We had to travel with the Circuit Guard, as well as the other racers, to Hoofer City. Here we would be racing against our fellow riders for the first time this season. The Aquarius Cup was known as the first true test for would-be racers after joining the Circuit. If they couldn’t make it here, then their chances of making it later were next to zero.

The Aquarius Cup was a simple standard race with no special challenges or adverse obstacles. To put it bluntly, it was a race purely for speed. Just like the trials back in Dodge City, it was a simple track with two parts on the ground with an air portion in the middle. It was significantly harder than the Aurora Racetrack, but that was to be expected. Now we had to prove ourselves in a race that would start our record in the Circuit standings. If we could do well we would stand a far better chance down the road of getting good starting positions. Right now we were in a gate start just like at the Aurora, but in later races they would have mass starts and our position in that blob would be decided by our current Circuit ranking. Highest ranking racers go in front.

I glanced at Lucky and Ivy as they got into position next to Nilak and me in the gates. We had gotten the three slots right in the middle of the gates, given the ranking members already had the inside slots. The good news was we were the farthest in of all the rookie racers, giving us a good chance of out-pacing them in the starting straightaway. Of course Black Beauty and Thunder were the two farthest in, though given they were the two top-ranked racers in the gates I wasn’t too surprised. The flag started to go up and I felt Nilak tense slightly under me. I couldn’t really blame him, given this would be our first race with the new armor on our dragons.

The armor was a marvel to say the least, plates large enough to cover most of the dragon’s upper halves and necks, with thick leather in between for movement. All three sets had been weighted to be as light as possible, and with all of our training with the lead harnesses, they were feather-light in comparison. As a final touch that Smit threw in free of charge, he had painted a flaming blue F inside of a blue circle on the chest plate of every armor set. Now we weren’t just a team in name, but also in appearance.

The flag dropped and the gates opened, Nilak and Mel pushing ahead while Winx fell in right behind us. The wind of our passage was so great I almost couldn’t see because my eyes were tearing up. We fell in against the inside wall and I was shocked to see we were only two riders behind Thunder and Black Beauty. I smiled in glee as I remembered all of our hard training with Black Beauty before this race. Now I understood why she had pushed us so hard. Around the first turn we slipped inside a rider on a dark green Forest Jumper, leaving him behind as we came onto the second straightaway. I whooped for joy as we fell into the fourth through sixth slots, getting a rhythm as we used the blue-green Aqua Strider ahead of us to draft.

I called down to Nilak as we came up to the final stretch before the aerial part of the course, “How’s it going down there? Everything feel secure?”

He nodded as he glanced back at me, breathing too hard to even send a thought.

I pat him on the shoulder as we came up to the ramp, “Alright, here we go.”

We pushed into the air and sailed over the Aqua Strider like he was standing still. Mel and Winx followed close behind and it wasn’t long before we got into a good position behind Thunder and Black Beauty. Shield Fang and Whiteout glanced back at us as we came up from behind, seeming to be a bit surprised at our rapid climbing of the ranks. They seemed to put a bit more power into each of their wing beats as we cut around tight turns and powered through high loops. At first Nilak tried to keep up with them, but I pulled on the saddle just enough to let him know we didn’t need to push it. Being in the top five on our first race was good enough. We didn’t need to push for champion until the Draconic Heaven. That was when it all came down to who was the best. We had a long way to go before we reached that point, so letting Black Beauty and Thunder win was okay.

We came down on the home stretch and powered through until we crossed the finish line, the crowd going nuts as three seemingly upstart rookies took the third, fourth and fifth spots in the first race of the season. The announcers were going crazy too and I had to smile at what they listed off as possible reasons for our victory. I had never once touched a steroid in my life, and I’m sure none of our dragons had either, and cheating was completely out of the question, unless you counted having a dragon with free will as cheating. We stepped off the track as the rest of the racers came in behind us, and Thunder stopped right next to us as the dragons got a drink from the water station next to the finish.

“Great race today guys!” he said through a huge smile, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a starting race with that much energy in my entire career!” He smacked me on the back and I almost fell into the water before Nilak caught me with his neck, “Keep this up and you’ll be gunning for champion status in no time! By the way, how did the armor hold up?”

