Ivy and I were doing some practice laps behind Headquarters to keep our skills sharp when I was suddenly struck with a flash of brilliance. I immediately signaled Nilak to land and jumped from his saddle practically before his paws came in contact with the ground.

"Hey Silver,” Ivy called as she landed next to Nilak, “where are you going? I thought we had some training to do?!”

“Can’t talk now!” I called back over my shoulder, “I just had an idea and I think it could give us a secret weapon in our next race!”

I ignored her calls as I raced inside the main building, my heart pounding and my thoughts racing as fast as my hooves. If this worked, then it could give us the edge that we needed in order to win the Draconic Heaven.

I ran into Smit’s forge and nearly knocked the big stallion over in my haste. The smith almost dropped his latest project before we managed to right ourselves, his eyes wide with surprise as I leaned on his anvil to keep from falling over.

“Whoa boy ’oh, where the fire?” He yelled as he set the metallic shell on a nearby table, “You look like you’ve got a Whiptail on your heels the way you came tearing in here.”

I swallowed thickly as I got my breathing under control, “It’s alright Smit. I just have an idea and I wanted to tell you as soon as possible.” I coughed once as I straightened, “It could prove to be a game changer in the coming races.”

His beard curled into a smile as his eyes lit up, “Ah, so ya got me a project that ya think might give you better chances in a race, eh?” He clapped his massive hooves together and rubbed them with glee, “Well don’t leave me hanging boy ‘oh. Ya can’t just drop something like that on my anvil and not tell me what it is you’re thinking of.”

I nodded and sat down on the edge of one of his tables, “Well, you know how we all have armor for our dragons that can stop a ballista bolt?”

He nodded, “Aye, you young’uns had me make those back when you first arrived in the Circuit.” One eyebrow rose in a questioning manner, “They’re not giving you any trouble are they?”

I shook my head, “Oh no, they’re perfect. It’s just that in order for my idea to work, I thought you could make a set of armor that could be removed all at once.”

This time both eyebrows rose, “And why would ya need something like that? Not trying to make less work for yerself for lack of interest?”
I shook my head again, “It’s just that I figure that our dragons have to be a lot stronger to perform at top form with the armor on their bodies right?”

He nodded slowly, “And yer point is?”

I smirked, “What kind of speed and power would we get if we could race without the armor?”

His eyes narrowed in confusion, “What exactly are ya trying to say?”

My smirk turned into a full smile, “I’m saying that if we could remove the armor all at once, then it could give our dragons a last-second speed boost that might allow us to pass the dragons in front of us on the home stretch. And, because we save it for the very last, we won’t be risking getting attacked by the Blood Claw without our armor to protect us.”

He crossed his forelegs and rubbed a hoof along his beard, “I see yer point. That would be quite a surprise if you used it in a race. I don’t know if I can make such a suit of armor, but I’ll give it my best shot.”

I held out my hoof to him, “Thank you Smit. I can’t thank you enough for listening to my crazy idea. Also, money is no object, so give it everything you have to make it perfect.”

He smiled as he gripped my hoof within his own, “Well with an offer like that, how can I refuse?” He gave my leg a shake that nearly took my remaining hooves off the ground and then laughed richly, “You young’uns and your crazy ideas! What’ll be next?”

He spun around and raced into his forge, where the echoing clang of a hammer on steel began at a rapid pace. I smiled, knowing that Smit probably wouldn’t stop until he had the armor finished, and made a casual retreat as his mumbling added to the sounds already bouncing around the room. I walked out of the forge and nearly ran into Ivy, who was followed closely by Nilak and Winx.

“What in the world has got you so excited that you had to run off in the middle of practice?” Ivy asked as Winx and Nilak came to a halt behind her.

I smiled all over again, “I just figured out a way to give us a secret weapon during the races. You know how all of our dragons are stronger and faster because they have to be able to perform with their armor?” There were hesitant nods all around, “Well what would happen if during the home stretch, we could remove all of their armor at once? It would give us a huge speed boost at the very end of the race that would allow us to pull ahead of even Black Beauty and Thunder!”

