Highway 35

Chapters

Start Your Engines
Get Set...
Lap 1 (Burn Rubber)
Lap 2 (The Road Less Traveled)
Pit Stop (Crew Teams)

Start Your Engines

The car raced over the orange track, the speedometer climbing over 200 MPH, the rocky landscape flying past. The track curved into a massive loop-de-loop, carrying the car high into the air. Suddenly, the speedometer started falling, then the car followed suit. The onboard camera revealed that the car has reached the top of the loop before losing momentum.

Static replaced the replay on the screen. A tired looking figure slumped over. ‘Why? Why do I keep failing?’ they asked themselves, mentally. The figure lifted their head to look at the screen, hoping to find some clue that they had missed. None presented itself.

Sighing, the figure got out of the chair and left the observation center. The light of the hallway illuminated the figure revealing to the proverbial bystander that they were an older woman with dull blue skin and long blue and indigo hair. She wore a magenta shirt adorned with a crescent moon design just below the neck. She walked into a recreation room and began making a pot of tea.

“I’ve changed the fuel source. I’ve tried different tire designs and makes. I strengthened the armor and made it lighter.” She said to herself as she picked out a set of tea leaves and added them to the boiling water. “I’ve built a whole new kind of car, the fastest in the world.” She clenched her hand into a fist. “And I still keep failing.”

She reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out a small photo of a much younger version of herself, standing in front of a line of derby cars with a group of other young children, some younger than she was, some older. She smiled, remembering the good old days when they could just have fun as drivers, even underaged ones.

A metaphorical lightbulb just went off in her head. “Drivers.”

She took the teapot off the stove and poured herself a glass of the hot leaf juice. If she couldn't do it with a new kind of car, maybe what she needed was a new kind of driver. “Instincts, gut reactions, the human quality…”

She shook her head, “No, it’s too dangerous. If something went wrong and they were caught out there alone…” She didn’t want to finish that thought. She took a sip of tea, “Then again… competition can be the breeding ground of inspiration.”

The blue haired woman returned to the observation chamber. She began pulling up different news articles and social media networks. Most of these were discarded, but a few of them…

“Of course, they’ll need cars.” More windows were opened. These displaying different schematics for different cars and trucks. “I think we’re in business.” The woman said with a slightly sinister smile.
= = =
The tropical sun beat down on the Califoalnian coast. Sea foam glistened as the waves crashed against the sandy beach. On top of one of those waves rode two surfboards. One purple with an orange lightning design, the other was the color of the rainbow in a zig-zagging style. The rider of the first surfboard dipped down so she was riding the front of the wave-- except she dipped too far and fell face first into the surf. She tumbled out onto the beach with a very perturbed expression on her face.

“That’s the third time that’s happened!” She yelled. Her orange skin growing more red as her frustration grew. She shook the water out of her purple hair, “Rainbow Dash, what am I doing wrong?”

The other surfer landed on the beach. Her sky-blue skin almost fully covered up by her wetsuit. Her rainbow-colored hair flying free in the salty air. “You gotta stop thinking about your board like it’s your scooter. Don’t land it flat on the water, let the water hold you up.” She then ruffled the younger girl’s hair. “You’ll get it soon, Squirt.” The younger girl smiled at the praise her ‘big sister’ gave her.

“Rainbow Dash!” A yellow skinned girl with soft pink hair ran up to the two, holding a pair of towels. Her left shoulder had a Haywai’ian style tattoo of a butterfly. “Your dad just called. He says he and your mom are ready to leave and you need to bring the car back home now.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “I’m sorry, Scootaloo. Looks like the lessons are over for today.” The young girl pouted slightly but nodded her head in understanding. “Can you take her home, Fluttershy?”

“Of course, Rainbow.”

Rainbow looked at Scootaloo again, “Happy Birthday, Squirt.” She then left the two as she grabbed her board and began making her way back to her car, no her parent’s car.
= = =
A few minutes later, she pulled the blue Toyota into the driveway where her father was waiting for her. He was a husky man wearing a green polo and khaki pants. A small pile of suitcases sat next to him. “I’m sorry to cut your fun short, Rainbow, but your mother and I need to leave now or we’ll be too late to confirm our reservation.”

“I know, I know.” Rainbow said as she unloaded her surfboard. Her parents had made plans to relive their honeymoon to celebrate their twentieth anniversary. Rainbow would be left on her own for over a week.

“Windy! Did you pack the camera?”

“I’ve got it!” Rainbow’s mother walked out of the house carrying more bags. She had the same skin tone as her daughter and light red hair. She wore an orange button blouse and yellow sweatpants. “Now Rainbow, are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“Yes mom.”

“You know where the fire extinguisher is?”

“Yes.”

“You have the numbers of our neighbors?”

“They’re on the refrigerator.”

“And what number do you call if there is a break in?”

“Windy!” her father cut in. “We have to leave, she’ll be fine.”

Her mother kissed her on the forehead then climbed into the car after her husband. The two drove off down the street at speeds Rainbow wasn’t allowed to reach.

“Bye Mom. Bye Dad.” She said to herself, quietly. “Sigh, goodbye champ. We love you.” She turned around and walked inside the now vacant house. She locked the front door, then went out back. She propped her surfboard against the small shed, then moved over to her fathers putting field. Sitting in the sand trap nibbling on a weed was a Mohave Desert Tortoise.

“Hey Tank.” She said, patting the reptile on the shell, “It’s just you and me for now.” The tortoise looked at her saying nothing. “Well, more than usual.” He resumed eating.

Rainbow went back inside to her room. Lining the walls were posters of different surfing contests she had competed in. Any trophies or ribbons she had won were displayed over the electric fireplace in the living room by her parents. Save one.

Hanging over her bed was a seashell necklace Fluttershy had made when they were in first grade. A couple of bullies had stolen it and Rainbow had challenged them to a race to win it back. She beat them hands down and Fluttershy had given the necklace to her, ‘as a trophy’ she said. That moment had cemented her love of racing and competition. Since then, every junior soccer match, every grade school basketball match, every high school track meet, every surfing contest, her parents had been in the stands, cheering her on. Urging her to do better than she had, to be the best she could be.

She hated it.

Make no mistake, Rainbow Dash loved to go fast, to feel the wind in her hair, the beating of her heart in her chest. It was exhilarating. But she didn’t what her parents to keep that rush going. She wanted to be able to slow down with them. To relax, like she could do with her friends.

That was why she loved surfing. It gave her that same rush, but surfing required her to be calm, to be aware of the moment, where the smallest movement could mean the difference between wipeout and victory.

But here she was, alone. While her parents ran off on another great adventure, she was left in their wake.
= = =
It was hours later, the sun had started to set, staining the ocean red. Rainbow had just finished putting away her diner dishes, when she heard it. A car horn. She went to the front of the house and saw a sight that would change her life.

Sitting in the driveway, was a long blue truck. The cabin area was right at the front with the engine exposed in the rear section. The windshield was curved, and there didn’t appear to be any doors on it at all. Two surf boards sat on the truck’s flatbed. If she were to describe the vehicle in one word, it would have been: futuristic.

The engine rumbled and the entire front part flipped up, allowing access into the vehicle. Rainbow could now see there was no driver. But there was a computer tablet sitting on the driver’s seat. Shockingly, it had her picture on it. It was of her wearing her wetsuit, holding a silver wave shaped trophy.

‘That’s the photo they took of me when I took second in the State surfing contest.’ She thought to herself. She grabbed the tablet, which suddenly caused a computer screen on the truck’s front hatch to turn on.

“Greetings.” Rainbow had to tilt her head up to see what was on the screen. It was an older woman with two toned blue hair and dull blue skin. “Because of your extraordinary abilities, you have been chosen to take part in the World Race.”

Rainbow climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled the hatch closed so she could better see it. ‘World Race?’

“Drivers with unique skills have been recruited from all over the world. Some with experience at the highest levels of professional racing. And others whose full talents have not yet been discovered.” Rainbow pulled out her wallet and looked at her driver’s license. She had only gotten it a few years ago, but she had passed with high marks on the written test, and a perfect score on the practical.

“I’m looking for the greatest driver in the world. If that’s you, then follow the map on the GPS screen.” The screen then changed to a GPS layout, a path detailed the route she would have to make, with the end point being a flashing red dot.

