Jack knew Tooth was fast. From the last time she went after Pitch he knew she was. But he could safely say he wasn't the only one left in the dust. The Autumn spirit with him had gaped at him before the both of them shot after her.
It was barely a minute when everyone got out of the somewhat serious mood, laughing in glee at the feel of wind rushing past them all. Jack could just feel the energy in the entire mass of spirits, the 'magic'. Gods he was getting goosebumps, it was just energy, different energies weaving in and out and around each other, all speeding around the mountain ridge and it was just alive! This was what watched over this Earth and he was proud to be one of them.
It took a while before he realized some of the tiny spirits were right behind him, mostly Mother Nature's small pixies. Mother Nature herself wasn't there, but her smaller 'minion's were allowed here. They were tagging along using Wind! That wasn't fair! He couldn't get Wind to just stop, however, that would mean him falling out of the air as well. But he could use one of the rules. Specifically the, you can shoot, one. Noone was allowed to freeze someone else in their tracks, almost everyone had stared at him then, but you could slow them down. He pointed his staff in the middle of the crowd and fired after the pixies realized and split up. He immediately shot off to the side so the pixies couldn't use the Wind. Just as he made it away he was suddenly falling. He almost hit the floor before Wind picked him up again before he realize Saran was right above him. He'd accidentally gotten into the Summer breeze! She was already glaring at him for trying to use her Wind, not like he could, before she held her hand out to blast at him. His eyes widened before he just stopped and shot backwards, making a big circle to avoid her.
Now that Jack was at the edge of the group of spirits, he could see who was up ahead. On the ground it seemed like it was… Bunny!? Well, he wasn't kidding when he said to not race a rabbit… But as for those in the air he could see Tooth being outmatched by the giant mass of blacksand, a fully formed Nightmare with Pitch at its head. And then North arrived, going right past the Nightmares with ease. Jack could hear Pitch scream with fury and laughed. The spirits up ahead were all focused on winning and it was getting to the hard part. Down into a sort of labyrinth, with random spikes of Earth that jutted out, making an obstacle course.
Jack felt the heat before the fireball was even close to him and dodged in time so it hit the stone wall beside him. "Hey, what are you trying to do, make an avalanche!?" He yelled back behind him and paled. The whole pack of dragons were behind him, the Western and Eastern. The former were grinning at him while the latter had the smuggest faces on. The spirits around him saw them as well and there was a collective "Eeep!" before they darted in different directions, making a free space for the dragons to move forward. Okay, now this is the race. Jack swung his staff under him and jumped on it like a waveboard, crouching as he weaved around the spirits in front of him, Wind pushing him faster and faster.
He knew he was fast. He could easily outrun anyone. But Bunny hated the fact that that meant the pack of werewolves would be running right behind him. They obviously wouldn't kill him but his instincts just screamed predator! So he kept on running like any sane rabbit would with a pack of snarling, okay they weren't but that was how any rabbit would see a wolf pack, right behind him. The ground shook and he looked up to see snow being sprayed in the air. Was that an explosion!? What were they doing up there!? He jumped off the closest wall to avoid the crater and heard yelps when a couple of werewolves fell in. He chortled, no one should race a rabbit. And there was that stupid howl of theirs! He didn't care how much they enjoyed the 'hunt' it made him panic and almost stumble! The Pooka looked up and smirked, North was still ahead of the Boogeyman. The Nightmare King must've been insulted that he was being beat by the 'fat man'. Someone needed to take him down a notch anyways. He was startled however when Pitch pretty much fell off his Nightmare into the blacksand. The lead Nightmare disintegrated as well and he wasn't the only spirit that watched, unsure if Pitch had come to harm. Then he saw the large flaming gold eye that appeared as the blacksand shifted about. No. Possible. Way. Bunny dodged the next stalagmite as everyone passed through the hole in the mountain, it was darker here and harder to see, so most used the light of the flame spirits or any glowing objects anyone had. Practically everyone was following the golden glow on both sides of the wall that the titan Nightmare's gave off, though. The lower half of the Nightmare's body was formed by the time everyone got out of the cave, the mane still wisps of blacksand. Of course the Nightmares, or Nightmare?, passed the cave easily, what with them being night creatures.
