//------------------------------// // Running of the Leaves // Story: A Dark Shade of the Past // by InfinityBreach //------------------------------// A Dark Shade of the Past by InfinityBreach Chapter 28: Running of the Leaves I was up early today; after all, it was apparently a special day. The Running of the Leaves would be happening in a few hours. I sat outside, enjoying the small breeze that was present in the early morning, when Applejack invited me inside to have breakfast with her family. I walked inside and saw a huge meal in front of me, consisting of what looked like pancakes, hay bacon strips, applesauce, and some warm apple pie. "Do you usually eat this much every morning?" I asked, my mouth drooling a little from the aroma of the food. "Well, yeah we do. Gotta get the strength to do what we need to every morning. It's the life of a farmer after all." Applejack said with a smile. I happily sat down, and looked around the table. Applejack had already dug in, and had eaten half of the pie, while Granny Smith was enjoying her applesauce. There was no sign of Big Mac or Applebloom, though. "Hey, where are Applebloom and Big Mac?" I asked, taking a bite of one of the hay bacon strips on my plate. "I think Big Mac is tryin ta wake up Applebloom." Applejack explained, before turning around towards the stairway and yelling, "HEY BIG MAC! YOU WAKE UP APPLEBLOOM, YET?" At that very moment, Big Mac turned the corner and walked down the stairs, Applebloom on his back. He let out a simple, "Nope." Then gently put Applebloom on the ground next to her seat, while he got into his own. "I swear, we oughta change that filly's name to Rock, if she's gonna sleep like one." Granny Smith huffed. We all let out a small laugh at that, before continuing on with our breakfasts. "Ya know, Eclipsal." Applejack suddenly began speaking, and I looked up at her curiously. "Ya downright scared my sister the other day, when you collapsed at her school." "Ah, sorry about that." I said, rubbing a hoof on the back of my head. "I can't really control it, it just sort of happens when I get some of my memories back." "I understand. But what's gonna happen when you collapse and there ain't nobody there to take care of ya?" Applejack said, a worried look on her face. "Well, I think it only lasts for a half an hour, or so. I don't think anything that bad could happen that quickly." I replied. Applejack shook her head, and was about to say something else, when we heard mumbling coming from the floor, and saw Applebloom stand up. "Mmm. G'mornin." Applebloom mumbled, a small yawn escaping her mouth. "It's about time ya woke up, sleepyhead." Applejack said, ruffling her sister's head. She then looked at me, mouthing 'We'll continue our conversation later.' to which I just gave a small nod. "So are you all gonna go to the Running of the Leaves, today?" I asked. "Eeyup." Big Mac answered. "Yeah, just as soon as I water a few of the apple trees, then me an' Applebloom will be on our way there." Applejack replied. "Yeah I can't wait to go! You'll be coming too, won'tcha, Granny?" Applebloom asked. "You're darn tootin, I will! I may not be able to run like I used to, but I can still go and cheer on my little girls, as they run." Granny Smith said, a prideful smile taking place on her face. "Will you be runnin, Eclipsal?" Applebloom asked me. "Eh.. well I don't know, to be honest. I've been so busy lately I haven't thought about it that much." I answered. "But ya gotta go and run with us!" Applebloom pouted, her eyes getting really big, like she would cry if I wasn't there. "Fine, fine… I'll go and run with you all." I smiled. "YAY! Then you can hang out with me and my other friends as well! We're gonna see if running is our special talent today." Applebloom said. I was about to ask what she meant, when Applejack gave me one of those looks that told me to just smile and nod, which I did. It was almost noon when I decided to head down to Ponyville to see if any of the girls were up. I walked down the path that headed there, enjoying the quiet walk, when I heard a soft sound in the distance. As I got closer though, the sound got louder, and I was able to identify it. Snoring. I looked around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, when by chance, I took a look up. I saw a slightly darker colored cloud in the sky, with a rainbow colored tail hanging off of it. A devious thought crossed my mind, as I gave a small smirk. I hit both of my hooves to the ground, and watched as my magic slowly went around me in a circle, the edges of said circle now raising from the earth. I was on a platform of pure magic, raising myself upwards, until I reached the cloud Rainbow was sleeping on. I had my magic begin to encircle the cloud, rising higher like a pillar. I laughed silently at the idea of Rainbow waking up to see walls of magic slowly rising upwards. From her perspective, it would probably look like the cloud was going into a hole of some sort, and she was stuck on it. I then lifted up my hoof, and went to poke the cloud, my hoof going right through it, and poking Rainbow Dash's back instead. I heard mumbling, and then I heard Rainbow say, "What the hay am I being woken up for..?" Then there was a small pause, in which I imagined that she looked up. "WHAT THE HAY?!" The cloud disappeared from above me, as I heard Rainbow take off. She was flying straight upwards, with a white cone beginning to appear around her. 