What were the odds?
Seriously, what were the odds of Equestria's scientists searching for a faster, more efficient form of transportation and stumbling upon what was possibly the greatest advancement in the country's history? By which I mean, for those of you who haven't read the story before this, the automobile.
Mere weeks after its discovery, projects sprang up all over the land, constructing roads, highways, and every vehicle-traversable path in between. New buildings sprang up manufacturing these amazing machines, and the economy reached a never-seen-before high.
But, as with all great things, there existed beings who thought up of ways to improve upon it, and within a few months, the Equestrian automotive aftermarket was born, with modifications ranging from simple ECU reprogrammings to aspiration, drivetrain, and N2O conversions.
And this, of course, spawned competition on the streets, where the only rule was 'run what ya brung', where every victory counted towards business sponsorships and bragging rights.
This story follows the journey of two ponies who enter this world, two ponies with only one real goal in life: drive.
*** *** ***
Rumble was very excited. First, just a month after he earned his full driver's license, Thunderlane brought him a brand spanking new, gleaming red Scion FR-S (midlevel trim, which included a small spoiler on the trunklid), the car he had always wanted since he read about it in his favorite auto magazine. Then, after reading about its Subaru twin in the magazine's yearly Lightning Lap, he spent some of his hard-earned money on a full set of new brake pads better suited to track work. And today, he would break them in on the unpopulated back roads of a nearby town.
The little 2-liter flat four under the hood started with a low snarl, an appropriate kind of 'lemme at em!' attitude; just one reason he loved the car so much. Rumble cruised along the neighborhood streets, changing gears through the solid-feeling clutch and shifter. It didn't take long for him to arrive at his destination.
The red Scion cruised to a stop.
The engine gave off a high rev.
3...
2...
1...
Rumble shifted into first, dumped the clutch, and matted the gas. The coupe scrambled forward as its skinny Prius tires squealed in protest, before hooking up with help from the limited-slip. The little FA quickly climbed to its redline, then dropped off as the light gray pegasus shifted up into second.
Okay, first corner. Rumble went on the brakes, shifted down, and feinted, getting the car to smoothly transition into a gentle slide, just clipping the apex, and got back on the gas, helping to straighten out the car. Second corner was the same routine: brake, downshift, coax the car into a slide, kiss the apex, then straighten out.
As he came out of the third corner, however, a light-colored car appeared in his rearview.
"Oh geez, please don't be an undercover police car!" Rumble thought to himself.
Much to his relief, it wasn't a cop in an unmarked Crown Vic; rather, it was a little silver Subaru BRZ. The gray pegasus eased off the throttle as the little silver Subie came up close behind him, before flashing its lights.
"Oh you wanna go? Let's go!" Rumble said. Challenge accepted.
The gray pegasus floored the gas pedal, the howl of the flat four echoing through the empty streets, the Subaru following suit; it felt a bit like a scene out of Initial D. Having started accelerating earlier, Rumble's ride began to slowly pull away. But he couldn't keep his eyes on the rearview for too long, as the next corner was coming up fast.
Hard on the brakes, downshift, slide through the corner; to his surprise, the BRZ pulled the same moves. Clearly, this driver was also familiar with his wheels. But the plucky pegasus wouldn't go down without a fight!
He opened up the throttle again on the next straight, and began to lengthen the gap, only for his opponent to quickly close it on the next turn. On the straights, Rumble would lengthen the gap because he could accelerate sooner, courtesy of being in front. But the Subaru would always brake later in the turns, and close the gap he had created, much to his frustration.
Well, that was about to change, buddy boy! Rumble went into the next corner with more speed than before. Too much speed. He cranked the wheel in the opposite direction and shifted into neutral as the tires went beyond their gripping capabilities, and he was soon rolling backwards.
The Subaru came to a rapid halt (rapid for something that had Prius tires) next to him. The window rolled down to reveal a rather plain brown colored colt with a black mane, roughly his age, but with tufted ears and yellow, dragon-like eyes. A bat pony. Rumble managed to not look surprised.
