//------------------------------// // 9: Searching, Rescuing, and Escaping // Story: Road to Harmony // by Artthriller94 //------------------------------// It was around 11:15 P.M. when the portal, back at Canterlot High, as the portal of the school’s statue opened and the first person to shoot out was Sunset Shimmer, with Starlight Glimmer coming out second. As Sunset recovered from her dizziness, she helped Starlight stand on two legs. They both looked at each and chuckled, but as they turned towards the school, they both gasped. Suddenly, Charlie Johnson, David Jefferson, Rachael Bailey, Sam Barrett, Bobby Brant, and Lily Mavis shot out of the statue and as they regained consciousness, they couldn’t believe what they saw. Canterlot High was once a beautiful high school, but now it has been vandalized. The windows have been shattered and broken, the front doors were dangling from its hinges, and there were paint sprayed on the walls, inside and out. “C-C-Canterlot High!” David shouted. “It’s all in shambles!” “I can’t believe the Sirens did all this!” Lily clenched her fists. “No one messes with this school!” "I can't believe they could stoop so low to do all this, right Sunset?" Starlight asked. Sunset said nothing, as she began to seethe with so much anger inside. Her fists were curled and vibrating, and fire was burning in her eyes. Finally, she screamed out loud. “Those Dazzlings are gonna’ pay for this!!!” Her voice echoed throughout the schoolyard, and Team Furious winced upon hearing it. They could tell that their friend wants revenge against the Dazzlings, for what they have just done. Not only did they sent the Wondercolt students, under their control, after Sunset’s friends, but they tarnished the proud high school that Sunset calls home. After venting out her anger, Sunset began to calm down. “I’m... I’m sorry about that, guys.” “It’s alright, Sunset.” Charlie sympathized. “We’re thinking of the same thing. We’re not gonna’ let them get away with this, and we’re gonna’ fix this together.” “And once we catch those Sir... I mean, Dazzlings,” Rachael cracked her knuckles, “I’m gonna’ make sure they tell us who they’re workin’ for, and why.” “When it’s all over, we’ll still be here to make CHS back to its former glory.” Bobby joined in. Sunset sighed with relief. “Thanks, guys." Sunset smiled. "I really needed to hear that.” "Huh, you sure are lucky to have such good friends from a world that cares." Starlight shoulder-bumped Sunset. “Hey! You!” Said a voice. Everyone turned their heads to the direction of the voice calling them out, and right next to the statue were the Cutie Mark Crudsaders, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. As much as Sunset and Team Furious wanted to greet them and ask where the Rainbooms have gone, they could see the angry expressions on the CMCs’ faces. “Um, Apple Bloom?” Sunset asked nervously. “Well, well, if it isn’t the girl who we all hate to see.” Apple Bloom retorted. Sunset winced at the rude comment. “We can see that you’ve brought more ‘ruffians’ to help you on your little mission!” Sweetie Belle scolded. “And we’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen!” Scootaloo finished. "Yep, they're under their spell, alright," said Rachael, nonchalantly. “Hey, whoa now!” Lily tried to calm the situation. “This isn’t what you girls think! I mean, can’t we all just get along?” The CMCs suddenly smirked devilishly, and Scootaloo whistled to no one in particular. However, from inside the once proud high school, a few students walked out, with baseball bats in their hands, and they all slowly walked towards the group. “Ooooh, we’re in trouble!” Sam gasped. “Anyone have any ideas?” Bobby quivered. “Guys, I have a plan,” Charlie said with a smile, then panicked. “RUUUUUN!!!” Team Furious, Sunset, and Starlight ran towards the sidewalk and the mind-controlled students, as well as the CMCs, followed them in hot pursuit. “That’s your plan, Charlie?” Rachael asked. “Really?!” “That’s part of the plan,” said Charlie. "We're gonna' get away in our cars and find out where the others are!" Starlight started to worry. She didn't know how to drive, and yet if Sunset could drive, how hard can it be? "But I can't drive, Charlie!” “Don’t worry, you will! Trust me!” Charlie then turned his head towards Sunset, who was running alongside his left. “Sunset, contact your friends; tell them we’ve just came back, and ask them where they are!” By his command, Sunset grabbed her smartphone from her pocket, and began texting to each of the Rainbooms. As they all ran together around a corner, the group hid behind some bushes, and silently waited for the angry mob of students to pass by. After a few seconds, the mob ran passed the bushes, and were out of sight. David poked his head out first, and whistled to his friends, signifying that the coast is clear. As they emerged out, they made sure that no one was still following them. "Well, that was fun." Rachael grumbled, clearing off the dirt on her clothes. "This is getting worse than I thought," said Sunset. "Apple Bloom, her friends, and the rest of the school are now being controlled, and those darn Sirens made them trash the whole school. What are we going to do?!" Just then, Sunset’s phone vibrated a few times, and she read her friends’ text messages. Sunset then gave a big sigh of relief, when the Rainbooms replied that they were at Camp Everfree, the only place that wasn’t affected by the Sirens’ magic. Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce had offered to hide them there, until the whole situation can be resolved. But strangely enough, Rainbow Dash was the only one who hasn’t responded, and this caused Sunset to worry a little. “Guys, they’re hiding out at Camp Everfree, with Gloriosa and Timber.” Sunset called out. “I think the Sirens’ spell hasn’t gotten that far yet, and they'll be safe until we get there. But Rainbow hasn’t texted me back. I’m beginning to think that she’s in trouble.” “Then it looks like we’ve got some searchin’ to do,” said Sam. “We can’t go to Camp Everfree without Rainbow yet. Right, Charlie?” “Right.” Charlie confirmed. “I think we should split up into a two-team search and rescue party. Rachael, Sam, Bobby, and I will look around Canterlot City for any traces of Rainbow Dash’s whereabouts. And if we run into any trouble, we’ll be prepared to face it together with our abilities. David, you and Lily will go with Sunset and Starlight to the camp, and tell the Rainbooms that we’ll rescue Rainbow, and will be there ASAP.” Everyone understood to Charlie’s plan, when Sunset approached Charlie and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Just be careful out there, you guys.” Sunset warned. “The Sirens might have a few tricks up their sleeves. Send us a message when you’ve found Rainbow, okay?” “We will.” Charlie reassured. “No problem.” Sam tipped his hat. “You can count on us.” Bobby added in. Rachael simply nodded. After the search party quickly “summoned” their cars out, they drove off into the horizon towards the city, while Sunset led the rescue party the way to Camp Everfree in her custom ‘69 Mustang Boss, with an impressed Starlight in the driver seat of her new McLaren Senna. She had suddenly gained the knowledge of driving, even though she didn’t understand how she had gotten the hang of driving so fast. Needless to say, she, Lily, and David followed Sunset towards the great big forest approaching them. Getting into Canterlot City without being seen wasn’t so easy for the search party. There were groups of angry citizens everywhere, ranging from teenagers, adults, and elderly people arguing at each other, to other people committing crimes on stores and businesses. To Team Furious, it was like watching cartoon wrongdoers right before their very eyes. They were trying to sneak past the spell-bounded people, while being behind the wheel of their vehicles, and their headlights turned off. But with the way their engines rumbled through the streets, they had almost gotten caught each time. If any of them let their guard down, they would give their positions away to the enemies. Presently, they’ve turned onto an empty alley, with no one on their tails, and as Charlie turned his ‘70 Dodge Charger’s lights back on, he saw a figure laying down on their side. That’s when the figure turned on their back, moaning with pain, staring at the midnight sky, and Charlie instantly recognized their face. “Rainbow Dash!” The four teenagers ran out of their cars to their fallen friend’s side and inspected Rainbow for any injuries. She wasn’t badly hurt, with the exception of some small swelling on her right cheek, some cuts on her t-shirt and skirt, a black eye, and bruises on her arms and legs. There weren’t any signs of blood on her, which was good considering that this universe is supposed to be family-oriented. Why the Dazzlings would make everyone in the city to commit crimes and attack their friends was still boggling their minds. “Rainbow?” Charlie called out. “Are you okay?” Rachael asked, with a worried expression. “Say somethin’, friend!” Sam begged. Rainbow tried to open her eyes, but she was still suffering to say anything. Then, Charlie remembered one of Rachael’s abilities from the Spectrometer. “Rachael,” Charlie turned to his worried friend, “do you think you can use your healing power to cure her?” Rachael didn’t even remember that she had healing powers, until now. Nodding her head in response, she laid her right hand on Rainbow’s chest, and focused on healing all of her friend’s injuries. Within a few seconds, the cuts on her clothes fixed themselves, the swelling went down to a flat surface, and her black eye and bruises were no longer in sight. As Rachael opened her eyes and raised her hand back, Rainbow opened her eyes wide and sat up straight. She then looked at Rachael, who smiled at her. “R-Rachael?” Rainbow stared at her friend. “You had