Day 20: A Day at the Races - Part 3: Magic Makes the Horn Grow Tired
“You were simply amazing,” Rarity said, patting Scootaloo on the back.
We had all returned to the racer’s hangout. Scootaloo was stretching herself out.
“Oh yes, you were just wonderful.” Fluttershy beamed, “You really come through. We’re all so very proud.”
Scootaloo smiled and nodded in thanks to all the praise. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had both joined us by then, apparently they were waiting down on the lawns where the hoop had been passed on. They were telling Scootaloo about how awesome she was and how she looked.
“Took my advice, eh?” Rainbow grinned.
“Yep. Waited until the end before making my push. But it was hard not to zoom off in the beginning. It was only after I took the hoop that I realized just how important it was to conserve your strength.” Scootaloo folded her wings back and picked up a glass of water, “Felt bad for Sun Streak, though. She led the way almost throughout the race.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Flying at the front of the pack for that long isn’t usually the smartest thing to do. Strong fliers like me can do it, but it’s exhausting.”
“I don’t get it...” I admitted.
“It’s simple, really. Scootaloo flew behind Pegasi bigger than her. That way she didn’t have to fly against the wind directly.” Rarity informed me.
Drafting! Of course!
“Clever. You used the Pegasi in front to help you conserve your strength,” I nodded, realizing what they meant. “It’s no wonder you pulled away from the others so quickly at the end.”
“Nice flying, kiddo.” A voice said behind us. The Pegasi from Manebourne looked at Scootaloo, “I’m impressed that a newbie like you had a strategy like that.”
He was tall, light gray, and had black mane and tail with white or silver streaks through it. He had pulled the hood off of his costume from his head revealing a strong jaw and bright blue eyes.
“Thank you, Orion. I appreciate it.”
“Watch yourself next time, kid. I’ve got my eye on you. You won’t be able to beat me that easily the next time.” Orion winked at her before looking over to Rainbow who had floated over to Scootaloo, “Still commuting from Ponyville, Dash? Thought I’d miss that little mistake you did in that stunt from earlier, eh? Still can’t get that Swing-Back perfect?” He had a coy smile.
Rainbow laughed, “You saw that, huh?”
“You played it off well, doubtful anyone outside the Wonderbolts would have noticed...”
They continued to talk for a few minutes, but it was like trying to understand a whole different language. I understood the words, but not how they applied. Eventually the conversation ended and Orion walked away.
Suddenly the sound of galloping averted my attention and a pony literally launched herself at Orion. Surprised, he turned and ‘caught’ the mare in his hooves, before stumbling back a few steps. She firmly planted her lips directly on his.
“I’m so proud of you!” she said after pulling away, “You were amazing.”
“B-b-b-but... I came in second...” He replied.
She smiled coyly, rubbing his cheek with her hoof, “You are a winner to me, my love.”
“Silver...” He smiled at her and planted a kiss on her lips, “You will never cease to amaze me.”
The two of them walked off, their tails tangled within each other as they retreated back to his team’s area. They looked great together.
Scootaloo squealed and hopped excitedly. “He acknowledged me!” Rainbow just grinned at the young Pegasi winner.
“Who is that guy?” I asked Rarity.
“Orion? He’s a retired Wonderbolt...”
“Not just a retired Wonderbolt!” Rainbow cut her off, “He’s one of the greatest! Created so many awesome stunts and moves, like the...” Rainbow rattled off a few, but I had no clue what they were. Still, I nodded excitedly, playing along, “He trained some of the older members, like Spitfire... and he’s still taking part in this race!”
“Well, he opted not to be a flier in the shows and essentially decided to be the Wonderbolts trainer, and stunt coordinator. So he never wore the blue uniform.” Rarity informed me, “But a lot of Pegasi look up to him.” She gestured with her hoof to Rainbow, who nodded proudly.
“Good race.” Sun Streak had come over and held out a hoof for Scootaloo, “Next time it’ll be me that crosses first.”
Scootaloo shook hooves with her, “We’ll see...”
With that she walked towards her team, who welcomed her with a glass of water.
“The Unicorns are at the first trial!” Someone shouted.
Looking at the screen, I saw Amethyst standing in front of a cliff. She looked around and using her magic, started to move a large cubic block with her magic. He pushed it right up against the cliff, and climbed on it. Then, she took a smaller one, and placed it on top of the large stone, and climbed that one, then over the cliff and was away.
Manebourne’s pony was right behind her, and copied the exact same maneuver.
“Why don’t they just teleport?” I asked.
