Day to Live

by FALG

Last resort

The day for me to live has arrived.

---

Twilight was right, Rainbow didn't like the idea, but the pegasus said it would compensate the mistreat of before, so she didn't budge, and carried on with it.

The last strategy consisted of a conservatory pace. Rainbow had to go a bit slower than the average, so that she could regain her stamina, and release it all after the Caracciola-Karussell. According to Twilight, the other two can't put much of a fight now, and they have to give it all this last lap, as everything is solved there. Which will, in turn, tire them even faster.

"After the Caracciola, you have something around 3 minutes to get them in sight, and overpass them, assuming you won't crash or anything."

"Don't worry, it will be enough for me. I can do this," Rainbow answered as she entered the Nordschleife for the last time.

"After the straight Döttinger-Höhe, everything else will be up to you. You just hold your position tight," Twilight reminded her.

"Okay then. Let's do this thing."

Rainbow noticed that going at this conservatory pace, it was easier whenever she had to turn on a curve, her speed barely changed on the fast zones. She felt confident, but she didn't calm down at all. She would only take a deep breath when she crossed the finish line.

---

"Are you sure she can win the race like this?" Rarity asked.

"Well if you put the other racers in perspective, she has good chances," Twilight answered.

"But Twilight, didn't you just say that she wouldn't be able to do it a few minutes ago?" Spike interrupted through their transmission. "Besides, the other two have an advantage of over 10 seconds now. At this rate she can't do it!"

"Not at this rate, but at a different one she will."

"Explain yourself Twi, we don' understand a hay 'bout this," the farmer said.

"Remember when I said that Rainbow's pace would tire her faster? It turned out I wasn't seeing the big picture, and forgot how what affects her can also affect the other drivers."

"But they've gone all this race with the same pace!" Rarity said "Shouldn't they be going faster now?"

"That's the beautiful thing, they won't. They can't."

A collective "huh?" filled the pits.

"Sonic is hard to tire out, true. But if he didn't have his shoes, he wouldn't be running all the time," Twilight explained. "He always had the same shoes, but that's because he always ran on grass or sand. The pavement of the track and it's curves is sure to worn out the shoes really fast, thus making them lose grip."

Everyone started to understand now.

"And Vettel? He's the champion of the highest class of racing, true again. But the vehicles his team builds never go much above 310 kilometers per hour. That thing he's racing on now, has an average speed of 400. It is above his normal speed, the sheer velocity of that car -and the force it exerts during corners- is sure to worn out his mental state. Making him go slower to catch his breath and focus."

"But didn't he reduce the record on Suzuka on that thing before?" Rarity asked.

"Only in a simulator, he never was inside the real car until today. Besides, Suzuka is not even half of this track," Twilight finished.

"So in short, ya' knew she could win all along?" Applejack asked returning to the topic.

Twilight smiled and giggled embarrassed: "Yeah, but I just remembered, and played along."

"Why?"

"I thought she needed another lesson," the unicorn sighed. "You know, like when we all acted as that Mare-Do-Well. But I guess I overdid it."

"I think you shouldn't have dun' it at all, RD couldn't crash with the same stone twice."

"Um, no offense Applejack," Fluttershy said. "But I think that's exactly what Rainbow did."

Everyone looked at the pegasus in surprise.

"Coming out of your mouth sweetie, makes it sound more serious," Rarity pointed.

---

"Twilight! How much until I get to the others?"

"Let me see..." Twilight started. "Since the start of the lap you reduced your distance for a half a second."

"If it turns out they also speed up after that carousel-thing, I won't be able to catch them."

"Don't worry about that, how's your breath doing?"

"I think I'm better now, I should be able to go all-out non-stop after the carousel, just like you said."

"Good job, remember to not press your pace too much until then. You still have a few minutes, so don't freak out."

"Twilight?"

"Yes Rainbow?"

"Thanks. For putting up with my attitude. I don't understand how come you're not the Element of Loyalty among us."

"Well somebody has to use magic, so I don't think you'd be able to do that," Twilight joked. "Besides, you're the most loyal of us. If you do something that's not resembling your element, you push your pride aside and confess it. It's better to make mistakes and acknowledge them, than never messing up at all."

"That's something strange to say."

"That's because I should be telling you what to do on the race, and instead of that, I'm giving you life lessons. Heads up young lady!"

"Yes ma'am!" Rainbow replied with a big grin on her face.

Just as they finished to talk, the pegasus reached Klostertal. And right there, an idea popped into her mind.

"Twilight, check this out, you're not gonna believe the idea I just had." she said.

"Dash? What are you thinking?" her friend asked, but Rainbow didn't answer, she accelerated instead.

She took the Steilstrecke curve a bit faster than estipulated, and accelerated even more as she approached the Caracciola, not even daring to brake a single bit. Twilight yelled at her to stop, to brake, or she'd crash. But Rainbow didn't listen, but for a good reason now.

Rainbow's idea was to use the guard rails for her advantage, so as she entered the curve, she tilted her body 90° degrees to her left, and ran along the guard as she flapped her wings to keep her speed. Before the curve ended, she pushed herself from the guard rail, getting a better exit.

---

Everyone in the pits was agape, Rainbow's maneuvre had let them speechless.

"Please tell me she took the curve faster than the others," Rarity demanded.

"According to Spike and Pinkie's cameras," Twilight checked. "She did."