She looked up at her house. The pros and cons weighing in her mind. Finally, she pulled the keys out of the ignition, opened the hatch and stepped out. She tossed the keys up in the air and caught them in a fist.

She pulled out her phone as she went inside, “Hey Fluttershy! Do you think you could house-sit for me for a few days?” She hooked her own keychain onto the truck’s and pulled the necklace off the wall and put it over her neck. “Something awesome just came up.”

Author's Note

Rainbow Dash: Deora II

Get Set...

Rainbow Dash had been driving for a few hours now. She had been worried her passport wouldn’t be accepted as she crossed the border, but sure enough, they let her through. Now she was only a few miles away from her destination. Located in the southern part of Mexicolt, Rainbow was sure it had a name, but she just knew it as dinosaur death ground-zero.

Up ahead was a large black cube sticking out of the desert. Rainbow drove her truck, which she had learned from the computer was called a Deora II, right up to it. A large gate opened allowing her access inside. She drove into a large room filled with cars of all sizes, colors and makes. A ring of spotlights shown down illuminating ten parking spaces around a spinning video screen. Rainbow drove up to one of the unoccupied spaces and parked.

She had found a racing suit in the storage area of the vehicle and had put it on at one of the rest stops. It was a sleeveless uniform in light blue and sky blue with white trim. A wave design was printed on the front of the suit. The leggings were a little baggy, but Rainbow didn’t expect to be doing much running during this race. Two metal arm pieces protected her forearms. The seashell necklace hung around her neck.

A half-dozen other drivers in varying racing suits milled about. Rainbow noticed that only a few parking spots were left open. A new car drove in just as she was about to let Fluttershy and Scootaloo know she had arrived. It was a teal car with a white roof. All in all, it looked out of place surrounded by the tougher and sleeker cars the competition was driving. More like it should be holding a family in some black and white sit-com.

Stepping out of the car was a purple skinned girl with navy purple hair split down the middle by two stripes of magenta and purple. She wore square black glasses and a similar looking racing suit to the one Rainbow was wearing, only in just sky blue.

Rainbow walked up to the newcomer, “Yo! Name’s Rainbow Dash.”

The girl held out her hand, “Aloha! I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Rainbow noticed her handshake seemed very, practiced seemed to be the right word. “Do you know what this World Race is, or why we were asked to participate?”

“Didn’t you get the message? We’re here because we’re awesome. What more reason do you need?”

Twilight looked like she wanted to say more, but the last two cars drove in at that moment. One, a tough looking brown muscle truck, the other a purple car with green tinted windows. Both cars parked, the purple one right next to Twilight’s car. The entire top section of the car lifted like a beetle opening its shell, letting the driver, a white skinned girl with purple hair, out.

“Welcome to the handler proving ground!” a voice echoed through the room. All eyes were drawn to the rotating screen as the same woman who summoned them appeared. “I see most of you have found your driving suits. My name is Luna, I’m one of the co-founders of Harmony Industries. I, and my associates, have invented the most advanced racing technology the world has ever seen. In the World Race, you will take this technology to its limits, and beyond.”

Twilight looked back at her car, a look of awe and bewilderment on her face.

Luna continued, “The driver who wins will be declared the fastest racer in the world and will win five million dollars.” That got a reaction out of the racers.
“Awesome!” Rainbow said.

“Ho-Doggy! That’s some good money.” A girl with a southern accent called out.
= = =
Some time had passed, most of the drivers were out in the desert, testing their car’s skills. An impromptu race was held between a green race car, a green low rider, and the purple car driven by the white skinned girl.

Said girl had changed into her driving suit; a black under garment covered by a purple short-sleeved shirt with a wide collar. A neon green skull design was printed over her heart. During her race, she had fallen behind the other two drivers.

“The cars are equipped with special Nitrox 2 boosters.”

She hit the center yellow button on her dashboard. The computer informed her that the Nitrox was being injected into the engine. Her whole car glowed blue as she shot forward, her front wheels leaving the dirt as her drive wheels accelerated. Her boost left the other drivers in the dust.

“Now that is what I call horsepower.” She said to herself.

Back near the center, Rainbow and a few other drivers pulled into a line.

“And each car has special equipment to handle a different type of terrain.”

One of the cars, a long dark red car with an angular front, deployed a buzz saw out of the front grill. “Sweet!” the car’s driver, a pink girl with even pinker hair said. Her car had been classified as, Road Beast.

Another of the cars resembled a formula one car, but with a more exposed engine. The driver was a zebafrican woman with a mohawk. She triggered her car’s equipment, specialized tires lined with retractable spikes for gripping the terrain. These had been called Desert Rats, but both cars drivers had asked to change the name to Dune Ratz. “Magnificent design. This Luna is truly ahead of her time.” The woman said, admiring her tires.

The third car was a white sports car with black ash markings along the underside and red tinted windows. The Scorcher cars’ equipment was a large metal plow in the front of the car and shielded tires.

Rainbow had received a car that Luna said was of a Wave Ripper design. She hit a button on her dashboard, charging a special set of boosters on the underside of the car. She was about to fire them, when her fellow Wave Ripper, Twilight, landed on top of the white Scorcher car.

“Sorry! Sorry!” she said over the car radio. “These jump-boosters are really hard to control.” The Scorcher pulled out from under her, dropping her ’55 Nomad on the ground. The driver stepped out, she was a yellow skinned woman with short orange and yellow hair done in a pixie cut. Her uniform was a black motorcycle suit with a picture of a flaming skull and cross wrenches on the left side. Hot orange fire motifs adorned her lower legs.

“What were you thinking!” She yelled at Twilight, “You always check the runway before you act! You could have hurt someone!” She got back in her car and drove off.

Twilight hit her head against her steering wheel. The pink girl got out of her car and sat on the hood of Twilight’s car. She was wearing a yellow and green, motocross style uniform. A metal collar sat around her neck and an image of an open mouth with sharp teeth sat over her stomach. “Well, she was mean.”

“But she’s also right. I could have hurt someone.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t have to yell at you like that. Who is she anyway?”

“Spitfire.” Rainbow answered, walking over to the two. “Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts. One of the most elite stunt fliers in the world. She flew a modified WWII Spitfire from Trottingham to Istanbull in one flight.”

“Wow!” The pink haired girl said before holding her hand out to Rainbow, “I’m Pinkie Pie, by the way.”

“Rainbow Dash.” She said taking the handshake.

Pinkie Pie then rolled over, so she was looking at Twilight through the car’s windshield. Rainbow suddenly felt like she was looking at the cover of an adult magazine. “And you are?”

“My name is-“

“Twilight!” A voice said through the radio.

“Cadence?” Twilight said in surprise.

“Well which is it? Twilight or Cadence?”

A green sports car pulled up next to the group, and out stepped a young woman. She had pink skin and pink and purple hair offset by gold streaks. She wore the purple and neon green suit describing her as driving a Street Breed car.

“Ma soeur!” The woman said, pulling Twilight out of her car and hugging her. “Oh! it’s so good to see you!”

“It’s good to see you to, Cadence!” Twilight said, getting over her shock quickly. “Rainbow, Pinkie, this is my old baby-sitter and so to be sister-in-law, Cadence Cadenza.”

“Bonjour.” She said.
= = =
Inside the complex, a blonde-haired girl with orange skin was examining the engine of the purple car. Its driver sat nearby observing her work.

“Thank you again, for helping me, Applejack. I don’t know the first thing about cars.”

“Heh, but you do know a thing or two about racin’, right?”

“Of course I do. How else could I have beaten you during the Derby.”

The country girl pulled herself out from under the car and stood up. Her driving suit a chocolate brown with a white skull and spine design tracing down one side. Yellow shoulder pad sat on her shoulders. She quickly grabbed a brown Stetson and put it on her head. “Uh, need I remind you, Rarity, that we tied in that particular race?”

“Only because my horse stalled at the start. If we had started at the same time, I would have won.”

Applejcak smirked, “Well now we get to see which a’ us is better once and for all. And once we get out on that race, you can eat my dust.”

“And you can eat those words once I win.” Rarity responded with an even bigger smirk.

“Oh! get a room you two!” Exclaimed a voice. On the other side of the room was a black muscle car with yellow tinted windows and flame motifs coming off the wheels. Polishing this car was a girl with orange skin and fiery yellow and red hair.

“Sunset Shimmer, was it?” Rarity asked. “Canadian street racer?”

