//------------------------------//
// Planet Cup Finals 
// Story: Cybertron Girls 
// by SonicSpeedster97 
//------------------------------//

“Okay, so why did the Committee move the race here?” Twilight thought that was a reasonable question; the track itself was enough in her book, so the decision to move the final leg of the Planet Cup to the massive shrine in the middle of Crater City confused her more than a bit.
“You’ll see.” Hot Rod assured as the team all prepared themselves in the center of town, with Rainbow Dash parked next to her fellow competitors; Override, Blurr, Dragstrip, Hot Rod, Ransack, and Crumplezone.
“THIS IS IT!” the announcer bellowed. “All of these worthy competitors have struggled to make it through the race and now it comes down to this! It’s time for the Planet Cup to pick the lineup for the final race! Who will be chosen, and who will lose their chance to race for the Planet Cup?”
“Wait a minute, the Cup itself chooses the final lineup?” asked Twilight.
“Yup. And it looks like it’s selection time.” Sideswipe smiled as he watched the shrine start to glow. Rainbow smiled as she saw that glow spread not only to herself, but also to Hot Rod. Override and Blurr had also apparently been chosen, but all four scowled when they saw that Dragstrip, Ransack, and Crumplezone had been chosen as well.
“The Planet Cup has spoken!” Roadhandler called out. “All seven of you will now race for the honor of claiming the greatest racing trophy in the galaxy? Now the only question is… Who wants it more?!” The crowd roared as the floor under the racers suddenly started to open.
Quickly, the drivers all leaped into their vehicles before the floor opened up, but they didn’t immediately fall; they just hovered for a moment and slowly lowered into the pit along with the shrine… before the racers touched down onto a long stretch of road. Then the Planet Cup rose from the shrine in all its glory behind a forcefield that looked almost like bulletproof glass, glowing to illuminate stripes along the sides of the road, highlighting a massive underground racetrack filled with corkscrews, insane drops, and loops. “Whoa! This! Is!! AWESOME!!!” Rainbow cheered as she jumped out of her car.
“It always is kid.” Override assured as she looked out at the track. “But I’ll admit, this track is definitely one of the best I’ve ever raced on.”
“The race will begin tomorrow at first light.” Roadhandler bellowed. “Get some rest, racers. You’re gonna need it.”
That evening, the Autobots all met in their pit to examine the exact layout of the track. “This is insanity. It’s like racing on a roller coaster.” Twilight remarked.
“I know, right? And I can’t wait to get in on it!” Rainbow smiled and zipped over to her car. “Gonna need some extras first though; maybe some Magna-wheels for those loops and some fuel and nitrous with a little extra kick.”
“Hold your horsepower on any more mods, Rainbow,” Ratchet instructed as he examined her car. “I’ve been running diagnostics on your Armor, and it’s not looking good. You’ve kept it in vehicle mode so long throughout the race, it seems as though the limb servos have atrophied a bit. It might affect your balance and aerodynamics if it’s not addressed.”
“Relax doc, it’s nothing a good stretch won’t cure,” Rainbow smirked as she climbed into her car and focused on her geode, trying to activate the vehicle… but only a few plates shifted. “Huh?” She tried harder, but the shift grew less and less extreme. “Wha- What’s happening?”
Lifeline was quick to scan Rainbow’s car and she didn’t like what she saw. “Your T-Cog’s malfunctioning,” she reported, earning a wave of terrified looks from the others. “Your Armor’s jammed in vehicle mode.”
“What?!” Rainbow quickly leaped out of her car. “How’s that possible?”
“The damage from your reformatting.” Sunset realized. “It must’ve been worse than we thought.”
“And all this driving around at high speeds and keeping your Armor in vehicle mode between races has probably only exacerbated the damage.” Hoist agreed.
“Can you fix it?” asked Rainbow.
“By dawn tomorrow?” Ratchet countered. “We’re basically talking about forcing a dead bot out of Rigor Morphis.”
“Huh?” asked Spike.
“It’s something that happens to Cybertronian lifeforms when they die: the body assumes its preferred shape; sometimes it’s bot-mode, sometimes it’s the alt-mode,” Lifeline explained. “And in this case, I’d say it’s the alt-mode.”
“Which basically makes this an autopsy and attempted resurrection.” Ratchet pointed out. “And just in case no one realized it, I’m not Shockwave; this sort of mad science isn’t my area of expertise.”
“No. But medicine is.” Optimus noted. “As long as Rainbow Dash lives, her Armor lives as well. This is not an autopsy; it is simply surgery. And you are among the best surgeons in the universe, old friend. Do all you can in the time you have, because we have faith in you. And in the knowledge that fully functional or not, Rainbow Dash will race tomorrow.”
Ratchet wasn’t sure, but he was touched by Optimus’ faith as he examined Rainbow’s car. Finally, he sighed and looked at Hoist, Lifeline, and Clocker. “Looks like we’re going without recharge tonight.”
“What else is new?” Hoist shrugged as the four medics set to work.



