Scootaloo's Race

by RushingWind-01

Chapter 11: Back in the Action

Saddle Arabia, early afternoon...

Scootaloo felt good and ready to race. She took a full 8 hours of relaxation, and Rainbow Dash took her to Saddle Arabia, for Race 3 of the Pro Tournament. So far, Scootaloo only had 8 points, and was therefore 42 points behind Soarin, who won the two races before that. But there were still six races to go, so Scootaloo knew that she had a chance. And after the training with Rainbow Dash, there was no doubt for her that she would win.

"Alright, Scoots, show me what you can do now!", said Rainbow Dash to encourage her.

"I will! See you at the finish line!", Scootaloo said and went to the start, to Position 7. Like Rainbow Dash said in the training, Soarin started six positions ahead of her, and on the same side. And she had four laps to pass him.

However, Rushing Wind wasn't there now, so she didn't get any info on the track she was racing on. And this track was far from an oval where she trained with Rainbow Dash. But at this point of racing for some time, Scootaloo has learned enough techniques to get used to any track she would race on. She took a launching stance and waited for the green light...

And when it came, she took off and instantly felt the difference in speed since the takeoff was so much faster now. Coming into the first turns, they were quite average, fast yet tough. Soon came a long straightway, and Scootaloo knew, that was her chance to show her speed. She slipstreamed the contenders in front of her and was able to pass two of them by the end of the straightway.

Then came a hairpin - one of Scootaloo's strong points. Using Air Braking, she swerved through the turn with grace and passed another contender. By the end of Lap 1, she was now in fourth place, so she knew that she finally stood a chance.

But she couldn't rejoice yet, since that was only one lap, and there were three to go - as well as three contenders in front of her, and all of them were from the Wonderbolts.

After getting used to the track, Scootaloo attempted to perfect her flying line in order to maintain a faster speed through all turns. On the long straightway, she got past Fleetfoot, and coming into the hairpin a second time, she passed Spitfire.

At the start of Lap 3, Scootaloo was now behind Soarin, the tournament leader. And every time she tried to pass him, Soarin would simply try to block her line. Every attempt to pass Soarin was futile - he was a smart contender and always knew when someone tried to pass him.

The final lap - that was the last chance to pass him. And just like in the previous lap, every attempt in taking first place seemed useless... Until Scootaloo had an idea for the hairpin...

Just before they hit the hairpin, Scootaloo made a risky attempt to pass Soarin on the left. In an attempt to defend his position, Soarin swerved to the left - that was the moment Scootaloo was hoping for! She slowed down, swerved through the hairpin and left a Soarin grinding the wall to take the hairpin, having him to lose so much speed, in her tailwind.

And that allowed her to finish the race in first place, and Scootaloo was not only filled with joy, but also beaming with pride as the crowd cheered for her!

Soarin placed second, followed by Spitfire and Fleetfoot. Scootaloo knew that she couldn't leave those skilled flyers far behind because of their sheer speed, but for once, Scootaloo was happy that she actually won a race.

Soarin walked up to Scootaloo, and he had a defeated look on his face, which then turned into a serious glance again.

"Beginner's luck. Try to take me in the next track.", he just said and walked away. Scootaloo could tell that the Wonderbolts still didn't know that Soarin scolded her the day before.

When Scootaloo left the track, she flew to Rainbow Dash. "Hey, Scootaloo! I see that you made it!", she said in excitement.

"Yeah! I finally won a race! And did you see how I left Soarin behind?", Scootaloo asked, excited as well.

"You mean that move where you made him think you pass him on the left but you intended to do that so he would grind the wall in that hairpin?", Rainbow Dash asked.

"Exactly that.", Scootaloo said.

"Yeah, that was awesome!", Rainbow Dash said.

"So... Where do you think the next race will be held?", Scootaloo asked.

"I just had a word with one of the flyers. And guess what - we're going to Cloudsdale!", Rainbow Dash said.

"Whoa! Really?", Scootaloo asked. She hasn't been to Cloudsdale much, only at certain times when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had to slingshot her up there because she couldn't fly back in the days. But now that she was flying fine, she was able to go there whenever she wanted.

Also, Scootaloo was excited to see the race track in Cloudsdale. She couldn't imagine racing on the Cloud Derby Racetrack that Rainbow Dash raced on with her vehicle when she was a filly, but she knew that it would be an amazing one...

---

Cloudsdale, Evening...

This big town up in the clouds is a beautiful one, and it's the home to many Pegasi in Equestria. On this gorgeous evening, the race was held.

