Section 1 - The Starting Line

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Stretching. Stretching was something Ginger Mint was good at. She took her time, elaborating on her usual morning routine with some extra flourishes and a smile, enjoying the gentle tugging feeling in her joints.

If I'm going to make a foal of myself here, its not going to be because I cramped up.

She was enjoying the sights and more importantly the smells. She loved the smell of dry leaves, and her mind wandered, trying to imagine what they all must taste like. Better in her mind than in reality she knew, but perhaps they'd work as a seasoning in some larger dish.

She could feel that the crisp cool air that had invigorated her earlier this morning was slowing being replaced by a none too unpleasant warm breeze.

At least, not too unpleasant until the race begins.

Not nervous, that wasn't the right word. Nervous means being uncertain, and Ginger Mint was certain this would not be a particularly pleasant experience. That thought hadn't stopped her from trotting up to the sign-in booth and letting the race coordinator plaster a big 47 on her flank. She said she would, so she couldn't very well back out now, even though she hadn't realized what she was getting herself into at the time.

Milling about the starting area, she thought back to the circumstances that got her into this mess in the first place. She'd been passing through Ponyville on her way back to Fillydelphia and stopped at some place called Sugar-cube Corner for breakfast. The food certainly lived up to the hype, and while it was a little on the sweet side for her tastes, with a name like Sugar-cube Corner it was to be expected really.

While she was eating breakfast she had struck up a conversation with a few of the locals, or at least she had assumed the were locals at the time, and they had convinced her to come to the race.

"Its amazing!" They'd said, "It only happens once a year! If you've never been before, you really should give it a try."

It was a compelling argument, and even though she had been expecting to spectate, somewhere in the corner of her mind that little bit of logic kept her moving forward. Ponies in Fillydelphia had their own running of the leaves of course, but in the middle of the Saddleveil plains, with scarcely a tree in sight except for public parks and the scattered copse, the event wasn't nearly of the same calibre.

But the real kicker was that she couldn't even find the ponies that had talked her into this. Sure, the starting area was packed with ponies and other creatures making it a difficult task, but she was certain she'd recognize their faces, if only because she couldn't remember what they'd said their names were. Had she really been so tired that she forgot to get their names?

Suddenly, there was a tingle in the air, she could feel it like a gathering storm, like a spark of magic. There was a certain tension in the air as the contestants started to gather in their places at the starting line and Ginger Mint followed suit.

"On your marks!"

Stepping up to the starting line, Ginger Mint stood firm. One last look from side to side, drinking in the expressions of her competition. What a diverse group!

"Get set!"

She crouched down. Her form was rusty, but she hadn't forgotten it completely. Joints bent, but loose. Eyes straight ahead.

"Go!!!!!!"

She missed a beat! Springing into action an entire step behind the front runners, she squinted her eyes as she ran through a cloud of thick dust. At least a cloud of dust was preferable to patches of mud.

As she galloped past the cloud of dust, she opened her eyes and took stock of her situation, in spite of her mothers old advice. She hadn't expected to win, but now she knew it wasn't even going to be anything in a realm that could be even remotely considered close. She was giving an honest effort, but she was already lagging behind the herd. From the looks of it, most of them weren't even pushing themselves and she still couldn't keep up.

At least there were a hoof full of contestants that she'd pulled ahead of that didn't seem very enthusiastic about the race in general.

Just great, I'll be able to proudly beat a bunch of ponies who weren't even trying, mom'd be proud.

Mom... that thought brought with it a flood of memories.

Sitting in the stands, paying more attention to the setting sun than the racers on the track below. Her mother always did well at the races, and she has a box of medals sitting in the attic somewhere to prove it, but for Ginger Mint, it was never very exciting. It was just the way things were.

"Always know your limits," her mother would say, "have confidence in yourself. A good racer doesn't need to gauge herself against the competition to know she is setting the right pace."

It had been advice on racing given to her as a filly, and she had managed to take it to heart in other aspects of her life, but she wasn't a racer and she couldn't really tell whether or not she was pushing herself too hard. All she knew was that the front runners had left her in the dust.

She wondered what Mom and Dad were up to, she'd been away from Fillydelphia for almost a week now. She closed her eyes for a moment and banished the thought, any more of that and she'd start making herself homesick again. And as if trying to leave those thoughts behind, she felt herself pour on just a little more speed, hoping she wouldn't regret it later.

[Boss_Hoss1]

(OOC; since we can do more than one post, and Shanna just HAS to react to something that just happened... :wink: Thoughts are marked with * * )

Shanna was thundering along at a steady pace, amazed at the tingly thrum of.. magic? among the vibration of hooves. * Is it generated by the herd of runners? It almost feels like what we pegasi do when we shape the weather. Can it be the earth ponies make the leaves fall with magic? *

She was suddenly shaken from her thoughts as something huge and white galloped up alongside her, bulling ponies aside, and then pulled up ahead of her. His tail practically tickling her nose.

* Oh No! It cant' be! *

She peered around the jiggling rump at it's owner and her face turned pale when it was confirmed. She yelped "DUSTY!?!"

