Alone, But not?

Here I was. This was it. I have been preparing for this moment for weeks. All the hard work. All the dedication. Despite all of this, I had my doubts. What if I wasn't strong enough. What if I wasn't fast enough. I can't just give up in the middle. Maybe I can just go home. If I just turn around and walk away, nobody will know. I can just disappear and forget about all of this.

"Hey, how you doin there, Chase?" I heard from behind me as I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Oh, hey Fancy. Yeah, I'm doin alright. Don't think I'm quite ready for the race yet." I said with a light chuckle. I hadn't noticed Fancy Whistle walking up behind me. Usually a stallion like him would be hard to miss since he had a bright yellow coat and silver mane but I guess I had been preoccupied thinking about the upcoming race.

Calling it a race was a bit of an overstatement though. In reality it was just a community run. The Running of the Leaves to be exact.

"This'll be your first Running of the leaves, right? Don't worry. Most of us don't take it too seriously. It's just good to get out and enjoy the scenery. Especially this time of year." He said , looking around all at all the decorations placed around the town center.

"Yeah, it's my first run here. You know, I was a bit of a runner in my late teens but I kind of fell out of it after a while. Though, with all the hype around town I just had to get a few runs in just to be sure I could actually go through with it."

"Well hay, you should do fine then. Do you have any plans for after the run? I mean, me and Marble were thinking of swinging by the Tipsy Mare for a few drinks later tonight if you wanted to join." Fancy said with a hopeful smile on his face.

"I don't know..." I started but he cut me off.

"I know you've only been here for a couple months now but I really would like you to come. Come on, it'll be fun." I thought for a moment before he added "you might even meet yourself a mare. Not sure why you're so against it but interspecies relationships really are more common than you think. Especially in the cities."

"Alright man, you got me. It's about time I had a little fun."

"That's the spirit!"

"Alright everypony, the race is about to begin. If Y'all will just line up on the start line we can begin." The mayor had made her way up to a small stage set up in the center of town next to a statue of an important pony that history had yet to forget. She observed the crowd from her little overlook, a megaphone hanging from a sling off to her left.

The ponies participating in the race took their places toward the center of mane street while the onlookers, mostly young foals and the elderly, formed barriers to guide us where we needed to go. Looking forward, I could see where the cobblestone road turned to dirt and trailed into White Tail Woods ahead. There was only a small clearing between the last visible house and the start of the forest.

"Alright everypony," the mayor started. "You all know the rules. Respect your fellow racers and have fun! On your marks! Get set! Go!"

As she gave the go ahead, we all started our run. Starting out, I knew there wasn't a chance that I would keep pace with the others. Humans weren't exactly designed for speed. None the less, they weren't exactly leaving me in the dust either. I'd chock it up to my longer legs but I couldn't be sure. Besides, I wasn't interested as much in the race as I was just participating in the tradition.

Apparently, this tradition of the fall run had been going on for many, many years. When Fancy first brought up the race, I had a hard time believing it. It didn't make much sense that ponies running through the woods would cause the trees to shed their leaves, even if the whole town participated. But, sure enough, as I looked around, I saw that the leaves were falling. I'm sure it has something to do with the magic of this world. To be honest I had seen much more wonderous things in my time here in Equestria, but it still ties my brain up thinking about how it all just works.

Towards the end of the race, I started passing by ponies left and right. I guess they overestimated their endurance. By the end of the race I ended up in 15th. For sure not the best at the run but a hell of a lot better than I thought I'd be. Especially considering I was racing against little horses.

The race ended back where we started, in the town square. It took me about 30 minutes to get through back to the center and, while the rest of the town was running, many of those who chose to stay behind set up concession stands for the racers. There was no shortage of juice, lemonade, and water being sold and I had my fair share while I cooled down.

I spent another 20 minutes in the square enjoying the atmosphere and talking to some of the ponies about their past experiences with the race. As a light breeze rolled through the town, I realized that it was starting to get a little chilly and I should probably head back home to change. I usually wore just shorts and a tee shirt and today was no different. Since I was running, I wanted to wear loose clothes so I could comfortably race but for tonight I was thinking that maybe I should wear pants and a long sleeve shirt.

After a good bath and debating whether I wanted to eat at the house or grab something at the bar, I decided I'd just eat out. The sun had gone down and it was probably time to head to the bar anyway.

I grabbed my room key and headed out the door. When I came to Equestria, I didn't really have a place to stay. I ended up staying at Fancy's house with his wife while I saved up some bits. Eventually, when he told me I should have enough, we took a trip to the town inn. We negotiated with the owner for a bit and agreed on a fair price as long as I helped the owner around the inn every once in a while.

