Amethyst Star Isn't Prepared For This

by MagicS

Her Race VI

The Amethyst Flame drove across a wide dirt road as Amethyst Star sped onto the second half of the course. Totally refueled and given the OK sign from the pit crew. This path led to a big rock formation up ahead that jutted up out of the ground, so far she didn’t see any road going up or around it but there must be one somewhere. A shadow briefly fell over her car and Amethyst Star glanced up to see one of the hot-air balloons she had been told about hovering overhead. The ponies inside watching and filming her portion of the racers. Turning her attention back to the cars in front of her she tried to see if she could see Watts and Loxy, but they were a bit too far ahead and other cars were blocking her view.

Amethyst Star frowned. “Not letting first place stay that far away...”

Compared to the other roads the race had taken place on so far this one was much wider and actually allowed for racers to pass each other. Not only that, the cars were more spread out in the first place after having gone through the forest and made their pit stops. The different speeds it took drivers to get through those portions all led to a very staggered race as they pushed their cars to the limit towards the rock formation.

She wasn’t sure if hitting another car was outright prohibited or not and she wasn’t going to take that chance, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t sidle up as close as possible to another car to make them worried and try and get them to drop their speed so she could push past them. Amethyst Star grinned as that worked the first time, she was really handling herself well on this race now. That wasn’t some simple amateur move, at least not in her mind.

There weren’t any obstacles on this road like there were on the first one, it was purely about one’s driving ability as they raced to the huge rocks up ahead. This was really going good for her, she was really feeling excited and happy right now. Amethyst Star was not only in the top half of all the cars but she was gaining. Amethyst Star was a pony who might even be able to win.

Those old feelings crept back into her. Those thoughts that she was amazing and special and everyone had to know it just like she did. That she could easily do something like this.

Amethyst Star shook her head. Not to quash those thoughts entirely, but to remind herself that she was doing this for Fernie and the others, not for herself. There wasn’t anything for her to prove here, at best that would be a bonus prize. She needed to focus purely on the race right now. She knew that more than anything. Just getting distracted by things like that balloon, or another driver, or her own delusions especially wouldn’t lead anywhere good. Things had gone well so far because she hadn’t let herself be distracted by anything else. The fear of crashing instantly or screwing up in some way had been defeated but she couldn’t allow any hubris inside of her until she actually crossed that finish line.

Rolling on she finally saw where their path was taking them. Much to her surprise it wasn’t a road up or around the rock formation, the road they were on now went right into a cave that sat at the bottom of it. A wide mouthed, shadowed entrance with rocks hanging like teeth from on top of it. A somewhat scary visage but all it was was a cave, right? Nothing to be afraid of.

“How bright is it gonna be inside there?” She wondered. It looked dark around the entrance because of the way the light hit it from outside but clearly they couldn’t have part of the course be in darkness, could they? “Probably gonna be a bunch of different paths to take just like the forest, and it might get cramped, gotta be careful.”

If she was in the top half there were probably at most twenty cars ahead of her, she’d have to maximize her time through this leg of the course if she wanted to improve her standing even more. Now that they were in the second half of the race she knew there weren’t going to be many chances left to do that. Whatever was in that cave, whatever sort of obstacles there were, she would surmount them.

“I just hope the world doesn’t feel like playing another joke on me,” she said to herself as The Amethyst Flame passed through the mouth of the cave, the brief period of darkness soon blown back by a sequence of lights wired all throughout the walls of the cavern.

Well that’s nice at least…

She didn’t have much time to dwell on the lights though, the entrance to the cave opened up into a huge interior cavern several stories high with all kinds of other paths and caves leading off deeper into the body of the rock formation. There were ramps made of chiseled rock that headed up higher, caves that led lower, and several other roads separated by walls of rock just going straight. Many more choices than the five that she had been presented with back at the forest, a chance for all the drivers to differentiate themselves and try to edge the others out by taking the best path.

Amethyst Star once again had no idea which path was the best.

“Eeny-meeny-miney-mo!” She sharply pulled the wheel to the right and headed into one of the caves that led downwards, again making sure it was a path that she hadn’t seen any others travel into. Perhaps there were one or two who went down here a little earlier than she did but she at least made sure she wouldn’t be stuck directly behind anyone else and lose time.

Thankfully this cave was perfectly lit up by lights embedded into the rocky ceiling, Amethyst Star smiled as she went at top speed down the steadily declining slope, most would probably go on the level paths or the ones that headed up, but she figured luck was on her side for once and there had to be something just as good or quick about these lower caves. When the road she had chosen finally leveled off she was still stuck inside a narrow cave where stalactites hung like jagged daggers right over her head. Not a pleasant trip if she or the car was any taller.

It was hotter down in this cave too. Really hot. The sweltering heat made her sweat hard and the windshield and goggles she wore start to get a little foggy. Even the air in front of her began to blur.

“There’s something familiar about this heat...” Amethyst Star bit her lip.

