CHAPTER 6 THE RACE
On what looked liked a bridge of a ship, two unicorns were engaged in battle with glowing blades made of energy. One of the unicorns was wearing a dark robe all over himself and using his horn to levitate his red blade, while the other unicorn was wearing a dark blue suit with light blue details and had a blue-colored blade. She was able to take advantage over the other dark unicorn and struck him down with her blade. The dark unicorn fell to the ground dead and she then turned her attention to a figure that was covered in black metallic armor and was wearing a hood with a mask over his face that was black and had a red color scheme to it.
She walked to him and said, "It's over Eclipse! Surrender now and the council will show you mercy."
The dark stallion just stared at Twilight through his visor and replied, "I have no intentions of surrendering, Twilight Sparkle. The council is weak and defenseless against my might. Even Celestia herself cannot hope to match my powers now. She is weak!"
"She is not weak! And you of all ponies should know the dangers of using the powers of dark side. Can't you see what it has done to you and Moonlight?," Twilight pointed out.
"I admit what happened to Moonlight's muzzle was tragic, but the power we gained is more then you can possibly imagine. If you wish to face me then fine, but do not think that you have any chance of victory," the dark stallion said and removed his hood to revealed his horn that was a dark metallic crimson horn that had the appearance of a claw. He soon used his magic to summon a red energy blade and held it in his hooves.
The two engaged in a fierce battle. Twilight was quick enough to avoid and block Eclipse’s attacks, but his fighting style was unique and Twilight wasn't able to get by his defenses. She was using her magic to hold her blade up in the air, while Eclipse stood on two legs while he used one of his front hooves to hold his blade. Twilight tried to use her magic to push Eclipse back, but he was able to block it and used his lightning attack when she had left an opening for him. Twilight was in severe pain while she was being electrocuted by him and Eclipse soon lifted her up into the air with his magic and pushed her against the door to the bridge.
Twilight struggled to get up while grunting and said, "You were once my closest friend, Eclipse. Why would you throw it all away?"
Eclipse looked down at her and replied, "Friendship is nothing compared to the powers of the dark side. It has showed me things that you couldn't even imagine and it has given me the ability to become the most powerful being in the universe!"
"Do you really think it was worth it? Betraying everypony you once cared for?" Twilight asked wanting to know if Eclipse truly left the light of good.
The dark stallion said nothing and his horn started sparking with electricity from it.
Before Eclipse could do anything, a huge explosion came all around the bridge and they were caught in the middle of it. After the explosion, Twilight came to and checked around the bridge looking for Eclipse. She levitated a pile of debris and found Eclipse heavily wounded and barely breathing. Twilight laid next to him and said, "Why? Why would you do all this? Just for power? You were my dearest friend and you turned your back on me." Tears started to show over the young unicorn's eyes and she soon weep for her fallen friend.
As Twilight continued to sob, everything was starting to disappear and it became nothing but darkness.
All of a sudden, Garret woke up and was panting heavily. He sat up in his bed and noticed sweat coming from his forehead. He didn't understand why he was having dreams about Twilight and Eclipse, even though he had never met neither of them. He even tried talking to Applejack and Fluttershy about it over the past few days, but they couldn't figure it out either. In his mind he remembered what Applejack suggested about it, "Ah'm no expert on dreams, but Ah think Twilight might help since she's part of your dreams and she can use her fancy magic to do something about it." It was the best chance he got to figure out the dreams, but first he had to win the race if anything was going to be solved.
After a week of intense training, Garret got himself ready for the swoop race. He was wearing one of the Beks' riders outfits. He walked out into the lobby and the whole base was cheering for him and were wishing him good luck on the race. Garret was glad to hear people cheering for him instead of shooting at him. He was making his way to the garage to meet up with the other riders, until Applejack came along and said to Garret, "Good morning, Garret. Glad to see you're all ready for th' big race."
"I know, I can't wait to get out there after so much training. Now I'm ready to show my skills!" Garret replied excitedly.
"Now don't be too confident. Remember, ya still need to be careful about thet engine they have on your bike," Applejack pointed out.