Rainbow Dash led Scootaloo through Cloudsdale and showed her everything - the town highlights, the house of her parents, even the Historical Museum of Cloudsdale. While doing so, they ran into Rushing Wind.

"Hey, Rush!", Rainbow Dash called out. Rushing Wind turned around and saw the two Pegasi.

"Rainbow! Scootaloo! Good to see you're both fine. I haven't seen you two since Race 2 of the Pro Tournament. What have you been doing in that time?", he asked.

"Let's just say I trained with Scootaloo on that night and helped her to become competitive in the tournament.", Rainbow Dash responded.

"And it actually worked! I placed first in the third race, and there's still five to follow with this one.", Scootaloo said.

"No way, really?", Rushing Wind asked in disbelief. Since he didn't see Scootaloo after that day, he thought she would've given up. But seeing that his little competitor decided to continue on, he gave her a smile.

"That's a true competitor's way of thinking. Never giving up and keeping on, no matter what happens. Very nice.", he said.

Together, the three headed to the track, and Rushing Wind took a look at it. Coming back, he said: "This is an easy track. It has its fair share of fast sections and tough turns, similar to another track from a 'Wipeout' game called Arc Prime."

Fast sections and tough turns - both of them things where Scootaloo was able to shine at.

"If you don't mind my asking, what's the standing? I haven't been to Saddle Arabia for Race 3, so I'm not quite up to date.", Rushing Wind said.

"Scootaloo now has 33 points. And the leader, Soarin, has 68.", Rainbow Dash responded.

"I'm not sure if there's a chance to still win the overall standing if you keep winning the races, but all I can say is, give it all you got!", Rushing Wind said to encourage Scootaloo.

"I will. See you after the race.", Scootaloo said and went off to the track.

Scootaloo took her place at the start, the Pole Position. Behind her was Soarin, the tournament leader.

Soarin was saying something to her, but Scootaloo didn't listen, because she was focused on the light that just came down. He just wouldn't shut up...

And as the light turned green and Scootaloo took off, she looked back for a short time and noticed that Soarin missed the launch.

"Serves him right...", Scootaloo thought, and now she focused on the track.

Rushing Wind wasn't lying - the track sure had its share of fast sections as well as tough turns. Most of the turns were round K turns, so it was easy for her to swerve through and maintain her speed. There was one square K turn in particular, but nothing that Scootaloo can't handle thanks to the Scandinavian Flick.

After one lap, Scootaloo was still in the lead, with Spitfire behind her, but no sign of Soarin. However, Scootaloo knew that Spitfire was an amazing flyer and that said Pegasus was faster than she was. But as she raced over the track while being pursued by that Wonderbolt with a mane that looks like fire (hence the name Spitfire, she figures), she still kept her lead at the end of Lap 2...

But Soarin was nowhere to be found.

Scootaloo was able to get a bit of distance to Spitfire, but still, there was room for zero mistakes or she would get passed by her pursuer right away. And at the end of Lap 3, there was still no sign of Soarin.

In one of the straight lines, Scootaloo looked back shortly and saw Soarin on Position 4. Seems like the missed launch did way worse to his position than she thought.

And after one heck of an amazing race, Scootaloo ended up winning the race with a bit of distance to Spitfire.

Rushing Wind and Rainbow Dash were watching the race. When Scootaloo crossed the finish line, Rainbow Dash looked to him and asked: "Well, Rush... Did I promise you too much?"

"I have to admit, it seems like your training worked. She sure is way faster now. Mind if you tell me how you did that?", Rushing Wind asked.

Rainbow Dash told Rushing Wind everything about the night where she trained Scootaloo all night long for the next races of the Pro Tournament. He hasn't heard anything about all-nighter sessions, but it sounded like it was very effective, considering that this was the first race in the Pro Tournament where he saw Scootaloo win.

After the race, Scootaloo stayed at Rainbow Dash's Cloudominium for the night before the next race began tomorrow, which was held in Vanhoover. And she needed to be in perfect condition for that race since Rushing Wind told them it would be a tough one. As Scootaloo drifted off to sleep, dreams started to build up in her mind...

---

Scootaloo flew through the clear, blue sky with astounding speed, so fast that the world around her went blurry. She didn't know how fast she went, but she absolutely liked the feeling. Going so fast was something she could only dream of in the days where she couldn't fly, and now, she was free...

Suddenly, the blue skies turned into a grim orange, and Scootaloo startled. "Wh-what is that?", she thought. Then, she heard a voice.

"Ha, nobody there to cover you now, eh, Scootaloo?"

