MLP-Kiss Me Slowly

by SilverFlare11

Rating: everyone
Tags: Random, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Romance, Comedy
Length: 16808

The same weekend as the first story, we find Silver Flare once again at the race days, though this time he finds something a bit more than just a race...

The very next day, Silver awakens and returns to Import Knights, though this time with his entire band of friends. The regular racing ensues, and shortly thereafter Silver and his band perform a few songs for the crowd of ponies. During the intermission, Silver's friend Swift and his marefriend Applejack stop by, and Silver admits to Swift something that he could never have admitted before… his love for somepony that he thought he could never have because she was royalty… it then comes down to a race against time to get the pony that he loves alone.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-11 07:07:07 UTC

Chapter 1-The Band

I awoke slowly at my house, hearing a bit of a commotion downstairs. I rubbed my eyes and slowly climbed out of bed, slipping on my hoodie and heading down the stairs to find that a katana and a throwing knife were embedded in the wall next to me. I sighed.

“Blades, are you kidding me?” I asked. My friend and housemate Takashi “Blades” poked his head into the room, as did my other two housemates, Gold Star and Shadow Soldier.

“Sorry, Silver,” he replied, looking at the two bladed weapons in the wall.

If you don’t remember me, my name is Silver Flare. I’m a silver stallion with a golden mane and tail, and my cutie mark was a flaming checkered flag with a bit of smoke coming off of it.

Anyway, Takashi, or “Blades” as we called him, was one of my best friends, a maroon stallion with a silver mane and a cyan tail; he had inherited both of his parent’s mane and tail colors, his father’s silver and his mother’s cyan. His cutie mark was two crossed Katana swords, as his specialty was creating and using these bladed weapons.

“Why can’t you use the garage or something?” I asked. “At least there the holes are easier to fix, and I don’t really care about them as much.”

“This is exactly what I said would happen,” Gold said, snorting and turning around. “Now he’s gonna have to fix more holes in the walls, Tak.” Gold Star was another one of my best friends, a golden Pegasus with a maroon tail and mane, and his cutie mark was a constellation of stars colored black and silver.

“Ah, I’m used to it,” I replied, pulling both items out of the wall and handing them back to Takashi. He stuck the katana in his scabbard on his left side and the knife in its sheath on his right foreleg before walking into the kitchen with me.

“I really am sorry,” he said. “I can fix the damage if you want me to.”

“Well, you can help keep the damage to a minimum,” I said, sighing a little. “I’m going to be honest here; I love ya, bro, but you gotta lighten up on the swords. One of these days it’s gonna get out of hoof.”

“I understand,” he said.

“Look, don’t take it personally,” I said, patting him on the back. “I get that it’s been a part of your family since your great-great-great-grandfather or whatever started making swords. Just try not to put so many holes in the walls, alright?”

“Alright.” He then walked out of the kitchen as Gold and Shadow walked in.

“So how’d you race last night?” Shadow asked me, using his magic to move some things around to make a comfortable place to sit down. Shadow Soldier was the last of my housemates and another one of my closest friends, a black unicorn with a gray mane and tail. His cutie mark, if I remember correctly, was the symbol for Captain within a certain branch of the military.

“Are you kidding?” Gold asked, laughing a little. “He probably dominated the competition like always.”

“Gold’s got it,” I said, smirking as I sat down next to Shad. “I also won a new car last night.”

“No way!” Gold said. “You gotta show me!” I smirked. Gold had always admired my racing skills and for some reason wanted to race as well, even though I’d seen him drive (he honestly would make a good getaway driver for a cop chase, but he wouldn’t make a very good racer until he got on the track and really practiced). I led him out to the garage and showed him my new S15.

“Pretty sweet, ain’t she?” I said, smiling.

“Man, once you get some sweet rims and stuff, this car will be a beast!” Gold said, walking around it in a circle, stretching out his wings at the same time. Shadow stood in the doorway, looking at the car from a distance.

“Well, let’s just hope that the Cold Air Intake and Turbo Systems don’t give us as much trouble in this car as they did in your 240SX,” Shadow commented. “It doesn’t look like it will though.” I smirked a little bit.

“You got that one right,” I said. “As much as I love my 240SX, I hated all that trouble it gave us with the turbo and C.A.I. That was just plain ridiculous.”

“What kind of visual parts were you gonna put on this one?” Gold asked.

“Ah, probably the wide body kit, a Gentera spoiler and some rims. Then a roll cage and some different exhaust tips, and maybe some different window tinting; maybe a new paintjob, too. And the usual vinyls and sponsorships that I have on my S13.” I walked back into the house with Shadow and Gold to find that Takashi was already fixing the walls.

“Tak, what are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m fixing the wall, what does it look like?” he replied. I smirked.

“Saving me a little work, huh?” I said. “Well, thanks buddy.” I walked into the kitchen right as there was a knock at the front door. “Who’s got the door?” I yelled out.

“I got it!” Shadow replied, heading towards the front. I heard the door open and a voice speak from outside. “Hey, Silv! Someone’s at the door for ya!” I walked to the front door and saw a pale yellow pony at the door wearing a uniform that had the logo for the Import Knights on it. I told Shadow to go and finish up breakfast and spoke to the pony at the door.

“Whatcha need?” I asked.

“Well, after hearing about your band yesterday,” the official started, “W really wanted you guys to do a show for us. He sent me here today to see if you guys were up for it; he knew that you were going to show up anyway, but he wanted the whole band to come along.” I thought for a moment.

“Well, first I have a question for you,” I said. “Do you have any means of transportation to get at least one of us and our gear there?”

“I’ve got the van,” the official replied, gesturing with his head behind him. I looked past him and saw the black van with the racing group’s logo on the side, and I smirked. I remembered the first time I’d been in that van.

“Alright, now I just have to ask the rest,” I said. “Come on inside, make yourself comfortable.”

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to impose,” the official said.

“It’s no problem,” I replied, “come on in. Excuse the clutter, there’s four ponies living in this house.” The official shyly took a step inside the house, and finally settled in a bit as he sat down in the front foyer. I asked if he wanted anything, to which he said no. I then went into the kitchen and sat down at the table, where the other three already sat with their breakfast in front of them. I fixed myself a plate and looked at them.

“So what was that all about?” Shadow asked, biting into his food.

“Ah, I told W about the band last night,” I said. “I guess now that he knows, he wants us to do our first live show at the race day today.”

“Are you kidding?” Gold asked, his jaw dropping slightly.

“Nope, I’m not,” I replied. “So the official asked me if we wanted to do that show today.” The others exchanged looks for a few moments before they looked back at me.

“Ah, what the hay,” Gold said. “I’ll go for it. I’ve got nothing to lose.”

“Sure, why not?” Shadow stated. “Even I need some excitement in my life.”

“I’ve really got nothing else to do today, plus I’ll get some more practice on my guitar,” Blades said. “I’m with these two; let’s go do this show.” I smiled.

“Well, looks like it’s time for us to go do our first live show, boys,” I said. “Let’s grab our gear and get on the road!” The others cheered, and we all went into the garage to grab our instruments and everything we needed. We headed back out into the foyer, where the official stood and smiled.

“So you’re gonna do it?” he asked.

“If we weren’t, would be carrying all of this?” I asked him in reply. He jumped in the air, whooping in joy.

“YEAH! I’ve never been to a live music show, so I’m super excited!” he said. “C’mon, I’ll help you guys get your gear in the van.” I smirked as we walked outside and loaded up everything for the show. We then decided on who would ride with the official to make sure nothing happened to our gear.

“I’m gonna drive down there in my own car,” I said. “After all, it would be weird if I showed up in the van and not my sweet ride.”

“Well, then who’s gonna go with him?” Shadow asked. “One of us needs to watch the gear.”

“I’ll do it,” Gold volunteered. “I can keep an eye on everything, make sure nothing gets broken.”

“I’m going to be honest here,” I said, “I would think that the best choice would be Shadow because he can use his magic to keep everything upright, but if Gold really think he can do a good job, I say that’s fine too.”

“Hey, why don’t we both go in the van?” Shadow suggested. “That way, if something starts falling over that Gold can’t get, I can get it before it gets broken.”