"Is that fair!?" Jack found Bunny when he flew to the front and bottom of the crowd and asked.
"I don't think so, mate! What do you think he's doing in there!?" Bunny yelled back and the two dodged another object, was that a smoke bomb!? It was the last bend, two more mountains, one to go over and the second had a cave system like the earlier. The Titan Nightmare had its neck arched, head occasionally shaking, snorting, still glaring ahead with all its focus. Everyone veered up as they climbed upwards, Bunny using every spot he could get land on the face of the mountain. The Nightmare had gotten a bit smaller, becoming more compact as the blacksand was concentrated into its was getting close to the peak, and North. Jack swore he heard Pitch's laugh echo from the Nightmare when it's eye was right beside North. Then a volley of fireballs was shot straight into the Nightmare. The sand moved away and back like a swarm of fish when a shark came through. Jack hoped he'd be able to see Pitch but it seemed as though he was the Nightmare at this point. It jumped straight over the peak, hunching down to slide down the mountain, it's hooves going straight past the ridges. North was shouting at Pitch, though Jack couldn't hear what, he was laughing too. With another tug at the reins, the sled went past the Nightmare and cleared it and many of the spirits laughed at the startled look it gave.
North was proud of his reindeer, he could only leave gifts throughout the world during Christmas thanks to all of them and they always did a good job. He could tell they were enjoying the race, it was a way for them to prove themselves and get ready for the real run on Christmas. North heard a collective gasp from everyone behind him and turned, only to see the large maw opening wide, fangs forming.
The spirits remembered what happened the last time the Nightmare grew fangs at dinner. North was fresh meat. But no one could do anything as the jaws snapped shut. Some of the spirits let out screams but there wasn't any sound of wood being smashed.
North had braced himself for the impact but was surprised when he was in a sort of room, the sand moving constantly. He calmed down his reindeer as the sand continued to go past. The air here was still and he briefly wondered if Pitch had cheated and teleported him behind. That theory was gone when everything seemed to explode. The sand separated before coming together in the shape of the Nightmare in front of him. Oh.North couldn't help but laugh. "Nice one, Pitch, very nice!"
Just before the Nightmare was attacked it broke apart, swirling, before forming again. But now with North and his sleigh behind it's head. Who was laughing. Everyone sighed in relief before getting back to trying to beat the Nightmare. Bunny had to jump around a lot, avoiding being stomped by the hooves but from what he saw he guessed he wouldn't be harmed. But the holes left in the ground by the Nightmare was still unnerving him. The cave was coming up and Tooth had beaten North at that point, laughing while her faeries trilled. Hal was right behind her , contesting against a water spirit. So that's where the smokebombs came from! He saw Jack flying up to the other teen and groaned. The spirits around them were on high alert, hearing the two yell and cheer. Looked like an alliance had been made. Bunny winced when the first smokebombs were thrown with the Wind pushing it further, slowing some of the dragons down.
It was dark now, but the glow from Hal's head was good enough for Jack, he had a hand gripping Mint's rein as well, shooting randomly at any light he saw. The two had pretty much given up on chasing Pitch, he swore the Boogeyman wasn't playing fair.
"What a show-off!" Hal yelled and Jack looked up, the golden eyes of the Nightmare was gone again, was he changing again!?
"I think Bunny would call him a show-pony." Jack yelled back and the two laughed. They could tease Pitch on that later. It was getting brighter as they approached the end of the cave although he heard some spirits slamming into rock since the main source of light that knew where it was going was gone. Hal had to trust Mint with his night vision but now it would be easier. Jack got of his 'ride' and flew beside him, returning to the way he stood on his staff like a skateboard. Now that they could see it better, the Nightmare was gone, in face the sand was loose, almost spread out. Jack started looking for Pitch among the clumps of sand. Where was he?