Across the way, the Stunticons were in their own pit… watching Crumplezone slam Ransack with a hammer repeatedly, calling it a tune-up. “Why do we even bother with these bolt-brains?” Dead End asked seriously.
“Because they’re stupid, violent blunt objects.” Motormaster pointed out. “Tools to be disposed of when we’re done here.”
“I should think that will be soon.” a dark voice suddenly said behind the racers, surprising them more than a bit as they saw a familiar form in the shadows of their pit.
“L- Lord Megatron!” Motormaster said in surprise before he and the Stunticons all knelt before their master. “What are you doing here?”
“Ensuring my soldiers complete the simple mission I sent them on three weeks ago.” Megatron scowled.
“The Galaxy Key is nearly ours, Lord Megatron,” Dragstrip assured. “If you can just keep patient until I win the race tomorrow-”
“Perhaps, Dragstrip…” Megatron scowled, interrupting his soldier. “You misheard me. I sent you here to secure the Galaxy Key three weeks ago. And I do not possess it yet.”
“You will, tomorrow. I swear it upon my Spark.” Dragstrip assured.
Megatron simply scowled as he looked at Motormaster. “Be certain you keep your soldier keeps his word, Motormaster. Lest his tongue cut his throat,” he said simply as he slunk back into the shadows.
“Yeesh, who’s Tall, Dark, and Gruesome?” asked Ransack.
“The Blade of Kaon,” Motormaster said simply. “And someone I sincerely wouldn’t want to mess with.”



Early in the morning, before the sun had even risen on Crater City, the whole town was out in force to watch the last race. “The final race has arrived!” the announcer called. “All the drivers have moved their vehicles into position and soon we’ll get to see one of the most talked-about showdowns in history! Can Override finally take the title back from her longtime rival Blurr? Do Crumplezone and Ransack have a plan that will bring them to victory? Will the victory-obsessed Dragstrip get to add another win to his list? Is the turbo-revvin’ young punk Hot Rod going to make his old uncle Retrofit proud and be named champion? Or will Velocitron’s first-ever organic racer Rainbow Dash take it all for her homeworld Earth?”
Rainbow was wondering the same thing as she looked out of the pits at her car, with Sunset and her friends all standing with her. “How ya feelin’, sugarcube?” asked Applejack.
Rainbow wanted to answer with the same sort of cocky attitude her friends knew her for, but words failed her as she looked around and the gravity of the situation sank in, especially considering the condition her car was in. “It’s, uh…” she said breathlessly. “It’s big.”
“Yeah.” Sunset nodded as she looked around. “Yeah, it is.”
Hot Rod’s avatar walked over and gave the girls all an acknowledging nod before he turned to Rainbow. “That cockpit’s the exact same size it’s been since you got here.” he reminded. “The docs did what they could last night; got your weapons ready in case you need ‘em and at least two good transformations, plus an extra three hits of Red Energon-spiked NOS routed straight to your thrusters.”
Rainbow nodded, still unsure of what to say. “Should be enough.”
Fluttershy smiled as she walked forward, setting a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. For what’s probably the best moment in my life,” she assured.
“All our lives,” Sunset added.
Rainbow couldn’t help herself as a small tear came to her eye, which she quickly flicked away. “Couldn’t have made it without you.” she smiled shakily. Almost on instinct, Pinkie grabbed all the girls together into a group hug.
“We’ve got cold milk waiting for you when you win,” Pinkie assured; she knew the racing tradition on Earth called for that, and she knew it would make Rainbow’s day to drink it.
“Thanks, Pinkie. Thank you all.” Rainbow smiled, glancing over at Sunset. “Man. Y’know, if you guys told me Freshman year that by now, I’d be driving in a race for the fate of the universe on another planet, I’d never believe you. But look at me now.”
“Oh dear, that reminds me.” Rarity realized and quickly zipped to the side of the garage, quickly grabbing something from the locker and zipping back to Rainbow with it. “I was up late working on this while we gave the crew company last night. Admittedly, it’s not my best work but… well…” She handed the fabric bundle to Rainbow and stepped back. “I think we’d all feel great if you wore it for the race.”
Rainbow unfurled the bundle and saw it was a brand new hand-stitched racing suit; bright blue with gleaming white highlights on her collarbone and outsides of the sleeves, rainbow-colored notches on her outer thighs, and the Wondercolts symbol in metallic gold on the back, a gold lightning bolt with wings on her belly split by the silver zipper with Rainbow’s own insignia on the sleeve, and her nametag stitched on the left breast.
Rainbow was instantly in love with the garb and went into a fast rainbow-colored whirlwind, instantly putting the garb on along with bright blue racing gloves and boots. “I love it.” she smiled with intense newfound confidence.
Rarity smiled and nodded as Sunset handed Rainbow her a rainbow-colored racing helmet. “Twilight and Wheeljack set up a way to connect this show back to Earth, so all of Canterlot City’s got its eyes on you.” she smiled. “Win this one for the Wondercolts.”
Rainbow smirked and bumped forearms with Sunset in a sign of solidarity. “For the Wondercolts,” she said as she strode confidently out of the pits toward her car, which she could see had the Wondercolt symbol emblazoned on the door.

