3...
Twilight’s breathing quickened as the magnetic locks released. The craft floated up a few more feet, and began to tilt back and forth slightly, idling. The final limiters on the engines were released, and the league-standard electronica began to rise in her ears. The sign above the starting line began changing from an advertisement for a new type of racing helmet. Almost in slow motion, the white and silver screen became blue, and a large “3” appeared in the center. A band to the left disappeared, the “3” became a “2.” Another bar disappeared. The “2” changed to a “1.” Twilight tensed up. The screen began to change one more time.
The bass dropped.
Twilight stamped her hoof down.
G-force thrust her back into the seat.
The outside world became a blur.
---
Having just spent the day with her good friends Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, Twilight was in a good mood as she trotted back to her library. There was a spring in her step, and a tune humming from her lips. As she turned down the street, towards Ponyville’s main square, she noticed a ring of tents lining the marketplace that weren’t usually there. Each adorned with a logo and each with a different color scheme, she scanned the new arrivals until her eyes landed on a familiar color scheme. Teal, yellow and white.
Twilight stopped in her tracks.
It can’t be… she thought. After the F9000 scandal… wasn’t all that shut down for good? Memories came flooding back to her; nights spent staying up late with her father, watching the races that her mother wouldn’t have let her. The morning after when her mother was yelling at her father, him feebly promising never to let Twilight watch it again, and then being right there with her the very next race. They were violent, dangerous, and fast, and gave her a thrill just watching them that she knew she could never even imagine. She’d dreamed of flying, or even working on, one of the racing ships one day, the powerful magic propelling them to speeds even the fastest Pegasi couldn’t dream of matching. But the speed alone wasn’t what caught her attention the most – it was the weaponry. Twilight came off as a quiet, reserved, bookish girl, and truth be told she was. But she had such a fascination with the weapon systems in those ships. Rockets, bombs, floating mines, even a high-energy plasma shot that could bring even the heaviest racecraft to a halt.
She’d never been much one for the ultra-heavy ships that could run through a bomb without so much as a stutter, or the ships that flew so fast they didn’t need weapons to counter the other craft on the track. No, Twilight’s favorite team had always been Feisar. First to realize that the Anti-Gravity magic that kept war machines and civilian vehicles aloft could be used for racing, they focused less on pushing as fast as they could go and more on safety and handling. As such, from beginning until the F9000 league and the crumbling of the sport, Feisar’s ships would always be exactly where the pilot wanted them on the track. Twilight loved that about Feisar – they were so very much like her. Everything in it’s place exactly how it should be all the time.
Twilight quickly made her way across the open market to the tent adorned with the Feisar emblem, ignoring the other tents offering equally nostalgic or infuriating memories – like the time in the 2049 Season Championship the Qirex pilot had gotten a speed boost down the final straight and overtaken Feisar for the victory, or the time in the FX300 League when a stray rocket knocked the Feisar pilot out of the race. There were a couple colors she didn’t immediately recognize, though – a white, pink, and orange tent along with a white, blue, and orange tent that seemed out of place among the great racing teams of her childhood. She was practically galloping at this point, and came to a sudden stop after nearly bowling over a typically unfortunately placed Derpy Hooves.
“Oh my gosh it can’t really be – but it is are you guys really Feisar is the team – is the entire sport really coming back?” Twilight spewed out a mangled mash up of sentences and questions at the two colts wearing team-styled polo shirts. Both had matching cutie marks, as well, something Twilight thought was odd but didn’t bother bringing up.
“Whoa whoa whoa, slow down there, filly. Yes, it really is – with the help of the good Princess Celestia (and at the urging of her younger sister, Princess Luna), we cleaned the corruption out of the league and race organizers and got the teams back together, heck, we’ve even got some new startups –” the colt gestured to the two tents Twilight hadn’t recognized, “to replace some of the teams that simply didn’t have the funds to enter the new league. You’ll find most of the big names are still here – you’ve got us, AG Systems, Qirex, Auricom, even Triakis, Assegai, and Piranha managed to get some people together to get the assembly lines going again. But the one thing every team is missing is the most important – the members of our teams that make the ships go ‘round the courses. Not a single one of us has a pilot. That’s why we’re here. You interested?”
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, closed it again, and fell to her rear.
“Are you really offering me… pilot… Feisar…?” Twilight could barely get the words out. Her friends new her as the pony who had words for every situation, even times when the best words were no words, Twilight had something to say. But now, the words just wouldn’t form the sentences she was trying to make.