'What is she…?' I thought to myself, before a loud explosion was heard in the air. My eyes widened as a huge rainbow circle appeared where the cyan pony was a second ago, shattering my magic around it. I then saw cracks beginning to form around my magic from the top of the cylinder I created, quickly heading downwards. "Oh, horseapples." I managed to say, before the entirety of my magic shattered like glass, leaving me with no platform to stand on, a mile or so in the air. I looked down, seeing my magic falling and fading all around me. When I recognized, that I quickly tried to use my magic again, only to realize… "I can't use my magic without being in contact with the ground?!" I said, now falling back towards the ground. I closed my eyes, fearing that this was going to hurt, a whole lot. When I felt myself land, I slowly opened my eyes to see that I was perfectly fine… …but the ground around me was not. There were now four huge holes in the ground from where each of my hooves hit it, and there was also black electricity coming from my hooves, which I could only assume was magic. I let out a breath of relief, as I saw Rainbow land beside me. "Okay, I gotta admit, that was a pretty cool prank. I'm going to have to take off a few points for the landing though, even though it was pretty awesome." Rainbow said, giving me a smirk. "By the way, here's a word of advice: horses aren't meant to be in the air." "Ha. Ha. Oh, ha. Can you help me get my hooves out of the ground, now?" I said, rolling my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, gimme a second." Rainbow said, grabbing a cloud from nearby. "What's that going to do?" I asked, in confusion. "I've told you I'm on the Weather Patrol, right?" Rainbow explained. "Well that's because us pegasi have the power to move clouds, shape them, and even break them." She then moved the cloud right above me, and gave it a tap, which made the cloud drop a downpour of water on me. "We can also make it rain, too. Oh, and we can make lightning. Pretty cool, huh?" She finished. I removed my hooves from the newly created mud, and walked outside of the cloud's perimeter. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. Especially since now I'm all wet." I said, shaking my limbs, trying to get the water off of them. "Oh! I can fix that too." Rainbow said, as she began to fly around me in circles, a vortex slowly forming around me. All of a sudden, she stopped, letting the wind die down. "Tornadoes too, huh?" I asked. She gave a prideful nod, before looking at her handiwork. "Well, at least I'm dry now." I said, looking at the my body. "You don't have an afro though." Rainbow dissapointingly said. "Why would I have an afro…?" I asked. "Well, when I first met Twilight, I did the same thing to her. She had this huge crazy afro when I finished the tornado, though!" She said, laughing. I began to try and imagine Twilight with an afro… the idea of it made me laugh a little, too. "So, you heading to the Running of the Leaves?" Rainbow asked me. "Yeah, I was actually going to see if any of you girls were up and willing to head there now. Applejack said she would be there later because she had to water some of the trees, but I was feeling a bit impatient, so, yeah." "Well then, let's go! I'll tell you a bit about it, too. Seeing as you're new and all." Rainbow said. "You know about the history of the Running of the Leaves?" I asked. "I thought only Twilight would know that type of stuff." "Eh… well I don't know the history behind it, just what we do during it." Rainbow explained. "Anyway, during the Running of the Leaves, you race down a preplanned path in Whitetail woods, and both the beating of hooves on the ground help take down all the leaves in preparation for winter. Then afterwards we have a huge picnic, to relax." "Huh. That's pretty interesting. I'm going to be racing, too. I promised Applebloom that I would at least. What about you? Are you going to be racing?" I asked, looking up at her. "Well, duh! Of course I'm going to be racing. I'm THE Rainbow Dash! Fastest pony in ALL of Equestria!" She said, doing a few backflips. "Hahaha, I guess you're right. I wonder if anypony else we know will be racing." I said. "Well, Fluttershy usually is helping gather food for her animals to prepare for winter. Twilight might be running, I mean she has a few times in the past. Rarity usually sits back and watches, Pinkie has always been the announcer for the race, but Applejack should be racing, though." Rainbow explained, as we entered Whitetail woods. "Yeah she said she would be." I muttered, marveling at the amount of decorations that had been added since the other day. "This place looks amazing!