XGRA: Ultrasonic Rainbow

Chapters

Prologue
Ch.1: First contact
Ch.2: The invitation
Ch.3: Departure
Ch.4: Arrival and Tryouts
Ch.5: The interview
Ch.6: Sponsorship and secrets
Ch.7: Earth
Ch.8: Free to fire

Prologue

XGRA: Ultra-sonic Rainbow

By: Brotato

Prologue

"I hate it."

A man wearing a very sleek and pressed black suit jumped from his chair before slamming his hands on the table. Needless to say, his actions had the desired affect as the others around him winced at the sound. Himself and ten others sat around a large rectangular wooden table that had been polished to a shine. He pressed a button on the table and the video trailer for this years racing tournament blinked away without a sound. "We can do better than this," he shouted while pointing at the screen. "Where's the twist? The excitement?"

He walked across the room towards a window that took up the entire wall, allowing him to view the utopia before him in all its glory. Hundreds of holo-signs lit up the view in a chaotic mess of colors. The sky itself was a smoggy orange thanks to the toxic chemicals coming from a nearby power plant. To anyone else, the sight was disturbing, but to him, it was normalcy. His tone lost some of its enthusiasm as he watched the city below him continue with their lives. "Where's the surprise? No one is going to care about the same damn tournament every year. It needs something new, but what?"

It had been over five years since 2080 when Sports Interactive News Network, or SINN for short, announced XGRA's Global Season Tour. He had seen the facts on his computer; the graphs showing viewers steadily dropping every year as it was the same races over and over. He had to come up with an idea soon, or risk the association to continue its plummet.

One of his, who he called behind closed doors "scapegoats", brought up a shaking finger to get his attention. His pale sweaty complexion and black square glasses only helped prove that it was his desired place in the company. "I, uh," clearing his throat while pulling at his yellow tie. "Might have something to fix that, sir." His voice was barely recognizable, even with the entire room dead quiet.

The boss strode over with his hands behind his back, before reaching out and gripping the back of his chair with a smile. "By all means, continue."

Even with the smile the scapegoat gulped. "Y-Yes! well, uh," clearing his throat again. The boss did his best to hide his disgust everytime he did that. "W-We've discovered something quite interesting during this years universe-wide recruitment for the tournament." He produced from his folder a thin disc that looked like it could snap with the slightest pressure. "If you may?"

The boss took the disc from the man's pasty hand and walked back to his side of the table. He slid the disc into a slot located above a list of buttons to his left, and pushed play. The screen behind him lit up, showing a blue planet that looked a lot like earth.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Raising an eyebrow towards the scapegoat. "Cause I'm not laughing."

"N-No, sir. Please, just watch."

The planet continued to grow as the ship approached. When it filled almost the entire screen, it shifted and started to orbit around the planet. The view was indeed beautiful; matching that of earth. However, the landmasses were very different.

The feed turned to static for a second before switching to another view inside a dark and cramped room. Air rushed out as an airlock opened below whatever the new camera view was attached to. and without warning, shot towards the planet. It passed through with ease, with only the probe getting its hull singed from the atmosphere. The view was filled with a bright blue with dozens of pillow-white clouds dotting the sky. Even before reaching land itself, the planet looked like it would be paradise.

The sound of metal shifting filled the speakers as the probe seemed to transform its shape; slowing its descent to a full stop. It had almost crashed into the lush green grass that made up the rolling hills around the invading device. Trees were sparsely dotting the hills as well, and the soft breeze that ruffled the plant life only helped give it that sense of calm.

"You found a habitable planet?" Boss stared up in awe. "Do you have any idea what you've discovered? We could sell this discovery for billions! why, just think-"

While the boss ranted on about the monetary value of the discovery, the pasty man held up his finger again. "Uh... sir? It's already, uh, inhabited."

The boss stared at him like he just stained his suit. "What?"

"S-Skip twenty-four minutes and fifteen seconds into the v-video." The scapeboat said while half his body was hiding under the table. He watched his boss press another button and the video fast forwarded to the intended spot. The room suddenly exploded with gasps of surprise as everyone's eyes were fixed on the screen.

"Is that a... pony?" One of the others at the table said. The probe's camera zoomed in on the creature to get a better look. A pony with wings was shown with a coat as blue as the sky, and its mane and tail a literal rainbow of colors. It didn't seem to notice the intruding viewer and was busy doing different stunts.

Doing several loops, the pony went into a steep dive towards the ground. The probe's camera had to zoom out just to keep up with the winged pony as its speed increased dramatically. To everyone's surprise, signs of the sound barrier breaking began to appear.

"That's impossible! no living creature should be able to withstand the full brunt of subsonic speeds!"

No one else spoke as their eyes were glued to the screen. The pony continued its descent, passing rapidly by clouds while the white cone around her slowly turned acute. It didn't take long after that as a loud explosion shook the camera, creating an enormous rainbow ring that spread across the sky. The pony who caused it quickly pulled up with a rainbow streak following behind it, before disappearing across the horizon. The feed then cut off, leaving only static, then nothing.

Boss pressed down the button to eject the disc and turn off the holo-screen. His stood over the table with his hands spread out to keep himself supported; a look of deep contemplation on his face. He stayed like that for a minute, before looking at every other face in the room. A smile slowly spread on his face.

"Alright... Alright, alright." He walked back and forth while keeping his right hand tucked underneath his left elbow; his left index finger tapping his chin as his thoughts collected. "This might be just what we're looking for! If we can somehow talk to this creature and get it to join our little tournament, our views would skyrocket." He eyed the group before him. "Unless they prove to be more hostile than shown on the video, I don't want us to appear frightening to it. Do whatever it takes to get it here that doesn't result in brute force. Hell, bring a team of zoologists if you have to, but get it done." When he didn't see them leaving to do their tasks, he slamming his hands on the table once more. "Now!"

They all flinched and he watched them leave one by one, with the man who gave him the disc being the last. When the door closed behind him, he sat back down in his executive chair with a sigh. Glancing at the disc poking out of the desk, he lightly pushed it back in and fast forwarded it to where the pony first appeared. Leaning back in his chair and eyeing the pony on the screen, a wide grin formed on his face. His lackeys never failed him, and he always got what he wanted.

"Welcome to the XGRA, my little pony."

Ch.1: First contact

Chapter 1

First contact

Rainbow Dash enjoyed the view as her forehooves hung off a cloud that rested above Ponyville. After the recent Sonic Rainboom, the town turned into a bustle of energy as they stared up in wonder at the streak of rainbow flying across the sky. She never got tired of flying, nor pleasing other ponies with her stunts for everypony to see. Being the center of attention was like one of Pinkie pie's cupcakes to her; once you've tasted it, you cant stop.

Now that I think about it, one of Pinkie's cupcakes does sound pretty good.

Jumping off the cloud, she lazily floated down towards Sugarcube Corner. Several ponies could be seen already entering and leaving as the breakfast rush was still going on. Already she could smell fresh baked goodness wafting through the air as she landed just outside the doorway.

She entered the building and quickly spotted Pinkie Pie and Ms. Cake rushing around the counter to take care of customers. To say the place was packed would be like telling Pinkie she likes to throw parties. The lines were only ten ponies long and Pinkie was handling two of them at a time with ease. It only took a minute before Rainbow was at the front counter.

"Hi Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie greeted with her usual cheery attitude. She didn't even look winded as she continued purchases while talking.

"Hey Pinkie. Think I could get one of your c-" A chocolate cupcake with simple vanilla frosting was placed in front of her before she could finish her order. "Uh, wow. That was quick."

Pinkie giggled at her comment and pushed the treat towards Rainbow with a grin. "Yep-a-roonie. Oh! I almost forgot." She disappeared under the counter for a second, returning as she pulled out a pink box. It had a small loaf inside with icing on top of it. "Could you do me a teeny-tiny-itsy-bitsy favor and gives this to Twilight? She placed an order for this lemon pound cake yesterday, but we've been so busy this morning I don't think I'll get a chance to give it to her."

"Sure thing, Pinkie," Rainbow said between mouthfuls of cupcake. She paid the two bits for her treat and trotted out of the building with the parcel. She spread her wings to take flight, but thought it would be best to not risk dropping her package. With a sigh, she stayed on the ground with a brisk trot toward Twilight's library.

When she was a block away from her destination, she could see the top of Twilight's home already. appeared above several of the houses before she actually saw the home itself. The lights were on and she could see the shadow of either Twilight or Spike running around inside. Moving towards the door, she gave it three heavy knocks.

"Just a moment!" A voice called out from inside the tree. The sound of footfalls on wood were heard far before the door swung open. "Oh, hey Rainbow. What bring you here?" He asked while motioning her to come in.

"Just got a special delivery here for Ms. Egghead herself.." Rainbow grabbed her friend's parcel and gave it to Spike. When he took it from her hoof, she looked around the room. The entire place was spotless from top to bottom. No sign of dust or loose books could be seen laying anywhere. The only thing missing was a certain purple unicorn "Hey, where is she anyway?"

Spike came back from the kitchen after putting the parcel away. "Oh, she's on the balcony. Said something about an object falling from the sky, but I think her late-night studies are finally getting to her."

Rainbow laughed. "Yeah, I wouldn't doubt that. I'll go check on her." Giving Spike a quick farewell, she went up the stairs leading to the balcony on the second floor. Sure enough, Twilight was switching between three different telescopes set up on the balcony. Each one pointed in a different direction towards the sky as she desperately looked for whatever had her in such a fuss.

A wicked grin formed on her face as she quietly inched towards the unicorn. It was a difficult task with hooves, but by taking it slow, it quieted the clip-clop sound enough to sneak behind her target. When she was right behind Twilight, she let out a yell. "Hey Twilight! whatcha doing?"

"There's no need to yell ,Rainbow Dash," Twilight stated calmly while turning the telescope she was looking through.

Rainbow Dash's brow shot up from failing to scare Twilight. "How did... Never mind, you need to get away from that telescope. You really need to stop staying up late."

Twilight let out a disgruntled groan and turned to face Rainbow, her mane having an unkempt look. "Spike doesn't believe me and now you? Why would I make up that I saw something fall from the sky? I'm positive I saw something. I just know it!"

"Easy there, Twilight. Look," she rested a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Why don't we go check where the thing crashed. If there's something there, great. If not... you stop staying up late at night studying. Deal?"

Twilight stared at the ground a moment longer before matching Rainbow's gaze. "Deal."

A human roughly in his thirties with jet-black hair and wearing a white lab coat threw his hand of cards on the poker table. "Royal flush, baby!" He grinned as the others in the main cabin of the spaceship groaned and started to leave in frustration. His grin only grew wider as his earnings increased from collecting their bets. When he reached over with both hands to scoop up several loose chits, another man stopped him by firmly planting his hand over his.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were cheating." His other hand settled on a sheath located on the outside of his right thigh. His entire body language was screaming out that things were about to get ugly. "I don't like cheaters."

"Vicks! stop trying to intimidate Professor Miles."

Both men turned their heads to see a woman with her arms folded to her chest in annoyance. The insignia and badges on her sleek grey uniform clearly pointed out she was the boss of the ship, and also the pilot. So unless they wanted to be stranded in space, they'd listen to her orders. "We have ten minutes before we reach our destination so I don't want any of your crap. Now, get your ass back to the engineering deck before I punt you down the stairs myself."

Not another word was spoken between the two as Vicks roughly released his hold on Miles' hands before disappearing towards a stairwell. "As for you," looking at Miles. She walked over, grabbed his wrist, and pulled down his coat sleeve to revealing a small device strapped to his wrist; full of cards. "Smoking isn't the only bad habit that can get you killed." She chuckled at his flabbergasted expression and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll see you on the bridge." She pressed a keypad next to the door and left the room; the door closed behind her with a quiet hiss.

"Of course, Captain." Miles muttered to himself. He wasn't sure how she knew he was cheating, but her instincts were as sharp as a tack. It was one of the many reasons she's the best pilot ever known. At least for him anyway. He hastily collected the credits from each chit into his account with a small handheld device. When he was done, he dumped the empty chits into the trash and followed the Captain to the bridge.

The ship was small with only six rooms. It consisted of the bridge, "off-duty" room, engine room, sleeping quarters, cryo chambers, and the cargo bay. The trek to the bridge didn't take long since a single hallway linked all six rooms, minus the cargo bay and engines which were down a flight of stairs. He pressed a button on the door's keypad and strode in.

The bridge wasn't anything special. The captain's chair stood out proudly with its hundreds of buttons, switches, and other devices for controlling the ship. Outside the canopy a swirl of colors made him dizzy from staring too long as they traveled through slip space. To the right sat the airlock out of the ship, and to his left sat another man.

"Professor," he greeted.

"Jacob," Miles greeted back to his collegue leaning in a chair right beside the doorway. Jacob and him were best friends since mars; when they were still in college studying zoology. While the study of alien and other-worldly lifeforms didn't fit his cup of tea, he was getting paid none-the-less for this job. He didn't question why the XGRA funded the trip, nor cared why. All he knew was this alien life form resembled a species on earth needed to be studied.

A steady beep came from the captain's console, which she quickly silenced with a button push. "We're coming up on the planet now." Soon as she said that, the swirling colors outside the ship seemed to pull away; revealing a blue planet in front of their ship. "Wow, they weren't kidding. It does look like earth." She flipped several switches and the HUD lit up, pointing out a trajectory to land the ship. She turned her head to look at Miles. "Might want to find a seat, Professor. It's about to get bumpy."

Miles woke up from his trance from looking at the blue planet in awe. Seeing another planet which could possibly hold new and interesting lifeforms would of course be a zoologists dream come true. He took a seat next to Jacob and pulled down the restraint bar that covered his sides and chest. The planet was all that he could see now as they closed in on their landing point.

Suddenly the ship shook violently as the atmosphere pummeled the ship like a violent storm at sea. Outside the canopy it looked like the ship had been set on fire from the extreme friction; threatening to tear the ship apart. Luckily, the pilot knew what she was doing and the correct angle prevented such a thing from happening.

The shaking stopped as sudden as it came, leaving Miles' heart racing and hands aching from clinging to the restraint. His head rested against it as he caught his breath; not realizing he was holding it half-way through the planet entry.

"We're here," the Captain sang. The idea of danger and near-death experiences always put her in a chipper mood, which the rest of the crew knew would kill them one day. "Huh, would you look at that. Seems this planet has civilization after all." Miles and Jacob joined the sight from behind her seat and noticed the cloud-shrouded village far below them. "The probe beacon is setting us down behind a large hill near a forest. It should be far enough away from the village to not cause a ruckus."

Jacob could hardly contain his excitement. "This is fantastic! If they can create a society, they have to be intelligent in some way," He stated enthusiastically.

"True," Miles began. "But we should still be cautious. How do we know the natives wont turn hostile on our presence?"

The door opened behind them and both men turned around to see a man wearing a black business suit. Just standing this close to him felt intimidating. He was the representative the XGRA sent. No one knew his name or anything else about him, and his voice always held a dull tone, like every subject was tedious and uninteresting. As he stared towards the canopy, Miles still felt his gaze through the dark shades he always wore.

"Quite simply, Mr. Miles, that's why we brought you along."

The landing went smoothly and everyone gathered in the cargo bay to start the trek towards the nearby village. Miles looked over his equipment. A radio to keep in contact with the others, a video recorder which looked like a pair of normal glasses, a computer pad for writing down notes, and a small backpack full of scalpels, tweezers, and other laboratory equipment for studying samples of tissue. While he didn't think they would stay for long to do any real research, it never hurt to come prepared.

He looked over at the group of three near the bay doors. All of them marines. While Jacob and himself were to prevent hostilities from breaking out, they were here to make sure hostiles were taken care of.

"Interesting. Sensors read the atmosphere to be breathable. Only three percent more oxygen compared to earth. The captain spoke over the radio.