Shanna nearly stumbled but got back in step as her mind raced faster in worry * ...Ohmygosh!Ohmygosh!Ohmygosh!... *

As she fought to control her heartbeat and keep her wings closed, she suddenly noticed she was not getting *ahem* the best view in the world due to his greater height. She blushed a bright red and zipped off to the side "Errr, ahh e-excuse me!..."

Shanna hoped Dusty would get more interested in the race as she put on a little more speed, only managing to pull up even. Drat! Her only hope now was to lose herself in the herd...

----------------------------

Up above, her spectator brother looked down. His face turned white, then an angry red as his wings buzzed steadily, pushing his puff of cloud around. "Oh Luna! How did HE get in there? Oh yeah, train pullers are endurance runners! Why wouldn't they try this race? Well, at least I'm here to make sure he don't try anything funny..."

[Inkwell]

"You sure you don't wanna join me?" Rose asked, limbering up her legs and stretching out her haunches. Thankfully she and Inkwell stood at the edge of the pack, giving her plenty of space to stretch and giving him an easy escape from the ensuing stampede.

Inkwell took a nervous step back and shrugged, using his magic to push his glasses back up his muzzle. "Sorry, but I'm not really a very physical pony, you know. Besides, I'd much rather draw the race from the outside." He looks around at the other competitors, craning his neck around to get a better look. All of the prospective marathoners formed a pleasant spectrum of colors, and if he wasn't mistaken, he spotted a diamond dog and a griffon! "Ooh, do you see them?" he asked, pointing a hoof. "I didn't know there were non-ponies competing!" He tilted his head and peered at the griffon. "I think I've seen her before, actually."

"Cool, maybe you'll get another chance to talk to her after the race!" Rose replied. She stretched down, putting her head between her forelegs and pushing out her flanks. Her orchid-and-scroll cutie marks were covered with the number 19, affixed to her with spirit gum. She smiled and took a look around at the other competitors. Some looked nervous, others looked as confident as her, and a few more looked somewhat apathetic. "So, how do my odds look, Inky?"

He looked down at the ground and tried to think about that question. "Well, I dunno, Rose, a lot of these ponies look like they're in great shape."

"And I'm not?"

"Nonononono, you are," Inkwell said, holding his front hooves up and shaking his head. "But there's a difference between thirty minutes of cardio a day and seriously training for a marathon. I mean, take a look at Applejack there!" He pointed at the Stetson-wearing farm filly, who looked like the most serious competitor.

Rose nodded and let her gaze linger on AJ as well. "Yeah, she's pretty ripped, alright," Rose said. "But I hear she's had pretty bad luck when it comes to this race. Didn't she come in last place last year?"

"Well, it was a tie, but yeah. I don't think it'll happen again, though. You might have to settle for losing to her, Rose."

"Eh, whatever," she replied, starting her stretching cycle over again. "As long as I break into the top ten, it'll make the trip worth it."

"Hey!"

"Oh hush, Inky, you know I'm kidding."

"On your marks!"

Rose snapped to attention when the announcer made herself known. She snorted and scraped her hooves into the ground, preparing to take off like a rocket. Inkwell took this as his cue to back off and join the spectators.

"Get set!"

"Good luck, Rose!" he called from the stands, waving energetically. In response, she gave him a brief wink. She barely heard the bubbly, over-excited voice of the eccentric pink pony she'd met upon her arrival calling out to her freckled friend. How would she do in this race, Rose won-

"Go!!!!!!!"

Rose took off at a gallop, swerving around the ponies in front of her. She was just about to reach the front of the pack when she felt the thud of hooves pushing down on her back, slamming her into the ground. "Rose!" Inkwell cried out in worry, only for Rose to get right back up.

She started running again almost immediately, eyes darting around for the culprit who pushed her down. Over the mass of racers stampeding down the track, she couldn't miss Pinkie Pie bouncing around her fellow racers happily and without a care in the world. "Ngh... dammit, Pinkie," she muttered under her breath, still feeling the soreness of Pinkie's hooves on her back.

Whatever, it wasn't her fault. All Rose knew was that she was near the rear of the pack now, and she'd have to work hard to catch up with them sooner or later.

Inkwell watched her retreat into the distance. He loudly exhaled after she left, and decided to look around the bleachers. That's when he saw a small group of ponies crowded around a magical window, watching the race from afar. "Oh wow, a scrying portal!" he said, making his way up to them to get a closer look.

[Corsair]

Corsair surveyed the starting line of the race. Ponies all along the line were stretching and limbering up their legs, a sensible precaution before a run of this length. He was doing the same, but he was focusing on his wings. He was going to be spending the day above the Whitetail Woods, not down in it.

Corsair would have liked to participate in the Running of the Leaves. He'd not done much racing on the ground, but felt it would have been a fun challenge. Today, though, he had a job to do. He'd been hired to officiate over the race, making sure ponies kept to the rules. He'd heard about last year's race; how a pair of mares had brought some personal grudge match into the competition, and had begun fighting and cheating each other along the track. Thankfully, neither of the cheaters had won, but Corsair was determined that nothing like that would happen on his watch.