"Not to worry I'm aware of how the prototype works. As long as I'm not too dependent on it, I should be able to win the race no problem," Garret said with confidence.
"Well 'kay, but be careful," Applejack said with worry.
"I will, thanks. Where are the others?" Garret asked.
"Scootaloo is still asleep and Fluttershy is watching over her, Zaalbar is at the nearby cantina with Pinkie, while she is making everypony there laugh. But they'll be at th' race when it gets started," Applejack explained.
"That's good to know," he said.
Applejack then noticed that he was sweating a bit and she asked, "Are ya okay partner? Did ya have another one of them dreams again?"
Garret let out a deep breath and replied, "Yeah I did. I don't know why I've been having them and they seem so real for some reason."
Applejack was worried about Garret and felt helpless to do anything for her comrade. All she could do was smile for him and say, "Don't worry about it for now and focus on winning thet race for us."
Garret gave Applejack a small smile and replied, "Don't worry, I will." He then made his way to the Beks' garage.
Garret entered into the garage and saw his swoop bike. The bike had a color scheme of orange and silver. It had two engines at the sides of the driver's seat and two fins in front of each engine. The bike was upgraded with the best any rider could have, including the prototype engine. After Garret was done looking at his new bike, he saw Gadon and with him were other swoop riders. He went over to them and recognized the riders while he was training to be a rider himself.
There was Bolted Gadget, a stallion earthpony with a dark green coat and yellow eyes. He's one of the best mechanics in the Beks and he knows his swoop bike inside and out. He also the nicest ponies that are with the Beks and is loyal to them to the very end.
There was also Solar Fury, a mare pegasus with a red coat and flaming orange eyes. She was no doubt the wildest riders in the Beks with her unorthodox riding skills and was tougher than five Kryate dragons put together. She was always the life of the party and knew when to get the job done.
The third rider was a donkey called, Bronze Walker. He had a light brown coat and had gray eyes. He's an old timer that lived just as long as Gavin had. He was the type of donkey that doesn't want to be near anypony, but his years of experience in the swoop races would come in handy against the other swoop riders.
Last, but not least was Star Bolt. A pegasus stallion with grey coat and cyan eyes. He always upgrades his swoop bike with the next best thing. He's arrogant, but he does like to get along with any other pony.
Gadon then spoke up and was explaining the race, "O.K. here are the rules of the race. Each gang can only enter five of their best riders in the race. From what we gathered, fifteen other gangs have entered the race, so there will be a total of eighty riders including us. There are no weapons on any bikes, so if any rider in a gang tries anything funny, they're automatically out of the race. However, that doesn't prevent any of the other riders to kill one another from ramming their bikes into each other so be careful. And finally, the rider to make it to the finish line first is the winner of the race. Any questions?" Gadon looked around to see if anypony had a question.
"Oi, I got one. Why does the new rider get the prototype? We can win for sure if one us has it," Solar pointed out.
Gadon sighed and replied to Solar, "We've been over this already. The prototype is not safe and our friend here volunteered to use it in the race. Not to mention he is the one who got it back and it is his friend that we are trying to win from the Griffons."
"I'm just saying Gadon. You put too much faith in this little colt here. He only started learning how to ride a bike in just one week. How do we know if he's going to cost us the race?" Solar asked looking at Gadon with a stern look.
"You got nothing to worry about. My skills on a bike are quite good and like Gadon said, I have as much to lose if we don't win this race," Garret pointed out and gave a friendly smile to Solar.
Solar gave out a defeated sigh and replied, "Alright rookie, if you say so, but if you do something that ruins our chances of winning this race I'll personally see that you go down with your bike."
"I'm glad that we are getting along so well," Garret said sarcastically and gave a smile to Solar who only rolled her eyes.
"Well if we have everything covered, everypony get your bikes ready to go," Gadon said.
*Ahem!*
"*Sigh*.....and donkey," Gadon corrected himself.
"Thank you," Bronze said to Gadon.
Everypony and donkey grabbed their gear and set out for the swoop race.
