• Published 28th Dec 2011
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My Little Megas XLR - Alkem



Coop and MEGAS arrive in Poniville. Ponies, giant robots, chaos and explosions ensue.

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The Super Speedy Grand Prix

My Little Megas XLR

Chapter 7: The Super Speedy Grand Prix


The Cacti littered among the rugged slopes of the desert prairie swayed a little as a light blue pegasus soared over. Tumbleweeds rolled along behind her as Rainbowdash flew along over the lone set of train tracks stretching through the plains. Rolling along besides her was the roar of a ten cylinders engine. Coop, enjoying the breeze with the top down, was sitting back in his car as Applejack sat behind the wheel.

Swooping down alongside the two Earth ponies, Rainbow Dash lowered her head beside the driver. "What's the matter A.J., You afraid of going fast or something?" she said with a confident smirk.

Narrowing her eyes at her, Applejack tilted her hat down and planted her hoof on the gas. Speeding down the open desert, exchanging glances, they raced along the barren stretch of land.

Speeding down an embankment, they spotted a set of rock formations in the distance. One in particular, a corkscrew loop, caught their attention. Nodding at each other, Applejack and Rainbow Dash made their way towards rocky loop. The engine roared with a boost of nitrous as the muscle car advanced up the ramp. At the halfway point, Coop and Applejack looked up towards the ground, sticking their hooves out into the air. Coop reached over to the cup holder, grabbing his quadruple extra large cup of soda as he licked his lips. Before the bendy straw ever touched his lips, the lid flung open, drenching him as the liquid fell to the ground above. Rainbow Dash, witnessing Coop's accident, couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Bwahahahaha!" she laughed, holding her sides, as he and Applejack made their way down.

Safely on the other side of the formation, she looks over to her soggy passenger and patted him on the back. "Ah cheer up Coop, we're almost there. You can get more soda once we've arrived."

He sighed, looking into his empty container as a drop fell off his chin, landing inside. "Where are we going again?"

Still flying above them, Rainbow Dash poked her head in. "Appleloosa."

"So why are we headed there again?" he asked, turning up towards her.

"Well because Twilight asked me and Applejack to get you out of Ponyville for awhile, so they can take a break—" a swat of Applejack's hat cut her off.

"What Rainbow means is that I'm going to visit my cousin over in Appleloosa, and she going to visit a friend, so we thought you'd enjoy coming along with us. You know, to take a break from Ponyville." She said, not looking at Coop directly as she focused on her driving. Rainbow Dash, with Stetson still covering her mouth, nodded quietly in agreement.

Passing over the next hill, they finally saw the outlines of the town coming up. Applejack started slowing down as drove into town, stopping just by the Salt Lick. A stranger, leaning against the fence post, saw them arrive and made his way over to them.

"Well now that there's one fancy lookin' carriage you got there missy. Thing moves without anypony even pulling it. Talk about fancy." The dark blue colt said, tilting his hat to her.

Hopping out of the car, she took her hat off to him. "Why thank ya kindly stranger, but truth is it ain't mine."

Scurrying around the car, Coop popped up beside her. "It's mine," he said, pointing a hoof to his puffed out chest.

The old colt simply nodded, causing his ten gallon hat to fall over his eyes "Well one thing's, for sure that there's the second fastest carriage I'd ever lay eyes on around these here parts." He said, readjusting his hat.

Coop raised a brow at the local pony. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you mean second fastest?"

"Hmm? You three must be new round here. Why I'm talkin' bout them there brother's over by the orchard what came to town a few days back, with their newfangled cider doohickey."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash rushed over to him, pushing Coop aside. "What brothers?" they said simultaneously.

The Appleloosen tilted his hat up, darting his eyes between the two mares. "So much for being world famous. I figured everypony's heard of the Flim Flam brothers, countin' the way they flapped the gums bout it and all."

"The Flim Flam brothers!" Applejack and Rainbow gasped.

"Ah so you do know them," the older pony replied.

"The Who Whaty brothers?" Coop asked, scratching his head, still sitting on the ground.

"That's the Flim Flam brothers, sonny. Them and that Super Cider machine of theirs. They came to town a few days ago and impressed us locals with their fancy singing and that cider making contraption. I still can't get that jingle outta my head. But I tell you one thing, that machine of theirs could not only make a quick batch o' cider, it's also the fastest moving thing on four wheels I've ever done seen in my life."