Scootaloo knew that voice. It was Soarin. And next thing she knew, she stood next to him on a race track in... "Vanhoover? But why are only we here? Where are the others?", Scootaloo asked.

"Oh, they had to mind their own business. This is a fight between you and me.", Soarin responded.

As the light came down, Scootaloo was filled with enthusiasm, but was also scared of what might happen next... Is she really going to die like this?

She shook off those dark thoughts and waited for the green light. When it came, the two rivals took off and raced over the track. There were many super tough turns and long straightways where everyone could play their advantage, so it was an even playing field.

But then, one of the seemingly endless straightways got tighter and tighter and TIGHTER... And Soarin was right next to her, so he had no choice but to grind her into the wall, causing the prostethic wings to malfunction and not work properly. Scootaloo was on the ground, unable to take off, and full of scratches on the left portion of her body.

"No... I can't let him win...", Scootaloo thought. But the moment she said that, she heard Soarin again: "Now I got you!"

Scootaloo looked up and saw a big, dark blue explosion of color as Soarin headed straight down for her and--

"AAAAAAAH!" Scootaloo startled awake. What in the heck was that? She never had a nightmare like that before, except the one about the headless horse. The fear was going through her entire body, causing her to shiver slightly. This was probably the worst out of all nightmares she ever had...

Scootaloo examined her wings and was thankful that they were still in one piece. But thinking about what would happen if they failed to function and she would never be able to fly again...

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash bursted into Scootaloo's sleeping room. "Scootaloo! Are you okay? I heard you scream!", Rainbow Dash said in worries.

"Yeah, I'm fine... somewhat...", Scootaloo said.

"What in Equestria happened? Was it a nightmare?", Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah...", Scootaloo responded, "About Vanhoover... I was on the race track, and I..."

"You're worried about the race... And about Soarin, am I right?", Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah... On a seemingly endless straight line becoming tighter and tighter, he pushed me into the wall, and my wings were falling apart and failing to function... What if... What if this happens to me and I'll never be able to fly again?", Scootaloo asked in big fear.

"Scootaloo... If the prosthetic is malfunctioning, Rushing Wind can repair this easily. But I think that still wasn't everything, right?"

"Yes..." Scootaloo's eyes filled with tears. "Then I saw a big, dark blue explosion of color in the sky, and Soarin charged me from up there, and... and..."

"Damn... That sounds just awful...", Rainbow Dash said, "But don't worry about it... It was just a terrible nightmare. That didn't happen. You're here, breathing, in front of me, and not dead..."

"I know... But I'm just so scared of the next race...", Scootaloo said. She was still shaking with fear.

"You'll be fine. Rushing Wind and I will come along, and if something happens to you, we'll come and get you. And I'm gonna have a word with Soarin after the race, okay?" Rainbow Dash's comforting words calmed Scootaloo down a bit. "And hey, if you still feel anxious, you can come sleep with me, yeah?"

Scootaloo couldn't say no to that and followed Rainbow Dash into her room. There, the two jumped into Rainbow's bed and both drifted off to sleep...

---

Vanhoover, the next day...

Scootaloo was worried as she, Rainbow Dash and Rushing Wind arrived in Vanhoover and found the race track. Not worried because the race would be tough, but worried because her nightmare might become reality.

Rushing Wind took a look at the track and returned with this information: "Now, this track is pretty long, and it has every kind of turn you want. Fast turns, K turns, a 180 hairpin, and even tight, long straightways."

When Scootaloo heard 'tight, long straightways', the memory of her nightmare returned, and she began to slightly shake. But Rainbow Dash calmed her down.

"Hey. Remember what I said - don't worry about your nightmare, just focus on surviving the race, okay?", she asked.

"Okay, I'll try.", Scootaloo said and went off to the track. She knew that she was starting in first place, but holding it with a Wonderbolt who wants to take her out on her tail doesn't make things easier.

She watched the light, and when it turned green, she took off. The first few turns were easy to take, like Rushing Wind said, and after one long straightway in which Soarin caught up to third place, there was the 180 hairpin, in which Scootaloo used Air Braking to take it perfectly and without too much speed loss.

After some more fast sections and K turns, one lap was done. Just one - next came three more.

In the next two laps, Scootaloo repeated and perfected her flying line in order to maintain her fast speed through every possible turn, and also to go as fast as possible to minimize the lap time. In Lap 3, on the straight after the hairpin, she looked back and saw Soarin catch up - he was right behind her!

Scootaloo would not allow him to win. Never. And she would never allow that nightmare to become reality.