“Yeah, we are? Would you rather fly for Auricom? Or Piranha? Their booths are right over there, we all need pilots equally badl-”
“Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! I’ll do it! Where do I sign?” Twilight cut the bright teal colt off.
Slightly flustered at the purple mare’s sudden burst of energy, he reached under the table and came back holding a clipboard in his teeth. Twilight hastily grabbed it with her magic and pulled out a pen, yanking the paperwork violently from the colt’s mouth. She read the legal documentation as fast as she could, finishing with an exceptionally artistic signature.
“Alright then… the first practice is in a week, at Las Pegasus. Can you make it there?”
“Of course I can! I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Twilight’s voice rising into an almost inaudible fan girl squeal, I can’t WAIT to tell my friends and family! This is so great!
---
Twilight wasn’t the only one passing through the square at the time – Rainbow Dash happened to be flying overhead when she noticed the colored tents. A pink one with the words “Flying High!” plastered on it caught her attention over the others, and she descended in a cyan and rainbow blur, startling the twin pink Pegasi at the tent. The two lightish-red mares recoiled in surprise, and hastily began their recruitment pitch.
“H-hello! We’re with Icaras! Guaranteed to be the fas-”
“Are you…” Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment as she cut them off. “Is this a revival of that old racing sport? The one that got shut down because it was rigged?” Rainbow Dash asked, rather accusingly.
The mare on the left blushed and brought a hoof behind her head, scratching at her mane nervously. “Well… yeah. This is a revival of the WipEout Racing League. Rest assured, Celestia and Luna got rid of the guilty officials. Even still, we didn’t have anything to do with that – our team didn’t even exist back then. Some rich startup in Cloudsdale heard that WipEout was making a comeback and decided to buy up the old Tigron factory – and produce something completely different. Our craft are light and agile, and guaranteed to be the fastest thing around the track.”
“Sounds like my kind of race team! I used to love watching the old tapes of WipEout, but… after the issue with the F9000 league… I just couldn’t handle it anymore…” Rainbow Dash had a sudden realization.
“Wait… why are you guys here?”
The two mares beamed at her, “Every team here is in the same predicament – well, except Feisar, they just got one… but every team here is in the same situation: We’ve got the money, the mechanics, the ships… but no pilots. Want to help fix that?”
“Would I?” Rainbow Dash’s voice nearly cracked with excitement, “Where do I sign?!” Rainbow Dash hastily grabbed the paperwork from the two pink Pegasi and signed everywhere without bothering to read it at all. This is gonna be SO AWESOME! I can’t wait to tell my friends!
---
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were walking home after having spent the day with their good friend Twilight Sparkle. As usual, there was a bit more than a spring in Pinkie’s step and Fluttershy was walking a little taller than most days. Having come from the spa, Pinkie had to pass through Ponyville’s main square to reach Sugarcube Corner, and Fluttershy’s cottage was in roughly the same direction, so they’d decided to walk together at least for part of the trip. However, Pinkie Pie, being Pinkie Pie, upon noticing ponies she didn’t recognize and immediately blitzed off to introduce herself, leaving Fluttershy rather embarrassed, suddenly lacking the self-confidence that practically oozed from Pinkie.
“Excuse me! Miss! Could we speak with you for a second?”
Fluttershy glanced up to see two ponies with military-style mane cuts, wearing camouflage jackets and looking like they hadn’t shaved in a couple days, looking in her direction. She glanced around herself, hoping in vain they were referring to another pony. She swallowed hard, and gestured to herself with a hoof.
“Yeah, you! Come on over, miss!”
Fluttershy began walking over, searching for Pinkie, only to find her deep in conversation with two brightly colored earth ponies at an equally brightly colored tent, apparently very excited. Fluttershy had never seen any ponies as animated as Pinkie in conversation. She turned her head forward again and realized she was practically at the rather military-esque tent already.
“Hey miss! How’d you like to fly for Triakis?”
Fluttershy recognized the name. Triakis. The military-sponsored team from that awful anti-gravity combat racing league that had died years ago. Corruption, cheating, throwing races… it was just awful! Fluttershy opened her mouth to reject the offer when Pinkie appeared next to her.
“Oh hey Fluttershy I just signed up to be a pilot for a startup team called Goteki 45 their crew is really nice and happy and bouncy like me and so is their racecraft and oh wow you’re gonna fly for Triakis that’s a great decision because you’ll be totally safe all the time and –” For one of the only times in her life since that awful incident with the Minotaur, Fluttershy closed Pinkie’s mouth.