I smiled as I straightened, “It held up beautifully. I have to say that Smit did his work well.”

“Well of course he did!” Thunder said as he tapped the metal with a hoof, “Why do you think we pay him so much for his work? An average smith wouldn’t get half of what we pay him for the kinds of jobs he completes. It’s all for love of his work. He’ll make it feel like he put his heart and soul into every inch of what he builds. We don’t pay him so much because he asks for it. We pay him that much because we appreciate his work so much.” He smirked and said to me behind his hoof, “Between you and me, I round up to the next thousand on every one of my purchases.”

I rolled my eyes, “If you weren’t such a good racer that kind of generosity would have you broke by the end of the first month.”

He patted me on the shoulder, a bit more gently this time, “Then it’s a good thing I’m such a good racer! By the way, I think you just about paid off you debt to Black Beauty in that race alone!” He pointed at a big scoreboard above the stands, “Check out what the winnings are for the top ten positions.”

I looked up at the scoreboard and the spinning slots flipped over to show the winnings for the top ten places. It wasn’t too hard to stretch my mind to match the numbers, but that was before Thunder told me that there were an extra three zeros in every total. My mouth gaped as I looked at what Lucky, Ivy and I had won in this one race, and I had to hang onto Nilak’s neck to prevent myself from falling on my face.

Basically, the winnings scoreboard looked like this:

1- Black Beauty, 750,000

2- Thunder Ace, 500,000

3- Silver Spirit, 250,000

4- Lucky Star, 100,000

5- Ivy Charm, 75,000

6- Sunny Shores, 50,000

7- Painted Glory, 25,000

8- Sonic Melody, 15,000

9- Lunar Mist, 10,000

10- Wild Card, 5,000

In a way, it didn’t look like we had won all that much, but add the three zeros onto our winnings, and we raked a total of four hundred and twenty-five million bits in our very first race! Our debt to Black Beauty was five hundred million, so we were only another fifth place winning away from paying her off. It finally clicked in my head how Black Beauty had been able to pay for all of our armor and weight harnesses without really batting an eye.

I glanced at Lucky and Ivy, their eyes still glued to the winnings scoreboard. I looked back at Thunder and smiled, “I think we did pretty well.”

I heard Lucky sputter behind me, “I’ll say! We won so many bits I don’t think we’ll be able to carry it home!”

“Actually,” Thunder interjected as he leaned over to look at her, “you never see any of the bits until you pay for something with them. Until you need the money for something it’s held in the Racer Treasury. Besides, all of this race’s winnings are going towards paying Black Beauty. It won’t ever leave the Racer Treasury, and a portion of your next race’s winnings will also go towards paying off the remainder of your debt.” He chuckled, “I have to say though, you did amazing for your first race. If I hadn’t had an inside opinion on how you did so well I would have thought you cheated as well.”

Lucky walked up as the others finished drinking, “I would think that’s the only reason you still beat us in that race.”

Thunder’s eyes widened and his grin doubled in size, “Oh ho! Is that so little miss? Well I have a little wager for you if you think that’s the case.”

He tapped Shield Fang on the shoulder and the big dragon lifted his head with a raised eye ridge, yeah boss? What’s up?

“How about a race to settle a wager between me and Miss Star here?” Thunder smiled at Shield Fang, “You up for it?”

Shield Fang nodded, you know it boss. Just name the time and place and I’ll be ready.

The crimson Pegasus looked back at Lucky with a grin, “What do you say Lucky? Are you prepared to put your bits where your mouth is?”

She nodded, “I’ll race circles around you and your dragon.” She looked back at Mel, “You ready to race Thunder and Shield Fang?”

Mel nodded, you know I’m always up for a friendly competition. Tell me the place and time and I’ll mop the track with them.

Shield Fang seemed a bit bemused at this, that’s pretty big talk for such a small dragon. Are you ready to go head-to-head with one of the best dragons in the world?

I’ll tell you when I meet him. You I can handle with one wing tied to my back, Mel smiled as Lucky laughed. Shield Fang looked about ready to retort when Nilak put a paw on is shoulder.

Shield Fang glanced back at Nilak and asked, what did you stop me for? I had a really good jibe I wanted to use.

