"...So, yeah, we had Smash Crash in place, guarding the Sacred Star held there, but those ponies that we fought earlier on our ship? They beat him." said a small indigo pony with red mane, to her boss.
"Interesting..." said Steel Sword.
The three minions that were fought Trailblazer and Rainbow Dash on the now sunken pirate ship were reporting to Steel Sword. Red Rover, the big red one, Pack Rat, the small green one, and Hat Trick, the green, orange, and purple one. Steel Sword listened to the news that was gathered after the discovery of the energy draining machine. He had a dull metallic colored coat, with a faint light blue mane.
"Yeah, these guys already know about the Sinister Star you hold, boss," said Pack Rat. "And they just got themselves another Sacred Star, even after our buddy Smash Crash used it to his advantage. They're strong, all right... Maybe strong enough to close the Sario Hole you created."
"Save your breath, Pack Rat," Steel Sword reassured him with. "It is too late to stop the process of this world's destruction. Not even I can stop it. Once it's gone, I can replace this world, with a far better one."
"So, what your saying is that these guys that are getting all these Sacred Stars, are trying to keep this world BAD?" questioned Red Rover.
"You COULD say that... They might even have their own reasons for keeping this world the way it is... But their thoughts are quite irrelevant."
"So, what do you want us to do about these guys then?"
"Until we learn where they're headed next, stay put. I shall have you report back here once we have info."
"All right, will do, Steel Sword!" said Hat Trick. With that, all of them walked away and back into their own chambers, leaving Steel Sword and the small mare beside him alone in the room. She looked down and sighed.
"Does something trouble you, Clear Night?" asked Steel Sword.
"It's weird... You've had strong feelings toward that one filly, and now that she's gone, you're going to get rid of the world. Wouldn't you think that she'd be destroyed in the process?"
Steel Sword shook his head. "She is gone, I assure you that this is true."
"Well, if you're positive on that... Hey, wasn't she the one you wished for?"
"This is also true. I wished for her to return to me, and it never got granted. So now, since she's gone, I'll replace this world."
"I see now..."
"Clear Night? I wish to be alone now."
"Okay, Steel Sword." Clear Night left the room, and Steel Sword looked down at the ground, remembering playtime in elementary with his lost sweetheart. And then as they grew older, they grew more attatched. But then, she vanished, never to be seen again. In his depression, he read some books, just like his loved one did. And then he learned about the effects of the Sario Hole, and the Sinister Star's powers. Of course, he was not aiming to replace the world: he's getting rid of it, once and for all.
"Ah, so you have returned!" announced Merlow as the seven came back into his home. "I can tell by the looks on your faces that it went well."
"And it did," said Pinkie Pie. "Why don't you show him what we got, Trailblazer?"
After she said that, he reached into his backpack and pulled out the gold Sacred Star.
"Yes, you have all done well."
"Hey, Merlow?" wondered Trailblazer. "From what Twilight told me before we went to Sagastrome, getting a Sacred Star will show us where the next one will be. So, how do we find that out?"
"Here, just give it to me, and I'll find out where the next one is."
He let the gem float above the crystal ball, and then Merlow gazed at it. In the ball, he saw the northwest part of Inyomaid. The city of Mutait, a figurative concrete jungle, was what he saw location-wise. And another image appeared. It was another trophy, with a green glittering Sacred Star resting on the top of it.
"It seems that the next Sacred Star is located in the city of Mutait," Merlow informed them with.
"What's it like over there?"
"It is the most technologically advanced city in this region. Skyscrapers that are made of metal make up almost all of it. And about that place... They've used that technology to it's full potential. There, they hold furious races in yet another arena, even getting changing landscapes to have different tracks. One time, you're racing through a landscape like the city itself, but when the next race comes, you find yourself racing through an artificial desert."
"Whoa!"
"And that's not all. Most of the tracks aren't just flat or have bumpy parts; they even have inverted loops and in-line twists! ...I am also confident in saying that some of the courses come with gimmicks. And also, the image of the Sacred Star that I just saw, had it on another trophy. It looks like you're going to have to race against them to get it."
"So, we're racing against a bunch of other ponies, in roller coaster-like race tracks..." thought Trailblazer, who then suddenly grew eager. "Oh my God, it's Christmas! How do we get there?!"
"That same train station you went to that took you to Sagastrome also has a train to take you to Mutait."
"And after my frontrunning spree there, we'll come back with that Sacred Star in no time!"
"Are you really that confident in your racing abilities?" asked Rarity.
"Why shouldn't I? I'm Trailblazer! It's in my name! I'll just blaze right by them!"
"Well said, Mr. Blazer! Well, good luck during your stay there!"
All seven of them made their way back to the train station they were at, looking to go to Mutait.
"Sorry there, folks..." one of the attendance workers said. "The station down at Mutait is having some problems."
"Huh? Like what?" wondered Fluttershy.
"For some reason, power isn't going into the train or the tracks there. Right now, we have some engineers working on it, but for now, there's no transportation going on between here and there."
"Looks like we're spending the night..." said Rainbow Dash.
