Chapter 78 – A Desperate Play

"Welcome to the first of this Cycle's intersystem races everybody!" a female announcer said into a microphone, "These races will test the mettle of every competitor that made it to the final four of each planet as they race to the finish line of each track. The tracks themselves will have special rules added to make it more of a challenge, and each new rule will be drawn at random before the race begins. That way, each competing team will have to be flexible and alert to achieve their goal of being the victor of the race." The voice echoed throughout the stadium, and most likely, thanks to the drones that were released from the inside of the garages, echoed through every TV station as well, broadcasting the races to every house and business on Bacromus. "Thanks to the new drones and satellite connections of the JB technology company, we're actually able to broadcast this race to all four planets instead of just one at a time! So, to all the pilots in this Cycle's race, say 'HI'! You're on live TV!" she said. Most pilots smiled, with Honor giving a thumbs up to the camera, Tri-Tiner flexing, and Rainbow Dash waving nervously at her console. "Alright!" the voice called out again, "Now's time to see what rule fate has in store!"

"Please be flags, please be flags!" Rainbow heard Tri-Tiner whisper to himself. His ship was bulky, riveted together, and sturdy. It looked as if it were wearing armor and had a large boar drill mounted to the front of it. There were several others as well four of them looked similar in design, all of them from the Sunik emperor's fleet. Mirikka's was slightly smaller than Sselekk's, slimmer and narrow with a large bulge under it that had a large vent pushed into the front. One looked a bit more upgraded, several dishes gouged out of the back to make way for what looked like some kind of shield generator, and one that looked very much like Selekk's just smaller.

Suddenly four of the drones came together, turning towards each other, and lighting up an area in the middle of them, with what looked like roulette that spun through several symbols before landing on one that looked as if it were a boulder. "Looks like falling objects have been selected."

"Aw!" Tri-Tiner groaned in disappointment.

"I'm sorry, falling what?" Twilight asked.

"These falling objects will be nothing but holograms, however, the racers will be tasked with dodging them nonetheless, and for each hit they take, 1 Hit Point will be taken away. Once you reach zero, you'll be removed from this race. Should more than three racers be removed from the race, then those racers will have to race again to see who gets to fill those final slots. Three of these racers will go home when this is all said and done. Ready?"

"Wait, don't we have to wait for the Egas?" Rainbow asked, and got her answer when the Egas itself called out like normal.

"GO!" the announcer called out, and the racers all pushed their engines. Rainbow came up just behind Sselekk who was just behind Mirikka.

"Wait." Twilight asked, "What about the gates?" Tusks just shrugged.

"Something tells me that with the new rule, the gates make it too difficult." Image said with caution.

"Do you think they'll be ok?" Spike asked, and watched as Blade stepped up to the console.

"Rainbow, I think I was able to strengthen the joints enough to let you make shallow turns while boosted." he said, "Forty-five degrees might be pushing it, but I'm almost certain you can make a turn that is less than that."

"I was also able to recreate those treats you had lying around your cockpit." Pinkie said as she appeared next to him, "At least, most of it. Should give you a boost when you need it. They should be in your hidden snack compartment."

"Hidden snack compartment?" Rainbow asked, "What hidden snack compartment?"

"The one I asked Writch to install, silly!" she answered.

"That would have been nice to know earlier!" Twilight said in a bit of a huff.

"They know now!" Pinkie argued.

"Either way, I think you've got enough to keep your boost up for a while, try to stay in front and make sure you dodge those falling holograms." Blade said.

"You got it!" she said and focused, letting her magic flow through the machine. The lights making their way towards the B336, and into its core. The light from the engine turned to the cyan color of Rainbow's magic, and everything kicked into overdrive. Once again, the wings folded up, and the thrusters erupted into the same colors of the Rainboom as the Rainbow Trail rocketed past Sselekk's ship even before his new gunner could mount an attack. She then opened the wing just a little, turning slightly as she started dodging the holographic boulders and quickly passed by Mirikka. She opened the wing as far as she could, stopping only when she felt the joint begin to shake. Making a mental note as to where the stress point was, she continued like this, seeing Mirikka's ship start to go faster as well. Then, she saw it, one of the gates. As she turned the corner, reducing her speed to make it, she saw it, and a sheer cliff on one side. The gates were more spaced out now, almost deliberately as to make things just a little harder for them.

"Well, there goes your 'Too Difficult' theory." Hulon said to her Meltackian friend.

"They're more spaced out." Twilight said as she noticed the gates, "I wonder why?"