“That’s not the first test, Forest. They need to use levitation for this,” Twilight replied, “and the next one as well. Come on Amethyst, don’t use up all your strength.”
The camera then switched to a large hall with twenty different passageways. As Amethyst rushed through one of them, a metal grate closed behind her. The Manebourne pony then went into the one next to it and it too had a metal grate slam shut after her.
The screen we were watching then had two halves. On the left we could see Amethyst coming up to a really strange looking door, while on the right the Unicorn from Manebourne was quickly approaching an exact replica.
Ameythst sat down and stared at the door for what looked like ages, while the other pony started using magic on the door haphazardly. There were cogs, levers, pulleys and weights moving with the familiar Unicorn magical glow.
“Come on, Emerald!” Somepony shouted. “Just relax, and think!”
Amethyst then stood up, and a lever on the door pulled to one side. After that, one of the cogs levitated off one part of the door and was placed on another wood spoke. Then, one of the pulleys was pulled down, the rope that was attached to it. Amethyst then threaded the rope through the cog and the lever was pulled once more. The door shifted, and it rose an inch from the ground. At that, Amethyst sat down once again.
“No, no! The second pulley needs to be placed there!” Twilight shouted, pointing to a random place on the screen, “And that cog needs to go up there!”
I seriously could not follow.
The camera cut to another pony approaching the same puzzle. The familiar red and yellow pattern evident for Manehatten’s team. The Unicorn paced back and forth like a lion in a cage, staring at the door. Then a reddish glow appeared and a large cog was placed over the top of the door before two pulleys were lowered and the slack rope threaded through. Then, three levers were pulled at the same time, and another cog was placed lower down. It looked like the Manehatten pony knew exactly what to do.
Amethyst was now undoing her handiwork and starting from scratch, while the Manebourne pony was moving random cogs around clearly getting frustrated with her lack of progress.
Then my heart sank as the door for Manehatten completely raised itself, the Unicorn having solved the puzzle so quickly! As soon as the door opened, the Unicorn ran through and the door once again shut behind her, the cogs and the pulleys resetting themselves.
“Oh no!” I cried out in despair.
Not knowing the status of the race, Amethyst sat down and thought again. This time she moved the large cog to where Twilight had suggested, and pulled one of the two pulleys down and started threading things through. When she pulled the lever, the door opened about halfway. Although she could have gone through, Amethyst did not, and undid her work once more.
“Why didn’t she go through?” I asked.
Twilight was biting her lip, “She can’t. She has to open the door completely to pass. If she doesn’t she’ll get penalized.”
“Come on, Amethyst.” I whispered.
“That’s Starlight Charmer for you...” Fleet Hoof shouted, looking my way, “Should I wait for you at the start of our leg?”
I felt a little annoyed, but played along. There were still a number of trials left. “No, no. You need all the help you can get...”
Fleet Hoof barked a laugh.
The next puzzle was a room bigger than the previous one. There were a number of pieces of wood lying around the floor in a variety of different shapes, they looked completely random to me. In the middle of the room was a square shaped recess that had a low bluish glowing emanating from a pattern in it. The camera zoomed in on one of the blocks, and we could make out Just looking at it made my mind blanche. What the hell was the answer?
“Oh, I know this one.” Spyglass smiled, “It’s actually pretty easy. You first need to complete the cube and then place the correct pattern on the ground over the symbol.”
“Easy?” Rainbow, Stormy, Applejack and I muttered at the same time. We all shared a look before bursting into a giggling fit.
“I bet Rainbow could solve it! Right, Rainbow Dash?” Thunderbolt asked, “I don’t know about him though...” He said pointing at me.
“Thunderbolt!” Stormy exclaimed, “Apologize to him this instant!”
“But...”
Stormy just gave him a look.
“I’m sorry, Forest.” He said looking at me.
“‘Tis alright.” I replied, shrugging. He was right, I wouldn’t have been able to do this puzzle.
We were interrupted by a cheer from Pinkie, who danced around waving a couple of flags.
“She’s done it.” Twilight sighed in relief.
Sure enough, the door in front of Amethyst rose in front of her, and she galloped through the door. It shut behind her and the puzzle reset itself.
Emerald, the pony from Manebourne, was still struggling. The whole room was a mess, with cogs everywhere, and pulleys all over the place. We could tell that her team was getting a little flustered at that, but it was clear that the Unicorn was beyond frustrated. Already six other teams had caught up with them and were attempting to solve the door’s riddle.
