Forward Motion

by totallynotabrony

The Challenge

Forward Motion

“Hey Twilight, are you competing in the Running of the Leaves again this year?” The question had come from a sky-blue pegasus with multicolored stripes in her mane and tail.

Twilight Sparkle looked up from the reference book in front of her. The purple unicorn put her hoof to her chin in thought and smiled. “I have a lot of things to do that weekend, Rainbow, but I’ll try to make it. Hopefully with a little practice, I’ll do even better than last year!”

“Well, you’ve still got a long way to go to beat me,” said the other mare, grinning. “I’ll try to make it a close race, though.”

Rainbow said goodbye to her friend and left the library where Twilight had been working. The pegasus headed towards the outskirts of town, looking for some open ground. As Ponyville was not a very large settlement, it didn’t take long.

The road ahead was clear. Rainbow tucked her wings tightly to her sides and pawed at the ground. She bent her legs, getting into a starting stance. Three, two, one… The mare exploded forward into a sprint.

While Rainbow usually only did things that somehow involved flying, she reveled in any kind of competition. She was at her happiest when pushing her body to the limit. The sound of her hooves pounding the road grew lighter as her speed increased. Pegasi were meant to fly, and generally their limiting factor in ground speed was staying in contact with the surface. At some point, their lightweight bodies would begin to uncontrollably float.

Rainbow’s toned body was denser than most pegasus mares, or heck, even most stallions. Her extra weight kept her hooves planted better, but there was still a limit. She had considered carrying weighted saddlebags for the race, but that would tire her out more quickly.

While still considering the problem, the mare spotted a familiar face coming along the road. She coasted down from her sprint, forming up beside an orange earth pony who was pulling an apple cart.

“Hey AJ, what’s up?” asked Rainbow.

“Just finishin’ up today’s work,” replied Applejack. She pushed her cowboy hat back and grinned. “What are you up to, practicin’ for the Runnin’ of the Leaves? Afraid Ah’ll beat you this time?”

“Yeah right,” laughed Rainbow. “I don’t even see you training.”

Applejack indicated the cart behind her and flexed her legs. “Everything Ah do helps me prepare.”

“You should work on your cardio!” suggested Rainbow, taking off again. Applejack watched her go, a cloud of dust trailing behind the running pegasus. The orange mare turned back to her task, putting a little extra effort into pulling the cart. The race was only a few days away, and there was only so much she could do to prepare. But yes, she had been working on getting her heart rate up, usually late at night when Rainbow was asleep.

Applejack pulled the cart into town. The late afternoon sun indicated that her workday was almost done. She backed her cart up to the loading door at the back of Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville’s bakery. There were a lot of seasonal treats being prepared for after the race and its associated festivities. The Running of the Leaves was an important autumn tradition in Ponyville. The wake of running ponies was used to defoliate the forest in preparation for the coming winter.

The mare unhooked the cart and turned to go around the front of the building. She caught sight of a tall stallion walking down the street. The pegasus was an interesting shade of blue—a little darker than the sky, a little lighter than water. The mane on the pony's neck was reddish orange and cut short, while his matching tail was bobbed to the extreme. His face was angular and was dominated by a pointed snout.

Applejack reached forward to open the bakery door just as it was blasted open by the exit of a pink earth pony with a frizzy mane.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, is that somepony new?” The pink pony bounced over to the stallion, stopping him in the street. “Hi! My name’s Pinkie Pie! I haven’t seen you around before, so that means you must be new, and you know what that means!”

“Actually, I have no idea,” said the pegasus, looking amused.

“I’m going to throw you a party!” exclaimed Pinkie. “Tell me your name so I can make the invitations!”

“Call me Vector.” The stallion laughed and started to introduce himself further, but Pinkie was already gone.

Applejack walked over and extended a hoof. “We don’t get many visitors around these parts. Name’s Applejack.”

Vector greeted her. Now that she was closer, the mare could see his cutie mark was four arrows pointing outwards from a center origin point. The stallion said, “I came to Ponyville to compete in the Running of the Leaves.”

“How about that?” said Applejack. “So am Ah.”

He smiled. “Maybe you could show me the course. I’m from Neightona, and I haven’t been out this way before.”

“Sure,” said Applejack. “Ah got to warn you, though, I’ll be at the front of the pack on race day. You’ll have to keep up.”

“It won’t be a problem,” replied Vector confidently.