"Fantastic, I hate those damn atmosphere suits anyway," a marine spoke up. The others nodded in agreement.

"Quite... opening bay doors now.

A loud clang rang out as the locks unhinged from the door. When it started to open a rush of cool clean air rushed into the room, filtering out the air from the ships air scrubbers. The light that came from the world caused everyone to take a momentary hand-raise to cover their eyes. When everyone lowered their hands to take a good look at the world, they stared at the pair of creatures looking back at them.

"My god," Jacob whispered next to Miles. "They do look like the equines from earth. Only shorter and..." Jacob struggled to find the right word. "More... cutesy."

The six humans and two ponies continued to stared at each other as they waited to see who would make the first move. After about a minute, the purple pony spoke in clear and plain English. Although her voice held a sense of apprehensiveness as she whispered.

"So... does this mean I win the bet?"

Ch.2: The invitation

Chapter 2

The invitation

"You're the egghead. You talk to them." Rainbow whispered as they both continued to stare at the strange bi-pedal creatures.

Twilight switched glances between Rainbow and the aliens on whatever transport they were on. She had never seen anything like them in her life, nor read anything about them. The thought that she was about to make first contact with another different species both excited and scared her.

She took a step forward and gave her best smile, which she hoped they would take as friendly, and spoke in a happy yet apprehensive voice.

"H-Hello? Can you understand me?"

One of the creatures had a lab coat that reminded her of the one she wore in her lab back home, except theirs were fitted for their bodies. From what she could guess by facial features, the creature was a male. He took a step forward and leaned towards her with one hand on his glasses. His eyes went wide with wonder. Just like herself after learning a new spell.

"Starting video now," he muttered. Twilight's keen sense of hearing picked it up and she tilted her head in confusion. She had no idea what a video was, nor how it started. "Hello. Yes, we can understand you." His smile only widened when he fully realized they both spoke English. "My name is "Miles Hemmingway. Or Just Miles if you wish. What's your name?".

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and my friend here is Rainbow Dash." Rainbow gave a quick wave and greeting, which Miles returned with a nod. Twilight looked at the others behind him. "Not to be rude, but what exactly are you? Are the others friends of yours?"

A smile tugged at Miles' lips. "We're known as humans, or Homo sapien." Seeing the look in Twilight's eyes swiftly change from thoughtful to realization, he laughed. "Yes, we're giant monkeys."

This was quite a surprise for Twilight, considering he did have very small resemblances to the monkeys in Equestria. Was it possible humans derived from Equestria or they possibly once visited her world in the past? Such thoughts would have to wait as her other question was answered.

"As for the others behind me. Well, I wouldn't call them friends. Think of them as... like-minded-others. The only friend I know of, who's also my assistant, is Jacob here." He slapped his friend's back, causing him to stumble forward. Jacob glared at him, and he simply grinned back.

"Oh... okay." Twilight said in uncertainty. She eyed the others for a moment, which were looking at Rainbow and herself this entire time. Especially the strange one dressed in a suit. His gaze was focused on Rainbow Dash with a small smile tugging at his lips. She learned in her past to not so easily distrust others just from their looks, but something about this creature just reeked of... something. whatever is was, it didn't settle well in her eyes. "May I ask what bring you to Equestria?"

"Of course." Miles glanced back at the man in the suit and received a nod in return. Clearing his throat, he tentatively stepped forward until barely within arms reach and kneeled so he was almost eye-to-eye with both ponies. Producing a small envelope from his jacket, he handed it to Rainbow Dash.

She looked at Miles and the envelope suspiciously before pulling it away with a hoof; leaving a rather surprised look on his face. "How did..." She ignored him and opened the envelope, unfolding it twice to full length, and began reading it.

"What is it about?" Twilight asked, her curiosity peaking while leaning towards her to take a peek.

"It's an invitation to a race!" Rainbow replied, her mouth agape. Her head tilted as she continued to read. "Who's the XGRA?"

"Extreme Gravity Racing Association, my dear." The suited man answered in a happy tone that didn't fit his outward appearance at all. "It's one of the most highly sought after competitions in the known universe. Speedsters, hand-chosen from across every known galaxy, are given a once in a life-time opportunity to prove they are the best racer anywhere. Along with bragging rights of course," he added in an off-handed tone.

"Best racer in the whole universe?" Rainbow whispered as her mind tried to wrap around how important this race was.

"Trillions upon trillions will be watching, Miss Dash," the man added. He wasn't lying either. Every single galaxy, especially ones where a racer came from, watched the races. All thanks to SIIN news network broadcasting the entire event.

If Rainbow's jaw fell any further, it would've hit the dirt. Any races she ever participated in barely held under a hundred ponies. Heck, even the stadium the Wonderbolts usually performed at held only enough for four-hundred.

Even if Rainbow Dash couldn't fathom how many others would be watching the race, it still had the right effect on her as she squealed in delight. "Where do I sign up!"

With a wide grin, the suited man slipped out a folded piece of paper from inside his suit and unfolded it in front of Rainbow. "Quite easy. Just sign here and we can get you started in the race." A small click echoed in the hangar as a pen produced itself from his suit as well. His grin only widened as Rainbow snatched the pen from his hand and pressed it on the paper to write.

Only to have twilight snatch both items away from her.

"Hang on, buster." Twilight clicked the pen again and it receded back inside. "Where is this race being held anyway?"

The man glared at Twilight as if wishing for her to catch on fire. However, she returned it with a glare of her own. "We have races all across the universe. Some go across desolate planets such as mars. Or lush jungles and arctic tundras. Others... are even in space."

Twilight wanted to guffaw at such a statement, but the ship they were in front of was clear proof they had a greater technology than ever known in Equestria. A technology that she was wishing to have time to study.

Rainbow's excitement vanished at the sound of leaving everypony behind. "You mean... I'll be leaving Equestria? My home? What about all of my friends?"

"Yes, yes, and I"m afraid they'll have to stay, but I'm sure we can come up with a solution for the both of you-". He stopped short when Rainbow took flight and butted her head against his.

"Then I'm not joining! My friends and I have stuck together since we've first met. If you want the best racer in all of Equestria, you better make room for six ponies, bub. Hey!"

Twilight yanked away Rainbow by the tail and held her in place; hanging upside-down beside her. While she was happy for Rainbow, her friend never truly understood the meaning 'looking before you leap'. "Maybe it would be best if we talk with our friends before proceeding with this conversation any further. Right, Rainbow?"

"Yeah, I guess," Rainbow groaned as she crossed her forehooves while still hanging upside-down.

"Good!" A smile spread on her face, happy for her friend agreeing with her. She looked back towards Miles to say goodbye, but noticed his gaze focused on her horn.

"H-How are you doing that?" He switched his pointing finger to her horn and the aura around Rainbow Dash's tail.

Twilight tilted her head and raised a brow in confusion. "Doing what? You mean my magic? Unicorns are proficient in using magic just as much as say... you are with your hands. You act like you've never seen magic before." She giggled at such a thought.

"Right... magic," Miles mumbled as he rubbed his chin in deep thought.

"Maybe we'll have time to explain it later," Twilight said quickly. "Right now we should talk to our friends about Rainbows invitation. Is that alright mister...?" Asking the strange suited man.

He let out a grunt. "We'll be here whenever you're ready," he simply stated before leaving the bay through a door to the left.

Rainbow watched him leave with her brow furrowed. "Jeeze, what got his tail in a knot?" Not saying it to anyone in particular.

"So," Miles held his hands together as if pleading. "Mind if we join you? I promise we wont be a burden to you."

Twilight frowned. "Sorry, but it would be best if all of you stayed here. The other ponies in Ponyville might not take you so easily as Rainbow and I." She folded up the invitation and kept it safely floating close to her side, along with the interesting writing utensil.

Saddened to hear that, Miles immediately perked up. "In that case, take these." He handed the glasses he wore. "It has a built-in camera so I can at least see what you're seeing when you speak with your friends." She used her magic to put the glasses on and blinked at miles, who only had a stupid grin on his face. Strangely, they fitted her equine face pretty well. Not to mention they seemed perfect on her.

"W-Why are you looking at me like that?"

Miles only chuckled. "It's nothing."

Perturbed toward Miles' strange behavior, Twilight shrugged it off and motioned for Rainbow to follow her. They both left the humans behind as they made their way back towards Ponyville.

Meanwhile, Miles took out a small rectangular device and tapped it. It sprung to life and he saw exactly what Twilight was seeing; the sound of her voice came across his earpiece. Albeit a bit off tone from the static.

"I don't like that human in the suit. The one who offered you the invitation. He was too... creepy."

Miles laughed inside his mind. He was pretty sure everyone on the ship found Mr.Suit creepy. It was funny that an entirely different species felt that way too.

"Tell me about it. Leave my friends behind? Who does he think he is? Why I ought to..."

Twilight interrupted her. "No. The last thing we want to do is anger a species we just met, Rainbow. At least Miles seemed nice.

"Are you kidding? Did you see the way he looked at you when you put on those glasses? I bet he thought-" The sound cut off from Miles muting the volume.

Okay, that's enough of that. While Miles may be a cheat, he was no eavesdropper. He watched the screen and only saw grass as Twilight's head was pointed downward. Weather it was out of embarrassment or annoyance, he wouldn't know.

He looked up from his device to find the others had dispersed; the security team somewhat ignoring Twilight's request as they patrolled around the ship. He looked back at his device and decided to turn the volume back on when they reached her friends. Maybe just a little longer... For research of course.

Twilight twirled the spoon in her cup of tea uncertainly as she waited for her friends to show up in her library. Rainbow had volunteered to gather everypony for the meeting, stating she had some leftover adrenaline to burn after hearing about the invitation. Though the way she handled it was far from ideal. Twilight knew all too well about signatures and being bound to documents.

She couldn't blame her though. Heck, If she got an invitation for an event involving her special talent she would've said yes in a heartbeat. While she didn't enjoy bragging about her magic prowess, it was nice to compete as a test toward her own abilities.

Raising the cup to take a sip, she set it back down with a light clatter; her eyes resting on the invitation and pen on the table in front of her. If one of her friends declined, would Rainbow not go along with this opportunity? This was something Rainbow would never pass up; the chance to show her worth to everypony and thing in the universe. While she enjoyed the thought that Rainbow regarded her friendships so highly, she also hated knowing it was her decision.

The front door swung open and in came her five friends. Rainbow Dash did a tight loop in the air before landing gracefully next to Twilight. Rarity and Applejack came in next in a normal fashion before Pinkie Pie appeared by bouncing through the doorway with her tail twitching wildly as if a rabid badger was hiding inside it.

"Twilight, I've been looking for you everywhere!" she held her tail up with her hooves as she sat down. "See? Twitchy tail! twitchy tail!"

Spike, who was busy taking a nap upstairs, caught the sound of Pinkie saying "Twitchy Tail" and dove under Twilight's bed for safety.

Applejack's ear twiched at the sound of a loud thump upstairs, but ignored it. "I cant say I've seen a hide or hair of any new ponies enter Ponyville," she said while settling down across from Twilight; next to Rarity.

"Applejack is right, Pinkie," Rarity spoke up. "Ponyville has been rather drab lately. We haven't had a beast or terrible event happen to Ponyville in months. Maybe your Pinkie sense is just losing its touch?" Twilight offered her some tea, which she gratefully accepted. "Thank you, darling."

Pinkie shook her head and her mane bounced around. "This started just this morning and hasn't stopped! Whatever it is it has to be a doozy!"

"I'll gladly explain what's going on if everypony be seated," Twilight stated. After Pinkie finally settled down, she noticed a open spot between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie. "Where's Flutter-" A pink mane poked out from under the table and looked at Twilight.

"P-present," Fluttershy's timid voice spoke. "Is it safe to come out now?"

Twilight had the urge to facehoof, but settled for rolling her eyes. "Yes Fluttershy. It's safe to come out. Nothing is going to fall from the sky." She watched the shy pegasus creep out from under the table and take her place between Rainbow and Pinkie. "Now that everypony is here, I have an announcement to make."

"I got invited to join in a race!" Rainbow Dash squealed with excitement. She then coughed and smiled sheepishly at Twilight for the sudden outburst. "Hehe, sorry."

Twilight continued over the mutters her friends gave after hearing Rainbow's statement. "Anyway. Yes, Rainbow Dash has been invited to a race. However, it isn't a normal race as the invitation is from a human." Her friends burst into chatter upon hearing this. Mostly questions about what a human was and what they wanted Rainbow Dash for.

"Calm down everypony. I was getting to that." Seeing them all calm down, she continued. "This invitation should tell you everything about the race she was invited to. As for what a human is, they're actually related to monkeys.

Fluttershy's eyes lit up. "Monkeys? Oh, I've never met a monkey before. Were you able to speak to them? Do they have names?" She clapped her hooves together in excitement.

"Actually," Twilight began, "they're far from normal monkeys. They're about twice as tall as a normal pony, have barely any hair on them beside their head, and stand on two legs."

"But where did they come from? They didn't just fall from the sky... right?" Rarity asked.

"Yes and no. I didn't learn much from them besides some names and what they were, but they clearly rode on some sort of transport from space.

"Spike was right!" Pinkie cried. "Aliens do exist, and they're giant bi-pedal monkeys!"

"Totally called it!" Spike's voice yelled from upstairs.

At this point, Twilight couldn't help herself and groaned as her hoof impacted her face. "We're going off-track. The entire reason I called you all here is because Rainbow Dash wants to join the race. However, she wants all of us to come along."

"Well, I think it's safe to say there was no reason for so much drama. Where's the race being held? Trottingham? Manehatten?" Rarity listed off, her eyes glowing with delight at the thought of such grand cities.

"The race is not on this planet," Twilight said firmly. Ignoring the strange look from her friends, she tapped the invitation. "Rainbow was invited to join a race that takes place in entirely different planets and in space itself. No, I'm not joking. Even if I still have trouble believing it myself."

"Is this true, Rainbow?" Rarity asked almost pleadingly.

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, this weird guy in a suit explained it to Twilight and I. I didn't believe him, and I'm still having doubts as well, but why would he come here just to lie like that?"

Rarity didn't take the answer very well as she bit her bottom lip. "Well... um. I'm sorry to say this, but I don't know if I can join you, Rainbow. I have my boutique and Sweetie Belle to take care of. I cant just drop everything to go... wherever it is you're going to."

Oh..." Rainbow frowned, but it quickly vanished. "That's alright then. I'm sure everypony else will come along!" She turned to Applejack who had a sheepish smile on her face. "Right Applejack?"

Applejack dropped the useless grin and hung her head. "Sorry, sugarcube, but I'm in the same boat as well. I cant forget about the farm, and Applebucking season is coming around the corner. I wouldn't be able to handle leaving my big brother alone to take care of it by himself."

Rainbow turned to Fluttershy, her best friend, but only found her frowning as well "I-I'm sorry, Rainbow. I really really want to come along, but all of my animal friends need me. N-Not to mention leaving Equestria sounds dangerous and scary. S-So if you don't mind, I'd like to stay here please."

She barely listened to Pinkie Pie as she said something about helping the cakes. None of her friends could go due to their lives binding them here. Sure, she had the weather team, but they had plenty of "green wings" to replace her. All of her naps only got on her boss's nerves, so this might as well be a blessing that she was finally leaving.

Finally, she looked at Twilight. To her relief and disappointment, she spared Rainbow the explanation and simply shook her head. Rainbow looked at the floor, unsure of what to do with herself. This was the best chance she had to earn her dream of fame. She highly doubted another chance like this would appear in her life, but she wished her friends could come with her. They supported her and she trusted them in return, and like support pillars, she would fall apart without her friends to keep her aloft.

"I guess I'm going alone then," she huffed.

Twilight stepped forward and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "We wont be with you physically, but you know we'll always be rooting for you no matter what. Please don't ever forget that."

