Chapter 62 – A Plan of Action

"What is that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That's the Egas!" Syls said in surprise, "I didn't think they were real!"

"That makes all of us!" Sselekk added in.

"I don't even know what an Egas is!" Breeze said as a matter of fact.

"That giant light thing in the sky?" the Hylop asked with just as much surprise as the others, "That's the Egas, but what's that dark serpent on the ground?"

Everyone looked to the ground, spying the serpent as it once again threw dark shots from its body, flinging its tail to try and target the serpent of light while dodging the light spears. The Egas then let out a cry, a very familiar cry. One that sounded exactly like the start of the race. "Wait…" Rainbow asked, "The Egas is the start of the race?"

"INCOMING!" Sselekk shouted, getting everyone to look up. A dark ball of energy was hurtling towards them.

"Scatter!" Rainbow shouted, and the group separated, spreading out as far from each other as they could before the large ball of power exploded upon impact. The explosion rocked everyone, their racers either getting pushed or just rocking in the shockwave as the team came back together.

"Geeze." Krisskkil said as he looked at everyone else. "Glad our shields held."

"Ours didn't." the green-haired Treeopon said.

"Ours took a hit as well." the female Treeopon said.

"Looks like everypony took a hit except you guys and your regenerating shield." Rainbow Dash said. You could see the disapproving looks on the faces of everyone else.

"That hit was more real than with the memories." Sselekk said as he tried to ignore the looks.

"More powerful, yes. But more real?" Syls asked.

"Look!" the red-haired Treeopon shouted as he pointed to a gate behind the warring serpents, "There's the exit."

"We gotta make it through the battle and into the gate without getting annihilated?" his gunner asked, "One hit from either of those blasts and anyone but the Suniks and their shield is going to be killed."

"So, we pick a route that keeps everypony safe." Rainbow said with confidence, "Let's stick to the outer edges of the battle until we can get close enough or we could cut through the battle and try to dodge the blasts."

"I vote on the outside!" Syls shouted, "Keeping everypony safe is our top priority."

"They got to you too huh?" Tris asked.

"I know we can cut through the middle, but our shield will only be enough to protect us and the few we can fit underneath us." Sselekk reassured.

"I'm with the Dryskian, the safer we are the {snort} better." the green-haired pilot said.

"Agreed." Honor said.

"Then, the outside it is." Rainbow said, "Sselekk, you be our shield. If somepony needs help it's up to you to protect them."

"Fine." the large Sunik huffed out.

"Breeze, can you see what it takes to knock one of those bolts off course?" she asked.

"Sure thing!" he said with a grin, "Tris, Chivalry, you two wanna back me up in case one full charge isn't enough?" Both girls simply grinned at the thought of the challenge.

"And what about us?" the red-haired Treeopon asked.

"You guys help in whatever ways you can, either with stun bolts or fighting off ground enemies if we run into them." she said.

"And you?" the Hylop asked.

"I'm gonna see if I can find a safe path." she said, "The Rainbow Trail is small and light, it can do maneuvers to get extra altitude that you guys will have trouble with."

"And what of that enormous blast of yours, you know the one that can evaporate my shield?" Sselekk asked.

Rainbow Dash looked to the side, gritting her teeth and nearly cursing the question, "I've only got two shots until I fry one of the main parts." she told them.

"So, we only have two of those blasts?" Krisskkil asked, "I guess it could be worse."

"Tch, fine." Sselekk grumbled, "Let's hope it's enough." he said, and they all watched as Rainbow Dash used the lip of one of the craters to launch herself above the rest of them before landing in front again.

"This way, the blasts seem to fall with a bigger spread over in this direction." she told them and raced off in the direction she specified.

"This had better work pony." Sselekk said under his breath.

The pack went silent as they traveled through the land. Rainbow Dash's path had proven correct, widespread areas that let them pass by with little trouble, and if a blast was going to overtake them, Sselekk was good to his word, he became the shield. The path took longer than any of them wanted it to, much longer. "Boggy, three o'clock!" Sselek shouted once. This caught

Once in a while, they would run into what looked like a shadow, one shaped in a random form, one that was extremely unstable. Breeze and some others would fire upon them, and within three or four shots, the shadow would fade to nothingness. "Ok." Breeze said confidently, "I think we've got it by now."

"It takes between eight and ten shots from a disruptor to knock the big blasts off course enough to clear our path." the Hylop followed up.

"And between the seven of us, I'd say each can take between seventy-five and ninety shots per ship." the other female Sunik gunner said.

"Nice, so if we trade off during recharges, I think we can make it." Breeze announced.

"Why does it look like there are others fighting down there?" Tris asked suddenly, getting everyone to turn their heads to see what she was talking about. Somehow, they had found themselves near a cliff, one that dropped several hundred feet into what looked like a battlefield. There, in the middle of the battlefield, where the carnage was the thickest, small sparks streaked across the field to collide with smaller dark beings that disappeared upon contact. Small streaks sailed across the ground and with others intersecting and coming to the defense of another.

"Is that a racer?" the red-haired Treeopon asked as he tried looking closer to the origin point of the tiny sparks, one that was the closest to them. It was in fact a racer, one that looked like it was fashioned in the same style of the Sunik's ship, colored a combination of black, grey, and a shining blue with wings that were much more technical that could slide into itself to become slimmer.

"I've never seen a racer like that." Honor said in slight surprise.

"What's going on?" Chivalry asked as another racer, one smaller and made similar to Syls except its wings were the same as the Rainbow Trail's wings and colored moonlight silver with what looked like green lights running along its seams, came into view and started racing alongside the first.

They watched as a rather large blast of dark energy struck close to the two racers, tossing dust into the air and, seconds after, the two racers into the wall of the cliff. "Oh my gosh!" Rainbow called out, and with Syls at her side, the two raced down the cliffside, using their jets to slow down before impact. They made their way to the fallen racers, just in time for the two machines to roar back to life, and dislodge themselves from the wall.

"Who are you?" one of them, a stern male voice, asked forcefully.

"Oh my gosh!" the other said in excitement. The female voice was mid-ranged, gravely, and seemed like it had a small amount of wisdom behind it, "Is that the Rainbow Trail?"

"Wait…You're right!" the first said as the forcefulness faded from his voice, "But I thought it was bigger."

"And the Silver Blitz!" the female said in even more excitement, "I didn't think we'd get to see them for real! This is like…my favorite day…ever!"

"Um…" Syls asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh, sorry!" the female said, and suddenly a spot on their screen opened up to reveal the pilot, a dark blue unicorn pony with bright flashing green eyes and rainbow hair, but with a magenta-colored tail that stuck out everywhere was revealed. "I'm Astral Stargazer! And you must be Syls! My favorite racer of all time!"

"WHAAAAAAAT?!" Rainbow Dash, Breeze, Tris, and Syls all shout at once.