“I hereby pronounce the one and only, amazing Rainbow Dash the winner of this year’s flying competition! I am proud to say that this stunning athlete will receive the grand prize of being the Wonderbolts Captain for life!” The host pony stated, placing a massive golden crown on Rainbow Dash’s head.
Rainbow Dash showed little excitement in response. She totally expected this to happen. After all, she was quite obviously THE best flier that Equestria had ever known.
She walked triumphantly down the cloud aisle as mobs of paparazzi tried to take her picture. She flashed them a wink, and half of them fainted. It was good to be famous.
…
Suddenly, a loud bang woke Rainbow Dash up. She cried out in surprise as she sat up in her bed, looking around crazily. Once she found out what had happened, she groaned angrily.
“Just when I thought my life was going PERFECTLY…” She muttered.
The bang happened again. Rainbow Dash turned to the direction of the sound, and found that it was coming from the front door. She got out of bed skeptically and trudged over to go answer it.
Her lack of sleep was making her cranky. Whoever was at the door, they were going to hear it. It was a Friday night, and NO ONE was going to disturb her peace.
Throwing open the door, Rainbow Dash prepared to give her visitor the scolding of a lifetime. To her surprise, a familiar gray pegasus with a blonde mane and a lopsided eye stood on the other side, smiling eagerly. When Rainbow Dash laid gaze on her, the pegasus giggled.
“Hi there, Rainbow Dash! Are you having fun?” She exclaimed.
“Having fun? Derpy, I was sleeping. What the hay are you doing here at one-thirty in the morning?” Rainbow Dash asked groggily.
“Your unicorn friend sent me here to tell you that she, uh……wanted you to meet there as soon as possible!”
“Meet where? What are you talking about?”
“At the…the, uh……library! Yeah, it was definitely the library.”
“The library? Ugh, it must be Twilight. Doesn’t that egghead know the concept of a good night’s sleep?” Rainbow Dash muttered.
“Oh, and she wanted you to go tell your other friends the same thing.”
Rainbow Dash groaned loudly. She covered her face with her hoof. “Fiiinnee………Knowing Twilight, I guess it has to be something important.”
“Cool! Glad I could help!” Derpy beamed.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Guess I got somewhere to be now.” Rainbow Dash grumbled. She spread her wings, and took off into the night sky.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Applejack yawned tiredly as she slid herself out of bed. This was definitely not the night to be disturbed while sleeping, hence the fact that she had a massive harvest to get to tomorrow. But alas, someone was knocking at the door, and it’d be rude to completely ignore them. The farmer just hoped that it wasn’t waking up the rest of the family.
Swinging the door open with a sleepy hoof, Applejack looked up to meet her guest. When she caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash standing on the porch, she sighed.
“Rainbow Dash, what’re y’all doin’ here? It’s almost two ‘a clock.”
“Don’t worry, Applejack. I’m just as annoyed as you are. But Twilight sent a messenger telling me to gather you all up for a meeting at the library, pronto. I don’t know what it’s about.”
Applejack grumbled. “Ah darn…Big Mac’s gonna kill me…”
“What was that?”
“Nothin’. Let’s just get a move on.”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
After ten minutes of walking, the exhausted duo made it to Fluttershy’s cottage. Rainbow Dash balled up a fist, and rapped on the door.
A stir of animal activity was immediately evident through the cracks of the wooden door. A few lights turned on through the windows. Applejack and Rainbow Dash took a deep breath.
The door opened, and Fluttershy appeared on the other side, rubbing her eyelids. She gasped when she saw her two friends at her doorstep.
“Oh gosh……you’re a little early…my mane’s not even brushed yet……”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash shared awkward glances. Fluttershy looked back and forth at them, waiting for the information.
“I think we know that we’re early, Flutters. Twilight wanted us to meet at her library immediately. We don’t know why.” Rainbow Dash explained.
“Oh, I see. Well, I guess I’ll go with you.” She shrugged.
“Ain’t you mad that you had to be woken up so early in the morning?” Applejack asked.
“Not exactly. Angel’s probably not happy, though.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………
At precisely two ‘o clock, the five friends arrived at Twilight’s library. The only ones who didn’t seem to mind being there were Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Everyone else was groggy and impatient.
“I’m glad you guys could make it here. I know it’s pretty late at night.” Twilight announced.
“Gee, Twilight, you don’t say?” Rarity replied sarcastically.
“But the reason I brought you here tonight was to test out a new inter-dimensional teleportation spell that I have devised. If it works, it’ll create duplicates of us to fill in life in Equestria, and send the real us to an unknown world to study the culture of life unseen.” The unicorn explained.
“Egghead, egghead, egghead, egghead, egghead, unseen. That’s all I picked up.” Rainbow Dash babbled.
Twilight shot her an annoyed glance. Fluttershy stepped forward, and interrupted the glare.
“I’m sorry for asking, Twilight, but…why does this need to be so late at night?”