Coop rolled his eyes are him. "Pssssh, there's no way some cider wagon could be faster than my car."

"Whatever you say sunny, but if you wanna see for yourselves they should be over at the orchard. Last I heard they were trying to strike a deal with the ponies over there," he replied, making his way inside the Salt Lick. Seeing him go, Coop turned to the girls, his eyes closed, disregarding the elder pony's tale.

"Coop, hop on already," Rainbow Dash called out from the passenger seat.

"Huh?" he said, turning to see the girls already back in the car. Coop hopped into the back seat as Applejack took off. "So where we headed?"

"To go see my cousin, and figure out what those brothers are up to."


"So let me get this straight, these guys showed up in Ponyville before tried to run you outta business and then almost tricked you outta Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Yup," Applejack answered.

"And now you think they might be trying to do the same thing here in Appleloosa to your cousin?"

"That's what we're gonna find out." Rainbow replied.

"Alright everypony we're here," said Applejack, stopping at the edge of a cliff.

Coop and Rainbow Dash stood up from their seats, the ocean of trees before them went on for miles, decorated with plump juicy apples hanging off its branches. Cutting through the forest was a dirt trail that winded through the field. Looking closer into the trail, they noticed something rolling quickly along the path with a trail of dirt behind it. With their eyes on the field, they didn't notice who approached them from behind.

"Who are you ponies?"

Surprised by the voice calling out, the tree of them slowly turned to see who was talking to them.

"Braeburn?"

"Cousin Applejack?" his eyes started to wander away from his cousin, focusing on the shiny red set of wheels she and her friends were riding in. "Fancy ride you got yourself cousin."

Happy to see a familiar face, Applejack walked over to him. "Braeburn, It's so good seeing you again. Now, I gotta ask yo—"

"It's good to see you and your friends again too," he said waving to Coop and Rainbow as they walked up. Coop caught his attention in particular. "Hmm I don't recall meeting you last time." He stretched out his hoof and gave him a hoofshake. "Pleasure to meet ya, my name's Braeburn. Welcome to Appleloosa!"

"Braeburn," said Applejack.

"You must be a new friend of Applejack. Well any friend of cousin Applejack is a friend of mine."

"Braeburn."

"Ya'll must hungry after your trip here. Well we've got plenty of fresh tasty apples down below in our fields ya'll are welcome to. Down below is our entire orchard, where we grow the apple we need to live. If you look closely you can see the trail the local buffalo use for their stampede, but right now you can see that cider machine belonging to Flim and Flam running around it."

"Braeburn!"

"Yes cousin Applejack?"

"It's those two I needed to talk to you about," she said pointing to the trail.

"Those two?" he said, looking out towards the field. "Oh you must be talkin' bout Flim and Flam down there." Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Coop suddenly rushed him.

"Are they trying to run you outta business?" asked Rainbow.

"Have they tricked you out of the orchard?" Applejack wondered.

"Did they sing a catchy song?" Coop said.

"Uh… Well, no they haven't done any of that stuff, cept for the last one," said Braeburn, stepping back from the three of them.

"Aww, I wanted to hear that song," Coop said as he kicked the dirt.

"Truth is, they came to town a few days ago spoutin' about how great their cider makin' machine is. Thing is we're a town of settler ponies, so we don't really have much need for somethin' like that. But they're still hangin' around. I figure they must be tryin' to find another way to impress us with that machine of theirs. Since they haven't caused us any trouble, we don't mind them stayin'. But if you wanna have a look for yourself come on down. Who knows, maybe if you ask em they'll perform that song again for ya Coop."

Arriving at the center of the orchard, Applejack immediately started scanning around, searching for signs of anything suspicious. While she was busy playing detective, the ground started rumbling. Braeburn pointed down the trail to an object fast approaching. "That must be them."

Chugging down the dirt road was a large red vehicle. Its two largest wheels rolled as steam puffed out from its set of pipe stacks popping out from its rear. It squealed as its breaks brought the four wheel locomotive to a halt.

Walking over to the whimsical looking machine, the Applejack along with Rainbow Dash and Coop noticed two slim unicorns wearing matching blue and white striped vests and boater hats sitting on the couch seat behind the podium at the front of the car. The two atop the machine leaned out from their cushion seat, noticing Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"Oh my, oh my. Do my eyes deceive me Flam, or are those the same ponies from Ponyville?"

