Chapter 4: The Race Part 2
The race continued as twelve teams kept pushing their go karts as much as they could in order to win the race. At the front of the pack, Rainbow Dash and Gilda had just taken the lead from Twilight Sparkle and Trixie. The showmare and her apprentice were right behind the two fliers while Applejack and Lightning Dust were gaining on them. Vinyl Scratch and Octavia had managed to get into fourth place after passing The Wonderbolts. Behind the two members of the flying team were Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. The singer and the guitarist were doing everything that they could to pass by The Wonderbolts but Spitfire wasn't going to let that happen. Meanwhile Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed were in a battle for seventh place with Rarity and Spike. Behind the unicorn and the dragon were Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy as well as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. The Princesses were catching up with the two fillies but Flim and Flam weren't going to let them win.
The go kart driven by the two stallions had been modified with several illegal weapons. None of the additions were approved by the racing staff but they were hidden well enough so that the duo couldn't be disqualified. Flam pressed a switch and the front of the go kart was covered by a set of spikes. Flim used his controls to lower the spikes to the level of the tires on The Princesses' kart. Grinning maliciously to themselves, Flim and Flam sped up and they started gaining on The Goddesses.
Princess Celestia was driving as fast as she could in an attempt to catch up with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Princess Luna was holding on to the back of the kart and she was ready to use the booster when it was needed. The roar of the kart's engine prevented either of the alicorns from hearing a popping sound. When their kart was passed by Flim and Flam, Princess Luna used the booster. However instead of speeding up, their kart began slowing down.
"What is happening?" Princess Celestia asked.
"I don't know." Princess Luna replied.
Their kart came to a complete stop and the duo couldn't get it moving again. The rest of the teams were out of sight and The Princesses knew that they had pretty much lost the race by this point. Princess Luna hopped off the kart and she gasped in shock when she looked at the back tires. The wheels had been shredded beyond any repair. Not even their magic would be able to fix them. Once she was informed of this Princess Celestia sighed in defeat. Thankfully each team had been given a flare to be used to signal emergency crews to help them. The Sun Goddess used the flare and all the duo could do was wait for their kart to be towed off of the track. Soon enough a service kart came to them and pulled them off of the track and back to the starting line. The crowd was disappointed when they saw that The Princesses had been eliminated so early in the race. However there were still eleven teams in the running. Unbeknownst to the audience, Flim and Flam were working to reduce that number.
Flim and Flam chuckled a bit as they started catching up with the other teams. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were just ahead of the stallions but they were going to change that very quickly. They accelerated forwards and they soon passed by the two fillies. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon tried to pass the duo but then a set of nails were deployed from the underside of the yellow kart and all four of the tires on the fillies' kart were popped. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's kart slowed and then stopped. After a few minutes of failed attempts at restarting their kart, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon gave up and used their flare. The service kart pulled alongside them and got them back to the safety of the starting line. A few members of the crowd were disappointed at the duo's loss but they kept watching the rest of the teams as they raced onwards. Despite being able to see each kart, the audience was unable to see the illegal weapons that were being used by Flim and Flam. The stallions had designed the weapons to be concealed at all times so that nopony would be able to know that they were cheating.
The race went on and Rainbow Dash and Gilda still held the lead. However Lightning Dust and Applejack had been hit by The Wonderbolts and they spun out which caused them to drop down into fifth place. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were right behind them while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had passed by the duo. The other half of the young rock band was trailing just behind the two fillies. Spike and Rarity were behind Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed and they were slowly gaining on them. The young dragon was starting to get more comfortable behind the wheel and he was certain that he and Rarity could win this race. Flim and Flam however begged to differ.
The two stallions swerved next to Spike and Rarity and rammed into them. Spike glared angrily at the duo and then he swerved a bit away so that he could ram them back. Flim and Flam chuckled and then the latter pressed a button which deployed a spring from the side of their go kart. The spring bounced Spike and Rarity away and then the duo flew off the track and their tires were popped by a particularly sharp rock on the side of the road. Rarity's magic was unable to fix the wheels so the duo was forced to quit. Flim and Flam chuckled as they continued their progress. They made their way through the track and they quickly made their way into fifth place. Ahead of the duo were the teams of Rainbow Dash and Gilda, Twilight Sparkle and Trixie, Spitfire and Soarin, and Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Behind the two stallions were the duos of Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, and Lightning Dust and Applejack. The remaining nine teams kept driving quickly and then they split apart as the track separated into two covered paths. The top four teams took the left path while the remaining five took the path that led to the right. Flim and Flam grinned as they readied their next weapon.