“Correct on all accounts.”

“Forgive me if I choose not to take the advice of someone who partakes in such, criminal activities.”

Sunset just laughed, “What I do may not be 100% legal, but it’s given me more experience than your time in the stables has.”

“All drivers. Please return to the main garage.” Luna’s voice came over each of the car’s radios.

Sunset put her supplies away and walked off. Applejack looked like she wanted to go after her but was stopped by Rarity’s hand on her shoulder.
= = =
Once all the drivers had gathered, Luna began to explain more about the race itself. “I call the track, Highway 35, because that’s where it begins. But it’s older than our roads, older than human history. Built eons ago by technologically advance beings perhaps from another world.”

A wave of confusion fell over the drivers, many looking at each other to see if they knew anything about what he was saying. One driver did seem far calmer than the others. A short young woman wearing the Road Beast uniform. Her tan skin bleached from time in the sun, her hair a multitude of different shades of grey.

“Beings whom I call, the Accelerons.” Luna looked down at her assembled drivers and smiled, “You will understand better once the race begins. Top off your tanks and grab your helmets on the way out. The World Race is about to begin.”

Author's Note

Twilight Sparkle: '55 Nomad
Rarity: Slingshot
Cadence: IROC Pontiac Firebird
Pinkie Pie: Twin Mill
???: Ballistik
Applejack: Mega-Duty
Zecora: Krazy 8s
Sunset Shimmer: '70 Roadrunner
Spitfire: Muscle Tone

Lap 1 (Burn Rubber)

All ten drivers pulled into a starting line in front of the proving ground. A small drone built like a traffic light hovered in front of the assembled cars. Applejack found herself on the far left of the line. Spitfire next to her, followed by the unknown Road Beast, Sunset, Rainbow, Zecora, Rarity, Twilight, Cadence, and Pinkie.

“The track exists in a different dimension from our own,” Luna explained from the racer’s dash computers “a dimension you won’t see, until the race begins.”

Rainbow pulled her sky and light blue helmet onto her head. The clear eye piece giving a slight blue tint to her world.

Applejack gripped her steering wheel tight, her Stetson replaced by a yellow helmet with a full-face shield and decorated with a white rodent skull design on each side. “When you reach 300 MPH the portal between the dimensions will open. Another portal at the end of the track will return you to this dimension.”

“Okay, is anyone else wondering if this Luna lady is just loony?” Pinkie asked, her hair somehow contained in a green helmet with yellow skid marks and red animal eyes printed on it.

“It took a genius to design these cars.” Sunset responded, her own black helmet detailed with fire and skull designs.

“You can be a genius, but still be considered crazy.” Cadence offered. Her purple and green helmet lacked any attached eye wear, so she and Rarity were wearing yellow goggles under their helmets.

The starting light suddenly jumped to yellow. “Cut the chatter, rookies!” Spitfire ordered over the radio, but everyone else had turned their full focus on the race. Engines revved, brakes tightened, RPM was jumped, and nerves were steeled.

Twilight began to sweat, her helmet was identical to Rainbow’s in all but one way, her eyepiece had been treated so that she didn’t need to wear her glasses.

It suddenly dawned on Rarity that she had forgotten to strap her seatbelt. One quick press of a button remedied that.

The light turned green.

Ten engines all gunned at once. Straight out of the gate, Rarity took an early lead. Zecora saw this and switched to a different gear, her Krazy 8s car pulling up alongside her. Sunset and Rainbow were neck and neck behind them. Now that her engines were going, Pinkie’s Twin Mill quickly accelerated and threatened to take the lead.

“Time to break some barriers.” Rainbow said, before triggering her Nitrox 2 boosters. Her car jumped forwards, claiming the lead from Rarity and Applejack. She hadn’t practiced much with the Nitrox and the rearing up of the car took her by surprise. A quick glance at her speedometer told her that she was going over 200 MPH and still climbing.

Sunset quick hit her own booster, giving it just a short dose of the blue fluid. She had seen racers use similar boosters on the streets and she knew to hold back, too much and you run straight into a wall.

Pinkie, Applejack and Rarity each hit their own booster and fell into line with the other two. The rest of the racers following behind them.

As the cars roared across the sand, each of them started reading 300 MPH, the speedometer readout turning red. In front of the racers, a swirl of light grew out of the sky, before exploding into a ring of orange with green fire. The inside of the ring was a tunnel of purple.

“Oh, my word.” Twilight said to herself as she saw the portal. The cars all began to converge on the portal. As the leaders moved forwards, their cars began to glow until they hit the portal dead on, in which they turned into streams of light drawn into the center of the portal, before it closed shut behind them.
= = =
The portal opened ejecting the leaders onto an orange track winding through…

“Where are we?” Rarity asked in awe.

“The Egghead was right,” Rainbow said. “It’s another dimension.”

The other racers jumped out of the portal with similar states of amazement.

“Highway 35.” The grey-haired woman said, “A racetrack built by the Accelerons!”

“Check out these rocks!” Pinkie said. The twisting track they were on was suspended between several jutting spires of a dark brown rock she couldn’t identify.

“Forget the rocks, Pinkie, check out that sky.” Applejack countered. The sky above them was orange, and devoid of any sun, instead was a large gas giant planet.

The track was far more narrow than the open desert they had started on, forcing the cars into a more single file line. A line Sunset had found herself in fifth because of. “It’s still a track. And that’s my world.” She kicked the gas up and began feinting out the other drivers to make them move out of the way.

Rainbow saw this in her rearview mirror, and decided to stick the center of the road, the size of her Deora II would keep the outside lanes clear. She was suddenly jostled as Sunset’s ’70 Roadrunner began muscling it’s way past her. “Hey! Watch the paint!” Sunset didn’t grace her with a response and just moved ahead into first place.

With the Roadrunner no longer pressing against the Deora’s side, Rainbow overcompensated in her correction and ran into Applejack’s Mega-Duty. Both cars began skidding out of control across the track, before flying off onto the strange stone.

“Rainbow! Are you alright?” Twilight called over the radio as her car sped past the crash.

“Yeah, I’m alright.” She responded, “I’m fine. A wipeout like that and I don’t have a scratch on me. Luna sure made these cars tough.” She quickly put her car back on the track, Applejack just seconds after her, both eager to take back their lead.
= = =
Sunset led the other racers through the peaks, oblivious to the giant loop looming in the distance. Pinkie had let Sunset hold the lead for a while, but now she decided she wanted a turn up front. So, she kicked her car into high gear as the track fed into a straightaway. She breezed past Rarity and Sunset, giving the latter a short wave, before pulling into first.

Her Twin Mill jumped over a rise in the track, and she saw the biggest loop ever. “Now that is what I call a loop!” The loop didn’t appear to be a mandatory part of the track, instead it was off set so the driver could choose to ride it or keep going straight. Pinkie gave her engine all she’s got and started up the loop. “Oh-ho-ho-yeah! I’m gonna make it!” She said as she began climbing. “I’m gonna make it! I’m-- “ She got quiet as gravity suddenly reasserted itself, and pulled her car off the track. She had only made it halfway up. “…Not gonna make it.”

Rarity and Sunset crested the jump neck and neck, just in time to see Pinkie’s car flip end over end.

An alarm sounded off in Pinkie’s cabin, the monitor telling her to pull the emergency brake. She did so, causing a parachute to deploy and slow her fall. Sunset and Rarity sped past her car, aiming to keep on the track. Sunset saw that the track ended in a quick rise, followed by open air. A jump.

“I’m going for it.” Sunset said, confidently.

Rarity had a different opinion, “We don’t have enough speed for that jump!” She quickly hit the brakes. Sunset followed suit and ended up swerving to keep from falling over the edge. The gap was over thirty meters to the end point, with a river of molten stone at the bottom. The rest of the racers began pulling to a halt, bringing the race to a grinding halt.
= = =
From the observation chamber, Luna watched as her plans all began to fall apart. She was a fool, a complete fool. This was an impossibly obstacle, after all the time she had tried to overcome it, why had she assumed these children could- one of the cars wasn't stopping.
= = =
Rainbow sped past the line of stopped cars, her target, the loop.

“You think you can take that loop, rookie? You can’t.” Spitfire chased the hot blood.

“What’s the matter, grandma? Didn’t you ever grind a half-pipe?”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY, DEADMEAT!?!?”