My words were met with three sets of wide eyes. I paused for a moment, thinking that they thought my idea was crazy, until Ivy’s face broke out in a blinding smile.

“Silver that’s brilliant!” She yelled as she wrapped me in a hug and lifted me off the ground, “Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

I chuckled as she spun me around, “Alright already, no need to get that excited. Smit said that he’d do his best to make an armor that could be removed all at once, but I have no idea when it might be complete or if it can even be done.”

She set me down on the ground again and bounced on her hooves, “I don’t care! Just the thought of having a secret turbo hidden away is making me giddy with excitement! I can just imagine it now,” her face instantly turned serious as her voice lowered in a mock impression of a race announcer, “and it’s Ivy Charm on her Pixie Glider holding on to first with a narrow lead. Thunder Ace is right on her tail and closing fast. They’re coming around the final corner and Thunder is making his move! He’s pulling ahead of Ivy as the finish line grows ever closer. But what’s this?! Ivy just removed her dragon’s armor and tossed it aside! I don’t believe what I’m seeing! Winx has just gained a new speed that makes Thunder look like he’s standing still! I can hardly believe my eyes! Winx is moving almost too fast to see! She crosses the finish line and wins the race by a landslide!”

She cupped her hooves around her mouth, making sounds like a crowd cheering like crazy. Meanwhile Nilak and Winx were glancing at me like I was the only sane pony in the room.

Is that really what’s going to happen when you take off our armor? Winx asked, are we really going to get a lot faster?

I shrugged, “I hope so, but we won’t know until we try it out, assuming Smit can finish the armor in time for the next race.”

We ignored Ivy as she took a bow for an imaginary audience. But even if it only partly works, Nilak added, it could close the gap enough that we can truly best Whiteout and Shield Fang in a real race.

I nodded, “That’s the general idea. I just hope we don’t have to worry about unexpected surprises.”

Ivy froze mid-bow, “Surprises? What kind of surprises?”

I shrugged again, “I don’t know. Maybe something that the other racers come up with to counter our little speed boost trick. I have no clue really, but that’s what makes me nervous. The other racers might come up with nasty tricks to counter our sprint tactic, and we won’t know what they are until they spring them on us during a race.”

Nilak rolled his eyes, I’d like to see them try something underhanded during a race. They might pull some sneaky tricks, but they’re no Blood Claw.

Ivy and Winx winced at the name of the murderous group, “Please don’t remind us. We’ve seen what they can do if provoked.”

Yeah, I don’t need to show you my scar to tell you how I feel about Blood Claw surprises. Winx shivered as I imagined the pain of her encounter with a ballista bolt made itself known in her memory.

“Hey, hey, don’t let the idea get you down,” I said with a bit of fire. “If there are surprises later then we’ll deal with them. If not then we’ll leave the competition in the dust.” I held out my hoof, “All for one?”

Ivy rolled her eyes but placed her hoof on top of mine anyway. After a moment Winx and Nilak added their paws to our little stack.

“And one for all,” they chorused.

“Good.” I nodded as we lowered our legs, “Then let’s get back to practicing. The new armor probably won’t be ready in time for the next race, but I hope that it’ll at least be done before the Draconic Heaven.”

“If we even get into the Draconic Heaven,” I heard Ivy mutter.

I slapped her between the shoulder blades with my hoof, “Hey, we’re ranked in the top five racers in the Circuit right now. How could we possibly not be a part of the Draconic Heaven?”

Her lips curled into a smile, “You’re right. I don’t know what I was talking about. We’ll get into the Draconic Heaven and then we’ll beat Black Beauty and Thunder to win our ticket straight to Mythic Song.”

Then we can free the other dragons! Winx added with a slight bounce in her step.

Nilak and I shared a knowing look over the girl’s shoulders. We knew that we had to tell Ivy and Winx about what we had to do in order to really free the dragons. I could see it in his eyes that he knew just as much as I did that they weren’t going to like the message when we finally did tell them.