“Hey, good suggestion!” I said. “I like that idea. So you two will ride in the van, and Tak will come with me.” The others nodded in agreement. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road!” Gold smirked crazily and flew around the van a few times before landing again; Blades took his knife and spun it around a few times before putting it back in its sheath; and Shadow, the least emotional of us all, smiled. “C’mon Blades, let’s go grab my ride. You guys get a head start; you’re gonna need it!” I galloped over to the garage and opened it up, revealing my navy blue beauty. I practically jumped into the driver’s seat as Blades opened up the passenger door and got into the seat next to me. I started up the engine and revved it up before slamming on the gas and speeding out onto the road and drifting around the van, speeding towards the location where Import Knights sets up. Blades looked a little tense, so I decided to try and make conversation to put him at ease. “Thanks for fixing the hole in the wall, Tak.”

“No problem,” he replied. “After all, you’ve done a lot for me.”

“Haha, like what my friend?” I asked him.

“Well, you let me live with you out here,” he said. “You put up with my swords and all the damage I’ve caused to the house. And you also defended me in school that one time…” I thought back on that time that seemed so long ago.

“Well, that one there wasn’t much I could do about what happened,” I said. “But in the end everything worked out.”

“Yeah, and you didn’t even get in trouble for it either,” Blades replied, smiling a little. “I remember all the things we got away with as colts.” I smiled a little as well.

“You mean like that time we snuck into the school after hours?” I asked him.

“Oh-ho, definitely that time,” he replied, smiling. “Celestia, those were the good ol’ days, way back when. When we were carefree and wild.”

“Pff, we still are,” I replied, laughing. Takashi laughed as well.

“Haha, yeah we are,” he said. “Only problem is that we’re less carefree, but we’re still as wild as ever.” The tents of the Import Knights race weekend setup began to come into view over the horizon. “But even if we aren’t colts anymore, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve grown up.”

“Well, maybe for Gold,” I said, “but the rest of us… ah, what the hay, we may be older, but we’re just like we were when we were colts!” Takashi laughed as I stopped outside the gates of the race day, where an attendant walked up to my car. I rolled down the window.

“Good morning, Mr. Flare!” the attendant said. “Coming to give us a little show today, eh?”

“You got it!” I replied. The attendant walked back to his office and opened up the gate for me, and I drove in slowly, waiting to see the crowd. Eventually it came into view, and everypony started screaming my name and pointed to my car as I carefully made my way through the sea of stallions and mares. Blades looked around, taking in the crowd.

“Is this always how it is?” he asked.

“Anytime I’m here, yeah,” I replied, chuckling a little. “Everypony who comes here knows about me, and most of them always want to see me race. Of course, some days I don’t race and just fill in for W when he’s away, but for the most part, this is what I do.” I came to an open spot in the crowd. “Here we go!” I revved up my engine to the point where flames shot out of my exhaust tips and then did a burnout, sending up a smokescreen as I then began spinning the car around. Takashi smiled like an idiot as I rolled down my window and stuck my head out.

“What’s goin’ on fans?!” I yelled out. Everyone screamed in excitement as they saw me. “Well, the day’s gonna get a TON more exciting now, everypony! If you see this blue beauty on the track, you know who’s driving it!”

“SIL-VER! SIL-VER! SIL-VER!” the crowd chanted. I smirked like crazy as I brought my car to a halt and revved up the engine again, causing more flames to exit the exhaust pipe before I opened up my door as the van showed up right behind my car. Takashi stepped out of the passenger side of my car and went over to the van to help Gold and Shadow get the equipment out of the van, and I trotted up to the stage.

“Haha, and our champion has returned for another day of racing!” W said.  “And I believe he brought some friends with him today, if I’m not mistaken! Am I right, mate?”

“You’ve got it right,” I said into the microphone. “I brought along the band today, because somebody wanted us to do a show, hint hint.” I hoofed W on the back, and everypony laughed. “Anyway, once they’ve got the gear unloaded, I’ll introduce them all to everypony! Which reminds me, I need to get my lazy flank over there and help them. I’ll be back in a flash, W!” I trotted off the stage to the van and grabbed a cymbal for the drum set and our microphone, walking behind the stage where Gold, Tak and Shadow were.

“Celestia, there’s a lot of ponies here,” Gold remarked, tuning his bass. “Are there always this many here?”

“Yeah,” I replied, setting the stuff down. “The crowd here is almost always this big, especially when I’m here.”

“Well, let’s just hope that our first show goes well,” Shadow said, using his magic to move the parts of his drum set around, putting everything together.

“It ought to,” I said. “We’ve had enough practice breaking windows in garages; now all we gotta do is not break any car windows.” Gold laughed and Shadow smirked a little.

“You’ve got that one right,” Gold said.

“Alright, that’s everything,” Takashi said, coming over with the keyboard and the last piece to the drum set.

“Sweet, thanks Tak,” I said. “Now come on, I told W I would introduce you three to the crowd!”

“Alright!” Gold exclaimed. “I’m ready for it!” I smiled.

“I love the enthusiasm, Gold,” I said. “I’ve gotta say, I’ve never seen you this excited before!” Gold jumped up and flew around for a moment before landing again, and I smiled. Gold was his usual happy-go-lucky self, just a little more so.

“Well, let’s go,” Shadow said. I walked back around to the stage and trotted onto it.

“Where’ve ya been, mate?” W asked. “We were beginning to think we lost ya!”

“Nah, I’ve just been backstage,” I told him, chuckling a little bit. “Now, is everypony out there ready to meet the band?!!!”

“YES!!!!” the crowd yelled out.

“Alright, here we go! Get on up here, boys!” Gold flew up and over the large wall that separated the main stage from backstage and flew at high speed over the crowd before coming back and landing next to me. I then felt a presence on my right; I looked over and saw a small portal forming just as Shadow came out of it, looking out to the crowd. And finally, Takashi came barreling onto the stage, then jumped and bounced off of the wall behind us, drawing his katana and landing, embedding his sword into the wooden floor of the stage. He then pulled it out, spun it around a few times and sheathed it.

The crowd went absolutely wild at the appearance of all of the members of our band and the way they entered. W looked stunned, speechless almost. But he soon found his voice and spoke.

“It sure looks like your boys here have taken to your tradition of making an epic entrance, my friend!” W said, applauding slightly himself. “Anypony here can agree with that!” The crowd laughed a little. “Now, are you going to introduce them to us or do they have to do that themselves?”

“Alright, alright, I’ll take the hint,” I said, causing the crowd to laugh a little more. “So, these are the guys in the band, though that’s already obvious. Gold, come on over here!” Gold stepped forward and smiled like an idiot.

“So, Gold!” W said. “What do you do for the band here?”

“I’m the bass player and the backup vocalist,” Gold replied. The crowd cheered.

“Haha, awesome my friend!” W said. “And how old are ya, mate?”

“Sixteen,” Gold replied.

“Ah, the young one of the group, eh?” W asked.

“Nah, you’ll find out later,” Gold said, smirking slyly. W raised his eyebrow for a moment but disregarded the comment.

“Alright, who’s next?” I asked Tak and Shad. Shadow stepped forward. “This is Shadow! He’s a bit silent, but he’s kind all in all.”

“Ah, Shadow!” W said. “What do you do for the band?”

“I’m the drummer,” Shadow replied. The crowd cheered again.

“Haha, sounds like my pal from back in the day,” W said. “And how old are ya?”

“Seventeen,” he replied. “Some people say that I look older than that though.”

“Well, I hate to say it,” W said, “but you do a little, mate. You look like you’re maybe eighteen or nineteen.”

“It’s because of my past,” Shadow told him. “It’s not a good one, and I’m not gonna tell you about it. Sorry.”

“It’s alright, we understand,” W replied. “But hey, you’ve turned out great! After all, you’re friends with Silver!” Shadow smiled a little.

“That’s true,” he said. “Anyway, I’m hogging the stage a little here. Tak, you’re the only one left.” Shadow stepped back as Blades stepped forward.

“Ah, Takashi “Blades”, I assume?” W said. “We’ve heard a bit about you, mate! Seems you’re quite infamous for making holes in things…” He looked to where Takashi had put his sword through the stage, and the crowd laughed. “Don’t worry about it; this stage has been through worse. Anyway, what do you do for the band?”

