//------------------------------// // Running of the Leaves // Story: Fellowship is Madness // by Imperator Chiashi Zane //------------------------------// “Welcome to the Fifteenth Annual Running of the Leaves!” Fleethoof settled into the pillows in the announcing balloon, floating over the starting line. This race promised excitement, rewards, and fellowship. A fifteen kilometer sprint through obstacles and the edge of the Everfree forest, teams of two ponies at the start, whose times were averaged at the end. Standing below her, holding the start flag, was Barkskin, who had already run the entire track in reverse, to make sure it was safe and clear. Kajiik stood beside Iron Hoof, both wearing loose running tunics and shoes, with numbers pinned to their backs. Across from them, on the other side of the crowd, Hammer Soot and Ferrous were crouched, ready to launch off the line. Their wings were tied down, as flying was not allowed, but that didn’t seem to dampen their spirits at all. Blueberry Jam and her brother Raspberry Jam stood to their left, the crimson stallion ran his hooves through his tar black mane, and flicked them to the ground with a sigh. Trixie stood alongside Zecora, the two paired up by Kajiik mainly to keep Trixie out of trouble. “Ready! Three! Two!” Raspberry’s hooves dug into the ground and he swung back, preparing to launch forward. “ONE! GO!” The start line disappeared in a cloud of dust as everypony tore across it, into the forest. “And they’re off!” __ Iron Hoof was much faster without his armor on, but Kajiik was falling behind. An orange Earth Pony and blue Pegasus veered off the side of the trail, a team, but clearly not a good one. He leapt up and kicked off a tree, redirecting around the sharp corner, into the first obstacle. The course was covered in a thick layer of mud, and he hit it muzzle first, using his momentum to slide across the slick surface, ignoring the rippling sensation of rocks just beneath the surface. Coming out the other side, he saw that he was not in the lead. Blueberry’s very large brother was. He watched in amusement as the massive Unicorn plowed into the second obstacle, a thick fishing net running up into the trees, which blocked the entire trail. He leapt, using the Unicorn as a kick-board to get higher. Hooves were not ideal for climbing nets like this, but he thought he was doing pretty well until a cold metal talon grazed his back, followed by hooves digging into his flanks. Hammer Soot launched past him, using his head as a springboard and her talons to pull her up to the top of the net. He watched, stunned, as she rolled over the top of the net and dropped like a stone, hitting the ground rear-hooves first. Ferrous shot past next, landing in a roll, and took off. Iron scrambled over the top, and dropped onto all four, darting forward in the same motion. __ Kajiik reached the net, and rather than take the time to scramble up it, seeing the large Unicorn stallion still struggling up it, he tucked his head and thanked Celestia for his slender build as he shot through the net, hooves just barely clearing it as he rounded the next corner. This one was his favorite obstacle, the Labyrinth, a four story tall oak maze. Completely dark inside. His eyes flickered green as he traced the last lines into the runic pattern painted on his face. Everything became clear as he slid into the maze and started up the stairs. A right here, a left there, drop through this hole intentionally, scramble up that one, out the window. Lights off as he shot into the sun. It looked like he might be in the lead now. He hit the ground and tumbled back into a run. __ Trixie scrambled out the window and dropped, her teammate right behind her. The two mares rounded the next corner, right behind Kajiik. Both of their previous careers, Traveller and Alchemist, lent themselves to physical endurance, and while the bookish Zebra was running out of energy only three obstacles in, the mares passed him, barely even trying. The barrel-bridge brought them to a pause. Trixie stared at the barrels chained to the bottom of the river, then launched herself onto the first barrel, and promptly found herself in the river, scrambling back to the shore. Zecora laughed, then pointed at the barrels, “If we go as one, the barrels will know not which way they’ve spun.” Trixie smirked and grabbed Zecora’s hoof, leaping onto the first barrel. Hopping onto opposite sides gave them enough time to balance and leap to the next barrel. Quickly they cleared the barrels, only to run into the back of a Griffon and Thestral paused at the base of the next obstacle. __ “Ferrous, how in Tartarus are we supposed to get through this?” ‘This’ being a tunnel made of fire. Hot, blue flames. The heat was barely bearable, and the floorboards were crackling. In