Applejack wondered for a moment how fast the stallion might be. He certainly appeared to be in shape, even more so than most earth ponies. His long legs looked trim and speedy. Still, other than the spat with Rainbow the year before, she was undefeated in the race.

“Well then, why don’t we go out later?” said Applejack with a challenging smile. “After your party, o’course.”

The blue stallion nodded. “I’d like that. Oh, as I was coming into town I noticed a track built in the orchard to the south. Can I practice there?”

“As a matter of fact, you can. It’s Sweet Apple Acres property, but everypony has access to it.” Several ponies from town used the path cut in the orchard for exercise. Applejack figured it would give her an excellent opportunity to find out how fast this pegasus might be. The mare excused herself. Despite the impending Pinkie Party, she had to go prepare for the race.

Vector was about to turn away when Pinkie burst back out the door of the bakery. “There you are! Right now, it’s the right time to have a good time!” She hauled him inside.

After living with Pinkie for so long, the residents of Ponyville had grown accustomed to her extravagant welcome parties. They greeted the new pony in their midst, offering friendly conversation. Three young fillies pulled him aside.

“Where’dja say you were from?” asked a red-maned earth pony.

“Neightona. It’s down south.”

“What do you do for a living?” the white unicorn asked.

“I race.”

“Cool, a professional athlete!” squealed an orange pegasus.

The yellow filly with the red mane asked, “What’s your cutie mark mean?”

Vector glanced at his hip, at the symbol with four opposing arrows. “Have you ever heard of the four fundamentals of flight?”

“Sort of,” answered the pegasus filly, scratching her head through her purple mane.

“Thrust, drag, weight, and lift,” recited Vector. “I guess it means I’m good at balancing forces to get the most out of myself. There’s a lot of physics involved.”

The other two fillies backed off at the mention of science, but the pegasus persisted. “What kind of racing do you do? Air derby? Endurance?”

“I hoofrace,” answered Vector. “I’m actually not that great at flying.”

“Did somepony say racing?” Rainbow Dash joined the group. Vector offered a hoof and introduced himself.

“A professional, huh?” said Rainbow. “You came all the way here just for our Running of the Leaves?”

“I like a challenge,” said Vector. “I might as well win as many races as I can.”

It was a little presumptuous of him to already consider the Running of the Leaves won. Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. Granted, she probably would have said something similar, but who was this outsider who thought he was so great?

“Well then,” said the mare, “how about a friendly little competition to warm up before the race?”

“I’m actually going out later with somepony named Applejack,” explained Vector. “She said she’d show me around.”

“I know her,” said Rainbow, nodding. “Maybe I’ll join you two.”

“How about some cake?” squealed Pinkie, popping up between the two of them.

“Ah, no, sorry. Got to stay in shape,” Vector waved a hoof.

Rainbow would have said yes, but with the stallion standing there she also declined. She looked at him. “We could get going now.”

“Sure.” The two pegasi left the party, somewhat to Pinkie’s consternation. They found Applejack near her orchard, stretching in preparation for an evening workout.

“Ah see you’ve met Vector,” the farm pony said.

“Thank you both for agreeing to show me the racecourse.” The stallion smiled.

“Wouldn’t want you to get lost on race day,” said Applejack.

“Hey Vector, the starting line is that way,” said Rainbow, pointing a hoof. “Give me a minute to talk to AJ.”

Applejack looked at her friend curiously, but waited until the tall blue pegasus was out of earshot. “What is it, Rainbow?”

“Did you know this guy is a professional racer?” her friend asked. “He’s probably pretty fast.”

Applejack grinned. “Are you worried?”

“No! I just didn’t want you to get third place instead of second.” Rainbow grinned. “Why don’t we take it easy tonight so we don’t give up too many of our secrets? After all, we can’t let somepony from Neightona come in here and win our local race.”

The earth pony nodded and the two of them walked to where Vector was examining the race starting line. The three of them set off at a brisk trot. The stallion seemed to be slightly confused by the slow pace, but said nothing.

“The racecourse goes up north and weaves through Whitetail Wood,” explained Applejack.

“It should be clearly marked,” put in Rainbow. “I made sure of it myself.”

The other mare threw her a look, but before she could bring up what happened the year before, Vector asked, “Are there any other pros coming?”

“Not that I know of,” said Rainbow.

“Oh.” The stallion seemed disappointed. “I was hoping for some stiff competition.”