Rainbow ignored the aviator and focused on the task at hand, ‘Now how did Scootaloo do this?’ She made it to roughly the halfway point, then abruptly hit the emergency break and pulled right hard on the steering wheel. Her truck swerved right until it was facing down the ramp she had just climbed and released the brake and began driving in the opposite direction. She drove up the other side of the loop before doing the same thing and driving back towards the other side, only even faster that before.

“She’s doing it to pick up speed!” Cadence realized, before she and a few of the other drivers hit the gas and began to follow her actions. Suddenly the racetrack looked more like a skate park, with cars riding up and down the loop, building speed and keeping out of each other’s way.

Rainbow had built up enough speed that she began to drive upside down on the loop. She hit the gas, pushing the truck to its limits before firing her jump boosters, sending her airborne towards the opposite ramp. Spitfire looked on in disbelief as Pinkie started cheering on the surfer girl. “Fly high, Rainbow!”

She landed on the down ramp at high speeds, the other drivers making room for her, and made her way towards the jump. Her smile a mile wide as she took off like a bullet across the gap.

“Come on, come on.” Twilight prayed as she watched her start to descend.

Rainbow hit the other side of the track and bounced before she continued driving.

“SHE DID IT!” Pinkie and Twilight cheered at the same time.
= = =
Luna jumped out of her seat and threw her arms into the air, “WOHOO!” she exclaimed. Before remembering who she was and brushing herself down and thanking the stars that no one else saw that.
= = =
“Well that’s all fine and good, but how exactly are the rest of us supposed to- “ a squealing noise came from the loop as Cadence’s Firebird, and Sunset’s Roadrunner crested the loop; the telltale blue fire trailing their back wheels telling the rest of the racers they had fired their Nitrox 2 boosters. Both cars flew over the gap and landed with more grace than Rainbow had. Rarity, Applejack, Zecora and the Ballistik car following them. Before long, Spitfire realized she was in last place, before she gave in and started grinding the halfpipe.
= = =
Sunset passed Cadence and began to advance on Rainbow, licking her lips as she did. “That was a neat little trick you pulled back there, Dash. But do you have the skills to drive in the big leagues?” She moved up next to the Deora and began trying to push it off the road.

“Maybe not right now.” Rainbow answered, pushing back; her Deora’s greater weight matching the Roadrunner’s strength. “But I’m a fast learner.” She pulled back on the gas, maintaining her momentum but still slowing down. Sunset’s aggressive driving carried her off the track and left her skidding on the rocks, already getting passed by Rainbow, Rarity, Cadence, and Zecora. She managed to get back on the road just as Applejack passed her.

“What happened to all that experience you were bragging about back at the proving grounds?” She teased the fiery Canterdian.

“Shut up, pony girl.”
= = =
Closer to the back, Twilight was fighting with Ballistik to keep out of second-to-last. “I um, never got your name.” she asked.

“A. K. Yearling.”

“Well, Miss Yearling, what do you think about this, other dimension.”

“I think I’m going to be coming back here to research this place more thoroughly, after I beat you.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. ‘She’s a researcher? I thought the rest of the racers besides Cadence were all professional drivers.’ Her internal monologue was interrupted as Yearling passed her. Twilight pushed down harder on the gas, trying to close the gap.

“Give it up, Sparkle. You can’t win with an antique like that.”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile, “My Nomad may look old, but she’s far from an antique.” She changed gears, engaging the four-wheel drive she had been holding back from using. AK was taken aback as Twilight began taking sharp turns on the corners and pulled out ahead of her.

Twilight looked back, satisfied as she saw the other car falling behind, and another car right behind it. ‘Spitfire caught up that fast!?’ She checked her GPS; but was startled to see the signal for Spitfire’s Muscle Tone was still back far behind the others. ‘Then, who…’ she was knocked out of her wondering as the track went into a corkscrew, forcing her attention back on the road.
= = =
The track carried the leaders high into the air. Cadence had fallen behind, leaving Rarity to challenge Rainbow for first. “These mountains truly are amazing.” Zecora commented, “In all my time, I’ve never seen such a thing.”

“Zecora, when you’ve skied down the Canterhorn in the Unicorn Range like me, this is nothing.” Cadence bragged.

The cars then began descending downwards, a large plume of smoke clouding the track. “Ah! Je vois rien!”

“When you have driven in a sandstorm in the Sandhara, Cadence, that sort of reaction makes no sense.” Cadence didn’t need to see the wide smile on Zecora’s face to know it was there.

“Uh, has anyone else noticed we seem to be driving into a VOLCANO?!” Rarity screamed. Rainbow reeled back from the sudden assault of noise in her ear.

Sunset and Applejack both turned into the outside lane, keeping clear of the smoke and cutting ahead of Zecora and Cadence. They were both ready to try and take the lead, when another car suddenly burst out of the smoke and landed on the track in front of them.

“What in tarnation!?”

“I found a short-cut!” Pinkie’s voice said over the radio.

“Did she just jump off of the track?”

“Eeyup.”

“And land perfectly on the other side?”

“Eeyup.”

“Without being able to see it?”

“Eeyup.”

Any further questioning of the pink girl’s sanity would have to come later, as an explosion suddenly resounded throughout the volcano. The part of the track in front of Pinkie cracked and fell away, a small stream of lava oozing out of the rock and onto the track.

Pinkie and Applejack pulled to stop, while Sunset kept going. “Luna said this car could drive through the heart of a volcano. Guess we’re about to test that.” She triggered her Scorchers equipment, her tires getting wrapped in heat proof metal, while a giant plow unfolded in front of the car’s grill. She slammed into the molten stone head on and bursting through on the other side.

“If she can do it, so can I.” Pinkie said, before getting rear-ended by Applejack.

“Don’t even think about it, Road Beast. We’re gonna have to find a different way across.”

“Turn right and head down the slope.” Cadence’s voice came in over their radios, “There’s an arch that runs over the lava.”

“Thanks.” Applejack said, turning to where she directed. “How’dja figure that out?”

“Street Breed car, remember? We’ve got drones that can find alternate routes through even the most crowded of cities.”

The four drivers found the arch, sure enough there was enough room for them to drive over it. Applejack hit the open-communications frequency on her radio to let the last drivers know about the detour. “Alright, fillies, listen up. There’s been an accident or something on the track and now the thing is covered in lava. We found a way around it though. Turn right once- “

“And what makes you think we should trust anything you say?” Spitfire interrupted.

“Cause it’s the truth.” It wasn’t a question, and there was no hesitation or sarcasm in her voice either. It was just a fact.

Once the last three racers entered the volcano and found the lava river, they turned into the detour, except Twilight. ‘If this works, I can get ahead of them and catch up to Cadence and the others. But this is going to work, I have to time this perfectly. Have a perfect angle, perfect force behind it. The calculations will take too long.' She began to panic, numbers running through her head.

‘Stop thinking, and just feel it.’ Her father’s voice spoke softly in her ear. She drove towards the lava, shutting out the aggressive yelling of Spitfire, and hit her jump boosters. The ’55 Nomad sailed over the lava and landed perfectly on the other side.

Twilight almost couldn’t believe what she had just done, then she shifted her car into high gear to gain as much distance between her and the angry Scorcher behind her.
= = =
Sunset was not having a good day. First, she got shown up by that Dash causing her to fall behind. Then just when she thought she had regained her lead, her engine stalled. Now here she was, pulled over, cleaning volcanic dirt out of her exhaust. “’Heart of a volcano’ my foot.” She had just gotten the last of it cleared out when she heard the other drivers approaching. She quickly climbed back inside and started up the ignition. Not fast enough, Pinkie Pie and Applejack had already passed her.
= = =
Rarity and Rainbow drove out of the volcano, moving to fast to notice the human face carved into the mountainside. An identical portal to the one that brought them here shimmered at the end of a jump. “Finish line.” Rainbow said. She hit her Nitrox 2 booster, causing her to shoot ahead of Rarity.

The purple haired girl moved to do the same, only to find she was almost out of Nitrox. ‘I used too much getting past that blasted loop. Do I even have enough to make it back through the portal?’ she thought to herself. Her question was answered as electricity suddenly coursed across the track, throwing Rainbow’s car ahead at 300 MPH. Rarity’s Slingshot soon followed suit as she hit the current. She was thrown out of the portal just behind Rainbow Dash, earning her a decent second place.