[imagine this but with color]



Exactly as Sunset had said, there was a TV feed from Velocitron beaming across the galaxy to a small Autobot hover-drone, who beamed the feed onto the back wall of the Canterlot High gym so the crowd of students from CHS and Crystal Prep could watch, all more than glad it was Saturday so they could really enjoy this race. Rainbow’s parents were in the crowd as well and lost it more than anyone else in the stands when she came strutting out of the pits down to her car like a professional racer.
“Takin’ all bets, folks! Twenty says the first lap only takes Rainbow five minutes!” Indigo Zap called out, immediately getting a handful of bets from the other spectators.
“C’mon Dashie, you got this!” Rainbow’s father cheered.
A similar feed was being broadcast to the main screen in the Pit and every agent of G.I. Joe was watching with bated breath, ready to see humanity’s champion win it for them in this race of the ages.



(Eurobeat Intensifies)


Rainbow could practically hear her dad cheering in her ear as she folded her hair up into her helmet before she put it on and climbed into her car, revving the engine up with a roar. “We’re burnin’; you guys all hooked up?” she asked over her coms.
“Link is set; diagnostics look good,” Ratchet reported. “Keep an eye on things on your end though; we did our best, but with damage like this, you can never be too careful.”
“Copy that; see you in Victory Lane,” Rainbow smirked and quickly flashed her lights over at Hot Rod, who flashed back as a sign of solidarity between the two racers.
“The sun is almost up, femmes and mechs! Place your bets and say your prayers; this is where the rubber meets the road and at the end of it all, only one driver will come out with their chrome intact and claim the greatest prize in the history of racing!” the announcer bellowed as she watched the light of the sunrise from the lip of the pit to the track, barely touching the top of the shrine, firing off a whole wall of flares down to the line, all blasting into vibrant green flames and prompting the racers to floor it hard, with Override, Rainbow, and Blurr jumping out to an early three-way lead.
“You can’t really think you’ll win this.” Override remarked to Rainbow.
“Doesn’t matter what I think; all I know is I’ve never let my friends down before and I’m not gonna start now,” Rainbow said with strength.
“Tough talk; let’s see ya back it up.” Override roared as she shot onward down the track with Rainbow and Blurr close behind. Rainbow strained to fight the g-forces as she pushed her car ahead of Override as they reached the first turn, where Rainbow started drifting… but quickly started spinning out.
“Whoa, skidding!” she called over the coms.
“Beginning wireless power transfer,” Twilight reported as she hammered on the computer terminal.
“You got spark, kid, but we all knew an organic was never gonna win this.” Override smirked as she and Blurr shot past in the turn.
Rainbow wanted to shoot a retort back her way, but she was too busy dealing with the fact that her field of vision was shrinking. “Rainbow! Rainbow, come in!” Sunset called over the coms.
“She’s going into g-LOC! Rainbow, straighten it out!” Twilight ordered.
Rainbow could barely hear that, but she could clearly see the track straightening out in front of her, so she quickly straightened out the drive. “Gah! Oh, that sucked!” she yelled as she pushed the pedal as far down as it could go.
