First Race: Rainbow Dash vs Crank on the Cloud Circuit
When Celestia first told Rainbow and the others they'd be racing some strange creatures, she hadn't been quite prepared for this. "Whoa," was all she could manage. This thing was big. So big that Dash couldn't figure out how this would even be a challenge. It looked like it could hardly move, let alone take her. She smiled to herself, and softly said "Piece of cake."
Breezing to the starting line, she took a moment to look over the competition. This 'Crank' thing didn't really look all that much like a living creature, but Celestia had said that it was something called a human in a "kinetic suit." Apparently, kinetic suits were big pieces of metal, because there was nearly no flesh showing. The entire lower half of it looked like a box on a wheel. The torso, however, looked more less stiff. There was the body (under some thinner metal and maybe some rubber?), there was the head (under a mask that Dash had to admit, looked almost as cool as her), and there were the arms that ended in clawed hands with wheels connected to them. At the moment, the hands were at its side, it balancing on the single wheel.
"Hey, buddy, good luck," Rainbow said, trying to be a bit polite before she completely blew this thing away. Crank turned to look at her, and Rainbow could swear, she could see hatred through the visor on its mask. Crank turned and focused back on the course. "Whoa, calm down. It's just a race... right?"
A monitor soon appeared from the sky, and hovered before the two racers. A map flashed on, showing the course, along with a very monotone female voice. "Welcome racers Rainbow Dash and Crank; due to the differences in the racing conditions for both contenders, this map is being provided along with a short explanation." Three areas on the map began to glow red. "The marked areas contain vertical slopes, and are to be followed with caution." The red areas faded back to blue, and three other areas glowed red. "These areas are locations where there are no track. The pegasi will have no problems with these areas, while ramps have been provided for the racers of Kinetica." The entire map began to glow red now. "Finally, please remember that this race is quite dangerous, and neither party is responsible for any physical harm or death of the racers. Your participation shows that you accept these terms. The race will begin in 5..."
"Wait... what?" Rainbow Dash asked in confusion at what the monitor had just said.
"4... 3... 2... 1...." The monitor flashed green, and the word GO! displayed.
As soon as the word appeared, Crank was off. For a moment, Rainbow was still shocked at the warning, but when she saw Crank making the first turn, she was off. She slowly began catching up, but the turns kept cutting her speed, and Crank had quite a big lead on her. "Not gonna lose that easily, big guy!"
When they reached the first vertical slope, Rainbow Dash smiled smugly. How could that big heap of metal possibly go up a straight surface? She chanced to slow down and look back when she was blown into a tailspin. When she managed to reorient herself, she saw Crank steadily climbing up the cloudway. This time she was only stunned for a moment. Flapping her wings with the strength of a dragon, she climbed until they were nearly neck and neck. The slope suddenly flattened back into a downhill track, and Rainbow had to point herself back down. Crank had taken yet another league; this time, however, he started performing tricks.
"Hey, you mocking me?!"
Rainbow put on an extra burst of speed, fueled by her anger. The metal behemoth was soon lost behind her, as she coasted along the turns and over the incoming drop. She definitely had a solid lead now. It would take some kind of freaky miracle for that thing to catch up to her now!
"Aw yeah, still number one!" Dashie cheered to herself. She was approaching the second vertical slope (this time it went downwards) when she heard the sound of wheels coming from behind her. Close behind her. It couldn't be. "How in the hay could he have caught up to me?! I practically left him in a penthouse of my dust!"
As soon as she said that, Crank overtook her once more. Light reflected off of his metallic body as he spun around and looked at her. Rainbow was stunned to say the least. This thing was not only faster than it looked, it was faster than her at top speed. That was... unless she did a sonic rainboom. But she'd been expressly forbidden from that, since it could tear apart the track. She held in her annoyance and watched as Crank spun back around and fell down the slope, still clinging to the track. Either the magic allowing him to ride on clouds was keeping him glued to it, or he was extremely used to driving on these kinds of surfaces. 'Heh, fat chance of that,' Rainbow thought. 'But I still have to find a way to beat this thing!'
They continued along the track, Rainbow sometimes taking the league, Crank always there to recover it not too long after. Slowly, the time it took Rainbow to catch up increased, her wings beginning to tire. She'd been pushing herself pretty hard, and this track was longer than the usual ones, aside from the Equestria 500. That race had pit stops though. Crank on the other hand, slowly kept increasing his lead, every now and then doing a trick or two and seeming to go faster. Something fishy was happening, and Rainbow didn't approve of any tricks on a fair race. It was time to show this hunk of junk why she was the called the best flyer in Equestria.
"Sorry Princess, but I ain't losing that easily!" she vowed as she flexed her wings back. Shooting forward like a bullet, she broke through the sound/light barrier, and performed her signature sonic rainboom. The myriad of colors shot out in all directions, and Rainbow felt herself pulling closer, faster and faster until....
SMACK
Crank's arm had shot out and smashed into the high speed pegasus' snout. She spun over it high into the air until she was a speck, then crashed straight down onto the cloud track. Everything proceeded to go black as Rainbow felt a warm trickle moving down her fur....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...bow Dash..."
"Ra...w D...."
"RAINBOW DASH!"
Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open, and she leaped up in the bed, looking all around. Calmness spread over her like a blanket when she saw it was just her friend Twilight. "Twilight! Boy, am I glad to see you. Where am I? Did I win?"
Twilight looked at her friend with sad eyes, then tucked her back into bed with her magic. "Rainbow Dash... about the race....," Twilight seemed quite hesitant to discuss it with her, but Rainbow's eyes forced the words out of her mouth. "I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but you lost. As you know, it was a single lap race due to the size of the course. You didn't finish the lap, as your competitor... well, he put out his arm and knocked you out. At the speed you were going, as well as the build of his suit, the damage was equivalent to you running into a canyon wall. Suffice it to say, you'll have to stay in the hospital for a few weeks.
"Oh COME ON!" Rainbow roared. From behind the green curtain by her bed, Nurse Redheart cried Shhh! Rainbow prepared to tell her what she could do with that in a way that would make anypony blush, when Twilight intervened.
"Don't fret, Rainbow Dash. I remembered you didn't like your last stay, so I brought something to keep you busy." She placed a box on Rainbow's bed, then opened it. Rainbow peeked inside, and could barely contain her excitement.
"Omaigosh Twilight, you didn't!"
"Oh yes I did!" Twilight smirked. "I got you the entire new collection of Daring Do novels!"
"This is so... so... awesome!" Rainbow cried and hugged her friend, then recoiled from pain. She'd have to hold off on the hugging for now. "Hey, how did the other races go?"
"None of the others have raced yet, though Lightning Dust is scheduled to race tomorrow. After reviewing your race, everypony else is more prepared. These creatures aren't as nice as we are, and they definitely care more for this race than we do. We'll just have to see what happens. I hope nopony else gets hurt though..."
