Chapter 33 – A Maze to Race

The walls were just as wide as she remembered them being, five of her own ship could easily fit side by side with the wings extended. Rainbow Dash sailed through the first few rings, taking turns she understood perfectly as she moved through the cliffs, "I kinda feel like we're cheating." Breeze said as they raced along, "I mean we did use these cliffs for practicing. We know the first part pretty well."

"Yeah," Rainbow agreed, "There was no way we would have known the cliffs were going to be the next track, but it still feels like the time I used my wings to beat Applejack in an iron pony contest."

"Luckily we're not the only ones." Breeze said, and with a single glance, Rainbow found the Honor Guard right behind her with the Silver Blitz close by.

With the push of a button, the screen brought up the images of Syls in her racer and Honor sitting in a room that looked very mechanical in nature, the grey walls and gear styled decorations accented by the copper metal that lined everything. "How are you doing so well?" the Dryskian asked.

"We may have accidentally used these cliffs for our special practice." the pegasus admitted again.

"So, I've heard." Syls said in sarcasm.

"How did you do that, there are like eighteen different paths to take, and you just so happened to practice on the exact one that gets picked?" Tris asked, then she gasped, "Are ponies clairvoyant?"

"No ponies are not…whatever that means." Rainbow said.

"No, we can't all see the future." Breeze explained.

"So that means some of you are?" Honor asked in suspicion.

"Well, Pinkie has her pinkie sense." Breeze said, and suddenly looked on as something caught his eye, "We got Suniks at six o'clock."

"And they're coming up fast." Chivalry observed.

"It's ok, there's a four-way split coming up, we'll lose them there." Rainbow said, and once again pushed her machine harder. The others following suit. When they came to the split, Rainbow Dash came to a stop, "What the…" she asked.

"What's going…" Syls asked, and let her eyes go wide in shock. There in front of her was the four-way split, but now there was no clear path, each of the tracks showed no signs of a gate in it.

"I thought there would be a gate in at least one of these paths." Rainbow said in confusion.

"I have heard of this." Honor said, "Many Cycles ago, the cliffs were chosen for the race, and the winners reported that they had to navigate a labyrinth with no indication, no clear path, or any gates until the end. Though the ones that did finish told of different paths that lead to the final gate."

"Well, that's good." Syls said and was interrupted by Chivalry.

"The others also told of dead ends and blocked paths with terrible hazards." she said.

"So, Rainbow Dash." Honor asked, "Which way do we go?"

The mare began looking down each of the corridors, "Uh…" she said, and then glanced at the samurai ship, "I don't know, we never got past this point. We didn't want to get lost."

Honor growled in a bit of frustration, "So what do we do?" his sister asked.

"Well, there are four trails and three of us." Syls said, "Why not everyone take a path and see where it leads, if your path ends then contact the others and tell them you're going down a different lane. If your path leads to the exit, fire your stun bolts into the air, that will let us know where the gate is, and if you find more than one gate, just keep going through to the end."

Honor simply nodded to the idea while Rainbow Dash grinned, "Ok, I pick…" she said, "This path." She pointed the nose of the Rainbow Trail to the third path counting from the left.

"Then we will take this one." Honor said, and picked the first of the paths.

"I guess this one's ours." Syls said as she placed her ship in between the two. "So, everyone in agreement?" she asked.

She got both of the pilots to nod, "Then let's go." she said calmly and took a deep breath before going into the path.

Rainbow nodded and began her own journey into the path she had chosen, none of them knowing they were being watched. She kept her speed down a bit, trying to make sure she knew where she was going. "Just what kind of race is this anyway?" she asked.

"Don't know." Breeze said, "Not really familiar with a race that makes you look for your end goal."

"Every planet has one." they heard Writch say from over the coms, "But you never know if it's going to be used during any of the Terranuil Races." The look on her face told of sincerity and worry, "Some of the fastest racers I know have lost during this track because they couldn't find the way out. It's a labyrinth in there, and even when mapping it out, it never looks the same because of the continental shifts, we've even seen sheer ice cliffs there."

"Ice cliffs?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah, a few Terranuil races have happened during the winter. It's not that uncommon." the Treeopon admitted.

"So, even old maps are useless." Breeze said, and before any answers were given, the console, lit up and an alarm started going off with an arrow that appeared on the HUD that pointed down.

Breeze looked up and gritted his teeth, "Sunik Flagship six o'clock." he shouted. Rainbow Dash instantly turned around, seeing the giant Sunik ship racing towards them at high speeds.

"Oh my gosh!" she called out, and pushed the throttle as hard as she could, the Rainbow Trail taking off at a faster pace than the old model. "What's he trying to do?" she asked as she maneuvered around a turn.

"I think he's trying to run into us." Breeze said and started firing his bolts at the much larger ship. The two of them could easily imagine the sickening grin on the much larger Sunik's face as the larger ship still closed in on them. "How did he get so fast?" Breeze asked as he peppered the shield with his bolts. "That stupid shield is still nearly indestructible." Suddenly Rainbow Dash took a hard turn, one that narrowed as she made the turn. They actually got some distance between them as the Sunik ship had to slow down after slamming its wing into the side of the wall. "I think we got an advantage." Breeze said, "We're smaller, making us way more maneuverable around turns. It doesn't matter how fast they've made their ship if they can't make those turns."

"Got ya." Rainbow said, and grinned, "To keep him from running us over, we need to find the rout with a lot of turns. Hopefully, it won't lead us into a dead end." She kept up her speed, taking crazy path exits and sharp turns to keep the Sunik ship from catching up.

"He's getting better Dashie." Breeze said, getting her to grit her teeth.

"I'm taking these corners as fast as I can." she said.

'Dang these Suniks and their impenetrable shield.' Breeze said, and had to quickly change tactics when the guns on the larger ship started firing on them, "Think you can try that special move?" he asked.

"Not here." she said, "I'd never be able to get turned back around before he overtakes us."

Breeze growled in frustration. "What about the Mass Stun Pulse Canon?" they heard Blade ask from the coms.

"You said it comes out the nose, right?" Rainbow asked.

"Ugh, I see your point." Blade said, "You'd have to get behind him to use it."

"I got an idea, but it's risky." the blue pegasus said suddenly. "If I can use the flames from the special move to blind him momentarily, I think I can duck into a side corridor and get him to stop chasing us."

"Think you can pull it off?" Breeze asked.

"I think so, but I'm going to need Twilight to time it for me." she said.

"It'd be easier if I was there with you." the purple alicorn admitted.

"Gotta use those instincts." Breeze said.

Rainbow Dash growled a bit, then without warning, made a battle call, turning the Rainbow Trail Mk.2 in almost no time at all, then with a flap of the ship's wings, she lifted the nose of the machine up, and sent a quick stream of fire out in front of them, engulfing them from the view of the other ship. The Suniks passed right through the fire and were surprised to find the Rainbow Trail had disappeared.

While the sighed in relief, they looked up to see the blasts of a very familiar color, "Wait, that's…" Rainbow said.

"Looks like Syls found the final gate." Breeze said with a smile.

"I don't think I'd be able to find my way back in time." she admitted, "Let's hope that one of the paths forward connects."

"I'd stay to the left for now, I can help keep you centered if you need it." she heard Twilight say.

Rainbow Dash simply nodded, "We gotta get there, otherwise, they may still be waiting for us. I don't doubt if that Sunik guy gets there before we do, he'll try the same tactic he tried on us at the end of the qualifying round, but this time, he might not miss."