(OLD) The adventures of Minetopia

Chapter 7: The race for the rails

The next place we were going to was not that far from the hot springs. I was just looking at the map one more time to make sure we were going the right way, when I suddenly heard moos and baaahs. "Here we are," said Chad. "The ranch I told you about!" "What's it called?" asked Kaylz. "Its called the Silver Stallion," Chad answered. The last time I went to a ranch was for my 6th birthday party, so it was kind of a new experience for me now that I was older. As we got closer to the entrance, a flashback raced through my mind.
----------FLASHBACK----------
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Chip! Happy birthday to you!" Everyone sang. I was sitting there with all my friends, Demitra, Blue, Kaylz, Miner, Daisy and little Rocket. "Bwow owt da candles, Tip!" Rocket encouraged in her cute little three-year-old voice. I blew out the candles, and Mom and Dad clapped their hands and hugged me. "Yay, Chip!" Miner shouted happily. "This is the best party ever!!!" cheered Demitra, Daisy and Blue. Mom helped me cut the cake, and everyone enjoyed it. After cake, I opened presents and we played around with the farm animals until the party was over and we went home.
----------FLASHBACK ENDS HERE----------

"Hey, y'all!" A farmer villager boomed suddenly, snapping me back into reality. "Oh, hi." I greeted. "Whats with th' strange look, blue fox girl?" he asked. "Sorry," I answered. "I was sort of lost in thought." I watched Travis and Chad run down the dirt path, happily looking at all the animals. "Feel free to look around all you'd like!" The farmer called out.

"So, what're you folks doin' here on this beau'ful day?" the farmer asked me. "My friends and I are going to Minetopia," I replied. "Its sort of falling apart and we need to find out what's causing it to do so." "I remember goin' ta Minetopia when I was a wee lil' boy," the farmer said. "That place was amazin, but I haven't been there for 'bout 60 years now cause m' wife and I were too busy doin' farm work!" "Sounds hard," Blue said.

Blue, Kaylz, Firefang and I walked around the ranch, seeing all the horses, pigs, sheep, cows, bunnies and chickens. "I really wish I could buy this ranch," Kaylz said quietly as she smiled at all the animals. I saw Rocket, Fan and Deli inside the barn, making goo-goo-eyes at the cute little bunnies.

"You folks dunno where the next place is, do ya?" The farmer asked. "We don't," replied Blue. "Could you tell us?" "Well, the next place you have to go to is very far away," the farmer explained. "Its all th' way across an ocean, and its very far away from here." "How are we supposed to get there if we can't swim that far?" Firefang asked. "Plus, we don't have any wood left to craft a boat." "Well, theres a train station if ya leave here n' go straight." "But we don't have any train tickets," said Kaylz as the farmer started digging into his pocket.

"That's why I have seven train tickets here," the farmer explained. "But the only way I'll give 'em to ya is if Chip wins a horse race with m' daughter. Selfie, c'mere, honey!" A girl with a gray sweater and golden brown locks of hair came strolling out of the barn. "What is it, daddy?" She asked. "I need ya to compete 'gainst this girl in a horse race." The farmer said. "Ok!" Selfie agreed happily as she went to get her horse. My stomach became a huge knot as I changed into long pants and put a horseback riding helmet on. I usually go horseback riding on the donkeys that live near me and Rockets house, but I wasn't very good at it. I am going to lose this race for sure... I thought.

"Chip," said the farmer as he came out with a female horse whose body colour was jet black with some white speckles. "This is Nebula. You're gonna be racing Selfie an' her colt, Silver with her." "Is she fast?" I asked. "Unfortunatly, not that much. She's th' 3rd slowest only losing to Marshmallow and Clover. Though, she's also th' 3rd fastest behind Choco and Silver." I climbed onto Nebulas back, but then she bucked me off. I tried again, and got bucked off again. In fact, it took me about five tries to get on her back without being bucked off before she got used to me. I didn't want to race, especially with a horse who seems to hate me.

With me on her back, Nebula trotted to the race track. Silver gave off a grunt as he rolled his eyes at Nebula, probably horse talk for, You are going to lose so bad. "I hope you win, Chip!" Fan called out. "Good luck, Chip!" Chad cheered. I smiled at them as they, along with everyone else, started cheering for me.

"On yer mark..." The farmer said as he pulled out his gun and loaded a bullet. "Get set......" I gleamed into Selfies eyes with fear, as her eyes met mine. "GO!" He shouted as he fired the gun. Selfie and Silver darted away from the starting line, while Nebula just trotted down the path, taking her sweet old time. I decided to whip her muzzle strap thing so that she could start running. I think I whipped her too hard though, because she started sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her.

I managed to make Nebula jump over the hurdles, though, and by the time the 3rd and final lap started, her and Silver were neck and neck. The finish line was so close, and Nebula was outrunning Silver by just a little bit. Suddenly, Silver tripped and pancaked on Nebula, which made her accidentally buck me all the way past the finish line. "And the winner is Chip and Nebula!" The farmer called out as the rest of Team BrightFire went wild.

"How the heck did you win that?!" Selfie yelled. "Nebula didn't even pass the finish line!" "No, but I did," I replied as I grinned teasingly.

"Yer train tickets, Chip." the farmer said as he handed me 7 pinkish-yellow train tickets. "Come again soon!" I stroked Nebula on her mane as I walked her back to her stable. After that, the rest of Team BrightFire and I walked over to the train station. Blue stuck the tickets into the chest as we boarded the train.

"It seems like we're almost at Minetopia," said Kaylz. "I know," I replied as I gave her a smile. "Two places left after the train." "Finally!" sighed Rocket. "after what seemed like a million years of walking and walking and WALKING, we're almost there." Blue, Kaylz and I giggled at her, then looked out the window. We went through a tunnel, so there wasn't much to see, but after we got out of it, I could see that we were on some mountains. Just then, I heard light snoring, but then I realized that it was just the boys having a nap. Firefang and Deli were also snoozing away on their laps. I looked through the window again, and we were over an ocean. I could see a few islands, and they looked pretty. Our train ride was amazing and relaxing.

Soon, we made it to our stop. After waking up the boys from their sleep, we got off. "That was a fast train ride..." Chad yawned. "Probably because we were asleep, Chad," Fan replied. I looked around at the next place we were at, Golem cottages. "Lets check it out!" Travis suggested. "Well, its sunset..." I said. "But ok."