The Matterhoof Mountain Peanut Race (poem)

by Palm Palette

Twilight's Letter

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I'm writing to you from atop of the great Matterhoof Mountain. I can hardly believe it myself. I spent the whole trip up the mountain with my nose on the ground and didn't realize how far I'd gone until I got to the top. It came as a big shock when I looked over the edge to see just how high I was. Everything looks like dots down below and I can almost reach up to touch the clouds. Oh, sorry. I should mention how I got up here in the first place.

On a whim, the six of us signed up for the 'Matterhoof Peanut Race' and I don't think that any of us really knew what we'd commited ourselves to. Well, that sure changed when we got to the starting line and looked down at our tiny peanuts and up at the enormous mountain! Can you imagine? We had to push our peanuts all the way to the top with just our noses.

I guess you won't have to imagine. All of the ponies who gathered around to spectate sure took a lot of pictures. You'll be able to read all about it in the newspaper soon.

Well, I hate to spoil things, but I made it to the top. We all did. It was quite an adventure. Standing here in the thin mountain air on the snow-capped peak with only the wind to wrap around me sure puts things into perspective. Did you know that the Matterhoof Mountain is all that's left of an ancient volcano?

It's true. The magma chamber cooled much more slowly than the ashy slopes and has proven to be much more resistant to erosion over the course of millions of years. That's how it got to be so steep. At just the right time of year, only the jagged plateau on the top is snow-covered. This gives it its very distinctive hoof-like appearance. I never thought I'd be climbing it, though.

There used to be an old pegasus outpost up here way back before they learned how to build things out of clouds. The trail we used was carved up the side of the mountain to make it possible for earth ponies and unicorns to bring supplies. The bleachers on the peak that were set up for the audience sat atop those ruins. If there wasn't so much snow in the way, I could probably learn a lot about history by studying them.

Heh, the thought of a pony like me, journeying to some remote site to delve into some ancient ruins sure sounds like an exciting adventure story. But alas, my life is not like Daring Do. The only thing I'd be battling up here would be frostbite, and I'm afraid to say that I'd probably lose that battle. Brr. As great as the view is from up here, I'll be glad to get back down where it's warmer.

As for the trail itself, it's still in excellent condition. It's very well maintained. I guess the rumors of this place being a popular hiking trail aren't rumors at all and I can certainly see why. Even though I had my nose to the ground most of the time, I still managed to catch some beautiful sights here and there. I saw a rainbow when we passed under the waterfall even as the mist it kicked up got in my face.

Did you know that there's a tunnel up along the way with some glowing mold? I'd never seen anything like it before. I'd love to come back here sometime just to collect a sample for study.

Heh, just listen to me ramble on. The thin air up here must be getting to me. I'm sure you can read about all of those wonders and many more from any decent encyclopedia. What I really want to talk to you about, is friendship.

I know that the last time you saw us racing against each other we weren't in the best of form. Applejack and Rainbow Dash got caught up in the spirit of competition and would up ruining the race for each other. Well, I'm happy to report that this time things were much different.

As a matter of fact, it was almost the polar opposite. Instead of getting in each others way and trying to trip each other up to claim victory, it seemed like all of us were willing to take the time out to help each other even at the cost of our own standing in the race. It had been made perfectly clear to us from the start that there could only be one winner (they deliberately misled us about that), so the fact we still stuck together and worked as a team is proof of how close we've gotten.

This was most apparent when we got the to narrow part of the trail that's only wide enough for one pony each. Applejack lost her peanut off the edge there. According to the rules, she couldn't return to play until she'd gone a hundred steps back, but I was behind her and Rarity was behind me. There wasn't even enough room to turn around there let alone let a pony pass. Applejack was clearly stuck and wouldn't be able to get back in the race until after everypony else had passed through the narrow section and the trail widened enough to allow passage for her to get by and return all the way to where she needed to pick up again.

Rainbow Dash, who was in the lead, apparently thought that that was stupid, because on the next bend she crushed her peanut with her teeth and flew back to carry Applejack out of her bind. If she'd just kept going, she could have taken a huge lead and easily won since almost everypony else was stuck behind the slow-moving Rarity.

Watching them, I got careless and dropped my peanut off the edge too. I didn't have any problem since it's hard to block a pony who can teleport.

Later, Rarity told me that she went as slowly as she could there to give Fluttershy time to catch up. Nobody minded since the slow pace was refreshing and gave us all the opportunity to rest up a bit.

A similar thing occurred on a bridge near the top. It was well built, but there were gaps between the planks that were wide enough for a peanut to fall through. Only Pinkie Pie and Rarity made it across. Pinkie could have taken a huge lead and gone on to finish first but she forced a penalty on herself and came back to help us across with a song. She couldn't bear to leave us all behind and let us suffer in frustration.

Closer to the top, I found out that Applejack had come close to cheating. There was a windy passage there and nopony would have known if she'd carried the peanut in her mouth a bit to get past that obstacle. Since Rainbow Dash had slipped and lost her peanut, that would have given her a strong lead and let her finish first. Well, Applejack expressed her opinion of that idea on her peanut. When I passed it, the shattered fragments made the most wonderful circular pattern embedded in the ice like that.

So, with three ponies who'd given up their best chance at first, you might be wondering who it was who actually won. It was Rarity. She didn't win because she was a strong contender, though. She won because everypony else got careless at the end and had to take a last-minute penalty. Everypony except Fluttershy, that is.

I'm sorry to say but sometime after we crossed the bridge she fell back and got left behind. She seemed like she was doing so well too, but alas, it was not meant to be. She came down with some kind of altitude sickness (the contagious kind – pegasus aren't as prone to lightheadedness as unicorns and earth ponies are). We'd seen the early signs but it didn't become clear until we stood waiting for her at the finish line long after everypony else had finished.

Eventually she came into view. She was unsteady and moving very slowly. Every step for her was a struggle and with each step forward she moved slower still. I could see her teeth chattering and it wasn't just due to the cold. She was developing a fever! I'm not even sure I could have stood up-let alone keep moving like that if I had felt that bad. She struggled along all the way to the finish line and barely got her peanut across before collapsing in a heap. I've never heard a pony get so many cheers for coming in last place before. I think the judges appreciated it too based on the prizes they'd given her.

Speaking of prizes, Pinkie Pie may not have won much in the way of actual bits, but she was clearly the happiest with hers. She won an enormous amount of peanuts. Why, I wouldn't be surprised to get back to town and see that her prize had developed a snow-covered peak of its own. She's promised to throw us the most amazing, wonderful, extra-awesome, peanut-riffic party ever. Well, once Fluttershy's feeling better that is.

Oh my goodness! I've lost track of my train of thought and gone on rambling again. Well, I do have the most wonderful friends and I can talk about them forever, but this report will be useless unless I talk about what binds us together: our friendship.

When Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack gave up their opportunities to take the lead and win, they were expressing the elements of friendship that they value the most. Does this mean that loyalty, happiness and honesty aren't winning traits? Perhaps in the scope of this peanut race it does. Nopony would have thought less of them for putting themselves first, but we value them all the much more for the sacrifices they made. Because of this, our friendship is all that much stronger, and compared to that, any cash prize is just, well, peanuts.

Your most faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

Comments

[Lord of Nothing]

Neat, man.

[KittyGoesInsane]

wow what an awesome story :O
the poem was nice and the stroie was almost like a real episode :D it even had a song