She was about to get out and congratulate her on her victory, paused once she realized where they were. Dense tropical jungle foliage decorated the landscape. Instead of the dry, sandy ground she had been expecting was a damp muddy forest floor. Mud that soon found itself splattered all over her car as Pinkie scored herself third place, skidding past.

“Welcome back. This is not the end of the World Race. It’s only the beginning.”

Author's Note

I apologize for any Spitfire hate. But I feel that as a member of the military, she would be appalled at the lack of discipline and recklessness that Highway 35 requires.

Lap 2 (The Road Less Traveled)

The air was thick with excitement the next morning. Each of the old drivers had done their best in briefing and training their new teammates on what they could expect on the other side of the portal. Rainbow tapped on the door of a purple Chrysler Thunderbolt, drawing the attention of the tan skinned, white haired driver inside.

“You all ready, Gilda?” She asked.

“Waiting on you, Dash.” Gilda had grown up with Fluttershy and Rainbow but had moved away when her father remarried. “Don’t expect the same luxury once the race has started.” She added.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Rainbow ran ahead and hopped in to her Deora II. Helmet on, she led her team out onto the starting track. Rainbow took the lead position, with Rarity and Pinkie flanking her left and right respectively. AJ and Sunset took the outside spots. Behind them, Twilight and the other original racers lined up with their team leaders. The new racers fell into rows of five, with the Wave Rippers team, followed by the Street Breed, and so forth.

“Are you girls nervous?” Applejack asked the three youngest racers.

“Not a chance.” Scootaloo said. Her silver Backdraft car purring like a kitten.

“Me neither, Sis.” Apple Bloom’s Sweet 16 II was built very differently from the other cars she had driven (all two of them). But she had put a good few hours into practicing on the training track, and now she felt like she could take on the world.

Sweetie Belle on the other hand, was shaking in her seatbelt. Of the three, she was definitely the most casual driver, and was having some very strong second thoughts about this race in another dimension.

She had no time to voice these concerns, as Luna’s voice came in over the radio. “All drivers, check safety harnesses.” Anyone not wearing their seatbelt quickly let them snap close.

“Indigo, check your dash-cam. There seems to be a malfunction.” The blue-haired Scorcher punched the camera, clearing up the static. “Ah! That’s got it.”

“Activating starting drone.” The stoplight lookalike flew above the awaiting cars. Tensions were high and engines were burning. “Good luck, racers.” The drone signaled green.

The dust picked up was enormous. Drivers like Fluttershy who had open air cars were pushed back as they tried to clean the dirt out of their faces. Rainbow had lost her lead already when Rarity and Pinkie both shot ahead of her, then moved together, forcing her back. Rarity looked ready to move ahead, but Pinkie hit the Nitrox 2 booster first, rocketing her ahead into a very strong lead.

“Wee-pa! I never get tired of this!”

The team leaders quickly shot ahead to try and catch up, the rest of the racers following right behind them. Sweetie Belle shot so far ahead she almost landed on top of the car in front of her. Luckily for her she missed, and that the driver was Cadence.

“Woah! You alright, Sweetie?”

“Sorry! Sorry!” She apologized as she checked her speedometer: 300 MPH.

Ahead of Pinkie’s car, just before the flatland gave way to the jungle, a giant portal burst into existence. The new drivers each were astounded as all shreds of doubt were ripped from their minds as the very real truth about what they were getting into stood before them. And Pinkie Pie’s Twin Mill was leading the way.
= = =
Pinkie jumped out of the portal like a missile, and very quickly had to pull into a left turn as the track curved around the side of a mountain. “Oh man! Watch that first turn, kiddies, unless you’ve got wings.”

The other racers erupted from the portal; Sunset’s Roadrunner spun out into a dead stop after a collision. To add insult to injury, she was then hit again as Scootaloo momentarily lost control of her car.

“Hey, Scootaloo! Ever drive a car at 300 miles an hour?” Rainbow asked as the two maneuvered through the winding course.

“Heh! Only in my dreams.” She quipped back. As the two rounded another bend, Gilda and the seventh member of the Wave Rippers, an orange haired boy named Sunburst, were having a less graceful time as their cars knocked into each other.

“Ow! Hey! Watch it!” Sunburst whined, “We’re on the same team!”

“Seriously? If you can’t handle a little bump-draft, get off the road.” The track took a hard U-turn, which Gilda planned to drift through. Rainbow and Scootaloo, however, had both slowed down to pass it. Gilda’s front fender smashed into Scoot’s back end, causing her to throw off Rainbow. Sunburst then collided with all three of them as he failed to execute the turn at all.

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy asked as she, Twilight and Shining all pulled to a halt next to the crash. “Are you all okay?”

“I should have stayed home today.” Was the response she got from the ginger driver.
= = =
Up at the front of the race, Pinkie and Rarity had left the other racers far behind in their bout for first place. Rarity’s Slingshot was far more maneuverable, but Pinkie’s car was a lot bigger, and she couldn’t find a way to pass her. “Give me some room, Pinkie! This is my race to win.”

“Please. I could win this with my eyes closed.”

“With your mouth closed would be better.”

“Well, you know what they say, ‘Actions speak louder than words.’”

“What does that have to do with anything!?”

During this banter, Rarity had managed to faint out Pinkie and the two were now side by side. Until the track split in half. Each half coiled around into a corkscrew that crossed over the other. They had to maintain their speed or risk falling into the jungle below. The corkscrew ended in a jump, which both cars hit at the same time. Unfortunately, that meant they hit each other mid-air, and spun out upon landing.

“Oh, fine work. Now we’re both out!”

“You act like this is my fault! I’m not trying to come in last.”

“You won’t have to try to do that!” A third voice hit their ears as Applejack, Spitfire, Sunset and Zecora all passed the two former leaders.

“See you at the finish-line, Pinkie.” Rarity said. She put the car into reverse, driving backwards along the track, before spinning around and taking off after the others.

Pinkie was about to follow them, when she saw something that gave her pause. Next to the orange track they had been racing on was the start of a purple track. The orange track wove through the mountains, rising and falling with each peak. The purple track banked left into the jungle, but it looked like in merged back up with the main track later on.

“Hey Roadbeasts. I’ve got an idea.”

The rest of the Roadbeast team had just hit the corkscrew. “What’s up Pink?” A blue hair girl, Vinyl, asked.

“I think I’ve found a shortcut.”

“Uh, aren’t we supposed to stay on the track?” a yellow skinned girl with blue and pink hair, Bon Bon, asked.

“We’re supposed to win the race, and that’s what I’m gonna do.” The team had caught up with their leader. “Now, you can be with me, or be last.”

A mint colored girl driving a black cat-like car looked at the other racers then answered for them as they each followed the Twin Mill onto the alternate route. “We’re with ya, Pinkie!”
= = =
In last place, the Wave Ripper team were finally picking up some speed after their self-imposed wipeout. “Hey, Rainbow, do you see that?” Twilight called out, “The Roadbeasts are taking another route.” Sure enough, the signals from the Roadbeast’s cars had broken off from the main group.

“Could be a big mistake, Twi.”

“They could end up lost.” Shining pointed out.

“Yeah, or in first place.” Gilda countered.

“Gotta take chances to win.” Scootaloo added.

Their team hit the double corkscrew. “Alright. Shining! Take Gilda and Sunburst and keep on the main track.”

“You got it chief!” He answered.

“The rest of you, let’s break some barriers.” The team split off into two groups. Switchback leading half into the mountains, and the other half following the Deora II down into the jungle.
= = =
A little further ahead, the actions of the two teams did not go unnoticed.

“Think we should turn around and go after them, Teach?” A pink skinned girl with citrus hair asked from inside her green Street Breed Road Rocket.

Cadence looked at her computer. Although each car had a GPS signal that the other cars could track, the actual layout of the map was just an empty grid. Unless, you were Street Breed, “Coco, I want you to check your eye-in-the-sky.”

“Oui.” The young Prench girl had been using her navigation drone to warn her teammates of any dangerous turns or obstacles ahead of them. She transferred the data from her Side Draft to Cadence’s Firebird.

“That’s what I was afraid of.” She said, after a moment. “Keep on the main course. The shortcut is off-limits.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Sunny Flare answered. She was the daughter of one of Cadence’s colleagues. She felt bad bringing her into a race this dangerous, but her skills behind a wheel could not be denied. Still, she would keep her and Rarity’s team safe.