Was the sand… spinning? Hal watched carefully, it looked like the sand was creating a vortex. What was Pitch doing? He wondered how many tricks Pitch had up his sleeve. He probably just wanted to show off his creation. The vortex spun faster and faster and just as the last spirit cleared the cave it tightened in the form of a viper, thrusting itself towards the Russian Palace, hissing. It hit the ground once it reached where they'd decided the finish line was, coiling up just as Bunny ran past it as well with the werewolves. Everyone gathered soon after, the dragons still hyped up and blasting fire. The younger spirits were all screaming happily, chasing each other in the air and on the ground. Bunny sniffed and one of the Eastern Dragons morphed back to their hybrid state, setting the pearl he had on fire and setting it close to Bunny. The Pooka thanked him and warmed his feet up. He looked up and saw Jack already throwing snowballs at people. It looked like he'd already started a snowball fight, spirits flying low to scoop up snow to throw. The older spirits stood by, cooling down after the race. Tooth was sitting with the Autumn and Spring spirits, her faeries perched on every available shoulder or head or wing. The three girls laughed and joked and chatted and watched the younger spirits. After a while, everyone's adrenaline wore off. The large snake had morphed slowly back into the shape of a Nightmare, though Pitch was still nowhere to be seen. It was trotting around happily, thought that was disturbing to see. They could only guess it was the Nightmares prancing around although the thought of Pitch being behind it was hilarious. It would be much like him to do it, proud of his win.
"Hey Pitch! You in there!?" Jack was yelling at the Nightmare, not two feet from it's ear. It snapped at him but he recognized that annoyed look easily. The other spirits were curious as well on how the thing worked. "So, are you like, in there controlling this thing? Or are you the Nightmare?" The Nightmare folded its ears down, still glaring at him. Stop yelling! They could practically read it in its eyes. "Alright, alright. Seriously though. Because if you are it, you've been prancing around like a little pony for the past ten minutes." The spirits laughed and Pitch, they were just going to address it as such, glowered. "What?" Jack shrugged and tapped at it's nose. "So, are you coming out anytime soon, or?" It neighed and threw its head about. "I'll take that as a no?" And Pitch was back to acting… like a pony. "Anyone got a camera!? Like, anyone!?" Pitch seemed to snap out of it, ready to snag Jack out of the air. "Alright, alright. Go do your… thing."
"You sure that's Pitch?"
"You sure we can't film him? This is way too good."
"We need to film this."
Everyone was ready to leave after a while, saying their goodbyes and thanking North for inviting them. For some odd reason, Pitch allowed some to sit on his back, which of course could hold about twenty of them.
"This is definitely not Pitch." Noone could really figure out how much of Pitch's consciousness was present, or if he could truly act this way, or if he was acting. In the end everyone agreed that they could live with this Pitch, but it would make the world better to have it on tape.
"Hey Jack… do you think he'll listen to someone?" Hal asked and the others sat up at the thought.
"What do you mean? Pitch'll never listen to anyone."
"That ain't exactly Pitch, now is it?" Hal pointed out. The other spirits were staring at Pitch and the Spring spirit sitting further away. "Hey, Anastasia, right?" The Spring spirit nodded. "Think you can try?"
Anastasia was one of the best with animals, besides Mother Nature of course, but only with a few animals. "I'll try, but I don't want to make him do anything he won't like…"
"I don't think the normal Pitch would be doing that." Said Nightmare had laid his, oh gods what if he was a she!?, head on the ground, letting the spirits play around on and around him. Was the Autumn spirit trying to brai- gods this was torture not to film.