"You're right Flim, and it looks like they brought along a friend of theirs, a rather round one at that."

A ray of light shining off Coop's car attracted their attention. "Looky there brother, they've even brought along a machine of their own. What's the matter little Apple, you realized you needed our machine and tried making one yourself?" Flim said as they both shared a laugh.

"Just look at the pathetic looking machine. It looks like it could hardly make one barrel of cider let alone even move. Nyahahahahaha," Flam added.

With his face turning red, Coop marched right up to the laughing duo, stopping right in front of their machine as he glared up at the two of them. "Nopony, and I mean nopony calls my car pathetic. Especially not some goofy looking chumps, riding some steam powered hunk of junk. It may not make any cider, but I know I can run circles around what you call a machine," he said, kicking his hoof against Super Speedy Cider Squeezy's pilot plow.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash chimed in.

"Is that so?" said Flim as he and Flam leaned in closer to him.

"That little kart of yours probably couldn't even keep up with ours for a second," Flam added.

"Oh yeah!" Coop shouted eyeing the two them with a raised brow.

"Yeah!" they replied, jumping down. Shoving against one another, their quarrel started drawing in a crowd. Even a passing herd of buffalo stopped to see what the commotion was about.

"How's about we have a race to find out?" said Coop.

"You honestly think you stand a chance against us?"

"Yup."

Flim and Flam backed away and started talking between themselves.

"What do you think Flam? Should we go along with this?"

"I don't see why not Flim. We've got nothing to lose and, by winning we can impress the townsfolk even more, maybe enough to boost our sale of cider."

The rallying group of ponies and buffalos were getting excited over the prospect of a race. A large buffalo stepped forth from the crowd, walking up to the three colts. "If you three intend to hold a race then might I offer our stampeding trail as a track."

Recognizing the figure, Rainbow Dash quickly flew over, landing beside the buffalo. "Chief Thunderhooves! It's so good to see you again."

"Why Rainbow Dash, what a delightful surprise to see you again. What brings you to Appleloosa?"

She tilts her head, pointing towards Coop. "I'm visiting with a friend of mine."

"I see. So I take it you'll be taking part in this race too?"

"Heck yeah, I'm always up for a race, plus he's a friend. But are you sure it's okay to lend your sacred stampeding ground for a race?"

A young female buffalo jumped out from the crowd, landing beside the Chief. "Are you kidding Rainbow Dash, we buffalo always love a good race."

Applejack, making her way through the crowd, saw who Rainbow Dash was talking to. "Little Strongheart!" she shouted, rushing over to join Rainbow in hugging their friend.

"Rainbow Dash, Applejack. It's been awhile."

While they were having a happy reunion, Flim, Flam, and Coop were still exchanging vicious scowls. "Well then it looks like we have a race," said Flim.

"What do you say we start at noon tomorrow?" Flam said as he and his brother extended their hooves out.

Without hesitation, Coop swatted his hoof down on the pair before him. "You're on!"

"Excellent! Then it's agreed." Flim said as the two of them hopped aboard their machine. "We'll have a race here at the Appleloosa trail at noon tomorrow. Until then, my brother and I bid you—"

"Adieu," Flam concluded, both of them bowing as their contraption sped away, vanishing in the distance.

With the Flim Flam brothers gone, everypony went back to their routine, still buzzing about what was going to take place the next day. Braeburn, jittering with excitement, trotted over to Coop,.

"Hoo boy, a good ol' fashioned carriage race. I haven't seen one in years. Supposin' this ones gonna be extra special considerin' this'll be the first time the carriages won't have ponies pulling it."

Rainbow Dash flew over to them, with Applejack, Little Strongheart and Chief Thunderhooves following behind. "This is gonna be so awesome! I can't wait till we beat those creeps tomorrow." Landing beside Little Strongheart, she placed a hoof around her shoulder. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Coop, I'd like to introduce you to my friends, Little Strongheart and Chief Thunderhooves."


After a night of introductions and pleasantries, the time for the big race had come. Over at the Appleloosa orchard, both teams were preparing themselves at the starting line. On the edge of the track, where the crowd stood watching, Rainbow Dash was having a chat with Chief Thunderhooves and Little Strongheart.

