Chapter 103 – Let the Games Begin

Two weeks, that's how long they trained. Sselekk was none too gentle either. Strict with guidance, he taught the pegasus the secrets he knew. Now, Rainbow Dash found herself exiting the training simulator with Breeze at her side, a big grin on her face as the two of them talked.

"You doubled your previous score." Twilight said as they approached, "Congratulations."

"I'll second that." Sselekk said as he smiled with pride, "Ponies are probably the most incredible creatures I've ever met."

Rainbow smiled as they praised her, "Don't feed her ego, please." Twilight said, getting the pegasus to lower her head, "We're an exception, not a norm."

"I'm not that bad." Rainbow retorted.

"Nevertheless, you did great." the large Sunik told them, "I'm sure you can handle Kkelmar as long as he doesn't sneak up on you."

Rainbow lowered her ears, "So now we got to train for that, huh?" she asked.

"Go get some rest first." Sselekk said, "You two have earned it."

The two ponies walked away, leaving Sselekk and Twilight alone near the machine, "We're not ready, are we?" Twilight asked.

"Don't know if we'll ever truly be." the large Sunik said in response, "But we don't have time to stall, the race is only in a few days now."

"Is there anything we can do to prepare?" the alicorn asked.

He placed his clawed hand to his chin and sighed, "Pray maybe?" he said, "Though I've never really tried to pray to the Egas before."

"We're just going to have to hope for a special rule that favors separation rather than confrontation." the two of them heard Blade say as the grey pegasus walked up behind them.

"What are the special rules?" Twilight asked, "So far, we've seen 'Falling Objects' and 'Targets'. What else do we have to prepare for?"

Sselekk shrugged his shoulders, "As I said, I've never actually been here before."

"But Tri-Tiner and Al-Ken have." Blade said, "Rainbow Dash said she noticed him whispering hopes for a 'Flags' style race. He also said that the 'Targets' style was 'second best' in his opinion. Wonder what that means?"

"Do you think he'd tell us if we asked?" Twilight guessed.

"Never hurts." Sselekk said with a smile.

"You haven't been to the planets that I have." Blade said with flat distrust.

"First though, lunch." the large Sunik said and began his march to the kitchen.

"NOT AROUND FLUTTERSHY AGAIN!" Blade shouted, "She nearly had a heart attack when she saw those Roakin Skewers!"

"Can I help it if Suniks are insectivores? No!" the large lizard man said. Twilight simply shuddered at the memory and Blade simply flattened his eyes in frustration.

A few moments later, Twilight found herself standing at the base of the main computer with a large picture of the Hok-Sai pilot on screen, Tusks and Spike next to her while the baby dragon held onto a tablet to take notes with. "Well, I'm not familiar with all of them, but I do know a few, Aie?" the larger Hok-Sai said as he gazed at his new friends over the coms. Twilight had called a meeting with the teams, right now she could see Syls' team and Honor's video's down in the corner of her screen while the video of the Hok-Sai took up most of it, "First is teh Falling Objects, ye've seen that one. Then of course; Targets, probably mah second favorite. But teh best of 'em is Flags. Yah just race through pairs of flags like gates, but if yah miss one yah lose points, and yah gain points fer each pair yah get through, and bonus points if yah don't touch teh flags."

So, what happens if you reach zero points?" Twilight asked.

"Yah get ejected from teh race." he said, "But it hasn't happened fer a few Cycles now, racers are built to race after all." he said and grinned widely.

"I see, are there any others you remember?" she asked.

"Well…" Tri-Tiner drawled out, "I do remember one that requires yah to do tricks…"

"There's also a rescue one." Al-Ken said in his gruff tone, "They hide dolls around teh track, and yah have to find and rescue teh daft things."

"There's more, but I'm afraid I'm not as familiar with them." Tri-Tiner said as his smile fell, "Sorry."

"That's ok." Tusks said, "You've done more than {snort} your fair share. We appreciate the help you've already {snort} given us."

"Yeah!" Syls said with jubilance, "With this info, we're going to be able to prepare for all kinds of things."

