

While she was still far off from reading memories of others, and she couldn't erase existing ones at all, Remembrance Stone allowed her to make NEW ones from scratch. Like cramming a whole lifetime of experiences into this wyvern's head. Rising him from the egg etc. Becoming something in-between it's mother and bestest of friends....

Of course it still wasn't perfect. If she s tried to do the same to a sapient being right now, it would be full of whole....resulting in the end in tear-stained berserk rage. Probably. But for reptiles like this one? Worked like a charm. As a plus, it made him more docile...unless she decided otherwise.

 

Speaking of alternative's, Berry took an offense to Flappy's presence. Silly mare!

"Oh don't be ridiculous Berry! Flappy wouldn't fit through your door anyway! I just rent a stable or a barn.....before buying him whole lot of fish and chickens that is!" eastern mare shouted back a simple solution for this Punch's objection's.

 

Coming back with giant wywevrn in tow also served as a distraction from how simply non-tired Hou was. While everypony else were panting and struggling to reach finish line first, 'Jade' looked like she took a pleasant jog

....Well distracting almost anyone. The Ponyville Major candidate looked at her really suspiciously. But it wasn't really an issue, was it? She just had to tell him to mind his own business.

 

And if he turns.... persistent? Well....Hou wasn't know to be snake-tongued for nothing. It wouldn't be a first pony she left a nervousness wreck after a few harsh words.... She had centuries to practice this craft...

 

"♪....Straddle the line in discord and rhyme, I'm on the hunt, I'm after you! ♪" 'Jade' sung along, while gazing at Midnight and Berry....

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tongue Twister was galloping along, actually enjoying the feel of running without a cipactli (or some other temple guardian critter) chasing after her.


She risked a quick look back - Jade's wyvern was merely running alongside her like a loyal pet, instead of pursuing the other racers.


"This ...  will not end well." she noted to herself as she refocused on the race.


"What is the point of this ?" the Abomination inquired, "You are not a Ponyville resident.  You don't know anyone here.  So there is no one cheering for you, so why go all out to win a pointless race ?"


"I don't like half-measures." she replied, "Do, or do not.  There is no try."


"It is still pointless."


"So ?  Ultimately, all of life and all of existence are pointless.  From nothing all arose; TO nothing all shall return.  There is no meaning to any of it, save what we give it.
Which means we should wring out what enjoyment we can during our allotted time !


So I am giving this race my all BECAUSE I WANT TO !"


"....


Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhkay.  I'll - just go back to lurking deep in your subconscious for a bit then."


"Good !  I have a race to finish !" she replied as he headed for the finish line.

 

Musical Interlude, "Final Countdown", symphonic !

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

image.png

 

Pinkie bounded down the road, the spring very much still in her step. Even after all the dangers and adventures of this year's ROTL she still had energy without bounds! Nothing, it seemed, could keep the number one party pony down!

 

Gummy clung doggedly on, his purple eyes unblinking and fixed on that sweet sweet finish line. Once they crossed it he could get back to his kitchen. The gator had plans to make some brownies later today. 

 

"Aw! Its almost over!" She frowned largely, but then flipped it back to a grin. "At least new friends were made!" She spoke fondly of Copper. Even though they'd only had a few words, Pinkie of course had him checked off her friend list!

 

She waved left and right, calling hellos to everypony she could meet eyes with! 

 

"Hee hee!!!" She loved this! The finish line was just another in her long lines of parties!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...