"Who cares?" Applejack asked, "R.D. Yer goin too easy on that Mirikka girl!"

"Relax!" Rainbow said and tilted her head to pick up a bite of snacks from the compartment in front of her, "It's not like she's got magic to boost with." Just as she finished those words, the ship following her zoomed right by, the bright white coming from her jets leaving a sparkling dust trail. Rainbow swallowed her snacks as they all heard the egotistical laughter from the Sunik woman. Rainbow gawked as the slightly larger ship sped past her, a few crumbs of her snack falling to the floor.

"Told yah!" Applejack said with narrow eyes.

"Think you can beat ME?" Rainbow asked, and pushed more of her magic into the machine. The rainbow contrail stretched further back and her speed increased, but it wasn't enough. "What the hay is she using?" she asked as she continued to preemptively dodge the holograms, "She's as fast as we are!"

"I don't know." Krisskkil said as he returned fire from some of the other ships, thanks to the training Breeze had given him, he was easily able to keep up.

Rainbow watched as the Sunik woman passed by another gate, racing for a turn at the end of what looked like a cliff, so she quickly glanced over the side, "You won't beat me!" Rainbow Dash said and cut the magic to her engine before gliding through the gate and taking a sharp turn, dropping off of the side, and just as she planned, landed on the actual track to enter another gate several meters ahead of Mirikka. once again, she let her magic flow and boosted to her top speed.

The entire garage cheered for her as they watched the little ship suddenly gain the lead. "I can't believe that worked!" Twilight said, "How did you know there wasn't another gate further up?"

"Just lucky." Rainbow said in response.

Mirikka growled through her teeth, "YOU!" she basically yelled as her gunner open fired. Thanks to the lock-on and the training, Krisskkil was easily able to block the shots as Rainbow once again began to eat her snacks so her magic would stay at a reasonable level. "How are you this good? You shouldn't be able to do this, yet…" she hesitated in her words, "I will not be outdone by a lowly creature! It's time you learned what race is superior!" she pressed a button on her console and up came a targeting reticle, it stayed perfectly in the middle of her screen, and she had to swerve ever so slightly to line it up with the much smaller ship. Once she did, she pressed the button again, and from the vent in her ship, a loud bang could be heard, and out from the vent shot the spear of light.

Rainbow swerved a bit, trying to dodge a hologram she hadn't seen as she tried to enter the next gate, then she felt something hit her ship. The spear ripped through its back end and slammed into the right side of the gate she had been trying to enter. The shockwave from the impact sent a surge through her, and from the power, she fell unconscious.

The teams could only watch as the spear, not only appeared for a split second but also ripped through the back of the Rainbow Trail Mk. 2 and destroyed the side of one of the gates, the spear shattering into billions upon billions of shards that exploded along the entire track like sparkles in the wind. Sselekk, who had followed Rainbow Dash's lead and fallen off of the track just to land back on it, watched in horror as the rest of the back of the small ship scattered across the track, and the front fell, tossed from the force, over the edge of the cliff.

Mirikka laughed maniacally until they all heard a cry, one of pain that sounded a lot like the Egas, and the rest of the gate vanished before she could cross it. The racers stopped, unsure of what to do, "What happened?" Mirikka asked in anger, "Where are the gates? HOW CAN I CLAIM VICTORY IF THERE ARE NO GATES?"

Sselekk instantly set his ship down, exiting it quickly, "WHAT DID YOU DO?" he yelled at her, "YOU WERE TOLD THAT LETHAL WEAPONS WERE NOT TO BE USED, WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?"

Mirikka smiled at him, "Wouldn't you like to know?" she mocked, "The creature and the traitor are gone, they won't get in our way anymore. I was able to do what you…"

"NOONE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE!" he called out, "RAINBOW DASH AND KRISSKKIL WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO DIE! YOU WERE TOLD TO RESPECT THE SANCTITY OF THE RACE!"

"Rainbow Dash?" she asked, "So you're on a first-name basis with the enemy, are you? And just so you know, I'm untouchable right now. How do you think we got that spear in the first place?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, "What spea…?" he then let his eyes open wide, "You mean the Egas' Spear? The one that was found to let others learn how to use magic?" All she did was smile at him, "Wait…how did you get that spear? What do you mean you're untouchable?"

All she did was smile, so Sselekk turned back to the rubble, and a thought occurred to him, 'Maybe I can find them in the wreckage.' and so he ran up to the scattered parts and quickly began searching for any sign of life.