"You alright?" The bat pony asked in a rather deep pitch.
"Yes." Rumble replied.
"That was some good drivin' back there." The bat pony complimented.
"Thank you." Rumble said, blushing slightly.
"Do you happen to be interested in some real competition?"
"Well it would be nice to race with somepony on a similar performance level...so yes. Why?"
The brown colt scribbled something down on a piece of paper before tossing the paper to Rumble.
"Meet me there tomorrow at eleven AM for some real racing. I'm sure you'll like what you find."
With that, the little silver Subaru disappeared down the road and around a corner. Rumble looked curiously at the paper, then back at the direction the silver sports car had gone. Little did he know that this would be the start of a new chapter in his life.
The newest chapter of Rumble's life began at a sprawling area called Driving Park. It contained, among other things, a massive oval for testing top speeds and acceleration times, and a comparatively puny oval with a notch in the back straight so it wasn't just a miniature super speedway, and a small, slightly course called Motorland that was a fun track in a kei car(1) like a Suzuki Cappucino, a high performance sports car like a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and everything in between.
The plucky pegasi's specific destination was the High Speed Ring, a relatively short track that was ideal for beginners who were getting used to driving at high speeds. Rumble was no stranger to high speed driving, but he had never actually driven on a track before, so it couldn't hurt to get a few practice laps in before he actually started competing.
Sure enough, he found Dom waiting by his little silver Subaru by the starting line.
"Rumble, glad you showed up!" The brown bat pony exclaimed.
"Well, I have been on the lookout for someone to race with." Rumble said brightly. "You got any mods on your car?"
"New brake pads, front camber bolts, 1.7 degrees of negative camber on the front wheels, and a short throw shifter." Dom replied with a hint of pride. "Right now I'm saving up to by a cold air intake and cat-back exhaust."
So in short, some pretty basic parts. But then again, it was a (relatively) simple car.
"So what are we going to do?" Rumble asked.
"I'm going to take you on a hooffull of practice laps, let you run a few on you're own, and if you're still interested, enter you into a race against other pocket rockets." Dom said.
"Mixed?" Rumble asked cautiously.
"It's a 200 horsepower max open." Dom replied.
Whew. While the FR-S was a quick car, it wouldn't stand a chance against the likes of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution or Subaru WRX/STI. But he was unsure if he would be able to beat a Golf GTI or Jetta GLI(2); while they were both heavier, the turbocharged engine in both produced roughly 50 more pound-feet of torque than his car's naturally aspirated(3) flat four.
The plucky gray pegasus slipped into his little red Scion, started the motor, and at the mark of his new acquaintance (friend?), set off on the main straight. High Speed Ring was a simple course; with only five corners, drivers could easily acquaint themselves with high speeds, like the name implied.
The first corner was a long, left handed banked curve that appeared to be part of a high speed bowl; the little red sports car was touching 100 mph through the banked curve and 110 by the time he had to brake for the second turn.
Into the second turn, which was also banked, he followed Dom's line to the inside, then smoothly to the outside. The third and fourth turns, however, were flat, which would make it harder to turn the car. But while Rumble kept the normally looser tail of his Scion in check, Dom coaxed his Subaru into a gentle slide, before changing direction in the middle of the S that was the third and fourth corners, and keeping the back out for the rest of the turn.
"Clearly, he's had quite a bit of practice here." Rumble's mind spoke up. "Maybe he can show you how to do that."
"Focus now, questions later." He responded silently as the two cars passed through a tunnel bathed in light blue light by overhead fluorescent bulbs, before easily going through the following right handed sweeper. The final turn was a left handed, banked one-eighty that both coupes zipped through with ease.
But now, having picked up speed by the main straight, Rumble could go through the first corner much faster, this time topping 110 miles per hour by the time he had to brake hard for the second turn. Now being able to better predict the silver Subaru's line, and managed to nearly replicate it exactly. Feeling brave, he mimicked Dom's drift through the S-turn, with great success.
Passing through the illuminated tunnel, he was confused when the silver car in front of him went far inside and into the narrower path that lied there. When they finally rounded the curve, he realized that it was, in fact, the pits.
