The sun was blazing down across the vast empty salt flats, the only source of movement coming from the occasional snake or tumbleweed. That was, with the exception of Rainbow's vehicle which roared across the desert, its wheels generating a cloud of dust behind itself.

After what felt like hours of driving through what seemed like a never ending desert, a building began to come into view. As her car (the Deora ll which she had learned from the console), began closing the gap, the more details she could make out. The building was large and shaped like a cube with grey metal walls and strange red symbols spread out across it. She didn’t see any windows or lights, or any vehicles parked outside. The only entrance was a single massive metal door which opened up automatically once Rainbow got close enough to it.

Once her car was completely inside, the doors shut behind her, sealing off the scorching hot desert. Rainbow noticed that she was now in a massive room, easily the size of a commercial plane hangar at an airport. Their were a handful of cars parked in several circular spotlights that went around a large spinning monitor that was only displaying a pure black screen.

Rainbow rolled her car over to one of the few empty spotlights and cut the engine, plunging the area into silence. She pulled up on a lever and watched as the front part of the cab pushed outwards and rose, allowing her to exit.

After shutting the front of the Deora ll with a button on her keychain, Rainbow began strolling around the area, taking in the sight of the ominous monitor and all the other cars and drivers. There were around maybe nine cars including her own, each one with custom paint jobs and logos. Most of these logos were shared between two cars, while others were completely different.

"Huh, pretty cool place." She said out loud, watching the monitor rotate around.

"YOU BETCHA!!! IT'S SO COOL!" A voice shouted from behind Rainbow, startling the teen so badly that she jumped a few feet into the air.

Rainbow spun around in a complete 180, her breaths still slightly erratic from the sudden loud greeting. The person who had scared her was currently smiling brightly, her light pink skin seemingly glowing with energy. Her hair was a slightly darker pink and was messier than a junkyard, several single strands of hair jetted out in random spaces all around her head.

She was wearing a plain white shirt with a blue vest over it, along with blue pants and pink boots. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle in the light of the room, not to mention her breath smelled like a combination of cupcakes and toothpaste.

"Please, don't do that." Rainbow Dash begged, catching her breath after the sudden scare.

"Oopsies, sorry if I startled you, i'm just so excited! First I find a cool car and now i'm meeting other cool drivers who will be racing across the world! And once were done i'll throw a massive party for whoever wins!" The girl proclaimed, almost bouncing in place. "By the way, i'm Pinkie Pie!"

"Rainbow Dash… " Rainbow muttered, the surprise greetings adrenaline slowly phasing out.

"Nice to meet you Dashie!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, grabbing her hand and shaking it with enthusiasm.

"Rainbow Dash, not Dashie." Rainbow corrected.

“Well, now that we know each other, I bet everyone else also would like to meet you.” Pinkie stated, motioning for someone who had been leaning against their car while watching the scene to come over.

The driver simply shook their head before they advanced over to the two. The driver was another girl, her skin being orange while her hair was as blonde as straw. She had emerald green eyes that seemed to have a slight fire in them, and her cheeks were dotted with white freckles.

She wore a white and green shirt under a black vest as well as blue jeans and brown cowgirl boots with apple clippings on the sides. The back of the black vest had one of the logos from a car on it, the word Smashers printed out in bold white letters. Atop her head was a fairly worn brown stenson that seemed to radiate the smell of apples, or maybe it was just her in general that gave off that smell.

“Howdy, ahm Applejack, leader of the Smashers.” Applejack exclaimed, extending out a hand.

“I’m Rainbow Dash, I hope you’re ready to come in second place.” Rainbow Dash responded with a grin as she shook Applejack’s hand.

"Cocky much? I'll let ya know ah've tackled more rodeos and stunt shows than you've probably seen on T.V."

"Oh really? Well i've managed to be the best Go-Cart champion in five states." Rainbow claimed.

Before Applejack could counter, Pinkie pulled Rainbow away and towards another nearby driver. "That's the other racer of the Smashers team, Sunset Shimmer." Pinkie Pie explained.

Rainbow spotted the girl Pinkie was talking about. She had red and yellow hair with orange skin. She was wearing a blue shirt under a black jacket. She had blue jeans and black boots. Her eyes seemed more on fire than Applejack's, clearly ready to drive.

