Anthology of Graybles

by Str8aura

Rally Racing (Rainbow, Twilight; Adventure/Comedy)

"Forty, left two minus over crest-"

"I still don't know what that means, Twilight!"

"Doesn't matter anymore, Dash, you hit it."

"None of this would be a problem if they had just let me enter without a car! I could've finished this race ages ago."

"That would defeat the point of rally racing completely! It's not fair to the other racers to compete against a winged creature that can fly ten times the speed of sound!"

Twilight shook her pace notes and scrutinized them again, despite having analyzed them to the point of memorized recitation in the weeks leading up to the race. Rainbow shook her head and tried to push harder on the gas pedal.

The past year or so had been hectic, with two different governments from two different dimensions attempting to collaborate on the first ever power stage in a different world. Heads had been put to the test to try and throw together a last minute Equstria-stage for the final leg of the 2019 World Rally Championship, baffling nearly ever racer- save for the Equestrian entries themselves, of course.

After learning of the event from Twilights constant ramblings of Earth culture, Rainbow had been ecstatic at the thought of joining, picturing herself lapping cars twenty times over as they struggled to keep up in cars running through a rocky canyon. She later learned that this was by no means the case, for while she was certainly bull-headed enough to secure herself a spot in the otherwise entirely human roster, she quickly realized that she would not be let in without a car. After weeks of moaning and whining, she finally succumbed to the abiding of the most basic definition of a Motorsport and was let in as the first non-human racer. A lot of firsts were scored this year.

She also found out, peculiar enough, that cars were not measured by speedness and coolness, as she initially presumed, but by a term Twilight had almost seemed embarrassed to name, Horsepower. The bookworm had considered car models for a good day before settling on a cyan model pf Lancia Stratos that would not be released to the public until 2020, correctly assuming Dash would enjoy it after a quick paint job of rainbow stripes running along the sides and hood. Several aggravating papers and meetings later, they had secured a spot in the race and learned that the Equestrian power stage was to be held in the streets of Canterlot come November 14, after the previous location was cancelled due to brush fires. This left a handy open slot for the race Celestia was more than happy to accept, and with Twilight as her co-pilot, Dash felt she was more than ready to take on the race.

She was not.

"Ok, in 400 yards you'll have to hang a tight-"

"When will that be?"

"Now."

Dash used both forelegs and wings to turn the wheel, nearly wrenching it off in the process. Without looking up from her notes, Twilight levitated a screwdriver into position and screwed the wheel in tighter.

"I told you you were going to have to study the pace notes I made, which I did months in advance!"

"I had a lot to do! I had to learn what the pace notes meant, I had to learn to drive this car-!"

"You still haven't, far as I can tell."

"I had to learn their weird human script! What's up with that? We share a spoken language but not a written one?"

"I think that's a Rarity For You we just sped by."

"Oh, really? Mark the map, we'll come back later."

"This isn't a map Dash, it's a line of code I had to learn."

"That's stupid. Just mark a line on a map, it'll save you a lot of trouble."

"That's not everything on here! These notes tell you what the terrains like, the exact location of every bump and turn, every little thing that may pose a challenge! For example, in 20 yards there's a smooth- *RAINBOW WATCH THE ROAD NOT ME-!"*

The car turned at the last second, failing to save itself from a rough barrel roll into a barricade, miraculously landing back on the wheels. They sat in their seats, stunned for a second before Twilight flared her wings out and started yelling again.

"WE'RE GOOD! THERES NO PROBLEM! DRIVE! GET YOUR REAR IN GEAR!"

Dash slammed on the gas and managed to clip three more buildings as they sped past.

Author's Note:

The picture that prompted it

Comments

[Sir Starshine]

... The only word I can think of is hilarious!

[Green-Venom]

Honestly, I could see Rainbow racing…