A few hours had passed and every biker and attendances were getting ready for the grand swoop race. All the gangs were making their plans for the race, bikers and mechanics were getting together their bikes and making sure everything was working, and everypony that wanted to watch the race was finding spots to sit at where they can watch the race from their personal datapads or from the terminal pads on the wall. Applejack and the rest of the gang were in the lobby with the rest of the ponies that wanted to watch and were sitting at a booth waiting for the race to start.
Zaalbar was ordering food for himself to eat while talking in his native language. Scootaloo groaned and said, "Big Z, you don't need to eat all that stuff."
The large minotaur continued talking in his language while pointing out why he wanted to eat almost everything on the menu. Scootaloo gave out a defeated sigh and replied, "Fine you can eat all you want. But please show some self control this time. Last time you were out of control and made a mess in the cantina we couldn't go back in there for weeks."
"Aw cupcakes! How long do we have to wait until the race starts? The suspense is killing me," Pinkie said impatiently.
"I'm sure it won't take long. I just hope Garret makes it out okay," said a concerned Fluttershy.
"Hey look! Th' riders are appearing on the tracks now," Applejack said pointing at the monitors.
The monitors were showing riders coming near the starting line in their bikes and as the camera was moving to show all the riders, the gang saw Garret and the Beks riders. Everypony was cheering for Garret as they were showing him.
"Yee'Haw! Go get them partner," Applejack cheered.
"WOOHOO! Show them who's boss," Scootaloo said.
Zaalbar was roaring and cheered for Garret.
Pinkie jumped on a table wearing a cheerleaders outfit with Garret's face on it and waved her pom poms around. "G-A-R-R-E-T What does that spell? Garret! Garret! gggGGGGOOOOO GARRET! WOAH!
Fluttershy was taking a big, deep breath and shouted, "Yay Garret"
On the swoop track, Garret and the Beks were going over their plans one more time for the race.
"Okay let's go over the plan again," Solar said and continued, "We try to stay together the best we can. Bronze will stay behind us and lookout for any riders that try to get past us. Gadget will stay near Garret in the middle of our formation and will protect him since he is the one with the prototype. Star and I will take lead and will take out any rider that gets in our way. One more thing, the Griffons have been known to cheat during the race, but nopony have proved it yet so watch out. Anypony have a question?"
*Ahem*
"*Sigh*....Anypony or donkey have a question," Solar corrected herself.
Garret raised his hoof.
Solar let out an annoyed sigh and said, "You don't have to raise your hoof. This isn't kindergarten you know."
"Um right....When do I use the prototype?" Garret asked out of curiosity.
"If we're lucky, we don't have to. We have a good starting spot in the race and if we can make it in lead and keep it that way, we won't have any problems," Solar clarified.
"And if we don't have the lead?" Garret asked.
"Then use the prototype if we get close to the finish line and when we're not in the lead," Solar answered.
"Alright I got no more questions," Garret said and put on his goggles.
"Well then everypony let's get to our bikes and win this race," Solar announced to the riders.
On another part of the track, the Griffons were plotting to take out the Beks.
"Are you sure this plan will work?" one of the Griffon riders said.
"Yes, those fools will think that the engine they took back is in working order, but they don't realize that it is booby trapped," Another one of the rider answered.
"Really? What exactly will happen if they use it?"
"Let just say when one of them uses it, they’re not coming back from the tracks ever again."
The Griffons started laughing at what was to come.
As the riders got ready for the race, the speakers were being turned on and the announcers started making their announcement.
"Hello every mare, gentlecolt, and all other species of the galaxies. This is Flim."
"And this Flam."
"And we're here to give you all the details of today's race,"
"That's right Flim and we are excited for today's race as so many gangs have joined in today's competition."
"Never has there been so many riders in the swoop race in ever, Flam."
"And I don't blame them, Flim. For there are so many rare prizes today. But one of the most valuable one is an republic officer that the Griffons put up for their share of the race."
"Indeed Flam and not to mention the officer is a mare. So any rider that wins the race would sure have a good time with her if you know what I mean."
Flam was confused and scratched his head for a moment. "What do you mean, Flim?"
"Umm.....I'll explain it to you later, anyways here are the details of today's race."