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Don'tcha think so, Eclipsal?" "Yeah… I know Pinkie is fast with decorations but this is just awesome…" I said, walking up to one of the tables. "Thanks, Eclipsal! Nice to know somepony likes my decorating skills!" somepony said from right beside me, making me fall over in shock. I looked to see Pinkie, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, now happily helping me back onto my hooves. "W-where did you come from?" I asked, still feeling a bit startled. "Well when a mommy and a daddy love eachother veeeeery much.." Pinkie began, before Rainbow threw her hoof onto Pinkie's mouth. "I, uh… I don't think he meant it in that way, Pinkie." Rainbow said, slightly blushing. Before further conversation could be had, I heard a loud voice echo throughout the area. "Mares and Gentlecolts, the race is about to begin!" I looked up to see Spike sitting in the hot air balloon, yelling out greetings and such. "I thought you said that Pinkie announced this?" I asked, looking to Rainbow. "Wait, where did Pinkie go?" Rainbow shook her head, and began dragging me to a different table. "First off, Pinkie announces with Spike sometimes, second off, who cares, we need to get ready to race! Follow me, so we can get you registered." I looked to the sign on my flank, labeled with an 8, as I stood at the starting line. I decided I would give it all I had, because I didn't really want to lose. When the horn sounded, I ran as fast as I could, passing most of the ponies that were running, even Rainbow Dash. After a few minutes, I began to slow down, because there was nopony else around me, which struck me as odd. I knew I was on the right path, which was why I was confused as to where everypony was. I eased myself down to a brisk jog, hoping that I would see some other pony behind me later. Pretty soon, I was granted that wish, as I heard two ponies yelling at eachother behind me. I turned to see a blue and orange streak of color approaching me, fast. I began to run again, trying to gain back my momentum, right as the two streaks were on my tail. As I reached the pace they were at, I was able to tell who the ponies were, and decided to happily greet Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "Hey there, you two! Why did you take so long to catch up?" I asked from in front of them. Applejack turned to me and yelled back, "Well we thought we oughta try Twilight's method of relaxing at the beginning and saving our energy until the end…" "…but we got a little bit impatient!" Rainbow finished for her. "Well, at least I know that I haven't lost track of where I am, or something. Nopony was anywhere near me, until you two showed up, and I was beginning to think that I was lost!" I said to the two of them. "Well, Eclipsal, I'll tell you one thing. You may not be lost, but you're still going to lose!" Rainbow yelled, running off in another burst of speed, passing by me a few inches. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" I retorted, putting more power into running, now tied with Rainbow. I vaguely heard Pinkie yelling from above us, "And it looks like Rainbow and Eclipsal are neck in neck, folks! With Applejack now being a meter or so behind them, who is going to win?" I looked straight ahead, to see the finish line right over the hill. I was now running with all my power now, gaining a few inches ahead of Rainbow. I heard Rainbow gasp behind me, and I could even feel her aura of competitiveness as we ran. I heard Applejack yell from a bit of a way behind us, "No, Dash! Don't use yer wings!" I turned to see Rainbow, ignoring everything around her, and running as fast as she possibly could. So fast, that her wings were starting to flare up, and she was starting to fly. As she started inching past me, I started pushing my own limits, everything now turning into a blur around me. I heard a soft 'Oh no' coming from beside me, and then a loud crack, which sent me flying into the air, and another crack, making everything fade to black. *Twilight's POV* "I'm starting to think it's a good idea I didn't partake in today's race." I said to Rarity, who was sitting beside me. "Oh, I do know what you mean, dearie." Rarity nodded her head. "With