Chivalry looked down to her console as everyone heard the sound of typing, and the message that appeared said, 'You're knowledge will be most valuable indeed.'

"Is there a way to tell what kinds of tricks are the best to pull off? Or even where the dolls are on the tracks? Tartarus, even a map of the race track would be helpful." Twilight suddenly asked, only to have the two Hok-Sai shake their heads.

"Not really." Al-Ken said in an apologetic voice, "At least, not that we've found."

"All I know is that trick combos are teh best to try, but teh longer yah make it, teh harder it is to land correctly." Tri-Tiner announced.

"Well," Spike said as Twilight groaned in frustration, "Thanks anyway." And placed his pad down on a nearby table as soon as the screen went dark.

"Ugh!" Twilight groaned, "This stretch of rounds is getting frustrating."

Rainbow and Breeze stood at the door again, waiting for the sun to rise. She could feel the buzz of excitement and nerves spread throughout her fur as she watched for the first light of the new planet. "Hey." Rainbow said softly, "You ok?"

"Nervous." he admitted to her, "I've got a bad feeling, and the last time I ignored a bad feeling I ended up saving a psychic psycho from a prison she was definitely meant to be in."

Rainbow chuckled a bit at his words, they were definitely a jab at himself, "Don't feel too bad." she said, "I'm definitely over it." She then sighed, "And you're not the only one with a bad feeling." she said and watched as the sunlight crept across the ceiling as it reached for them. She inhaled a deep, slow, calming breath, "But I'm not backing down." she announced catching her gunner in surprise, "We CAN get through this." she said with confidence and pushed a button on the wall with her wing, she watched as the door closed, appearing as if fading back into existence, "We have to." The building shook again, the light appearing in a bright flash from the other side of the door as they once again switched locations.

"You surprise me." Breeze said softly, "I don't think I've ever met somepony who refuses to fail the way you do."

"Thanks?" she asked in confusion as she once again pushed the button, opening the door to an underground racetrack that stretched out for hundreds of miles in several random directions opening to rubble and large sun crystals scattered across the expanse of the cave.

"I'm not entirely sure it's a compliment, but it's definitely something to admire." he said with a smile just as the others started exiting the hallway.

"You two ready?" Twilight asked as she used one of her wings to lead a very tired-looking Lady Kiane out into the garage.

"Where on Sunik are we?" Sselekk asked in surprise as he saw the track, "This cave is huge and naturally formed. I've never seen a settlement, old or new this large before."

"It looks like an old capital city!" Pilit said in excitement.

"Just like back on Bacromus!" Twilight placed together, "If only we could explore the ruins…"

"So this is Sunik?" Lady Kiane asked as she looked around.

"AIE!" they heard Tri-Tiner call out from the other side of the track. They noticed him waving at them from the distance and Al-Ken stood with him, "Yer team keeps growing every time we see yah." he said as they neared, "Oh, Lady…uh?"

"Lady Kiane, yah moot!" Al-Ken nearly shouted.

Tri-Tiner snapped his fingers, "Oh, right." he said awkwardly, "Yah feeling ok?"

"My body has healed and Ms. Twilight Sparkle's conversations have eased plenty of the mental stress." she told him and looked to the ground, "Though I have been told that I now keep overly meticulous care of my designated quarters."

"Mine's been called a disaster zone." the large Hok-Sai blurted out, "Sorry, can't relate."

Al-Ken slapped his face with one of his hands, "Are yah daft on purpose?" he asked in a mumble.

"Luckily…" Fluttershy said with a gentle smile, "Twilight has been known to be a bit…meticulous…with her books as well." she finished and watched as Twilight cringed while Spike chuckled. Lady Kiane turned to the purple alicorn in only mild surprise.

"And yer once big enemy I see has joined yah." Tri-Tiner started up again as he looked to Sselekk, "Still helping us even after we stopped that Mirikka gal, aie?"

"Might we join in on this conversation?" they all heard from inside their heads.

"Absolutely." Applejack said as they turned to see Honor, Chivalry, Syls, and Tris.

"I'm stoked about this upcoming race." Syls said as she pumped one of her fists in the air, "It's going to be awesome."