The camera then reverted back to Starlight who had started putting the blocks in the middle in a certain order. Already I could see it starting to take shape. As Spyglass had pointed out, it was definitely a cube. And it looked like she had almost completed it.
Amethyst took one look at the blocks on the floor before shaking her head.
“No Unicorn likes seeing this puzzle again.” Twilight saw the confused look on my face, “We have to solve this puzzle in order to graduate. All Unicorns should know it. Maybe not right away, but it should come back to them.”
“Why?”
“It was something we had to learn. Teaches control and dexterity. It’s not so bad once you’ve understood it, but it’s memorizing the pattern that’s complicated. Unlike the previous challenge, which tested problem solving skills, this tests your memory recollection, Unicorn style.”
I could only nod. Now I was kinda glad that Tutela didn’t turn me into a Unicorn, although I had no idea how that would’ve worked out with me being allergic to magic and all.
Starlight was done, and placed the cube, which was about as tall as her leg, over the recess in the ground. Nothing. She lifted it up, rotated and plopped it back down. Eureka! As she did, the cube’s grooves and patterns exploded into light, the same glow from the floor pulsing throughout the cube. The wall opposite the entrance vanished and she rushed through it. Like before, the puzzle reset itself once she had exited the chamber.
Amethyst was busy putting the blocks together and when she was halfway done before the screen cut away to another mare. This mare had already solved the first puzzle and was now beginning on the cube. She wore thick glasses, and she was breezing through this one as well. It took her no more than a minute to have the cube ready, and within seconds she placed it on the recess. And just like that, we were in third place.
It was disheartening to us Ponyvillians.
“Come on, Amethyst!” Rainbow demanded.
“Baltimare is catching up!” Spyglass proudly stated.
And indeed the orange mare had already solved the door, and was running through it.
Spyglass gave his wife a wry smile, “And Coltumbus is still at the first door...”
“Just you wait. Remember, we still have Quicksilver. She’ll dominate the last leg.” Stormy pouted.
“Against Fleet Hoof? You mad?” Spyglass laughed. “Any team that doesn’t give themselves enough of a lead in this leg will lose in the next one.”
“You’re both wrong. Forest’s got that in the bag...” Lavender pointed out, “He’s the fastest I’ve seen.” When the couple looked at her as if she was completely out of her mind, she smiled at them and simply said in a high voice, “You’ll see...”
I could only grin at that. They were putting a lot of faith in me. I wasn’t about to disappoint.
“All Earth ponies currently running for their respective cities, please make your way to the chariots provided.” The announcer stated, gesturing to a series of chariots being pulled by the Princesses’ Pegasi guards.
I watched in horror as the first one took three of the racers upwards into the sky. It paused for a moment before moving off through the air. My heart turned to ice. Through the air?
Shit.
“Something the matter, Forest?” Twilight asked.
“Is there a way I could... walk?” I asked.
“Oh Forest.” Twilight replied, remembering that I was now fearful of anything with heights. “Wait, I’ve got an idea!”
She walked to a tall pole that was used to hang one of the RACE banners on it. There were long strips of ribbon in a multitude of colors and Twilight used her magic to pull one down. Hovering it over to me, she carefully wrapped it around my eyes and tied it behind my head.
“There. That should help.”
“Thanks, Twilight.”
“We’ll see you at the end, Forest.” That was Spyglass’ voice, “We’re going to to the stadium in a bit. We’ll be there when you cross the line.”
“See you there, then.” I replied.
Twilight led me to the nearest chariot. All the while she told me to relax and to not think about flying hundred of feet in the air. That really didn’t help things, but I appreciated the thought. After a few moments, I got into the thing. It was difficult to do blindfolded. After that I felt two more ponies get out.
“Forest,” I felt her breath on my ear as she whispered to me, “I have to tell you something after the race. But only if you win.”
My face felt hot. The closeness, and with the blindfold over my eyes, I couldn’t help it. My legs felt weak, and my heart was racing as it beat in my chest. I even felt a little... something stir... down.. there...
“Ready?” Somepony asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. Everything reverted back to normal.
“Ready,” I mumbled, relieved that nothing... popped up.
The chariot under me shifted, and up I rose. The feeling of the breeze through my mane didn’t help relax me. I lowered myself in the chariot hoping that I’d feel safer, but it all honesty it didn’t do anything.
“Remember what I said!” Twilight shouted, “But only if you win!”
I just raised my hoof a little, hoping that she saw it, before I lowered it again. Fear gripping my soul.
“Relax, just enjoy it.” Somepony said.