If only she could keep her family’s team safe. “Twilight. Shining Armor. Please be alright.”

In hindsight, she should have been focusing more on her surroundings, then she might have caught the Dodge Charger R/T moving up into her space. The car’s driver, Misty Fly, was a more aggressive driver than she was a pilot, meaning she would push other cars out of the way. As she rammed into Cadence’s car, she inadvertently caused it to skid into Apple Bloom’s Sweet 16 II, which turned sideways blocking off Misty. This caused both cars to cause a fender-bender on Rarity’s Slingshot, which in turn caused her to jerk right, plowing into Spitfire. In a matter of moments, nearly all of the leaders had spun out. Key word being ‘nearly’.

Behind the crash, Applejack swerved Mega Duty around the crashed cars. Right behind her, Sunset hit the gas, threading the needle through the wreak with only a miner bump.

“Yeehaw! Looks like we’ve got the lead now, Sunset! The two of us.”

“One too many.” She retorted before switching gears and poring on the gas. The two cars zoomed down the track, the leader spots now firmly claimed.
= = =
Further down the mountain, the rocks and stones gave way to massive trees and underbrush. The purple track wound down to the forest floor by wrapping around the massive trunks of the forest giants.

“This shortcut’s looking good, Pinkie.” Vinyl Scratch commented.

“Better than good, Vinyl, it’s beautiful in here.” Bon Bon added. The dappled light streaming down from the canopy was almost magical in nature.

“So how about it, can I pick a shortcut, or can I pick a shortcut?”

“You can pick a shortcut, Pinkie.” Maud’s emotionless speech was still odd to the team members who weren’t used to her, but the others barely seemed to notice.

Unfortunately, they also didn’t notice that they were being watched. Zed 36 was tracking the team through a pair of electro-binoculars. And she could see that the track turned into a bridge to cover an expansive ravine.

“A shortcut, cut short.” She said to herself. Pushing a button on her binoculars, a slingshot like apparatus deployed from the front of her car, the projectile being a ball of electricity and nitrox. Zed 36 activated the targeting mode on her binoculars, targeting a support beam on the underside of the bridge. Firing the ball, it made contact with true destructive force, obliterating the support beam, and the suspension wires, but the track itself remained where it was.

“It didn’t fall!?” She was about to charge up a second shot, but the Roadbeasts were quickly approaching the now unstable bridge. To further complicate matters, the Switchback drove past the spot where she was parked.

“Who’s that?” Shining asked himself.

Back in the jungle, the Roadbeast team all safely crossed the bridge, but in doing so, caused it to become even more unstable.

Right behind them, the Wave Rippers were making good time. “I see them!” Twilight said, “Up ahead!”

“I can catch them.” Scootaloo said as she and Fluttershy accelerated.

“Carefully,” Rainbow called, “we don’t know what’s ahead.”

With each wave of Rippers that crossed, the bridge became even more unstable. Only to start collapsing just as Rainbow Dash crossed over the break point. Now she was trying to outrace the track crumbling underneath her. Gunning it, her car started bouncing as the increasingly uneven terrain began to outpace her.

Twilight felt the vibrations of the collapse and checked her rearview mirror, only to see the Deora II drop under the rubble. Stopping her car, she quickly got ready to fire her tow cable in some effort to try and grab her teammate, only for the prism haired driver to reemerge, firing her jump boosters at full power.

Rainbow got out of her car seconds after landing, shaking slightly from the adrenaline rush. She went to investigate the bridge, or what was left of it. Now there was only the ravine, with seemingly no way to cross it.
= = =
The Roadbeasts had seen none of this and were in good spirits about their shortcut, until Lyra saw something through the tree line.

“What’s that up ahead, Pinkie?”

“I don’t know what it is. But it looks like-” A giant silver wheel spun in the sky, just after a jump. It was massive, with three gaps in its form, through which a car could pass through, but the fact that the wheel was spinning, made that idea very scary. “-we just hit a red light.”

A second ravine, just as deep and imposing as the other, lay underneath the jump. If any racers wanted to complete this part of the track, they had to make the jump. But the chances of not getting hit by the wheel, or worse, crashing into it, seemed astronomical.

“What do we do now, Pinkie?”

“I- I’m working on it.”

“Maybe we should turn around.” A.K. suggested.

“There’s no going back, Roadbeasts.” A new voice joined the radio call.

“Rainbow?”

The Wave Rippers began appearing on the GPS scanners of the Roadbeast cars. “That bridge we crossed, it collapsed.” Rainbow explained. “Why, is there a problem with going forward?”

“Yeah, a big problem.” At this point the four blue cars pulled up to the stop and saw the obstacle. To which Rainbow only had one thing to say.

“Awesome!”
= = =
Back on the main track, Sunset and Applejack remained neck and neck as the track turned into a dimly lit tunnel that reminded Applejack of those subway-lines they had in Manehatten. A metal wall rose up in the middle of the track, separating the two racers from each other.

“Hey, Sunset, ya one of us may be taking the wrong trail?” She waited for a reply, but none came. “Sunset? Can you hear me Sunset?”

“Are you going to talk through this entire race?” Sunset saw the end of the tunnel coming up and aimed her car for a raised portion of the track. Both drivers hit the jump at the same time, but Sunset’s maneuver had her car rolling over Applejack’s, avoiding a similar situation that Pinkie and Rarity experienced. Sunset landed a little roughly, but she was still side by side with the Dune Ratz leader.
= = =
Most of the Roadbeasts and Wave Rippers had gotten out of their cars and were discussing the situation with each other. The great spinning wheel looming over them.

“It’s a challenge alright.” Rainbow said.

“Ka ‘a’a nui loa. The greatest challenge.” Fluttershy agreed.

“Hey, Pinkie, you every try something like this before?”

“Not since the last time I played miniature golf. You don’t want to know what my score was.” The pink racer admitted.

“I know how we can do it!” Twilight called out. Everyone gathered around the Nomad. “I used my onboard computer to calculate the timing configuration of the rotation and coordinate with the distance of the jump.”

Rainbow looked at Pinkie who shrugged in response.

“Did anyone else not understand a word of that?” Scootaloo asked. Eight hands went up.

“The computer gives you a green light,” Twilight reiterated, “and five seconds later you hit the ramp at a hundred and sixty-three miles per hour. Do that and we make it through.”

“Is she loco or what?” Colgate asked.
= = =
Zed 36 zoomed their binoculars in on the racers as they lined themselves up for the jump. They then moved to target the spinning wheel with the nitrox slingshot.
= = =
A.K. had volunteered to jump first. Her Ballistik purring like a jaguar. “I’m all set up here, Sparkle. Tell me when.”

“I’m starting the timer now.” The internal computers all registered the jump timer. “Good luck everybody. Three. Two. One. Go!”

Miss Yearling hit the gas and took off. The short turn between their starting point and the jump giving her enough time to accelerate to 163 MPH before she hit the jump. She watched the metal fan blade, which was thicker than her car, draw closer, before her car passed it and she pulled to a stop on the other side.

“Made it!” She proclaimed.

“You’re next, Vinyl.” Pinkie reminded the DJ. She checked her computer which gave her the green light and she turned on the gas. The jet engine on her Power Rocket getting her up to speed quickly, and she actually had to hold back on the gas to keep from going too fast. She crossed the gap with no problems.

Scootaloo watch her monitor, waiting for the green light. She was off the moment it flashed. Her smaller Backdraft carrying her through the gap easily.

Up on the cliff face, Zed 36 watched as more racers overcame the obstacle. She set the slingshot to target the center of the wheel. Another car cleared the jump. She raised her figure to press the firing button. Another racer began their approach. One press of a button and it would be over.

She powered down the slingshot and gave the shortcut one last look before climbing back into her car.

Back on the track, Lyra’s Power Pistons had just finished its jump with only a small spinout at the end. Fluttershy’s screen lit up green and she pushed down on the gas. Her gold Stingray moving up the track, gaining speed before hitting the ramp.

She gave the speedometer a glance as she became airborne and her heart almost stopped. 158 MPH. The back of her car was clipped by the wheel. Fluttershy’s car went into a violent tailspin. While her car still managed to land on the track, the collision had knocked one of her Nitrox 2 containers off the car and it had become lodged in between the outer ring of the wheel and one of blades. As the outer wheel was turning in one direction and the blades were spinning the other direction, the bottle was getting ground against the wheel as it spun, creating friction, creating heat, creating a chemical reaction within the Nitrox, which caused it to explode.