“No. I’m not going to have anything to do with that awful sport. It’s too dangerous.” Pinkie’s mouth fell open in shock.
“But Fluttershy… This is Triakis we’re talking about. In the entire history of the sport their ships have been destroyed twice outside of Combat events, and both times the pilots survived without any injuries. And safety has only improved since then. You’ll be just fine. Plus, I signed up and…” Pinkie put on her best puppy-dog-eyes, “pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes, and with a venom lacking, again, since the incident with Iron Will, stated that she’d personally hold Pinkie responsible if anything happened to her, the promptly crumbled back to her normal, insecure self and apologized.
The two military ponies had been watching with an air of caution, and their faces read something between confusion, excitement, and fear.
“So… you wanna join?”
“Want to, not really… but you need a pilot and I need income… where can I sign…?” Fluttershy asked meekly, trying to hide behind her mane.
The earth ponies shared a look, wondering how a pony could go from so sure and strong-willed to this meek little thing in so short a time. They shrugged and handed over the paperwork. At the very least she could fly, and they needed a pilot more than anything. Fluttershy sat back on her haunches and read through it, signing where necessary. Oh, how am I going to explain this to my friends…
---
It was later in the evening, and the crews that had hired pilots had packed up and gone home. Rarity was trotting through the square after getting dinner from her favorite restaurant. She had noticed the booths earlier, but ignored them. Now she noticed two rather bored looking unicorns, a mare and a stallion, wearing rather interesting yellow and red jumpsuits. She trotted over to inquire what exactly they had been doing there all day and noticed the name on the tent: Piranha.Advancements. She let out a rather unladylike gasp and ran to the booth.
“This… am I dreaming? Are you really back?”
The unicorns perked up. “Why no, you’re not dreaming. Piranha is back in business. As are most of the other racing greats. The WipEout Racing League is starting up again with the new PX-400 class racecraft. Piranha’s back, with added BITE!” The male unicorn practically screamed the last word, and Rarity recoiled a little.
“Well, why are you here, then? What brings you to Ponyville, of all places?”
“We need a pilot.”
It took Rarity a moment to make the connection.
“Well, I have always liked Piranha… and your ships are so beautiful and sleek… You wouldn’t want me to pilot, would you?”
“If you’ve got the time, we’ll pay you well and you’ll get to travel a lot,” the female unicorn added.
“Well, I’ve always dreamed of flying a Piranha racecraft… but really you will have to do something about that dreadful color scheme. Red and yellow? Honestly you look like a flying advertisement for that repulsive fast food chain…”
The unicorns looked at each other, shrugged, and handed over the paperwork. They were Piranha after all – the team was known for making compromises to avoid finishing last. Rarity filled out the forms and handed them back.
---
Two earth ponies wearing red, white, and blue jackets hung their heads as the unicorns from Piranha packed up and left, taunting them, “Last again, Auricom!” The pair was just starting to pack up themselves, and accept the fact that they hadn’t gotten a pilot. Even Harimau! Harimau had gotten a pilot! And not them!
An orange earth mare strolled up and spoke, “Well howdy y’all! Ya look tired, and ya’ve been here all day without so much as eatin’. I thought ya might like some pie.” She slid a pie from off her back onto the table. The two ponies perked up and dove in.
“Thanks ma’am. We were starving… Hey, would you consider flying for Auricom?”
“Flying? In case y’all haven’t noticed, I’m an Earth Pony. Ah don’t have wings. And who the hay is Auricom?”
The ponies looked at each other and hung their heads again and let out heavy sighs. Nopony even knew who they were.
“What’s got ya down?”
“Well, we’re here trying to get a pilot for our racecraft, but we’ve had no luck. Everypony we’ve talked to hasn’t been interested in flying for Auricom!” The one pony threw his forelegs up in the air in a sarcastic gesture of exasperation.
“Well shoot, partner, I didn’t know you meant flying for Auricom as in the WipEout team. Ah just hadn’t heard the name in a while. I was always rooting for y’all, even though ya never won anything.” Applejack smiled and laughed, “You said y’all need a pilot? Well, I might not be the best mare for the job, but I’d certainly be willing to try it out if you really have nopony else.”
The two stallions looked at each other, smiled, and got the paperwork.
