Chapter 15 – On Rainbow Wings

Time went by quickly, Rainbow Dash and Breeze making rounds and trying to figure out what everypony else was doing, Blade and Writch pulling their weight as they placed together with the last few pieces of the Rainbow Trail. Piks and Pinkie were once again out of the garage trying to secure deals or earn some Points for their team, and Fluttershy learning the ins and outs of all the healing equipment that had just arrived thanks to Hulon. Applejack and Twiggs sifting through the yard for any parts while Rarity cleaned and inspected each part the scroungers brought in with Twilight and Spike nearby cataloging and sorting everything to make it easier to find.

"Hey?" Rainbow suddenly asked, "Anypony seen Tusks and Pilit anywhere?"

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen them since we signed up for as his team." Spike said in response.

"He's probably at the tower." Writch said as she tightened a fastening bolt to the ship.

"Is that some sort of pub?" Breeze asked.

"Oh yeah, you all aren't from here, I almost {snort} forgot." Twiggs announced as he made his way into the garage with some sort of slime in his hands, there was something in the slime to be sure but Rarity was almost ready to just chuck the whole thing from the filth.

"Good thing too, you ponies have really proven yourselves." Writch said as she lowered her hands from her work. She watched in silence as Rarity used her magic to try and lift whatever Twiggs had found from his hands, "I don't think I'll ever get used to magic." she said and sighed. "The Tower is that big building in the middle of the city. It serves as the registering office and control tower for the planet races, each team has to be registered properly to compete, and it takes a lot of Points to do the process correctly, especially during the Terranuil Races."

"Wait, so how did Tusks get his first team registered?" Blade asked.

"We had a backer that was willing to pick up the bill for that, but then he backed out after the team disbanded." she explained.

"So now Tusks has to do it himself and he has to have the Points to pay for it?" Twilight asked as she watched Rarity uncover what she understood to be an Olaian Alternating Energy Fuser, a device that closely resembled a softball-sized globe with several copper wires that could be seen on the inside from the open vents and two-bolt connections on the top and bottom.

"Correct." Twiggs said and jumped up before racing his way back into the yard.

"How many Points does it take to register?" Blade asked as he squinted at the drive system from his flying position above.

"A lot more than I could have made in a full Cycle." she repeated, "Good thing Pinkie and Piks are so good at dealing."

"You think we got enough for Registration?" Fluttershy asked as she let a few Sifters play in her mane.

Writch just shrugged, "Sure hope so, I'd hate to have done all this work and not be able to show it off."

"We might not be able to anyway if we can't figure out how to make your new drive system work for Rainbow Dash, we got plenty of thrust and hover but if we want to make those sharp turns, we're going to have to figure out how to move the wings effectively." he said as he looked down at the drive system, a seat in the middle of it, and two slide shifters, one on each side.

"Can you make it more comfortable as well?" Rainbow asked, "Ponies aren't meant to sit like that."

"But you sat like that when Applejack was Huma-Pony!" Breeze said to her.

Rainbow instantly lifted up from the ground, "That was different, I wasn't trying to race. Ponies lean forward when they race, it's just natural!" with these words she flew around him, her wings spread into a glide to prove her point and front legs stretched out as she soared around him.

This caught Blade's attention, and he turned to her as she flapped and floated in place, Writch as well as she listened to the blue pegasus explain pony racing, and while thinking about it, both mechanics found their focus shift to her wings, the stiff yet relaxed way her feathers fluttered as she soared. Then, an idea hit them both, and each looked at the other, Wrich smiling and Blade with a shocked realization.

Their inspiration took everyone by storm, Twilight and Rainbow Dash getting involved in the conversation as Blade worked trying to explain. The tone in his voice echoing the light that shined in his eyes as he wielded and fit parts together. Writch threading wires and drawing up the blueprints to help them get the right design, then with both of them as Rainbow stood still getting her spread wings measured for the perfect fit. Finally, the two of them readjusting the seat to accommodate more of Rainbow Dash's personal tastes, a belly seat that she can lean forward on as she flies. It took several days but they finally got the Rainbow Trail put together. The front Meltackian piece wrapped around and mounted like a spearhead, spikes that pulled around the two sides and a crested piece that flowed into the back. The base followed a more oval pattern as it curved back, three large strips of iridescent panels that stretched from side to side with two of them in an angled pattern to follow the bottom. The sides bent down to fit the two parts together. The angled plates in the back guarded five jet cones against any wind that would threaten to tear them off. The wings themselves fit together like puzzle pieces as the folded together at the sides. Everypony stood there as they admired the cyan blue and white machine in all its glory.

"Marvelous!" Rarity said.

"She's perfect." they all heard as a very tired looking Tusks and an excited Pilit came sauntering into the garage.

"How'd the registration go?" Twilight asked.