"Here is where the starting line is. Our racers are going around the capital city of Hoovris which is thousands of miles around the entire city. They would have to make their way through all around the pillars of the city, a pathway through some of the sewer systems, going through heavy traffic of pedestrian speeders, and surviving from the other riders that like to play dirty."
"Alright Flam, looks like the race is about to start."
Every rider was in their bikes and were starting their engines. The sound of roars of engines and revving from the bikes were louder than the cheering fans excited for the race to start. A light on top of the starting line turned red and the riders were revving up their engines and the crowed were silent. The light turned yellow and some of the riders were twitching to start the race. And when the light finally turned green, sirens went off and the racers quickly went off in seconds.
At the beginning of the race, the riders were trying to get ahead of one another. Many of the racers began to crash into each other because they either got ahead of them, weren't paying attention to their surroundings carefully, or were too impatient to wait for a chance to gain the lead.
"Well Flim, the race has just started and we already lost over twelve racers."
"That's right Flam, look's like they weren't ready for this race after all."
"Let's see how the other racers are doing."
Garret and the Beks started making their way to the front of the race. Many of the other riders tried to stop them from getting there, but thanks to Garret's training and the other Beks’ experience they had no problem getting around them.
As the race was going, the racers saw large pillars up ahead. Most of the pillars were close and were difficult to get around. A lot of riders tried to get around the pillars as fast as they could, but soon over a dozen riders were either killed from heading towards them on accident or crashed towards one another. Luckily Garret and the Beks made it out of there carefully, but lost some footing in the race and had to catch up to the lead racers.
Sometime had passed and the Beks were still having a hard time catching up to the lead racers.
"Solar what should we do? At this rate we're going to lose the race," Bolt Star shouted over the intercom between the Bek riders.
"We still have a long way to go before that happens and I have a plan," Solar replied.
"Oh yeah? What kind of death defying stunt are you going to do now?" asked Bronze, having a bad feeling about Solar's plan.
"Oh it's not what I'm going to do. It's what we're going to do," Solar clarified.
"I had a feeling you would say that," Bronze said knowing he was right.
"We're about to get near the sewer entrance, but we're going to take a little detour," Solar said while wearing a smirk smile.
"What kind of detour?" Garret asked out of curiosity.
"There's a secret entrance near the entrance and it can take us through the tracks faster and guarantee us a win in the race, but I have to warn you that it is small and narrow. If you make one mistake it's goodbye for you" Solar explained.
"I say we take the risks and use it," Garret supported the idea.
"Yeah you can count me in," Star Bolt added.
"Me three," Gadget said.
"*Sigh*....I lived long enough anyway, so might as well," Bronze commented.
"Alright, everypony-"
"Ahem!"
"Grrrr....Everypony and donkey follow my lead," Solar said.
As they were nearing the entrance of the sewers, Solar saw the secret route she mentioned and lead the Beks to through it. The Beks were able to get in it with no problem and started making their way, unaware of the Griffons following their trail from a distance.
"Looks like the race is going well Flim."
“Why yes it does Flam. We haven't lost a single rider in over two minutes, that has got to be a new record."
"I bet it is, Flim and there is no sign of either the Beks team or the Griffons team. It's like they disappeared from thin air."
"Yeah wonder where they ar-"
"Wait a minute, I see the Bek team are back in the race and they are way in the lead."
"Wow! They must have used one of the secret entrances in sewers to do that. It's against the rules or something?"
"Probably, but nopony cares and it does make it more fun though, so we're letting it pass and seeing what happens next."
As the Beks got back on the tracks, Solar shouted, "WOO HOO! Alright we're in the lead."
"First place here we come," Star Bolt said.
Garret was glad that the team was in the lead, but all of a sudden he felt that something was wrong. He looked behind him to see in the distance that the Griffons were catching up fast. Garret alerted the Bek riders, "Hey guys we got company."
The other Beks looked behind them and saw the Griffons. They all prepared themselves for the worse and sped up their bikes as fast as they could.
"Ah oh Flim! Looks like the Griffons have made their appearance and are catching up to the Beks."
"Oh colts, what are they going to do now Flam?"
The Griffons catched up to the Beks and they started ramming into one another.