Rainbow grunted. "I believe you, but I still hate going alone," she muttered. She felt a playful nudge from Twilight's hoof, causing her to almost lose her balance.

"Then go out there and make some new friends, silly! Friendship isn't just between ponies you know. I'm sure there's somepony out there who would love to be your friend. You just have to look."

Rainbow looked at Twilight who had a small friendly smile on her face, and found truth and strength in her friends' words. If anypony knew anything about friendship, Twilight was the pony to ask. Spike was a clear example of her statement after all. He wasn't a pony, but they bonded quite well together. It might take a bit of effort on her part to find new friends outside Equestria, but it was entirely possible. The first candidate that came to her mind was Miles.

A chuckle escaped Rainbow's throat. "You're right, as always, Twilight. And besides," she began while posing in mid-air. "More humans or whatever else is out there needs to see how awesome I am anyway."

Twilight rolled her eyes, but continued smiling. "Glad to hear it."

The others were also happy to see Rainbow and gave whatever support they could and asked any further questions about the race itself. As her friends drifted to talking among each other, Rainbow picked up the pen and invitation. Clicking the small nub on the pen, she scribbled her full name on the parchment. Just as she finished, Pinkie Pie drew her and everypony else in a group hug.

"Hurray! I just know Rainbow is going to beat everypony else in the race. Then she'll come back with first prize and show it to everypony then we can have a huge party to celebrate with cake and punch and streamers and everything would be back to normal and-" mmph! Her rant was cut short as a blue hoof was shoved in her mouth.

"We get it, Pinkie." Rainbow said while taking her hoof back and laughed. "And I look forward to the party."

Meanwhile, back at the human ship, Miles was comfortably seated in the off-duty room with a beer in one hand. He had watched the whole thing in Twilight's perspective and a small smile tugged at his lips upon seeing such a heart-warming sight.

"Did she sign the invitation, Mr. Miles."

His smile turned into a scowl as he turned to look at the suited man standing right beside him. Seeing the usual blank face and intimidating air he held sent a chill down his spine.

"Yeah, she signed it," Miles stated off-handedly with a grunt. He watched him simply leave without answering, leaving him back to being alone in the room. Sighing heavily, he looked back at the small screen where the ponies were enjoying what time they had together. It wouldn't be long before Rainbow would begin her departure.

Miles wasn't a stranger to the races funded by the XGRA. He's seen the high-speed gunfights, violent crashes from going at supersonic speeds, and inevitable deaths from contracts being given. This wasn't a race. It was a gauntlet for survival. Not being good enough simply meant you were going to die.

Realizing he was helping Rainbow Dash get herself involved in this race only caused the alcohol in his gut to feel like a giant rock.

I sure hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Rainbow Dash.

Ch.3: Departure

Chapter 3

Departure

Rainbow Dash sat in the middle of Twilight's home, an assortment of items splayed across a table. There were everything from small pouches of dried fruit snacks to dental hygiene and cleaning products. Miles' glasses were there as well, which Twilight had asked for her to return.

She picked up one of the toothbrushes with a hoof while her other held her head up with a bored look on her face. "Yes, Twilight," she droned with a rolled her eyes for the fifth time in the last hour. After finding some comfort with leaving her friends behind, Rainbow had shot off to her cloud house to gather whatever she could think of. When she returned to Twilight's home with two saddlebags full of items, she found everypony else had to return to their jobs, promises, or obligations. Except Twilight of course. When she had asked her to lay out all of her collected possessions for study, she decided to take it upon herself to make sure she had all the necessities for travel.

With the help of checklists of course.

"Are you sure?" Twilight rapidly scanned through her list. "I didn't see some of these items for myself to check off the list. Let me just open your saddlebag again to make sure..."

"Twilight!" Her friend stopped in her tracks with a her head held back in shock. They've been at this for over an hour, and she was starting to get annoyed. Not to say she didn't enjoy being with Twilight, but the idea of planning wasn't her cup of tea. She would've been at the ship half an hour ago. "Just... stop, alright? I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm not a filly. I can take care of myself."

Twilight scraped a hoof across her wood floor. "Sorry," she apologized with a sheepish smile.

"Anyway did you send that letter to Princess Celestia about everything? I'd hate to leave her hanging. You know... me being one of the Elements of Harmony and all." An image of Celestia, with her 'I'm not angry, just very disappointed', expression flashed in her mind.

A small smile returned in Twilight. "I sent it soon after you left to gather your things. I'm still waiting for her to-" Spike, who was in the back doing his daily cleaning chores, belched loudly as green flame and a scroll appeared from his mouth. Although it got caught on one of his teeth, making a loud tearing sound. "-respond." The dragon fell to the floor when Twilight magically yanked the scroll from his mouth, before lazily floating towards herself. "Thank you, Spike."

"Ugh... don't mention it." Spike rubbed his head for a moment from hitting the floor head-first. "Think I'll take a nap after that one," he muttered as a headache started to build up.

Twilight focused on the letter and soon noticed that it felt somewhat heavier than regular parchment should be. As she unrolled it, a small hoof-mirror fell from the scroll. Luckily, Twilight managed to grab it with her magic before shattering on the floor. "A mirror?" Her curiosity growing by the second, she read the scroll out loud for Rainbow to hear as well.

My faithful student,

I'm glad to hear you are alright after meeting these strange creatures called humans. Next time, please contact me first before doing something so rash.

Twilight looked up to notice Rainbow snickering from being scolded at by the Princess. Glaring at her friend, she continued to read.

I wished to see you myself, but business is heavy as usual during the spring and summer. However, I'm still filled with happiness to know your friend Rainbow Dash is finally on the road to achieving her greatest dreams, But she must be cautious. While with these humans, she now acts as an ambassador of Equestria, and her actions will change the outlook of how these humans see our race as a whole. It would be best for them to see us as friends then enemies, would it not?

As for the problem with the Elements of Harmony you brought up. Luna and myself have decided to take it upon ourselves to once more to protect our kingdom. Luna has grown so much stronger since her return and I believe we can handle any national security measures while Rainbow Dash is gone.

Also, you may have noticed the mirror that has fallen from the scroll. It will allow Rainbow to keep in touch when she's gone. Just speak the name of who you wish to see, and they'll appear before you.

With great hope and happiness,

Princess Celestia of Equestria

Twilight brought her attention to the mirror and inspected it with a quick twirl. The handle and frame was a solid pure white with a crystal clear mirror. If it wasn't for the hint from Celestia or the trace of magic emanating from the item., she would've believed it to be a regular old mirror. Bringing the reflection back to facing her, she stared into it.

"Princess Celestia," she said in a firm tone.

The mirror rippled like disturbed water after somepony performed a cannonball and a swirl of color appeared soon afterwards, as if drops of food coloring fell onto it. It slowly took shape until Twilight found herself staring inside a rather posh looking room. More specifically: Princess Celestia's chambers.

Twilight's mouth went agape upon realizing this as she might have broken into her mentor's privacy. She turned the mirror away from herself as she spoke. "P-Princess? Are you there?" The sound of hooves on stone could be heard as she dreaded what her mentor would say for suddenly appearing before her.

"Twilight?" The familiar voice of Celestia came from the mirror. "Are you there?"

"Maybe..." Twilight slowly flipped the mirror back over and found her mentor staring back at her. A smile formed on her lips when she spotted her.

"Hello, Twilight. I see you've activated the mirror."

"Yes, Princess," Twilight spoke meekly. Then spoke very rapidly. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to show up unannounced!"

Celestia let out a airy chortle. "Oh, Twilight. There's nothing for you to worry about. Now, may I please see Rainbow Dash for a moment?" Twilight only nodded and flipped the mirror to face her friend. Celestia eyed the saddlebags around her before speaking. "I see you're already packed."

Rainbow glanced at her bags as well. "Yeah, Twilight helped me with it, so I know I have everything ready."

"She's a very talented student and a good friend. I hope you will find even more friends in your travels, and I also want you to know that it's a very brave thing what you're about to do. It's not easy leaving behind your life here in Equestria, but I hope you know all your friends, and myself, will always remember you until your return."

"Of course," Rainbow said it like it was obvious. "I'll keep in touch every day until I return."

"Please do that, and remember: A friend is only a name call away." With that said, Celestia image winked out. Twilight floated the mirror over and placed it inside one of Rainbow's bags soon after.

A growing awkwardness filled the room as Rainbow knew this was her time to go. Everything was already packed. Goodbyes had been said to most of her friends, as well as a notice to her job that she was leaving. The only thing left was on her shoulders; to leave her home and travel toward the unknown.

"So I guess this is it?" Rainbow stated awkwardly. The saddlebags on her sides feeling strange all of a sudden, as if unsure what they were doing there. A part of her mind told her this entire idea was idiotic and she should tear up the invitation. Twilight nodded her head in response.

"Do you think I could join you at the ship when you leave?"

Rainbow's eyes brightened at the idea to spend a little more time with her. "Are you sure? You'll have to walk back alone."

"I'm sure," she responded simply.

"Alright, hold on tight." Grabbing Twilight by surprise, she threw her on her back and galloped out the doorway. When her wings were clear of obstructions, she unfurled them and with a single flap, lifted off the ground.

"S-Slow d-down! wah!" Twilight clung to Rainbow for dear life, even if a part of her knew she wouldn't dare drop her. The view of the plains and trees below them and steady sound of her friend's wings started relax her mind; to enjoy the moment. Twilight always loved the feeling of flying and sometimes wished she was born a pegasus. Though that didn't mean she wasn't happy with her life. She would never give up what she's done and cherished each memory with her friends.

Unfortunately, it couldn't last any longer because Rainbow began to descend toward the outcropping where the human ship had landed. Several of them could be seen patrolling the area for intruders. Rainbow landed right outside the main entrance of the ship, which quickly gained the attention of one of the guards.

The guard pressed a button beside his vest and a loud beep was heard. "She's here," the guard simply stated in a rumbling voice.

"Excellent, I'll be down in a moment," the black box on his shoulder replied.

Twilight slid off Rainbow's back and sat on the green grass, with her friend joining her side afterwards. They waited until whoever the guard had contacted showed up, leaving them only minutes until they would never see each other again. It was too bad neither of them knew what to say or do, leaving only the building tension of knowing a good friend was leaving for an unknown amount of time.

The sound of footsteps on the metal ramp perked up both ponies ears and they found them coming from the creepy suited man; a smile on his face. Rainbow took this moment to produce the signed invitation, which he happily took from her.

"Finally decided have you?" He said while glancing at the invitation. "Good, good, this is all we need. Come along, Miss Dash." He turned and began making his way back inside, his voice now yelling for everyone to hear. "Let's go everyone! we're leaving!"

Already a deep humming sound came from the ship, like a dragon snoring. The guards outside jogged inside in a line; disappeared through the single doorway leading further inside the ship. The suited man was still waiting for Rainbow in the middle of the bay. "Please come aboard," he repeated.

Rainbow reluctantly trotted toward the ship and went up the ramp, her hooves making loud clops against the metal. When she was clear of the door, it already began to close, her instincts almost causing her to run back outside. She kept herself standing beside the suited man as she stared at Twilight, who had been watching her the entire time. Their eyes met and Rainbow waved, which Twilight enthusiastically waved back. Soon, Rainbow could only see the top of her hoof, then she was gone as the bay door closed with a metallic grind. The sound of latches firmly keeping it in place for the trip ahead.

"This way please. I'll let you meet the rest of the crew." He went through the same doorway the guards did, with Rainbow following behind. After going up a single flight of stairs, she looked around the inside of the ship in a mix of wonder and apprehension. Everything was mostly a grey metallic down the corridor that lead down two directions. Light as bright as Celestia's sun came from above from a line of light fixtures, yet they didn't have the same warmth.

"In here please." The way he said it sounded more like a command than a polite request, one Rainbow followed without question. He pressed a lit-up square next to the door he was standing in front of, and it opened with a soft hiss. Motioning her inside, she soon found herself in a dim-lit rectangular room with a metal table and four chairs in the middle. In the back was a strange contraption that took up most of the wall, with what looked like foodstuffs stored inside it. There were other strange objects around the room which she couldn't discern also. Along with plenty of flashy lights, wires that lead to nowhere, and panels that didn't make sense to her. To put it simply: This environment was alien to her.

"Please remain here. They will be here shortly."

Rainbow watched him leave with an annoyed expression. It only grew every time he said 'please', which did nothing to help his rather dull and dry speech. Shrugging off the feeling, she decided to sit at the table. She tossed her saddlebags on top before pushing the metal chair back; creating a loud scratching sound that sounded like a hoof on a chalkboard. Landing her rump on the thinly padded chair, she rested her chin on the table while waiting for the "others" to show up.

She was already starting to miss Equestria already. The constant sound of metal whenever her hooves struck the floor was annoying, and every breath she took smelled strange. Not to mention Celestia's benevolent sun being blocked by the metal ship she was about to take off in.

Her right ear twitched at the sound of muffled voices behind her, hinting that somepony was coming this way. She ignored any urge to shift her position, except to lie her head to the side to at least see who came through the door.

With another loud hiss the door leading in the room opened, revealing Miles with two others.

"Hey Rainbow," Miles waved as a friendly gesture. Rainbow returned it before looking at the other two humans.

Another human, this one a sleeker build and not as rough face compared to Miles', stepped inside to have a seat across from her; both elbows resting against the table. "Hello, my name is Doris Prichard, but everyone here calls me Captain. I'm sure you've already met Miles here, so let me introduce you to Jacob. They'll be making sure your stay is as comfortable as possible."

Rainbow raised a brow. "You mean like... servants?"

Doris laughed heartily. "Not exactly. Miles and Jacob, they ... well, maybe it would be best if they explain it." She took her arms off the table and leaning back in the chair. Miles was about to take a seat, until a loud beep rang out in the room, followed by the suited man's dull voice.

"Your conversation can wait when we are in slipspace, Captain. We are short on time as is.

Doris huffed. "Being ordered around my own ship. How quaint." She said while rubbing an index finger against her temple. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Rainbow Dash." She offered her hand, which Rainbow stared at for a moment before getting the cue to shake.

"Yeah, same here," Rainbow replied simply. She watched her stand up and walk by the table to open the door with the press of a button. When she did so, the intercom turned back on and repeated the message, albeit sounding more annoyed.

"I'm coming ya impatient bas-" The door closed behind her, leaving the rest of her voice muffled.

Meanwhile, Miles and Jacob were in a flurry of activity as they unfolded several seats built into the wall. "What are you doing?"

"Well, unless you want to be thrown around the room like a rag doll, you might want to strap yourself in for the ride." Miles stated as he took one of the seats. Jacob and Rainbow followed soon afterwards, although she needed help figuring out all the straps and to lower the padded brace. After everyone and pony was secure, the intercom came back on.

"Alright ladies, and Rainbow Dash, this if your captain speaking. Hope you're buckled up for take off because I'm only going to say this once. Also, in the stupid act you decided to not take a seat, please remember that I won't be peeling your battered body off the ground until land at Mars. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the ride!

Rainbow squirmed in the uncomfortably cold metal seat. "What did she mean by that?"

Miles smiled. "You'll find out soon enough. Oh, and you might want to hold onto the brace, because things are about to get bumpy."

Twilight jumped back when a loud roar that easily outmatched a manticore's came from the ship. Four parts located beside the wings pointed downward as flames spewed out like dragon fire; scorching the ground underneath. To her surprise the ship began lifting off at an increasing rate as warm wind billowed around her, tossing her mane wildly. It was so strong, she had to cover her eyes with a forelimb to block the stinging winds.

When the wind settled down, she uncovered her eyes to spot the ports the flames were coming from shift from vertical to horizontal. Soon afterwards, the ship rocketed forward, disappearing at a rapid rate. It only took several seconds before it was nothing more than a small speck in the blue sky.