“You okay, Dashie?” asked Pinkie.
“Ask me again when I win this,” Rainbow smiled as she raced after the leaders.
“Man, I can’t believe this; we’re stuck all the way back here!” Ransack was right; he and Crumplezone were stuck way in the back of the pack behind Hot Rod and Dragstrip, and those two were closing hard on the other three.
“Looks like it’s time to use one of those little improvements we made,” Crumplezone smirked.
“Good idea! They may be faster, but we’re smarter!” Ransack smiled as both the punks’ avatars pressed small yellow buttons on their control panels, firing powerful jump-jacks from their undercarriages, sending them flying to the other side of the hairpin turn and landing them right behind the main pack.
“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a real race here!” Dragstrip smiled as the racers roared onward.
“Looks like!” Rainbow smirked as she pressed harder and harder on her throttle, but she felt herself slowing, and the gauge said the same. “Twilight, my top speed’s dropping; help me out here!”
“Checking…” Twilight quickly analyzed the car and found the cause instantly. “Got it; your driveshaft fell out of sync with the main power circuit, so it’s only getting partial signals. I’m attempting to reroute.” Almost instantly, Rainbow started speeding up again.
“Nice one, Twilight! And just in time!” Rainbow smiled as the racers shot toward the loop.
“Don’t you get tired of losing, kid?” Override called back to Rainbow.
“I-bet-she-does-I-know-I-do-not-that-I’ve-lost-recently-but-I-definitely-know-how-it-feels-to-lose-over-and-over-and-over!” Blurr agreed.
“Are you guys gonna talk through this whole race?” Rainbow smirked. “Or can we save the trash-talking for when I’m on the top of the podium?”
“Ya know what’s funny?” Ransack asked.
“Vin Diesel’s audition tape for Cats? It exists.” Pinkie smiled over the coms.
“Yeah, I’m not sure I even wanna know what she’s talking about,” Dragstrip remarked.
“Save the headaches for after the race; good call.” Rainbow agreed.
“Yeah, but what’s really funny is that you bozos actually think you have a chance!” Ransack laughed as he and Crumplezone shot ahead.
“Yeah; your puny engines can’t keep up with the nitrous injectors we installed. My own special blend.” Crumplezone smiled as he and Ransack fired their injectors and shot their vehicles up the loop.
“You’re not the only ones who set up a little speed boost,” Rainbow smirked and quickly pulled a tab on her dash, sending freshly purified Red Energon straight into her fuel injector, sending her car rocketing up the loop after them with Override and Dragstrip close behind.
“Careful Rainbow, we don’t know how Red Energon will interact with your T-Cog!” Ratchet called.
Rainbow quickly pulled up her car’s diagnostics and looked them over as she rocketed upward. “Looks good so far.” And it looked even better when she saw Ransack and Crumplezone run out of nitrous and fall from the top of the loop, sending them crashing to the track just seconds before the other racers shot past them.
“Good riddance to bad scrap metal, I say!” Dragstrip smirked as he raced onward. “This race is all mine now, baby!”
“Not on my watch, pal!” Rainbow smiled as they raced onward.

(Cut it)

