Chapter 104 – Racing the Clock

"How has magic been treating you, Short Stuff?" Rainbow asked as she flew up to her Dryskian friend and tapped her hoof to the shorter fox girl's extended fist.

"Wanna fight about it Skittle Head?" Syls teased, "It's kinda tough to get the hang of, but I'm getting there."

"We're actually hoping for a less confrontative special rule so we can have more time to practice." Tris said as she used her own magic to levitate a small metal ball from her pocket and toss it from spot to spot, catching it in her magic as much as she could.

"BAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHA!" Tri-Tiner bellowed out a laugh, "I agree it's tough to get a handle on, but it feels familiar, aie?" he belted out, "It's like a forge for me. Yeh let teh heat rise and then, bam!" he said and let the others see his own magical trick, a small burst of fire that flashed just above his hand.

"This is great!" Twilight said with both pride and excitement, "You all are learning your own styles of magic so swiftly. Just try not to let it get out of hoof, ok?"

"We promise Twilight Sparkle." Chivalry announced, "For me, it's like a flowing river, I just need to let it flow like one." With this, she spun in a circle with her arms outstretched, almost like she was dancing, and from her trailing hand wove a thread of light.

"Mine's like feeling the wind on my fur." Syls suddenly said, "The more of a rush I get, the more I can produce and use, though it is kinda easy to burn out if I'm not careful."

"Aie." Al-Ken agreed, "It's been teh same for us, too."

"It's all in your emotions." Twilight said, "The more you feel, the stronger the magic, and the more you need to concentrate."

"I have noticed that." Honor said, "The crew of our garage contains all sorts of species, and I have noticed since we've begun learning magic, Meltackians without their Passion have almost no chance at performing such feats, they are limited only to their Meltackian powers. However, those with their Passion, like my sister and I, and other spices that express their emotions freely magic comes much more easily, though the flow and concentration levels vary."

"You both have your Passion?" Pinkie asked.

"Indeed." the Meltackian brother said, and they all heard the sound of the race echo across the desert, "No matter what happens, I wish us to stay friends."

"You got it big guy!" Rainbow Dash said, and each of them turned to make their way to their individual garages.

"This is soooo great!" Twilight said as she flapped her wings, "So many different forms of magic, just like ponies! Though, I have to admit they all feel the flow a bit differently than any of us have."

"Perhaps it is because they have a different source than we do?" Rarity asked.

"Not likely, it might just be because of different body shapes or upbringings." Twilight guessed, "I'm not going to know until I run some tests."

"Or, perhaps like ponies, it's different for every individual?" Fluttershy asked as they entered their garage, "Just like most unicorns can't use magic that isn't connected to their special talent, each Terranuilian will feel their magic differently." She turned her eyes towards the Rainbow Trail Mk. 3, its new paint glimmering in the sunlight shining from the sun crystals on the ceiling of the cave, the cyan blue body that faded to a darker navy blue at the bottom of the machine with the same rainbow trailing along its belly and sides.

"Therefore setting the types of magic they can use…like an internal Cutie Mark!" Pilit suggested with vigor as she too gazed at the machine.

"A Cutie Mark ya can't see?" Applejack asked skeptically, "Who ever heard a such a thing?"

"We'd never heard of any of the Terranuilians before we got here," Spike countered, "but they still existed before that."

The country pony placed a hoof to her chin in thought and hummed, "Ya got a point there…"

"Who cares!?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flapped her wings and entered the cockpit, "They're our friends. They'll figure it out naturally, just like we did. Besides," she continued as she placed the goggles over her eyes, "we've got a race to win, and it won't get done inside the garage."

"You didn't really think things would be the exact same on a whole different planet with different history did you?" Breeze said and used his Air Flash to mount the top of the Rainbow Trail Mk. 3 and dove into the gunner's seat.

Rarity chuckled as she and the others cleared the way for Rainbow Dash to exit the garage, "I suppose they wouldn't be." she said.

"All right, everypony!" Tusks said with such gusto that everyone around him had to look and smile at his excitement, "(snort) Let's give them a race they'll never forget!"

The rest of the group cheered as they took their places; Tusks, Writch, Pilit, Twilight, and Blade at the console, monitoring the readouts while the others worked on cleaning the garage the best they could.

"WELCOME BACK, RACE FANS!" the female announced called out over the intercom, "It's been a looooooong wait to get to this race, but we're finally here, and my what an upset. If you remember last time, Rainbow Dash finished first place and caused a known, dangerous cheater to fall out from the race, think she can keep up the momentum?" The cheers of excitement could be heard all over, most Suniks rooting for the three remaining racers of their species, but many of them either secretly or openly cheered for Rainbow Dash or even Tri-Tiner.

"Listen to that crowd!" Breeze said and watched as Rainbow waved to the camera in front of her before flaring her wings and flexing her left foreleg to get the crowd even more riled up. He shook his head, "Ever the showboat." he said to himself, "Don't get distracted Dashie"

"I won't." she said.

The announcer once again began to speak, "Today's race is gonna be a scorcher, not only does it span a significant-sized track with a lot of it underground, but some of it actually comes up to the surface."

"Good thing we insulated the entire thing for both heat and ice." Blade said.

"Good luck racers." the announcer said, "And now for the special rule!" The four drones once again came together, displaying the roulette of symbols before stopping at one that looked like two hands gripping each other's wrists, one from the top and one from below. "Looks like 'Rescue' is the rule for this race!" she said.

Twilight sighed in relief, "Good, a non-confrontative rule, maybe they'll leave us alone."

"The way this rule works, twenty-five dolls like this are scattered along the track." she said, and the hologram showed a large mannequin-like doll; with limp arms, and a wooden structure with no features. "It's the job of the racer to find and rescue any dolls you come across. Once a doll is securely tucked away inside your racer, it can't be snatched up by any of your opponents. That's right, stealing rescued dolls is against the rules."

"Sounds pretty straightforward." Blade said.

"And just like last time, there are some hidden extra points you can earn if you know how, but I'm not telling." the announcer added in.

"Of course." the grey pegasus said, editing his previous statement.

"Also, parts of the track are much larger than you'd think, and the dolls won't appear until after the first gate. You're going to have to explore so if you want to find most of them so get exploring racers. Ready?" All thirteen racers began revving their engines as they focused on the track, ready for when they heard the sound. "GO!" the announcer shouted as soon as she heard the call of the Egas, and off they all went.

Rainbow was the first to leave the start, and the moment they left the line, Rainbow Dash swerved to the left. One of the three Sunik ships opened fire on them. Though she was quick to dodge and weave. "Can't even let us through the first gate huh?" Breeze asked and turned his gun.

"Not yet." Rainbow said, catching him before he could pull the trigger.

"Huh?" he asked, "Why not."

"He has that invincible shield, remember?" she reminded him, "We're going to have to break it before we can even think of targeting him, it'll just be a waste of bolt charge, otherwise."

Breeze groaned a bit, "You may have a point there." he turned just as she passed through the first of the gates, and with a sharp turn, disappeared into the darkness behind a rather decrepit-looking building.

"How did you know this was here?" Breeze asked in a hushed tone as they watched their pursuer slowly pass them by.

"Shhh!" she shushed him and pointed her hoof. There, in the rubble of the building was one of the dolls.

'Lucky.' he thought to himself and waited while Rainbow Dash lifted her cockpit door, slowly and silently flying from the ship and licking the doll up before bringing it back, 'A few more like that and we'll be golden.' he thought to himself.