"Goodbye, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said sadly. She turned around to begin the trek back home. Alone.

Ch.4: Arrival and Tryouts

Chapter 4

Arrival & Tryouts

The CEO of the XGRA stared out the window of his office, which held a rather spectacular view of the city on Mars at two-hundred stories high. There were no glaring holo-signs advertising products and services he could care less about. No buildings or ships zipping about and interrupting his view. All that stood before him was a sense of calm and peace that he truly savored.

Though down below, Mars was anything but calm as constant billows of red dust attached to every thing and person who ventured outside. It was a requirement for everyone to wear a mask complete with an air filter and eye protection just to move about in the lower streets. Though sometimes the winds would pick up and send the dust high in the air; even as high as his tower.

For now the wind was calm, giving a clear view of the gas giant in the sky. Its swirling colors of orange, white, and red more beautiful than any artist.

He raised his forefinger and thumb near his eye as if holding it in place. "Beautiful."

"Mr. Cawley?" A timid voice called from behind, snapping him for his thoughts.

"Yes?" He turned around slowly. His graying trimmed beard and combed short hair seemed to match perfectly with his black and white business suit. Appearance was a must in his book, and not coming to work looking your best was a risk of termination. Which explained the reason why he had a smile of appreciation on his face.

Standing before him was his secretary. A lithe woman wearing modest business attire of a knee-length skirt and sweater-vest; her hair bunched neatly in a bun to keep it away while working. She always carried her touch-tablet with her everywhere, considering he always had her working. Everything from what time it was on earth to how many viewers would be watching this years races was on that tablet. For being such a hard worker, she became an important asset to the company, and had the privilege of being the only human allowed to barge into his office without knocking.

"I thought you'd like to know you just received a message from Professor Miles." She then noticed the puzzled stare he gave her. "The zoologist you hired several days ago. Along with..." She flipped through several menus on her tablet, her polished nail acting just as well as the tablet pen she never uses. "One security squad, his assistant, and the ship 'The Buccaneer' along with its crew."

"Oh! yes of course." He took out his cell phone and flicked it open; scanning over the message with dark-green eyes. Mr. Cawley really had no idea who this zoologist called Doctor Miles was. Though he remembered half-joking a request for his subjects to hire one, which at the time he didn't really think they would.

He reminded himself to joke about firing the person who did such a thing. Then do so the day after that.

To my employer,

First I would like to thank you on allowing me this chance to join this crew on discovering a rather familiar, yet fascinating species. I'd also like to-

Blah, blah, blah, just give me the reason for the message. He slowly dragged the slidebar down while skimming through the message, wondering how he managed to write so much about such a topic. Only until he reached somewhere in the middle did he find something that at least caught his eye.

-and the mission was quite a success. The female pony named Rainbow Dash has joined us and will be arriving back on Mars soon. Also, If it's not too much trouble-

That's exactly what he wanted to see. Closing his phone with a soft snap, he purposefully strode towards the door. "Lidia, I have some preparations that need to made made. Prepare the lounging room for our special guest, and please..." He paused through the doorway. "Make sure she's comfortable during her stay."

Lidia nodded her head and began to prepare the necessary arrangements with several taps of her tablet. "Of course, Mr. Cawley."

Welcome to mars, Rainbow Dash heard from the captain over the ship's speakers. Herself and the rest of the passengers stood in the cargo bay as they waited for her to set the ship down. The strange swirling colors outside their ship, which the humans named "slip-space", made their journey last only several hours. Miles had explained how it worked, but the whole concept sounded like something Twilight would have more interest in.

Thankfully the flight wasn't too boring and there was plenty of stuff to do. She had joined the crew in several games of poker, which she didn't like since part of the game relied on luck. She preferred anything that needed a quick hoof and rapid thinking to win.

She also got a personal tour of the ship from the captain herself. Strangely, she was very friendly compared to how she treats the crew, and explained it was how she grew up during her rough lifestyle on Earth. It was becoming obvious she had something bottled up, but Rainbow thought it be best to not touch the subject.

Miles, on the other hoof, began to remind her of Twilight. Except instead of books he was always nose-deep on the thin device called a tablet. He seemed pretty nice, though he asked very odd questions. Such as: Did you dye your mane and tail like that? Do you find eating meat disgusting, or just uninterested in the concept? What is the average airspeed of an unladen pegasus? Nonetheless, even with the questioning, she enjoyed her time with the crew.

A heavy thud and the feeling of coming to a stop told her they had reached their destination at last. The nameless suited man, which Rainbow finally decided to officially call "Mr.Suit", stood in front of the bay door with the security team. Miles, Jacob, and herself were behind them, thought Miles and Jacob had smiles on their faces.

"What's gotten you both in such a good mood?" Rainbow questioned.

Miles shrugged. "Good memories of this place. I haven't been to Mars since my studies on Zoology with Jacob here," he said while pointing a thumb at his friend beside him. "When I was called to visit your planet, I was busy on Earth helping protect endangered species." He shook his head as he continued. "It's a sad thing some humans can't respect other forms of life."

"He's pretty serious about it," Jacob added his two cents into the conversation. "Once, he punched a poacher in the face for attempting to hunt Pumas. It was quite a sight." A sly grin formed on his face. "You might even say he's got a fascination for-"

"Okay! that's a enough of that," Miles interrupted loudly. The guards turned their heads to look at him and he let out a nervous laugh.

"Damn," the Captain cursed. I was hoping it wouldn't be so windy. Masks on people. Bay door is coming down soon, and I'll meet with y'all after I lock the ship up.

Everyone reached for several black masks that lined the bay walls. When all the humans had a mask on, the sound of breathing through filters filled the room.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and spoke with slight panic in her voice. "Uh, what about my mask?" The bay door opened with its usual loud noises of metal on metal and the hinges coming off. Flurries of red dust entered the ship's cargo bay, excited to find more objects to invade and cling to. Rainbow started coughing as she inhaled several particles of invading dust.

Without warning, Miles snatched one of the masks from its hook and pressed it against Dash's muzzle. "Close your eyes Rainbow Dash, else the dust will sting your eyes," he ordered rather firmly, which Rainbow followed. "Can you keep the filter in place for me while I carry you to the building?" The amount of dust and sound of wind in the ship's bay made it hard to speak, so Rainbow simply nodded her head and held it in place with both forehooves.

Miles put his hands underneath where the forelimbs and torso connected and lifted her up. She turned out to be very light for a pony, even with the packs on her sides, and deducted that it was a trait all pegasai had to help fly. Being sure to not ruffle her wings, he flipped her over so her belly was showing and put her in the crook of his arm as if she were a baby. He wasn't sure if Rainbow Dash liked the idea of having to be carried in such a way, but it was better than dying of red lung or being permanently blind.

Mr.Suit and the guards were already leaving the ship, so he sprinted after them with Jacob following close behind. The whistling of the wind didn't help his hearing at all, and it would've been difficult to see where he was going without the flashing strobe lights that lead the way on the landing. Thankfully, he reached the doorway into the building without incident and strode in while security kept it open for them.

Safely inside and away from the dust storm, he kneeled down and rolled Rainbow dash off his arms and back to her hooves. "You alright, Rainbow?" A tinge of concern in his voice.

Rainbow let the mask fall to the floor and took several deep breaths before speaking. "I'm fine." She took another breath before facing Miles, her brow furrowed in anger. "But what the hay was that? I'm not a foal for you to carry in your arms like that!" She jabbed her hoof at his leg since she couldn't reach his chest. Turning her back to him, she continued to follow Mr.suit. However, she paused for a moment before taking another step. "But... thanks for the help."

Miles wasn't surprised to find his employer and secretary already waiting for them inside the large lounge. It was obviously meant for enormous parties with the entire company. Everything was polished to a shine. From the black marble floor to the silver chandeliers that gave off a warm yellow glow. Even though a dust storm brewed outside, windows on opposite sides of the room were covered with thick red curtains; finishing off the feeling of homely warmth. Standing beside a long table in the middle of the room was his employer.

"Welcome all of you. Come, have a seat." He motioned with both hands wide. "I'm sure you are all quite famished after your journey. Space-grade edibles can't beat a cooked meal." His gaze switched toward each of his guests before settling on Rainbow Dash. It held a sense of expectation, as if waiting for her to do an amazing trick. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but the staring unsettled her a bit; causing her to look somewhere else. Unfortunately the others didn't notice her moment of unease and were already seated.

Rainbow's stomach grumbled in annoyance to take a seat, so she reluctantly found one next to Miles and Jacob who sat near the middle. Mr.Suit and the others stood attentively to the side, while Cawley took his rightful place at the end of the table. "I've took the liberty of ordering you all a hearty beef stew. The cows are shipped straight from Earth of course. Freshest as it can get." He gave a sly look at Rainbow as she returned it with disgust. "Don't worry, I ordered something special for you. You are the guest of honor after all, and I hope it's to your liking."

As he finished speaking, a pair of silver swing doors burst open. Four humans in butler attire each held a bowl in one hand, balancing it upon their five digits. With not a spill dropped, they placed each bowl in front of the guests. Steam wafted up from each bowl and the smell of spices and cooked meat filled the room. One bowl had been placed without a guest, but the thought of wasted food was brushed away when the Boss explained it was for the Captain when she got here.

"So... where's my food?" Rainbow Dash asked.

The swing doors opened once again, and instead of a single bowl, he brought in an entire tray. When it was placed down in front of Rainbow Dash, she took in the sight before her. A bowl of salad sat in the middle. However, surrounding it were smaller bowls containing every vegetable and fruit imaginable. Rainbow took one of the carrots and took a tentative nibble. Followed by a large bite as it tasted as fresh as if picked directly from the ground.

Inspecting her platter further, she discovered a multitude of dressings as well located close to the bowl of salad. From Italian and balsamic vinaigrettes to thicker dressings such as ranch and Caesar, for a moment she believed to be dining the Princess Celestia. She dared to look at the human sitting at the end of the table, which he returned the gaze with a smile and a nod. She needed no further encouragement.

The Captain had shown up in the middle of the meal and had quickly found her seat. She began eating with gusto before her stew lost any more heat. After everyone had enjoyed their meal, the servants cleaned off the table without a word.

"I would like to thank you all for coming as my guests. You all did an amazing job with bringing Ms. Rainbow Dash here to me, and I couldn't be happier. However, a simple thank you will not suffice, yes?" He motioned with a wave of his hand for a steward who held a thick silver briefcase, which he quickly placed on the table. "Now, in this briefcase," he explained while opening the two latches, " is a credit chit for each of you worth six million credits." True to his word, and settling within the black foam were four small silver squares with thin bronze stripes running down one side. He took two of them out and tossed them to Jacob and Miles before giving the entire briefcase to Captain Doris.

"Now, if there's nothing else. You may leave." He turned his attention to Rainbow dash and motioned for her to follow as he began leaving the room. "This way Ms. Dash, we have much to discuss." He watched each guest get up and leave except one.

"Uh, Sir?" Miles stood up from his chair. "You read my message, correct?"

"Yes, it was quite an inspiring read," he stated nonchalantly with a wave of his hand. "Why?"

"So, is my request granted? Can I stay here with Rainbow Dash?"

Cawley scoffed, but quickly remembered seeing the beginning of a request in his message, but had skipped it while skimming through his message. The answer was as clear as day to him. "No."

Miles' eyes widened. "B-But sir! I still have plenty of questions to ask her for my research."

"Which you can ask during Q&A sessions," he finished in an annoyed fashion. "Right now our friend here must prepare for the coming race that is happening tomorrow. Now, find your way out or security will gladly show you the way."

"I see..." Miles picked up his tablet and turned to leave. He stopped at the doorway they had come from to look at Rainbow Dash one last time. "See ya, Rainbow," he said before closing the door behind him.

Cawley sighed and was about to speak, but Rainbow Dash stood up from her seat; her wings flared out. "Why the hay did you kick them out? They were my friends!"

He couldn't help but scoff again. "Friends that you will have plenty of time to see them again, I assure you. However, we must first get you fitted with a suit for your... unique anatomy." He said while pointing at her hooves.

Rainbow Dash grunted in disapproval, but said nothing else. She didn't like that this human gave her friends the boot. Even though she found the questions from Miles annoying, at least there was somepony to talk to. What confused her more was how the others left after taking their money without even saying goodbye. Was their mission just for the money? Did they not care about being her friend even when they acted so friendly towards her?

She tried to figure out an answer, but the weariness from the trip and the blood rushing to her gut after gouging on the salad kicked in. Right now the idea for a nap sounded pretty good right now.

"Alright, fine," Rainbow grumbled sleepily. "Show me where my room is."

Cawley happily lead her through a doorway and into an elevator. Sixty levels down the elevator later and she found herself staring down a T-section with red carpet. Wood doors lined the hallways with numbers on them. She was quite impressed with how they created the building to make it seem they weren't on a dusty red planet. With Cawley leading the way, he soon stopped in front of a door with the number 64. With a easy turn of the metal handle, he opened it and stood aside for Rainbow to look around.

Rainbow tentatively stepped inside and took in the surroundings. A very large bed draped with a thick blanket that closely resembled the color of her coat sat to her right. The four large white pillows resting against the backboard seemed to beckon for her to sleep, but she held it off for a while longer. Beside both sides of the bed were end tables with a ornate lamp that lit up the room, with an alarm clock on the other one. To her left held a doorway, and upon further inspection found only a empty closet, minus the hangars already in there. The room was longer in depth than width and further back held a dresser and desk. Besides the black device on the desk, both were empty just like the closet.

"If you need anything else, room service is just a phone call away." He pointed towards the black object on the desk. "I have some things to do before tomorrow. Sleep well, Ms. Dash. You're going to need it." With that said, a small beep sounded as the door closed, the automated lock keeping out unwanted guests.

Rainbow Dash threw her saddlebags on the floor and laid down on the bed; a content sigh escaping her mouth as the soft bed and full belly relaxed her. It wasn't cloud soft like the ones in Equestria, but it did its job well enough. Before she slumbered however, she sat up and rummaged through her saddlebags to pull out the mirror Celestia gave her.

Alright, just need to speak somepony's name and they'll appear in the mirror. Looking deeply into the mirror, she spoke her name. "Twilight Sparkle."

The mirror shifted and changed color just as before. However, instead of seeing Celestia's bedchambers, she found herself looking at the back of Twilight's mane. Happy yet confused as to why such an odd angle was chosen, her inner prankster soon had a devious idea. Putting her mouth close to the mirror, she yelled.

"Hey Twilight!" The sound of a quill snapping followed by ink splattering across her writing desk caused Rainbow Dash to fall to the floor and laugh her head off. As she brushed a tear away from laughing so hard, she found Twilight looking through the mirror with a happy expression on her face.

"Rainbow? Thank Celestia you finally used the mirror! How was the trip? Are you alright? Where are you right now?" Her worry heavily outweighing the fact she tried to scare her. As she spouted off each question , her gaze searched the mirror as she soaked in the background image. At the moment, all she saw was the white ceiling since the mirror was on the floor. Rainbow picked up the mirror so her friend could get a better look at the room. "Wow, you sure have a nice place."

"Thanks. The human who asked me to come here in the first place treats me like royalty. Though I get some uncomfortable stares from him." She shivered at the memory.

Twilight tilted her head. "Staring? Well, I'm sure he probably hasn't become accustomed to seeing a pony yet," she offered reasonably.

"Eh, I guess," Rainbow shrugged. "Anyway, my first race starts tomorrow. Just thought I'd drop in and say hi before going to bed."

"Goodnight then. Don't worry, we'll be rooting you on from here!"

"I know..." Rainbow looked away for a moment. While she looked forward to her first race, she still missed her friends and wished they were with her. "I miss you all."

A grin spread on Twilight's face. "We miss you too, Rainbow. Now you better get to bed."

"Yeah, goodnight Twilight."