"Ooh! And that person over there," Pinkie was now pointing at another girl who was leaning against a purple car with green windows and pop up lights. "Is Rarity. She races all the time in events like NASCAR and is part of the Thread Chasers."

Rarity seemed to either not notice the two or didn't care as she continued to look at the rotating blank monitor, waiting for something to appear on it.

Another car rolled up next to Rarity's purple car. It was teal green with green windows and the words Thread Chasers on the back. The car parked and the driver's side door opened, revealing a girl who stepped out of the car and walked over to Rarity. The girl was wearing a green jacket with black pants and blue boots. She had dew yellow hair and her skin was a lighter yellow.

"That's the other driver of the Thread Chasers, Lime Shift." Before Rainbow Dash could comment, she was pulled away again by Pinkie.

"That guy over there is my team's other driver!" Pinkie Pie stated, drawing attention to the two only guys in the building. One had a brown truck and was leaning against it while the other was talking with him.

The guy talking was wearing a brown jacket with dark blue pants and white shoes. On the back of the brown jacket were the words Candy Crunchers on it. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but facepalm at that name. Was that really the name of a team? Rainbow only just now noticed that Pinkie Pie had the same logo on her blue jacket.

"So you all are teams?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Teams of two! Speaking of which, your teammate is right over there!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

Right on cue, a girl walked over to the two. She had dark purple hair with a turquoise blue streak through it. Her skin was pinkish purple while her eyes were a purplish blue. She was wearing a purple jacket over a light blue shirt. She also had purple pants and purple and blue boots.

"Hello! My name is Starlight Glimmer. Nice to meet you," Starlight extended her hand out to Rainbow, who shook it.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, and no offence but, I usually don't work with teams, they hold me back." Rainbow Dash claimed.

Starlight furrowed her brow at Rainbow's statement, but wasn't able to speak before the roar of an engine caught her attention. The group quickly turned around to see a car enter the base. Right as the car was clear of the doors, they slowly shut and the monitor flickered from black to grey static.

"Guess that's the last driver." Starlight guessed, heading over to a railing which was surrounding the monitor.

The cars back looked like an exposed engine while the front of it had an orange tinted oval area. The car pulled up to the last remaining spotlight area, but the driver didn't get out. Rainbow squinted, trying to make out who was in the car but the oval cab was completely covered in tinted orange glass, not letting her see inside.

Finally, Rainbow just shrugged and went over to join the other drivers at the railing.

The monitor's static quickly vanished and was replaced by a familiar purple female face. The girl had dark blue hair with a pink and purple stripe through it, along with thick black glasses.

"Greetings everyone, it seems like you've all gotten to know your competition a little. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm the proud founder and owner of the Sparkle cooperation. Now that you're are here, I can address what I am asking all of you," Twilight said.

Rainbow glanced to her right to see the other drivers, each one staring contently at the monitor.

"I have commissioned a race like no other. A race that will determine who the fastest driver in the world is between you all. The winner of the race will receive a prize of a five million dollar check."

Rainbow's eyes widened at that. She glanced over again and saw some of the drivers now having grins on there faces. Others had looks of uncertainty.

"Five million dollars, awesome." Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath.

"The cars that you have been given have been made to handle all sorts of terrain. They have Nitrox 2 injection systems and grappling hooks made out of steel. Each one full of technology that you will push to its limits, and possibly beyond."

Rainbow looked back at the Deora ll. Even though it was just a car, she felt like it had the same idea that she had, burn rubber.

"Please get to your cars and prepare by using the nearby highway and the desert around the complex, the race is about to begin. But you all must remember, once you hit that gas pedal, there is no going back." Twilight finished, a hint of dread in her words.

Author's Note

Just so you all know in case it gets confusing, here are the teams:

Prism Riders/Wave Rippers: Rainbow Dash, Starlight Glimmer
Smashers/Scorchers: Applejack, Sunset Shimmer
Candy Crushers/Road Beasts: Pinkie Pie, Heavy Foot
Claw Crawlers/Dun Rats: Unknown, Swift Stick
Thread Chasers/Street Breed: Rarity, Lime Shift