How am I gonna explain this to Granny Smith and Big Mac…
---
Twilight had called her friends to her library. She hadn’t explained why, she just said she had a big announcement, leaving it open to speculation by her friends.
“I wonder if she’s pregnant?” Pinkie asked as she bounced along.
“Now Sugarcube, I know she’s been datin’ mah brother, but I don’t think they’ve gotten quite to that point yet…” Applejack remarked, making a mental note to talk to her brother when she got home.
“She probably just got some new books in, or is going to talk to the Princess again…” Rainbow Dash grumbled. They’d all known each other for years, and even after so many, Twilight was still prone to dragging them all to her library for an announcement the rest would consider generally insignificant.
“At any rate, it is always nice to visit her,” Rarity said.
The group of friends arrived at Twilight’s tree house library, and before they could knock, heard the sounds of arguing within, and entered to a shocking scene.
“I’m telling you, Twilight, handling means nothing if you’re the last off the line and slow out of the bends!” the dragon yelled.
“Being able to power out of the corners is useless if you can’t make the turn in the first place!” the unicorn retorted.
“If you want to berate a team for not being able to turn, talk to Piranha! You and I both know AG’s only flaw is in top-end speed, while your lame Feisar is slow everywhere!”
“Erm, Twilight? Spike? What are y’all arguing about?” Applejack interrupted.
Twilight, bedecked from horn to hoof in clothing and accessories bearing a cyan, yellow, and white color scheme and the words “FEISAR” and “The Future is Euro” emblazoned on them, shot back a venomous response.
“I’m trying to explain to Spike why Feisar is the best race team in the WipEout league!”
Spike, dressed in a similar manner but bearing instead a red and white color scheme labeled “AGSYS” replied the same way.
“And I’m telling her why she’s wrong! It’s clearly AG Systems!”
“You’re both mistaken. Piranha Advancements is the most fashionable, not to mention the fastest, team in the field, and isn’t as fragile as those pathetic Icaras ships. Feel free to disagree with me, just know that you’re wrong.”
Everyone stared in shock at the unusually blunt remark from the white unicorn.
“Rarity, I never knew you were a fan of AG racing,” Twilight began.
“Oh hush dear, I’m less of a fan and more of a passionate observer,” Rarity replied. The other occupants of the library exchanged glances, wondering if their definition of the word “fan” was wrong.
“… Well, at any rate, I’m glad you’re all here. I have an announcement to make! As I’m sure you all saw, there were a dozen tents set up in Ponyville’s main square today. As you may not have been aware, these tents were for each of the twelve teams competing in the revival of the WipEout Anti-Gravity Racing League!” Twilight couldn’t restrain a fan girl squeal and giggle at this point, but took a few deep breaths to maintain her composure, “Additionally, the reason they were all here is that they were looking for pilots for their upcoming season. I was lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to pilot Feisar this year.”
Twilight’s friends shuffled about uncomfortably, but Twilight didn’t notice, and continued.
“However, this little dragon over here had the nerve to sign up as AG Systems’ pilot without asking me first. I mean, how could he sign up for an inferior team like that? It’s just not lo-”
“I’m not a little dragon anymore, Twilight. I’m not fully-grown but I am maturing. I can make decisions by myself. You know from showing me the tapes of the old races how much I like AG Systems. You’re going to have to deal with it.”
“OH! You guys signed up for Feisar and AG Systems? They seem like nice teams! I signed up for one called Goteki 45! I’m really not sure who they are but they sound GREAT! They said their ship was light and spritely and I thought that sounded good to me so I signed up! Oh and Fluttershy here signed up for Triakis even though sh-”
“Fluttershy signed up for Triakis?” a chorus of voices exclaimed in shock.
“I… um… well… yes…” Fluttershy squeaked out.
“Wait, you’re telling me that you and Fluttershy both signed up as well?” Twilight inquired, a moderately frustrated expression on her face.
“Well…” Applejack brought a hoof to her chin contemplatively. “I think we all did, Sugarcube. Rarity’s been talkin’ like she joined Piranha, Pinkie and Fluttershy are both going to be pilots, I signed up for Auricom, only RD hasn’t mentioned anything.”
“Icaras,” Rainbow Dash stated flatly, “Their tagline is ‘flying high’ and they guaranteed me their ship is the fastest around the track. Sounded good enough to me.”
Twilight looked at her friends, her eyes starting to moisten. She let her head fall down and her shoulders began to shake. It sounded like she was… crying.
