Chapter 66 – The God of Our World

The five remaining racers moved fast, keeping tight into the Sunik's ship, as they planned their route to the Egas as the beast lay there on the ground. The Serpent had tried to chase them but was quickly interrupted when a group of other racers open fire on him, causing the great shadow of a snake to back off a bit and lose them in the confusion. When they arrived, several other racers were already there, two of them they recognized, "How is he?" Syls asked. She took a chance to look up at the great beast, its body made from light so she could not see details, but she could tell that it was still breathing, the entire side of the beast rose and fell dramatically with each gentle breath it took.

"Syls?" Astral asked as she and Prims appeared on screen, "YOU STAYED!"

"Heh." she chuckled at her fan's energy, "Like I'd let my biggest fan down." She then stopped right in front of them, "How's the Egas?"

"Not good." they heard Firefly say from nearby, "We can't tell if it's sleeping or not."

Rainbow Dash pressed a button, letting the front of her racer open as she flew out and near the glowing dragon. Without a word, she placed her hoof to it, "You can't feel it?" she asked suddenly.

Everyone there looked to her, questioning glances dominating their faces, "What are you talking about?" Syls asked as she exited her racer.

"You guys need to stop relying on your toys, and just touch it." the pegasus said, and turned back to the glowing beast, "It's warm."

With the pegasus' words echoing in her mind for only a second, Tris, in her curious nature, exited the racer. Cautiously, she made her way to be by Rainbow Dash's side and looked to the pony for what looked like permission. She received only a nod from the pony. "Tris, be careful." she heard her friend and pilot say, then with the gentlest of touches, she placed her hand to the side of the Egas.

"It's…" she began, "It's like a summer day at my favorite beach."

Rainbow turned to her, a smile on her face, "It feels the same as swimming in an oasis!" they heard from beside them, and there stood an astonished Sselekk and Krisskkil, the larger of the Suniks having spoken.

One by one, the other racers exited their ships, each one placing their hoofs or hands to the giant serpent while others kept the dark beings at bay. "It's like…" Astral began.

"Friendship!" Firefly finished. Others looked to her, but Rainbow and Breeze both kept their eyes on the Egas, their knowing smiles growing. "Yeah, it's like the first time I met you all, and we became friends."

"But we've always known each other." her brother interjected.

Syls turned her questioning gaze to her pegasus friend, "Our race puts a lot of importance on friendship." Rainbow explained.

"It's a good quality." Tris said in response, suddenly, they all felt the Egas shift as if it were stirring from slumber.

"It's getting warmer each time someone else touches it." Krisskkil said as he observed the others. He then placed both hands to the side of the beast, "We need more together." he said.

"What?" Sselekk asked.

"I'm not doing anything else by using both hands. I think the more the marrier." his small friend explained.

"You don't think we should just give it more time?" the giant of a Sunik asked.

"Do you think we have time to give it?" Golden Comet asked. This caused Sselekk to look to the pony in surprise, then turn to the battlefield. Yes, they were holding their own, but for how long? All it would take was one mistake and the tides could turn just as quickly.

His answer was a simple growl of understanding, "So how do we keep everyone safe and get everyone here to help?" he asked.

"We may have enough if the gunners stay and guard the pilots." Prims suddenly said, "We only have a few right now, but if my math checks out, then only the Pilots are needed."

Sselekk turned back to the battlefield, several hundreds of racers darting back and forth, each protecting another as they fought tirelessly to dissuade the enemy from attacking. "Sselekk." his gunner said, "What about the wall of guns?"

"What?" the giant Sunik asked, "That's a firing squad lineup." He then began thinking, "And suicide at that!"

"Not for you!" the smaller sunk said, "I'm sure you can figure out how to line us up to make a wall between us and the serpent."

It took him a bit of thinking, but suddenly he jolted away, moving as quickly as he could to the pilot seat of his ship, "Set up the broadcast, select all channels…" he said as he feverously tapped at his screen, "Let's hope this works." He waited, and then with the push of a button, spoke, "Attention all Racers, the Egas needs our help to recover from the wound inflicted by the Serpent." he began, "We have a theory, but we are going to need everyone's help for it to succeed. First, we need to have all ships line up along the Egas. Shields are placed at intervals that allow for the most coverage of other ships. Second, all Gunners need to focus fire on any advancing enemies and to make sure that nothing breaks the line. Third, we are going to need every pilot available to lend us their aid on the ground. Things will be explained after formation had been established."

"What makes you think we'll just line up at the drop of a wrench?" an unfamiliar female Treeopon asked, "You only just came to this battle, and you think YOU have authority?"

"We don't have time to argue!" they all heard a raspy voice say. It took a second to show, but Rainbow Dash suddenly appeared on screen, "The Egas needs our help!"

"And who are you?" the same Treeopon asked.

"Does it matter?" the pony suddenly asked, "Look around you."

"I get it!" Syls suddenly said calmly into her mic. Her face was stern and commanding, authority radiating from her scowl as she demanded attention and respect silently, "We're new. None of us have fought with you, your brothers and sisters in battle are what have kept you alive. They are the reason you keep fighting." She looked down at her feet, "But hasn't the Egas also been fighting with you? Doesn't the Egas deserve your aid as well? Sure, you can get angry at us. But the Egas don't deserve that. It didn't abandon you for pride and anger. So please, put your pride aside for once in your lives and just listen to what we have to say. The Egas needs our help, and the best way is to just let it know we are here, to let it feel our spirits, and let our spirits heal its wounds. Is that so hard to ask?"

The coms fell silent, ideas and pride each falling to thought and shame as each one of the warriors slowly turned to make their way to where the call had come from. "How did you do that?" Rainbow Dash asked in surprise.

"You said we don't have time for this, let's get in line so that we can guide the others." Syls said, the command she radiated as she spoke, it was like she demanded respect, yet trusted the words she spoke. She believed in her ideals, her vision. She wanted to share it, and there was no one who could get in the way of that.

Rainbow Dash, through her surprise, found herself admiring the strength that her friend displayed, and with silence, placed herself between Syls and Honor as Sselekk perched next to the Meltackian. "Ok, here's the plan." the large Sunik said as he narrowed his eyes in focus, "We need the Shields spaced strategically, cover as many of the others as we can without leaving any gaps if possible."

"How do you know that there are more shields like yours?" Breeze asked curiously.

"I've been watching the battlefield, I've seen strategies deployed that were similar to ours, one shield protecting a group. The groups varied in size so I'm hoping we have enough to close any gaps in our defense." he said in response and turned back to the coms, "After that the pilots need to exit, gunners, train your eyes on the incoming enemies while the pilots place their hands, hooves or claws to the Egas. If this works, then I think we have a chance to defeat this thing."

"How do we know if it works or not?" a random Treeopon asked.

"You'll feel it, and when you do…don't fight it." Rainbow Dash said as she opened the hatch on her ship, "Trust me, just let it flow through you, it won't hurt you." with that, she exited the Rainbow Trail Mk. 2 and made her way to the Egas, placing her hoof to the beast once again. One by one, they all placed touched the side of the Egas, the gunners firing their bolts in patterns that only they understood. She could feel it, every time someone, pony or alien, touched the Egas, the feeling grew the same way the connection between her and her friends would grow through all the lessons they learned together. The familiar feeling washed over her, growing and filling her with fond memories. It took a lot of them, every single one of the pilots. She could feel them as they touched the Egas, their presence empowering the being of light and she could feel it shift from under her hoof. It quickly opened its eyes and lifted its head. The bite mark that once adorned its neck was now gone as the Egas looked up, its light spreading out to dissolve the small shadows that advanced, and it roared.