front of them stood a blue and a brown Pegasus Stallion, staring at the blaze. “Jack, I’m not liking this obstacle. Where’s the bypass button?” “Maybe it’s on the other side? I’m going through.” The brown Pegasus sighed as his companion charged into the flames, howling. He shot out the other side, and stopped, turning to look back. The tunnel was long enough that the flames hid everything on the other side from sight. He growled, and shouted, “It’s only an illusion!” Thestral ears were far more sensitive than normal pony ears, and magical hearing aids were even better. She heard the shout, and darted forward, dragging her partner into the flames. With a shout, they shot out the other side and charged along the trail. The next obstacle was well known to everypony who ran the trail. It was known as cart-wreck chasm, and with good reason. The two launched over the edge, trusting their momentum to carry them across the five meter gap, tumbling to a stop on the other side, laughing. Their laughter stopped abruptly as Thunderlane shot past them, Cheerilee on his back. He landed deftly on his front hooves and galloped past without even slowing down. __ Thunderlane rounded the next corner after the chasm and slid hooves struggling to find grip in the mud as he tumbled into the icy river. This was, of course, another part of the challenge. This time of year, the river’s peak was already starting to freeze over at night, and chunks of ice floated down, sapping the heat from the normally pleasant water. This particular section of the river was shallow enough that during the summer, and middle of the winter when the river was dry, carts could be dragged through it safely. Of course, right now, it was cold, and Thunderlane’s feathers trapped the water by his sides as he slogged across. Cheerilee had gone on ahead, preparing for the next obstacle as her short coat shed the water quickly. After the water was the dreaded gas chamber. Many ponies struggled with the noxious tear gas brought in from Canterlot, but Cheerilee just held her breath, remembering her guard training, and plowed through, eyes closed but burning. __ “And currently in the lead is team Iron Hoof and Kajiik. Directly behind in time, but ahead physically, is team Thunderlane and Cheerilee. How in Tartarus are the bookworm teams in the lead? Where are our athletes?” Fleethoof looked over the side of the basket as the teams plowed along, pushing through obstacle after obstacle. The next one would slow those two, she thought. The High-wire was the main choke point in the entire race, followed by another series of obstacles. Sure enough, the teams started piling up on the ladder up to the wire, scrambling over each-other. Medical teams were already in position to catch any fallers, as this was genuinely the most dangerous part of the run. Here was where the taller races had a slight advantage. A pair of Minotaurs shot up the ladder on the back side, taking advantage of their fingers to haul themselves up and across the bottom of the rope. Hammer Soot reached the peak barely behind them and started across, basically galloping in a strange linear gait that just barely missed clipping the hands of the second Minotaur. Ferrous was just barely behind her, his paw-pads wrapping around the cable and propelling him forward as his talons slid along the wire in a loose loop that almost took off the Minotaur’s trailing hand as they reached the far side at the same time. The next obstacle, Hammer loved. Ferrous didn’t. As a Griffon, he was slightly claustrophobic. Thestrals, being natural cave dwellers, weren’t. This narrow barrel tunnel was tight enough that it would have slowed him down if he hadn’t had his team-mate’s talons pushing on his haunches painfully hard. He shot out the other side and streaked across the open plain, ducking, leaping, and flipping around the gobs of mud being flung by magical slings. Each hit would slow him down, so he didn’t let them hit him. __ Hammer Soot slid across the line on her back, Ferrous passing overhead in a long leap that ended in a tumble. Almost immediately, they rolled upright and started looking around. One or two ponies had beaten them across the line, but they weren’t from the same team, so it was highly unlikely that Hammer and Ferrous lost the race. Hammer wriggled out of her ropes and looked at the leaderboard. Times were still running on the massive board, but their team count had stopped, not quite at the top, but moving up every few seconds. Finally, everypony had arrived, and the numbers settled down. Kajiik sighed as he gazed at it. Him and Iron had ultimately come in fifth place. Hammer Soot and Ferrous had come in first, and he turned away as the Thestral grabbed the Griffon and mashed her muzzle against his beak, “Guh. Get a room you two!”