Because she would have spun it around and jabbed you back twice as hard, Nilak replied, trust me, I’ve gotten into enough verbal battles with her to know that there is no way a dragon is ever going to win an argument against that particular dragonelle.

I chucked as Shield Fang and Nilak talked, “You know Thunder, if I didn’t know any better Nilak and Shield Fang are forming a bromance.”

He looked over at me with his typical coy smile, “And here I thought I was the only one who seemed to notice. I guess with them being the only male dragons in our little band, it was only a matter of time until they joined forces.”

Lucky walked up with Mel right behind her, “Are we going to race or not?”

“Patience young one,” Thunder said with a wave of his hoof, “We’ll give the dragons some time to fully recover from the race before we hit the track.” He raised an eyebrow at her, “Wouldn’t want you blaming your loss on Mel being overworked now would we?”

I chuckled as she narrowed her eyes dangerously, “Be careful Thunder. Overconfidence can break a racer when he least expects it.”

He turned to face her with his legs crossed in front of him, “I would expect you to follow your own advice young lady. Remember, I’ve been on the Circuit for almost ten years now. I didn’t get to be the fourth ranked racer on sheer luck. It took long hours and hard practice to get where I am, and the only reason you did so well was because your dragon did half of the deciding for you.” He straightened and grinned, “That’s why our little race will be without input from our dragons. I’m going to have Shield Fang follow every one of my instructions, even if he wouldn’t normally agree with them. Mel will be hindered in the same way so it will be your skills under the light. If you are as good as you say you are, then you’ll have no trouble keeping up with me. If I’m right and you lose, then you will owe me the entire amount of winnings from your next race. If you win then I’ll pay off the rest of your debt to Black Beauty and throw in my winnings from today as a bonus. What do you say to that?”

Lucky grinned devilishly, “I’ll take those terms. Just be prepared to lose.”

“Very well then,” Thunder replied as he hopped onto Shield Fang, “we’ll meet on the practice track back home at six o’clock. Don’t be late or I’ll consider it a forfeit.”

“We’ll be there!” Lucky called as Shield Fang took off. She looked over at Mel, “You ready to do this?”

Mel nodded, on my honor I swear that I won’t interfere unless it is to protect your safety. We’ll show those two that just being new doesn’t mean we’re not excellent racers.

Lucky nodded and we all climbed onto our dragons as we flew out of the city, Circuit Guard flying on the sides and behind our group as we made the trip back to Firebrand.

Winx flew in close to Nilak and Ivy yelled over the wind to me, “That was so much fun! I can’t believe we get to do that for a living!”

Winx nodded, I agree with Ivy. It was so exciting to race like that! I wonder what we’re going to be up against next time?

I shrugged my shoulders, “The races are randomized every year. The only thing that stays the same is what track is used each time. The problem is that the tracks can be rigged with traps to trip up racers, so we need to be careful when they announce special conditions for races.”

The girls nodded. “We’ll be careful,” Ivy said over the wind.

With that they flew over to talk to some of the other racers, and I leaned down to say to Nilak, “What do you think is going to happen between Lucky and Thunder?”

He glanced over his shoulder at me and bounced me slightly in a shrug, together those two are a fantastic team, but with their victory riding solely on Lucky’s judgment, I don’t know if she’s up for the task. Before this season Thunder had to race guiding Shield Fang’s every move, so relying on his own instincts will be second nature to him. Lucky has never had to follow those instincts in a race setting without Mel’s help. If you want my honest opinion, I think Lucky and Mel are going to get their flanks hoofed to them on a silver platter. I have a feeling they are not going to be able to keep up with Thunder by any stretch of the imagination. He chuckled and I felt the deep rumble in my legs, I must say Thunder sucked Lucky right into a no-win situation, while still making her think she could win. He pretty much assured his victory while making his opponent think she was going to mop the track with him. Very clever, and an effective way of stacking the odds in your favor against an opponent that you aren’t sure you can defeat. I knew Thunder had a brain under that cocky mask he normally hides behind, but now I know he’s got a wit and cunning that makes him more dangerous than a whole unit of Circuit Guards. He glanced up at me with one eye, I’m just glad he’s on our side.

I nodded, “That and the fact that Shield Fang could take on almost any dragon and win in single combat. Those two are a formidable pair and a great asset to our cause.” I pat Nilak’s shoulder as I spotted Firebrand on the horizon, “Well buddy, ready to see Lucky and Mel make fools of themselves?”