"Wish me and my friends luck you two."

Little Strongheart vigorously nodded her head. "Oh course Rainbow Dash, best of luck to all three of you. Though I'm a little worried about Coop. I've never seen anypony each as much as he did last night. I think the stress may be getting to him."

Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck as she flashed a small grin. "Actually that's how much he normally eats."

Chief Thunderhooves' eyes instantly widened. "That's normal?"

"Well I better get back now, the race is about to start." The two buffalos waved her off as she flew back to her friends at the starting line.

Both vehicles were at the starting line. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Coop looked over to their right, receiving a casual wave by Flim and Flam as they leisurely sat in their couch. Each side of the track was lined with an assortment of ponies and buffalo. Their cheers got louder as Braeburn and Sheriff Silverstar trotted over to the front of the racer's karts.

"Alright everypony, Sheriff Silverstar here'll go over the rules for the race."

The blue vest wearing colt cleared his throat. "Alright then. The rules are simple. First team to make three laps around the track is the winner."

Braeburn leaned over to him. "That's it?"

"Oh right. It's been awhile since we'd had a good race, so make it exciting," the sheriff said as he started walked back out of the track, leaving Braeburn holding the checkered flag.

"Uh, well, you heard him." With checkered flag in mouth, Braeburn raised it as high as he could. "Ok ya'll! Best of luck. On your marks. Get set. Go!"

Down went the flag and the two teams were off, leaving twin trials of dust beside Braeburn. Making the first lap, both teams kept even with each other, slowly getting a feel for each other as they navigated through the windy course. Now heading down the straight away, nearing the starting line and the second lap, both teams started picking up speed. Coop tightened his grip on the wheel as they entered the second lap.

"Ok girls, this is where things get serious."

Gaining a big lead on the two brothers, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but poke her head out the right side. "So much for them beating us," she said, looking back to see Flim and Flam falling further and further behind.

"I know, they actually thought that wagon of theirs could keep up." As Coop and Rainbow Dash shared a laugh, something on the road ahead caught Applejack's eye.

"Look out!" she hollered, lunging over to the wheel, turning the car just in time to avoid hitting a barrel in the middle of the road. The sudden turn forced Rainbow Dash to the other side. Shaking off the shock, she looked back, noticing lone keg.

"Where the hay did that thing come from?"

"I get a feelin' it came from behind us, Rainbow," Applejack said as she stared, wide eyed, towards the sky behind them. "Uh guys look."

Turning around, the images of wooden barrels reflected off her bright rose eyes as they soared past the open convertible. "Whoa! Good thing those things aren't headed straight for us."

"I don't think they were supposed to" Coop replied.

Landing on the race track ahead, Coop swerved to avoid the wooden road hazards. As she watched Coop dodge the oncoming barrels, holding onto her hat, Applejack heard troubling noises coming from their rear. "We've got trouble coming from behind!"

"What the?" Coop said, making a hard left, just in time to avoid the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy as it chugged past them. Plowing right through any barrel in its path, shattering them with its pilot plow, the Flim Flam brother moved ahead while Coop and the girls fell behind, still dodging the wooden kegs.

Applejack slammed a hoof on the dashboard watching them get away. "Those no good cheats! They can't do that!"

"Well they just did. Come on Coop, we gotta catch up to them," answered Rainbow Dash.

Making it through the obstacles and with his hoof firmly on the gas, Coop closed in on Flim and Flam. Spotting the hot rod gaining on them, Flam signaled over to his brother. "Ok Flim, they're in position."

With a scheming grin, Flim reached over to a lever on his right. "Let's give those Ponyville ponies a taste of our world famous cider." Pulling on the lever, the rear door on their machine opened, releasing its cargo.

"Augh, more barrels." he groaned, swerving again to avoid the rolling drums.

Getting through unscathed, they caught up to the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy. Racing along besides one another, they exchanged dirty looks as their roaring engines pushed them onward. In the hot rod, the ponies on board were shaken up as Flim and Flam rammed their kart into them. Forcing their machine against them, Flim and Flam were pushing them off the track. Coop fought against them, both hooves on the steering wheel, turning with all his might, but they were still slowly heading off track.

"Oh no you don't! Come on A.J., If they're gonna shove, we'll just shove right back." Rainbow Dash hollered, positioning her back legs.

