The Rainbow Racer

     Luxinia approached Iridesia and tapped them on the shoulder.

     "How are you holding up?" she asked.

     Iridesia sighed. They glanced at all the activity around them. So many needs still need to be met. Nevertheless, the progress was heartening.

     "I'm doing alright, Luxinia. But all this council stuff is weighing on me. Honestly, I need a break. There's something I've been meaning to show you at my house," Iridesia replied.

     They walked to Iridesia's home, which wasn't too far from the Faerie Castle. The home stood intact, having avoided much of Vocivus' wrath along with Drakara's. Inside, it was still the mess that they had left behind when Fyora first called them to assist.

     Iridesia went to their desk and pulled out a small notebook from the drawer.

     "This my sketchbook. There's one thing I wanted to show you," they said, handing it to Luxinia, open to a specific page.

     Luxinia peered at the page they had it open to. On it was an old design of a cloud racer. The wings, in particular, were in the same colour pattern as their own. The body of the racer paid homage to every element, with streaks of racing stripes in the colours of every one of them.

     "Oh, that looks beautiful. Are you going to the Cloud Race now?" Luxinia asked.

     "Oh, um, thanks, I don't know. I drew this way back then…"

     * * *

     Iridesia quietly hummed to themself as they drew in their notebook. They glanced outside their window and saw cloud racers zooming by in the distance. They had longed to join other faeries there, but it always seemed daunting to get noticed and to assemble a racing team.

     They began sketching a pair of wings onto an oblong object, the soon-to-be body of a cloud racer. At that moment, there was a knock at their door. Iridesia gasped and tossed their notebook into a drawer.

     "Come in…"

     The Faerie Queen stepped through the doorway into Iridesia's workshop. She handed them a roll of parchment.

     "Hello, Baelia, I need you to work on this new slingshot. The design is complete, so you just need to craft it. Anyways, I'll leave you to it."

     Iridesia took the parchment from Queen Fyora without making eye contact and nodded.

     "Hmm… okay… um… I'll get to it soon."

     "It would be preferable to have this done in a couple of weeks so that Aethia can test it."

     "Yes, ma'am…"

     The queen left. Iridesia pulled out their notebook again and flipped back to the page where they were sketching the cloud racer. Still focused on the wings, they began filling in a more detailed stained-glass pattern.

     "Hmmm, I suppose I'd need to make sure these are thick enough to withstand the high amount of airflow around them, but not too thick where it impacts aerodynamics. Hmmm…" they muttered to themself.

     And then there was another knock at the door. This time, Delina invited herself in.

     "Ah, Baelia, I heard Fyora dropped off a new schematic. Do you want to discuss it?"

     "Umm, sure."

     They slid their notebook back into the drawer and took a seat. Delina sat down next to them.

     "Alright, this is a projectile weapon so we will need to make sure that…"

     But Iridesia was only partially paying attention, as their mind remained fixated on their cloud racer.

     "Baelia, are you listening?" Delina finally said.

     Iridesia turned a shade of red. "Umm… not really, could you please repeat that? Sorry."

     * * *

     "You should consider joining!"

     "But I'd need a team first, Luxi. I just have a design. We need someone to build this racer, and then I'd have to test it and refine the design!"

     "Hmm… Fyora used to race. And without her queen role, she must have some more free time now. Perhaps she still has connections from her racing days!"

     Iridesia's eyes lit up. "Hey, you're right!

     They made their way to where the Faerie Castle once stood, some towers still intact. The former queen was busy packing her things in preparation to move out after her abdication.

     Iridesia glanced at the staircase and the tower. They were about to take the first step when Luxinia stopped them.

     Luxinia tapped on Iridesia's right shoulder and gestured to Iridesia's wings.

     "Shall we fly up there?" Luxinia suggested.

     "Fly—wait, we walked to my house, but—"

     "I'm sorry, I should have reminded you—"

     Iridesia looked back at Luxinia and a wide smile spread across their face. "No worries. It was nice to have a stroll together. Let's fly this time, though."

     For Iridesia, the ability to fly again was liberating. That said, it still took some getting used to and remembering. They wobbled a bit before they reached a good balance to fly, and they flew up to the tower.

     The former queen stepped out onto her balcony to greet the two faeries.