“Twilight, dear, I’m sorry if you thought that this was something special you and Spike were going to enjoy together… I assure you none of us meant you any harm to you by it…” Rarity trotted over and put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.
Twilight lifted her head.
“No…” she wiped the tears from her eyes, revealing she had been crying, but not for sadness “I’m not sad, not at all! Are you kidding? This is the best day ever! The WipEout AG Racing League is being revived, I get to pilot for Feisar, and all my friends are piloting for their favorite teams as well! Best day ever!” Twilight’s face exploded into an enormous smile and jovial laughter as her friends all rushed in to hug her.
Twilight thanked them all for coming and shut the door as Applejack left.
“Spike?” she said.
“Yeah, Twilight?”
“Feisar’s better.”
“Ugh…” Spike facepalmed and walked upstairs to go to bed.
---
It had been years since Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had found their Cutie Marks, and though they were no longer the Crusaders, they were still the best of friends, and roommates. While walking together after lunch they had noticed the tents, and had gone off to see the ones they thought most interesting. Each had signed up for a team and each felt ready to take on the world – Scootaloo for the upstart Mirage, Applebloom for the amalgamation of EGR and Xios now known as EG-X, and Sweetie Belle for League veteran Assegai. They walked home arguing over whom would win the first race and wondering who else would be piloting for the other teams. Unable to decide, they eventually went back to their apartment and got ready to go to bed. As they settled in for the night, Sweetie Belle piped up.
“Hey girls?”
“Yeah?” Scootaloo and Applebloom replied in unison.
“Cutie Mark Crusader AG Racers?”
“Cutie Mark Crusader AG Racers! YAY!” the Pegasus and Earth Pony replied, feeling a slight warmth of nostalgia in their stomachs as they fell asleep and dreamed of their antics in years past.
---
Applejack and Big Mac sat down at their dinner table. There were two other place settings, one for the moved-out Applebloom and one that they kept for Granny Smith. Applejack looked at the empty chair where the ancient green mare used to sit and smiled, tears coming lightly to her eyes.
“You know, Big Mac, I still miss her every day. I hope she’d be proud.”
“You know she is, AJ. She loved us and we loved her, and we’re taking care of the farm. That’s all she would want.”
“Speakin’ of taking care of the farm, uh, Big Mac, I need to tell you something.”
“As a matter of fact, I do too, sis.”
“Well, y’all go first.”
“Ok… Well today there were these tents set up in Ponyville’s main square… there were these big, blonde, tough lookin’ ponies at one so I figured I’d check it out…”
“Big Macintosh. Do not tell me you signed up for that foolhardy AG Racing piloting thing, too!”
“Too?” Big Mac inquired. He may have been slow of speech and a simple pony, but he was a lot more perceptive and attentive than he lot on.
“I didn’t say too,” Applejack lied, her face taking on that expression characteristic of when she told a lie.
“Applejack. You are the worst liar in all of Ponyville. And even if you weren’t, you’re my sister. I’d know if you were lyin’. Well, anyway, I signed up for a foreign team called kyu-reck or something. Their ships are big and tough, but not too slow. Seemed like a solid team to me.”
“It’s pronounced ‘Kai-rex’ and spelled ‘Q-I-R-E-X’ ya dummy,” Applejack laughed, “And I got roped into piloting for Auricom. So… I guess that makes us rivals now.” Applejack smirked, “And we all know who the better AG pilot would be!”
“Eeeyup. Me.” Big Macintosh smiled, then dug into his dinner.
“Hey now!”
“Oh, Applejack?”
“Yes, brother?”
“If we’re both gonna be racing… who’s gonna take care of the farm?”
“Oh horseapples.”
---
“So you’re saying that your ships aren’t as tough, or quick off the line, as any of the other teams, but are ‘pretty quick’ and ‘decently agile.’” The light green unicorn raised an eyebrow sarcastically.
“Uhh… yeah. We’re new, low on funds, and jus tryin’ to get our names out there. Would you help us out?”
“Eh, why not.” The mint-colored mare gripped the pen and paperwork with a strange magical appendage that seemed to have an assortment of smaller appendages stuck to it. She signed the papers and handed them back to the two ponies.
“When do I need to be here again?”
“Next weekend, your first practice is out by Dodge Junction. Does that work for you?”
“Yeah. I’ll make some time. Thanks!” Finally, a legitimate use for my magic hands… well, aside from with Bon Bon… Lyra blushed a little at the mental image she’d just created and hurried home to make it a reality.