The next three days were spent almost entirely on the practice track. We all knew that if our little speed trick had was going to work, that we had to be ready for anything the track or the other racers could throw at us. The next race was happening in Tailstream, and to top off our list of headaches it was going to be another Handicap Trial. The Tailstream track was notorious for having hidden surprises at the best of times, but with a Handicap Trial added on top of that, this was shaping up to be one of our most challenging races yet.

We flew into Tailstream like any other race, escorted on all sides by Circuit Guard members. They had already done a sweep of the track and the surrounding area, making sure that there weren’t any hidden Blood Claw lackeys lying in wait. The disaster at the Seaside Speedway wasn’t going to happen again.

The city of Tailstream took after its name in several ways. Not only did the city border one of the continent’s major rivers, but the open plains that surrounded the city on all sides meant that there was always wind blowing. The rolling hills rippled in the ever-present gusts, and the waters of the river were choppy near the shores. Unlike some of the other cities we had been to, this one lacked the dancing skyscrapers that most would associate with the big city. Instead the populous was spread out over miles and miles of grassland like a
massive silver lake.

We landed in the race center for the usual meeting that would decide the Handicap that would accompany us onto the track. Like before, the announcer stood in front of the racers with his pedestal securely placed before him. I noticed that some of his black mane had turned to white since the last Trial, and I couldn’t help but smirk as I realized it had been almost a year since we had first joined the Circuit.

“Now that we’re all here,” the announcer said with his usual flare, “we can select the handicap for the coming race.” He reached into the revolving glass ball that held dozens of pieces of paper, riffling around for a moment before pulling a slip.

“And the handicap for today’s race will be,” he unfolded the slip and broke into a grin, “Relay!”

Most of the single riders groaned in frustration, while I saw several teams slapping high-hooves. It didn’t take much brain power to figure out why. Single riders would have to run the entire course on their own, while teams could space out their members so that each pair would only have to complete part of the course. However, that also left open the possibility that a team could lose the race completely because a previous member got lost or had to pull out. Either way, it promised to make this already difficult race even harder.

“Now that the handicap has been decided,” the announcer yelled out as the racers began to quiet, “ready your dragons, and may the best racer win!”

With that said, everypony filed out of the building and headed for whatever place they needed to go. For Ivy and I, that was the pens to see Nilak and Winx.

Like before, Nilak and Winx were in the pens at the very end of the building, mostly to keep the other dragons from bothering them. Their heads lifted over the doors as we entered the hallway, and I saw with some surprise that Winx no longer had to place her front paws on the door to see. Apparently it wasn’t just us that had changed since our first race.

So what’s the verdict? Nilak asked as we came to a stop in front of the pens, what little trick do we have to deal with now?

“It’s actually something that will work in our favor,” I said as I leaned against the wall, “The handicap is that we have to do the race like a relay.”

“Meaning,” Ivy added, “that we have to choose a section of the course and complete it before handing it off to the next member of our team. For solo riders that means nothing because they still have to go the full distance.”

So we get to cut the course in half, Winx said slowly as she tapped the tip of her muzzle with one claw. That means we get to choose who goes first and who gets to finish the race, her frills flared as she glanced towards Nilak, I call the first half of the course!

Nilak smirked, as you wish. It makes no difference to me as long as we win.

“Alright then,” I said as I clapped my hooves, “Winx and Ivy will take the first half of the race, and she’ll pass it off to me and Nilak at the halfway point.” I glanced from face to face, “Any objections?”

There were none.

Because of the added time needed to get the armor secured to our dragons, we had the pens to ourselves while the other racers were out doing who knows what. I was just about to fit Nilak’s body with the first plate of armor, when a deep voice yelled out from the doorway.

“Hold up there youngster!” I spun around and saw old Smit racing towards us with something heavy in his saddlebags, “I got your
special armor done!”

He slid to a stop and I gaped at him, “Where did you come from?”

He grinned like a mad colt, “I knew I’d miss you back at Firebrand, so I caught the fastest train here in hopes that I’d get to you in time.” He held out a smooth teardrop-shaped piece of metal, “Here it is, your finished armor.”