He chuckled as we banked down behind the building, I am, but I wonder if they truly have any idea how much they’ve been suckered?

I rolled my eyes, “One thing both males and females have as a fatal flaw, pride. Threaten that pride and both our species will do just about anything to protect it, even destroy it ourselves to prevent others from doing so.”

Mel and Lucky landed next to the start while Nilak, Winx, Ivy and I walked over to the stands. Thunder landed next to Lucky and together they got into the starting gates.

Ivy leaned over to whisper behind one hoof, “Five bits says Mel and Lucky surprise Thunder by winning.”

I looked sidelong at the green mare, “You’re on sister. Just be prepared to lose.”

Nilak snorted as we shook hooves, you two are deplorable. Betting on your friend like they’re a prize chicken going into a fight.

Winx leaned into Nilak and looked up at him with big eyes, half of tonight’s dinner says Mel gets her wings hoofed to her.

Nilak looked down and then back at the track, the flag starting to rise on the pole. He looked back down at Winx and nodded, it’s a bet.

I chuckled as Winx curled up on her belly to watch, “What was that you just said about betting on your friends?”

Nilak looked at me out of the corner of his eye, his back straight and his head high, I said betting on your friends is deplorable. I never said anything about betting on your mate.

Winx, Ivy and I all shared a look, rolling our eyes in unison. I leaned back and watched as they took off, “Whatever you say Nilak.”

Needless to say the race was a foregone conclusion. Mel wasn’t able to cut the turns like she used to and half of the time she was flying too slowly to keep up with Shield Fang. Thunder finished the race so far ahead of Mel and Lucky he was able to sprint through a second and still fly in half of Shield Fang’s length ahead of Mel. I held out my hoof and Ivy snorted as she dropped the five bits into my grip. I could hear Winx doing a little victory dance behind us and I just had to laugh as I heard Nilak’s stomach growl at the promise of only getting half of dinner today.

We walked down to the finish area and listened as Lucky pleaded and begged with Thunder to cancel the bet. I could also catch just the tiniest amount of Mel talking with Shield Fang off to the side, though given the language in their thoughts I quickly shut them out.
After listening to Lucky whine for about ten minutes Thunder finally cut her off with a wing to the mouth, “You made a bet with me and you lost. There aren’t any take-backs in real gambling, and there aren’t any with me. You lost fair and square, so as we agreed, you owe me your full winnings from the next race.”

Lucky grumbled something under her breath as Thunder removed his feathers from her mouth, walking away with her head bowed and her tail thrashing in annoyance. Mel followed close behind with similar body language as they made their way back up to our room.

I looked at Thunder with a sideways grin, “You meant to teach her about not getting too cocky in the Circuit, didn’t you? This was never about bits, it was about learning to know your limits.”

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and a bemused expression, “Why whatever could you mean by that? I saw a chance to make some easy money and I took it. Any lessons she got out of this is purely coincidental.”

“Sure it was,” Ivy mused as she and Winx turned away to join the others in our suite, “just remember that we’ll someday be able to flip this around on you, so don’t get too puffed up.”

I chuckled as they pushed their way into the building, “You have to admit, those girls are pretty nice to have around.”

Thunder nodded as he climbed off of Shield Fang, “She’s right you know. I did plan on teaching Lucky a lesson, though I have to admit the winnings she’ll be paying me won’t feel too bad either.” He laughed as we walked back into the compound together, “You have some wonderful friends Silver, don’t ever let them slip away.”

I nodded, “I won’t sir, and thank you for the lesson. I don’t think any of us will be forgetting it any time soon.”

He waved to me as he walked off with Shield Fang, and I leaned against Nilak’s flank as they disappeared down a hall, “What would we ever do without them Nilak?”

Nilak looked down at me and then back to where the dynamic duo had disappeared down the hall, I truly don’t know Silver. I truly don’t know.

Author's Notes:

Round two of four up and running!! Let's keep this show on the road and get things going on the third. Also, you would think after facing Black Beauty in a one-on-three race they would have learned not to mess with the top ranked racers. Oh well, Lucky's loss I guess.

See you next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.