Silence again in the surroundings, until someone in the distance yelled to the top of its lungs: "GO RAINBOW DASH!!!!"

"Was that the public?!"

"Nah," Applejack replied. "T'was Pinkie Pie."

---

The pegasus felt the cheer flooding the whole track, and that was the spark she needed to finish her job. And pushed forward, a smirk on her face.

Hohe Acht, then Hedwigshöhe, and then Wipperman, no sector was an obstacle for Rainbow Dash now. She was giving her last breath, and she was just a few minutes away from the finish line. Yes, she could handle it, like almost everything else.

Then suddenly, a blue dot was spotted in the distance, it was just entering the first curve of Pflanzgarten. It ran away from Rainbow's sight quickly, but it was enough for her. She was shortening the distance, and at this rate, she would win by a very good margin.

Pflanzgarten was almost over, and she was already feeling a change in the air.

"The draft," she whispered, and then talked to her intercom. "Twilight! I'm in range! I can overpass them!"

"Awesome, but do it when you're clear. Until then, just approach them."

"Roger that."

Galgenkopf, half a minute before reaching the finish line, this was it, the last chance before Döttinger-Höhe.

"Okay Rainbow, listen to me," said Twilight. "Three corners before you finish, you got this, twenty seconds from now."

"Here goes nothing..."

The straight line was being ran over for the third and last time, Sonic and Vettel were disputing for the first place, assuming the pegasus was no longer a problem. The hedgehog looked back and noticed her, perhaps he just wanted to see how long until Rainbow took the victory from their hands.

She was slip-streaming one last time, and was about to overpass Vettel, but he had other plans. Just as the Döttinger made a slight turn to the left, he took the curve in a wider arc than normal, covering the right side of the track, and blocking her.

At last, the biggest worry of Twilight has fallen over Rainbow. The fan hindered her run, and she screamed in horror as she slammed against the guard-rail.

"No!" she screamed, recovered her pose, and propelled forward, but the race was about to finish, and the odds of her overpassing them at the very last curve were very small.

Everyone reached Hohenrain, Sonic and Vettel took the curve calmly, but Rainbow instead aimed for the walls and bounced off of them, in a desperate attempt to win. Now they got into the final stretch, and it was up to fate to decide who would be the winner.

Everything led to this moment, Rainbow thought. She didn't come so far to lose now. All of her sacrifice and her friends' wouldn't be in vain, not on her watch.

The world turned slower and slower as she reached the finish line. She looked at her sides, everyone was in the same place as they started, Sonic on the left, and Vettel on the right, and they returned the glance. Even covered in their helmets, she could see the looks of desperation in their faces, and they could see hers. They were lined up, and if they kept that way, they would all share the first position.

Rainbow didn't want that, so she flapped her wings even faster. A pain ran through them which made her cringe, but she didn't slow down. She cried and wailed, but did not slow down, in the end, all the pain would be worth it.

Twenty feet, fifteen, ten, the nearer she got, the slower the world advanced. The pain was unbearable, did it have to do with not warming up properly? Or was it because she hit against a wall a few seconds before? Either way, Rainbow was not slowing down for anything in the world, except victory. Then, and only then, she would relax and slow down.

Five, four, three, two, one, a complete bullet-time filled her surroundings. But not only hers, but the whole track's also, the pit lane, the public in the stands, and the audience on TV. There hasn't been a close ending as this one in the whole racing world.

Just as the three racers passed the finish line, time slowly regained it's normal pace. They all took a deep breath, it was finally over.

Rainbow slowed down, and landed, but there was a problem. When her hooves touched down, she felt like being yanked backwards, destabilizing herself. Then she noticed that she wasn't really slowing down, and left the other two behind, but it wasn't on purpose.

Her wings were having a problem, they were flapping uncontrollably, and at inimaginable speeds. Rainbow screamed in horror, as she was aiming for the first curve's wall, nopony to help her prevent the oncoming accident. She tried flapping her wings herself, at least to go over the wall, but it was like they had a mind of their own.

And at last, it happened, she crashed against the Yokohama-S, the impact sent her flying up a few meters, only to land with a thud in the sand.

Her vision turned into a blur, and the fact that she had a helmet on made it worse. Her wings were still twitching, digging into the sand, and only making Rainbow much more uncomfortable. Lucky she was passing out, so she wouldn't deal with this for long, she thought.

People in white clothing approached the now fallen pegasus, along with an emergency transport from where more of them came out. The last thing she saw before submerging into the darkness, was a purple spark.

Comments

[FALG]

3635053 Here's an advice for you, next time when you find an idea you don't like, simply pass through, don't go making an unecessary mess. I understand you don't like this and that's okay, I don't mind, everyone has it's tastes.

But that doesn't mean you have to comment such things and give a downvote just because something you don't like. Those things were made to give proper feedback and properly grade.

I will not ask you to remove your comment or the downvote. Instead, I'll ask you to think about the situation, that's all.

[FALG]

3638717 Thanks!

Indeed, I do play Gran Turismo 5, I cannot afford the 6th installment just yet, and I still have to get the 100% in this one. So it won't happen anytime soon

[Summerrain]

Wow, I didn't know what I should expect, but this is really good. ^^
(and I must say THANK YOU that you did spell "ä" "ö" "ü" in words like "Höhe". I'm german and it's a pet-peeve of mine. ^^)