I took it carefully and inspected it from top to bottom, “Umm, no offence Smit, but how exactly can this protect all of Nilak if it’s so small?”

He smirked, “I’ll show you.” He took the metal from me and walked up to Nilak. “With your permission,” he said with a slight bow towards the dragon.

He held up the plate with the tip of the drop pointed towards the ground. He placed it over Nilak’s heart and then pushed a hidden button in the center of the plate. Metallic clicks could be heard as the teardrop began to fragment and expand. We all watched in amazement as the metal shifted and grew until the plates covered Nilak’s entire chest. He stood perfectly still as the plates shifted again, curling up and around his neck and down the sides of his body until all of his vulnerable points had been covered.

Smit turned to me and winked, “Like it? I added some new technology that can move things without needing to be pushed or pulled by a pony operator.”

I slowly walked up and ran my hooves over the smooth metal, “So how do you remove it?” I turned back to the smith with a questioning gaze, “If I have to press in the center of his chest then there’s no way I could take it off during a race.”

Smit waved off my comment like it mattered little, “Ya got a second activation switch on the plate just in front of yer saddle. It’ll collapse into whichever plate you activate the transformation from, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to reach it.”

I looked up at Nilak in his new armor, wondering what kind of things we could do with this new ability to remove and replace the armor almost at will.

Smit cleared his throat, and as I turned to him he held out his hoof to me, “That’ll be one and a half billion for the armor.”

Ivy’s eyes looked like they were going to pop right out of her head, “One and a half billion?! That’s nearly all of Silver’s winnings from the last four races put together!”

I waved her off as she opened her mouth to say something else, “It’s alright Ivy. I told Smit that I would pay whatever he needed to get this armor done. I’m a colt of my word. Besides, this armor is well worth the price if it can give us an edge on the home stretch.”

I pulled out a payment slip from my saddlebags and wrote down the money I needed to transfer, “Here you go Smit, and thank you for all your hard work.”

He accepted the slip with a brief nod, “It’s my job to make whatever you racers need. I just enjoy working with metal, getting to help you whelps is just a bonus.” He winked at me before turning away, “Let me know how well it works after your race,” he called over his shoulder, “I want to be sure you’re satisfied with my workmanship!”

“Will do Smit!” I yelled after him as the door closed in his wake. I turned to face Nilak again, “Well buddy, how does it feel?”

He moved his legs and wings around a bit, amazing. It fits my body almost like a second set of scales. I really must congratulate the smith on his work. It’s perfect.

Winx whined in jealousy, I want a magic set of armor too! No fair!

Nilak chuckled as he set his paw back on the ground, then you’ll have to ask your rider really nicely. I’m not sure she’d be willing to pay for something like this just because you want it.

Winx turned towards Ivy and set her chin on the edge of the door, giving the evergreen mare her best puppy eyes with her paws on either side of her chin, please Ivy. Can I get a special set of armor too?

Ivy rolled her eyes, “Oh brother.” She sent a playful glare my way, “You see what you’ve created? You’ve awoken the cute monster.”

I grinned as I shrugged, “I can’t help it if Smit does amazing work. Besides, you may want to get a set of armor like that too if my little speed trick actually works.”

She placed her hoof on her forehead and shook her head a few times, “True enough. Just don’t expect me to bail you out when Mel hears about all the cool stuff you’ve been getting for Nilak.”

I grimaced at the mental image, “Don’t remind me. I just hope Lucky wakes up before Mel decides to see how good I taste well done.”

The others laughed, only to freeze as the trumpets signaled the starting ceremony for the race.

I turned to the others with a grin, “Show time ladies.”

You know I’m not a female right Silver? Nilak asked as we walked out of the pens.

“Figure of speech Nilak,” I said while rolling my eyes, “figure of speech.”

Author's Notes:

Yay!! Two chapters in three days!! I'm on fire!! Anyway, hope you guys are enjoying the book so far. Got some great stuff in store for you once things get rolling towards the climax. Stay tuned for awesome and I'll see you there.

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