     "Oh, hello, you two. How are things going?" Fyora said.

     Iridesia tented their fingers in anticipation. "We're fine. I'm here because I've always wanted to try cloud racing. In fact, I designed my own cloud racer. But I have neither a team nor an actual racer. Perhaps you could assist since you used to race?"

     Fyora put her fingers to her chin as she pondered.

     "You said you had a design for a racer? May I see it?"

     Iridesia handed over their sketchbook. Fyora glanced at it and nodded.

     "Oh, well, that's interesting and unique. I'll tell you what, leave this with me, and let me take a closer look. If I think it works, then we can discuss forming a team."

     "That'd be amazing!" Iridesia exclaimed.

     Luxinia also beamed at the suggestion.

     "I can't promise anything, though. That said, I must return to packing. I will get back to you soon."

     "Of course!

     Iridesia and Luxinia left the tower and managed to fly safely to their house. At last, Iridesia would get their chance at cloud racing.

     * * *

     "I had some time to analyse your blueprint, and now I have some questions. Why are they curved slightly? I've not seen a wing design like this before. I don't even know if it's within regulation," Fyora said, adjusting her spectacles as she squinted at Iridesia's design.

     "But we can include that in the racer, right? Part of it is that it's better for lift and more energy efficient. But the other reason is that it better captures who I am as a faerie."

     "… I don't know, Iridesia. It's never been done before. Why not stick to a basic design, since it's going to be your rookie racing season anyway?"

     Iridesia frowned upon hearing this.

     "Every other cloud racer I've seen out there embodies some aspect of a faerie's identity. This is who I am. I want part of me in the equipment I choose to race in."

     "...I hear you, but this is quite a bit different from…"

     "And still within regulation! I checked when I started this drawing years ago!"

     Iridesia then covered their mouth.

     "My apologies for raising my voice," Iridesia said.

     Fyora held up her hand.

     "Say no more. I can see this is extremely important to you. I will make sure we have the same understanding of the regulations. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of an actual rule against this. I will do my best to make this design work."

     "So you're on board?"

     "I will reach out to someone who might be interested in building this design. If it's feasible, then yes, consider me a part of your team!"

     * * *

     A few weeks passed before Fyora came by Iridesia's house, which they had worked hard to clean up and renovate with Luxinia. Fyora knocked, and as the door opened, her jaw dropped.

     "Oh wow, I love what you did with this place. The curtains are so fancy and colourful! And the windows are lovely! But getting back to why I'm here, your schematic is feasible, and currently, I've gotten someone to build a prototype!" Fyora exclaimed before handing Iridesia a photograph. Iridesia's eyes grew wide as they stared intently at the photo.

     "Thanks, Luxinia helped a lot. Ohhh! Is this the cloud racer? It's beautiful!"

     They continued to examine the photo, turning it in multiple directions to get a better look.

     In the photo, the racer's exterior was lined with multi-colored scales of pastel hue, each one smooth and tightly overlapping to maximise aerodynamics.

     The racer's nose was gently rounded and tipped with a miniature copy of the wing pin Iridesia wore. Similarly, the steering yoke featured Iridesia's wing pattern at its centre. Near the middle of the racer were attached wings that resembled Iridesia's own but unsegmented, and that curved up into small winglets.

     Twin, cone-shaped engines protruded from the rear, painted with a faded rainbow pattern that matched the rest of the pastel color scheme.

     "Well, it's most of it. I've enlisted the help of Juni to reattach the wings and Varia to be in charge of testing -- Varia, who used to be my quartermaster and an expert in flying races."

     Iridesia smiled and nodded. "I know Varia. She helped Luxinia build New Faerieland. And yeah, that sounds great!"

     * * *

     "Can you hear me, Iridesia?" a faerie Shoyru said through an earpiece.

     A few moments passed. The Shoyru was about to speak again before she heard Iridesia's staticy voice.

     "Yes, my apologies, Varia. I had trouble getting the earpiece on. Clear enough!"

     "Good! Is the seat comfortable enough?"

     Iridesia climbed into the interior of the racer prototype; the seat was white with rainbow streaks and fully reclinable.

     "Yes, the chair works well!"