One of the Griffons was ramming against Bronze and he said, "Oh want to pick on the old guy eh? I'll show what for." Bronze went into a saddlebag he had next to him and threw an old, rusty, bronze cog right at the griffon. The griffon was hit in the head and fell off his swoop bike. The bike spin out of control and rammed against a wall, leaving the Griffon rider stranded in the middle of the tracks.
The donkey was laughing at the misfortune of the griffon, until one of the Griffon rider headed towards him. The donkey covered his eyes at what he thought would be the last thing he would see, but the Griffon went by him close and went away from him. Bronze uncovered his eyes and felt relieved. Until he saw that the griffon had stuck a detonation disk on the side of his bike. Before Bronze could do anything, the disk exploded and the remains of the bike and its owner came crashing down on the tracks.
Back at the lobby where the gang was, were horrified at what happened. Applejack quickly covered Scootaloo's eyes, Pinkie was crying and was holding to Zaalbar, and Fluttershy covered her eyes and was trembling with fear. When it was over, the gang took a moment to collect themselves after what had happened.
"Those dirty, feather-head meanies. They didn't have to do that to an old donkey like that!" Pinkie shouted, enraged by what had happened.
"Ya said it. They're no better then th' Luna Empire!" Applejack added also enraged by what happened.
"I really hope Garret stays safe," said a concerned Fluttershy.
"Don't worry about thet. Garret can take care of himself. He can outwit those pigeons anyday," Applejack said with confidence.
"Yeah if anypony can win this race, it's him," Scootaloo said.
Zaalbar spoke in his language saying Garret could win the race without a doubt.
The gang then turned their attention back to the screen to see what happened next.
The Beks and the Griffons continued ramming each other as they continued down the tracks. While Solar was holding off one of the Griffons, she looked up ahead and saw heavy traffic of pedestrian vehicles. "Guys we're about to get in real trouble."
Both Beks and Griffons stopped what they were doing and saw what was happening. They entered the traffic and started avoiding all the vehicles the best they could.
Star Bolt was avoiding them like crazy, but he was able to catch a break for a few seconds and felt relieved. But from out of nowhere, a cargo cruiser headed straight towards him and rammed him and his bike down.
"STAR BOLT!" screamed Gadget.
"IT'S NO GOOD, KEEP GOING!" Solar shouted.
The gangs made it across the traffic and continued ramming against each other. The Griffons out numbered the Beks four to three. The Griffons took advantage of this and two of them started ramming against Garret's bike on each side. Garret couldn't get out of it and was trapped.
Gadget saw what was happening and said to Garret, "BACK UP!"
Garret heard Gadget and slowed down his bike. The Griffons tried to ram him again, but when he slow downed, they rammed against one another. Gadget took advantage of this and rammed against the side of the Griffon while the other Griffon was being pushed against the walls. While Gadget had them trapped, he saw that they were heading straight for a wall. At the last second, he pulled away from the Griffon riders and they crashed against the wall. But part of his bike hit the wall as well and lost one of its side fins. He came crashing down onto the tracks, but he survived and cheered for his fellow riders to win.
Garret felt relieved that at least one of the Beks made it out okay and turned his attention to the remaining two Griffon riders. All of a sudden, one of the bikes engines started shutting down. Garret panicked and looked at his screen on the bike to see what was happening. The engine wasn't getting enough power because one of the power couplings was detached from it. Garret looked around his bike to see were the cupling was and saw that it was a plug that came out of the engine. He tried to reach for it the best he could, until one of the Griffons started ramming against him.
The Griffon continued ramming against Garret and he was losing control of his bike. Solar had her attention on the Griffon that was ahead of her, until she looked over her shoulder and saw what was happening. It was happening so fast for the mare, she couldn't decided whether or not to help Garret or take a chance at winning the race for the Beks. There was so much going on in her head she couldn't think straight. She then let out a defeated sigh and said to herself, "Damn it Harmony, why do you have to be against me?" She slowed down her bike and as soon as the Griffon was about to ram Garret again, the mare took advantage and rammed against the Griffon rider. She didn't hold back and gave it all she could to hold off the Griffon.