Twilight and the other racers stared in shock as the blue explosion rocked the floating wheel and Fluttershy’s car landed roughly on the track. The pink haired girl was in tears at the thought of just how close to death she had been. As Lyra and Bon Bon tried to console her, Twilight got on the horn to give even more bad news to Rainbow and Pinkie Pie who were still on the other side of the jump.

“We’ve got trouble, Rainbow. It’s turning at a different speed. I can’t time the rotation. I can’t tell you when to start.”

“What do you think, Pinkie?” Rainbow asked.

She thought for a moment before steeling herself. “I came here to race. I say we go for it.”

Rainbow smiled before tightening her grip on the steering wheel. “Let’s do it.” Both cars gunned their engines and took off down the track.

“Can they make it?” Maud asked, concern for her sister slipping into her voice.

“I don’t know.” Twilight admitted.

Fluttershy had stopped crying and was now clutching her hand over her heart in worry.

Pinkie and Rainbow tore down the track at the same speed, the adrenaline rush clearly visible by the smiles on their faces. Pinkie’s cry of “Wee’pa!” summing up the pair’s thoughts as they hit the jump and flew towards the spinning jaws of death. The crossed the wheel just as the broken blade of the wheel passed. Both cars slammed into the blunt end of the blade and were ricocheted onto the far side of the track with only a scratched roof to show for it.

Behind them, the wheel was rocking violently in its stasis field, before large cracks formed along its surface and the whole thing went kabloowy.

“We’ve got a race to finish!” Pinkie announced as the drivers all either took off down the road or got back into their cars.

“Fluttershy, you alright?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah, I’m alright. You?”

“All systems go. Come on, let’s finish this race. I hope Gilda and the others are making better time than we are.”
= = =
As a matter of fact, Gilda was running interference on the other racers so that Shining Armor could catch up to the leaders. After coasting around a bend, the Switchback pulled up between Mega-Duty and the Roadrunner.

“Hey! How about giving one of the new guys a shot at first place?”

Sunset looked at the bluenette boy incredulously before shaking her head. She then leaned forwards so she could make eye contact with Applejack and gave a slight jerk of her head with a massive grin on her face.

Applejack nodded her head in understanding.

Sunset turned her eyes to the road before wildly swerving her car at the same time as Applejack. Forcing Shining Armor to spin out. This coincidentally happened right at the point where the purple shortcut track remerged with the main track.

Sunset and Applejack continued jostling for first place with each other.

“I’m gonna pass you.” Sunset warned.

“You’re going to try.” AJ countered. Both drivers hit their Nitrox boosters and burned down the track before rounding a bend and seeing the unmistakable glow of the portal.

“There’s the portal!” Neither girl was willing to let the other have first place so they kept on the gas all the way in.

On the other side of the portal both cars emerged at the same time and landed simultaneously.

“What was that you said, Sugarcube?” AJ said as she and Sunset both rolled down their windows, “Was it, ‘I’m going to pass you?’ or ‘I’m going to tie you?’”

Sunset Shimmer just smiled, “Next time.” And with that, she drove off as Shining Armor emerged from the portal earning the new guy third place.

Author's Note

Gilda: Chrysler Thunderbolt
Scootaloo: Backdraft
Apple Bloom: Sweet 16 II
Sweetie Belle: 24/Seven
Indigo Zapp: 1/4 Mile Coupe
Sunburst: Power Pipes
Bon Bon: Zotic
Lyra Heartstrings: Power Pistons
Lemon Zest: Road Rocket
Coco Pommel: Side Draft
Sunny Flare: Pontiac Rageous
Misty Fly: Dodge Charger R/T
Maud Pie: Moto-Crossed

Pit Stop (Crew Teams)

The racers had all gathered in an exact replica of the garage Luna had first gathered them in. “From now on, you will race as teams.” She said from another spinning screen. “As the winner of the first leg of the race, Rainbow Dash will have first choice of five new drivers to add to her Wave Rippers team, assuming Miss Sparkle is willing to join her.” The two blue dressed girls looked at each other and nodded in agreement. “The other teams will be recruited and lead by Miss Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Sunset Shimmer.” The four girls seemed proud of themselves, save Sunset who still felt bitter for placing fifth. “Do you have the courage to continue the World Race? Into a world that’s totally unknown?”

“I’m in!” Sunset declared.

“As am I.” Rarity joined her.

“Just try to keep me out of it.” Pinkie said, jumping up and down slightly.

“Do we still get five million dollars?” Applejack asked.

“Five million, for every member of the winning team, and the knowledge that you are the fastest racer in the world.”

The other racers looked among each other, before each of them agreed to continue the race. Each of them, save one.

The screen suddenly went dark. From behind the drivers, a door opened. There stood Luna in the flesh. “Very good. Now, assemble your teams. Once you have, I can tell you what really lies at the end of Highway 35.”
= = =
A figure in a black suit walked down the hallway, they stopped at the door leading into Luna’s office. They were about to open it when the door suddenly opened on its own.

“Spitfire, I was expecting you.”

The fiery haired girl walked into the room and took a seat in front of the desk, her black Scorchers uniform squeaking slightly.

“I have a feeling I already know what you are going to say, but I’ll let you say it anyway.” The older woman’s demeanor made the pilot feel like she was back in high school, seated before the Vice Principle.

“You should have made me the leader of one of the teams. I have more experience than the others, and more discipline.”

“That may be so, but you still came in last place for the first leg of the race. Do you know why?”

“Because the other racers kept taking reckless chances and got lucky.”

“Really?” Luna grabbed a desktop monitor and turned it around so Spitfire could see it. The monitor displayed the camera feed from her Muscle Tone when she went over the detour in the volcano. “Or was it because you played it safe and took an unnecessary detour? I told you the Scorcher cars could drive through lava safely. You tested the equipment yourself.”

“I deemed it to be an unnecessary risk.”

“And it cost you the race.”

“I was already in last place.”

“And if I had eliminated the driver in last?” Spitfire’s eyes widened, “I had toyed with the idea before the race started, an extra incentive to get you all to perform your best. But then I saw how you were all getting along together. Even before I declared the teams, each of you were making friends and having fun. All except for you and Miss Shimmer.”

Sunset Shimmer. The other Scorcher and Spitfire’s team leader if she was to continue racing. “I can understand you not wanting to work with her,” Luna continued, “she is a rebel and you are a soldier. But I am a firm believer in the idea that the best in a person can be brought out by facing their mirror. I understand the two of you were not so different once upon a time.”

She pulled a tablet out of her desk. It was the same one that had been in Spitfire’s car when she had been recruited. The image on the tablet was a police photo of a much younger Spitfire with soot and smoke around her eyes and neck. “The fire at the mall. My greatest mistake.” She said solemnly.

“Is that what you think?”

“Of course! I broke the law! And because of it, my father disowned me, and I was kept out of the Wonderbolts for three years!”

“And you saved a young boy’s life in the process.” Luna moved to put the tablet away but was stopped when Spitfire grabbed her hand. The younger woman looked at the image of herself. Her eyes were bright, bright and full of defiance, brighter than she ever remembered seeing them.

“I’ve been told it was a stupid mistake. And they were right, I could have gotten us both killed. But when I go back and think about what I could have done differently, I do it all over again, motorcycle theft and all.” She looked up at the blue haired woman. “Why did you choose this picture?”

“Because if I wanted a good pilot, I wouldn’t have called Captain Spitfire. What I wanted was a woman who was willing to put herself in danger to save others. That is why I recruited you, Serenity Firefly.”

Spitfire gasped; she hadn’t been called by that name in years. A cough drew her attention to the open door behind her where Sunset Shimmer stood. “I’m sorry for eavesdropping, but if you feel that strongly about the matter, I’ll let you lead the Scorchers Team.” She pulled out a folded-up driving suit with a 29 printed on it. “It’s all yours.”

Spitfire stood up, walked over to the long-haired girl, and pushed the uniform back towards her. “Keep it. Luna’s right, I’ve been playing it safe for a bit too long. I’ll race on your team, but if I say something is too dangerous, you listen to me.” She held out her hand. “Deal?”