It kept getting hotter and hotter too as she drove on until finally her cave opened up into a wide and deep cavern, she drove across a stone bridge and chanced a glance over the sides.

“Yep, that’s definitely lava.”

A huge pool of bubbly lava sat only a few feet below the bridge, the source of the incredible heat down in this cave path that she had been taking. At least she’d be out of here soon thanks to the speed she was going but still, lava? A pool of lava on a racecourse?! What were they thinking?! Even if the bridge was steady and had slight walls carved on the side to keep her car from merely drifting off into the lava this was still insane wasn’t it?

“These ponies really go all out when it comes to their races,” Amethyst Star shook her head as she hit the gas and made it over the bridge as fast as she could.

The bridge led right into another cave at the opposite end of the cavern that sloped upwards, taking Amethyst Star back to surface level. Further than that actually, the slope was far steeper and longer than the one she had come down, now she’d be well up into the great rock formation. Wherever she was now she welcomed the cool air, just driving this thing normally made her sweat, she didn’t need the lava to turn the air around her into a sauna.

The ramp she was heading up now shortly leveled off into another large cavern, she could hear and see other cars driving around it on their own paths, separated by chasms and driving across other bridges at all levels in the cavern. As opposed to the pool of lava she had just gotten away from their were pools of reflective water everywhere in this cavern and a small stream that fell off into a waterfall on a bridge right below Amethyst Star. It was far prettier and more relaxing than the lava chamber even with the sounds of the other cars zooming about. Was she ahead of them? Impossible to tell like this.

The stalactites on the roof of the cavern were dripping with droplets of water that made a soft pitter-patter on the top of her car and helmet, briefly taking her eyes off the road Amethyst Star looked up to see that this cavern wasn’t lit up like the other parts, there were holes in the ceiling that let more than enough natural light through in large rays that lit up the place and made the pools of water glisten.

She wasn’t here to see the sights though and at her speed the stone road quickly curved into another cave that led away from the large, water-filled, cavern and headed back down again. And down.

“Oh great,” Amethyst Star sighed as she felt the heat begin to approach again.

Sure enough there was more lava, this time in a far bigger cavern much like the water one above it. A huge and slow moving multi-tier lavafall took up the entire left side of the chamber while Amethyst Star’s car traveled along the far right wall, directly below her the lava fell what looked like hundreds of feet down, a frightening red glow emerging from the bottom of the pit. The heat wasn’t quite as oppressive as the earlier lava chamber thanks to it not being as close to her but it was still way too much for her tastes. Amethyst Star slammed on the gas to get out of there faster, despite knowing the stress of going full speed combined with the heat of the room might make the engine overheat. It shouldn’t be long before she got to a part of the caves where the heat wasn’t such a problem.

The light of course came on but she ignored it, flooring The Amethyst Flame right out of the lava chamber. She was rewarded with another incline going straight up and a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Too bright. It had to be the outside, this little portion of cave must be the last before she’d emerge back in the open. Already the cool outside breeze (even though it was fairly warm out the contrast between that and the lava chamber was so huge) was blowing down on her as she drove her car to freedom.

She grinned as she noticed the engine light turn off, her gamble paying off.

“That’s right, I’m awesome.”

Amethyst Star now really couldn’t help those optimistic thoughts after yet another surprising success for her. She hit the light at the end of the tunnel and her car flew out onto a road that came right out the end of the rock formation. A few other cars were on the road too, having emerged from different tunnels of their own, but only a few. She saw Watts and Loxy again and only at most five others ahead of her. This was amazing, she was really doing it! Each leg of the race she got closer and closer to first place!

The unicorn from Equestria narrowed her eyes and gripped down hard on the steering wheel, eyeing Watts’s car that currently held first place. “I can do this.”

Comments

[Dashie04]

I sincerely hope she doesn’t screw this up.

[terrycloth]

10091779
That's how they getcha.

[Alondro]

10091779 It's not a matter of IF she screws up, it's how badly she'll screw up and how many ponies she's going to take out in the process.

Watching Amethyst Star's misadventures isn't like watching a train wreck in slow motion... it's like watching a trainwreck crashing into Chernobyl while the Titanic plummets on top of it from above while everyone in all 3 still alive is forced to watch the "Cats" movie.

[RoboRed]

A huge pool of bubbly lava sat only a few feet below the bridge, the source of the incredible heat down in this cave path that she had been taking. At least she’d be out of here soon thanks to the speed she was going but still, lava? A pool of lava on a racecourse?! What were they thinking?! Even if the bridge was steady and had slight walls carved on the side to keep her car from merely drifting off into the lava this was still insane wasn’t it?

“These ponies really go all out when it comes to their races,” Amethyst Star shook her head as she hit the gas and made it over the bridge as fast as she could.

You can say that again. Just what is it with the ponies in this world and their absolutely bonkers race courses?

[Mr_Perlimpinpin]

“That’s right, I’m awesome.”

No, the author simply decided to implant the idiot ball directly inside your brain for 99% of this story.