"So Rumble." Dom said as he stepped out of his car. "You want to take a few more laps, or you think you're ready to race?"
It only took the gray pegasus a second to make a decision.
"I'm race ready."
* * *
Rumble's first race was against other novices who barely had any track experience. The six car field consisted of him, a Honda Civic Si, a Dodge Neon R/T, a Ford SVT Focus, a Fiat 500 Abarth, and a Mazda MX-5 Miata. They all had their strong points: the Civic's VTEC gave it high end punch, the Focus's tight chassis gave it sharp cornering, the Neon's acceleration and handling were aided by its low weight (as were the Mazda's), and the Fiat was the only one with forced induction, giving it good pull throughout the rev range.
They were lined up on the grid in the following order: Dodge, Fiat, Mazda, Honda, Ford, Scion (Rumble). Dom spoke up on Rumble's headset:
"Okay Rumble, this a simple two lap race. The only real rule is no body contact; that'll get you disqualified. That's all you need to know; you're on your own from here."
Rumble began revving the little FA under the hood, in tandem with the other cars, as he waited the start.
3...
2...
1...
"Green, go go go!"
The gray pegasus shifted into first, engaged the clutch, and started off with his car's skinny Prius tires squealing. The FR-S's acceleration wasn't neck-snapping, but it was one of the fastest four cylinder cars of the modern era.
As they headed down the main straight, his lighter, more powerful Scion quickly overtook the Focus on the banking. He managed to close the gap between him and the other cars by braking late, thanks to his car's better brake pads.
Bravely, the Focus attempted to pass him on the outside, taking advantage of its tight chassis. Ultimately, however, Rumble's short practice paid off, as he dove deeper to the inside and not only fended off the Ford, but also managed to overtake the little Fiat.
But the 500's turbo then kicked in, and it closed the gap between it and the Scion. But when it had to brake for the S-turn, Rumble waited and braked later, a daring move, since braking capabilities are ultimately limited by the grip of the tires. Which, being from a Prius, were designed for low rolling resistance, rather than brain-bending levels of grip.
Rumble pushed the pedal all the way to the floor, turned, and managed to pull up next to the Neon, then overtook it in the second part of the turn. That just left the Miata and the Civic. On the final two turns, he closed the gap, then drafted the Mazda and managed to slingshot(4) ahead on the main straight.
Rumble topped 110 miles per hour through the banked curve before braking hard for turn two, the Scion's suspension keeping the car neutral. The Civic pulled smoothly from the turn onto the mini straight, but was unable to shake the little red coupe in its mirrors. He inched closer in the first half of the S-turn, and managed to pull alongside on the corner's exit. The gray pegasus stayed on the inside through the tunnel and through the final turn, and managed to inch ahead on the main straight and capture the checkered flag.
"How did I do?" Rumble asked his new acquaintence (friend?) after he rolled into the pits.
"That was awesome!" The brown bat pony exclaimed. "I've never seen someone with as little practice as that drive that fast!"
"Well that race has got me hooked, I want to do it again!" Rumble said.
"I'll check the schedules." Dom replied. "You keep that up, you might make a name for yourself."
"Actually, I had an idea." The gray pegasus said with sudden weariness. "I know this is kinda soon, but..." He paused. "... would you race with me? Like a team?"
"I don't see why not." Dom said before tossing him a slip of paper. "When you get a free spot in your schedule, give me a call and I'll be here faster than a Veyron(5)."
Rumble giggled at this, before the two parted ways, and left.
* * *
A few days later, an article showed up at the track:
GRAN TURISMO NEWS
A New Challenger?
Three days ago, the novice faction in the world of Gran Turismo racing was turned upside down when a red Scion FR-S turned up and monstered the day's first exhibition race, despite having only two laps of practice. The owner and driver of the car lacked any experience on the track, yet managed to pull out a victory despite rough competition in the 200hp NA Open. Is this just a one time or weekend only occurrence for the driver? Other racers say that we may be looking at a new challenger.