Sunset grabbed the offered hand firmly, “Deal. Now, let’s go make a winning team.”
= = =
A plethora of different cars sat outside the compound. Many of these where standard commercial vehicles bringing in new drivers. The rest were the official vehicles made by Luna for the World Race. Many of the new drivers were milling about and getting acquainted with their new teammates and their new rides.

Twilight, whose driving suit now featured a stylized 2 on the right shoulder, was tuning up her Nomad while waiting for one particular vehicle. “Hey, Twi!” She paused in her work to see her team leader approaching with another girl following behind her. She was about the same age as Rainbow, with long pink hair and a tattoo on her left shoulder. “Fluttershy, this is Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, this is my soul sister and our new teammate, Fluttershy.”

“Aloha.” Twilight said, shaking the girl’s hand.

“Aloha.” Fluttershy smiled as she returned the greeting, “Are you from Haywai’i?”

Twilight was taken aback as she started speaking in near perfect island tongue. “Yes, me and my family moved there when I was little. What about you?”

“My father grew up Honolio, but he moved to Califoalnia when he married my mother. So, I grew up learning Haywai’ian and English.” She looked over at a very lost looking Rainbow Dash. “Speaking of which, we better stick to mainland speak, otherwise she’s going to think I’m giving away all her secrets.”

“Hey! You two aren’t talking about me, are you?”

Both girls giggled before a car horn sounded. “He’s here!” Twilight quickly ran to meet a white cruiser. “Shiny!” Stepping out from the car was a young man with white skin and three toned blue hair. He wore a purple t-shirt with a blue shield design covering the front.

“Twily!” He scooped the smaller girl into a bear hug and the two spun around for a bit.

“Rainbow, Fluttershy,” Twilight said once the newcomer had put her down, “This is my older brother, Shining Armor.”

“Hello.” Shining Armor said, “So you’re Rainbow Dash, huh? Thanks for keeping my little sister safe.”

“No problem. Come on, let’s get you two some cars. Since you guys showed up first, you get first pick.”

“How many other racers are there?” Fluttershy asked.

“Per team, it’s seven drivers. We have two more who will be getting here later, and we’re still trying to decide on a seventh.” Twilight said as the four entered the compound. Separate from the main briefing area and sleeping barracks was a garage filled with different cars and mechanic equipment. One section was devoted to the new Wave Ripper cars, sleek cars done up in different shades of blue over varying grey tones, now newly numbered 1-7. Fluttershy was drawn to a gold colored convertible called Stingray, while Shining choose a white and black truck that Luna had called Switchback.

“Alright! Now that you’ve got cars, let’s get you some practice time. The other team leaders, Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack said they were going to be making a public track for everyone to use.”

“Wait, Rarity and Applejack? The same Rarity and Applejack from Canterville, USA who tied in the Canterville horse derby a few years ago?”

“Yeah. Why, you heard of them?”

“Oh no.”

The sound of a very large crash sounded throughout the compound. Nearly every single driver was there looking on at the purple minivan that had skidded into a purple Road Beast car with two back fins curving in towards each other. The Road Beast driver was a girl with wild electric blue hair and purple sunglasses. And crawling out of the other car were…

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity scoffed.

“Apple Bloom!” Applejack scolded.

“Scootaloo?” Rainbow said, bewildered.

“Hey.” All three girls said, rather humiliatedly.

“What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked.

“With my car!?” Rarity added.

“We heard ya’ll were recruitin’ drivers for a race…” The red-haired girl with the bow started.

“…And we wanted to join your teams.” The girl with the pink and lavender hair finished.

Applejack sighed, “How did ya’ll even get here?”

“It was her.” Each one said, pointing at another.

“Me?” Apple Bloom said, “It was Scoots who told us about the World Race!”

“Yeah, but Sweetie was the one who borrowed her sister’s car.” Scootaloo retorted.

“But Apple Bloom was the one who actually drove us here!” Sweetie Belle replied.

“ENOUGH!” Rarity shouted, ending the girls bickering, “You are all going straight home, this instant! You are all far too young to even think about competing in something like-”

“We’re not babies!” Sweetie Belle shouted, “Ever since you and Applejack started racing, you keep leaving us behind, because we’re too young. Well we’re not too young anymore! We’ve all passed our drivers test-“

“With flying colors!” Scootaloo added.

“So please, sis, let us prove what we can do.” Apple Bloom finished. The sincerity of the girls words was felt by everyone present, even those who had no say in the matter.

Rainbow Dash looked at Scootaloo, she had cut her hair short, giving her a tom-boyish look. “Do you feel the same way Scoots? Like I’m forgetting about you?”

The now sixteen year-old averted her gaze, barely able to hold the tears back. She was startled when she felt a pair of arms pull her into a hug.

“Scootaloo. I will always find time for you. You don’t have to follow me to the ends of the earth for that.” She pulled away and looked her in the eyes. “But if this is what you want, I won’t stop you.”

Scootaloo put on her best game face. “I want to race with you. And be standing by your side when we win.”

Rainbow smiled, “Then let’s get you some wheels, Squirt.”

Applejack looked at her little sister, “Apple Bloom. I want you to know that you are absolutely, fool hardy, stubborn, and pig-headed. In other words, you’re an Apple.” Apple Bloom beamed. “And I think we got a spot on the team for ya.”

Rarity turned to her sister, then to her car, “Sigh, Mom and Dad are not going to be happy with you.”

“If you won’t take her, I will.” Pinkie said.

Rarity grabbed her sister’s head and held it in her arms, “If you think I’m letting my Shweetie Belle on that track without me then you are sorely mistaken!”

“Rarity! Air!” Sweeite squeaked from her sister’s chest. The whole group started laughing as they dispersed. Away from the crowd, Luna and A.K. Yearling watched the event in silence.

“You really going to allow this?” Yearling asked.

“’Those whose full talents have yet to be discovered.’” Luna quoted her words from the first recruitment. “As long as their sisters and friends are there to watch out for them.”

Yearling shrugged and began to walk away, “I need to go check on my own team, see if they have any potential.”

“I take it you let Miss Pie choose each of the team members?” The silence was telling. “You need to let people in, DeeDee.”

“I could say the same to you, Lulu.”
= = =
Once each of the racers had arrived and been issued cars and suits, Luna called another meeting. The room was packed with 35 drivers, each one divided into one of the five teams.

“The Accelerons built the track we call Highway 35 because they loved racing. I believe that only the challenge and spirit of competition can take a driver through to the end.” A pair of Street Breed racers, a blue skinned girl with cherry hair and a pink skinned girl with green hair and pink headphones, began to converse with each other, only to get hushed by an older Scorcher. “But why is it important to reach the end of the track?”

The rotating screen shifted it’s display to one of an old stone tablet, “This ancient inscription describes a ‘Wheel of Power’ that will be found at the end of Highway 35. I believe it will be the greatest source of energy the world has ever known. Work with your teams and win the World Race. Prove you’re the best drivers in the world and bring me the Wheel of Power.”
= = =
Later that night, on a cliff overlooking the training area, a lone figure in black stood next to an equally black car. The figure wore a suit made to look like muscled flesh with V shaped armor on their shoulders. Their helmet was equally black, the face shield doing a perfect job of concealing their identity. The only give away was the obvious feminine curves to their figure. The car was a simple design, only standing out because of the raised tail fin. It lacked any form of markings and the windows were tinted a deep red.

The figure received a signal and pressed the receive button on their dashboard. The onboard computer displayed a green audio bar, the only indicator that there was someone on the other end.

“Luna’s told the drivers about the Wheel of Power.” The caller said, their voice definitely female. “The next leg begins tomorrow.”

“I’ll be ready.” The voice filter on the driver’s helmet gave them an otherworldly quality.

“You had better be.” A harsher, also filtered voice broke over the radio, the audio line rising up to make way for a second, gold colored line. “After your first failure you had better bring us some real results, Zed 36!”

The driver turned away from the monitor, “I don’t need any patronizing from you, Echelon.”

“Nevertheless,” the first voice said, “we are paying you to keep her from obtaining the Wheel of Power. And we can find others who will get us results.”

“You don’t need to worry. I will do whatever you ask.”

“I know you will, my love.” A kissing noise was heard before the channel closed. The helmeted driver put her fingers to where her lips would be, then placed them against the screen, returning the kiss.

Author's Note

Fluttershy: Stingray
Shining Armor: Switchback
Vinyl Scratch: Power Rocket
Zed 36: Lotus Esprit