“I want to. But yesterday... I fell off an airship in a bucket...”
There was a long silence. Curiously, I lowered my blindfold, and the two Earth ponies with me were also huddling down in the back. They grinned nervously when they saw me staring at them. I suddenly felt real bad. I didn’t mean to scare them.
Luckily the trip didn’t take too long and we hopped off the chariot eagerly, letting our hooves dig into the dirt, thankful that we made it safely. I even kissed the ground I was so happy.
Taking in the area we were at, I noticed the starting line under a banner with the words ‘Start’ written on it. We were on an island, I think. Or maybe it was a peninsula? Well, whatever it was, the starting line was about a hundred meters away from the edge of the water in front of a sandy slope that was a cross between a pebble and a sandy beach. The course was clearly marked with colorful buoys across a huge lake that made a direct line towards the mountain. Looking into the distance, I could barely make out the other shore. This was going to be a long swim. Lavender was right, the lake back in Ponyville was a puddle compared to this! No wonder she made me swim so much.
I noticed that I couldn’t see the palace, so I assumed we were on the far side of the mountain. The palace would be hidden behind the tall peaks. It was clear then that we swam across the lake, then would run back up into the mountain and towards the finish line.
Great. That means the vast majority of this running race is uphill. Figures.
Pegasi cameramen were hovering around us. It was strange seeing so many, about half a dozen or so. They seemed to be looking for someone.
At one corner of the beach I noticed that there was a screen setup. This one had speakers and we could hear the commentary. Why didn’t the ones from the palace have speakers? That seemed rather... well, actually they did call it a lounging area. Maybe they didn’t have speakers so that it would be quieter?
As I walked closer to the screen, the image changed from the caves to the studio. Princess Celestia was now sitting next to Loud Speak.
“... and that Ponyville Pony took her time on that second puzzle as well. But I feel really sad for Manebourne. From second place to ninth, that must be a blow to her team’s morale.” Loud Speaker stated.
Princess Cadence was nowhere to be seen. She had probably gone to rest herself for her part in projecting the last leg of the race. My leg. The Earth pony biathlon.
“I wouldn’t get ahead of myself. There are plenty of different kinds of trials. I think you’ll be very surprised, Loud Speaker. I designed the Unicorn part of the race myself.” Princess Celestia replied, using her magic to levitate a cup of tea to her lips, “I wouldn’t count anypony out of this race just yet.”
“On a side note, we’ve got wind of a... rumor.” Loud Speaker began.
“Oh?” Princess Celestia perked her ears.
“Apparently Twilight Sparkle, sister-in-law to Princess Cadence...”
“Yes, I am very familiar with who she is.” Celestia pointed out.
“Yes, of course. I was just informing our audience. Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic and the sister of Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard and husband to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza... well, rumor has it that Twilight Sparkle has a coltfriend taking part in this race.”
“What?” Princess Celestia exclaimed.
“What?” I exclaimed.
“What?” Several other ponies exclaimed.
“Oh yes. We’ve had numerous ponies attest to this.” Loud Speaker said, loving Celestia’s shocked expression. “This morning she was spotted walking with the mystery stallion near the palace when he clearly announced that he was indeed the Element’s coltfriend after being asked by several members of the public. There was no denial from Miss Sparkle or from the stallion.”
“Oh no...” I groaned, feeling my face flush again, but at the same time I felt a knot in my gut. What would Applejack think? I had broken all chances of us being together, and now this announcement? What would she think? “This is not good. Not good at all.”
“She hasn’t told me any of this...” Princess Celestia mumbled to herself. “Interesting...”
No! Concentrate on the RACE, Forest. You need to get your mind back into the game!
Then a familiar looking beach appeared on screen, and everypony there stared at themselves, then up at the cameramen above us. A few waved. Fleet Hoof struck a dramatic pose.
“Yes, we can conclusively state that one of these stallions is the rumored coltfriend.” I heard the speaker next to me blare, “An Earth pony!”
I wanted to die. I felt so embarrassed. But I tried to keep my face from exploding as I stood in the crowd of racers trying to hide myself in case somepony had managed to get a description of me.
“So, who do you think it is?” Loud Speaker asked, “We have some clues, but we’re not sure.”
Princess Celestia shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine, although I think I might have some idea as to who it is.”
“Care to share?” Loud Speaker asked.
“I’m afraid that I cannot do that in good conscience.” Princess Celestia looked at the camera, a knowing smile on her face, “But I’m sure that if he’s watching he’ll know exactly who we’re talking about.”