Back at the crash site, Ransack and Crumplezone had transformed back to bot mode and looked at each other in annoyance. “Well, so much for fair and square. Looks like we’re doin’ this our way.” Ransack smirked as they both quickly drove back to the shrine, where they found the Planet Cup still locked behind its forcefield.
Ransack tried just jumping at the trophy, but the forcefield electrocuted him and threw him back, knocking him to the ground. “You okay?” Crumplezone asked dumbly.
“Does it look like I’m okay?!” Ransack asked in annoyance.
“Not from where I’m standing.” That voice caught both racers off-guard until they saw Sideswipe standing near the forcefield with two large swords in his hands. “You boys better step back if you know what’s good for you.”
“Guess we don’t know what’s good for us then,” Ransack smirked as he and Crumplezone raised their weapons and started firing at Sideswipe, but he quickly deflected as many shots as he could with his swords, though a few made it through and knocked him down before they started firing on the forcefield, trying to blast it down.
“Ransack and Crumplezone have gone off the deep end; they’re trying to steal the Planet Cup!” the announcer called in concern.
“Oh, now he gets it right!” Ransack remarked in annoyance… before he was suddenly blasted in the back. “Huh?!” He looked and saw a bright red femme with a heavy marksman’s rifle in her hand and a blade protruding from her free wrist.
“No one messes with Override’s prize until she wins it!” she assured.
“Oh yeah, wanna try that again?” Ransack smirked as he turned his blaster on her.
“No. And neither do you.” Sideswipe threatened darkly, quickly holding one of his swords against Ransack’s neck.
“Save a little action for us, Sideswipe!” Rainbow called as the other racers shot back to the shrine, weapons folding out of Rainbow’s doors.
“My team hired you scum to run blocker for me, and now you try to cheat me out of the Planet Cup?!” Dragstrip roared as he transformed and shot over to them, practically foaming at the mouth in rage. “I oughtta break you both down for scrap right now!”
“Easy there, Dragstrip; why don’t we just let ‘em leave with their lives and a promise that they’ll be vaporized if they try anything again? What do you think?” Hot Rod smirked.
“Well, ya know what I think?” Ransack asked before a bevy of weapons cocked and pointed at them.
“We should run?” Crumplezone guessed.
“That’s exactly what I think.” Ransack nodded in fear before they both transformed and raced out of the city as fast as they could, leaving the racers and spectators laughing at the crooks’ expense.



Even on Earth, the crowd at CHS was laughing their butts off as they saw this. “Oh, man! Oh, this was so worth the drive from town!” Sour Sweet laughed, not even going sour after that remark; this was just too funny to ruin it like that.
“That’s my girl! Send those bums packin’!” Rainbow’s mom cheered.
“Alright folks, betting is open again! Let’s see the money!” Indigo Zap called, earning another wave of bets, including a few from Snips and Snails that said Rainbow would lose by a mile. Indigo smiled, knowing exactly how much those two would be kicking themselves for throwing money away like that.



Finally, the racers calmed their laughing down enough to look at each other. “Well, this was a fun distraction,” Rainbow smirked. “But if I know my classmates, they’ve got money on this race, so let’s get back to it.”
“Right. See ya on the course.” Hot Rod smiled as he revved his engine and roared away, followed by the others. Dragstrip was more than a bit annoyed by this little display his meat shields had just put on… and unfortunately, so was Megatron.
“This is the muscle you hired, Motormaster?!” he snarled at his general.
“Did I say ‘muscle’? Sorry, I meant ‘bullet-shields’.” Motormaster said nervously. “But there’s really no need to panic, Lord Megatron; there’s still plenty of race to run. And Dragstrip will win this, I promise you.”
“He had better, or it will be your heads,” Megatron warned menacingly.
As Sideswipe watched the racers shoot off back down the track, he smiled and looked at the femme that had just backed him up. “Lemme guess… Stormchaser?”
“That’s my name; don’t wear it out.” she smiled and slung her rifle onto her back. “And you are?”
“Name’s Sideswipe. An old boyfriend of Override’s,” he smirked before he transformed and drove back to the Autobot pits. Stormchaser appeared confused but just shrugged it off as she transformed into a Cybertronian formula car and drove to Override’s pit.

(Eurobeat Intensifies-AGAIN!)


