//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Flash Sentry: Dragon Racer 
// by Daybreaker218 
//------------------------------//

Flash Sentry kept his eyes on the track as he accelerated. Hands on his riding gear, he leaned left and Spike followed his lead. “Come on boy, we’re gaining on them,” Flash said over the roar of the wind and pounding of the pavement. Up ahead he could see several of the other racers slowly coming closer as he gained speed. 

Directly ahead of the pair was Trixie, a slight sparkle visible on her helmet and suit. “Flash, do you read me?” The earpiece in his helmet broke his concentration slightly and brought Flash back to reality.

“Go ahead Twilight, what’s up?” A brief pause led to further correspondence from his support technician. 

“You need to make a move here soon, you guys are entering the last lap of the race and you’re still sitting in third place. If you can’t get past Trixie in the next thirty seconds your chances for success will dwindle to 20%, give or take a few percentage points.” Flash glanced up again at Trixie, her position relatively the same since last he had checked. 

He couldn’t help but give a small chuckle, “Twilight you need to learn to have more faith, if anyone can do this it’s me.” 

Flash could practically hear Twilight roll her eyes. “Mmhm. Says the guy with the lowest win rate in all of New Canterlot. If you hope to have any chance of all at gaining admittance to the Racing Academy this season, you’re going to have to learn to lose the cockiness.” He shook his head and pulled the trigger on his boosters and Spike took off towards Trixie. In a matter of seconds Flash was passing her and her dragon Dolus.

“Where do you think you’re going Flash Sentry? First place belongs to Trixie the magnificent!” Flash groaned at the line every racer in the city had heard a million times. “Sorry Trix, you’re going to have to settle for the title of Trixie the ‘meh’ today.” Spike continued his breakneck speed even as the boosting gear expended the last of its reserves and shut off.

“If the race was judged by the originality of your one-liners Flash… you’d likely still be in last place.” Flash ignored Twilight’s poor attempt at humour and set his eyes dead ahead. The only thing left standing between him and first place was speed demon herself, Rainbow Dash. She was among the top ranked dragon racers in the city right now and beating her would give him a major reputation boost.

“I see you back there stable boy. If you think I’m losing this race to you, you’ve got another thing coming. Me and Bolt here aren’t about to let a third-rate newbie take away our chance at getting into the academy this year.” Flash grimaced slightly at that label. With how often it got tossed at him, you’d think he wouldn’t be bothered by it anymore, but it still stung slightly. 

“Well as much as I hate to ruin your record, I might have to make an exception for today.”
The final turn passed the racers and the finish line lay directly in their path. Flash and Spike were both breathing hard as they pushed themselves to their absolute limit. Rainbow Dash slowly transitioned from being in front to neck and neck. She turned and gave a grin that led Flash to believe she was going to try something, and she soon proved him right. Rainbow twisted her handles left and Bolt bashed into Spike. 

If that’s how she wanted it, Flash would gladly oblige and he reciprocated the maneuver. “Flash don’t do that, Spike is already exceeding his physical capabilities and this isn’t going to help.” 

Flash leaned down and spoke to Spike. “We’re gonna win this one no matter what right boy?” Spike’s head turned slightly and nodded in understanding. “Sorry Twilight, but we’re all in it to win it.”

The finish line was just ahead and despite the shoving match with Rainbow Dash and her dragon, it looked like victory was going to be theirs. It was so close he could already taste the sweetness of his win. Yet at the last second a blur rushed past him and in front of both Rainbow and himself. The dragons both panicked from the sudden appearance of the new adversary and collided again, this time their legs becoming entangled. Both sets of racers rolled slightly before coming to a complete stop. “Look out!” Flash heard Trixie racing up from behind but she was coming too fast to stop in time and soon joined the pile of losers on the ground.

“Flash! Are you alright?!” He groaned slightly before responding.

“Yeah, we both survived Twilight, though Spike is out of it at the moment. Who the hell cut me off? I’ll slug them for that!” Flash glanced up, his vision blurred from both the impact and the sun shining directly in his face. As the image came into focus, he could make out a red dragon, and a rider with a fiery emblem on their back.

The rider turned back and lifted off their helmet, crimson hair cascading from beneath it. Oh crap, it was Sunset Shimmer. The prettiest girl on or off the track. She had always been the target of his affection, though she was so aloof she never really acknowledged anyone trying to catch her eye. She shook her head and looked directly at him. “Sorry stable boy, but this victory is all mine! Appreciate your help though!” She blew a kiss his way and gave a wink. Sunset turned back to the crowd gathering around her and continued the celebration. 

“Sorry about your loss Flash,” Twilight relayed over the mic. 

Flash just sighed and smiled. “That’s alright. If anyone was going to beat me, pretty glad it was her.”

Another voice spoke up on microphone. “Oooh, someone has a crush don’t they? Need help confessing?” 

Flash quickly responded: “no thank you Scootaloo, so keep your mouth shut!”