"Goodnight."

The mirror winked out on its own accord, like it knew they wished to end their conversation. Setting the mirror down on her desk, she crawled into the bed and under the covers. With a click, both lamps turned off, leave Rainbow to a peaceful and dark sleep.

BEEP! BEEP BEEP! BE-!

Rainbow Dash slammed her hoof down on the electric alarm clock, cutting off the loud noise attacking her ears. She scratched behind her left ear while grunting angrily at being woken up in such a manner. Though she had to admit it was quite effective.

I don't remember setting an alarm. What time is it anyway?" glancing at the clock, it read "5:23 AM" in bright red. She grunted once more in annoyance before a knock came from her door. "Who's there?"

"Room service." A friendly proper voice spoke that reminded her of Rarity. She threw the blankets off herself and trudged up to the door. When she opened it she found a waitress with a cart beside her. When she spotted Rainbow Dash her eyes widened at bit. "Oh! you must be Rainbow Dash. The pony everyone is taking about."

Rainbow Dash was caught off guard with that statement. "What? How? I just got here last night. I mean yesterday!" She furrowed her brown in annoyance at trying to understand what was day and night on this planet. She clouds of dust when she had arrived didn't help with that prospect.

The waitress giggled. "Gossip spreads quite quickly here, Ms. Dash. You can most likely blame the servants who were with you while dining." Looking down at the pony still standing in the doorway with a raised eyebrow. "Mind if i come in?"

"Oh! sorry." Rainbow Dash stood aside and the waitress brought the cart inside. When it came to a stop, she lifted the covers to reveal her most favorite meal of the day. Upon the cart was a single plate, which to Rainbow's surprise, was heaped upon with food. A small mountain of scrambled eggs mixed with cheese and bell peppers sat as the main centerpiece. Beside those were a heaping pile of steaming hash browns. Last but not least, a biscuit as big as her hoof sat on a smaller plate with small cups filled with different arrays of jellies and butter.

Rainbow was scared she might dehydrate from drooling so much, so she closed her mouth with an audible snap.

"Time for breakfast!" the waitress cheered happily.

After the enormous breakfast, the waitress gave Rainbow instructions on how to reach the stadium and prepare for the race tryouts. The building was connected to a tramway which gave riders easy access to and from that destination. As she boarded the tram, she found four others already on it. One human was laying down asleep. Four other humans were looking directly at her. And in the corner was a strange bi-pedal construct that was hunched over with no sign of it moving anytime soon.

"The hell is that? A thinly built man with black hair spoke as he looked down at her. He wore a brown vest with matching pants with several pockets dotting them. His clothes seemed to be made of a rubbery texture. "I think my waitress snuck some crazy shit in my breakfast today cause I'm seeing horses."

"Imbecile," a blonde woman wearing a very form-fitting mustard-yellow suit said in disgust. She stopped leaning against the wall across from him and spoke again, her voice sounded heavily like the ponies from Stalliongrad. "That's because there is a pony with us." She turned her attention towards her. "Do not mind him. He is a few shots from a full bottle of vodka, da?"

"Yeah, sure," Rainbow Dash said uncertainly.

"Holy shit it talks too?"

"My god, will you shut up Jesuit? You're making an ass of yourself." A dark-skinned man spoke. He was laying down on four of the seats with his eyes closed.

"Sorry if I'm the only one who finds a talking pony odd!" He shot back with his arms raised.

The blonde woman rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I am Katerina. You must be Rainbow Dash, da?"

"The one and only!" Dash said proudly.

"Good, cause I'll only say this once," her voice going cold. "Stay out of my way and maybe you'll live to see another day." Rainbow's eyes went wide as Katarine looked down at her with a grim look on her face. She felt frozen in place until she looked away with a small smile, probably happy to see her obvious fear.

The rest of he tram ride turned very awkward, even if no one paid attention to her. Thankfully the tram finally came to a stop and a loud ding echoed in the cabin; letting anyone snoozing know they had arrived. Rainbow Dash stood in the back until everyone else left. When she was about to step off, the hunched over metal object hummed. Within moments eight red eyes lit up as its two arms began lifting itself up. The sound of whirring gears and hydraulics assaulted her ears, which she pinned back as the towering construct stood high above her. when it finally stood at its full height of eight feet, it looked down at Rainbow Dash.

"Mark Four online. Strange creature, move out of the way or be destroyed," it spoke in a rough artificial voice filled with a hint of static.

Rainbow Dash was very happy to oblige as she bolted after the rest of the riders; towards the bottom entrance into the stadium. Even from here she could hear the mess of thousands of others talking from above. She was currently in the prepping area where all the racers grabbed their bikes and generally got themselves psyched for the coming race. The room was enormous enough for her to comfortably fly freely, though she kept her wings folded for now.

She spotted everyone gathering around a single man who stood on top of a crate. His bulging gut and ragged hair hidden under his trucker cap didn't help his outward appearance very much.

"Gather round now, because I'm only gonna say this once." His voice reminded Rainbow Dash of Applejack's accent, only deeper.. "My name is Barry Elson, and I'm the Pit chief of this little race." He gazed at each of them as if searching for something. When he spotted Rainbow Dash he grinned. "That's all I have to say to y'all. Now get ready to race. I need to have a chat with the newbie," pointing a finger at Rainbow. He stepped off the crate as everyone else wandered off to get ready.

"Howdy," he said with a raise of his hat. "Mr. Cawley told me that you might need a special cycle due to your body type, but he never told me you'd be a horse."

"Pony," Rainbow corrected.

"Right..." he rubbed his stubby beard for a moment. "I'm not going to question Mr. Cawley's judgement for bringin' ya here, so I'll get down to the nitty gritty." He pointed towards one of the white bikes nearby. "Since this is only the tryouts y'all aren't touchin' the good stuff until later. Right now these things can barely break mach one on a good day, but it should give us a look on how y'all handle your hyper cycle. You do know how to operate one of these babies, right?"

"Nope!"

Barry muttered something under his breath that, even with her keen sense of hearing, she barely heard. "Alright, we'll start with the basics. The pedals are located near where your feet... er, back hooves should be. Try sitting on one and see how it feels."

Rainbow Dash followed his request and sat down on the cushioned seat. It felt odd with her differently jointed legs, but she managed to stretch them out enough to touch each pedal. "Good, now comes the interesting part." He eyed the glass cover that protected the front of partial top of her head. "there should be a red button below the right handle. Press it."

Looking under the right handle, Rainbow did indeed find said button, and gave it a hard press. Almost immediately the bike came to life as the canopy that looked only like thick glass soon became a swarm of information. On the top-left was her shields, which a blue bar was slowly filling up. The tip-right was empty, but the lettering "weapons energy" showed in the small box. There was also things like what her position was in the race, how fast her last lap and current lap is, and how many there are left. Below that was the bike's speed by MPH.

"What's with the symbols on the top of the screen?" Rainbow pointed out with a hoof.

"Nothing for you to worry about yet. This race is strictly towards how good you are at outpacing the others. Not blowin them to smithereens." He eyes her forehoof for a second. "think you can get a good grip on the steering bar?" Rainbow Dash had her hoof resting on both bars and nodded her head.

However, Barry remained skeptical. "I'm going to trust that you do have a good grip, seeing that you're only resting your hoof on it. In the mean time..." He turned around towards a nearby double-door locker and pulled out a plain red track suit and grey helmet. "Be glad you have friends in high places because these were made just this morning." He shook his head as a smile spread on his lips. "Technology. Gotta love it."

Rainbow Dash snatched the suit and helmet out of the air when he tossed it to her. The cloth was very heavy and had dozens of pockets which didn't seem to serve any use besides for looks. Shrugging, she pulled down the zipper to put it on and noticed Barry look away while she did so. "Something wrong?"

"No, just giving you some privacy while you dress."

"But... I wasn't wearing anything in the first place." She gave up when he shrugged with his back stilled turned.

Humans are weird.

Finally managing to pull her back legs into the suit, she quickly put her forelegs in and zipped it back up. "I'm done, you can stop being weird now." She found the suit to hug her body tightly as if made specifically for her. Although she cringed in pain since they forgot to put a hole for her tail, leaving her to bunch it together down her left leg.

"That's, uh, great. You still have several minutes before the race starts, so why don't you test the bike out. Very very gently please."

"Yeah, no problem." Rainbow Dash put on her helmet and found, even with it being fully concealed with metal, it kept her horizontal vision. However, she couldn't see most of the ceiling and the space between her seat and the handles was hidden as well. Even worse, her ears were pressed down against the top of the helmet, making it hard to hear.

She pressed lightly on the acceleration pedal and soon regretted it as the bike rumbled with life and shot off as if she slammed down on it. She quickly pressed on the break and turned to the side, causing the bike to slide perpendicular to the wall and hit it tire-first. Afterwards, she lost her balance and it tip over, with her underneath it.

Barry laughed as he walked over to where she was pinned and brought the bike to settle back on its wheels. "Well, it was better than several rookies last year. You seem to have a cool head and quick mind with how you saved yourself like that. I'd say you might have a chance."

"Hehe, thanks," Rainbow responded while brushing herself off. As she climbed back on he bike to continue, a loud voice came from a nearby speaker.

"Welcome race fans to Arabian ridge, where the most popular Motorsport the universe has ever seen begins! The riders are psyched, their engines are burning hot, and they're ready to rock. With more than over one hundred million viewers from every known galaxy watching, there's no pressure with these competitors."

"If you say so Bill," another voice spoke up with a chuckle. "Anyway, today will be the tryouts to see who will get first pick with their sponsors. Each one has been hand-picked by the XGRA for their skill, speed, and ruthlessness on the race track. and let me just say, we have a special rider here today who knows the meaning of speed!"

"You got that right! a pony who can break sonic speeds with her wings is one thing, but can she do it under our rules? We're about to find out soon enough. Personally, I'm rooting for Mark Four. He's one mean son of a-"

"Alright! the other announcer interrupted before he finished his colorful comment. It looks like the race is about to start. Riders, come on up!"

"That's your cue, Rainbow," Barry whispered. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Rainbow simply responded before very carefully moving her bike towards where the other riders were. All of them had the same plain white bikes and were inside the eight white rectangles placed evenly along the floor. When she stopped her bike behind hers, which was all the way in last place, a loud rumble came from below.

The floor itself began moving upwards as the ceiling parted open to show the tinged red sky. Even with the helmet and her ears folded rather uncomfortably, she could hear the crowd roaring with excitement to her right. The stadium was enormous with its double-tiered seats. An entire sea of humans were in the rows, shouting out and cheering to the riders.

Her attention was switched when she noticed several black orbs float through the air and over the race track. One even stopped in front of Rainbow Dash as its camera-fitted eyes looking at her with curiosity.. In response, she gave a small wave at it, which only caused it to zip away.

Before she could turn her head to look at where it floated off to, two other things floated over the racers; spaced out so all of them could see the screens they held. A electronic female voice entered her helmet as a countdown started.

Three...

Rainbow Dash tense up as she gripped the handlebars in a vice. She still couldn't believe she was here with so many humans watching. the thought of embarrassing herself in front of everyone was shoved toward the back of her mind. She couldn't risk being distracted.

Two...

Her eyes dilated while looking at the track before her. In the far distance she saw terrifying drops off cliffs and enormous loops that would put a roller coaster to shame. She could feel her stomach turn queasy just from staring at them.

One...

Her heart hammered in her chest as the race would started in less than a second. This was it. Her rise or fall to glory would begin on this day. No turning back. No regrets.

RACE!

Rainbow Dash slammed on the accelerator and her bike responded in kind. She quickly sped past two of the bikes triumphantly, but they managed to keep pace behind her. They soon came across the first landmark of the track as it split into two and weaved together once before leading off in two different directions. The three bikes in the lead took towards the left track while Rainbow and the rest followed the right.

However, the weaving track proved more troublesome than thought as the bikers crashed their bikes into each other; their shields glowing from the impacts. When the riders managed to reach the break-off points, there were five riders with Rainbow Dash and two on the other side.

This isn't going to work How am I supposed to gain the lead if all the bikes are the same speed? I need a boost of speed somehow.

Soon as she thought that, her hyper cycle touched a line of glowing purple arrows on the ground and her bike rocketed forward; passing another rider. He eyes widened in realization afterwards, and saw it as her only way to gain the upper-hand in this race. As the track continued, she searched for every arrow she could find to go faster. However, what she saw next after a wide side-ways turn made her face go pale.

A large corkscrew lined with those purple arrows was ahead of her, followed by a drop straight down towards the planet. Already the other four bikes were circling through the corkscrew. Steeling her stomach, she rocketed towards the stomach-churning turn as her bike touched the first row of arrows. Her cycle started to erratically throw itself around as the g-forces pressed down against the bike. She feared that it would fly off the track, but by some form of luck, she only came out with only half her shields missing.

Sighing in relief, she felt the sense of vertigo as she plummeted down the straight downward slope; screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Woohoo!"

"She's doing rather well, don't you think?" Mr. Cawley said as eight others and himself watched the race in a luxurious suite. A screen fit from floor to ceiling gave a clear view of Rainbow Dash's bike as she weaved through red rock; the track changing from black asphalt to direct contact of Mars' surface. She was already in second place and was steadily gaining on finishing first.

Around him were the eight teams who help sponsor the races. Each other them standing in relaxation with drinks in their hands. He considered them his equals, due to the situation they were all in. While he relied on their funding to keep the race afloat, they trusted him to share their ads throughout the race. From billboards to the racer girls who pose with the winners. All of it was for the money.

"She's good. I'll give her that, but I've never seen anybody have so much fun during a race. She must not take this very seriously." A middle-aged man with blonde hair responded. A VIP pass around his neck showed he was a part of the team 'Fobos'.

"I assure all of you she only loves and respects this race just as both you and I enjoy money. Her confidence and skill will prove invaluable for her in the future." The act he was pulling was only a ruse to find the highest buyer for Rainbow Dash. If they saw her as the best in the race, they would fight each other over getting her to join their team. The amount of money they would receive from the products they sold would skyrocket them to the top.

"We shall see, Mr. Cawley." He said cautiously as he watched the race. "We shall see."

Rainbow Dash had a large grin on her face as she enjoyed every second of the race. Each high-g inducing movement got her blood pumping and gave her a high she only felt after performing a sonic rainboom. Sadly she hasn't broke that barrier yet, but the promise for faster bikes meant that she would eventually.

By now she was at the last stretch of track for the second time. Everyone else had been left in the dust save for one racer who refused to give up ever since the first lap was finished. It was the same woman that had warned her to stay out of her way, but with the closing prospect of winning first place, she didn't care.

She abused the poor acceleration pedal once more as the track abruptly ended into a ramp. She sailed through the air for five seconds before roughly landing on the mars' surface; kicking up dust. As the dust cleared and her bike back in control, she found Katerina next to her and several inches behind from being in first place. The straight-way proved that Rainbow Dash would be the victor and the crowd clearly showed it with more boisterous cheers for the newcomer.

"Little pony," The sound of Katerina's voice came through her helmet, her face appearing on the screen ahead of her. "I give you one last chance to back out, else you will make a formidable enemy this day. What say you?"

Rainbow Dash frowned. "No can do. I came her to win and that's exactly what I'm going to do!" With that said, she crossed the finish line and the crowd burst into an uproar that was somehow louder than the last. As Rainbow dash stopped her bike to the side and took her helmet off, she pumped her hoof in the air. The action only caused the audience to raise their cheering from loud to almost ear-bursting.

That was what she wanted all along, and she finally got a taste of what the XGRA had to offer. Sure the dangers were high, but with great risk comes great reward, and she was ready for anything to get more fame. As she continued to wave to the growing fans, Katerina's voice crackled once more in her helmet.

"You made a dangerous enemy, Rainbow Dash. I look forward to destroying you... next time we meet."

