Chapter 1 - We Are Young.
Felder gunned the throttle, taking what little enjoyment he could from the wind whipping his face and tearing through his green coat, His short cropped dark blonde tail was flying everywhere as it was dragged through the sky.
Flying high above the capitol of the planet Sadium, Sadarium, Felder needed to try and take some enjoyment of something. That was the third delivery today that had gone wrong! The delivery instruction had been faulty, AGAIN, and so it had taken over an hour to find the house.
Felder hated his job, a courier was a lowly occupation, he was looked down on by almost every pony he met. It had its perks, he was allowed to ride his bike all day long, and if there was one thing Felder Celt loved to do, it was ride his jet-bike. Earth pony or not, he was determined to be one of the fastest ponies in the sky, he worked on his bike constantly, finding every little way to make it faster.
He had paid special attention to make his bike as well tuned as possible today, because tonight, he was entered in his first official jet bike race. The mere thought sent shivers of excitement down Felder’s spine. His thoughts of his upcoming victory however, where cut short when…
“CELT!” An aggravated voice quite literally screamed down the intercom unit mounted in his helmet; Lulu Star, the bitchiest, most easily annoyed mare on the planet, and coincidentally Felder’s boss.
“Celt here.” He replied as calmly as he possibly could.
“Where the hell are you? That delivery should have been made over an hour ago!” Felder couldn't stand this mare.
“The Delivery address was wrong. I had to ask around for about an hour to find the recipient!”
“I don’t give a griffon’s ass! If you can’t find the recipient, you return to base and chuck it in the undeliverable box! You don’t waste the company’s time, you don’t waste MY time! You got that, Celt?” Felder sighed. Couriers were paid on a commission basis; unless you made the delivery, you didn't get paid for it.
“Yes mam.”
“Good. Now get your ass back here! I've got two more deliveries that need to be made.”
“Yes mam.”
Sighing once more, Felder turned his craft towards home base. Then an idea struck him, if he had to go back to that miserable bitch in the office, he may as well have fun doing it. He pointed his craft down towards the city, and brought the throttle of his bike up to its max. In the steep dive, the bike was quickly reaching its top speed of nearly a thousand kilometres per hour. He levelled off among the tops of the tallest towers, still a dizzying nine hundred feet up, nether the less there was still plenty of obstacles to avoid.
Felder ducked and rolled, revelling in the extreme G-force he was imposing upon his body. Right here and now, he was king of the sky. Ducking past one last tower, he emerged to the sight of Sadarium Courier Corporation’s main base of operations. The big SCC, as he and other couriers had always called it.
Pulling one last blissful loop, Felder pulled around to ‘H’ hangar, the hanger he and his three co-workers worked out of.
“Show off!” came a call from near the entrance. Leo Caprice was in honesty, a bit of an asshole, but a funny one.
“Just ‘cus you can’t fly for shit.” Felder replied as he brought his bike in to land. He noticed Leo was mounted up, ready to ride out, “Leaving me so soon?” Felder Smirked.
“I’d wait, but I fear the bitch would strike me down!” he shouted back, before pulling on his throttle to accelerate up and away, pulling a quick loop, just to prove a point. Felder grit his teeth, there was nothing left now but to Confront Lulu, May Celestia have mercy upon his soul.
As soon as his hooves touched the cheap carpet of her office, Lulu was upon him, “Celt you son of a bitch, get your ass in here already.” Felder could do nothing but comply, no matter how much he hated this mare. “Your career is a Cluster fuck Felder, if you don’t start getting your shit together soon, you’re going to be out of here faster than that bike of yours.” Lulu began before Felder could even begin to say anything. “And I will be more than happy to see you go, believe me, you make my job a pain in the ass, I was just sent another speeding ticket for you, you know that? And Speeding tickets are not fucking allowed unless you’re delivering a high priority package! You fucking know that! You don’t get to fucking speed coming back to fucking base!! You were going twice the fucking speed limit for Celestia’s sake!” The anger etched deep into Lulu’s Yellow face, every second made her look more like she was about to punch Felder across the face.
“Look, I-“ Felder tried to explain, but was quickly cut off.
“I don’t want to fucking hear it Felder! One more ticket, one more cluster fuck of a delivery and you are out of here! You hear me? Straight to the fucking moon!” Felder nodded dumbly.
“Good! Now take these two packages. And get the fuck out” Felder quickly snatched the packages offered to him and bolted. He didn't want to be around that mare one more second if he could help it. She was usually angry, but today had been a new high, if he managed to screw up once more, he was, as Lulu would put it, ‘Fucked’.
Felder hopped straight back onto his bike, glancing quickly over the addresses on the packages, neither was marked urgent, so he would be forced to keep his speed below five hundred KPH, or face the wrath of the bitch.
As he sped off, Felder couldn't help but feel a small amount of dread whenever he thought of his future. The two deliveries were in all honesty, the easiest he had made all day, Thank Celestia.
