The next Grand Prix for them was about to go underway. All of them waited in the preparation area, waiting in line to get their magnetized boots and belts.
"So, what do you think our opposition will be like?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Well, from that there reputation of this Expert cup, Ah bet everypony will be able to keep up with us," AppleJack told her.
"Pffth... They need to make a Pegasus edition."
"Hey, if I get ahead, I can stay ahead," bragged Trailblazer.
"If you say so..."
"But if you can, that next Scared Star is ours," said AppleJack.
"Whoa whoa!" Rainbow Dash spoke up and got their attention, then pointed to a smaller green pony in the crowd. "Trailblazer, does that pony look familiar?"
He turned to look where she was pointing at, and he too, saw the green pony.
"Yeah... Wait, yeah! That's one of the pirates we fought!"
"What is he doing here?!"
"What now?" AppleJack cocked her head to the side, wondering who they were talking about.
"I'll explain," Trailblazer looked at her. "Back when Rainbow Dash and I got on that pirate ship, we fought a few pirates. One of them is right there."
AppleJack lowered an eyebrow. "Huh... Then what's he doin' here?"
"Well, my guess goes to causing trouble."
They waited for a couple minutes for the opening ceremony to begin. After that, the announcer made his que.
"Fillies and gentlecolts! Welcome to, the Max-VEEEEEE, Expert Cuuuuuuuup!"
The stadium was packed with spectators, who started to cheer to get the grand prix going. The platform to take all the racers on the track lowered down to the floor at the waiting area, and all 30 climbed on. It then rode back to the starting gate, where some officials got in position to take the racers to their positions.
"Fillies and gentlecolts, the contestants! The Solo Surgeon, Dr. Bloodflow!"
At that cue, one worker got the said pony onto the track in the 1st place position.
"The Law, Flying Phoinex!"
Another pony was put in position behind Dr. Bloodflow.
"The Hard-Hitting Farmer, AppleJack!"
She was placed 3rd, behind Phoinex.
"The Prism of Speed, Rainbow Dash!"
Likewise, she followed suit.
"The Rising Warrior, Trailblazer!"
He got behind Rainbow Dash.
"The Scurrying Scamperer, Pack Rat!"
The green pony that Rainbow Dash and Trailblazer fought got in position behind Trailblazer. He turned around to face Pack Rat. As the announcer called off more racers to be put on the track, the two ponies began to talk to each other.
"So, that's what we address you as, huh?" he said, giving the green pony an unimpressed look.
"Yeah, but I can't let you guys take the Sacred Stars," said Pack Rat. "This world is for Steel Sword."
"Looks like he brainwashed you good. You do know that guys like him want the world for themselves, right?"
"I'm fully aware of that," Pack Rat said, trying to get in Trailblazer's face. "That's why we're supporting him. He's gonna get rid of this bad world and replace it with a good one."
"You just don't get it, do you?"
"Speak for yourself."
"Try again, shortstop."
"Exactly. A pony that's stuck on your own opinion is too stuck up to believe that this world is full of bad things."
"I don't have to take that from a spineless shrimp," Trailblazer talked back, getting in his face. "At least I can think for myself and can take hits. You're just a whiny wuss."
"We'll see who's a wuss at the end of this grand prix."
"I'm looking at him right now."
"Fillies and gentlecolts! Let the Expert Cup Grand Prix begin!" the announcer said.
All eyes were on the lap line banner, waiting for the countdown to begin. A sliding door that spanned the entire course enterance opened from the center, revealing the course. It was like the city landscape, which was going to be challenging. They all saw a curving road with waves ahead of them, that led to a tunnel. It was anypony's guess what was beyond that. Trailblazer bent his head to both of his sides, cracking his neck as he waited for the countdown.
After a minute of waiting, it began. As they all heard "Go!", all of them went off. Trailblazer started to get ahead of the others for his early start. Pack Rat caught up quickly, but couldn't run as fast as Trailblazer. AppleJack and Rainbow Dash ran ahead of the small green pony as well. As all 30 of them ran on the winding track, they jumped down into the tunnel. There was a steep downhill slope, but that didn't affect them. They ran down it just like it was flat terrain. The slope stopped, curved to the right, and sloped upward. Ahead of them were mines.
"Mines!" Trailblazer instinctively warned. He started to run around them, avoiding contact.