"On it R.D.," Applejack answered, joining her.

Together they gave the brother's car their best kick, knocking it to the other edge of the track. Grinding against the fence post, the Flim Flam brothers fell behind as Coop, Applejack and Rainbow Dash sped off.

As they past, Rainbow Dash looked back. "Those cheats!" she growled. "I oughta fly over there and teach them a lesson!" she said, flapping her wings.

"No!" Applejack yelled, catching Rainbow as she took off, yanking her to the back seat. "It won't do us any good to stoop to their level."

Now trailing behind, Flim and Flam watched as they sped away. "Hmm, it appears as though those ponies might pose a problem. You all set to use that Flam?"

"All set Flim," he answered, his horn glowing as the two of them began laughing.

Making their way past the curvy portion of the track, the team of Coop, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were headed down a long narrow trail.

Rainbow Dash poked her head back. "Hahah, those brothers were all talk."

"So much for 'super speedy'," Coop said as he and Rainbow laughed.

"Guys I don't think we should celebrate just yet."

"What do you mean Applejack? Were in the lead, and those two are so far behind I can't even see them. What's to worry about?" Rainbow asked, casually waving her hoof.

"Well fer starters, we've stopped moving."

"What?" Both Coop and Rainbow Dash said, looking over the sides. The tires were spinning against the ground but they weren't moving. Stranger still was that the wind still seemed like it was blowing past them. They all turned back to see what's going on.

"Oh come on!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

Behind them was a giant vacuum, holding them in place with its powerful suction. Planting his hoof on the gas, trying to break free, Coop's efforts were unsuccessful. As he continued, Applejack and Rainbow Dash could hear the chugging engine sounds belonging to Flim and Flam's machine slowly approaching.

"Floor it Coop! We've gotta break free from that thing," said Applejack as she wrapped her hoof over her head, protecting her hat from being sucked up.

"I got it! Be right back." Rainbow Dash flew around the massive hose and gave it a good tackle, knocking it away and freeing the car from its pull. With nothing holding them back anymore, they recuperated their lost distance. As she fixed her hat, Applejack noticed familiar looking objects flying towards them.

"We've got more barrels incomin'. R.D., see what you can do about stoppin' em."

"Leave it to me!" she saluted. With a flap of her wings she flew up to the horde of kegs. Bucking one, it shattered against her hooves, splashing sticky cider on her wings. She moved on to the others, smashing barrel after barrel. With each destroyed barrel more cider drenched her wings. "I can't keep this up. With all this cider making my wings sticky!" she said to herself. Flying up towards one of the nearby clouds, Rainbow Dash glided right through it. Spreading her wings as she soared through, the waters inside washed her wings clean.

One lone barrel remained, heading straight for the two Earth ponies. Applejack, seeing it, pulled out her lasso. "I've got this one!" Twirling her rope overhead, she roped the barrel and swung it back where it came from. "Let's see how those two like a taste of their own medicine."

"I think they're catching on to us brother," said Flam, wiping cider off his moustache.

"Then we'll have to show them that the name SuperSpeedy isn't only about cider making."

A twin set of lights hit the narrow spouts at the top of the machine. The giant electric tube behind the couch flickered wildly in reaction to the magical boost. The chugging engine's tempo picked up speed as it started moving faster down the track.

Reaching the end of the second lap, Rainbow Dash waved to the cheering crowd as they sped by. She turned to her partners in the front seats. "Just one more lap to go guys. We've totally got this!"

Just as a sense of confidence was washing over them, a laughing blur whizzed past them, leaving the three ponies choking in a cloud of dirt.

"Was that, cough, who I think It was?" asked Applejack as she fanned the dirt away.

"I guess they're pulling out all the stops this time," Coop said. A confident smile widened on his face as he accelerated.


"I don't believe this! They're catching up to us." Flam panicked. peering over his seat.

"Worry not brother, we just need to give them another taste of our sweet, sweet cider."

"But we've run out."

Flim, with his hoof on his chin, looked over to the hundreds of trees that lined the track. "Not to worry, we'll just borrow some apples from the locals."

Using his magic to prop up their vacuum hose, he started sucking up apple after apple from the trees. As they rushed down the road, countless trees were robbed of their fruit, all to refill the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy's cider tanks.