Ch.5: The interview

Chapter one

From the sidelines

Miles watched the patrons in the bar erupt. On the enormous hologram splayed across the far wall to his right, it had Rainbow Dash's name in bold; clearly starting first place. Some shouted in anger for the 'underdog' of the race winning, thus forcing them to pay off their bets. The others gladly took their money with grins on their faces, telling the losers better luck next time. He let out a sigh as he took a long drink, emptying the last drops from the bottle.

He should've been excited with Rainbow Dash's victory, but after having his hopes crushed after leaving her to the XGRA, he didn't feel up for it. Why couldn't his previous employer understand the importance of learning from her? There was so much to know about herself and her home planet of Equestria. That's more important than any number of credits.

Drawing his thoughts back to those around him, he noticed the place starting to break out more violently than he felt comfortable. "Time to go..." He muttered. With a quick swipe to pay off his drink, he excused himself and left through the front door as the first punch was given.

Thankfully the wind hadn't picked up so he didn't need to take out his respirator. The most prominent color was an obvious reddish-orange from the dust. The street he walked on was narrow and meant only for foot traffic, but the occasional bike or slide board could be seen weaving through people. If there wasn't so much Mars dust stuck to everything, he would've thought he was back on Earth.

He jammed his hands into his coat pockets. Gods, what is a Zoologist to do on Mars anyway? Not like the planet held any form of life before the terraforming started. The only reason he shipped here was for his studies, and the ridiculous low pricing for collage. The only thing most likely keeping him from taking the next ship back to Earth was Rainbow Dash, who he was about to see for the Q&A session.

Yes, it was a private interview with her, and yes it took more than a quarter of his six-million just to hopefully get the chance to answer a question. His chances would probably be slim to none, however. No doubt every single news network would be there; all wanting a piece of her.

The walk only lasted several blocks before the cramped streets ended, and he found himself in a large plaza with the stadium just head. The building wasn't anything special since the dust usually caked up any discerning features. As he got closer to the building, he weaved through the flood of people as the trickle turned into a flood.

"Whoa! sorry about that," accidently bumping into another man. "Oops, sorry!" He stepped one someone's shoe. Then he started to juggle which direction the person in front of him was walking. "No, you go left, I'll... yeah." After squeezing through several more people and possibly pushing over a kid, he finally entered the building. Only to be greeted by a sea of people still trying to leave.

Fuck...

The interview was held on the second floor and after reaching the escalator away from the first floor, it was a easy walk from there. The second floor was empty of anyone except pairs of guards who kept unwanted guests upstairs. Matter of fact, they were eyeing him right now suspiciously.

Where is it? Damnit I better not have left it at the bar.

After patting himself down for a moment, he finally found his VIP pass in his back pocket and hung it around his neck quickly. Now that he was safe from being tossed back down the escalator, he strode towards the doorway where the guards were. Soon as he pushed the door open he noticed cameras flashing away from him and the din of chatter from the group of others in the room.where the session was being held.

The room was fairly small with plain white walls and grey carpet. Rows of chairs sat in the middle of the room while cameras littered the room with people tending to them. The reporters, who were seated and making the commotion in the room, had all the seats filled, leaving Miles to stand to the side. He found a comfortable spot against the wall beside one of the cameramen as he waited for Rainbow Dash to appear on the high-rise ahead of everyone. It only took several tense seconds before she appeared, with Mr. Cawley right beside her.

For a moment he felt a surge of anger fill his mind and move down his arms, but he kept his hands from clenching. Rainbow Dash took the seat offered behind the small table while Cawley stood behind her and to the left, a small grin on his face as he looked at the crowd. Though his gaze noticed Miles and it faltered for a moment before looking back towards the people seated.

"Lets begin the questions." The audience burst into a frenzy as they metaphorically climbed over each other to get their questions out. Only after Cawley and the guards in the room managed settled them down did the real questioning begin. "The one in front with the red glasses."

The one Cawley pointed out was a very attractive woman with a business suit that hugged her curvy body. Miles peered at her for a moment as she looked familiar even when only seeing the side of her delicate face and shoulder-length black hair. It all made sense when she spoke.

"Christia Simmons, Sports Interactive News Network. How are you enjoying life on Mars? Considering you are the only pony on the planet."

Miles rolled his eyes. Figures... The XGRA and SINN have always worked together in the past. Makes sense to allow her to get questions answered first.

Rainbow Dash stared at the amount of people in the room before speaking. "I'll admit being the only pony does have its downs, but my stay here has been nothing short of awesome," she said with a smile. The woman nodded in approval.

"You come from a planet known as Equestria. So there are plenty more ponies such as yourself?"

"Actually Equestria is a country, and yeah there's more of us. Though not all of us have wings. There's unicorns and earth ponies as well."

"Oh? And the unicorns have-" Cawley interrupted her with a loud clearing of his throat, most likely to get her back on topic. She returned his rude noise with a angered scowl, which quickly disappeared upon continuing her interview. "One more question if I may. You seem to have made your first rival in the tryouts. Do you have any words for her when you next meet?" Dash blinked as she thought over the question.

"Well, I know it's only a race, but I hope we don't have any hard feelings. She seemed pretty cool and I'd hate for us to not be friends." After she said that the room went deathly silent. The flashing of cameras had halted and the faint scratch of pens on notepads stopped.

Christina tilted her head as if she didn't hear the answer. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Well, when I think about it, Katarina seemed like someone cool to hang out with. While I know she's mad about not getting in first place I hope she doesn't take it too seriously." She laughed at such a thought. "I mean it's only a race, right?"

Miles' mouth hung open along with the rest of the reporters. That was possibly the worst answer to say to a question like that. The XGRA wasn't made for friendship and getting along with the other racers. The audience wanted blood, and to deny them of it would definitely toss the viewer count out the proverbial airlock. It was too bad Rainbow Dash was oblivious to what she just said.

If any of these reporters were smart, they wouldn't dare let this spill out for the audiance to see. Hopefully they would only report the usual questions and have filler to keep them entertained, but that's not what worried him. Things wouldn't go well with Rainbow Dash after the tryouts at this rate. The other racers would eat her alive. However, he didn't get to ask any questions, and since the room was deathly quiet anyway...

"Rainbow Dash?" Everyone's heads turned to look at him, making a small part of his mind hate himself for speaking. The scowl on Cawley's face wasn't helping either.

"Hey Miles!" Rainbow Dash waved.

"Uh, hey," he returned the motion. "Anyway, my question is: After the tournament is over, will you go back to Equestria?"

"Of course! while I'm having a blast here, I do miss my friends." Her smile faltered for a moment. "Even my new ones."

Cawley stepped forward with his hands raised, palms facing the crowd. "Alright everyone, questions are over. Please leave." The crowd erupted once more as they didn't get their answers questioned, but the guards were more than a match to see them all out the door. Miles was the first out the door since the others had to pack equipment and such. When he was clear from the door, he turned around to find Christina purposefully walking towards him. A not too friendly grimace on her face.

"Who are you? You don't look anything like a reporter." She crossed her arms and leaned on one leg as she expected a response.

"Miles Hemmingway," he offered his hand to shake. She glanced at it, but didn't make a motion to return the gesture. He pulled his hand back and rubbed the back of his head. She most likely wanted to know how the pony knew his name. "I'm one of the people who retrieved her from Equestria."

"Ah yes. The crew of the starship 'The Buccaneer'. She's a good pilot, and becoming quite well known after that job," she complimented

Miles crossed his arms defensively. "Where are you getting at? Don't you have a story to twist for the masses to hear?" Miles wasn't stupid. Whenever the SINN were involved in anything they would twist, block, and over-exaggerate their news. Not that they didn't throw everyone they interviewed "under the bus". They used news to their own ends to gain viewers or help one of their partners shine in the spotlight. Seeing Christina here only confirmed the suspicion she was here to shine XGRA and Rainbow Dash in a new light.

Christina lightly laughed. "Please. Like I'd tell you anything, but thanks for your full name. I'll be sure to add it in my story." She smiled and Miles had to force the urge to smile back. "Ta ta, Mr. Hemmingway." With that said, she brushed past his shoulder and disappeared down the escalator.

Miles didn't like what had occurred one bit. The XGRA and SINN had something brewing in their money and viewer grubbing minds, and it most likely involved Rainbow Dash. What they had planned he didn't know yet, but if he somehow researched more into it...

That's the stupidest idea I've ever had, he mused while going down the escalator. He was a zoologist, not some private detective. Both corporations had enough money and power to rival Earth's military. What was one man going to do against either of them? They kept their secrets behind dozens of closed doors. Doors which were most likely protected by armed guards. Armed guards who wouldn't think twice to put a bullet in his head for looking at them funny. Just the thought of them made his chest tighten.

However, Rainbow Dash was his friend, and friends don't let friends get tricked by dangerous corporations. Even if he couldn't do much, he could at least follow Rainbow Dash and watch all the races and Q&A sessions she entered. He wasn't the bravest human in the universe, but a part of him said so. Maybe it was his inner zoologist telling him to protect her from these unsavory types, or possibly because they were friends. He did do some crazy stuff while protected animals from poachers.

Either way he ultimately decided to go along with it. He brought her here in the first place and in his mind it was his responsibility to see her out safely. No matter what Cawley or anyone else said.

Making his way back outside, he jammed his hands back into his pockets and strode back to the city. I'll need to make some phone calls. Possibly spend the credits Mr. Cawley so happily gave to me. He turned his head to glanced back at the stadium before quickening his pace and disappearing amongst the city crowds.

I'll be watching and cheering for you from the sidelines, Rainbow Dash

Ch.6: Sponsorship and secrets

Chapter 6

Sponsorship and secrets

After the awkward interview Rainbow Dash followed Mr. Cawley and several security guards to a long and sleek black vehicle beside the stadium; away from prying eyes. A man in a tuxedo held the door for her and they both climbed inside before the door shut behind Mr. Cawley. The inside had black and shiny seats that annoyed Rainbow Dash whenever she shifted, causing small squeaking noises.

The man who had held the door entered through the front and could be seen behind tinted glass in his own room. His attention was held for several moments until a feeling of vertigo filled her senses as the vehicle lifted from the ground.

Cawley opened the small window that separated the passengers from the driver. "Back home Jenkins, and step on it. We have quite the busy schedule today."

"Right away, Sir," he replied before Cawley slid the window closed.

The lavish vehicle began moving forward as Cawley took this moment to help himself to a drink. Sitting against the wall were an array of bottles of varying colors. He helped himself to pouring a clear liquid in one of the small glasses and rested back in his chair. Rainbow Dash took it upon herself to stand up and look outside at the city.

Beyond the tinted windows other vehicles and buildings zipped by as the driver traversed the city, the occasional horn honking as he angered other drivers. Even with the wisps of orange dust hindering the view, it still left Rainbow in awe. She never seen the city this close before as she watched other humans walking through the streets and various shops. Looking up she could see skyscrapers reaching towards the orange sky. Every street had lights and signs that lit up the streets as darknest began to creep across the red planet. Her face was so concentrated on looking outside that she didn't hear Cawley attempting to gain her attention.

"Rainbow Dash!"

Both of her ears tilted towards him before her head turned. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Please return to your seat. We need to discuss something." Rainbow frowned, but followed his request begrudgingly by forcefully sitting back down. "Thank you," he took a sip of his beverage before continuing. "Tell me, Rainbow. What do you know about violence?"

Rainbow wrinkled her muzzle in distaste. "Like, hurting somepony? I've got into fights with my friends before, but we never actually hurt each other," she said with a shrug. "Just the occasional bruise, cut or scrape. Why?"

"Because of your interview, that's why," he said with a hint of agitation. "This event isn't more of a race then a battlefield. You need to realize that this race isn't meant to gain friends. Katarina has been racing for years now and she has a short fuse when it comes to being outpaced. She will be coming for you next race.

"But... why?" Rainbow asked.

Cawley sighed. "Katarina lives and breaths every moment to rise above her fathers expectations, and will stop at nothing to do so. The other racers are no different as they all have their reasons for being here." He stared at her for a moment as if searching for something. "But the real question is: How far will you go to achieve your own goals?"

"I-" Before Rainbow Dash could finish the vehicle came to a halt upon reaching their destination; the tall black spire waiting for them to enter. The driver left his position to open the door pointing towards the building and waited for the passengers to exit. Cawley left first with Rainbow following behind.

From street-view the building looked taller than before. A small sign next to the front doors showed the only proof of it being the XGRA building. The sleek dark structure prevented the mars dust from finding crevices to hide and collect, making it stand out among the surrounding orange city. While the outside held an ominous feel to it, the inside was the complete opposite.

"Hello Mr. Cawley," one of the woman behind a large oval desk greeted, the other two only looking up and giving warm smiles to the both of them. Rainbow's hooves and Cawley's sleek black shoes left small tapping sounds in the room as they walked forward.

Cawley greeted the raven haired woman. "Hello, Edna. I assume they are expecting us in the meeting room?"

"Of course," she responded simply. "Is there anything else you need?"

Cawley shook his head and looked at Rainbow, expecting an answer. Instead of her speaking he got an answer when her stomach rumbled, followed by blushing in embarrassment. "Maybe some refreshments," he added while entering the elevator already waiting for them. "And please... No meat." He pressed the button that would take them to the meeting room and the door closed shut.

The elevator ride lasted a bit considering the meeting room had been built on the 152nd floor. How they built such tall building eluded her. Even Manehatten couldn't compete to such wonders of construction. When the door finally opened they were greeted by a short hallway and two guards in black uniforms standing beside a double doorway. As they both strode towards the doorway both guards reached for the nearest doorknob and opened it for them.

"Mr. Cawley, Rainbow Dash, so glad you could join us!" A man standing near the doorway offered his hand to Cawley. The room wasn't any different than the discovering of Equestria. Except instead of lackeys filling the seats there were seven affiliates who worked with the company.

Mr. Cawley eyed the grinning man standing near the doorway, his brown slicked back hair not helping the air of distrust he emanated. He looked better off on the streets haggling illegal goods then working for one of the eight sponsors. "Edward," he greeted coldly and keeping his hands behind his back.

Edward pulled his hand back with a grimace and focused on the pony. "I look forward to hearing who you will be choosing." With that said he took his seat with the others.

"Considering the next race will being tomorrow on Earth," Mr. Cawley began, "I hope we can make this decision as smoothly as possible. So please keep introductions short." He waved his hand froward for Rainbow Dash to step towards the table. "I'm sure Rainbow Dash would appreciate it."

Edward stood up first from his chair. "Since you already know my name, I am sponsoring Scarecrow. We were once a weapons manufacturing company, but saw much interesting in joining with the XGRA. Our weapon systems are the best in the world."

The man next to him wore a business suit, but his red, white, and blue tie stood out from the other sponsors. "Name's Rick, and I represent Terranova. The United States takes pride in our bikes being the most reliable and durable in the XGRA. Don't let anyone else say otherwise."

It continued from there with Vixen, whose sponsor was the only woman in the room. Their company focused on speed, and just the mention of the word perked up Rainbow's ears. The others were Palus, Starcom, Talon, Manta and finally Templar, who received glares from the others. Thought the man didn't either care or notice. He wore a suit as white as the clouds in Equestria, pressed and stain-free.

"My name is not important. All you need to know is I am sponsoring Templar, and we only want the best because we are the best." He returned to his seat and rested his hands on the table with his fingers weaved together. By now a butler had dropped off a platter of vegetables for Rainbow Dash along with ranch dip, which she gladly thanked the servant.

"Have you come to a decision yet, Rainbow? Cawley asked.

"Hang on." Rainbow Dash helped herself to another ranch dipped carrot before speaking. "I'm gonna have to go with Vixen. Speed is what I'm good at after all.. And Templar?" Earning the attention of that sponsor. "I'll take your comment as a challenge."