me worried there. Thought you weren’t gonna make it.” Rachael winked. She then hugged Rainbow, happy to see her close friend in healthy condition, and she hugged Rachael back. To their amazement, Charlie, Sam, and Bobby had never seen Rachael so worried about anyone, let alone hugging them. She was always the more rebellious tomboy type and sometimes doesn't show her emotional feelings. Maybe Rachael and Rainbow Dash have many things in common, since they’ve spent time together at Rainbow’s house the other night. “Son of a gun.” Sam gasped, with a big smile on his face. Rachael and Rainbow suddenly noticed this and quickly pulled away from each other in embarrassment. “So, uh... ahem!” Rainbow cleared her throat. “Where’s Sunset and the others?” “They’re heading for Camp Everfree to meet up with the rest of the Rainbooms.” Bobby answered. “Come on, you can ride with me.” Rachael offered. “We still need to get past whoever’s out there in the streets.” “Yeah.” Rainbow agreed. “Let’s get outta’ here.” After Rainbow climbed into Rachael’s Mazda RX-7, the team started to back out of the alley, only to be stopped by three female figures, on sport bikes, blocking their way, which turns out to be none other than the Dazzlings. Crossing their arms, they smirked devilishly at the surprised drivers. They were hiding behind the entrance and overheard their conversations. What’s worse was that there were a number of people behind them, waiting to give Team Furious and Rainbow Dash a big beating. “Well, well, well.” Adagio called out. “It appears we’ve got ourselves a couple of trespassers in our city. In case you are wondering, we've already seen your vehicles from a far distance. and since you were all foolish to come and rescue your little troublemaker, we have you surrounded everywhere.” Suddenly, the Dazzlings’ eyes glowed red, and three astral projections of the Sirens’ true forms hovered above them. “There is no escape!” Adagio was right about being surrounded. Not only were the Sirens and their minions behind them, but Team Furious could see that there was another group at the far end of the alley. Rachael gritted her teeth in anger. She wasn’t going to be their next punching bag, or Rainbow, ever. “Surrender yourselves now, or we will show you no mercy!” Adagio ordered. Charlie tried to think of a way to get out of this situation, but the only option he could think of was to escape through the alley, and hopefully the people waiting in front of them would move out of the way. Grabbing his CB microphone slowly, he spoke to his teammates. “Alright, guys. We don't have any options on the table here. Let’s floor it and get out of here through this alley as fast as we can.” Charlie then cited a familiar Fast and Furious quote. “Ride or die.” The others followed suit. “Ride or die.” Sam joined in. “Ride or die.” Bobby added. “Ride or die.” Rachael finished off. But Rainbow Dash was caught off-guard by the quote. “Wait. Ride or what?” Charlie was the first to slam down the pedal, as his Charger burned rubber through the alley, followed by Sam’s ‘69 Chevy Camaro Yenko, Bobby’s ‘99 Nissan Skyline GT-R, and Rachael’s RX-7, with Rainbow yelling, “Woah!” Watching them escape, the Dazzlings remained unfazed and gave a smug. “They took the hard way. Let’s see if they do make it out alive.” Adagio smirked. With a wave of their hands, the Dazzlings ordered their siren forms to attack the escaping cars, and as they flew after them, Team Furious checked their rearview mirrors. "Well, this is typical of them." Rachael remarked. "So, how are we gonna' escape without running over those people?" Sam asked through the CB, referring to what's waiting at the end of the alley. "I don't know, Sam." Charlie replied. "I'm just hoping they'll move out of the way, since we are moving fast." As the team got closer to the exit, with the growling sirens gaining on their rear bumpers, the waiting mob showed no means of moving away. Charlie started to worry. "Yeah, I don't think they want to move, Charlie," said Rainbow, nonchalantly. Just then, as the Dodge Charger was getting close to run over an individual, a sonic soundwave blasted the mob out of the moving vehicle's way. Team Furious, and Rainbow Dash, were very surprised of this, as they exited the alley, while the sirens stopped on their tracks to see who caused that soundwave. Team Furious applied their brakes to look as well, and who they saw had put a reassuring smile on their faces. A white and blue sports convertible, with a pony hood ornament, waited on the right side of the alley exit, and the driver was none other than DJ Pon-3, aka Vinyl Scratch. The hovering sirens snarled at the sight of her, but Vinyl responded by pressing a button on her car's dashboard, and another soundwave sent them high in the sky. Team Furious and Rainbow cheered for their new ally, as Vinyl played one of her electronic music through the speakers. "Hey, DJ!" Rainbow shouted from the RX-7's side