Catching up, Coop noticed something painfully familiar heading their way. "More barrels," he groaned. "Don't these guys ever quit?"

This time it was a perfectly lined row coming at them, none of them could see a way to avoid them. Hitting the roof button, the top came back up just in time as they crashed head on with one of the barrels. its juices splattered all over the car's red exterior, quickly becoming sticky gunk.

"Great this stuff is slowing us down. Rainbow Dash, you think you can give us a quick cloud wash?"

"You got it Coop, one cloud wash coming up."

Flying out the window and up to the clouds once more, Rainbow pushed one over the sluggish hot rod. Hopping on it repeatedly, rain started falling, showering the car until it was squeaky clean. With the roof opening up again, Rainbow dove back down to take her seat. "Alright Coop, hoof that gas!"

Up ahead Flim and Flam, wallowed in their confidence. "Mwahaha. We've got them now Flam. There's no way those ponies can catch up to us."

Still laughing, Flam took a peek behind them and started tapping Flim's shoulder. "Brother I'm afraid we may have spoke too soon."

Flim gasped as he saw they trio quickly catching up. "Quickly brother, we got to launch more barrels!"

"We're out of cider again!" Flam shouted, tugging on the brim of his hat.

Flim's horn started glowing again. "Then we'll need to get more."

"It's too late!" Flam interrupted. Roaring past them, Rainbow leaned out of the side and crossed her eyes as she stuck her tongue out at them.

Flim gnashed his teeth, watching them drive away. "Double the power! We can't let them get away!" Launching a beam of magic from their horns, their contraption rattled more then ever. Gears inside gyrated wildly, the wheels spun faster. Blasting forward, Flim and Flam were forced back into their couch.

Nearing a to a sharp turn, Coop slowed a little.

"Coop,you may not want to slow down!" Rainbow Dash yelled, keeping a watch behind them.

"What, more lousy barrels?"

"I wish."

Applejack tilted her head to the side mirror to see what had Rainbow so worried. "Whoa Nelly…"

Checking his rear view, Coop saw what had the girls so worried. Behind them was the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy. Headed like a missile towards them, its pilot plow carved into the trail, leaving path of destruction behind it as it blasted by.

"Coop, whatever you do don't slow down!" Applejack said as she looked over to apple tree on the inside corner of the turn. "Just keep going Coop, I've got an Idea."

Pulling out her lasso again, she expertly lassoed it around the tree. Biting down on the rope, she held on as tight as she could as they made the turn. Still biting down, she grabbed the bottom of her seat, but the pull was too strong and it yanked her away.

"Applejack!" Coop yelled, grabbing her before she was pulled away. Barely clutching onto the wheel with his hind legs, he didn't let go of A.J., who was still holding onto the rope.

Rainbow Dash, seeing her friends in peril, lunged, catching Coop just as his legs slipped. With her back legs now wrapped as she wrapped around the wheel, she flapped her wings trying desperately to pull the two of them back in.

"Ahhh!" They cried, dangling over the ground as they started swing the car around the tree. Making the turn, Applejack let go of the rope, flinging the three of them back into the car.

"Yaaaah!" "Whoa!" "Waaa—oof"

Rainbow managed to land back in her seat, but Applejack and Coop had swapped. Applejack took control of the wheel, while Coop struggled to flip himself right side up

"That was awesome!" Rainbow shouted flinging her hooves in to the sky, with a giant smile stretched from cheek to cheek. "There's no way those Flim Flam jerks can make that turn. We've totally got this th—" Her smile flipped as the sudden sound of a train horn caused a bead of sweat to run down her cheek.

Slowly turning her head to the source of the sound, she noticed tree after tree being tossed upward, the sound of cracking as they were flung was getting closer. Whatever was carving its way through the orchard was heading straight for them, and it was heading fast. She gulped as the last layer of trees blocking her sight was decimated. "Guys we've got trouble!"

"Make that double!" said Flam, stroking his moustache as their machine burst through the trees and back onto the track.

"You ponies have sure given us a run for our bits!" Flim said as his horn began to glow.

"But now it's time we show you what our machine can really do!" Flam added as his horn began to glow aswell.

Together they maneuvered their vacuum right behind the hot rod. The apples from the nearby trees were helplessly plucked by the force of their machine's suction power. Applejack put the pedal to the floor, but they were still being pulled in.

