Chapter 16 – The Greatest of Rivals

"I'm Rainbow Dash, and my gunner is Cosmic Breeze." the Pegasus said as she looked to the other ship.

"And how did you get onto our channel?" she heard Blade say from the coms.

"You two really are new to this race, aren't you?" the first voice said, "I'm Tris, and my grumpy pilot is Syls. It's common for ships to hale on the same frequency and if you get close enough, sometimes you can talk to other pilots.

"Nice." Rainbow said and was surprised when Tris got excited.

"Oh, oh. Do you have a video chat as well?" the voice asked.

"Uh…" Rainbow thought and was interrupted by Breeze.

"I tried; we don't actually have it. But I've been watching your practice, you've got some good moves." he said.

"How come you sound different?" Syls asked, "Are you a Pularin? Pets aren't allowed in the race."

"I'm not a Pularin!" Breeze quickly said, "The one you heard first was my brother, you accidentally tapped directly into our com link with our garage."

"OH, I'm so sorry." Tris said, and then started to sound apologetic, "Let's go back to your garage and we'll all get properly introduced."

"Why our garage?" Rainbow asked.

"Ours is on the other side of the entire complex…unless yours is around there as well." Syls said harshly at first.

"Ours is actually closer to the city." Blade said and sighed, "Fine, we'll make some room out front for you."

"Follow me." Rainbow said, and turned the Rainbow Trail, just before pushing the throttle hard.

"Oh, so that's how you want to play it!" Syls said and turned her machine to do the same thing.

"Syls, are you sure she wants to race there?" Tris asked.

"Don't care, if she can't keep up then she won't have a place in the qualifying round." her partner said, and the jets on the back of her ship lit up like a star, rocketing towards Rainbow and quickly passing her.

"HEY!" she called out, and pushed her throttles harder, slowly catching up with the diamond-shaped hip, "You think you can beat me?"

"Rainbow Dash, {snort} keep control of your competitiveness." Tusks said over the coms.

"Aw is that your dad?" Syls asked in a mocking tone.

"Why you…" Rainbow growled, and pushed the Rainbow Trail harder, lighting up all five of the jets on the back of her racer. The two of them closed in quickly to the garages.

"R.D.?" Breeze asked with nervousness in his voice, "Rainbow?" He watched as the garages got closer, "RAINBOW DASH WATCH OUT!" This caught the pegasus' attention, and she veered off to the left a bit and pulled back on her throttle, and moved her wings forward, causing the Rainbow Trail to flip its wings to the front, and fire the jets to slow down quickly, coming to a less-than-graceful stop in front of the garage for her team. And she could easily see the entire team exhale in relief.

"Ok, ok." they all heard from the side, "You got me." Syls said.

"Why was that necessary?" the heard Tris ask.

"Not necessary, but it sure was fun, and a great test of her skills as a pilot." The pilot said as she gently placed the diamond-shaped ship on the ground, a set of landing gear coming out of the main body and the front of each wing. Rainbow did the same, setting the Rainbow Trail down in the front of the garage before letting the glass on the front open up to let the pegasus jump out and fly down to the ground. She landed just in front of a very proud white and black furred, short Dryskian girl wearing a brown leather jacket with fur lining the neck, goggles on her head, and tan cargo shorts, the pilot Syls. Syls on the other hand let her proud demeanor melt into one of shock and confusion.

"What's the big…" Rainbow asked and then let her own surprise set in as she genuinely looked the shorter fox girl in the eyes without having to look up at all, before trying desperately to hold in a laugh.

"DON'T LAUGH!" Syls shouted just as her gunner, Tris, a much taller light blue Dryskian female wearing tight black and white coveralls, landed at her side.

"What are you?" the taller fox person asked, just as Rainbow barely contained her laughter.

Breeze suddenly appeared at her side in a ring of dust, the tell-tale sign of his arrival. "We're ponies." he said and looked the taller Dryskian in the eyes as she lowered the top of her coveralls, to reveal a black tank top shirt. "I guess we should have expected Dryskians, Piks, and his family has the same naming scheme."

"Oh, you mean the 'S' at the end of our names? It's part of our tribe's culture." Tris asked.

"That and the four-letter names are a dead giveaway." Breeze said.

"Guilty as charged." Piks said as they all looked at him.

Syls growled as she watched Rainbow hold onto her laughter, "Stop laughing Skittle Head!"

Rainbow Dash instantly stopped, and turned to the shorter fox girl, "My name is Rainbow Dash."

"It would have been Rainbow 'Crash' if your gunner hadn't woken you up!" the little girl said.

"Rainbow…" the pegasus repeated mostly in her head, "That's it, Short Stuff. You and me, right here right now!"

"Bring it on Skittle Head!" the Dryskian said angrily as she literally connected her forehead with Rainbow Dash's and the two started growling at each other.

"You two are already becoming great friends." Tris said happily.

"NOT EVEN CLOSE!" both Rainbow Dash and Syls growled to her.

"It's really great to have such a passionate pilot behind the controls isn't it?" Tris said as she turned to Breeze, "I'm not sure I could make any of the decisions she does."

Breeze let Fluttershy try and calm Rainbow Dash down as he turned to Tris, "We'll I'm used to ground races, I never got to drive any ships to this degree."

"Really?" the taller Dryskian asked.

"I was an adrenaline junkie in my earlier years. They never let me pilot. They were always afraid I'd do something stupid." he told her.

"Would you?" Tris asked in curiousness.

"Before I met R.D.? Most definitely." he admitted.

"IF YOU TWO DON'T STOP FIGHTING I'LL PUT YOU BOTH INTO THE PIT!" they heard Blade shout, and it seemed like neither of the gunners knew what he was talking about.

"Is he always like this?" Syls asked.

"Kind of." Rainbow said, "You see, I'm not used to flying a machine, I've always flown using my wings, and everypony is kinda nervous."

"You shouldn't be, you got some decent moves." Syls said and then looked Rainbow in the eyes, "But you gotta focus on the track, never take your eyes off the road. Look ahead and judge what you can do."

"I know, there's just a lot to remember with the Rainbow Trail you know?" R.D. admitted as she turned to the ship, "It's not like just flapping your wings and letting the wind guide you."

"I get it, I really do." Syls told her, "Silver Blitz here is a new ship for me as well, and each new ship is a whole new experience."

The two of them glanced at their ships, each silent as they thought about how to advance, "Hey I got an idea!" Rainbow said suddenly, "Why not teach me some tricks, I learn best when I'm flying anyway, why not use the few days we have left to train each other?"

"I don't know…" Syls began only to have her gunner grab her by the arm.

"PLEASE?" Tris asked in a pleading voice, "I think they could really give us a challenge if they had the chance." Then the taller Dryskian leaned in to whisper into her partner's ear, "And I know how you like a challenge."

"Ok!" Syls said with confidence, "We have all of today and tomorrow to get you used to your machine, and if you learn best while in action as you say, then this should be easy."