The flower painted cart raced down the hill at breakneck speed. It was a lot faster than any carriage ride Applejack had been on, in fact, going down like this with the wind buffeting her face must be closer to how Rainbow Dash feels when she’s flying. The cart actually controlled real smoothly, that was good, it was well made and the wheels looked brand new. Root and Squeaky’s team must’ve put a lot of hard work into making this thing. Applejack had no problem keeping it straight as she went downhill, even with how steep it was and the crazy speed she was going at.
The howling of the wind as it flew past her ears was even able to drown out the roaring of the crowd. Applejack was still mostly keeping her eyes on the road but she could see out the corner of her eye that the stands were filled with ponies and they descended the entire downhill slope of the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain, that was rapidly approaching now, even more ponies were gathered around. There were more ponies that had come to watch this race than lived in all of Ponyville by far.
I can see why they really didn’t want to forfeit this race…
All of the carts were pretty much still neck and neck right now, none of them having the chance to break away just yet. Applejack figured the real race wouldn’t start till she started seeing those obstacles that Root mentioned. Either way this wasn’t a simple downhill derby like she thought, the race definitely didn’t end at the foot of the mountain.
Applejack glanced to her sides at the two nearest carts, they had different paint jobs but the actual design of the carts were the same. Seems like there was no customization allowed in this race, it was all down to the skill of the drivers then wasn’t it?
Applejack grinned. Fine by her.
They were just about at the bottom of the mountain, coming full speed down that steep slope, the noise from the crowd of ponies there was now starting to overpower the fierce wind that was lapping at her. It was then that Applejack noticed something. Coming up at ground level the road didn’t look so even, it wasn’t smooth like the downhill part, there were…
“Uh oh.”
Bumps, ramps, pits and blockades had been thrown out randomly on the race track starting once the carts hit ground level. And if Applejack kept going straight like she was now she’d find herself careening into a pit that was who knew how deep. And at the speed she was going she didn’t need to think too hard about what would happen.
“This is not alright!” Applejack steered herself a bit to the right, nearly touching the cart next to her, it was tough to shift over like that going at the speed she was. She could feel the wind and gravity pulling at her cart. “Now I wish they didn’t let me drive their cart!”
She hit the bottom of the mountain, the ground leveling out so fast her stomach went up into her chest and she was lifted slightly up off her seat. But she still held control over herself and the cart, now came the hard part. The cart to her right was just barely giving her enough room to avoid the first pit but right after that the track got bumpy, lots of ponymade bumps and divots had been made to make things difficult for the racers. As her cart sped over them the vibrations shook her whole cart something fierce. She might as well have been bull-riding right now with how much she was being tossed around. At least the track itself seemed to be entirely straight from what Applejack had seen. It was probably just short enough that their carts would maintain full momentum from coming down the mountain until the finish line. Right now with those bumps Applejack was barely holding onto the wheel, putting all her strength into it to keep the cart going straight and stop herself from losing control over it. She was thankful for the gloves Squeaky had brought her, they allowed her to keep a solid grip and kept her sweat from getting in the way.
A blockade was coming up in front of the cart next to her, Applejack yelped when he banged into her, fighting for space to get over to avoid the obstacle. “Hey!” Applejack yelled at the driver, but he just nastily grinned back at her.
Her eyes narrowed in anger. “Oh, so that’s how this race is gonna be then?” Applejack still didn’t feel like letting a pony splatter themselves against a wall so she turned a bit to give him enough room over. The opposing racer quickly overtook her and stuck out his tongue.
“Grrrr.” Applejack saw a ramp coming up to her left now. “Perfect.” She smirked to herself and steered her cart to it.
There must have been a trigger in the road or something because just when she was a few feet from hitting the ramp a large wooden ring popped up in front of it. Applejack’s cart would end up flying right through it.
And then the ring caught fire and Applejack realized this might be a mistake.