It didn't take me very long to get to where the bar was. Just a short walk from the outskirts of town into the center where most of the businesses were. I saw the burning torches lighting up the sign for the Tipsy Mare from down the road and it only took a couple minutes before I walked through the saloon styled doors. Scanning the room quickly, I located Fancy sitting in a booth with Marble sitting across and to his left. From the look of things, they had already started drinking but weren't too far gone yet.

I took a seat at the table across from Fancy and next to Marble Mark, another friend of mine and Fancy. Marble was a normal sized stallion with a light tan coat and white mane. I met the two of them around the same time and it didn't take long for our friendship to build. I wasn't sure where I would fit into the town so I introduced myself to them and they were happy to steer me in the right direction. They helped me get my job baking breads and pastries at the local bakery which allowed me to get my room at the inn and put food on the table. It actually paid decently well considering how little experience with baking I had previously.

"Hey Chase. How ya been? Haven't seen you in the market lately. Kinda missed your snarky ass takin the wind out my sails." Marble said before laughing and taking a large swig of his beer.

"Yeah, well, I didn't realize you needed me around so much. Do you want me to tuck you in at night too? Maybe read you a bedtime story?" I shot back with a deadpan expression before breaking character and giving a chuckle.

"It's good to see ya bud." He said and gave me a slap on the back.

"Why don't you two just kiss already?" Fancy said with a smile. "You bicker more than me and my old lady back home."

"Har, Har." Marble said as I turned my head, searching for the waiter. After giving him a nod he made his way over to our table.

"Ah our resident human. The usual?" I don't really blame Wild Spirit knowing what I liked after spending a respectable amount of time in the bar. I didn't usually get drunk. It was more of just getting a drink after work or having a few on the weekends when I wasn't working. Hard cider was the way to go.

"Yeah that'll do." I smiled and gave him a nod of appreciation. Looking past him I noticed, in the back corner, next to the bar counter, was a group of mares looking in our direction giggling to themselves. I didn't give it much thought and turned back to the table. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one to notice.

"Guys don't look now but hotties at my 12." Fancy said with a sly smile.

I facepalmed. "First off...what the fuck. Hotties? What are you? Four? Second, aren't you married?"

"She isn't here right now is she? Didn't think so."

"One of these days she's gonna kick your ass." Marble said, shaking his head.

Wild Spirit, the waiter, came by with my drink and I thanked him before cracking open the bottle and taking a long drink from it. Fancy and Marble bickered on while I chanced a glance over my shoulder to see what was goin on with the mares. One of them, a dark blue mare with a light blue mane and bright pink eyes caught mine and for a brief second, I couldn't look away. She turned her head, her cheeks flushed. Her mouth opened as if she was saying something and the other two mares she was with turned to look at me. I quickly snapped my head forward only to find my two friends had stopped their exchange and had their eyes on me. Their smiles telling the whole story without them needing to say anything. That didn't stop them from letting me know they knew.

"Oh, I see. It looks like they aren't just interested in any stallion. It's you they're after." Fancy said before doubling over in laughter. Marble joining in soon after. I downed the rest of my drink and then stood up.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Listen, it was nice seeing y'all but I've got an early morning tomorrow and I need my rest after that race." I lied. In reality I just wasn't feeling up to a night of drinking anymore. The thought of kissing a pony made my skin crawl. It was like they were human on the inside. Human feelings. Mostly human expressions. But they were ponies.

"Aww, we were only teasing. Stay. We'll make it up to you...or they will." Marble said with a wink and they laughed harder.

I thought for a moment before taking my seat again.

"Buy me a shot of Vodka and I'll stay. And not that cheap stuff. I want it straight from Stalliongrad."

"My man," Marble said with a wide smile before turning to look for the waiter. "Hey Spirit, 6 shots of Van Doe Vodka."

Before long I was feeling the effects of the alcohol. All the noise of the bar becoming slightly drowned out while also sounding louder. At any are I was quickly becoming a bumbling, happy drunk, singing loud and proud with the rest of my squad. Luckily for me we mostly forgot about the little gaggle of mares watching us from afar and giggling when we did something embarrassing that we wouldn't remember tomorrow.

After a few hours, I decided it was time to head home. I wasn't quite at the blackout level of drunk and I knew the way home but I'll be damned if my legs had decided to invert the controls on me. In other words, I stumbled into someone else's table before stepping out into the cool night air. After saying goodbye to my friends, I took a fleeting glance into the bar and thought I saw the blue mare from before standing just inside the door. She was looking at me as if she wanted to say something but didn't have the courage to. With a smile and a lopsided, over the top wave, I turned and headed back to my room. The rest of the night, well, I don't quite remember.