"Mines??" The rest of the pack was more crowded, and Rainbow Dash got caught up in it. The shoving around in the crowded space set off some of the mines. No explosions took place from them. Instead, they knocked ponies off of their balance and tripped them from the splash range. By the end of the sherade, none of the mines were left. Trailblazer ran some more, keeping his frontrunning going. AppleJack and Pack Rat chased him. At the end of the tunnel, he jumped onto a curve to the right. Another curve was ahead of them beyond a gap, going to the left. Yet another gap was beyond that one too. He got across all of them, reaching another right-angle turn to the right, with yet another gap. He jumped over it, with the pack in hot pursuit. There was another right angle right turn, which led to a small straightaway with icy edges. He kept himself in the middle as he ran to the next smooth left corner. A small boost panel was ahead of him, which would lead him to two u-turn paths. The upper one was higher and had a sharper turn. The lower one was not as tight, and would probably waste time. With a leap of faith, he jumped as soon as he crossed the boost panel and dove across the deep gap, and made it to the higher quicker road. Most of the other ponies just a second behind him managed to cross the boost panel, landing on the higher road with him. The other few that couldn't landed on the lower slower road. Both roads led to the lap line, but the sharper u-turn one got them there faster. At the end of the higher road, there was a gap between them and the road to the lap line. He jumped and barely made the cut, then went up the uphill slope, and got back on level ground to the lap line. There was a small gap between Trailblazer and AppleJack as they crossed the lap line. Pack Rat continued to chase the two, along with several others racing behind him, including Rainbow Dash. Trailblazer continued to lead, trying to extend it as he hugged the corners. There were no mines to worry about when he got in the tunnel, and he ran over the gaps and curves that came up. He continued his usual business as he ran through the rest of the track, keeping in 1st place the rest of the race. As the results came in, AppleJack took 2nd, Pack Rat in 3rd, and Rainbow Dash in 6th.
"Hey, AppleJack, mind if I borrow your hat?" asked Trailblazer. Without waiting for an answer, he took it off of her head and placed it on his own. Then, he spoke in the same southern American accent AppleJack spoke in. "What in Sam Hill were ya thinkin', youngin? This here is just gonna keep happenin' and happenin'."
"Shut up!" Pack Rat yelled. "There's three races left, you know!"
"Oooohh, yer tryin' to say that luck will be on your side the rest of the grand prix. How intimidatin'."
All the racers got off the track and waited for the next track to appear. The next track was a volcano-themed one. A hologram of viscous lava flowed underneath the course. No heat emanated from the "lava", but there were red lamps that stood on some stands on the edges of the track, making the atmosphere on the course hot. The course itself sloped up and down almost on each straightaway, and there were no guardrails on the majority of the track.
"Holy..." AppleJack said, looking intently at the course.
"I guess this is more of an endurance place," said Rainbow Dash. "Please tell me that's not real lava."
"Of course it's not," an official said. "It's just a hologram. If you were to fall off, you'd land on a giant air-filled pillow. Of course, that also means disqualification of the course, resulting in a course score of a zero."
As they all got on the lava track, the countdown began again. The race began, starting off by barely inching to the left, as the course began to immediately slope upwards. At the crest, it sloped back down, then back up. The course sloped back down for two more times, and then ended with a tight level left turn. On the next straightaway, bumps that resembled moguls spanned the width of the road, stumbling a few of the racers. Trailblazer made his way towards the upper part of the pack, getting in 6th place, where he saw Rainbow Dash and Pack Rat ahead of him. After crossing the moguls, more slopes got in their way. Some of the racers were going so fast that they lifted off when going over the crests. A few more came, and then at the last hill, the track didn't slope back down. This time, it became level, then gradually sloped back up. A ledge was ahead of them, and two boost panels on both sides of the slightly rising hill were in place. Half of the racers decided not to take the risk, but Trailblazer got the benefits. With it, he caught up to Rainbow Dash and Pack Rat, who were in front of all of them. At the edge, Trailblazer leaped, and found himself taking a 10-story fall to the next road, which would eventually take them back to the lap line. While making a nosedive, the boots still guaranteed a gentle landing. He continued to run on the road, which had guardrails on them, and got past Pack Rat and Rainbow Dash. Ahead of them was a jump pad, but ahead of that was even more moguls, with steeper crests and troughs than the ones on the opposite side of the track. The racers ran around them, and two more boost panels were on the sides. The three leading the pack ran across them, and found themselves on a narrowed part of the track. It got back to it's initial width as they made their way towards the lap line.
Trailblazer and Rainbow Dash kept themselves in 1st and 2nd place throughout the remainder of the race. AppleJack got up to 5th, and Pack Rat ended up in 8th, due to losing his footing over the steep moguls on the second lap.
"Okay, you aren't even good enough to call a rival," Trailblazer told Pack Rat.
The smaller green pony didn't answer him. For him, he was failing the mission, whereas Trailblazer and the main six were succeeding in theirs.