window. "Wanna' help us save our friends, and the world, from evil? We sure could use all the help we can get!" Vinyl simply gave a thumbs up in reply, and revved her engine. As the group of drivers drove off to Camp Everfree, the Dazzlings witnessed what had happened, and were not pleased with it. Then, they revved their sport bikes, and addressed to their minions. "Listen up!" Adagio shouted out. "Those fools are heading off to Camp Everfree to join their comrades on a mission to defeat us! Do not let them escape out of this city!" The mind-controlled citizens shouted in agreement, and the Dazzlings drove off after Team Furious in a different direction. Team Furious, Rainbow, and Vinyl were racing through a lonely part of downtown, and they knew that things are only going to get worse, if they stayed any longer in the city. But they also don't know how to combat the citizens of Canterlot City without causing any serious injuries. As they were reaching for the city limits, Rachael wanted to know why Rainbow wasn't with the rest of her friends. "Well," Rainbow started, "when our friends from CHS attacked us at Pinkie Pie's house, I wanted to distract them by letting them chase me, while the others got away. It worked, at first, but as I got into the city, I got cornered by more people, and they beat me up senseless, until the Dazzlings told them to stop. The last thing I remember was when they told everybody to keep an eye out for you guys. I guess they knew that you were coming all along." "That was very brave of you, Rainbow." Charlie praised. "But you should know that you can't do this alone. Not with those Sirens on the loose, and affecting everybody." "He's right." Bobby agreed. "We've got to stand together, and use all of our magic against them, if we're going to save both Canterlot City, and Los Angeles." Everyone agreed. Suddenly, Sam heard the sound of roaring from above; he quickly looked out his side window, and saw the Dazzling's siren forms descending from the sky, and gave chase after the drivers once again. To make matters worse, the Dazzlings were gaining on them in their sport bikes, with different vehicles following close behind them. "Ah' think talk time is over, fellows!" That is when Team Furious, plus Vinyl Scratch, quickly drifted their cars through an empty intersection, and drove off towards a railroad yard. They thought that the area was big enough to perform stunts, and confuse the sirens and everyone else. As they entered the area, Charlie spoke through the CB. "Let's split up on my mark, lose these Sirens, and we'll meet up to those tracks that goes to the Everfree Forest." Charlie pointed to a set of railroad leading to the forest in the distance. "Rainbow, send a text to Sunset that you're alright, and we'll all be at Camp Everfree as soon as we can." "On it!" Rainbow responded, as she started texting on her phone. Charlie started the countdown. "3... 2... 1... GO!" Bobby and Vinyl steered to the left to where the express coaches were left standing, Sam veered towards the right to the freight cars area, while Charlie, Rachael, and Rainbow headed off towards the empty train station. Aria Dusk chased after Bobby's Skyline and Vinyl's convertible, Sonata Dusk followed Sam's Camaro, and Adagio Dazzle was in hot pursuit after Charlie's Charger and Rachael's RX-7, as their siren projections hovered alongside their human counterparts. The rest of the city's citizens spread out the entire yard, to try to intercept Team Furious' cars. Meanwhile, deep in the Everfree Forest, the rescue party, were driving down the road to Camp Everfree, when they all saw a waterfall appear on the left side. Sunset, David, and Lily knew they were getting close to their destination, while Starlight was a little distracted by the interior of her McLaren Senna, wondering what the little buttons, dials, and everything else does. "So," Starlight broke the silence, "can anyone tell me more of this... uh... McLaren, is it? It's not a thing that we ponies see or hear of before back in Equestria." "I think I can answer that, Starlight." David volunteered to explain. "The hypercar you're driving is called the McLaren Senna, in tribute to the success of the three-time champion Formula 1 racing legend from our world, Ayrton Senna. He was the greatest F1 driver of all time, holding a record for most pole position and race wins, and his performance in rainy conditions is like no other! Also, while other F1 drivers used the normal way to use the throttle, I've heard he had this special technique to tap on the throttle to use to his advantage." "Wow," Sunset was very impressed on the history of Ayrton Senna. "He sounds like a racing legend, alright." "Tragically, though," David changed the mood, "He died in a race crash, during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, when he slammed into a wall at around 145 miles per hour." Everyone closed their eyes and quivered at the thought of the mentioned