“You’re looking at the guitarist right here,” Takashi said. The crowd cheered once more, but more so than for Shadow or Gold. I guess they really liked Tak.

“Hoho, awesome!” W said. “And I see that you use some bladed weapons… care to demonstrate your skill?”

“It would be my pleasure, but I’ll need a volunteer,” Takashi said.

“What they hay, I’ll do it!” W said. “What do ya need, mate?”

“Just stand over there by the wall,” Takashi said. W did as he was told, and Takashi drew his knife. “Don’t worry; I have precise aiming. I’m going to hit two inches from your head.” W smiled nervously as Takashi took the knife in his hoof and then threw it. The blade embedded itself in the wall, just barely missing W’s head. W’s eyes flashed toward it for a moment before he exhaled and wiped his hoof across his head.

“Did ya have to go and scare me like that?” he said. “Measure how far away this is from my head, mate.” Takashi walked to W as an official gave him a measuring stick. He placed it next to W’s head and looked at the knife.

It had hit precisely two inches from his head. The crowd went absolutely wild, and Takashi pulled the knife out of the wall.

“Well, that’s about all the excitement I needed right there,” W remarked, rousing a bit of laughter from the crowd. “And how old are ya, my friend?

“I’m sixteen,” Blades replied.

“Ah, now I see what Gold was talking about,” W said, nodding his head. He then turned to the crowd. “Okay, mares and gentlecolts, we’re about to start up the first race of the day here in about fifteen minutes, and we’ve got some newcomers here today with us! Silver, I’d like you to say hello to your new fellow racers!” I smirked a little as I took the microphone from W.

Chapter 2-The Newcomers, Reminiscing and Races

“Okay, there’s at least forty ponies racing here today counting myself, so if you’re one of the new ones, could you please step forward?” I saw three ponies step forward, away from three cars; I assumed they belonged to them. The cars that they had stepped away from definitely looked like street racing cars; one was a white and green 2000 Acura Integra Type R, another a black 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer and the last was a maroon 1995 Mazda RX-7 FD. All were completely customized with spoilers, hoods, vinyls and other visual parts. “Alright, welcome to Import Knights! You three will have a great time here. I’m Silver Flare, the current so-called “King” of the organization. Why don’t you three come on up here and introduce yourselves to the fans?” Only one of them moved, and I noticed that it was a mare; by my guess, she was about nineteen years of age. Her mane was emerald green, as was her tail, and her body was completely white. Her cutie mark was easy to see; it was four emeralds forming a diamond shape. She was a Pegasus; it seemed a bit odd, a Pegasus that raced in a car rather than by flight; then again, Gold always wanted to race with my ride, so I guess it wasn’t as odd as I thought. She had a huge smile plastered across her muzzle as she stepped onto the stage. W looked at her oddly before she spoke.

“My name’s Emerald,” she said. Her name seemed fitting. “I’m a huge fan of you, Mr. Flare.” I was flattered.

“Please, call me Silver,” I said. “So, how did you end up here at Import Knights?”

“Well, when I lived back in Manehattan, I was just a street racer. After I got arrested, I was released after my family paid my bail. It was then that I decided it was time to start making a name for myself with the fans instead of the police. So I looked for an organization to race in, just to start off. I came across this and found out you were the King of it; I immediately joined. You were who inspired me to start racing in the first place, Silver. And I thank you for that.” I smiled a bit.

“Heh, I’m very flattered,” I said. “Thank you, Emerald. Now, tell us which car here is yours.” I could already guess which one it was.

“It’s the Acura Integra over there,” she said, pointing with her hoof out to the three cars I had seen earlier. The crowd ooh’d and aah’d at her car, which I must admit was expertly customized. I don’t think that I myself could have done much better. It had no wide body kit; instead, it had a custom front bumper, rear bumper and side skirts. The spoiler was not of an aftermarket Gentera style like I was used to seeing; she must have had connections back in Manehattan. The rims were Enkei RT-6 inset rims, and the vinyls were what made the car green; the base color was white, from the looks of it. The decals I couldn’t make out from the stage, but I imagined that they sponsored what was under the hood of that Integra. I whistled.

“You have a beautiful car, if I must say so myself,” I said. “I’ll bet that its performance is equally impressive!”

“Oh, it is!” Emerald said, smirking slightly. “I customized the engine myself.” I smiled.

“It sounds like you took after me a little with your ride,” I said. “I built my engine custom as well.”

“Yeah…,” Emerald said, blushing a little.

“Haha, don’t worry about it,” I said. “I can’t wait to see how you handle that Acura on the track!” Emerald smiled. “Now, why don’t you two there who haven’t come up here yet get on up here? I don’t bite!” One of the other ponies took a step forward for a moment before stepping back next to the RX-7. “Aw, come on, don’t be shy!” Finally the two eased up and walked up to the stage. One of them was an earth pony, the other another Pegasus. The Pegasus definitely looked like he had a record with the cops; he had three piercings in his right ear, one on his lower lip and a few tattoos scattered around his sky blue body. His black mane was cut a bit on one side, giving him a delinquent manecut; his tail looked the same. His cutie mark was a smoking tire, and the rim design within the tire resembled that of a Koing Rewind style. He looked to be about 19 or 20 years old.

The earth pony looked a bit younger than me, about 16. Unlike the Pegasus, he had no piercings or tattoos. He was completely untouched. He did have a pair of sunglasses on his head, though. They resembled mine a bit, though the rims were black instead of silver. His body was a dark shade of cyan, and his mane and tail were lavender; they had obviously been altered from the original color. His cutie mark was hard to see; from what I could make out, it looked to be a logo of some sort. Both ponies stepped onto the stage, the Pegasus first. He stood next to me, and Emerald backed off, a bit of a frightened look on her face. I looked at my friends, and they too seemed uneasy. Gold has his wings stretched out, Shadow’s horn glowed a bit with magic energy, and Blades had his hoof near the hilt of his knife. I will admit that I was even a bit uneasy myself.

“So, what’s your name there?” I asked the Pegasus, doing my best to hide the fear in my voice.

“It’s Vector,” he said. “Vector Kayten.” Contrary to his appearance, his voice sounded caring and warmhearted at the same time. I felt my muscles instantly relax.

“Well, Vector, how did you end up here?” I asked him.

“I’ve been a racer since I was about fourteen,” he said. “I’ve got a pretty big record with the police, and I wanted a fresh start, so I came here.”

“Cool, cool. So which one of the rides out there is yours?”

“If you look out there next to Emerald’s Integra, my car is on the immediate left of it.” I looked out and saw the Lancer. It looked rather stock, with only one or two vinyls and the only real difference on visual parts were a spoiler on the back and the rims had been changed from the stock rims to a set of Enkei Victory rims that had been spray painted black. Though it was mostly stock, the car did look very cool in that way.

“Ah, so it’s the Lancer?” I asked. “It sure does look fairly stock, but I’ll bet that it ain’t! How long have you had it?”

“Pretty much my whole life,” he said. “It was my parent’s car until they got a new one and gave me this one, so I turned it into my personal racing vehicle.”

“Sweet. Now you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but how many times have you been in custody of the police?” Vector sighed as though he regretted what he was about to tell us.

“…Thirty-five,” he said. The crowd gasped. I felt my eyes widen. “My car has been impounded at least two hundred times as well.” I whistled. “Canterlot’s Royal Guards have also gotten me six times….” The crowd went completely silent. “But I’m trying to change all of that. That’s why I came here.”

“Well, I’m sure that you’ll do well here, Vector,” I said. “Just make sure not to get into any more trouble; we don’t want ya unable to participate in the races here. Come on crowd, give him a hoof!” The crowd applauded nervously, and Vector motioned for the microphone. I handed it to him and he spoke.

“Look, I know what everypony here is thinking,” he said, “and you’re right. I probably don’t belong here. I mean, look at me. I’ve wasted my life behind bars for at least six years. But I’m really trying to put my life back together. So please, give me a chance. I can show you that I’m not a bad pony. I may appear differently, but I’m actually kind-hearted once you get to know me. So please, give me one chance, that’s all I ask.” The crowd was silent for a moment. Then I heard one pony clapping their hooves together, and after a few moments, the whole crowd was, and a few ponies were cheering. Vector smiled and handed the microphone back to me.