"Okay." Ana, as she told them to call her, walked towards the giant Nightmare, catching its attention. "Hey… Pitch…" The Nightmare lifted its head off the ground, growling at her and making her shoot back. He focused on her before making a motion akin to rolling his eyes, lying back down. "Pitch? Could you stand up, please?" It was staring at her, seeming to think, before it stood up although it had a look, as if asking why. "Okay, uh. Guys?"
"Make him roll over!" Hal shouted and the others laughed.
Before Ana could give the order, the Nightmare bent its head down to glare at Hal. The Halloween spirit gulped, that was definitely Pitch in there. Its nostrils flared and he heard a growl. "Okay I'm out! Bye, Jack!" He was on Mint and off before anyone could do anything.
Pitch seemed to settle back down, strangely allowing the spirits to play around, still. "Hey Pitch!" Jack floated up to it's left eye, hands on his hips. "Play nice!" He wagged a finger at him like he was scolding a child and Ana giggled. Pitch made a low sound, almost annoyed, before turning his head to look away. "Hey, listen to me when I'm talking to you!" Jack flew up to pull at his ear playfully and Ana watched as Pitch flicked his other ear.
"He really likes you, doesn't he?" Pitch snapped his head to look at her, Jack doing the same.
"What do you mean? He's just a big jerk most of the time." Jack complained, sitting on the top of his mane now. Pitch looked oddly pleased.
"No, he likes you." Jack slid off his muzzle and floated right up to her. "I don't see him letting anyone pulling at his ear like that."
"Oh really." Jack smirked, turning. "Hey Pitch, I didn't know you car- Where'd he go." The other spirits shrugged.
"He kinda got up and left…" One of the leaf spirits with Ana shrugged.
"Typical." Jack huffed and Ana laughed.
"From what he's done and what you've said, he sounds like a big softie to me."
"Yea, and he calls himself the Nightmare King."
Jack snickered, "Oh he's a nightmare alright. A nightmare to take care of."
"Who froze when a certain Summer spirit came up to you, Frost?" Jack screamed, kinda, when the Boogeyman appeared right behind him.
"Hey Pitch." That Spring spirit was way too confident for his liking.
"Oh my reputation, it burns." Pitch had a hand to his chest dramatically. "Now if you don't mind, shouldn't you all be going home?" He asked the teens.
"I still say you sound like a parent, Pitch." Jack teased and pointed at the Nightmares that appeared. "I think they agree, amiright, girls?" He smiled when they stamped their feet and neighed in agreement. Pitch was facepalming at this point.
"So much for loyalty. Goodbye Frost." Pitch gripped the closest Nightmare's rein and led them back to the shadows.
"See you tomorrow, Pitch!" Jack yelled back and he could hear the groan. Ana said goodbye and brought her flora spirits away, and soon the others left as well. Jack watched the yetis cleaning up the place and went back to the guest room that had become his. He found North and said goodnight before going to bed. That was the most fun he'd had with spirits in a really long time.
But he still couldn't believe Tooth was that fast.
A/N: Sorry about this chapter, I have this weird, thing. Where I just adore the feeling of a race. That feeling of just, forward, faster, wind, rush, bend , turn, spin. I've been dreaming about just animating something like that. I've drawn those sorta scenes before too, I just adore it. But since I had the chance to write it... Bam, I'm happy! Mostly, racing and you don't get tired, just endless energy, no pain in the muscles and stuff. Probably good that I never get a driving license... yea. But of course I could never run, first of I'm pretty fat lol, and I have a bit of anaemia, can never run without getting tired almost instantly. "Run slowly," they said, "jog, keep a slow pace" they said. It does not work for me. I WILL get tired whether I run fast or slow. So for the PE tests I have to just sprint. And walk the rest of the way. Of course I fail every year.
Okay enough ranting. Also Pitch is a pony. Pitch is best pony. Pony. *has drawn Rule 85 Pitch*
Shameless self-advertisement: http : art /Pony-Pitch-Black-sketches-502693099
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