It felt like she was looking right at me. I fought the blushing sensation in my cheeks, shoving it down as hard as I could.
“And there you have it. Even Princess Celestia has an idea who it is! Isn’t it exciting? We promise to reveal all once we get more details. Anyway, back to the race!” The scene on the screen changed back to the caves mitigating the feeling of humiliation that threatened to make my head explode.
The camera cut away to Starlight, the Unicorn from Manehatten, standing next to a ledge. Below was a floor with different shapes cut out of the stone floor. A camera from overhead revealed glowing objects inside each hole them. The mare stood with her forehooves apart and her horn began to glow. The object in the nearest to her slowly rose up through the hole. But, as soon as it touched the edge the glow vanished around the object, and it dropped back into the hole with a loud thud.
Likcing her lips, she tried again. This time the object rose out of the hole without touching any of the sides. As it did, on the far side of the room a platform rose up from the ground stopping just level with the ledge. Starlight ran over to it and stood on its edge and began to levitate the next shape. She concentrated and moved it slowly upwards, but again, it touched the edge and dropped back down. She shouted something out of anger, and resumed the attempt.
The camera then cut away to the other pony, the one that wore the thick glasses, as she was pulling up the final object from the hole in the ground. This one was a lot more complex than the others. It was similar to the shape of Celestia’s Cutie Mark, circular sun with wavy beams of sunlight. That was a really difficult one to match.
Amethyst was starting on her first object when the glasses pony finished her last one, completing the bridge across the floor and ran out of the room.
Starlight kept on trying on the third shape, an oval, and Amethyst was quickly catching up to her. It made sense that she’d be good at this. She was a jeweler after all. Dealing with small stones and being precise must have taken a lot of concentration and precision, so being able to complete this task shouldn’t have been too difficult for her. And it showed. She calmly and efficiently blew through the first five shapes easily, and had caught up to Starlight on the sixth and last one; Celestia’s sun.
And about the same time, the two of them completed the puzzle, the final platform raising itself up. They both bolted towards the exit.
“Come on Amethyst!” I yelled, rooting for my teammate.
“Hop to it, Starlight!” Fleet Hoof demanded.
When they exited their respective doorways, they were stunned to see each other on the other side. The tunnels had once against merged together. In the distance the two of them spotted another pony out in front and soon they both concentrated in going after her.
Now I could see a Unicorn staring into a deep ravine. At the bottom was a lake. Amethyst came out of one of the tunnels and caught up with the pony in front of her. She too looked down into the ravine, and then at a flat piece of wood on the other side. Her horn began to glow and the plank started to move towards her.
In the meantime, another pony was running up a path cut into the ravine’s side, one of the planks below had sunk to the bottom of the lake.
“Looks like Sync from New Saddle had fallen! Let’s go back to the replay...” And the screen then showed the pony riding on the platform, but at about three quarters of the way across, the magical glow vanished and the poor Unicorn plunged down, the platform sinking straight to the bottom while the Unicorn followed behind about a second later. “She must have miscalculated how much magic she needed to successfully cross the gorge.”
“The time it takes to run up the slope is around five minutes. That’s a lifetime in a race such as this. Anything could happen.” Princess Celestia smiled. This was what she meant about not counting out anypony in the race. It was useless trying to predict the outcome.
Amethyst made it across! As did the pony that was with her. The two of them running side by side. Behind them, a few more ponies were starting the platform challenge.
Looking at the ranking list on the right side of the screen, I noticed that we were now in fifth place, behind Baltimare, Manehatten, Stableside and Windsoar. In the back of my mind I wondered how Spyglass and Petal were feeling now that their team were in the lead.
Then, just like that, Baltimare suddenly dropped to fourth. The screen quickly showed the orange mare at the bottom of another ravine swimming towards a staircase. Above her the Manehatten Unicorn was slowly floating over the gap. Unlike before, where the Unicorns had to move across using a platform, this time they had to use their own magic to do so. Levitate themselves. It was a long way across, almost twice the distance as the previous challenge, and the going was slow. Then, just before Matehatten reached the end, the Unicorn also fell down in the water far below. In fact, most of them did.
Standing there, Amethyst sat down and closed her eyes. The pony next to her just jumped and started hovering over the gap slowly making her way across. But unlike the others, she instantly fell down, not even making it halfway.
The camera panned over to Princess Luna, who had her eyes closed and looked like she was sleeping, but her horn was glowing furiously as she was projecting the race with her magic.
“Princess Luna is hard at work bringing this section of the RACE to you.” Loud Speaker stated.