“Haha, that certainly convinced the crowd! Fans, give it up for this guy!” The applause and cheering continued for a couple more minutes as Vector then walked off of the stage, and Emerald followed. She had a smile on her face; I knew what it was for, and I smirked a little. “Alright, and with that we’ve got only one more racer who has yet to introduce himself! So, what’s your name?”

“Storm,” he said simply.

“Alright, Storm, how’d you find your way here to Import Knights?” I asked him.

“Well, I just started racing a little while back,” he said, “and when I found out about the group, I decided to start racing here. I’ve only raced about three times before, and they weren’t exactly what you guys would call “legal”. However, they were on back roads, so I was safe from the police. But I didn’t want to start racing illegally, so I looked for an organization that fit me. This one turned up, and because I happen to have a Japanese car I joined. I also then found out that you were the King of the organization, and I’m a fan of you, so I decided ‘Hey, I’ll go ahead and join! I’ll get to meet Silver Flare.’”

“Wow, this is probably the most flattery I’ve ever gotten in one day,” I joked, rousing a bit of laughter from the crowd. “Anyway, since the other two have already told us what their cars are, I’m going to take a guess at which one is yours; that maroon Mazda RX-7 FD?”

“You happen to be correct,” Storm said, smiling a little bit. “She’s my pride and joy over there. I’ve had that car for as long as I can remember. My parents already had it when I was born, and from then they eventually gave it to me because they didn’t use it anymore, but the car had sentimental value to me.” I looked at it a bit more closely and saw that the car itself had a wide body kit, a rather tall spoiler, a two tone body vinyl which made part of the car black, decals and the rims were changed to a set of Enkei Shotuko rims.

“Haha, and now it’s just a beast, isn’t it?” I asked. “By the looks of it, that bad boy will just tear up the competition!”

“Oh, she will, believe me.”

“Well, that’s all the time we’ve got, it looks like the first race is getting ready to start! Just look at all those cars out there on the track!” I counted the vehicles. One, two, three…. Wait a minute. “Wait, there’s a car missing! There are only three competitors! I guess I’m the fourth! I’ll talk to ya in a few, crowd!” The crowd cheered as Storm and I trotted off the stage, and I hopped into my car and sped towards the track where the other three cars awaited. I drifted to a stop next to a teal Nissan 200SX. The drivers of the other vehicles stepped out of their cars as I stepped out of mine.

“Flare,” I heard a familiar voice say. I looked past the 200SX and saw a familiar black Nissan 370Z. Standing next to it was my old rival, Uri Fastback. The fiery orange stallion was smiling mischievously. I smirked a little.

“Uri,” I said. “Still drivin’ that 370, I see.”

“Of course I am. I am surprised you are still driving that old S13. It would be a shame if something were to happen to it…” His Russian accented voice vaguely sounded as though he was planning something; I immediately became suspicious.

“What are you planning, Fastback?” I asked him. He just kept that dumb looking smile on his face and remained silent as a starter walked up to the starting line.

“Alright, drivers, as you know, this is a sprint race, point A to point B,” the starter explained. “No holds barred, but foul play will not be tolerated. Now, start your engines!” I stepped back into my car and started up the engine, revving it up all the way and doing a small burnout.

“And it looks like the racers are ready, fans!” I heard W’s voice yelling through the loudspeakers. “Wait a minute, there’s a sudden change in events! Our very own champion Silver Flare will be racing the former champion of the group, Uri Fastback! This is it, fans! Nissan versus Nissan! Only one will triumph! I hate to say it, but the other two drivers on the track will be battling it out for third place!” I smirked a little as the starter raised a flag. I revved up my engine again, this time to the point where a bit of fire came out of my exhaust tip. I heard the other three engines revving up as well, getting ready to launch off of the starting line.

The starter dropped the flag, and the race was on. I immediately slammed my hoof to the floor and flew off of the starting line, with Uri in a very close second. I slowly pulled away from Uri because I had the upper hand in acceleration, but he quickly caught up due to his vehicle’s higher top speed. I kept him right next to me as we went around a sharp curve, which we both drifted around. I then dropped down a gear as another sharp curve came up on me, but Uri just kept going full speed, jumping ahead of me for a few seconds. I drifted around the second corner as well, but Uri did not, instead choosing to just take it as a normal turn. Because of his poor decision, I took the lead again, drifting past him and pulling away from him quickly, heading up onto the banked curve. I shifted into sixth gear again, quickly reaching my top speed. Uri began to gain distance on me, but I made sure to always keep him directly behind me. He always stayed in my rearview, and I managed to determine all of his moves to try and get around me.

But suddenly, he psyched me out. He started to go the left, but then immediately counter-steered and drifted around me on the right, coming up right beside me as we approached the final stretch of road heading to the finish line. He began to pull ahead slightly, but I used my nitrous and shot ahead of him for a few brief moments. He then used his own nitrous and shot right back up next to me. He suddenly moved away from my car, but I saw what he was going to try and do.

Slam my car and total it, but make it look like he simply lost control. Even if he was a nice pony in general, he was a bit of a dirty racer when he wanted to win. I slammed on my brakes and dropped to second gear as he began to turn his car back towards mine. He didn’t see this happen soon enough and he was going too fast to stop, and he simply plowed his car into the wall next to me, completely rendering the front end unrecognizable. I saw a lot of fluids leaking from the engine as the vehicle began smoking. Uri opened his door and fell out onto the ground, holding his muzzle in pain as I stopped next to him.

“Need a lift?” I asked him through my open window. The Russian stallion looked up at me and nodded. “Hop in. The other two are too far back to cause me any trouble of losing now.” He trotted around to the passenger side door, opened it and got in, shutting the door behind him.

“Spasibo,” Uri said to me. “I am sorry for what I tried to do to you.”

“It’s okay, Uri,” I said. “Just don’t do that again, okay? We don’t need either one of our cars totaled.” I did a burnout and sped away from the smoking wreckage of Uri’s 370Z, which he looked back it with sorrow. I noticed this and tried to reassure him. “Hey, your car’s gonna be just fine. Seriously, either give it to the mechanics here or give it to me, either one of us will have that baby up and running in a matter of a day or so.” Uri seemed to relax. “Granted that it’ll take longer for the body work, considering how mashed your entire front end was.” I crossed the finish line and stopped, doing a long burnout before spinning my car around, waiting for the other two drivers to cross the line.

It took a minute or two, but finally, the other two racers crossed the line, the 200SX before the other car, which I finally saw clearly; it was a Toyota Corolla AE-86. I smirked a little as the other two drivers stepped out of their cars as I stepped out of mine.

“What happened to that 370Z?” One of them asked.

“Totaled it,” I replied.

“I lost control of the car,” Uri lied. “Stupid tires…. Should have gotten them replaced before I came here today.” I glanced at him, and he looked back for a moment.

“And it looks like all the racers have crossed the line, but we’re gonna need that tow truck out on the track!” I heard W’s voice say over the loudspeaker. “It seems like Fastback just couldn’t handle the speed and lost control! It’s a good thing that Silver nearly stopped; if he hadn’t, neither of those cars would have made it across the line!” I smirked a little. “And what Silver did afterwards just shows everypony just how warm-hearted the big guy is.” Uri smirked a little bit, his red eyes glinting in the morning sun. “Now, if the racers would return to the arena we’ll commence the next race in about twenty minutes, which includes one of the newest drivers we have out there, Vector Kayten!” I heard the crowd cheering as I jumped back into my car, as did Uri. I then sped off the track and headed back towards the main setup.

I trotted up onto the stage as W tried to keep the crowd entertained while the next race was getting ready, as well as while the tow truck was pulling what remained of Uri’s 370Z off of the track.

“Hey, W, ya need a break?” I asked him.

“Hold on a moment crowd,” he said into the mic. He then turned to me. “What’s that mate?”

“If you need a break, I’ll take over for a few minutes,” I said. “The crowd loves me as an MC as much as they do you.” He smiled.

“Thanks mate,” he said. “I’ll take ya up on that offer.” He turned back to the crowd. “Well, I’m gonna hand off the mic to Silver Flare for a few minutes while I take a quick ten minute break, ‘cause if I don’t get somethin’ to eat I’m gonna faint! I am the W, and this is the Import Knights! And here’s the mighty King himself!” He gave me the mic, and I spoke into it.