One hour later he was finished, hanging up his helmet in his locker, he gave himself a quick once over in the mirror. His fairly large build was typical of an earth pony stallion, as was the green coat and practical manner in which he wore his mane and tail. The short crop of his tail and mane were indifferent to styling, and didn’t need washing often, but more importantly, they weren’t a problem when riding. He was just about satisfied, glancing down one last time to his cutie mark. The lightning bolt crossed with a spanner he had earned as a young colt, after motorizing his tricycle and crashing it into a hedge. It was the perfect reflection of his skills in mechanics and talent for speed.
Felder trotted out, feeling content for once, tonight was the night, tonight he launched his racing career. The contentment was not to last however, as Lulu Star stepped out of her office and watched him leave, her cold hard stare digging into him.
"Don't disappoint me Celt." she called to him as he stepped out of the door. Felder hopped on his bike, that earlier sense of dread returning, though not in as much strength. Felder wasn't even sure why she had said that, she didn't even like him? she had claimed that she wanted rid of him, so why would he disappoint her? Shaking his head, he set off into the late evening sky, such worries weren't worth the space in his head.
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The lights blared around him, the sounds echoed around the huge arena. the crowd cheered and roared, each waving the flags of the racers they had known of for all of two days. Tonight was the first race in the Amateur league, Every racer here was new to the professional sport, all hoping that tonight they would earn glory, fame, and big contracts. The track was a series of tight bends, sweeping corkscrews, and long straights all enclosed by a perspex dome just seven meters high. the race's were high speed, incredibly dangerous, and the most watched sport on the planet. it being amateur league, every stallion and mare rode their own bikes, but were limited with some kind of engine talisman to just under 750 kph, though in the enclosed perspex tunnels that the track consisted of, these speeds were unlikely to be reached.
From the muffled voice of the announcer, Felder knew it was time for the riders to get to starting positions. They had all been around the track plenty of times, in order to qualify, they had all had to post the fastest twenty times. Felder had come seventh, though he hadn't given it his all, he had seen no point in risking so much just to get into the race. As the riders from all over the planet rode out onto the track one by one, their names were announced, each to various level of cheering and applause from the crowd. Felder's own name brought a fairly large cheer, he had won most of his supporters simply from being a local boy, though he had added a few by celebrating his qualifying lap in a fairly outlandish fashion.
Some would call standing up on your jet bike, while still flying around a track at high speed, an idiotic idea. However, Felder had thought that standing on his head, was an even BETTER idea. And so he had flown a lap on his head, a lap which was still faster than the slowest of the qualifying times. What could he say, some ponies just loved a reckless pony. He had even seen clips of it being replayed on some of the sports channels, they called him everything from a "reckless idiot" to a "showoff" to "the most skilled rider they had ever seen". Felder was unsure how to take that to be honest.
Felder took his place at the start line, taking note of the number of flags with his cutie mark adorning them, all of them were a bright orange, the same as his bike. Felder took the opportunity to wave to the crowd, the cheering was quick to escalate. As was his smirk.
Soon, amid the roar of the crowd, and the revving of jet engines, Arcano, mechanical, or cloud, the Announcer piped up, "Mares and Stallions of Sadium! Welcome to the one and only Amateur league Champions race! For weeks, our young Riders have pushed themselves around this track as fast as they could, all to get into this very race! Tonight, a new legend will be made! Riders! Get ready, the countdown is about to begin!"
And here it was, the race to make his name!
5...
His heart beat furiously.
4...
His back began to sweat.
3...
adrenaline started to fill his veins.
2...
one more deep breath
1...
this is it.
GO!
His throttle was pulled back to far so fast he nearly threw himself from his seat, around him every other rider did the same. more than a few collided as they fought for a leading position. Three laps were yet to come, but this moment mattered more than most of the race. Felder Ducked and spun through the mass of riders, pumping his accelerator as hard as he could, waiting for that first corner, and her it was, all too soon. he slammed his air breaks, and rode his hover jets along the outside of the corner, slipping neatly past a number of his opponents. After the corner he came up behind roughly six others, those who had managed to get the inside line of the corner.
Gunning his throttle along behind them on the short straight before the next corner, he slid up behind one of them, though as he tried to pull in front, the other rider began to swerve from side to side, not allowing him the chance to get past. Keeping mere centimeters behind him, Felder kept the pressure on, then as they came to the next sharp bend, he feinted to the outside of the corner, then at the last minute, blasted through the inside. The speed of his exit caused him to hit the bend immediately afterwards, fairly awkwardly, this ended up making him complete a barrel roll around the tunnel of the track to dispel his extra momentum and to force him round the corner. Judging from the roar of the crown, the extra G-force had been worth it, for the fame at the least.
Five more riders, and two and a half laps, piece of cake, he thought. Following the long sweeping curve of the next section of track as close to the inside as he could, catching up rapidly on the tail on the next rider, he came alongside to over take, the other rider noticed, and decided to take action against it. Felder took quick action to avoid the rider ramming him, rolling quickly to his left, almost being thrown from his bike. he flew upside down and blasted his hover jets. he was able to turn himself back upright before hitting the ground, but the force of the burst had forced the other rider to slam into the side of the plexi-glass tunnel. his bike was now smoking heavily and he was dropping back. To add insult to injury, and possibly more injury, Felder flew right in front of the damaged bike before blasting his engine to full throttle. The blast of his acceleration blowing the other rider further back.