“Primarily, I needed to do it without getting Spike’s attention. This experiment doesn’t work on dragons, and I didn’t want him feeling left out. He’s upstairs sleeping. Also, I wanted to conduct the experiment without the citizens of Ponyville knowing, either. The consequences of that could be disastrous.” Twilight answered.
“Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.” Rarity demanded.
…
“Alright then. I want all of you to stand in a circle.” Twilight instructed.
The six of them all did as Twilight ordered. They arranged themselves in a loose circle, each holding hooves with one another. Once Twilight was in position, she closed her eyes, and started up the procedure.
A glowing ball of magic appeared at the tip of her horn, and began to grow steadily. Once it was about the size of a head, it floated towards the center of the group. The six friends watched the procedure in wonder.
The ball hung in the center for a few seconds while everyone stared at it. Twilight’s focus had not been broken, as her eyes remained shut. A gentle wind was generated from the ball, which blew the ponies’ manes around in a counterclockwise fashion.
Suddenly, six bolts of lightning shot out of the ball, enveloping the six unsuspecting subjects in a couple hundred volts. They each began to convulse rapidly as the electricity ran up and down their spines.
Slowly and irregularly, a second identical pony began to divide from each of the originals. In a total of fifteen seconds, complete duplicates were made of each subject. The electricity stopped, allowing the subjects to regain their consciousness.
They all gasped in shock as they stared eye-to-eye at their doppelganger. With only seconds to relish in the presence of their twins, the ball in the middle of the circle sent out another bolt of electricity.
With triple the power from the last bolt running through their bodies, the six ponies blacked out in a matter of moments. Once their senses shut down, their entire bodies disintegrated into a particulate mist. The mist slowly dissolved into nothing.
All that remained was the group of pony duplicates that were to fill in for the Mane Six while they were gone in another dimension.
To be Continued…
“Uuugghhh………” Rainbow Dash moaned. “Heerrrgghhh……”
The blackness that enveloped her vision began to steadily fade away. As the disoriented pegasus began to wake up from her coma, images of the world around her started to seep into her eyes. The blurry images that she was getting were just as bright and colorful as Equestria.
She sat up completely, and rubbed her head. After blinking a few times to clear the haze, she looked around in confusion.
In front of her sat her five friends, each completely passed out as she had been. They all lay in a green, grassy garden in front of a large, majestic pink and white castle. A road cut around behind the castle, and then around in front to continue on.
Rainbow Dash squinted, trying to follow the direction of the road. About five hundred yards down, the road curved up and around, and continued above them, UPSIDE-DOWN, with blue neon alignments. Rainbow Dash looked up above her, and followed the road some more as it curved around and down, and back UNDERNEATH them. Support beams held up the areas of road that were suspended from the earth.
“What the hay…? How is this supposed to work?” She muttered.
…
Right then, her other friends began to wake up. Each of them followed the same procedure as Rainbow Dash; groaning and rubbing their heads. Once they had a chance to clear the haze in their perception, they surveyed the area just as Rainbow Dash had.
“What in tarnation? What is this place?” Applejack asked.
“Good question. And what is that stylish-looking road doing upside-down?” Rarity added.
“Oh, wowsers! It looks like a racetrack! I LOVE racing!” Pinkie cheered.
“Pinkie, this track goes upside-down. I don’t see how racing could even be possible here. We’re probably just going to have to ask a native or something about it.” Twilight countered.
…
“Gosh, Twilight…where did you send us?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
“I…I don’t know. This is most certainly not Equestria, but I don’t know WHERE it is. It doesn’t seem to be the place I intended to go to.” Twilight answered.
The group stood up on all fours, and began to wander onto the track. They each looked around in wonder and awe at the colorful new world that they were sent to. The sun shone brightly upon sparkling green trees and breathtaking, hilly terrain. Everything in the landscape was an all-natural beauty, save for the massive twisting, curving monstrosity around the castle that they stood at.
“This place is so wonderful! I can’t wait to see what adorable little creatures are living here!” Fluttershy marveled.
“I’m just wondering where the heck the native life forms are. After all, we are standing near a giant castle and a twisting circuit track. SOMEONE had to have built this.” Twilight reasoned.
…
“Hey, what is that? I hear voices.” A feminine voice said from the castle.
“What was that?” Pinkie Pie reacted.
The six ponies froze in place as the castle doors behind them opened. From within it stepped five intelligent creatures, each walking on only two legs. Two of them wore caps and overalls, one of them wore a radiant, pink dress, one of them had a massive, spotted mushroom upon their head, and one of them appeared to be a green reptile-sort-of-creature with a large nose.
Upon laying eyes on the ponies, the creatures were just surprised to see them as they were. They gasped, and a few of them stepped backwards.
“Hey-a there! What are you?” The red-capped creature asked.
The ponies stared back at the creatures in fear. Most of them were shaking, and unresponsive of the creatures’ question. Twilight, however, stepped forward boldly and fearlessly.
“Greetings. I am Twilight Sparkle, from the magical land of Equestria. We came here to, uh…study your ways of life. I must say, that is an interesting accent of yours!”