Luna, still with her eyes closed, waved to the camera.
“Well, here we are at the final obstacle under the castle. The Unicorns have descended the entirety of the mountain and are now at the very base of it. An amazing show of intellect, magic, and speed! What do you say, Princess? Who do you think has shown out especially this leg?”
“I have to say that so far the pony from Manehatten has been very good, although there are other ponies that have shown exceptional resilience and brilliance so far.” Princess Celestia answered.
“Is it true that the Element of Magic was originally supposed to race on behalf of Ponyville?” Loud Speak asked.
“Indeed she was, but I had asked her to help me setup the Unicorn trials. So, in order for the RACE to be fair, I had asked her not to take part in the race, or reveal any of the tasks to anypony.” Princess Celestia smiled, “Most of the puzzles are her idea.”
“Wow, that’s amazing! The Element of Magic had helped create the course! Let’s get back to the action.”
The camera cut back to the caves, and showed the various other ponies in various areas in the trails. Most were attempting the third puzzle, the objects and the hole on the ground, while others were halfway through it.
Amethyst sat down peering over the edge of a ravine. She remained where she was, while the other Unicorns were running up the stairs towards the top of the ravine. The distance was a long way up. If we made this, we would be not only in the lead, but we’d be far, far ahead of the others.
Seemingly coming to an answer, Amethyst stood up, turned around and jogged back the way she came. Taking a running start, she leapt as far as she could. Then, using her magic, she caught herself in the air, the glow of her magic surrounding her body, and she ‘threw’ her body the remaining distance across the gap. She landed on her forehooves, but miscalculated the force of the momentum. She stumbled on her step and landed heavily, rolling across the floor.
For a moment, she didn’t move. And, as the dust settled she pushed herself up from the ground. She had done it! We were in first once again! The jubilation I felt made my heart skip a beat.
But as she took her first step, my heart sank. She had fallen down again. What had happened? Then she pushed herself up, and I saw that she was limping. And pretty badly as well. She had landed wrong! She was in pain! I could see it on her face as the camera zoomed in on her.
Oh no! Take it easy, Amethyst. Slowly...
That took me by surprise. I’ve always been competitive and have always had a strong desire to win no matter what. But now... I was actually more concerned for her than winning. I didn’t want her to get any permanent damage and I hated the fact that she was in pain. I felt my body clench up as I willed her pain to go away.
I had come a long way from being a major butthole, and I liked this new me. I really did. I felt good, and I had good friends. And I wanted to remain their friends forever.
“Come on Amethyst! One hoof at a time!” I shouted.
The screens were showing the replay of Amethyst’s ‘jump’, and I could see where she went wrong. She had landed on her forehoof and twisted around landing really hard. She was the very first one to get out of the caves.
There she stood facing the last and final challenge; a series of teleportation jumps. A camera from high up in the sky showed the course. She had to ‘jump’ four islands to get to me, each jump was a little further than the last, with the last island almost four times further than the first one. That was a total of five separate jumps! The last one was huge! I was starting to get worried. But at least she didn’t have to run far... right?
So, I am on an island... I muttered in my head, looking at the map. Too bad it didn’t show the route that the Earth ponies were going to take.
On each island there was a small wood arch in bright colors with the RACE logo on top. According to Loud Speaker, after each jump, the Unicorns have to go through these gates to prevent them from skipping islands along the way. Made sense. But it also made my heart sink. Poor Amethyst would have to limp through these!
Amethyst limped through the first gateway and stood at the edge of the peninsula. With a flash of bright light she disappeared, like the time when Twilight used that spell in Esperia when Spike, Aiden and I...
Yeah, good times.
A moment later, Amethyst appeared on the first island and started limping towards the next gate. Behind her nine other teams had exited the tunnels in a large ground and were running towards the peninsula as well. She had such a huge lead! If only she hadn’t fallen!
The other ponies had all teleported themselves as soon as they entered the gateway, making it seem that the gateway itself had teleported them. They reached the first island just as Amethyst teleported to the second one and began making her way towards the gateway. The other teams ran past her as Amethyst struggled along gritting her teeth, and fighting the tears in her eyes. She had tried so hard! And got so far!
Just relax, Star. Just get to me...
Amethyst blinked again and appeared on the third island, as she tried to cope with the pain.
“Go Manehatten!” A pony yelled. It was from the Unicorn that was projecting the screen. He grinned at it, and waved a little plastic-looking flag that was red with a yellow lightning bolt through it. “Feel bad for that Ponyville pony, though. She had this in the bag...”