     There was one final finishing touch. At the back were now a pair of feathery antennas swaying right before the engines, perfect twins of the ones in Iridesia's hair.

     "Alright, good. Now disengage the brake by pushing the two brake levers on each side."

     "Done!"

     Varia stared at a screen in front of her that showed the change in status.

     "Alright, good. Now, let us warm up the engines. Press the bright green ignition button."

     Iridesia pressed the green button. It had a bit of resistance until the end, where it popped into place. Immediately, Iridesia felt the racer shake, and then the engines in the back began powering on.

     "Good, now we must wait about five minutes for things to fully warm up!"

     After a period of silence, Varia finally got on the radio again.

     "Alright, do you know the basics of flying this?"

     "I uhhhh, remember watching other faeries do it when I was a light faerie."

     "Well, it should feel natural once you grab the yoke!"

     Iridesia grabbed onto the yoke and suddenly, what they needed to do came immediately to mind.

     "Alright, give it a whirl!"

     Iridesia pressed down on the accelerator, and the racer lurched forward.

     "Good, now raise the altitude so you're actually flying!"

     Iridesia pulled back a lever, and the racer increased in altitude. The engines were now in full gear, and the roar of them grew quite deafening.

     "Now let's do one lap around Faerieland and then land!"

     Iridesia guided the racer around the various parts of Faerieland, first whizzing by the Healing Springs before rounding the corner around the Rainbow Fountain. However, as soon as they rounded it, they heard a sputtering noise from one of the engines and began losing altitude.

     "Varia, what's going on?" Iridesia asked on the radio.

     "Uhh, uhh, well, the engines are having trouble…"

     "What do you mean?"

     "You need to land the thing right away!"

     At Varia's urging, Iridesia lowered the racer gently, gradually reducing altitude until it met solid ground. At that moment, one of the engines blew itself off the racer and landed in an open field, causing a small fire and smoke to emanate. Several water faeries on standby for the test quickly rushed over to put the fire out.

     "What happened?!" Iridesia yelled over the radio.

     Varia tapped around on her screens frantically, finally shaking her head.

     "I don't really know, but we did put in standard light elemental engines because you used to be a light faerie. Maybe we can adjust the output?"

     Iridesia gripped the radio transmitter in frustration.

     "I would strongly prefer to use my own element," they said flatly.

     "Well, we don't know of any other engines that…"

     "Then we should make a new type of engine. Other faeries get to race and use their own element to power their racer. Even if they are unique elements, like with Fyora or Taelia. So why not me?"

     "I'm sorry, Iridesia, I shouldn't have made that suggestion. Let me talk to Fyora about what went wrong and figure something out."

     The faerie took a deep breath and exhaled.

     "Please do. And it's fine. I know this situation is new. I just want to be seen as myself while racing."

     Varia, with the help of other faeries and Iridesia, lifted the racer onto a large cart and pushed it back to the special workshop where Juni and Fyora worked.

     "Whoa, are you alright, Iridesia? We lost an engine!" Fyora gasped.

     "Yip yip yip!" The Faellie flew over to Iridesia and gave them a close examination.

     Iridesia dusted themselves off

     "Yes. Please try to design an engine for my element. One that doesn't match just won't do."

     Juni stared at the remaining engine, examining where it attached to the racer.

     "Yip yip!" he barked.

     "What is it, Juni?" Fyora knelt down to take a closer look.

     "Yip yip!"

     "Oh, you're saying the normal amount of reinforcement here is not enough?"

     "Yip yip yip!"

     "Because of their power? I guess we could make the engines a bit smaller, too. Alright, let's go do that. Iridesia, we are going to get this right!"

     * * *

     "Now round the corner there!" Varia called into the radio.

     Iridesia rotated the yoke left, yanking it simultaneously. The racer responded smoothly and looped right around the Rainbow Fountain. They waved at Naia, who squinted at the racer before waving back.

     "Alright, bring it back here," Varia instructed.

     The cloud racer coasted to a stop in front of Varia and Iridesia shut the engines off.

     "This racer handles very well! Its rainbow clouds will surely stop the others!"

     "I'm glad that it works well for you. Perhaps we can start thinking about racing it in a real race."

     "Really? We're ready for that?" The faerie could hardly contain themself.