Too late to do anything about that now though. Applejack zoomed up the ramp and rocketed off it, flying through the hoop and managing to avoid any errant licks of fire. Just a little bit too hot for her taste though, she put a note to herself to avoid rings of fire in the future. She was still airborne when she noticed that below her for a while wasn’t the normal racetrack but a long series of spikes that she’d land on if she didn’t have enough distance with her jump. Spikes were another thing she made a note to herself to avoid.
Luckily Applejack had enough momentum when she hit the ramp to clear the spikes, her cart bounced a few times when she landed back on the ground but it was no trouble for her to keep control of it. “Oof, this race is all kinds of wrong.” Applejack shook her head as she drove on, now ahead of most other carts.
She heard a loud crash from behind her and the crowd gasped, Applejack winced, some other pony obviously wasn’t as fortunate as she was. She was a little perturbed at the ponies watching this race not seeming to have much of a problem with how dangerous and reckless it all was. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie would probably think it was all cool too though…
A cart painted a vibrant pink flew off a ramp next to Applejack and bounced ahead of her, now she was cut off and stuck right behind this new racer.
I wonder if using Hoof of the Earth would be cheating? Probably.
Applejack could’ve sent tremors out to disable other carts or get over obstacles but her integrity told her to win this race fairly. Even if it was nuts and the other racers were jerks. She wouldn’t wanna stoop to Flim and Flam’s level to beat them either.
“I’ll take the high road.” She said to herself, chuckling on the inside at the pun.
Up ahead the racetrack leveled up into a big hill that spanned the width of the track, every cart would have to go over it. She knew that at this speed it would be akin to flying off a ramp once they reached the top of the hill but she had no idea what the track looked like beyond that to prepare. There could be more spikes, or bumps, or pits or any other number of obstacles. She’d just have to grin and bear it and hope she could keep control of the cart once she got over the hill and dodge any obstacles that might be there.
The pink cart in front of her hit the hill and jumped off it, Applejack right on its tail. When she saw the pink cart fly off with the driver sitting up straight in it she got an idea. Once Applejack’s cart hit the top of the hill and also zoomed off it Applejack hunkered down, lowering her wind resistance so her cart could better torpedo through the air. It paid off as unlike the driver of the pink cart Applejack got a bit more distance from the jump and managed to keep some extra speed. She ended up flying right over the pink cart and regaining her place.
“Yee-haw!” Applejack yelled as she sat back up, ducking down like that was good for jumps but she needed to be able to see as best she could for the rest of the race.
There was another ramp ahead of her with a sizzling pit of fire positioned just far enough beyond it that if she jumped off she’d land right in front of the pit and at best would have to quickly swerve out of the way. So best case scenario she wastes some time and speed avoiding a hazard, worst case scenario… best not to go there.
Applejack grunted in annoyance and turned to avoid the ramp, but the parts of the track to the side of the ramp were bumpy and uneven, so even now she was losing speed as she traveled over it.
She heard another crash from behind her as a second racer finished the race prematurely. Six left. Taking the time to glance to her sides Applejack saw that there were only two other carts that were as far up as she was, that rainbow painted cart and another one painted white with a sun on it.
“Be a right joke if this race ends up being the death of me.” Applejack tightened her grip on the wheel as she finished up the bumpy part. A series of blockades were built on the rest of the track that she and the other racers would have to avoid now. The rainbow cart came in trying to muscle her out, wanting to get on the safe path and force her off it or into another blockade if he could. Applejack frowned at him, she wasn’t gonna go out of her way to hurt anypony but she wasn’t gonna let this fellow do something like that to her either.
Applejack steadied herself as the rainbow cart came in just a few inches away from hitting her and hung there, she knew that soon he’d suddenly jerk his wheel to the side and ram her. Well she had a surprise in store for him.
When he did attempt to ram her Applejack’s superior reflexes allowed her to scoot just out of the way, him not hitting anything caused him to lose a little control and wobble at the surprise. But Applejack wasn’t done yet, now she yanked her wheel to the side and smacked into him. Smirking as he totally lost control of his cart and began to spin out, one of his wheel popping off from the stress. She was more than happy that a jerk like that was out of the race but still thankful that he didn’t hit anything or crash completely.
