"Okay.... Calm, just like mom said." Rainbow took in a deep breath and let it out in a measured breath as she slowly shifted from one position to another in a slow, meticulous dance. "You're more balanced when you're calm, and being balanced means you can take turns better."
"Also means you react slower," A voice said from her right before hooves pushed against her side, knocking her over.
Rainbow hit the floor of the ship with an oof and glared at the offending pony for a moment before getting up. "And what would you know of racing, Lightning Dust? You just barely passed the test to get in this qualifier," They were in a ship heading towards their first track with six other ponies.
The ship was unlike all the others in the air as the forward wall and the back wall folded down once they reached the track to form the finish line. It was five times as tall as a pony and wide enough to take up a whole side of the skyway they were on, though it was only three ponies long.
"Aww, aren't you cute? Maybe I'll hire some diamond dogs to dig you out of the garbage once I trash you," Lightning said with a smirk.
"As if! Your fat flank will slow you down so much we’ll have to call you Eating Dust when this race is over," Rainbow jabbed as she smirked at Lightning.
"You're wasting your breath you know." Both racers jumped as a pony wearing a helmet spoke up beside them. "Instead of wasting your time talking, maybe you should be using it to memorize the course." Lightning and Rainbow both frowned as the pony trotted off.
“.... You know what? She’s right, you aren’t worth the effort,” Rainbow said as she went to get her suit on. It was a simple design with one wheel for each hoof and bits of smooth, sleek armor connecting them to a small pack on her back. The one thing that made it stand out among the other racers’ suit was that it left her wings free to move and even had armor for the leading edge of her wings and the fact that it was painted to match her coat, her cutie mark emblazoned on the plates covering her flanks.
Her cutie mark was a wheel, leaning forwards and looking like it was spinning, a trail of rainbow flames after it. She smiled as the memory of the day started to play in her mind. She had just finished making a course for her and a friend to use when three older colts had come to take it from them, saying that racing wasn’t for little fillies to do. Rainbow had immediately challenged them to a race-
“All racers, please get to your starting positions,” A voice said, breaking into Rainbow’s thoughts. She glanced around at the other racers, noting how they differed as she took her place in the line.
To her left was a huge and muscular pegasus that was white with bulky, green armor, a weight with wheels on his flank as his mark. Rainbow assumed he’d be the most physically strong pony out of the racers, but there was no doubt he was the heaviest with those big, deeply grooved wheels of his. In fact, his great weight would slow him down and make it harder for him to get up to speed quickly unless his suit was powerful, which she doubted it wasn’t.
Beyond that one was a yellow stallion with a brown, spiky mane and tail in very sleek and possibly light grey armor that was polished to a very bright shine. His cutie mark was of two live wires with energy sparking between them, though instead of it being a picture on an armor plate, his flanks were bare. In fact, his armor was barely enough to be called a suit and his wheels were barely more than rims with how slick and thin they looked.
Rainbow stared at him for a moment longer before shaking her head. It was almost suicidal to have so little armor, but she supposed he had some way of staying alive if he crashed.
Then there was Lightning Dust, one of the ponies she had raced against in the qualifier. She was just as sleek and muscular as Rainbow was with a slightly more green coat, and two tone gold mane. Her red and gold armor completely covered her body with what looked to be lightweight panels shaped to her body over a flex-weave suit that covered her body where the panels didn’t such as at her joints. It was the least expensive suit that was at least halfway decent for racing, though since most racers went for custom made suits it was clear that she would have a disadvantage unless she planned to race dirty.
To Rainbow’s right was the mystery pony who had stopped her from fighting with Lightning Dust. They had angular, brown and green armor that went over a flex-weave suit, though the plates only covered the most important parts, such as her neck, chest, shoulders, and back. Though the pony didn’t have their mark on the plates covering their flanks, Rainbow could’ve sworn she’d seen them before. Maybe in an unofficial race since the wheels the pony had were off road tires like the strong pony’s were.
Beyond that pony was a pair of unicorns that looked exactly alike, the only difference between them was their cutie marks and even then they were pieces of an apple that made a whole. Their armor looked like it was freshly made and they were still tinkering with the pieces, though it looked to be a bit less protective than Lightning Dust’s.
Just then the ship jolted some and Rainbow looked back forward, the thrumming of engines that had been ever present dying down. There’s a scrambling from the two unicorns as the lights turn off, leaving them with only a single red light in the middle of the roof to see by. Now... it’s time to race, Rainbow thought as she closed her eyes, reaching up behind her head to push a tiny button with the edge of her wheel and engaging her suit’s power.
After a few moments, the walls in front of them and behind them clanked and slowly lowered, the screams and cheers from the crowd washing over and through Rainbow as she took a calming breath to steady her nerves. Though with how loud the crowd was cheering it didn’t do much, but... it did give her an idea.
Author's Note
The character, Kilowatt Hour(he's the yellow earth pony with the brown mane), is the property of Pegasus Rescue Brigade. He has given me permission to use the character as a nod to his stories. Go check them out, they're awesome.
Sorry for taking so long, life hit me hard the past few months. But, I'm back and I'll be writing if there's at least ten votes total. Here's the link for you to vote. http://www.strawpoll.me/14816130