     "Yes, as long as you're good with that."

     Reaching over with a quick embrace, Iridesia wrapped their arms around Varia.

     "Thank you! This means a lot to me."

     "Oh, thanks for hanging in there and testing this with me."

     * * *

     "Hey, did we make sure to fill the tank with Iridesia's elemental rainbow magic?" asked Fyora.

     "Yip yip!" Juni yipped, closing the tank near the back of the racer and sealing the door shut.

     With Iridesia already strapped into the cloud racer, Luxinia knelt next to it. She leaned over to talk.

     "How are you feeling, Iri?"

     They reached up with their left hand and squeezed Luxinia's right.

     "I feel great."

     "Please be safe out there."

     "Hey, team! Let's get ready for final checks. Juni and Varia, you're up!" Fyora exclaimed.

     The two made a final round around the racer as Juni and Varia checked the wings and engines one last time.

     "Yip!"

     "All good here! Let's move it out to the racing field."

     Guiding the racer out of the hangar and out to the starting position, they gripped the yoke tightly. At the starting line already were Illusen, Jhudora, and the Tooth Faerie. There was a sizable crowd chattering with each other, seated in nearby stands. A few stopped to look at the newest contender. And then Iridesia saw Luxinia there in the stands.

     "WOOO! GO IRI! YOU CAN DO IT!" they heard Luxinia shout.

     Jhudora took one look at Iridesia and laughed loudly.

     "Look, Salad Mix. The saviour of Faerieland now thinks they can just waltz into cloud racing. Watch out, they might crash into you!" Jhudora scoffed.

     "Why would they crash into me? They should crash into you!" the earth faerie fired back.

     Rolling their eyes, Iridesia shrugged. "Are you two still at it? Wasn't Vocivus whacking you two while you both were arguing enough of a lesson?"

     A scowl spread across Jhudora's face as Illusen glared at the dark faerie. The two of them crossed their arms and turned away from each other.

     "Hmph, begone before I turn you into a Blechy, Iridesia."

     Meanwhile, the Tooth Faerie got out of her racer and knelt down next to Iridesia.

     "Hey B- I mean Iridesia, I've been meaning to ask. Do you have time to show up for teeth cleaning? You haven't been in for a while!" the tooth faerie said.

     Fyora's voice then came on over the radio. "Don't listen to any of them. It's all mind games. Trust me, when I was racing, I heard it all."

     A loud whistle echoed through the area, sending all the other contestants scrambling into their racers.

     "Good luck!" Varia encouraged.

     "Yip yip!" added Juni.

     Iridesia stared at two light faerie marshals with green flags at their sides on both sides of the starting line. Iridesia gripped their yoke as others did so as well. Silence filled the air as they awaited the go signal.

     "Ready! Set!… Go!" The light faeries raised their green flags.

     Iridesia flipped on the rainbow clouds, accelerating and increasing altitude until they reached racing altitude. Immediately, Jhudora caught up to them.

     "Are you sure you belong here, newbie? That was the slowest start I've ever seen!" she taunted.

     Jhudora zoomed ahead before Iridesia could respond. She then made a sharp turn, attempting to goad Iridesia to crash into her trail of purple clouds. Iridesia jerked the yoke to the right and managed to avoid hitting the clouds at the last second.

     Fyora shouted through the radio,"You've got Illusen as an easy target behind you, just make a left turn and a quick right and you'll box her in with both your clouds and Jhudora's!"

     When Iridesia jerked the yoke left, the racer turned. Jhudora's trail of clouds was right in front of them, so they made a turn right before the nose of their racer touched the purple clouds.

     "ARRRGHHH!"

     "Bye bye, Salad Mix!" Iridesia could hear Jhudora cackling. "You lost to Iridesia! They barely know how to race! HAHAHAHA!"

     The crowd gave a modest cheer as Iridesia took down Illusen.

     "Yay!" Fyora and Varia shouted in unison.

     "You did it!" Luxinia shouted, jumping out of her seat.

     "Ahhh!" Iridesia squealed.

     "That was a really nice takedown!" replied Fyora on the radio.

     "She respects me enough to make fun of me!"

     "You mean Jhudora? Anyways focus! The Tooth Faerie is right on you!"