“Alright, so while W’s going off to stuff his face, I’m gonna take his place for now,” I said. This roused a round of laughter from the crowd. I saw W look back at me with a look on his face that said “I’m going to get you back for that” as he walked away. I simply smirked and then turned back to the crowd. “So, even though the race day is barely underway, I can tell it’s gonna be an exciting day! I do feel back for Uri, though, it’s a shame what happened to his car. Which reminds me, how many of you out there are Nissan fans?” At least half the crowd cheered. “And you there, what’s your favorite Nissan model?” The pony I asked was a colt of seven or eight years of age, with a very light azure colored body and a slightly darker shade of blue for his mane and tail. He had no cutie mark right now.

“The 1994 Nissan 240SX S13!” he replied, beaming. I smiled.

“And I’m guessing it’s because I drive one, right, my friend?” I asked him. He grinned from ear to ear.

“Yeah!!” he said, jumping in the air. I smiled.

“You’re a big time fan of mine, eh?” I asked. He nodded excitedly. “Well, what say ya come with me when W comes back and I’ll take ya for a ride you won’t forget.” His eyes went wide as his smile got even wider.

“Really?!” he practically yelled. The crowd was roaring a bit. “I have to go check with my parents first…” He ran off for a few moments, and then came back, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “They said yes! WOO-HOO!!!!” The crowd cheered as I laughed and the colt jumped with joy.

“Haha, awesome!” I said. “I’ll see if I can get W back early so we can head out for a spin before the next race starts up! Which also reminds me, I’ve got at least three ponies tagged for pre-race favorites right now, and that’s Emerald, Vector and Storm! Who else agrees with me out there?!” The crowd cheered. I then saw W coming back up to the stage. “And it looks like W is back from his snack time, so I’m gonna head out to the track before the next race starts! I’m Silver Flare, and we’ve got a lot more coming today! You’re not gonna want to give up your seat so stick around! And here’s that big, lovable, and clumsy British stallion, W!” The crowd was in a mix of cheering and laughter as W took the mic from me and I trotted off the stage. “Come with me, my man! What’s your name, by the way?”

“Azure!” he said.

“Ah, fitting,” I said, chuckling a bit. “I’m guessing there’s something behind your name?”

“Well, it’s mainly because of my body color,” he said. “But I don’t mind! You’re named after your body color, and so is your friend Gold!”

“Ah, so you’ve been talking to him?” I asked. “He’s a bit crazy and wild, but he’s a good hearted pony.”

“I can’t believe that I’m gonna get into my favorite car with my hero!” Azure said. I was stunned a bit by this comment. I then smiled as we approached my navy blue beauty. I looked at Azure.

“You ready for this?” I asked him.

“YEAH!!!” Azure said. I smirked. He reminded me of myself when I was a colt.

“Then hop in!” I said, opening up the passenger side door. He immediately jumped right into the car, and I laughed as I made my way around to the other side, getting in and starting up the engine. I revved up the engine to the point where flames came out of the exhaust for the third time that day, then did a burnout, throwing up a smokescreen and moving forward ever so slowly until I finally let off the brakes. My car shot forward, leaving tire tracks on the tarmac as I roared out onto the track with Azure yelling in absolute joy.

The race day continued normally after my little drive with one of my number one fans, though Uri Fastback wasn’t seen on the track again; but it was pretty obvious he wouldn’t be out there for the rest of the day. Emerald, Vector and Storm were absolutely tearing up the competition, as was I. Eventually the only ones in the whole race day who hadn’t lost a race all day were myself and those three. Which could only mean one thing.

It was going to come down to a showdown between the street racers and myself. I stood on the stage with the other three, and my friends were right in the front of the crowd, yelling out my name and encouraging words. W was back on the mic at this point, and he was just stalling a little bit before we had to go out and race the final race of the day; the deciding race to see who won. So far, Emerald, Storm, Vector and I were all tied for first place, and the winner of the next race would take the whole thing. He’d already interviewed us to see who was feeling the most confident and who really thought they would win, especially since they were up against the one and only Silver Flare. Right now, W was reliving some moments from when he had first started announcing for the organization.

“Well, there certainly seems to be a TON of ponies of all ages out there today!” W said. “I’ll bet there’s at least eight, maybe nine thousand from all corners of the world here today! I remember when I first started out here twelve years ago; it was a good day when two hundred ponies showed up! And back then we didn’t have all of the things we had now; we had lookouts posted all over the place, and if anypony saw something on the track, we’d have to haul whatever it was off of it using our bare hooves, no matter if it was a nail or a car! And I remember the first day I ever saw our King Silver Flare race here!” The crowd cheered at the mention of my name, and I smiled as my friends cheered. Several mares throughout the crowd were absolutely screaming my name, and I laughed a little. “I’ve got an idea! Why don’t we watch one of the very first races Silver ever had here, when his car looked stock but it sure wasn’t under the hood!” The crowd cheered even louder. “Alright, let’s take a look!” We all turned our attention to the large screen which normally displayed racer info, but now it had cut to black.

A moment later, it came into focus, with the screen focusing on the street for a moment before it pulled up, showing a chartreuse Mazda RX-8. I heard W’s voice coming through from the video footage.

“Alright everypony,” the audio of W’s voice said, “we’ve got an exciting matchup here on the 13-20 today! We’ve got one of our most well-known racers here, Clutch Flywheel! He absolutely kills the quarter mile! I’ll bet that if his current winning streak keeps up that he’ll find himself lining up next to our champion, Uri Fastback himself!” I heard the engine rev, and it didn’t sound too powerful compared to most engines I’d heard, but there was a very audible turbo whine. I then heard a familiar engine coming from off screen, and the camera turned to the left.

I saw my 240SX before I had really put a lot of work, cash and time into customizing the exterior. The body kit had been slightly altered and the rims had been changed from stock, and the carbon fiber spoiler just barely showed in the corner of the screen. However, the engine sounded almost exactly the same as it did now, just with a slightly less audible turbo whine.

“And there lining up next to him is a new addition to our group of racers here at Import Knights, Silver… uh, where’s his name on the clipboard…” I laughed a bit. “Flare! Silver Flare! Sorry folks, I’ve never been good with names. Anyway, he’s just begun his racing career, and from the looks of it just started tuning his car! But Celestia, does that engine sound powerful! He’s obviously dropped some major cash on that baby, woo! We’re in for a show today, folks!” The camera panned out and showed both the cars, and then the angle changed as Clutch and I both began heating our tires, launching smoke up in all directions. “Look at that smoke! That is just swee-he-he-heat!” The tires of both cars stopped spinning as the starting tree lit up and began counting down to the launch. “And the tree is lit, everypony! The race is about to get underway!” The tree hit the green light, and both of our cars launched off of the starting line, mine popping into a wheelie and the engine roaring as my car immediately jumped ahead of Clutch’s. “And there they go! Wow, Flare is off to an AMAZING start; I’ve never known anypony with the performance to get an S13 to do a wheelie!” My car flew down the drag strip as Clutch desperately tried to catch up, but my car was already across the line, skidding to a stop and swinging around to see my opponent go across the line a few seconds later. “And that’s the race! I can’t believe it folks, I just can’t believe it! Clutch Flywheel, a known racer, has just gone down to a rookie, Silver Flare! And his time! Celestia, he’s just broken the rookie record for fastest time down the quarter mile! The previous record was 8.68 seconds, and Flare absolutely SHATTERED the record by a full second! 7.68 seconds! This stallion is definitely a prodigy!” The footage then cut to black, and the crowd was cheering loudly. I smirked and looked at W.

“And you said you’ve always known my name,” I said to him. The crowd burst into laughter.

“Okay, you got me, mate,” W replied. “I told a little lie. But I didn’t know they were gonna play that clip, I swear!”

“Riiiiiight,” I said, rolling my eyes. The crowd kept laughing as W shook his head.

“Well, I’m sorry, but it was your first day of racing, you know,” he said.

“I know; I’m just givin’ ya a hard time, ya British goof!” I said, hoofing him on the back playfully. “Oh, before I forget; what happened to Clutch? I haven’t seen him around at all for the last six months or so…”

“Oh, that dumb bugger went out racing in Manehattan and got caught. He’s in the slammer right now.”