"Well, that hotel is right next to this train station, so we can just go there," Twilight reminded her.
"Yeah, right."
They walked back into the hotel to check back in. The money that they earned back at the Mega Ring made them easily get themselves rooms.
While they were still at the front desk, Trailblazer looked off to the side, then at a flyer of the hotel they were at. "Hey, do you guys offer some sort of therapeutic massaging, or whatever it's called, around here?"
"Yes, it should say so right there," the pony behind the counter said.
He took a look at Fluttershy's back, then back at the flyer. "How about you get one for Fluttershy here?"
The other six, including Fluttershy, were surprised at this action. This was the first time he had ever done something nice for her.
"That'll run you 20 coins. Sound good?"
Trailblazer handed him the money.
"Okay! We'll get a masseuse ready for her."
"You... You really mean it!" Fluttershy was just as surprised as the rest of them. "Why the sudden change?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He looked at the floor with a hoof underneath his chin, thinking. "...Hell if I know. I just, felt like it. Actually, since you look really hurt, I figured that it would do you some good."
"Wow... That's... Really nice of you."
"Yeah, yeah..." he said unenthusiastically.
"Well, I guess for the time being, we should rest here," Rainbow Dash mentioned.
As Fluttershy was taken to another room for her massage, The rest of them got into their rooms. They noticed AppleJack and Trailblazer going into the same one.
"Wait, you two have the same room?" Pinkie asked.
"Well, yeah," said AppleJack. "We can share a room,"
"Hey, take a load off, AppleJack," Trailblazer said from inside. "How about you get a little "massage" here, from me?"
The others noticed that he sounded promiscuous. "Where are you going with this?" Twilight Sparkle sounded a bit worried.
"Now THAT sounds nice!" AppleJack smirked and walked into the room they were staying in. "Oh... Whoa-ho! That tickles!" they all heard her say from inside.
"Oh, you know you like it," Trailblazer said back.
More and more suggestive comments came from both of them, and the others backed away slowly into their own rooms. Once they were away, the couple started to snicker. They weren't making bodily contact to each other at all.
"They really think we're getting it on!" he said through quiet laughter.
"Ah wish we could see the looks on their faces. Ah bet they're priceless!"
Later that night, Fluttershy came back to her room, looking dreamily content.
"How did it go, Fluttershy?" Rarity asked.
"Oh, I feel like the pain just melted away! I'm going to get a good sleep tonight."
"Oh, now why didn't I think of getting that for myself?"
"Well, maybe next time, you can try it."
"Well, I suppose I should get some sleep too."
The next day, the seven got their continental breakfast, and headed back to the train station.
"Hiya, is that train ready, as good as can be?" Pinkie Pie squealed. "You know, to get to Mutait."
"Yes, the train is good to go now. It'll cost 15 per passenger," the same attendant said.
All of them forked over the coins.
"Okay, just climb on board, and we'll get ready to depart."
After around a 20 minute wait for all of the other passengers to get on board, the train set off on the magnetized rails, and headed for their next city.
After a two hour ride, all of the ponies departed and looked around. The train ended up going underground, making the station more of a subway atmosphere. Sleek metallic walls made up most of the subway, with lights along the walls near the ceiling. There was a set of stairs at the end of the loading dock, and the seven climbed up it. Bright white walls made up most of the big hallway they ended up in. Lit up posters were aligned on the walls, with one of them catching their attention.
"Look at this!" Rainbow Dash flew up to it. "Here's an advertisement we're looking for."
All of them took a look at the poster. On it was a part of a track that some ponies were racing on. The background was made up of brightly lit up buildings, which was assumed to be what the rest of the city would look like. There was bold blue text near the top that read, "Max-V Grand Prixs". A small trophy resembling the one that they saw earlier back at Merlow's place was seen in the bottom right-hand corner.
"Looks like that crystal ball of Merlow's is right," said Trailblazer. "But how do we get to that arena?"
"How about we try asking around?" advised Twilight.
Upon reaching the exit of the building that they were in, which led to the downtown part of the city, they saw towering steel skyscrapers above them. Many of them had lights that flashed every several seconds. On their level, they saw a concrete sidewalk, but with curbs that were lit up in blue. The streets had separator lines that also lit up like the skyscrapers around them, and the traffic there was mostly made up of delivery ponies for various companies.
"We'd better hurry," said Twilight.
"Why do you want to hurry? This is awesome!" said Trailblazer, looking around curiously. "This is like some sci-fi city that's actually real. Already, I love it here!"
Without responding, they made their way on the right side of the street on their right and walked out of the downtown area. There was a fairly large resturaunt that had a close resemblance of a casino, and walked inside. They saw that it was crowded; the most spacious area they saw was behind the counter where a bartender stood.
As they all walked inside, trying to ask what was going on, they noticed a furious old gambler hobbling up to some other pony in the crowd. He held a canned alchoholic beverage of sone sort in his right hoof, and grabbed and shook the pony by his chest with the other.
"What a scam! Bets for 700 coins?! HUH?!" he yelled, causing a small scene. "What can I do with this, ONE coin?!"