crash. "So, now there are many safety regulations in the motorsport, and there are great champions here and there, but there will be no one quite like Senna." "Gee," Starlight wondered, looking up in the night sky through the transparent ceiling, "do you think, now that I'm driving a car named after him, that he is way up there watching down on me, and wanting me to race just like he did?" David, Sunset, and Lily chuckled a bit. "Well, if he is," said Lily, "I'm sure that he wouldn't want you to crash, but to just be yourself, and race in your own way." Starlight smiled at that thought. Suddenly, Sunset's phone vibrated with a new message, and she brought it out of her pocket to read Rainbow's text from earlier. "Guys, Charlie and his friends found Rainbow Dash!" Sunset sighed in great relief. "She says she's okay, and they will meet us at the camp soon." Everyone cheered with joy for the search party's success. Just then, they saw a dirt road up ahead, that leads into the trees on the left, and Sunset recognized it as the path to the Camp Everfree entrance. "Okay, guys," Sunset spoke up, "The camp is down that road. Follow me!" Sunset pressed her foot down on the throttle and drove her Mustang Boss down the dirt path, while the others followed close behind her. The first thing they saw was the sign saying "Camp Everfree," and the four racers drove faster through the forest, trying to reach to the Rainbooms, waiting there for them. Suddenly, they saw the lake, the camp area, and five cars parked near the main camp office. As they parked near their friends' cars, they looked around the camp for any signs of Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie, but couldn't find them. "Maybe they're at the camp mess hall." Sunset assumed. "Probably getting some food for our big battle right now." "Then, what are we waiting for?" Lily ran towards where the Rainbooms were. "Come on!" Everyone followed Lily, as they looked around their surroundings again, for anything suspicious. As they all finally reached to the doors of the mess hall, they looked through the windows, and they found their friends, as well as Spike, tied up in rope and struggling to break free. Sunset, David, Lily, and Starlight gasped in shock, and ran through the doors. The Rainbooms were so relieved to see Sunset and were surprised to see Starlight Glimmer back in their world. "Guys!" Sunset shouted, as she looked over her friends. "Are you okay?!" "Yes, darling. We're fine." Rarity assured. "What happened?" David asked. "Why are you girls tied up?" "We don't know." said Fluttershy. "We were all having some of Pinkie Pie's cupcakes..." "I was making some delicious chocolate chip cupcakes for everyone! And let me tell you, they were good!" Pinkie interrupted. "But then, somebody threw a can of sleeping gas in the room, and we were all knocked out!" Applejack continued. "And the next thing we know, we were tied up in rope!" Twilight added. "I'm guess the Sirens' spell has already gotten to Camp Everfree before we came." Spike finished. "So then, who could've done this?" Starlight asked Sunset, who shrugged her shoulders. Suddenly, Lily, gasped out loud. "Wait a minute! You don't think that it was..." Lily guessed who was responsible, but was cut off from saying who it was, when a sound of spraying caught the attention of everybody in the room. A spray can appeared from nowhere, and started to quickly emit the inside of the mess hall with sleeping gas, much to everyone's horror. Sunset, Starlight, Lily, and David were soon coughing, as well as the Rainbooms, when Sunset saw a dark figure from behind the door windows, and they disappeared. All her friends were now falling asleep, including David, Starlight, and Lily, but Sunset tried to run after the mysterious figure. After she ran past the doors, and saw the figure running through the trees, her vision started to blur, and Sunset began feel dizzy. "Charlie," Sunset whispered, "please... hurry." Finally, she fell to the ground, fast asleep. Driving side by side, Bobby and Vinyl were gliding through the halls of the express coaches, while being chased by the two versions of Aria. Vinyl saw an opening on the right between two coaches, and gestured to Bobby that they take it. They both drifted right, and so did Aria, and she was still on their tails. Suddenly, as Bobby and Vinyl rounded a left corner through another hall, they saw some trucks blocking their paths a few feet away, and there were two walls blocking their way of escape. Aria was delighted to see this, seeing that her prey would have to stop and surrender. "Nowhere to go now." Aria grinned. Bobby was thinking of another way to get through the barricade, but he could see that the trucks were heavy enough to slow him and Vinyl down. "If only I could blast our way through these guys," said Bobby. "What would the Autobots…" Upon thinking of the Transformers, Bobby remembered his special ability to weaponize his arms, as well