“Don’t count us country folks out,” said Applejack. “Why, even our librarian is training for the race this year.’

The stallion’s attitude grated on the earth pony. He seemed to think the Running of the leaves would be easy. She was tempted to pick up the pace and show him a thing or two, but managed to resist. The three ponies finished the rest of the course review in silence.

In the morning, Applejack went into town to retrieve the now-empty cart from the bakery. Along the way, she saw a purple unicorn lugging heavy saddlebags filled with books.

“Hey there Twilight,” called the farmer.

“Hello Applejack. I managed to get some free time this weekend.” The unicorn smiled.

Applejack cocked an eyebrow. “It looks like you’re studying.”

Twilight nodded. “That’s right! How else am I supposed to learn more about racing?”

“Well, we have a so-called expert in town right now.” Applejack related to her friend everything she had learned about Vector.

“He sounds a little full of himself,” observed the studious pony. “Just stay polite and beat him at his own game.”

Applejack smiled. “Ah can do that. See you later, Twi.”

On her way back to the farm, Rainbow flew by. “Hey AJ, Vector’s at your place using the track!”

“Really?” The orange pony hurried back, eager to see the stallion run. She and Rainbow arrived at the edge of the track as Applejack’s brother, Big Macintosh, came walking over. Vector was jogging, still warming up.

The track had been built to avoid as many apple trees as possible. One straightaway was broken into two shorter segments with a gentle curve between. It turned the track into an isosceles triangle, wider than it was tall.

Seeing he had an audience, Vector put on a little more speed. It was clear that he wasn’t pushing his limits, but his comparatively modest pace was probably faster than lots of ponies.

Macintosh disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a stopwatch. Applejack seized it. “Thanks, big brother.”

“Eeyup.” Big Mac had raced in the Running of the Leaves a few times, handing off the duty of representing the Apple family when AJ was old enough.

The first lap Applejack timed, Vector completed the circuit in 55.11 seconds. The mare grinned to herself. The track record was 51.45 – set by her. Rainbow was a couple of tenths slower, using the excuse that the turns slowed her down.

Vector glanced sideways as he went by, seeing the stopwatch. His speed picked up a little, and the next three laps were all less than 53 seconds.

Applejack and Rainbow glanced at each other. The stallion was pretty fast, they had to give him that. The orange mare glanced at the stopwatch as he came around again and did a double take. Vector's latest lap was 51.96 seconds.

Nervous now, the two mares and Big Mac watched from the sidelines. Vector rounded the turn and headed for the timing line again. He was moving faster than before. The stallion stretched his sharp muzzle forward, extending his legs and taking long strides. Applejack clicked the stopwatch. 51.57 – he was faster than Rainbow.

As he went by, Vector flashed a mischievous grin. His hooves thundered on the track as the stallion headed into the first turn to begin a new lap. It was a good thing his mane and tail were cut so short, or the breeze would have been blowing them all over. As it was, his ears were forced back flat on his head.

Rainbow studied the male pegasus carefully. As he ran faster, his wings lifted slightly, the tips rising above his back. It probably took a lot of muscle effort to hold them there, instead of tucking them to his sides. She noticed something else. It sounded like his hoofbeats were only getting louder, instead of floating. Sure, he weighed more than she did, but he was still a pegasus, right?

Down the long straightway, Vector’s legs and torso seemed to almost lengthen and compress as he threw his whole body into running. Applejack’s hooves began to tremble. It was already clear the track record was in jeopardy. How much would he cut off? A couple of tenths? A whole second? The stallion swept into the final turn, his long legs eating up the distance. He pushed himself all the way to the timing line.

Applejack looked down at the stopwatch: 47.88

“How in tarnation—” shouted the mare.

Rainbow gasped. “What the buck—”

Big Mac said nothing, his mouth hanging open. The three of them watched Vector slow to a jog. He took half a lap to cool down, exiting the track and trotting away without looking back or speaking. The tall pegasus didn’t need to say anything. His challenge had been issued.

Comments

[Snowstreak]

Ah, Vector's a smart pony. Rainbow Dash. Physics 101. Now.

Have to see where this goes. I'm putting my money on tied wings, removing Vector's main advantage, and then the race is pretty much even with an epic 3-way race to the finish.

[oblivion2k]

"But yes, she had been working on getting her heart rate up, usually late at night when Rainbow was asleep."