“Well, that’s what he gets, I guess. Now come on, let’s get back to the racing here! How much time we got before Emerald, Vector, Storm and I have to get back on the track and settle this?”

“Well, I’d say about five minutes, and I’ll bet I know exactly who the crowd is rooting for!” he said. “Who are you rooting for, crowd?! Go ahead and scream it out!”

SILVER!!!!!!” the crowd yelled, then began cheering. I smiled. But then another name rose from the crowd. “EMERALD!!!!” they yelled. W even looked confused.

“Well, it looks like they can’t decide between the two of you!” W said to me. “So go out there and prove to them who really deserves to go home today with the overall victory!” I grinned as I looked at Emerald, who was also smiling. The four of us headed off of the stage down to our cars, got in them and sped out onto the track.

Chapter 3-The Final Race and The Cops

We lined up on the starting line, side by side. I was in the middle, between Emerald’s Integra and Storm’s RX-7. I stepped out of my car for a moment, as did the others. We all assembled in a circle and faced each other.

“Well, this is it,” I said. “For all the glory.”

“Yeah,” Emerald said. “And I don’t plan on losing.”

“Well, neither do I,” Storm said.

“Nor do I,” I said. We all then looked at Vector, who looked a bit on edge. He seemed to be sweating a bit. “You alright, Vector? You don’t look so good…”

“…There’s something wrong here,” he said, looking around. “I’ve just got this awful feeling that somethin’s gonna happen, and it ain’t gonna end well…”

“Ah, it’s just your first day jitters,” I told him. “I had the same thing my first day out. Maybe it was Uri’s wreck.”

“Nah, couldn’t have been. I only just got this feeling. It’s like… like every time the cops got me. Like a feeling that there’s just no escape, no matter how hard I try.” He shook his head. “Agh, dang it! Why did I have to mess up my life?”

“We’ve all made bad choices,” Emerald said, hoofing him on the back. “I mean, I’ve made bad choices, and I ended up in the joint for them. So did you. Silver probably hasn’t but I’ve heard that his S13 has a bit of a record… And Storm’s just… Storm.” Storm snorted, but Vector seemed to calm down a bit. “But you’ve just gotta put all of that behind you. This is now. Sure, you’ve got a bad rep, but you can outweigh it with a good rep that you’ll build here.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I’m just worried that even though I’m here the fuzz is gonna get me for something no matter where I go. But they don’t have anything on me as of late. Ever since I got out of jail two years ago, I’ve been fine. No reasons to get arrested again.” The starter stepped out onto the track, and we all looked at him.

“Are you four ready to race?” he asked.

“Yeah,” we all answered in unison.

“Then start up your engines and get ready to go. This is the last race of the day; a three lap circuit. No foul play, you four; you know the consequences.” We all nodded and stepped back into our cars and started up our engines, revving them like there was no tomorrow. The starter raised the flag. We all waited for him to drop it.

“And it looks like the final race of today is about to get underway!” W’s voice said, coming from the loudspeaker. “The three new racers here, and then our very own King, Silver Flare, pitted into a race to see who is truly the best racer at Import Knights today! Come on, mares and gentlecolts, make some noise for ‘em out there! This race is going to be absolutely off the hook!” I kept revving my engine, focusing only on the starter. I blocked out all other noise, and just focused on that flag.

It dropped.

I immediately slammed on the gas, jumping ahead of my opponents and speeding away down the straight, making an instant breakaway. I drifted around the first corner, and then looked in my rearview to see Emerald do the same, followed by Storm and finally Vector. Emerald slowly started gaining on me as I slowed down quite a bit to go around a full U turn, then slammed back down on the accelerator to make another breakaway. However, Emerald came up on me as I started pulling away, and I kept her right behind me as we went through the next set of turns. Vector was pulling up on Emerald, and Storm was lost behind all of us, just chasing our taillights. I then drifted around another corner and sped away from Emerald, losing her from my vision as I came up on a small jump. I hit the jump and then landed perfectly back on four wheels, losing no speed in the process. I laughed as I then turned the final corner to the straight that we had started on. I hit the NOS, going all the way up to my top speed of 227 MPH and then sped past the starting line, beginning lap two. I sped and drifted around the first corner again, but this time I had to slow down a lot more due to my insanely high speed. Because of this, Emerald and Vector pulled up on me slowly as I kept going around the turns heading towards the jump again, and I hit it going as fast as I could without using another bottle of NOS, but this time I didn’t land so well; my car bounced about for a few moments and I had to slow to 90 to get it under control.

This setback allowed Emerald and Vector to gain a lot of distance on me, to the point where we were lined up neck and neck. We all turned the final corner, and I nailed the NOS again, accelerating at an insane rate away from my competition. I then saw Storm’s RX-7 slip through the small gap where I had used to be as I crossed the finish line, beginning the third and final lap.

I drifted around the first corner again, doing it perfectly and losing no speed. Emerald, Storm and Vector all did the same, and I sped around the next corner as well. They followed suit. I thought it was amazing how three ponies, fresh off the streets, could be racing so well on their first day out. To some, it probably seemed like they were prodigies like myself. I thought that it probably just came natural to them, like it did me. But one thing was for sure.

These three were giving me a run for my money. I sped around the next two turns and nailed the jump, landing it perfect. But then the other three began pulling up on me, getting to the point where we were all bumper to bumper, lined up as we all sped around the final corner towards the finish.

I wanted nothing more than to win. But I didn’t know if I should have. After all, these three were newbies. I could let them taste their first race day victory ever on their first day.

I don’t know what went wrong right then, but suddenly Vector’s Lancer lost grip on the tarmac and slid out of control. He didn’t stub it into the wall, thankfully, but he had to drop back. That’s when I noticed that the track was wet there.

Next came Storm’s RX-7. The front left tire suddenly went flat, and I think Storm recognized this, as he slowed down and dropped back next to Vector.

It was just Emerald and I. Two drivers. Two cars. Only one winner.

But then her car spun completely out of control as something sparked off of the driver’s side door. It bounced off of the wall, crumpling the front end slightly and scratching up the front left quarter panel and front bumper, as well as shattering the headlight. She also dropped back, and I slowed down as I came up to the line, nearly stopping before it. I simply rolled over the line.

Then I heard them.

Sirens. Loud sirens.

Police sirens.

I saw Vector frantically jump out of his car and immediately make a break for the main arena, but then the police force showed up, blocking his path. He then looked around for a moment, and then dashed back to his car, starting it up again and peeling out, speeding towards me. Emerald was already heading in my direction, as was Storm. I then saw cop cars speeding onto the track, and though I had no idea what in Celestia’s name this was all about, I sure wasn’t sticking around to find out. As Emerald and Vector shot past me, I began spinning my car around in a burnout, doing donuts to throw up a smokescreen. I then shot straight ahead, following Storm as he flew by me.

The cops were everywhere. I hadn’t even known where they’d come from, but it didn’t matter. It looked like there were here to bust us. I sped past Storm, then drifted around Emerald and was just about to pass Vector when I saw a cop car coming straight for us. I threw out the clutch and dropped a gear, using the slight loss of grip to drift around the cop car. It missed Vector and I, and it then stopped, blocking the road behind us and nearly causing Storm and Emerald to slam their rides into it. I saw the driver get out of the car and go to Emerald and Storm, who remained in their cars. I then looked forward and saw three more cops headed right at Vector and I. I slammed on the brakes and pulled off of the road, but Vector tried to stop his car in front of theirs by turning it right and blocking the track.

He didn’t get done soon enough. The cops, though I heard their brakes and tires screeching, slammed into his car. The entire left side caved in, sending pieces of shattered glass all over the track. The car then rocketed backwards and hit a bump in the track, flipping it onto its side. I saw this and immediately jumped out of my car, running towards the wreckage as it kept sliding, sending sparks flying everywhere. It finally stopped sliding, but by then the car was practically unrecognizable.

Then the engine started smoking. I started running faster towards the car, and I heard the cops yelling at me from behind to stop.

I didn’t stop. Though I hardly knew Vector at all, I wasn’t going to leave him trapped in his car while it could burst into flames at any given moment. I stopped next to the car and stood on my rear legs, trying to see if he was alright.