The red-capped creature smiled. “Well now, it appears that they-a talk! Now how-a ‘bout that?”
The creature in the pink dress stepped forward a little, and held out a hand. “You want to study us? Well…is Equestria around here?”
“Not exactly. It’s from another dimension. We got here through a spell that I performed…”
…
The green-capped creature muttered something to the red-capped one. “Mario, maybe we should-a let these things race with us! We do need six-a more racers!”
“Is that your name? Mario?” Twilight asked, overhearing the sentence.
“That’s-a me! Wahoo!” Mario exclaimed. He jumped ten feet into the air, and did a twirl.
“Whoa…these things can JUMP.” Rainbow Dash whispered.
“Racing? Not so sure about this, fellas.” Applejack said uneasily.
“No, no, I promise you’ll-a love it! It’s-a great fun!” The green-capped creature boasted.
“Well, do you creatures race for fun? Is it a cultural activity?” Twilight asked.
The creature put his hand on his chin, and thought for a moment. “Well, I guess you could-a say that.”
“Then I suppose it’s worth a shot! Judging by this road, I suppose you race in vehicles?”
…
The six creatures nodded eagerly. The excitement was mutual over on the pony side, except for Rarity and Fluttershy.
The green-capped creature walked up to Twilight, and held out his hand. “I’m-a Luigi.”
Before shaking it, Twilight took the time to study every inch of Luigi’s hand. The fingers jutting out from the palm in the middle was not a design she’d ever heard of before.
“Well, as I already stated, I’m Twilight Sparkle. My friends stand behind me. We have Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.” Twilight introduced.
Fluttershy whimpered, and stepped back a few feet. The creatures glanced at her with confusion.
“She lives up to her name, guys. Get used to it.” Rainbow Dash grumbled.
…
“Well, over here we have-a me, Mario, Princess Peach, Toad, and Yoshi.” Luigi responded, pointing to each respective creature.
Fluttershy perked up as soon as she laid her eyes on Yoshi. The ponies around her jumped a little when she suddenly leapt up, and flew over to him in a flash.
“Oh my gosh, he’s so cute! What is he? Is he a dragon, a dinosaur, or a lizard? Oh, I just HAVE to know!” She asked excitedly.
Rainbow Dash covered her face with her hoof, and sighed. The rest of the ponies watched their friend freak out over new creatures in a sort of casual manner.
Yoshi, on the other hand, was extremely confused. He put his hand over his face, and backed away from Fluttershy slowly. Fluttershy just stepped forward some more, keeping the same short distance away from him.
…
While this was going on, Princess Peach approached Twilight. Twilight looked up at her with a smile on her face.
“So, are you guys sure you want to race with us?” The Princess asked.
“You bet we are. It sounds like a great experience for all of us.” Twilight replied eagerly.
“Then come into the castle with me. We’ll have to get you guys signed up.”
“Wait…signed up? We have to sign up for this?” Applejack asked.
“Well, yes. You see, this isn’t exactly a little thing we like to put on. This is a big competition we have every few years, and it’s broadcasted over TV. We have official stadiums set up for it.” Peach explained.
Rainbow Dash giggled maniacally. Maybe her interrupted dream from earlier was actually going to come true.
“Well, okay then. Let’s go. Come on, Fluttershy!” Twilight called.
“Wait! I have to talk to Yoshi!” She called back.
Yoshi put both hands on Fluttershy’s chest, and pushed her away. Once she was gone, he let out a sigh.
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
“Wow…this form has some weird questions. Why does it ask us about our lung strength?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well, we race underwater a lot. We will also spend a couple of races out in space.” Princess Peach answered in her usual flowery voice.
The ponies’ jaws dropped. Twilight and Rainbow Dash practically had internal seizures.
“But…how is that scientifically possible? I’m pretty sure engines can’t combust in an airless or submerged environment.” Twilight ranted.
Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. “Sugarcube, this is an alternate dimension, remember? Maybe science doesn’t work here.”
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash giggled at that simple reply. Strangely, however, it summed things up almost perfectly.
…
The others who were outside stepped into the castle with Princess Peach and the ponies. Fluttershy waved when she saw Yoshi again, to which the dinosaur hid behind Luigi.
“So, how exactly is this going to work?” Twilight asked.
“We play in eight cups. Each cup has four races, and has a prize at the end if you win. The last four cups have tracks that we’ve already raced in years before.” Peach explained.
“Yeah, but that won’t-a make much of a difference for-a you.” Mario added.
“We usually go to the-a Mushroom Cup first. I think we-a start this year in a huge stadium.” Luigi continued.
Fluttershy swallowed hard. The last thing she wanted was to be put in the spotlight in front of thousands of witnesses to compete in something she barely knew how to do. It definitely was going to be more fun for some than others.
…
“Our plane leaves soon, guys. We should probably get going.” Toad stated in a high-pitched, squeaky voice. Chills ran down the ponies’ spines.
To be Continued…