"Rainbow, anyway you can stop that thing?"

Clinging onto her seat for dear life, she gave a sullen stare to her. "You joking right?"

"I didn't think so. Darn it there's gotta be somethin' we can do." Looking around she suddenly noticed a knob by her knee.

Still upside down, Coop's eyes widen, noticing her reaching for the knob. "Wait Applejack, you're not about to do what I think you're about to do," he said, reaching a hoof out as if to stop her. She only looked down at him and nodded as she pulled.

"Noooo!" he cried as the trunk door flew open, letting loose a torrent of various foods. "My snacks!" he yelled as a surge of edibles emptied out from the back of the car. Rainbow Dash watched as the stream of food just kept going.

"Geez Coop, how much food did you bring along?"

"It was just enough to last me the trip. But now, it's all gone," he wailed, flailing his feet about.

Applejack looked over to the upset colt. "I terribly sorry bout that Coop, but it's the only way. I'll make it up to ya later, I promise."

Sucking down the near endless river of food, the giant vacuum jammed. Free and clear, Applejack continued driving, but the brothers were still on their tail and gaining.

"Okay you two, hold on tight!" Applejack shouted as she slammed her hoof on the bright red nitrous button. Blue flames burst forth from the tail pipe, as they started distancing themselves from the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy, leaving both brothers to watch as their competition sped away.

"Flim, they're still getting away."

"We've got to double the power Flam!"

"But we already did."

"Then do it again! We are not going to lose to them."


Making the final turn Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok ya'll, just a straight path to the finish. We got this in the—" Shadows from above instantly grabbed her attention. "Aw nuts."

Barrel after barrel flew past them, partially blocking out the sun as landing along the track. Applejack focused on the road ahead and continued forward. Finally turning himself right side up, Coop did it just in time for his belly to provide a cushion for a barrel as it landed in his lap.

"Aren't you gonna toss that away?" Rainbow wondered as she watched him examine the container.

"Do you remember what the last thing they sucked up was?" he asked.

She tilted her head. "Yeah, a bunch of apples along all of your food in the trunk—" Rainbow gagged slightly, as she and Applejack realized what he was after.

"Yuck!"

"Nasty!"

As they struggled to hold down their lunches, Flim and Flam were ramming their way through the field of barrels. The various liquids splattered all over them as they smashed into each keg. With the finish line only a distance away, Flim and Flam had caught up with Applejack, and were making their way past her.

"See you ponies at the finish line," Flam taunted, as he and his brother casually waved at them.

Applejack hit the wheel as she watched the two of them pull away. "Consarn it, I'm already goin' as fast as we can go. Can't we do somethin' to stop em?"

Coop reached his hoof under his seat, scrounging around for something. His head suddenly jostled as he felt something unfamiliar, something moving. Yanking out the mystery item, he held whatever it was in front of him.

"Huh? A turtle shell?"

Recognizing the little reptile in his hooves, Rainbow Dash quickly grabbed it away. "Tank! What are you doing here?"

"Aww, well ain't that sweet. The little guy must've snuck aboard to tag along for the trip," said Applejack

Coop turned back, looking over to the two of them, specifically the tortoise. "Rainbow Dash, I've got an idea, but I'm going to have to barrow Tank," he said, extending his hoof out.

Rainbow stared at him with a raised a brow. "What are you up to?"

Pressing a button on the dashboard, the center of the car hood slid open, letting a long metal cylinder that pop out. A square compartment then rose up in the space between him and Rainbow Dash, and the hatch at the top swung open.

"Tank is about to win us the race."

Rainbow and Tank looked at the cannon on the hood of the car, then to the hatch in front of them. She leaned back into her seat, tightening her grip on Tank as she vigorously shook her head. "No way! There's no way I'm going to do that to Tank."

As she continued shaking, she felt something press against her chin, she stopped and looked do to see Tank's beady black eyes looking up at her. She recognized that look of his and sighed.

"You're one crazy little tortoise, you know that right?" Tank slowly nodded at her. "Well, good thing you've got an owner who's just as crazy, because you're not doing this alone." With Tank in hoof, Rainbow Dash flew over to the front of the car and placed Tank and herself inside the barrel of the cannon.

