The First Ride - Race Lore

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“That could work, Azazel” Archmagus Crowley replied. Battle Mage Hothor also gave a thumbs up in approval. The three members of the Council of Mages were meeting in Azazel’s quarters, discussing new ways to attract visitors and merchants to the city. The BlackSand Tournament had been a great success so far, and participants were about to move to the second round of duels. The Council had even managed to recruit a renown trainer to provide sparring sessions to the remaining contestants: the famous Samual Dueler of the Flowers.

But now Azazel had come up with another idea: pony racing. The logistics seemed challenging, but he believed it could be worth a try. “This will work! BlackSand Pony Racing will become a pillar of Runiverse entertainment” Azazel followed with conviction.

The three mages spent the following weeks sending messages across the Runiverse to gather interest and arrange the ponies’ arrival to BlackSand. To everyone’s surprise, thirty-six ponies signed up to compete.

As ponies and their holders started arriving, the city quickly adapted. New pubs and inns opened up to satisfy their demand. The doors of the Black Stable opened for the first time to host the magnificent steeds. More visitors and merchants came to visit and witness the very first pony race in the Runiverse.

Racing Day #1 - The First Ride

Finally, after weeks of preparation, everything was ready. The race had been carefully planned. It would take a total of 7 days. The ponies would first run laps across the city, to then venture out towards the near mountains through the woods. In the last stretch, they would turn towards the shore and run on the black sand of the city beach to reach the finishing line. Azazel was overly excited.

He knew a seven-day race would be quite demanding, so they had prepared refreshment stations along the race path. Pony owners could decide to feed their pony some treats to re-invigorate their energy. Carrots, eggplants, pumpkins and much more were made available. “Why is there a bottle of rum there?” Azezel thought as he spotted some liquor bottles at the first refreshment station, located right at race start. The crowd was filled with excitement as Azazel approached the starting grid. The ponies looked marvelous and eager to race. Some even had some special fits made from the new Body Shop in town.

Everything was perfect: “May the inaugural BlackSand Pony Racing commence. Welcome to the First Ride!”

The first day of racing saw a pony sprint all the way to the front from Lane C: Hell Pony the Stupendous. In his beautiful racing fit, he had conquered the crowd, who cheered him all the way to first place. Two other ponies were closely following: Periwinkle the Precious and Ponyzilla the Quick.

Racing Day #2 - The Promise of Riches

The second day of racing started with an incredible announcement that got the crowd extremely excited. The Council of Mages revealed that they would award treasure boxes to winning (and losing…) ponies. Legends said that those boxes had been purchased by BlackSand from the Nightmare Imp, and that they could potentially carry invaluable items and riches.

Ponies kept racing hard and something new pushed a new contender to the top of the race. The first official Campaign Manager:

From Eon Render of Light: WARRIOR #14384

Eon Render of Light (14384)

[enter Eon lore]

Hell Pony the Stupendous managed to maintain a narrow lead. But now Periwinkle was joined by Dover the Bold and Vitalik the Strong in second place.

Pony Racing Day #3 - The Feeding

After two full days of racing, ponies started to get hungry and demanded their treats.

Before the race, pony owners had been allowed to register crews and buy treats to support the ponies throughout the race. So, as soon as the ponies finished their second lap around the city, the crews rushed to the refreshment stations to prepare their treats.

It turned into chaos...

When the racing ponies reached the stations, each crew tried to get to and feed them as fast as possible:

Some crews started throwing pumpkins, cherries, and peaches to their ponies, often missing A crew tried to feed a massive carrot to their pony Hippo and pushed him right back to the race. More than half of the carrot fell back to the floor. Hippo still hungry… Other crews tried their luck with hot peppers. What could go wrong? They sprinkled the ponies’ nostrils with the spice. Some ponies, reinvigorated, started galloping even fasters. Some others had to stop as they began sneezing on their crew The bravest crews tried to re-fuel their ponies with cognac and rum. Results were spectacular. Some ponies sprinted ahead thanks to their new liquid courage. Others awkwardly spilled and dropped the liquors to the floor. Things caught on fire and crews started screaming and running for their life One of the ponies seemed more interested in eating than racing. She ate what looked like a dead fish and after a couple of steps she fell down on the road, not looking too good

After the mayhem created by what will be remembered as the “Feeding”, a new star emerged: Milo the Odd took the lead of the race; Hell Pony the Stupendous kept in second with Dover the Bold solidifying his third place.

Racing Day #4 - The Traveler’s Blessing

In the fourth day of racing, all ponies had to turn away from the city and run into the woods towards the nearby mountains. Few amongst the crowd managed to keep up, but those who did claimed to have witnessed something magical. A traveler with a deer-looking head approached the the most exhausted ponies. He would pray in their ears and re-invigorate their strength in a magical phenomenon that became known as the "Traveler’s Blessing".

Racing Day #5 - The Kobold’s Gambit

As they reached the mountain path that was supposed to lead them back to the city, the ponies were approached by a Kobold. After days of racing the ponies were tired, hungry, and thirsty, and quite vulnerable to temptation. A sneaky, suspicious figure, the Kobold tried to lure them to his cave, promising delicious treats and a possible shortcut back to BlackSand.

It turned out the Kobold was not to be trusted. He took advantage of most of the ponies who entertained his offers. Some of the ponies got lost in the woods, others just felt too tired and decided to start racing backwards. Only a few got lucky and managed to find an escape and run forward.

Racing Day #6 - Pony Art, Stories, and Movies

With the ponies out of sight in the middle of the woods, art, stories and movies about them started to flourish. Painters shared beautiful art pieces, historians shared fantastic stories, and film makers premiered amazing documentaries on the life of their beloved ponies.

Racing Day #7 - The Final Lap

The brave ponies finally re-appeared from the woods on their way back from the mountain. They rushed towards the last stretch of the race on the sands of the city beaches. They all look exhausted, yet beautiful in their joy for racing.

After their adventure in the woods, their order and positions were totally different. And the race for the top was neck to neck!

The crowd started cheering their favorite ponies. It was loud. Chants emerged to encourage them towards the finish line. They were hopeful.

The ponies finally rushed in: Galloping on the black sand. Neighing to the sunset. Racing to their best!

And in a concert of claps and cheers, the winner of the first ever pony race in the Runiverse crossed the finishing line. Fireworks blasted off, music started playing, the crowd went insane!

He had made it, [redacted] was the first ever BlackSand Pony Racing winner! In close second came [redacted], in third [redacted]. Last but still very happy was [redacted].

Azazel took it all in. It was incredible. They had made it. It was done. The First Ride was complete. BlackSand had made history. Again.