Another pony walked up to him and swatted his drink in the air. Trailblazer saw this and zipped through the thick crowd, ducking right past them. He dove for the drink and caught it right-side up. The gambler saw this and helped pick him back up, and grabbed his drink back.
"Hey. That was a great display you put there, lad," he said.
"Uh, thanks?" Trailblazer said back.
"And a pretty fast one too! Say, how about you enter the bet race for me?"
"Wait, what? But I just-"
"Please!" The gambler cut him off. "Consider it an old pony's last request."
"Just calm down, grandpa."
"We will shortly be closing registration for the next Max-V bet race," they all heard over some loudspeakers.
"Go! The next race is going to start!" The gambler grabbed him and hastily took Trailblazer down to some lower levels.
"Hey, where are you taking me?!"
The other six tried running after him, but the door leading to them was shut and locked.
"Oh great! Now what are we going to do?" Rainbow Dash saw that things weren't going so smoothly.
"Hey, look!" AppleJack pointed to where the crowd gathered around. There were windows that they could see through. The crowd was too thick there, so they went up to the second floor. There were more windows, but they weren't as crowded. The six ponies walked up to it to see a lime green track made up of 90 degree angles, with no banks or inversions. However, they could see a couple slopes on the course. Guardrails made up of bright green lights were also in place, with vivid red posts a few feet apart from each other. Near where they were above, they saw the same old pony that took Trailblazer with him talking to one of the officials. It appeared to be that he was making a big wager on him, but they couldn't tell what exactly they were saying. After the talk, Trailblazer was put on the track, behind 10 other ponies that were already on before the starting line. Another mare was placed behind him shortly afterwards, and the stage was set.
The electric banner that acted like the starting line had some bold white text on it, which read "READY?" All eyes were on that banner, both from the spectators and the contestants. The block letters faded, remained blank for a little bit, and then began the countdown. As the numbers were read, a voice was heard over the loudspeakers.
"Three... Two... One... Go!"
The 12 ponies on the course began to run, following where the course took them. The first curve was to the right, which took them to a quick left turn. From there, they made a u-turn and made their way to a left turn. They found themselves racing on a long straightaway, which led to another u-turn. On that straightaway, the main six noticed Trailblazer getting past almost all of the pack. He took the upcoming u-turn, which had a straightaway with a shallow slope that went up several feet above the main track. At the end of it came a left turn for them. It led to a steeper slope that took them back level with the rest of the track. At the last u-turn, they found themselves racing back to the lap line, with Trailblazer leading the pack. On the electric banner, the text now read, "TWO LAPS TO GO."
After the pony in last place crossed the line, the text read "FINAL LAP", ready for the next time the participants came by. During all the corners of the race, Trailblazer continued to lead the group, but he began breaking away at all of the straighter parts. The rest of the pack were fighting amongst themselves to try to get ahead of each other, but weren't able to keep up with him. After he crossed the lap line again, he was about two and a half seconds ahead of them. His lead only grew with the same path and straightaways that they came across, up to four seconds ahead of the 2nd place holder. The banner now read "FINISH", showing that once he crossed it, he had completed all three laps. He finished the race strong, and stood still after crossing the finish line, standing prominently on his side. The others crossed it, only around a second or half seconds apart.
"Looks like he's havin' fun down there," said AppleJack, as the spectators cheered, with a couple of them whistling.
Most of the gamblers in the resturaunt-casino weren't pleased with the results, seeing how the ones that they bet on to win couldn't pull it off. The contestants walked back into the reaturaunt area, and went through it to enter another spacious room, which was the more casino-type area, where the wages were claimed there.
The old gambler grabbed two bags of coins from one of the tellers. He then walked back to Trailblazer with a big grin on his face.
"Ha haa, great job out there, son! I got myself 900 coins out of that deal!" he said.
"Uh-huh..." said Trailblazer.
"Now, I gotta repay you for winning that race. Here's your share!" He tossed one of the bags at Trailblazer. "450 coins, just for you! Take it!"
"Whoa, really??"
"Go ahead! You made me happy, and you earned it."
Trailblazer's eyes were open wide. He slowly reached for the bag, anticipating some tomfoolery. But, once he grabbed the bag, the old pony nodded.
"Well, this was a pleasant surprise. Thanks!" he said, bearing a smile.
"You know, you ought to enter the REAL races of the Max-V arena, where they hold sone REAL grand prixs!"
"And, where is that?"
"It's in the heart of the city, and it's got a big white dome over it, you can't miss it. There are some signs on the streets, they'll tell you where to go."
"All right then."
The seven ponies walked out of the building.
"If THAT, was what I'm up against during the bet race, I can't wait to see what's up here," Trailblazer commented.
"It looks like this next chore will be a snap, just like in Sagastrome!" Rainbow Dash responded.
They all stopped and looked north. In the distance, a tall wide building with a white shallow dome on it could be seen, amongst more tall buildings.
"There it is! Let's go."
They walked along the street that led to the dome, ready to get themselves another Sacred Star. All the while, Trailblazer hopped and shook as his excitement for the "roller coaster races" grew, eager to race.