Garret took this chance, grabbed the couplings, and plugged them back into the engines. Garret's bike was back to full power and started speeding up. He looked to Solar to see the mare smiling at him. She gave him a wink right before she forced herself and the Griffon rider to ram against a large hoover bulletin board. Garret's eyes shrank in horror at what he saw. Both bikes came out of the board on fire and crashed onto the tracks.
Garret couldn't bare what he saw, but he didn't have time to feel anything at the moment. He straightened his goggles, put on a serious face, and sped up his bike to catch up to the last Griffon rider.
"Well Flim, looks like there are only one Bek and one Griffon left on the tracks. Think any of them are going to make it?"
"I don't know Flam, but if they both crash at the same time that means more suspense for the race."
"I agree with that."
The gang back at the lobby continued cheering for Garret as he was catching up to the griffon.
"WAOH GARRET!," Pinkie shouted and continued, "GO GARRET GO!"
"COME ON GARRET, YOU’RE THE PONY!" Scootaloo shouted for Garret.
"COME ON PARTNER YOU’RE CLOSE!" Applejack said to the monitor.
Fluttershy took a deep breathe and cheered,"Go Garret! Woohoo!"
Garret and the griffon were at each other throats as they kept their bikes rammed against each other. They both soon pulled away from one another and Garret said to himself, "Time to see if the prototype is any good."
As he was reaching for the switch that turns on the prototype, he suddenly heard a voice, "NO DON'T!"
Garre was spooked for a second and looked around to see who said that. He then asked out loud, "Who said that?"
"Trust in your skills."
Garret didn't recognize who was saying, yet somehow he felt like that he had heard it before. Garret then changed his mind about using the prototype and continued with the race.
As the riders were getting closer to the finish line, there was a train track ahead and a train was on its way. Garret and the Griffon sped up hoping to beat one another before the train could cross and cost them either the race or their lives. The riders were getting closer and closer to the tracks. Garret stayed confident and wasn't worried about the train coming, but the griffon was beginning to sweat and feared for his life. All of a sudden, the griffon tried to stop his bike from crossing the track, but Garret continued with full speed.
"IS THAT RIDER CRAZY FLIM!?"
"INDEED HE IS FLAM!"
The gang in the lobby started to panic and were shouting at the monitor.
"DON'T DO IT GARRET IT'S NOT WORTH IT!" Scootaloo shouted.
"AH KNOW THAT THIS WAS A BAD IDEA! I SHOULD HAVE TRIED TO STOP HIM!" Applejack shouted out of guilt.
"OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OOOHHH MMYYYY GGOOOODDDD!" Pinkie said frenetically.
Zaalbar covered his eyes and prayed to any of the Minotaur gods that Garret wouldn't get hurt.
"EEPP" Fluttershy shrieked.
At the very last second Garret crossed the tracks before the train began crossing. Unfortunately the griffon tried to stop his bike, but it was too late and crashed against the side of the train.
Garret saw the finish line and crossed it. At first the audience stood silent, but then they erupted into a huge cheer for their new swoop rider champion. Garret stopped his bike and jumped off of it and started waving at the audience.
"LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A NEW SWOOP CHAMPION FLAM!"
"YES WE DO FLIM! WAOH!"
"HE DID IT, HE DID IT , HE DID IT WOAH!!!" Pinkie started shouting out with joy and bouncing around all over the place.
Zaalbar was letting out a victorious roar.
"That....was.....AWESOME!" Scootaloo said in awe and pressed her face together.
"Will isn't he one lucky son of a pony," Applejack said out of disbelief.
"WOAH! HE DID IT, HE DID IT!" Fluttershy shouted with much joy and after a moment that she stopped cheering, she fainted on to the ground.
Back on the finish line, riders were finally coming in and went to congratulate the new champion. They lifted him up into arms and started carrying him across the field as fans started throwing flowers and credits at him. Garret never felt so great in his life and he accomplished so much since the beginning of his journey here on Hoovris. He continued waving at his fans and continued to let the other riders carry him. But unknown to him, a female griffon was watching him from a distance and started plotting her revenge.
END OF CHAPTER