The white suited man peered at Rainbow Dash. "Then you'll be left in the dust just like the others."

Mr. Cawley Tapped a button on the table and the screen next to it lit up, followed by a pen standing up. "Alright then, if that's your final decision..." He plucked the pen from the table and kneeled down to show it to Rainbow Dash. "A simple signature will do."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Fine." She took the pen in her mouth and stood on her hind legs to face the table screen. Cawley watched in amazement as she wrote out her name in perfect cursive using only her mouth before placing the pen back in its holster. The panel gave off a small beep as if to approve her signature before shutting off.

"You may leave, Rainbow. I have some catching up to do with my... Friends. I'm sure you're still famished so I'll have dinner served in your room. We have a busy day tomorrow. Goodbye, and goodnight Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash looked at the sponsors for a moment before nodding her head. "Yeah, see you tomorrow."

Rainbow Dash flopped down on her bed with a sigh of contentment. It felt amazing to finally relax after such an exciting first day in the XGRA. Thought the thought of going to this planet called 'Earth' and what would come next kept her awake.

"I wonder what earth is like," she muttered to herself. Before she could delve further into her thoughts, three knocks came from her room's door. "It's open!" The door slid open to reveal the waitress she had met during breakfast today. "Oh! hey uh..."

The waitress laughed. "Name's Sally, dear," she stated while pushing in the cart with a covered platter in the center. "We were all watching you on the holo-screen in the break room you know. Some of the guys don't think you'll get any further than the invitationals, but I've seen how you handle that bike. The way you hug those turns. Albeit you stumbled during those high-G spirals I think you'll surprise a lot of people."

Rainbow tilted her head. The way Sally said that made her start to wonder about her past. "Have you using a hyper-cycle before?"

Sally bit her lower lip as if deciding if she should say anything. "Y-Yes. I have."

"Wow, really?" Rainbow said with wide eyes. "How fast are the other bikes? Were you really good? Why did you quit?" Realizing she started to sound like Twilight when it comes to science, she chuckled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to overwhelm you like that."

"It's quite alright, but let's focus on your dinner." Sally picked up the platter and two legs fell from the bottom. Rainbow got the clue and sat up on the bed as the platter rested above her back hooves and lower chest. With a silly flourish of her hand, she revealed pasta in a creamy white sauce that smelled cheesy. "Angel hair, or Capellini if you prefer, pasta with a parmesan Alfredo sauce. A little heavy for my tastes, but..." she shrugged to finish her thought.

"It looks delicious!" Rainbow grabbed the nearby fork and helped herself to a bite. A quick hum of approval brought a smile to Sally's face.

"Just let me know if you need anything else. I'm just a phone call away." Sally began pushing the cart outside, but a frantic grunt from Rainbow Dash made her head turn. "What?"

Rainbow swallowed the mouthful of pasta that kept her from speaking. "You don't have to leave. Besides, you haven't told me about your past in the XGRA."

"Oh! I-I didn't, huh?" she stated with hesitance and a frown. "Well the thing is..." she mumbled the rest while tapping the tips of her fingers together.

Jeeze, this woman does a good impersonation of Fluttershy, Rainbow thought.

"Look, whatever it is I'm sure you're just overreacting."

Sally shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I just cant." With a heavy push she rolled the cart out to the hallway before Rainbow could even react.

"Hey! wait—Ah, ponyfeathers. What's with that girl?" Rainbow crossed her hooves, her urge to eat dissolved after seeing Sally leave in such a rush. She's hiding something, but what? Did she lose a race? Is she just lying about the whole thing? Knowing better to jump to conclusions, she dropped the subject for now and focused on enjoying it in silence and privacy. After the heavy meal she decided to contact Twilight again to keep her up to date on things.

"Twilight Sparkle." The reflection wavered like usual and she soon found herself staring at a surprised Twilight who had a brush in her mane.

"Rainbow Dash?" Her brow furrowed with confusion in her voice. "What time is it over there?"

"Uh... wow, ten after nine in the afternoon on my alarm clock," Rainbow answered after a quick peek at said device.

"Wow it's been a whole day for you? The last time you contacted me was seven in the afternoon yesterday, and now you're here at four in the morning. How curious."

Rainbow rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Focus Twilight. We can talk about science stuff later." Seeing the sheepish smile Twilight usually gave after drifting off in thought, she changed subjects. "How's everypony? I hope they don't miss me too much."

Twilight shook her head. "Everything is fine back here. Fluttershy does miss watching your stunts and Pinkie has to handle pranking on her own, but everypony else is handling it rather well," she finished with a smile. By the way, how did your first face go?"

"First place of course!" Rainbow stated with pride. "The crowd loved me, Twi. I really like it here."

A clap from Twilight's forehooves stated her approval. "Congratulations! I'm sure the others would love to hear about it. You should contact them with the mirror."

Rainbow frowned. "I'd love to, but I've got to get some sleep. The next race takes place on Earth. Can you tell the others what I told you?"

"Yeah, no problem. You have a good night."

"And you have a good morning." Rainbow laughed as the mirror rippled once more, leaving her alone. Setting the mirror on the bedside table, she eyed the trey still sitting next to her on the bed. "Might as well call to have this tray picked up."

Picking up the receiver for the phone, she looked over the numerous buttons on the device. The controls were simple to figure out since there were a list of labeled buttons on the side; one of them being "Room Service". A dull ring came from the reciever once before someone on the other end answered.

"Room service. How can I hope you?" A friendly voice asked.

"Hey, can Sally come to my room? I have leftover dishes."

"Of course Ms. Dash. Is there anything else you need?"

"No, that's about it. Thanks." She hung up the phone and waited for several minutes until a knock came from the door. Instead of letting her open it, Rainbow jumped off the bed and opened the door herself. "Hey Sally."

"Hello again, Rainbow." Her voice not as chipper as usual. She let herself in and grabbed the tray before leaving without a word.

Rainbow watched as the door slid shut once more. With a heavy sigh, she hoped Sally would be back to her happy mood in the morning. As she jumped back on the bed she noticed a small folded piece of paper on the covers. "What's this?" Unfolding the parchment, her eyes furrowed while reading the hastily scribbled message.

Destroy this message as soon as you read it

Don't trust Cawley, the XGRA or SINN.

XGRA controls with contracts. If you signed anything, it's possibly already too late.

Was once a rider, but lost. Now work for Cawley forever.

Whatever you hold dear, do not let Cawley get a hold of it!

Cannot meet you again else risk suspicion. Good luck in the races. I'll be cheering for you.

Too late for me.

Ch.7: Earth

Chapter 7

Earth

Rainbow Dash woke up to her alarm blaring once more, only this time the alarm had somehow set itself to four in the morning. Mars time of course. She grumbled as she rubbed a hoof over her eyes to rid herself of any pesky sleep. While she had plenty of rest, the comfortable bed made it a crime to climb out. Regrettably, she forced her body to move while her dazed mind was still waking up and trudged toward the bathroom; letting out a small yawn along the way.

The automated bathroom lights flicked on and momentarily blinded her when she walked in. Ignoring the protests from her eyes, she squinted them as she opened the glass door and stepped into the small stall. The water controls were simple to handle, even with hooves. A single glass knob, when pushed up, caused the water to start. If she wanted hot she turned it left; cold in the opposite direction.

Settling for a temperature that was comfortably hot, she simply stood under it as thoughts of Sally's letter returned to her. The frantic and segmented writing she had created only confused her and made such thoughts be pushed from her mind. The very thought that Cawley did such things sounded ridiculous.

Sure he's a bit odd in his own way, but he's cool overall. Heck, he's the entire reason I'm here. She sighed when she felt a sense of relaxation fall across her body after lowering her head to let the hot water wash over her neck. Bringing her head back up she eyed the bottles in the corner. She never used any cleaning soaps or shampoos unless going to something as fancy as the Gala.

Then again, Equestria's water had a clean and sweet smell to it, as if somepony added sugar to it. Unlike water from the shower she stood under, which smelled like... nothing. Because of this she settled with a shampoo that smelled faintly of bubble gum, which reminded her of Pinkie Pie.

Maybe I'll bring it up with Cawley. Though I'll leave Sally out of it. No need to throw her under the boss if he flips out over it.

After a quick lather, rinse, and dry, she came out feeling refreshed, although a tad hungry. The thought of calling room service sprang up in her mind, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to eat out. The clock only showed twenty minutes had passed in the shower so she possibly had plenty of time before Cawley called her to prepare for Earth. The idea of waking up four in the morning to travel there sounded ridiculous. The only pony crazy enough to wake up that early, or stay up all night for that matter, was Twilight. The sound of the phone ringing on her desk made her start to think otherwise.

"Hello?" She asked cautiously as she wasn't sure who was calling.

"Good morning, Rainbow," a female voice spoke up. "I hope I didn't wake you."

Rainbow felt relieved that it wasn't Cawley on the other line, but it did bring up the question who it was. "No, I just left the shower. Who's speaking?"

"Andrea Simmons. I work at the front desk with Jane and Edna." She paused for a moment to let Rainbow Dash run the names through her mind. "Anyway. I'm just calling to let you know that Cawley has updated the start of your departure at the landing pad to ten minutes from now."

"Ten minutes?" Rainbow shouted. "Does he realize how early it is? I haven't even eaten breakfast!"

"Which I'm sure Cawley is deeply sorry for, Andrea replied quickly. He's changed the departure due to a major storm approaching and it would be in yours, Cawley's, and the pilot's best interest if you leave now before the storm hits."

A grunt left Rainbow's lips. She wasn't sure what the big deal was over a storm, but they lived on this planet more that she has and knew more about it. To her knowledge they didn't have pegasai to guide the weather, which only meant this storm wasn't controlled at all. "Alright, I'll pack my things and meet him on the landing pad." She spoke like a foal caving in to visit distant family. "Thanks for the heads up."

"Just doing my job ma'am, and don't worry. The trip will take at most half an hour so you'll be able to enjoy breakfast on Earth. Take care and have fun."

"Yeah, see ya." Dash hung up the phone and looked at the saddlebags on the floor, at the foot of her bed. "Well, at least I packed light."

It didn't take long for Rainbow Dash to find the way back to the landing pad, considering the elevator had a button specifically labeled "Landing Pad". As she got off the elevator she spotted Cawley at the end of the hallway with a woman with a clipboard.

"-bumpy flight. I need security tight where we will be landing. I don't need a fanatic..." He interrupted himself upon noticing Rainbow at the edge of his vision. "You know what to do. Take care, Lidia." She only nodded her head before scurrying past Rainbow and leaving via the elevator she had just left.

"What was that all about?" Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow. The mention of needing protection where they were going set her on edge.

Mr. Cawley folded his arms and shook his head a bit. "Ah, just some people trying to ruin your fun, but not to worry. It's all taken care of." He took a moment to eye the saddlebags on her sides. "You all set?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah. Is the ship already waiting for us?"

You should know by now that I'm always prepared," he stated with a brow raised. He turned away from Rainbow to work the keypad next to the door leading outside. The door opened with a faint hiss and they were both greeted with the usual red of mars dust. Another human in a matching grey outfit that Doris, the pilot that brought her here, wore, stood beside the door. His eyes widened and a smile crept on his lips when he saw Cawley and Rainbow Dash standing in the doorway.

"Ah, just on time," the pilot started at a rapid pace with his speech. "Very good. Everything is all set up for launch. We may begin departure, yes?"

"Everything is ready, Turner. Lets get moving before the storm catches us." Cawley walked past the pilot with Rainbow in tow, with Turner fallowing behind the both of them down the catwalk. The wind wasn't as bad when Rainbow had first arrived, so they didn't need to worry about respirators.

The ship they were about to board held a higher quality compared to the one Doris flew. While same in size, it had a polish that resembled comparing a wooden cart Big Mac used to Celestia's personal chariot. The silver structure spoke to rainbow since she studied on such subjects for her own flying; the word "aerodynamic" spoke the loudest.

And Twilight says I don't do my research on such things.

"Hurry up, Rainbow!"

Rainbow blinked several times before noticing Cawley and Turner were already under the ship waiting for her She was too busy admiring the ship she had stopped half-way down the catwalk to do so. She broke out into a gallop to catch up to them. "Wait up!"

"So... what's earth like?" Rainbow asked as she watched Turner do his job in the pilot seat. They had already left mars and were already in hyper-drive, but the twitchy behavior Turner gave made the trip uncomfortable. They haven't blown up yet, so the button presses, lever pulls, and switch flips must be doing something right. The light show outside the canopy lit up the room in an array of vibrant colors; as if coming through tinted windows.

Cawley shrugged in a casual fashion for such an easy answer. He had helped himself to a seat behind and to the left of Turners, along with a glass of amber liquid in his palm. "The planet itself is quite beautiful, but we, humanity in general, have been forced to make decisions that scar the land. We do our best to preserve whatever beauty is still there, which happens to be your second racing location: Vostok Peaks." He took a swig of his drink.

"Very cold. Though quite beautiful year-round," Turner added in his usual sporadic way; still keeping his eyes on the console.

"Yes, well, with it being mid-winter we'll be expecting snow storms during our stay. It's not fun when you're lost in a flurry of white with no idea which way is up or down, but I digress." He took another swig of his drink. "What you may find interesting is that Earth and Equestria look almost the same, minus the land masses of course. Blue skies and oceans, white clouds, and a variety of biomes. Truly I thought I was looking at Earth when I first saw your planet." A chuckle left his throat before returning his focus on his drink.

As Cawley took a drink a loud whine came from the pilot's console, which Turner silenced with a deft flick of a finger. "Coming up on Earth now." The outside slipped from view, as if a curtain had been pulled away from the canopy; revealing a small blue planet.

Rainbow studied the planet in awe. Just as Cawley had said, blue was the primary color with streaks of white for clouds. A part of her expected to see Equestria, but instead saw strange landmasses which looked nothing like her home planet. However, something stood out amongst the beauty. Flaws that resembled masses of browns, greys, and oranges located as random spots around the planet.

"What are those spots on the planet?"

Cawley's face fell. "Pollution can do terrible things to a planet. The only reason most of the planet still keeps its color is the expansive air scrubbers that surround those ugly spots. I realize I don't look like much of an environmentalist, but anyone with half a brain can realize the dangers of high pollution."

As he finished, the planet was much closer than before and the hints of entering the atmosphere began to appear. However, thanks to a bracing system built into the ship, the landing went as smooth as one of Rainbow's landings. Not including the many times she's lost control and crashed of course.

Those warm updrafts were out to get her. She's sure of it.

The ship landed with a loud thump, confirming they were safely on the ground. While Turner took the time to shut down the ship, he motioned with a wave of his hand to leave. "It was a pleasure to meet you Rainbow. Off you go. Have fun!" Rainbow gave a brief thanks for the ride and she followed Cawley to the side airlock located to the left and right outside the cockpit.

With a hiss the door opened and they were both greeted with bright unfiltered sunlight, which Cawley pulled out a pair of shades out of nowhere and put them on. Rainbow Dash shielded her eyes with a hoof and slowly stepped outside. The sky looked exactly like Equestria's, except the clouds didn't seem to have a solid "cloud" shape that she was familiar with. When she was fully outside and standing upon the stair catwalk beside the ship, the uproar of a crowd made her wings shoot out.

She forgot entirely about the sun as she stared at the thousands of other humans looked at her in a mix of surprise, awe, and wonder. She even spotted a small child sitting atop a man; in her small hands was a doll which closely resembled a blue pony with rainbow mane and tail. As she stared back at the crowd in her own sense of wonder, she didn't notice Cawley had already reached the bottom and was waiting for her.

A laugh left Cawley's mouth as he spread out his arms as if reaching to touch both sides of the pathway through the crowds; the only thing keeping them at bay being XGRA security.

"Welcome to earth!"