     Iridesia gasped and turned to see the Tooth Faerie coming up on their right, attempting a similar manoeuvre.

     "You're faster than her!" Varia called.

     Iridesia slammed the accelerator, pushing their engines to the max. The Tooth Faerie was relentless, though, mirroring the move. She caught up, and suddenly both of them were neck and neck.

     "So, how about that dental appointment?!" the Tooth Faerie said with a grin.

     "Umm, well, see I haven't really been flossing…"

     "Aha! I knew it! You lied to me!"

     "Hey, she's trying to distract you!" Iridesia could hear Varia's voice in the background.

     "I bet your teeth are stained with all colours of the rainbow. Tsk tsk!" the Tooth Faerie scolded, wagging her finger at Iridesia.

     "Do a somersault!" Fyora yelled. This snapped Iridesia's focus back, and they immediately pitched the nose up and then quickly flipped the racer over and back to turn around.

     "Hey! Where are you going?" the Tooth Faerie exclaimed, wide-eyed.

     Iridesia zig-zagged in front of her and cut her off, causing the Tooth Faerie to eventually slam into their rainbow clouds. This time, the crowd erupted in cheers.

     "Well, anyone can do that move if Fyora taught them!" Jhudora retorted as she observed the situation from afar.

     The dark faerie then flew towards Iridesia as they turned around.

     "It's just us two now!" Iridesia shouted.

     "You got this!" Fyora and Varia echoed.

     "Yip yip!"

     "Well, your reward for saving Neopia is the privilege of losing to me! And send Fyora my regards when you do!"

     "Ha! As if you've already won…" Iridesia shot back. The two racers careened toward each other.

     "ARGH!" Jhudora shouted as they narrowly avoided crashing.

     "See! It's not that easy!" Iridesia taunted.

     "Oh yeah?"

     Jhudora flew upward. Iridesia followed suit, but soon alarms began to go off on their racer.

     "Wait, Varia, Fyora, what's happening?"

     "Ahhh, the altimeter is malfunctioning!"

     "How do I fix it?"

     "Uhh… just ignore it! It should…"

     "I can't climb further; it won't allow me to!"

     Jhudora grinned as she dove towards Iridesia while encircling them with a purple vortex.

     "Hey! Is this allowed?!" Iridesia called into their mic.

     "Unfortunately, yes. Jhudora always tried this on me," Fyora replied.

     Iridesia's racer clipped the purple clouds. An alarm went off to signal the end of the race.

     The clouds cleared, and Jhudora landed her racer alongside Iridesia's. The Tooth Faerie and Illusen also landed nearby.

     "Newbie, you have a lot to learn! But you did make fools out of those other two! That was hilarious!"

     "Well, I would have done better if someone hadn't got in my way!" Illusen bickered.

     "Save it, Salad Mix. You lost to a newbie. You should quit now."

     "Grrrr…" Illusen responded.

     The Tooth Faerie added,"Now, Iridesia, I'm still serious about that dental appointment, but we can chat later. Congrats on beating me! I promise it won't happen again.

     Fyora, Varia, and Juni arrived moments later.

     "Hey, second isn't that bad for your first time!" Fyora said.

     "That was amazing! I finally got to experience it!" exclaimed Iridesia, grinning ear to ear.

     "Yip yip yip!" Juni went up and licked Iridesia's hand in celebration.

     "Hehe, that tickles, Juni!"

     "I'm sorry about the sensor thing. I'll try to figure something out," Varia added, hanging her head.

     "No worries, it was our first time as a team. We'll get it next time! Thank you both for all your help!" Iridesia replied.

     "There's someone important to see you," Fyora added before waving Luxinia through.

     The light faerie ran up to Iridesia and hugged them tightly.

     "Amazing job! I hope you enjoyed that."

     "Oh yes, I did, very much!"

     "I'm so proud of you! You showed those racers you belonged!"

     Iridesia smiled widely and nodded. "And I'm here to stay…"

     "That you are!" The two of them held hands as they flew off toward Faerie City. The sun began to set. Fyora watched as they disappeared into the sky before she too headed towards her tower. Varia and Juni pushed the racer back into the hangar, ready to do some more work on it to make it worthy of a golden trophy in the future.

     The End.