Rainbow and Applejack and Sweetie Belle and her friends being in this race, it would be way too competitive for most ponies." "Yeah. Remember that one time that Rainbow and Applejack agreed on a no-wings race, and then Rainbow went.." There was a loud crack, and a rainbow blur went flying past the finish line, making a few of the decorations go airborne. "… flying by, anyway..?" I finished, watching as a horizontal Sonic Rainboom cut through the trees of the forest, knocking down all the leaves, followed by a voice that I recognized as Applejack, yelling, "I need some help over here!" I turned to see Eclipsal on top of Applejack's back, unconscious. I quickly rushed over to her, and questioned, "What the hay just happened, Applejack?" "I think Rainbow got a bit too competitive… Eclipsal ended up taking the brunt of a Sonic Rainboom, right to his side, which made him crash over there." Applejack said, motioning her head over to the row of trees that were now in half. "Here, let me help you carry him!" I said, attempting to use my magic to levitate him, but failing. "Ugh! I can't get my magic to work!" I yelled, trying once more to hold him up. A hoof placed on my back made me stop, and I looked up to see Princess Luna standing over me, with a worried smile on her face. "Don't you fret yourself, Twilight Sparkle. I'll carry Eclipsal to the hospital, myself." After we had successfully gotten to Ponyville Hospital, and dropped off Eclipsal, I decided that it would be best if we all met up at the library. "Rainbow Dash, what were you thinking?" Applejack yelled, getting face to face with Rainbow. "Listen, I didn't mean it! I just got way too competitive, and ended up going a little bit overboard." She sniffled, backing away slightly. "I didn't mean for Eclipsal to get hurt." "That sounds like it would make a great Friendship Report." Spike said, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. I sighed. "Yeah, and I'm sure Princess Celestia would love to hear about it. But for right now, speaking of Princesses…" I turned to Luna. "So, Princess Luna, what brings you here to Ponyville? Princess Celestia usually is the one who visits during the Running of the Leaves." I asked. "Well, Twilight, my sister decided that I needed a vacation from my duties. To be honest, I have been overworking myself quite a lot lately. Especially in the search of Victory… who we still haven't found." Luna explained. "Ah… I see.." I muttered, now thinking back to the conversation Eclipsal and I had at the library a few nights ago. "Hey… Princess.. do you happen to remember how Victory manifested?" Luna put on a look of concentration, before sighing in defeat. "That, I do not know, Twilight." She then looked towards the open window, the shadows of night beginning to fall upon the land. "To be honest, I don't remember a lot of what happened before my imprisonment. I remember a few of my happiest moments, and all the time I spent with Tia. However, a lot of that is still a bit hazy." "Oh… I see." I said, sighing at the idea that we weren't going to be getting any answers from Luna. "Why ask that anyway? Do we have an idea of where that scary meanie pants, Victory, is?" Fluttershy asked, looking between us. "Not on our end." I explained, taking a look at Rainbow sulking at the table. "Well, we've heard of her being active around Everfree forest and Canterlot… but we still haven't been able to catch her." Luna sadly stated. "Looks like we aren't going to be having a picnic today…" Pinkie muttered, while staring out the window. "Come on, everypony! Cheer up! I'm sure Eclipsal will be fine. Besides, he's been through worse before." Spike said, standing in the middle of the room. "Spike…" I began, shaking my head. "You know what? Princess Luna, I'm assuming you have nowhere to stay, right?" Spike said, looking at Luna. "That is correct, Spike." She replied, cocking her head to the side in confusion. "Well then, how about you stay over here with us, in the library?" Spike questioned, before turning to everypony. "In fact, how about you all stay over, and we have a sleepover?" Pinkie jumped up beside Spike, picking him up. "Oooh a sleepover?! That sounds like fun!" "It would be a great way to relax after a day like this." Rarity added. "Besides, it is a shame we weren't able to make it to the picnic. This would be an excellent replacement." "Yeah! That's the spirit, everypony!" Spike said, pumping his fist in the air. I let out a soft giggle. Spike sure was a great assistant, and an even better friend. He still surprised me, sometimes. "Okay then, everypony. I'll go grab some sleeping bags." I said, walking up the stairs. 'Now I just need to figure out when to tell the girls about the Princesses… especially since one of them will be staying with us for awhile.'