“Tell me about it.” Somepony else replied.
“Go, Amethyst Star!” I yelled. “That’s her name!”
The Unicorn nodded, “Yeah! Go, Amethyst!” He put away his Manehatten flag and pulled out a Ponyville one. It was the same colors as my uniform, and had a large ‘P’ in white.
“Can... can I have that?” I asked.
“Sure. Here, take two. I’ve got plenty.” He said handing it to me.
“Thanks.”
“Hey, do you mind if I got your autograph? I want to get as many as I can.” He said, holding out a piece of paper and a pen.
“Sure. Why not.” I signed it exactly like the time I signed for that guy at the farm. Forest Fire, with one ‘F’ and ‘orest ire’ next to it.
“Cool sig, bro.” He said looking at it. “Name’s Light Wit. Nice to meet you...” He looked at my signature, “Forest Fire.”
“Nice to meet you, Light.” I held out my hoof.
He shook it and grinned, “So, know who Sparkle’s coltfriend is?”
“Uh...” I tried to think of someone.
“I think it’s Fleet Hoof.” He said, nodding to himself, “Makes sense for the fastest pony in all Equestria... well, fastest Earth pony, to be the coltfriend to someone like that.” He sighed, “Wish I had a shot.”
A light smile escaped my lips, “You like Twilight, eh?”
“Who doesn’t? She’s kind, beautiful, gentle, talented, amazing, and... and...” He just sighed.
And he was right. She was all those things.
“Well, I just hope that whoever this so-called coltfriend is, he treats her right. Or I’ll buck him up! That I swear! I’ll do it! I’ll make him rue the day he was born if he hurts her!” He was shaking his hoof in front of his face. I’m sure it would’ve been very dramatic if he had a fist instead.
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
I turned back to the screens and my heart sank. From first place we were now fourteenth, and the next set of racers were already catching up. Still Amethyst refused to give in. Her eyes were full of determination as she teleported to the next island.
Here, several other ponies were waiting, and I felt my heart leap! She was catching up. But why were they all waiting?
A couple of ponies walked to the edge of the island and started to charge up. The light of their horns glowing brighter and brighter before they vanished in a ‘pop’ of light. It was a lot more powerful and bigger than before. Out of the four Unicorns, only two managed to reach the island, while the other two came up short, falling into the water. They had to paddle the rest of the way onto the island, which made their positions drop as other Unicorns managed to teleport directly to the island, passing them by.
Amethyst concentrated and in a second she teleported right at the edge of the next island before limping her way over towards the next gate.
“I see them!” Somepony shouted, pointing into the distance.
Turning around, I spotted the Unicorns on the final island in the distance. They were tiny little specks of colors on the gray rocky shore. Again, they had all stopped and a few of them were waiting. This was the last ‘hop’, the last segment of the Unicorn leg before ours.
In my gut I felt butterflies. This was it. Soon, it would be me running! I felt a little sick and decided to start warming up by stretching. It had more to do with trying to get me to relax rather than getting ready to run. I’ve never stretched before, so it wasn’t to get myself ready to run.
A couple of the Unicorns surrounded themselves in a bright aura, the others were ‘charging’ themselves up a moment later. Then one by one they vanished. Then ‘poof’ the first Unicorn appeared. He or she had failed to cross the entire distance, swimming the rest of the way quickly towards us. As if on cue, another Unicorn appeared closer, but he didn’t make it either, falling into the water with an angry growl as he started to swim.
A couple other ponies also fell short until one of them actually appeared on the shore itself. He sprinted up to her teammate putting the hoof securely over his head. The Earth pony gave her a nod before rushing by her and through the gateway towards coast and into the water. Three more Unicorns appeared, and their respective teams waited for the hoop be placed onto them.
Watching the screen, I saw Amethyst standing at the edge of another island as our place in the ranks dropped to last. We were twentieth now, and she was starting to cross the fourth island, while the second last pony was already at the end of it.
Come on, Star. Just a little more...
“See you at the finish line...” Fleet Hoof taunted, before bursting out in laughter and rushing into the water.
“Oh, you’ll see me!” I called after him. “When I pass your sorry flank!”
He didn’t respond. No, he was in the zone now. Concentrating on the race. A true professional. I had to give it to the guy, he was someone who may have joked and teased, but when it came down to it he did what he needed to do. No wonder he was so popular.
It was disheartening to watch the ponies all go. Each one running past me and into the water starting their long swim. There was nothing I could do but wait. Wait for Amethyst to reach me. Each second that passed by ached as I saw all hope of victory slipping out of reach. My resolve was faltering, my wish for freedom slowly fading away.