"And I thought the whole turtle launchin' thing was a crazy idea. Rainbow Dash, get outta there." said Applejack

"Well, we're outta ideas, so we might as well try something crazy." Rainbow said as she finished position herself. "All set Coop!"

With her in position, Coop looked over to Applejack who was frantically shaking her head in opposition. "Go get em you two," he said, saluting them, as his hoof press the oddly sticky note labeled "Fire Rainbow Dash" button.

"No problem, you're talking to the fastest pegasus and best pet in all Equestriaaaaaaah!" The cannon fired, launching the two living bullets forward.

Over in the final stretch, Flim and Flam were taking it easy. "This time there's no way they can catch up, right Flim?"

"You said it Flam. In fact, let's see just how far we left those ponies in our dust."

Looking over the back of their seat, they noticed something unusual rapidly approaching.

"What is that thing Flim?"

"I don't know. It looked like a green turtle shell. Or maybe it's blue."

"Are those wings on it?"

"Whatever it is, it's heading straight for us. Brace for impact!"

"Yaaaaaaaaah!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she and Tank crash right into them, causing a blast that sent them all into the air.

Applejack drove by, managing to safely catch Tank and Rainbow Dash as they fell from the sky.

"Nice!" Coop complimented as he, Rainbow and Tank hoof bumped each other.

"Almost there you guy!" Applejack shouted, focusing on the finish line just ahead.

"Not so Fast!" a voice cried out from above.

"You didn't really think our machine would be taken out that easily?" a second voice added.

Landing right beside them, with an Earth shacking thump, was the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. Dented, scratched, burnt and misshapen, it still was managing to keep up with Applejack and friends.

"Man these guys don't quit. Gotta admire that," said Coop.

"Well neither does an Apple family pony," Applejack sated as she opened up the throttle.

The two were neck and neck, coming up to the finish line. The roar of the crowd grew louder as they got closer. The racers was leaning forward; pushing their machines to the limit as they finally passed the finish line.

Screeching to a halt both teams jumped out of their karts and looked over to the screaming crowd, anxious to hear the results. They made their way over to Baeburn, who appeared to be having a heated discussion with Sheriff Silverstar and Chief Thunderhooves.

"We won!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

"No, we won!" Flim protested.

"Nuh uh!" Coop replied.

"Will somepony just tell us who won the race already?" Applejack asked, looking over to the three still discussing.

"Who cares!" The mob cried back.

Hearing that, the teams realized that everypony was giving angry looks and booing and hissing them, specifically Flim and Flam.

"You two and your newfangled machine, you've ruined our fields!" Silverstar hollered.

"You destroyed our sacred stampeding grounds," Chief Thunderhooves bellowed.

"Ya'll done uprooted a whole mess a trees, stripped the apples from dozens more and left another bunch buried under piles of dirt!" Braeburn shouted, stomping his hoof down.

"Yeah!" the crowd yelled, stomping their hoof down in unison.

Flim and Flam, cowering from the mob's outrage, slowly backed away, hopping aboard their banged up machine. "It looks as though we may have overstayed out welcome here in Appleloosa, right Flam?"

"Right Flim. Bail?"

"Bail," Flim nodded as they drove away with a group of Appleloosens giving chase. As they sped away the two of them looked over to Applejack and her friends. "This isn't over little Apple!" Flim said, shaking his hoof at them.

"We'll make sure we beat you next time!" Flam added, shaking his hoof as well as they both ran off in the distance.


A few days later, flying across the prairie, Megas was making its way towards Appleloosa, both arms loaded with apple trees.

"Is this the last one?" Coop groaned.

Applejack looked out the window, counting the trees. "Yup. With these last trees, it should be enough to make up for all the ones lost. Good thing we got Megas here to help us bring these trees quick."

"After all the trouble we caused it the least we could do." Rainbow dash added as she sat behind the wheel with Tank standing on the steering wheel. "Thanks again Coop for letting me drive Megas."

No sweat. This way I get to enjoy all the snacks I want," he said, patting the keg he had beside him as he sipped on the straw poking out of the top. "Ah! You two wanna try? It's really good."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked back. Recognizing the barrel, both ponies placed their hooves over their mouths, fighting the urge to gag again.

"More for me then," Coop said, continuing to drink as they continued heading to Appleloosa. "You girls think we could visit Little Strongheart and Chief Thunderhooves? I could go for more of the mushy stuff. Who's with me?"