Chapter 69 – Time to Prepare

Twilight and Pilit arrived in minutes thanks to the staff, their dresses new dresses tucked away for transport while the pony and the Treeopon sat in the back of the vehicle. They were promptly dropped off at the front of the garage, pleasantries were exchanged and Twilight rushed inside, "Twilight?" Rarity asked as she greeted them at the door, "Did you get your hair done?"

"Not now Rarity." she interrupted, "I'll tell you all later, but right now we have to set up."

"Set what up?" Spike asked.

"Our presentation." Pilit said as she gently wheeled the large spear into the main room. The Rainbow Trail Mk.2 was, at the moment, impounded by the council so there was plenty of space.

"Oh, where did I put that projector?" Twilight said in a small panic.

"It's in your office." the baby dragon said and watched the purple princess dash towards the room she had been using.

"What presentation?" Fluttershy asked softly.

"Our presentation to the rest of the council, they'll be here any minute!" Twilight said as she quickly brought out a table and what looked like a small white box with a black lens on the front. "Can you connect your data stick?"

Pilit ran up to Twilight's position and pulled the white stick from her pocket before sliding it into a small port on the top. Twilight quickly turned it on, checking the focus, and then shut the machine off. "They're coming here?" Rarity asked and then looked at her hair, "I'm not ready! I haven't touched up the colors in my hair, I don't have a dress!"

"They're not coming here so you can impress them!" Blade said harshly.

"Blade!" Fluttershy scolded.

With a sigh, he calmed down a bit, "I'm sorry, it's just that…" he said and hesitated a bit, "If Twilight and Pilit are doing what I think they are doing, this might just get us back in the races and set Rainbow Dash and my brother free."

"Where's the screen?!" Twilight asked as she ran from room to room.

"You're office…again. Back corner near the filing cabinets!" Spike called out.

"THANKS, SPIKE!" his caretaker shouted in response.

"I know you're worried about them, so is everypony else." the yellow pegasus said gently, and placed a wing in his shoulders, "But we must remain calm, it won't help either of them if we panic."

He sighed again, "I guess you're right." he said in response, and then turned to the white mare, "Sorry for snapping at you Rarity."

"Apology accepted." she said, and then smiled, "But I'm not wrong, if we all tried to look clean and decent, perhaps the councilors would take this little presentation more seriously."

"You think?" he asked in shock, his eyes widening at the thought of a simple change of clothing being what could make or break something like this.

"And I know just the thing." she continued, "Image and I just finished a set of uniforms that will set us apart from the other teams. Just finished stitching the last one myself actually. I say we try them on and represent our team as the best in the races." She then turned to Twilight, "We'll also need to touch up the dye in our hair to match Twilight's and Pilit's fresh and dare I say, Bolder new look."

"We can't take too long." he warned, "We don't know when they will arrive."

"Oh, with our talents and the wonders of this world, I think Image and I can do this quickly." Rarity announced with confidence.

She was right, the process went quickly, each pony getting a chance to rest while the dye set in and dried. Then came the uniforms. They looked similar to the old uniforms but had some customizations to fit. Blade was given a saddle harness that turned into a tool belt, a jacket that continued the rainbow to his shoulder, and a pair of goggles that could double as welding goggles. Writch was given a custom tool belt to accent her design as well. Applejack and Twiggs were both given aprons to wear if they wanted, Twilight and Tusks had been given white vests that continued the rainbow, while Pilit was given a sweater to wrap around her waist. Pics was given a new robe to wear that matched the uniform's design and Pinkie Pie just decided to go with the basic uniform. Fluttershy and Hulon were both given doctor's coats specially designed for their team. Spike was given his own uniform as well.

Twilight quickly finished setting up while the others cleaned up, Pinkie and Lau both pushing a broom while the little boy giggled at Pinkie's antics. Pilit stood by, reading over her notes and data as she tried desperately to figure out what she was going to say. The others helped to clean in any way they could, trying quickly to get the place presentable. "Hey guys." they heard a raspy voice say, though the voice was familiar, it lacked a distinct tone of confidence and held instead a tone of disappointment.

"RAINBOW DASH!" they all called as they looked upon the disheartened pegasus and her unicorn friend.

"Father." Lau said as he raced to Breeze's side.

"Sup Buddy?" the grey unicorn asked, and looked up to see his brother, the smile hidden under the permanent scowl.

"Breeze." was all he said.

"Blade." the unicorn said in response and braced himself when Lau climbed up to his back.

"Is it normal to have children climb on a pony's back like that?" one of the guards asked.

"Depends on the pony." Blade said in response.

"Sorry guys." Rainbow said as she let the boys talk, "I guess I…" she stopped when Pinkie Pie wrapped her forelegs around her in a hug, "Huh?"

She quickly found herself surrounded by her friends, Pilit and the rest of the team included. "WERE THEY MEAN TO YOU IN PRISON?" Pinkie suddenly asked.

"PINKIE!" the rest shouted.

"What?" the pink pony asked innocently.

"Actually, prison wasn't so bad. I just can't help feeling like I let all of you down." Rainbow admitted.

"Oh, hardly. We've got a lot of work though if we're going to race again." Rarity said as the group separated.

"What?" the blue pegasus asked.

"Yeah." Pinkie said happily, "Twilight and Pilit found magic on all four planets. Now they're trying to convince the council to legalize magic as a booster fuel, but if they fail then we'll most likely be sent home and the Sunik Emperor will get his wish and everypony here will be forced to join his conquest as they learn to use magic and try to take over our planet as well!"

"That won't happen!" Applejack said, "We ain't gonna let it. Besides Twilight and Pilit are two of the smartest…uh…friends I know."

"I'm pleased to know you have such trust in them." another voice said from behind them.

"LADY KIANE!" Twilight said in a panic, "Uh…we're not ready yet…"

"Don't fret Twilight Sparkle, I am not here to judge your performance, I am here to present your findings." she said reassuringly.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the Hylop, "What?" Twilight asked in surprise.

"You need a representative to formally give the report for it to be taken this seriously." they heard from behind Lady Kiane. There stood their friends, Syls, Tris, Honor, Chivalry, and Krisskkil. Syls gave a cocky smile, "Hey Skittle Head."

"Hey." the pegasus responded solemnly.

"You ok?" the shorter Dryskian asked.

"Heh, I guess so." Rainbow said, "It's just, I feel really guilty."

"For what?" Tris asked.

"I just feel like I let you all down." she said.

Syls placed her hand to the back of her pegasus friend, "Hey, you brought us all together as friends, you helped me climb out of my shell. I would still be grumpy and alone of not for you." she said happily, "Even if you don't race, you did more for the five of us than anypony ever has." as she spoke, she turned her hand to the friends she had made, the two Meltackians smiling at the gesture while Krisskkil grinned like a fool. "There is no way you could have failed, even if you came in last place for each race. You brought together an unbreakable group of friends."

"Sselekk couldn't come without causing controversy. He sends his best hopes and wishes, though he won't say it aloud." the small Sunik announced.

Rainbow could feel the tears swell within her eyes, the crooked smile and fragile pride that crept up, she felt as if this is what her friends felt like when she came to their rescue. "Heh." she chuckled, "Don't think I'm gonna go easy on you though, short stuff."

Syls smiled, "Wanna fight about it?" she asked calmly.