A small cannon appeared on the back of the kart and it shot a blast of magic at the roof of the tunnel. The ceiling started to crack and the two stallions drove off. Vinyl Scratch and Octavia drove through the tunnel and then the ceiling came crashing down. The chunks of track barely missed the two musicians and it blocked the road behind them. Both Vinyl Scratch and Octavia wanted to help the other teams but there was nothing they could do for them. The go karts driven by The Cutie Mark Crusaders screeched to a halt as they noticed the blockade. The shards of the ceiling scratched up their tires and the fillies knew that the wheels wouldn't survive much longer. Meanwhile Lightning Dust and Applejack were making their way up the path. The cowgirl noticed the blockade and she tried to get her teammate to stop.
"Roadblock Lightning!" she yelled in a panicked tone.
Lightning Dust looked upwards a bit and saw that part of the ceiling was still attached to the tunnel. Her golden eyes scanned the scene and she grinned broadly.
"Not for me." she said in a confident tone. She told Applejack to get the booster ready and to hold on tight. Applejack gripped the kart while, the daredevil waited for just the right moment and then she told the cowgirl to press the button. Instantly the kart sped up and Lightning Dust used their speed to climb the walls of the tunnel. She drove up the side of the tunnel and then the kart was completely upside down. Lightning Dust drove down the other side of the tunnel and then the duo was on the other side of the roadblock. The daredevil was grinning broadly as she drove through the rest of the tunnel. Soon they met up with the rest of the teams and the field had been narrowed from twelve to seven.
Flim and Flam were beside themselves with excitement. They had already beaten five of their eleven competitors. Only six more remained though there was one team that they did not want to sabotage. The two stallions had to remind themselves that they weren't there to win. Grinning a little to themselves, the brothers set their sights on their next target which was the team of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.
Pinkie Pie sounded like she was having the time of her life as she swerved, curved, and drove like a total maniac. She was having a lot of fun during this race and she liked racing against her friends. Fluttershy was holding on for dear life and she was praying that nopony would get hurt by the pink pony's reckless and haphazard driving style. Neither of them noticed Flim and Flam sneaking up behind them. The duo deployed their spikes and the tires on the pink go kart were shredded and the two mares slammed into the guardrail. Their kart was rendered unable to drive and they were forced to use their flare and wait to be towed. Lightning Dust and Applejack saw the entire thing but they decided to wait before they tried to take down Flim and Flam. Both the daredevil and the cowgirl knew that the two stallions were very cunning so taking them on alone would be a very foolish decision.
The two yellow ponies were driving along with Applejack and Lightning Dust right behind them. They would have used their spikes to take care of the duo but they had only packed enough for one usage and they had already used them on Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Flim and Flam decided to ignore the cowgirl and the daredevil for now and instead focus on the rest of the teams. The Wonderbolts were just ahead of them and Flim and Flam were ready with their next trap. They drove up until they were next to the two pegasi and they used their spring again. Spitfire however managed to regain control of the kart and she kept it on track. She rammed into Flim and Flam and they fought back. Spitfire swerved away and was readying herself to deliver a much more powerful slam. She swerved her kart to hit the two stallions but they slammed on the brakes. Spitfire was still moving forwards so she passed right by Flim and Flam and then she slammed into a wall with a crunch, causing the kart's engine to sputter a little and die. The two stallions laughed as they moved onwards. Lightning Dust gave Spitfire a gaze that The Wonderbolt Captain returned. For the brief moment that their eyes connected, the message between the two pegasus ponies was clear. Just by using her facial expressions, Lightning Dust was able to tell Spitfire that she'd take care of Flim and Flam. Then the daredevil sped off while Soarin used the flare. The service kart pulled them off of the track and the audience let out a groan of disappointment when they saw that The Wonderbolts had been eliminated. Many of the spectators had been rooting for the duo and now they had lost. The audience kept watching the remaining five teams as they made their way through the rest of the track.
Applejack and Lightning Dust were trailing behind Flim and Flam. Both the daredevil and the cowgirl were keeping a watchful eye out for any more booby traps that the stallions could use. They saw the remaining four teams up ahead and then Flim and Flam set their sights on an approaching tunnel. Flim and Flam used their boosters to reach the tunnel ahead of the other teams. Their cannon fire out a small sphere of magic which stuck to the ceiling of the tunnel. The duo kept on driving and they were laughing hysterically.
Meanwhile Vinyl Scratch and Octavia were in second place and they had entered the tunnel. The sphere flashed a few times and then it exploded. Debris fell everywhere and one chunk of the ceiling smashed the hood of the go kart. Despite all of her efforts, Vinyl Scratch was unable to restart or repair her vehicle. The DJ and the cellist pushed their kart out of the tunnel and used their flare. The service vehicle picked them up and pulled them away. Now only four teams remained out of the original twelve. Lightning Dust and Applejack quickly explained the situation to Rainbow Dash, Gilda, Twilight Sparkle, and Trixie. They all agreed to form an alliance to defeat Flim and Flam. Once the two stallions were beaten then they'd go back to racing against each other. The three teams found another path and they hurried to catch up with the two stallions.