The race was back on and things were going well as Rainbow took a clear lead, though something seriously didn’t feel right in her systems. “Hey, I think there might be something loose in the engine; check it for me?” she asked over the coms.
“Stand by,” Twilight ordered and quickly checked. “Oh no. You’re putting too much strain on your primary ignition couplings; your engine’s gonna stall! And we can’t fix that through the computer uplink!”
“Can I make up ground with my boosters?” Rainbow asked, eyeing her thruster button.
“Not unless you wanna blow yourself to scrap metal.” Ratchet pointed out. “You’re better easing off.”
“No way, Ratchet; I gotta win this race.” Rainbow scowled as she raced onward, cornering with the others despite the obvious smoldering in the ignitors. “C’mon, c’mon…!”
Dragstrip was starting to get annoyed; he’d been behind Rainbow for nearly this entire race, and now it was getting to him. “No way am I letting an organic steal this win from me! I always win! I’m Dragstrip! Dragstrip is the best racer in the universe!” With that in mind, he roared up next to Rainbow and fired some sort of harpoons out of the sides of his car into Rainbow’s car.
“Gah! I’m hooked!” she called as she started to spin out.
“Can you transform? That might be enough to shake him off!” Sunset suggested.
“Worth a try!” Rainbow scowled as she strained, focusing on her T-Cog, almost sensing its damage through her geode as physical pain. It burned as she tried to activate the techno-organ and stop the spin Dragstrip had put her in, but finally she just barely managed it, transforming and tossing Dragstrip to the side as she skidded to a stop inches from the edge of the track.
The whole Autobot team cheered Rainbow’s moves, and although Optimus may not have been as vocal about it as the others, it was clear from the expression on his face that he was proud of her.

(Cut it)

Rainbow grimaced as she held her bot-form’s side, feeling the pain in her T-Cog for real. “Ohhh, this hurts so much worse than I thought it would.” she groaned.
“You gonna be okay?” asked Twilight.
“Yeah. Yeah, just- just gimme a sec.” Rainbow cringed, trying to keep her balance. But she clearly didn’t have that second as she saw Override, Blurr, and Hot Rod bearing down toward her. “Oh scrap.” Quickly she fought through the pain and tried to get a running start, but her plates only shifted again. “Oh no. No, no, no; not now! My T-Cog’s seizing again; I can’t transform!”
“The T-Cog is overheating; the repairs are coming undone!” Twilight noted from the diagnostic readout.
“Girls, get me back in this race!” Rainbow yelled, still limping through the pain as the other racers shot past her.
Hot Rod skidded to a stop and transformed next to her. “I got your back, Rainbow!” he assured.
“No! No, keep driving; the Autobots need at least one guy in this race for us.” Rainbow ordered.
“She’s right, Hot Rod; you drop out now, the whole universe will be singin’ ‘Hail the Conquerin’ Decepticon’.” Retrofit ordered.
Hot Rod knew they were right; if Rainbow couldn’t get back in the race fast, he was their only chance. “Don’t start learning those lyrics just yet, uncle.” he nodded as he transformed and shot down the track after Blurr and Override, quickly followed by Dragstrip.
“So long, slimeball!” he laughed at Rainbow as he drove after the leaders.
Rainbow growled in anger as she saw him race away. “I am not letting that punk take this from us!” she snarled.
“Now is hardly the time for vanity, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity pointed out.
“This isn’t about my ego, Rarity!” Rainbow countered. “This is about the universe! I promised you guys I’d win this one! And even then, it’s not just for you! Earth, Cybertron… even Velocitron. This race is about more than just who gets a trophy. It’s about who lives and who dies, and I intend to make sure that all my friends live! That’s my promise and I’m going to keep it!”

(Eurobeat Intensifies One Last Time)


Rainbow could feel her human body Pony-Up inside her bot-form as she knew exactly how much she knew she believed what she was saying. Then something outrageous happened; out of nowhere, Rainbow’s bot hair – which had been condensed into her helmet – sprouted a familiar rainbow-colored ponytail extension, her audio receptors took the form of pony ear-shaped radar dishes on the top of her head and her door wings were covered by the image of actual feathered wings. Rainbow’s bot-form had somehow Ponied-Up just like her own form.
Almost immediately, her pain faded and the readout showed only positives. “Unbelievable; she’s in peak condition,” Ratchet remarked.
Rainbow smirked as she overheard that and instantly transformed back to vehicle mode and shot down the track like a rocket, her thrusters and engine firing on a massive load of Red Energon and nitrous, rainbow-colored flames shooting up in the wake of her tires. “And she’s back in it!” the announcer yelled as Rainbow raced after the other drivers like a bat outta hell, the crowds across the galaxy cheering as she shot down the track, her tires squealing on the pavement and her engine whining like it was about to explode as she shot toward the leaders.
“She’s gonna do it.” Pinkie smiled happily as Rainbow became hyper-focused on the track ahead of her. Everything else aside from the road was nothing but shadows in her peripheral as her wings spread and acted as a massive spoiler, giving her only more speed as she shot past Dragstrip and Hot Rod before they even realized she was there.
Override caught a first glimpse of the girl in her rearview mirror and tried her hardest to outdrive her, but it was just too much as Rainbow shot right up alongside her and Blurr. “They’re neck-and-neck as they approach the finish line; it looks like this is gonna be a photo finish!” the announcer called.
Rainbow gave a triumphant roar as she shot down the road, her nose bleeding violently as the g-forces got the best of her, but she forced herself to keep her eyes open as she floored it toward the finish line. Her wings folded in, cutting the wind resistance in half as she shot across the line just half a car-length before Override and Blurr, prompting her to spread her wings again and let them act as air brakes as she screeched to a stop just inches away from the shrine, her tires melting and her brake-blocks cooking as she finally took her foot off the gas pedal and relaxed at exactly the same time her suspension basically gave out beneath her car.