The final lap - and Soarin was very close. He was slipstreaming Scootaloo perfectly, and she got more worried the closer he got. On the straightway heading for the hairpin, he was directly on her left.

And now, Soarin tried to ram Scootaloo into the wall - but Scootaloo noticed this intention and forced herself into a huge slowdown so that Soarin missed her. Instead, he clipped the very right edge of the hairpin, lost control and crashed into the wall with almost top speed.

"Contender eliminated!"

The sudden call of the Announcer startled Scootaloo a bit, but there was no time to lose - she still had the race to finish, and she was still in the game. But what does that call "Contender eliminated" mean? Is Soarin out of the race?

But Scootaloo didn't think about that - she just pushed on over the track and raced through the final lap with grace. Finally, there was the checkered flag, the safety of the finish line!

"Yes! I survived!", Scootaloo thought with relief, thankful that the nightmare didn't become reality. Behind her came Fleetfoot and Spitfire, both about 4 to 5 seconds behind.

"Have you seen Soarin, Spitfire?", Fleetfoot asked.

"I don't think I did... Where is he?", Spitfire asked as well.

This was Scootaloo's chance!

"I think I know where he is...", she answered, "He tried to ram me into the wall in that 180 hairpin, but he missed me and crashed into the wall. And also, he scolded me for being a nobody after the second race."

"Soarin did that!?", Spitfire asked in disbelief, "That's not like him at all. I think we need to talk to him when we get to visit him in the hospital."

The two Wonderbolts flew off. They want to find Soarin, obviously. Scootaloo, on the other hand, flew to Rainbow Dash and Rushing Wind, who were eagerly awaiting her.

"Hey, Scoots! Good to see you made it!", Rainbow Dash said, "I told you not to worry, everything will work out."

"Thanks, Rainbow Dash.", Scootaloo said. But she looked a bit brought down.

"Something on your mind, Scootaloo?", Rushing Wind asked.

"I think that Rainbow Dash didn't tell you about it," Scootaloo started, "but I had a nightmare last night, in which Soarin pushed me into the wall on a long, tightening straightway, rendering me unable to fly. Now it seems like the complete opposite has occured. Did you see him crash?"

"No... We were only focusing on you. And in that hairpin in the final lap, we noticed you were forcing yourself into a slowdown...", Rushing Wind said.

"Then can you tell me what the call 'Contender eliminated' means?", Scootaloo asked.

"That's a phrase from the 'Wipeout' games, in which it signalizes that a ship has been destroyed.", Rushing Wind explained.

"So are you trying to say that Soarin crashed when you tried to dodge him?", Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes. And not 'crash' like you did, Rainbow. Like, really 'crash'.", Scootaloo said.

"Whoa... That's nasty. Where is he now?", Rainbow Dash asked.

"From what I heard from Spitfire and Fleetfoot, they're taking him to the hospital right now. It seemed like a really severe crash.", Scootaloo said.

"Ha! That should be my chance to give a bit of a talk to him.", Rainbow Dash said with a grin on her face.

"Just don't get too hard on him, okay, Rainbow?", Rushing Wind asked.

"I'll only do as much as needed. See ya.", Rainbow Dash said and flew off.

"Whew, I'm just thankful that your nightmare didn't become reality. And it's also good to know that you survived the race and even won it.", Rushing Wind said.

"Yeah, that was a thrilling ride.", Scootaloo said.

"The next venue to see is Whinnyapolis, near Cloudsdale. I've seen the track there, and this might be a bit tougher. But I'll tell you when we get there.", Rushing Wind said.

On one side, Scootaloo was thankful that she survived the race and that her nightmare wasn't a reality. But on the other side, she kinda felt sorry for Soarin. She saw him crash, and it wasn't a pretty sight.

One thing was for sure - with him out of the race, she maybe had a chance of winning the tournament...

Author's Note:

Whew, thrilling indeed, Scootaloo. And thank Celestia her nightmare didn't come true.

And yes, when you play Wipeout, sometimes it can happen that a contender is eliminated, and I thought I'd make something like that as well.

The story will continue in Chapter 12, so be on the lookout for that too!

Comments

[Bronycommander]

Looking forward to that. And really, Soarin, trying to that to a foal, that's low and dishonorable, could be deadly to her.

And I hope you like the idea I gave you regarding Hanzal

[RushingWind-01]

10660369
I'll think about that, but it's good that you liked the chapter. Thanks. :)

[Bronycommander]

10660379
You're welcome! just assumed you like the idea due to the thumbs up of my comment