“Come on, Amethyst...” I muttered.
A camera was in my face, and I gave it a filthy look.
“Oh my, looks like Ponyville’s runner isn’t too pleased with his teammate coming in last...” I heard Loud Speaker’s voice from the speaker behind me, “From first to last, I’m sure that everypony in Ponyville right now is not pleased with Amethyst Star’s performance.”
“No! I’m annoyed at the camera in my face!” I shouted at the camera man. “Not because of her! My teammate is doing her best! I’m not going to let her or anypony down!”
Of course they couldn’t hear me... could they?
“Well, you heard it folks. That’s... Forest Fire from Ponyville. He’s being ambitious if he thinks he can still catch up at this point...”
Normally I’d be shy and bashful about shouting into a camera, but right now all I could think of was getting my three wishes. My wish for freedom. I didn’t care what it took. I’d win this race, or I’d die trying. Really, that’s how much it meant to me. That’s how much I wanted it. This wasn’t about winning anymore, it was about survival. My survival.
The nineteenth placed pony rushed past me, and gave her teammate a peck on the cheek, “Good luck, my love.” She whispered placing the hoop over his head.
“Thanks. I’ll need it...” He whispered back and started his swim.
Amethyst appeared at the edge of the island, and my heart leapt! She was there! Almost! So close!
“Stay inside the box!” A judge shouted, “The trade must take place within the box!”
“She’s injured!” I retorted.
“That’s the rules.” The judge sternly replied. “No exceptions.”
Angrily, I paced the edge of the box closest to Amethyst. She had started to charge her magic, and in a flash she vanished. She appeared near the island, but not on it. Poor, poor Amethyst. I could tell she was in so much pain as she started to swim towards the island.
“Not much further! You got this!” I yelled, encouraging her. “Almost!”
Slowly, she swam up to the shore and limped towards me. Closer. Step by step. One at a time. Her front right hoof precariously in the air, while her rear right leg was slightly bent to take the weight off of it. She was limping on two legs, not three. She must have taken a serious fall.
She reached me and I pulled her into the box, helping take her weight off her legs. “You’ve done it! It’s over now.”
“Forest... please... take...” She said grimacing in pain, placing the hoop over my head. She had tears streaming down her cheeks, “I’m... s-s-sorry...”
“Don’t worry. You did great. Leave the rest to me, okay?” I assured her as I set the hoop down, placing the two flags I had received from Light Wit around the rim to secure it to my uniform. “Now it’s my turn. See you at the finish line.”
Amethyst smiled and wiped her tears away from her eyes. “Go get ‘em.”
Turning myself around I rushed through the starting line, grinning sadistically.
Here I come, Equestria. Here I come, Canterlot. Here I come... better not blink. You’ll miss it.
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GO FOREST! YOU CAN DO IT! 24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6vmigupuL1r3xauuo1_1280.png
Awsome Chapter dude!! Keep up the good work!!
memecrunch.com/meme/WH7/run-forrest-run/image.png
1001360 Lol
I see what's gonna happen here :P I think. I'm loving this story, I remember when I first read this, also I still don't understand why this has not much likes for, is it not much people now of your story or they just can't be stuffed to vote?
Poor Amethyst! I've been there and it ain't no joke. That shit HURTS!
And you had me in fits at the "What?!" "What?!" "What?!" bit! XD
you got this forest
I want more... NAO!
1005786 Yessir! Right away, sir! Just waiting for some art, sir!
1005800
-.-
I'm watching you...
YUSH!!!
Now you just gotta swim...................because we all want to hear what Twilight will say when you win!
DRAFTING of course
that should be drifting
1010375 I thought that was what it was until my editor said it was drafting. This is a link to show you...
laughing my ass off at the mention of space invading cameras
1010393
bwahahah
ive been mislead!?
merde im wrong
Those damn mocking pony bastards...Shame what happened to Amethyst though. Can't wait for the next chapter to kick ass.
Why does Loud Speaker remind me of Cesar Flickman from the Hunger Games
out of six
At the risk of sounding cliche,
RUN FOREST, RUN!!!
At this point I'm going to take a wild guess that Forest does a sonic flameboom.
5106332
Which sets fire to everyone else in the race allowing him to pass the ashes and claim victory!
Youknow what, screw you, i was supposed to be having second dinner right about now but my damn stomach wont stop spinning in circles.
You and your plots! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!
PS. I'm still hungry...