(Cut it)

Rainbow could barely hear anything as she hovered on the edge of unconsciousness, breathing deeply as she fumbled to open her car’s door, stumbling out onto the ground and letting her helmet drop from her head as she pulled herself up by the hood of her car, finally hearing the mad cheering of the crowds and her friends as they charged from the pits, the other racers slowing to a stop not far from her and all joining in. “People of Velocitron, we have here an unprecedented result here at the 600th Planet Cup and a new champion crowned; not Blurr, not Override, not a bot of any description, but an organic lifeform! People of the galaxy, from Earth; Rainbow Dash!”
The whole crowd cheered for Rainbow as she quickly collapsed her car back into its Armor rig around her geode and she stumbled a bit, quickly caught by her friends as they lifted her into the air, the whole crowd across the galaxy chanting Rainbow’s name in victory.
Dragstrip smiled as he looked up at the girl, which surprised a great deal of those present. “I’m surprised, Dragstrip,” Sideswipe remarked as his avatar walked up next to the Stunticon. “I would’ve thought you’d be furious about losing to an organic.”
“Not when she won so spectacularly.” Dragstrip smiled as his avatar disappeared. “You’ve earned a reprieve.” With that, Dragstrip rumbled away.
Sideswipe smiled and deactivated his avatar, transforming to bot mode as he walked over to Override and Stormchaser. “Well… how’s that for a win?” he smiled.
Override smiled at Sideswipe in a mix of annoyance and pride. “Inspiring enough for me to tell the truth.” she smiled, turning to Stormchaser. “Stormy… this is Sideswipe… your father.”
Stormchaser seemed more than a bit surprised at this as she looked at Sideswipe. “My… what?” she asked breathlessly.
The girls were amazed at this as well, but they were a bit too busy celebrating Rainbow’s victory. “Dashie! Dashie, here-here-here!” Pinkie called as she handed her friend a glass jug of ice-cold milk, just like she’d planned.
“No, no; this was a team effort. We all gotta take a pull off of this.” Rainbow insisted as her friends put her down.
“No argument there. But you were the one behind the wheel, Rainbow; first drink’s all yours.” Sunset insisted.
Rainbow smiled as she put the cold glass to her lips and took a big sip, letting out a sigh of happiness at the taste. “Oh, that’s the stuff.” she smiled as she handed the jug around to her friends, who all had a pull of their own.
Optimus’ avatar stepped forward and nodded to Rainbow. That appeared to be all he would do, but then he and Elita-1’s avatar grabbed her in a heavy two-person bear-hug. “I am proud of you, Rainbow Dash,” Optimus said warmly.
“Thanks, Optimus. I’m proud of myself too.” Rainbow smiled as she was released from the hug and given some good room as everyone transformed into bot mode, hyping Rainbow up as she raised her hands to the crowd.
Sunset smiled as she saw the forcefield surrounding the Planet Cup dissipate. “Well, looks like our work here is done.”
“Looks like.” Retrofit agreed. “C’mon Rainbow, let’s go claim your trophy.” Rainbow smiled as she walked up to the shrine with the old racer… but then he was suddenly shot in the chest by a massive energy blast and knocked down.
“RETROFIT!” Hot Rod and Clocker yelled in fear as they shot to his side.
“I think I’ll take it for myself if you don’t mind.” a dark voice smirked from the shrine.
Optimus’ optics narrowed as he deployed his faceplate, laying eyes on his old adversary right there next to the Planet Cup. “Megatron…”