as use his eyes to scan the area for any enemy interceptors. He can also change his silver and blue striped Skyline in to a yellow and black striped '77 Camaro Z28, from the first Transformers movie. With no hesitation, he gestured to Vinyl to get behind him, and he began to focus, without closing his eyes, on changing his primary car into his alternative vehicle. As his Skyline's body suddenly began to transform, like an Autobot does in the films, Vinyl witness what was happening in front of her, as she lowered her DJ glasses in surprise. Aria saw a few sparks in front of her, but she couldn't make out what it was, since a certain white and blue convertible was blocking her sight. Once the transformation was done, Bobby beamed with joy, as he rode his new "Bumblebee" Camaro closer towards the blockade. He then pressed a button on his dashboard, and two small missiles popped out of the hood, and Bobby fired Missile 1 at the trucks. The missile hit its target and a bright yellow explosion lifted the damaged trucks. After Bobby and vinyl slipped right under and cheered with triumph, the blockade fell to the ground, and blocked Aria's path. Surprisingly, the drivers weren't hurt, and their trucks weren't set on fire. Bobby scanned the area for any more trucks, but he could see no one in either direction. As Bobby and Vinyl drifted off to the rendezvous, Aria growled in frustration, and she ordered her siren counterpart to follow the escaping duo, while see looked for another way around. Sam was enjoying himself weaving his Camaro left and right through the many freight cars in the yard. He had never been chased by anyone before, and he now felt what it was like for Bo and Luke Duke, from the Dukes of Hazzard, being chased by a certain Sherriff Rosco P. Coltrane and a Deputy Enos Strate in the show. With Sonata and her counterpart catching up, and driving up to his left side, Sam looked at Sonata face to face, and couldn't help but smile, as he was having so much fun being chased. "Having fun, are you, sir?" Sonata asked, innocently. "Girl," Sam replied, "you have no idea! But, ah'm sorry to say, that ah' ain't got time to socialize!" Sam saw a single box car approaching him; he slammed on the brakes, and made a U-turn drift around the box car, and raced on to the opposite direction. Sonata was caught off-guard when Sam performed the U-turn, but quickly made her own turn, and chased after him. Sam was laughing out loud, until he saw two ATV drivers heading straight for him. They were holding baseball bats in the air, but Sam didn't even flinched, as he climbed out of the side window, while holding his foot down on the throttle. Since he remembered that he could use his archery weapons at any time, Sam imagined his bow to appear in his hands, and with no intentions of harming the enemy drivers, he positioned his aim, and fired his plasma arrow towards the ground inches away from the front of the oncoming vehicles. The arrow bursts into a bright orange explosion display, and the ATV drivers skidded to a stop, with one of them falling off their ride. Sam wanted to jump over those ATVs, so he thought of a ramp, and it materialized in front of his enemies. Suddenly, Sam's Camaro's entire body glowed a white light, and when it hit the ramp, it changed into a bright orange '69 Dodge Charger R/T, equipped with a ram bar on the front bumper, a black 01 painted on the sides, and a confederate flag on the roof. It was the iconic General Lee, flying high through the air above the unexpected drivers, with clouds of dirt coming off the tires. Knowing that he was now in command of the General, Sam pressed his right hand on the steering wheel, and the sound of the original Dixie horn echoed around the yard. "YYEEEEEEEEEHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWW!!!!!" Sam hollered as loud as he could, sounding a lot like the actor who played Bo Duke. As he was bracing himself for impact, the General made a rough landing, and to Sam's utter surprise, the front end didn't show a bit of dents, creases, or any damage at all. It was as if his magic or abilities was protecting him and the General Lee from harm. Either way, they raced off in a cloud of dirt towards the rendezvous. As she was slowing down her bike, Sonata and her siren form couldn't believe what they had saw, and their jaws hanged low. "Did you see what I just saw?" Sonata asked to no one. Her siren form nodded. The sound of roaring V8 engines echoed around the walls of the huge abandoned train station, as the black '70 Dodge Charger and the red '97 Mazda RX-7 flashed through. Charlie, Rachael, and Rainbow Dash were doing their best to escape Adagio and her snarling siren counterpart. As they all raced through the corridors towards the exit to the outside, Charlie and Rachael jumped off the top stairs, and landed on four wheels as they entered the freight yard. They weaved through the separated freight cars, as if they were traffic vehicles