Ch.8: Free to fire

Chapter 8

Free to Fire

"Whoa." Rainbow Dash's eyes grew wide as the tram made its final stop at Vostok's snow-capped peaks. The weather predicted heavy snow during the race, but that wasn't for another hour. Currently it was at a light dusting which covered everything but the audience's seating and the track, although it was steadily increasing. Not much else could be seen of the track as the beginning started with an almost ninety degree shot upward and over a mountain.

After Rainbow's arrival Cawley had treated her to an enjoyable brunch at Earth's XGRA offices. He had apologized for the atmosphere and not something more fitting such as a public diner, but the crowds were still rowdy. The food however was still delicious, and while she would love to stay to relax she was behind schedule.

"Quite a sight." Cawley added his own comment to Rainbow's, his breath visible in the cold mountain air. His clothing had changed to something more warm: A sleek black leather coat and grey scarf. Both of his hands stayed snugly within his deep coat pockets. "Just don't stare for too long. You need to get ready for today's race." He nodded his head towards the side of the stadium where a small stairwell waited for her. The sound of a large crowd could be heard coming from the building as the audience's excitement was already high.

Rainbow nodded her head. "Right. Wish me luck!" She galloped towards the stairwell and down it. After slipping through a guarded doorway for XGRA staff and riders only, she found herself cantering down a long white tiled hallway. Several doors were labeled leading to different directions of the building, but only one caught her attention to her left mid-way down the hallway.

She was greeted by the sound of revving engines as she closed the door behind her. Already the other seven riders were suited up and standing beside their bikes while others made lazy laps around the underground prepping area. She recognized several of the riders from the tryouts such as Jesuit and the weird robot she ran into. There were also some new faces which she didn't recognize, but she didn't have the urge to greet them. She found it odd that Katarina was nowhere in sight, even though she won second place in the tryouts.

"Damn, and I thought you were just pulling my leg." Dash's ear twitched towards the direction the voice came from. A lanky human wearing a funny looking red suit was staring at her. His matching red helmet with built-in goggles didn't help Rainbow Dash from giving him an odd look.

"I look forward to those extra credits in my account after the race." Jesuit commented with a smug smile on his face, causing the red-suited man to growl. Though his anger dissipated quickly as he turned his attention back to Rainbow.

"Glad for you to join us, Rainbow. I'm Gekko." He took a moment to leave his bike to awkwardly shake Rainbow's hoof. "I heard you won first place in the tryouts. Quite a feat considering you've never ridden a hyper-cycle before."

Rainbow shrugged. "I have a lot of experience with racing with these babies though." She spread her wings for a single flap. "Wish I could use them though, but rules are rules I suppose."

"Oi, Rainbow!" Both Gekko and Rainbow turned their heads to find Barry tapping his foot with his arms crossed. "Ya got thirty minutes to get suited up and get your bike in position. Hurry up now!" He pointed to a line of lockers, one of them with her name on it.

"I'm going, I'm going!." Rainbow grumbled as she took a moment to struggle with the track suit. After finally putting the suit on, she pulled the helmet from the locker. While she approved of the style the suit had, her wings being trapped under it still felt awkward. Although, thank whoever made the change, there was an opening for her tail at least. Just as she picked up her helmet with her mouth, the sound of a revving engine behind her made her turn towards the sound.

"Here's your bike, Rainbow," Barry stated as another man in the same get-up he wore rolled out a plain white hyper-cycle. Rainbow noticed there were three types of bikes, although they ranged in different colors probably out of rider preference. Gekko, for example, rode a sleeker model with dozens of fins in the back. Rainbow's hyper-cycle was higher in the back, considering the enormous wheel that supported it. It's two engines giving off a low purr as the current driver pulled it up beside her.

Rainbow set the helmet down on the floor to speak. "How come it isn't colored like the others?" She asked while resting a hoof against the bike. Her bike.

"Because you have to decided what colors you want," Barry explained as he stood beside the bike. "While you'll still need to have your sponsor visible, these past years XGRA decided to allow riders to customize their cycles however they wanted." He deftly pressed several buttons on the console near the wind screen and the bike suddenly shifted the same way a chameleon would camouflage, except the cycle was now the color of a sunset. "Any colors you prefer or should I choose for you?"

Rainbow tapped a hoof against her lower lip for a moment before a smile appeared. "Sky blue and yellow, like a lightning bolt." Barry raised a brow, but kept his opinion to himself as he punched in the colors. Soon afterwards the bike shifted against to fit Rainbow's request: Blue with golden trim. Rainbow's smile widened as the cycle now wore the colors of the Wonderbolts. Coughing in her hoof, she took a moment to regain her composure. "Er... good work, Barry."

"Uh huh." Barry stared at Rainbow for a moment before shrugging off her reaction over colors. "Anyway before you go racing with your new toy I'm sure Cawley has already told you about weapons being allowed." He let Rainbow take a moment to swallow what he had said before continuing. "Your bike is equipped with unguided Patriot Scorpion rocket launchers, so I hope your aim is good. There's also special powers you can unlock if you collect enough holograms on the race track. I'd love to list each one off for you, but every rider needs to discover each one on their own. Now, get on the bike because the race is about to-"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're proud to welcome you to the first event of XGRA's 2085 premier motorsport championship!" The same announcer from Mars spoke, his voice echoing in the large room.

"I can't believe it's already been five years of amazing racing, Bill. XGRA sure knows how to get the audience pumped. Just listen to them now." He paused to allow viewers to hear the audience once more. "That's some hardcore dedication to this sport."

"Dont forget the riders also. There's veterans and rookies alike in this years race, and we're finally gonna see some real action with weapons now online. I can smell those smoldering hyper-cycles now."

"Anyway, if you haven't watched the try outs on Mars we have someone special in our race this year. Coming from the planet of Equestria, we have Rainbow Dash coming to show her stuff. After seeing her win first place without breaking a sweat, I'd say she has a sure shot at winning this years championship. What do you think, Bill?"

"Hm, it's hard to tell for now, but I'll say this: Anyone still has a shot to turn this around. Who knows what the riders have up their sleeve.

"-Start," Barry finished. As the announcers continued to banter, Rainbow Dash gave a quick thanks to Barry and picked up her helmet. After donning the grey head ware she settled her bike on the large elevator, just like the one on Mars. Unfortunately with her winning first place she was placed once again in dead last to help even the odds for the other riders. With everyone in their positions, the elevator shook as it began to ascend.

The top split open and everyone was soon pelted with flurries of snow. She found herself in a large dome-like structure with the audience cheering safely in their seats on both sides of the track. While she took a moment to wave to the crowd, the speakers in her helmet crackled.

"Hey, can you hear me? Is this thing working?"

"What? Who is this?" Rainbow asked in annoyance. The race was about to start and she didn't want any distractions.

"Just consider me a friend, but who I am isn't important. You need to know something before the race begins. There's a contacts out for your head, Rainbow. I don't know which sponsor signed it, but you need to watch yourself out there!"

"Out for my head? Wait, somepony is trying to kill me?"

"Yes! look I have to go as I'm sure security already knows about this call. I'll see you later, and good luck!"

Once the call shut off, Rainbow furrowed her brow as her mind tried to sort through what had just happened. Who was the stranger that called her? Why was a contract out to kill her? So many questions ran through her mind, but she couldn't dwell on them for too long. Already the countdown for the race was starting so she did her best to clear such thoughts to focus on the race, and be wary of whoever would target her.

Three...

Rainbow Dash settled down low in the bike and recognized herself with the interface once more. She noticed the line of icons on top was lit up now and the bar reading 'weapon energy' was filled with a red bar.

Two...

Thoughts of what should she do if she was attacked ran through her mind. Should she run? Should she fight back? The only rockets that came to mind were the ones used for fireworks. Did that mean she fired fireworks from her bike?

Calm down, Rainbow. Just focus on the race. Vixen built their bikes for speed, so if I just outpace them I should be fine.

One...

Rainbow took steady deep breaths to calm her nerves. Feeling her lungs expand and listening to her exhale brought a sense of calm...

Race!

All eight bikes shot forward, each leaving behind a streak of light that matched the color of their bikes. The first leg of the race before the coming mountain ahead of them involved several winding turns and a short jump across a gap. The boost arrows on the track made the turns unnerving as several times Rainbow underestimated the speed of the bike and ground against the railing, causing the other riders to gain distance. Although she started to catch up fairly quickly after recovering.

Another thing she noticed were spinning green icons on the track which the riders ahead of her picked up. Soon afterwards, beams of light and others displays of firepower lit up the track. She tried to grab them, but with her still being dead last, she was left with nothing.

Next stood the enormous path leading over the mountain. There were several breaks from the main track, but most of the riders went straight. Rainbow followed after them and soon felt her position on the bike shift as she ascended the mountain. The rider in first place had already passed the peak at high speeds, which she found strange as he should be flying through the air from the momentum.

Deciding to not question how that even works, Rainbow continued at her breakneck pace and soon found herself rocketing at twice her normal speed from the shift downward. She grinned at the feel of such speeds and formed a plan to pass several riders as she noticed even more boosting arrows ahead of her.

The track lead under a lengthy cavern which allowed the riders to take shots at each other before opening up into a small city. The track itself broke into two pathways. One lead onto several catwalks which weaved through the city. the other dipped dipped downward to a straight track filled with more boost arrows. A plan formed in her head as she turned her bike towards the dip. She smiled as already her position counter switch from eighth place to seventh.

Alright, time to turn this race in my favor. Wait, what's that sound?

Before she boosted further ahead of the competition, her bike shuddered as the shield bar on her screen depleted rapidly. Something had hit her from the back. Turning her head to get a good view, she tilted her bike to the right as two rockets whizzed by; missing by inches. The culprit being a white hyper-cycle behind her.

Whoa! who the hay is shooting at me?

Her question was answered as a small screen on the bottom right of her bike's display appeared. The frightening sight of eight red mechanical eyes staring at her in greeting. Its artificial voice sending a chill down her spine as it shouted at her.

"I HAVE YOU TARGETED FOR OBLIVION!"

"Gah!" Rainbow shouted back as she dodged another volley of missiles. Not wishing to make friends with the crazed robot, she shot forward to leave her opponent in the dust. She succeeded somewhat as the increase in distance made it easier to dodge the rockets. As she dodged each volley while staying on the line of helpful boost, she noticed her position was in first place. She also realized there were plenty of those strange green icons for her to grab.

Grabbing several of the small holograms, she shot up another ramp and found herself zipping across an enormous metal bridge that crossed from one mountain to the other. Down below she only saw more jagged mountains and the ever-present flakes of snow. If she wasn't racing from a crazed killer she would've took a moment to enjoy the view. Another volley of rockets missed by a wide margin, as if to show it was still in the fight. Grabbing another icon she locked her selection which was a double chevron pointed upward.

"Rail accelerator selected, the same mechanical voice that did the countdown spoke in her helmet.

"You had my attention at accelerator," Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

After the lengthy bridge she found the track forming into a spiral, leaving her suspended upside-down before tilting "up" and into another cave. She found the perfect time to use it as she followed a straight track leading into another domed building. Plant-life thrived inside it and the weather quickly turned from frigid to humid. Pressing the same button that selected her power, the icon stopped glowing and her engines roared to life as she felt her speed steadily increase.

Aw yeah! I should get this ability more often!

Rainbow shot through the rest of the domed building with ease and went up a small incline before reaching a gorgeous view of the entire track. Far below she could see the starting line and the cheering crowd within. The only way down being a ninety degree drop. Passing by the starting line, her interface told her she was on the final lap. I'm going to need more of those accelerators if I"m going to stay away from whatever that thing's name is.

Going with that plan, Rainbow did her best to grab the holograms in groups of three to use the rail accelerator as much as possible. However, it must have been copying her idea because it kept pace. Even so much as bumping into the back of her hyper-cycle.

"Go away!" Rainbow shouted as she dodged more rockets. She had reached the large bridge with another rail accelerator and was about to use it, but her hunter had shunted into her bike, sending her flying against the railing. Shortly after the robot followed through by slamming repeatedly against her bike. Rainbow glanced at her shield and found them reduced to around an eighth of the entire bar. If she didn't do something fast she would become a smear on the track.

Come on think!

She grunted as another slam hit her bike, sending the last bit of shield plummeting to zero; her screen red with warning flashing brightly over her shield bar.

Think slowpoke! Wait... that's it!

Her current speed had been reduced to a cruising range of 350 MPH. If she suddenly braked when her opposition went for another slam... She didn't have time to think more about it as she noticed the final blow coming straight for her. Without a second thought she slammed her hoof on the brake, causing a loud squeal come from her large back tire as her speed reduced to a measly 50 MPH in a two seconds. Her plan was rewarded as the other bike slammed into the rail at full force. His bike squealed to a crawl from the massive amount of friction, giving Rainbow the opening she needed.

Thankfully she didn't use her rail accelerator yet. Activating it while riding with the chain of arrows on the track, her speed skyrocketed close to 800, leaving her hunter far behind once more. The increase in speed always caused a familiar cone of air to appear in front of her bike. However, the accelerator power had disappeared, dropping her speed back down to 650. The idea of causing a possible sonic rainboom drifted in her mind, but her thought was broken as her pursuer had returned.

How the robot managed to catch up to her was a mystery, considering her bike was meant for speed. Maybe the other bike was a better model? Nonetheless, Rainbow continued to dodge the incoming barrage of missiles. Thankfully after her first close escape, her shields had plenty of time to recover so the rockets that hit weren't fatal.

Snatching up more holograms for another boost, Rainbow growled as the enemy bike slammed into the back of hers again. Hoping to reach the finish line before it could finish her off, she activated the rail accelerator as soon as she touched the booster located at the ninety degree drop. However, before she got away another bump hit the back of her bike, sending a spike of speed that rocketed her forward at 1000 MPH for a split second.

What happened next surprised Rainbow as a loud boom surrounded her bike, causing all sound to cancel out. Only the sound of her bike could be heard as she crossed the finish line and screeched to a halt; guiding her bike away from the track to not get run over. Looking up at the crowd, they were dead silent as they stared at something in the sky. Following their gaze through the glass dome, she saw the rainbow ring her sonic Rainboom would always make.

"No way," Rainbow whispered. The small sound caused the shifting feet and squeak of chairs as the entire crowd stared at her in a mix of awe and shock. It took a moment for it to wear off before the crowd roared in approval for today's performance. Somewhere in the background, someone yelled out her name.

"Rainbow Dash!" Soon afterwards more people joined in to praise her name. "Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!" Soon the entire dome was shouting her name at once.

The pony of the hour took off her helmet and sweeped her gaze at the entire crowd, soaking up the praise like a sponge would water. She held a hoof to her chest to calm her heart which hammered faster than her hyper-cycle's engine. The adrenaline in her body making her unable to stay in one place as she had the urge to spread her wings and start flying.

That was too close. If that crazed robot hit me one more time... Rainbow shuddered at the thought. Even when she was in danger, she couldn't stand the thought of killing her attacker. Killing wasn't right. Celestia certainly wouldn't approve of such action. Maybe this entire trip wasn't worth it, Rainbow thought with finality. Looking back at the cheering crowd, her frown slowly turned back into a smile.

While she put her life in danger, she entertained others. This technically was what she wanted all along. If she managed to get through this race and evade her pursuer today, she could definitely do it again. No doubt it will take every once of her being and every trick she could think of to get to the top, but she was willing to do it. She welcomed the opportunity for such a challenge with open hooves. Plus it's not like she's risked her life before. Plenty of her stunt routines had the chance to risk her life, but she didn't stop doing them.

As she relaxed against her bike while waiting for the other racers to passed the finish line, she spotted her opponent in the gathering group of riders. Getting a peek in at the white hyper-cycle, she noticed the decal on the side. Suddenly it all made sense as to how it was able to keep up with her. The sponsor wasn't kidding when he said their bikes were the best.

The bike in question had Templar decals.