"Thanks to you all, {snort} we were able to make the minimum number of members for the team {snort}." he said, "And thanks to you two," he turned to Piks and Pinkie as he said this, "We were able to make enough {snort} Points to pay the fees." Then he turned to Writch and Blade, "And we're ready for the race with this {snort} spectacular ship."

"She's going to be smaller than other ships, but that'll just make her faster." Writch explained.

Pilit looked around, and then asked, "Hey, where's Rainbow Dash and Breeze?" the look of knowing on everypony else got her confused, "Shouldn't they be here to?" This also got Tusks confused, just before the Rainbow Trail roared to life, and lifted from its landing gear before putting them away and unfolding its wings to let them angle themselves at the side of the ship.

Inside the ship, Rainbow Dash grinned wildly, "I'd never miss an opportunity like this!" she said and watched as Pilit's face turned from confusion to excitement.

"You're going to test it?" the little Treeopon asked, "And we got here just in time."

Rainbow chuckled a bit, "Kid, I'd never let you miss this. That would be uncool." Then the Pegasus pushed her hooves forward on the throttles, slowly, easing the ship out of the garage and out into the open as she let the ship glide around just above the ground.

"YOU'RE THE BEST, RAINBOW DASH!" Pilit called out.

"Don't let it go to your head Dashie!" she heard Breeze over the coms.

"Indeed." she heard Blade say, "Now R.D., let's give her a bit of thrust to see what she can do."

"Ok." Rainbow said with confidence.

"Not too much or else you could…" he tried to explain but Rainbow just pushed the throttles as far as she dared, and the machine just took off, "…lose control." he finished saying.

"You ok Dashie?" Breeze asked.

"How do I turn?" she asked quickly.

"Reduce thrust on one side and lean with your wings." Blade told her. She did this to the left, and just barely kept from hitting a wall. With an exhale, she looked forward again, and followed the couture of the city, trying to keep it steady.

"Do you ever do things slowly?" Writch asked.

"Can't afford it right now." the blue Pegasus explained, "I gotta get the hang of this thing before the races start in just a few days."

"Yeah, and if you wreck it you'll have an entire team yelling at you." Blade explained, "It's still going to take us a couple of days to get a second Rainbow Trail built. Just try getting used to driving her right now and we'll worry about handling in a bit. First, we need to get you to the testing grounds."

"Tch." she scoffed, "Fine." And she slowed down a bit, reducing speed by half, and just cruising towards what looked like an open field of dirt and dried grass.

"Ok, Breeze, your turrets are controlled by your console, if you get good enough, you can fire each one individually, but for now Writch and I have locked them together as one gun." Blade said over the coms.

"Man." Breeze said, "You're no fun." and reached out to grip the handles in front of him. The room he was in lit up and suddenly he could see outside, "Whoa!" he said.

"Like it?" Writch asked, "It's an old Shimmer training simulator I repurposed for the turrets. You might be stuck inside the back of Rainbow's ship but with this, it'll feel like your right there in the action." She sounded so proud as she explained this, "Now, you have two twin-barrel disruptor cannons on each side of the Rainbow Trail, it's your job to make sure you break the opponent's shield before they break yours. Rainbow can only do so much with her maneuvers so it's up to you to either stop the enemy shots or take down the enemy shields."

"Roger." he said in response and started moving around, getting used to how the triggers and cockpit felt.

"Also, Rainbow, to make shallow turns just use the wings, you have to use your throttle on the sharp turns only." Blade told her.

"So, it's like real flying, but in a ship?" she asked.

"Exactly." he told her, "Just remember that you have to control your speed with your hooves instead. That'll take the longest to get used to."

"We really don't have that long." she tried to argue but was interrupted by her own gunner.

"Then I suggest we get the slow part out of the way first so we can get the hang of the rest." Breeze said with confidence, "It'll make more sense than just crashing and waiting to get another one built. So, let's get used to her and dominate those races."

Somehow this wording made sense to her, and her smile grew each time she thought of them, "Yeah, let's dominate those races!" she said and made a beeline for the testing grounds. Once she was in the open, she pushed herself to learn each and everything she could about her ship, the throttle, and how much push how fast, the turning of each action, and how to anticipate each action. It wasn't long until some new racers made their way into the grounds as well, each one ready to test and try different tricks. She saw all kinds of different racers, ships built like boats or arrows, ships built from pure scrap, and others that looked as if they came from a professional line up and should be in a museum instead. She was in awe at the sheer number of competitors as she made one more lap. "Whoa!" she exhaled in amazement.

"I second that." she heard her stallion say from over the coms.

"You're new." The two of them heard from their right. Out of respect, and curiosity, Rainbow Dash slowed down, placing her racer into a hover as a slightly larger racer came up to her. This one was shaped like a diamond of sorts, the two wings on the sides pulling out in front of the cockpit and pulled out to a point and extending out at the sides as it slopped down to sharp edges, Nice to meet you!"

"So?" another voice from the other ship asked, "Who do we have the pleasure of beating in this Cycle's race?"