standing still, but Adagio and her minions were closing in on them. "What are we gonna' do now?" Rainbow asked nervously, looking back through the passenger window. "Why don't we split up, and attack them with our magic?" Rachael asked Charlie. "We can't be chased like this for the rest of the night." Charlie pondered, "Well, it's risky to go alone, but it's the only way to lose them. Just be careful not to cause collateral damage, or any casualties, and let's meet up with the others at the rendezvous point. I'll catch up." Rachael simply nodded. She knew what he was talking about, as she knew that she can create fire weapons and ammunition, even with her hands. As a matter of fact, Rachael can switch from her RX-7 to a red and white '58 Plymouth Fury, which is infamously named Christine, and harmlessly set it on fire. So, she and Rainbow rounded a corner through a set of tanker cars, and vanished, leaving Charlie to deal with Adagio. "Do you really think he'll be okay, Rachael?" Rainbow asked in a worried tone. "That Siren is very sneaky, not to mention dangerous." "Don't worry," Rachael looked at Rainbow with confidence, "Charlie's a clever driver. He's watched a lot of action movies with car chases like this. And if there's anyone who can perform incredible stunts, it's him." Rachael drove her RX-7 through the halls of freight cars, as one of Adagio's drivers began to slide alongside, and slammed into RX-7's passenger side, while another driver scraped the paint job on the driver side. This caused Rainbow to let out a little scream, but Rachael growled in anger. "Hey! Quit messin' up my paint!" Rachael shouted. The enemy drivers laughed rudely, and Rainbow suddenly saw one of them hold a heavy brick, to break through the right side window. Rachael applied her brakes in time, and was now chasing the two opposing cars, with so much anger building up inside. "You wanna' do this the hard way?" Rachael teased, in a harsh tone. "Then let's do this my way!" Rachael slammed her foot down on the pedal, and she shunted her car at the back of one of the opponent's car's bumper. They skidded their car into a box car, and crashed, yet the driver remained intact. Then, Rachael opened her side window, reached her arm out through it, and focused on her fire abilities. While the last driver was staring at Rachael open palm, it started to set on fire, and Rachael's palm shot a blast of fire at the side her enemy's vehicle, rolling it over on the ground. Rainbow looked through the rear view mirror, and saw the driver getting out intact, but was still recovering. "Well, as long as they're not hurt, I guess it's okay." Rainbow sighed. Rachael smirked, and raced through yard to the rendezvous point. Charlie, on the other hand, was trying to escape his enemies, but was having a difficult time, as Adagio order her siren form to release some powerful soundwaves using her voice, and Charlie continued to weave his Charger left and right to evade her attacks. He then tried to think of possible ways to use his abilities to defend himself, when he remembered what Princess Cadence said to him during their training session in Equestria. ***(Flashback)*** "You should try to improvise, then." Princess Cadence kindly suggested. "Think of something useful that only you can imagine, and be proud that you can help your friends in your own special way. Everyone is useful, whether they have magic or not. You just have to believe in yourself." ***(End of flashback)*** "She's right." Charlie said to himself. "Everyone is useful, even me." Suddenly, without warning, Charlie felt a blast hit his car, and was now thrown 20 feet off the ground. Adagio had successfully hit her target, and she contently watched her prey, about to helplessly descend to the ground below. Thinking of a way to safely land on all four wheels, Charlie suddenly thought of an incredible idea he had read of from a comic book, that he keeps in the glove compartment. Looking out the window, he saw a lamp post, then focused on grabbing it with his left arm, and a long line of burning chains suddenly materialized, and wrapped around Charlie's left wrist, while the end of the chains wrapped on the lamp post. The chains didn't burn his skins on contact, and he forcefully pulled on the chain line, and his Charger dove down to the ground. Stopping her sport bike, Adagio was witnessing what was happening in the sky, and was shocked to see the black Charger land softly, and leaving out of the yard alive. Adagio's right eye began to twitch, and she gritted her teeth in frustration. "No way." Charlie gasped in surprise. "I really did it! Ha ha!" As he was heading for the rendezvous, Charlie smirked with triumph. He finally knew what he can do with his magic, and he knew what he can be like. Suddenly, the '70 Dodge Charger's engine and tires were set on fire, the holes on the hood blower gushed out fire, and Charlie's eyes were now on fire, as he slowly became... the Ghost Rider.