Four left. He crossed the line, OK, it was going to be slim, but he could still do this. Felder took turns perfectly, he throttled perfectly, he broke perfectly, he rode better than he ever had in his life. This brought him right on the flanks of the next two riders, who were battling it out for third. He stole himself and joined the fray. He positioned his bike right between the two battling riders, now the question was whether these colts were gonna play dirty. At least one of them was. The rider to his right suddenly banked towards him, intent on ramming him back into fifth. Felder pointed his bike downwards, barely pulling up in time to avoid hitting the track, a few sparks even danced behind him. The rider above was unable to correct his coarse in time and hit the side of the tunnel, The crash was extremely painful from a glance. While the other rider managed to get out of the way, he had been forced to slow down monumentally. But Felder couldn't think about that now, second place was within site.
The rider had clearly seen Felder advance, and as he crossed the finish line for the second time, he started to try to pull away. Felder wouldn't allow that. As they accelerated down the long starting straight, they came upon the tight bend, the other rider broke, Felder didn't. He shot past, swinging his bike onto it's side, he pushed the hover jets up to full power, barely sliding around the corner, the extreme g-force crushing at his bones, the edges of his vision turning black, he fought the bike around the corner. The crowd cheered with wild abandon as he pulled off the reckless maneuver.
Now to catch up on that winning place...
He spent half the lap without catching a glimpse, but then, just around a corner, he caught a glimpse. He smirked to himself, You're mine, bitch he thought.
It wasn't long before Felder was almost beside the racer in front of him, he was close enough to see his cutie mark depicting a fast wind. Two corners were left before the finish, Felder was coming alongside the orange pegasus, When all of sudden he veered sharply towards him, Felder was barley able to duck the nose of his bike out of the way.
"Oh no you don't!" he heard the Pegasus shout.
"Oh fuck yes I do!" Felder shouted back. they reached the fairly gentle corner, once again, Felder tried to feint to the side, but this time his efforts were unrewarded, as the pegasus seemed to be able to block him wherever he went. The short straight ahead allowed Felder to gain speed, it was now or never.
The pegasus broke hard at the last minute before the sharp corner, Felder, once again, didn't. he ducked his bike straight underneath the pegasus' and tried to use his hover jets to bring him around, once again the G-force was bone crushing, and the edges of his vision began to blacken. But then, there was a loud bang, and the wind was knocked clear out of Felder's lungs. the corner had been too tight damn it!
Warnings flashed across the dash, he had lost all but two of his hover jets, and his bike was smoking badly. but the finish was right there, he was still going! he pulled his throttle as far open as he possibly could, determined to power his way over, despite his bike slowly falling to the track below. He could hear the Orange pegasus' bike right behind him. One more second damn it! And there! just as he began to literally feel the pegasus breath down his neck, he was over the line.
He had done it! He had won! Felder was the champion! and then the two remaining hover jets finally gave up their struggle. the bike hit the track, hard, and began to screech down the track and over five hundred kilometers per hour. it was thankfully a long straight. Felder had even managed to get his breath back from the hard landing by the time he stopped. With shaking legs, he climbed off of his now ruined bike, then turned to the crowd, and raised his hooves in triumph.
The crowd was going insane, Felder's heart was positively vibrating from the adrenaline pumping through it, and the Orange pegasus was hovering above him, sneering.
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The winning ceremony, the podium, the parties, the after party. they all blurred past in the euphoria of the moment. the greatest moment Felder had ever experienced, the greatest day of his life. The best. Night. Ever!
Felder was alone now, he had left the parties, the mares, the booze. For now he just wanted to be alone. He stood alone atop the roof of an apartment building, he wasn't sure where exactly, it was the one where he'd been dragged to for some after party or other, there had been so many tonight. He took a deep breath, looked out and the skyline of the city, it's lights twinkling in the dark, then took a sip of the champagne bottle he'd taken form the party. A simple way, to enjoy the euphoria washing over him.
"You're a hard stallion to find." a voice, tinged with an accent not from this planet, cut through the night air. Felder Turned, The stallion was pure white, and his mane shined a glaring blonde, despite his obvious age. The cutie mark adorning his flank showed a telescope crossed over a calculator, Felder thought maybe he was good at working out distances or something.
"Who are you?" Felder just blurted out the first thing to cross his mine, if he had had less to drink he might of asked why anyone would be looking for him, or perhaps how they found him.
"My name is Maximilian Blueblood. And you are Felder Celt, the fastest young stallion on Sadium." Ok, now he was getting a little bit creeped out,
"So?"
"So, I am looking for someone with those exact skills."
"For what?" Felder was one for obvious questions.
"Well you see, I am looking for someone to share in an adventure."