Element of Harmony but I aint the Princess of Friendship either. Applejack smiled to herself.
Applejack could see the finish line coming up ahead, a huge banner was stretched over the racetrack and what looked like an even larger crowd of ponies was gathered there. This was great, there were only a few more pits and blockades ahead and now only the white cart was a threat to her. She just needed to keep up as much speed as she could while she dodged these final obstacles and she was sure she could win.
The end of the race was only a few hundred feet away, Applejack could see that there was one final obstacle in store besides the ones she was already zipping through right now. A small ramp was built across the whole track and numerous wooden rings stood right in front of it. Applejack was certain they’d be set on fire once the carts got closer but even if they weren’t if she didn’t have precise aim her cart would hit the side of a ring when she jumped off the ramp.
The winner would be decided by whoever took the jump better. Applejack and the other racer were now in the straightaway before the ramp, having conquered the last few bumps and other obstacles with neither of them giving up any speed or position. As Applejack expected the rings were lit up, the fire crackled and sparks flew to the ground before the approaching carts.
Applejack knew she had the right approach. She was speeding ahead straight on at the ramp, aiming right for the center of a ring. She kept her hooves tight on the wheel to make sure she wouldn’t pivot or move even a fraction of an inch.
This is it…
Flower cart number seven hit the final ramp with all its remaining speed, Applejack ducked down to minimize wind resistance again, certain her aim was true and she’d be carried safely through the flaming ring.
She felt the heat pass over her and grinned, cart slamming back down onto the ground. She looked up to see the finish line quickly approaching, glancing back she saw that the white cart had barely missed making it through the rings, it crashed onto the ground in flames with its driver being thrown out. But the crowd didn’t gasp in shock from that but instead cheered for Applejack making it through. And they would cheer louder once she passed the finish line.
Applejack raised her head proudly as her cart passed over the line, listening to the cheers from the ponies and waving to them.
Of course as the faces of the ponies went by her in a blur she noticed she was also still going very fast and wasn’t exactly sure how to stop.
“Now how in the hay am I gonna-”
Applejack looked forward, squinting her eyes at a rapidly approaching obstruction in the road up ahead.
Pillows. Lots and lots of pillows piled up.
“You’re kidding.”
Applejack stood on the victory platform with Root, Squeaky and the other members of their team. Despite being the driver she hung back and allowed Root and Squeaky to take center stage. Was only right after all.
They had all congratulated her greatly on her victory. Applejack was thinking of unloading on them about the craziness of the race but figured she might as well let that be water under the bridge. Better to just celebrate and get along with everypony. But she was also exhausted after that event and her eyes were pretty baggy. Stomach still empty too.
Root, with a little help from Squeaky, hefted the victory trophy over his head while the crowd cheered and stamped their hooves on the ground. The MC, and organizer of the race as Applejack learned, was congratulating them on their victory and had some other worker ponies bring another prize up to the platform.
“Another prize?” Applejack asked one of her teams mares standing next to her.
“Oh yes! The grand prize for winning the race, it’s a real treat, just look!”
Applejack watched as a group of ponies struggled to lift a massive crate onto the stage. After setting it down one of them started going to work on it with a crowbar trying to pop off the top. She walked up to the crate with the rest of the team, Applejack really wanted to see what the prize was.
Finally the pony succeeded in knocking off the top, Squeaky jumped on her dad’s head so she could peer inside the crate and Applejack got up on her hind legs to peak her head over.
Pears.
Hundreds and maybe even thousands of pears.
Hm, that’s about half a joke the universe is playing on me.
Her stomach rumbled again and Applejack didn’t feel like denying it anymore. Besides, she didn’t have anything against pears, especially after she learned about her mama. It’s not like they were strawberries or something.
Applejack smiled and reached into the crate, pulling out two pears and hoofing one to an ecstatic Squeaky while the other members of the team started going for their own. “Guess I can’t be mad about something like this.” Applejack said and took a nice big bite out of her pear, swallowing it down and licking her lips with a satisfied sigh.
Yep, that was pretty good.