Twilight's Experiments: The Mushroom Kingdom Grand Prix

       “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…