As the time for the start of the race approached, Corsair adjusted the black and white striped cap he was wearing and took to the air. He looked down on the assembled ponies who were gathered in small groups behind the starting line. There were more pegusii than he'd expected in the groups. The challenge of a ground race must have appealed to more fliers than just himself. He also noticed... was that a gryphon? What was SHE doing in this race? He knew that gryphons were predatory and aggressive by nature. The pegasus had a feeling he'd have to keep a close eye on her. He then spotted another non-pony shape. It looked like a large dog of some kind, but he, too, wore the number of a competitor. This was looking like it was going to be an... unusual race to say the least.

"On your marks!"

Corsair quickly adjusted his position to watch the whole starting line. The ponies... the competitors below began to tense for the start.

"Get set!"

Most of the competitors dropped into a crouch, but there were several ponies who seemed distracted and did not seem aware of the starter's calls. Corsair reminded himself that these were not the professional racers he was used to, but he worried that somepony was going to get hurt if...

"Go!!!!!!"

And the racers were off, but not without some incidents. A pink earthpony with an unusual bouncing run had actually leaped onto the back of another pony, but continued on her way. Corsair descended to check on the unicorn that had been knocked down, but she had already gotten back on her hooves and began running. The pink mare was already bouncing away. He'd have to keep an eye on that pony as well. The pegasus began beating his wings to keep up with the pack. This was going to be a long day...

[CircePonyDemigoddess]

[OOC: Squee, so excited! My very first RP event!]

"Ah, it's nice to get some time away from the cafe for a little while."

Savory Spell stood at the painted starting line with dozens upon dozens of other ponies of all types, earth, pegasi, unicorns like herself, and even a few different creatures. Her tail swished with excitement as she gazed at the big black 24 taped around her abdomen. She was feeling pretty confident since 24 was her favorite number and she was wearing her lucky apron, which was embroidered with her cutie mark. Granted, Savory wasn't much of a galloper, but she had heard from several of her customers about last year's spat between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, so she decided to give it a try this year, hoping that she would see something interesting occur this time as well. She had also baked some healthy carrot and walnut muffins for the intermissions during the race last night for the competitors, because what good is running without carbohydrates? The smell coming off her cart sitting on the sidelines caused her own stomach to let out a tiny growl, making her blush lightly.

"Hee hee...I hope no one else heard that."

Hearing an announcement coming from somewhere above her, Savory tilted her head up and spotted an elaborate hot air balloon floating lazily in the bright blue sky. She had never seen one before, and the sight fascinated her, so much so that her mind drifted off in yet another daydream, the race already seeming miles away.

Savory stood on her hind legs, her front hooves resting on the side of the woven basket as the balloon glided over several trees and a small creek. Her eyes were wide with amazement as she took in the scenery, when a figure came over and tapped her on the shoulder [or whatever the word is for horses' shoulders].

"So, how do you like the view, Savory?" The figure said, smiling at her innocent demeanor.

"Oh -blank-, I just love it," Savory replied, the joy she was feeling apparent in her voice. "I never imagined that I would be able to fly without wings. Thank you so much for doing this."

"Please, I was more than happy to do it." The figure said, walking up next to her. "Besides, I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else."

Savory blushed as the figure drew closer to her. "Well...I-I..."

"On your marks..."

The figure placed a claw to her lips to quiet her. "My beautiful mare..."

"Get set..."

Savory's eyes fluttered shut as she leaned forward toward him. Just a few more inches...

"Go!!"

Savory let out a yelp as she snapped out of her dream and bolted out from the starting line onto the dirt path in front of her, almost skirting a few ponies before finally focusing on the run ahead.

"Ugh...a fine time to have a daydream, even if it was pretty good." Blushing and smiling to herself, Savory continued to gallop forward, leaving the spectators and her muffin cart far behind.

[WillowWisp]

Number 13? Of course she had number 13. It seemed fitting enough for a spooky pony to have a number most considered bad. Willow Wisp really wasn't into racing, but this was Ponyville's fall tradition. She much rather have been involved in the festival from where she grew up. But from what she knew, no pony here had ever heard of the Autumn Spook-tacular.

So she signed up to at least be social. But as she stood at the starting line, looking at all those who gathered, she just couldn't get into the spirit of it. She didn't care about winning or losing, and it wasn't like anypony was going to cheer her on. Well, maybe her little cousin Grim, but she didn't see him anywhere yet. He was probably hiding somewhere since he didn't like crowds.

'Okay Wisp, just gotta run. Picture something um... hm... well what could make me want to run? Oh! Just imagine that some spook you want to study is getting away, just gotta chase it down!'

As the starting shot rang out, she took off with the rest of the crowd. It was a little hard to find a pace, since there were so many ponies taking part, but eventually she got into the groove and kept herself steady. No need to rush off and burn up all her steam right at the start.

While hurrying down the path she looked to the spectators, wondering if she would see anypony she knew. She wondered if Braeburn took part in such things. Surely a pony like that would love a good race. But last she saw him was the Gala and she was pretty sure he was still in Appleloosa.