He was knocked unconscious. I yelled his name, but he didn’t respond. I then went over to the other side of his car and began applying force to try and flip it back onto the wheels. Storm, Emerald and two cops ran up from behind me to help flip the car, and we managed to get it on the wheels again. I then pulled the handle to open the door but the door simply fell off. Emerald, Storm and the cops all stepped back as I dragged Vector’s unmoving, unconscious body out of the car. I could tell he was hurt.

“Get a medic down here,” I told one of the cops. He didn’t move. “MOVE IT!” He then got the message and ran to his car, driving it past the smoking wreckage of Vector’s Lancer and towards the main arena. I laid him on his side, taking off my hoodie and laying it under his head to keep it level. I steadied him the best I could on my own as the cops came up and looked at Vector.

“Step away from this stallion,” one cop said.

“Give me one good reason,” I growled.

“He’s a criminal,” the cop said. “Vector Kayten has a record that could stretch all the way through Princess Celestia’s castle.”

“That isn’t good enough,” I said, staying by Vector’s side.

“Defending this stallion is an offense in its own,” the cop stated. “You could be charged with a crime, Mr. Flare.”

“I don’t care. What are you guys even here for?!” I turned around, facing the cops behind me. “You totaled Vector’s car, caused Emerald to damage hers, and you damaged Storm’s car as well! You guys are dang lucky you didn’t put a single scratch on my car, ‘cause if you had you’d be dealing with a lot more that this right now!”

“Calm down,” the cop said. “A pony matching Vector Kayten’s description was reported two months ago by a store owner in Manehattan. He stated that Kayten robbed the store and used this vehicle as his getaway. He has since been reported doing various other crimes in several places throughout Equestria; Canterlot, Apploosa, the Crystal Empire, and finally here in Ponyville. We’ve been on his trail for two months and we’ve finally nailed him.”

“Oh, you nailed him alright. And now he’s probably gonna end up in hospital care because of you dumb, ignorant, stupid pigs!” I spat the last four words out with such hatred and anger that the cop backed up. “That’s right, you better get back, or you’ll be sorry!” I then turned back to Vector and knelt beside him. “Stay with me Vector, stay with me.” I placed my hoof under his head, lifting it slightly. “Come on, don’t do this, Vector. You’re gonna be fine. Just stay with me, stay with me…”

Suddenly, I saw Vector’s eyelids twitch. He then groaned loudly, and I heard hoofsteps behind me. I knew it was that same cop. “STAY BACK THERE OR YOU’RE GONNA GET IT, I SWEAR!!” I heard the hoofsteps then head in the other direction. “Storm, Emerald, get over here!” The other two trotted up and knelt beside me as Vector weakly open his eyes.

“Wha…” he choked out. “What… happened?”

“The cops,” I said. “Everything’s gonna be okay, Vector. You’re gonna be fine.” I heard more hoofsteps behind me.

“We came as fast as we could, mate,” I heard W say, breathing hard. “I saw everything and I was already getting a medic when that policepony came looking for one.”

“It’s okay, step aside,” I heard another voice say. I stood and went to Vector’s other side, kneeling down once more.

“Vector,” I said.

“Yeah?” he replied weakly as the medic pulled out his supplies and began fiddling with Vector’s body, checking for any serious injuries.

“You have to be honest with me here,” I said. “Is it true you robbed a store in Manehattan a few months ago?”

“Of course not,” he said, chuckling a bit. “Like I told you earlier-“ He coughed for a moment- “I’ve been staying away from crime for the last two years. I haven’t even been in Manehattan in over a year.” I stood and turned to the cops.

“So what do you idiots have to say about that?” I said to them. They all looked dumbfounded.

“That’s impossible,” one said. “We know that he did that crime!”

“Well, evidently he didn’t,” I said. “Now get out of here before I personally kick your lousy flanks back to Manehattan myself!” The cops got the message and galloped back to their cars, then sped away into the distance.

“Alright, it’s done,” the medic said, standing back up and putting away his equipment. “He has a slight head injury but that’s about it. There’s no serious damage, he’ll just have a major headache for the rest of the day, and maybe for tomorrow. If he isn’t getting any better or if any other problems arise, just give me a call.”

“Thanks,” I said to him as Emerald and Storm helped Vector to his hooves and I picked up my hoodie and slipped it back on. “We’ll take it from here.” I then felt a presence next to me, and I looked over and saw a portal snap away, revealing Shadow. Gold then came flying down at an insane speed. Takashi was currently the only one who wasn’t present.

“What the hay happened?!” Gold said. “We didn’t see anything happen, but we saw the cops and we decided to wait it out for a few minutes!”

“It’s okay,” I said. “The cops just had the wrong pony.” I sighed. “You guys get back to the arena. I’ve gotta take Vector back there too, so I’ll be along. W, get the tow truck and cleanup crew out here as fast as you can.”

“Right, mate,” W said, running back towards the main arena. I then took Vector and helped him into my car before I roared back towards the main arena.

A couple hours later, everything had been sorted out with the police; it turned out that a pony with a very similar description had committed the crimes that Vector had been blamed for. I was still very, VERY cross with the cops, and they left as soon as they saw me eyeing them. Vector’s car was totaled; it was fixable, but it would take a day or two. I guess now Vector and Uri could spend some time getting to know each other. The race day was over, and I had won as usual. My prize today had been three gems and 10,000 bits, so I got some major cash. But it wasn’t over yet.

My friends had already set up all of the equipment for the show, but as it was getting dark we decided to set it up on the stage, but towards the back where it couldn’t be seen easily. We developed a playlist of sorts, and I then went out to make the announcement as I took the mic from W, who had gotten the crowd a bit excited.

Chapter 4-The Concert; Part 1

“Alright, everypony, settle down, settle down,” I said into the mic. “The racing may be over but you’re in for a treat tonight. Tonight, and tonight only, we’ve got a show for ya!” The crowd cheered. “And guess who’s playing tonight?! Yell it out for me, fans!!”

“THE GARAGE STALLIONS!!!” the crowd yelled.

“You got it!!!” I yelled. “And here we go!!” I turned around, facing my friends. I then whispered to them, “You ready for this?” They all nodded, grinning like cats. “Alright, hit it Tak! ‘Rooftops’!” He started strumming the opening cords to the song, and the crowd already started going wild as the light shone on him. He kept playing as I put on my hat, adjusted it, and then started up with the lyrics as a second spotlight shone down on me;

“When our time is up…

When our lives are done…

Will we say we’ve had our fun?

Will we make our mark… this time?

Will we always say…. We tried?”

Gold began to echo me as the chorus started, and the bass and drums kicked in, causing a huge cheer from the crowd.

“We’re standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

This is all we got now,

Everypony scream your

Heart out!”

The crowd was going absolutely wild as I then winked at a couple of mares in the front row, causing them to go even crazier and bounce about, screaming my name. I smiled as I continued the lyrics.

“All the love I’ve met…

I have no regrets…

If it all ends now….

I’m set…

Will we make our mark… This time?

Will we always say… We tried?

We’re standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

This is all we got now,

Everypony scream your…

I held the microphone to the crowd as they sung the last two words “Heart out”. I smirked crazily as the guitar solo started up, and the crowd went crazy as Takashi then flipped his knife out of its sheath and started using it as his guitar pick. I laughed as the solo began to come to an end, and Shadow slammed the last few drum beats as I started the bridge, with Gold and I alternating lines.

“We’re standing on the Rooftops,

Waiting ‘til the bomb drops!

This is all we got now,

Scream until your heart stops!

Never gonna regret,

Watching every sunset!

Listen to your heartbeat,

All the love that we found!

We’re standing on the Rooftops!

Waiting ‘til the bomb drops!

This is all we got now!

Scream until your heart stops!

Never gonna regret!

Watching every sunset!

This is all we got now!

ALL THE LOVE THAT WE FOUND!!!!”

I cut into the last line of the bridge as I sang the last lyrics of the bridge, with the crowd screaming our names.

“SCREAM YOUR HEART OUT!!!!

SCREAM YOUR HEART OUT!!!!

“SCREAM YOUR HEART OUT!!!

SCREAM YOUR…”

“Sing it with me crowd!” I yelled as the drums slammed. The crowd joined in as I started up the final chorus.

“Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

This is all we got now,

Everypony scream you…”

Takashi played the final notes on the guitar, and I walked over to the keyboard and finished the song, and the crowd went absolutely wild, applauding, whistling and jumping about, screaming our names. I laughed.

“Haha, if you liked that, everypony, then you’re not gonna want to leave, ‘cause that was just our first song! We’ve got plenty more where that came from! So stick around, you are in for an absolutely killer night!” The crowd cheered as I turned to my friends and motioned for them to start up the next song.

About an hour or so later, after playing several more songs such as “Somepony to Love” and “Say Anything” by Queen and Good Charlotte respectively, the sun had set almost completely, and we were getting tired and needed a rest so we decided to take a break. We were going to play one more song and then have an intermission.

“Alright everypony, this will be the last song for about a half hour, ‘cause believe it or not, we’re getting a little tired up here,” I said. “But we’ve got one more song to play for you colts, fillies, stallions and mares out there. I love this next song, and I’m sure you will too! Sometimes I wonder where I would be now with the one pony that I love, but sadly, I don’t have a chance with her. But appropriately, the song is titled ‘Where Would We Be Now”, and it’s by my all time favorite band, Good Charlotte! And here we go everypony!” The crowd cheered as I started up the piano solo in the beginning, with Shadow tapping his cymbal every now and then, and I started the lyrics.

“I smile, you laugh, I look away…

I sigh, you ask me why, I say…

It’s okay and I’m just feelin’…

Down…

Your hoof on mine, I hear the words,

‘If only love had found us first…’

Our lives they would be diff-erent!

Ooooh…”

The crowd was already swaying along to the beat of the song as I played the next chords on the piano, then started singing again.

“So I stand...

And wait…

I am just a man…

OOOOOHHHH!!!!

Where Would We Be Now, baby!

If we’d found each other first?

Where Would Be Now, baby?!”

The crowd was cheering as I kept playing, as did the others. I started singing again.

“And now I must confess!

That I’m a sinking ship!

And I’m anchored by,

The weight of my heart,

‘cause it’s filled with these feelings…

But I keep my true thoughts locked!

Beside my heart’s black box!

And it won’t be found,

It won’t survive through the smoke or the wreckage…

So I crash…

And burn…

I’ve got a lot of things to learn…

OOOOHHHH!!!!

Where Would We Be Now, baby?

If we’d found each other first?

What would you do now, darlin’,

If I’d said these simple words…

I’ll wait!

I’ll wait!

As looooong as you want…

Where Would We Now, baby?!!”

The crowd was going wild as I yelled to them, “Sing it with me crowd!” I then sang the next lyrics, and the crowd sung with me;

“I’ll wait!

I’ll wait…”

The crowd cheered louder as the guitar came back in, loud and strong, as I continued the lyrics.

“Where Would We Be Now, baby?

If we’d found each other first?

What would you do now, darlin’,

If I’d said these simple words?

I’ll wait!

I’ll wait!

As loooooong as you want!

Where Would We Be Now, baby?”

I played the last few notes on the piano, singing out the last few lyrics.

“I’ll wait!

I’ll wait!”

Blades began playing the outro on his guitar, and I sang the last four words.

“I’ll wait!

I’ll wai-aaaiiiittt…..”

The song finished, and I hung my head slightly. The crowd was cheering so loudly it was nearly impossible to hear anything else, but as I looked out to the crowd, I saw two familiar adventurous hats right in the front. I knew who those two were immediately.

“Swift? Applejack?” I yelled out over the noise.

“That’d be us, pardner!” I heard Swift’s voice yell back. I then realized that noise was dying down, and made the last statement before the intermission.

“Alright everyone, that’s the last song for right now, we’ll be back in thirty! This is the Garage Stallions first ever show, LIVE at Import Knights, and I hope you ponies are all enjoying it out there!” The crowd cheered as I motioned with my head to Swift and Applejack to follow us backstage. I then put the microphone back in the stand as the others put up their equipment as we headed backstage. I headed over to the small gate that had been installed to keep out unwanted ponies from backstage and saw Swift and AJ already over there, and I opened up the gate. “What are you two doing here?!” I said excitedly.

“Well, to be honest with you, we came because word spreads fast and we heard you and your band were performing here tonight. I see we made it right before the break, so we heard that last song. A great song if I must say so myself.”

“You’ve got a great singing voice there,” Applejack remarked.

“Thank you,” I said, taking off my hat for the moment and smoothing out my mane with my hoof. “So what have you two been up to?”

“Oh, not much,” Swift said. “Just the usual stuff. Y’know, apple bucking, racing, winning, all of that.”

“Haha, we had some excitement here today,” I said. “The 5-0 showed up for the last race of the day. Totaled a car and almost arrested the wrong pony.”

“Wow,” Swift said, whistling. “Sounds like an exciting day indeed.”

“Ah’ve gotta admit, Ah don’t reckon Ah’ve seen this many cars at an event other than at Swift’s race group,” Applejack said.

“Yeah, we’ve got all sorts of cars here,” I said, chuckling. “’Course, they’re different than what Swift here drives.”

“You’ve got that right, but Celestia, does your S13 haul!” Swift said.

“Yeah, I’ve tuned it up for the best performance I can get for it,” I said. “Anyway, so you two weren’t here for most of the first half of the show?”

“Yup,” Swift said. “We tried to get here quicker but we didn’t find out ‘til it was practically nightfall.”

“Ah, well, you only missed the opening song and a few others,” I replied. “You would’ve loved the fifth song we played; it was “Somepony to Love”.” I smiled and sighed a bit. Swift smiled as well and looked at Applejack, who was also grinning.

“You’re darn right,” he said. “I know I’ve got my somepony to love, and she’s right here.” Applejack blushed slightly as he kissed her.

I don’t know why, but just seeing the two of them kiss pulled at my heartstrings. My spirits were immediately doused a bit, though I tried not to make it noticeable. However, Swift noticed almost immediately after the two came apart. “Hey, you alright there pardner?” He thought for a moment. “And come to think of it, what did you mean when you said you had no chance with the one you love? She back home or what?” I sighed a bit.

“Swift, can I talk to you about that in private?” I whispered to him.

“Naw, come on!” he said. “AJ doesn’t have to go! Just tell us both, come on!”

“I seriously need to tell you this in private,” I said. “You don’t understand.”

“Oh, it can’t be that bad!” Swift said. “Unless something already happened between you two… but I just can’t send Applejack away!”

“It’s okay,” Applejack said, winking at me slightly. “Ah get it. Ah’ll go over there and talk to those fellers for a bit while you two chat.”

“You sure, AJ?” Swift asked.

“’Course Ah am!” AJ replied. “Now come on, don’t keep him waiting. He looks like he needs to get this off his chest, ‘fore it gets to be too much.”

“Alright,” Swift said, though sighing a bit. He and Applejack kissed again, and once again this pulled at my heartstrings. AJ then headed over to where my fellow band members were, and Swift turned back to me. “So why did this have to be so private?”

“Well…,” I began, “you know how I said I didn’t have a chance with the one I love?” Swift nodded, raising his eyebrow. “What I meant is that there’s no way that I’ll ever even be able to get a moment with her.”

“Well, who is this that you’re talking ‘bout here?” Swift asked. I took a deep breath. “I mean, really, she can’t be that hard to get a hold of, can she?”

“Would you change your mind on that last statement if I told you that the one that I love happens to be…” I swallowed and started sweating slightly as I prepared to say her name; “…Princess Luna?”

When I mentioned Luna’s name, Swift’s eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped a bit. He then regained his composure but still looked shocked.

“You’re kiddin’, right?” he asked. I shook my head sadly, and Swift whistled.

“See what I mean?” I said.

“Well, it ain’t gonna be easy, I can guarantee you that,” he replied. “But I know that you’ve got a chance, and a better one than anypony else. You’ve just gotta be yourself; that’s how I won over Applejack.” I looked past Swift and he looked over his shoulder, and we both watched Applejack talking to Gold and Shadow as though they were old friends for a few moments. Swift then turned back to me, but I still was doubtful.

“So you really think that I should just be myself and go for it? Be completely straightforward?”

“Exactly. You just need to go with your gut feeling sometimes, my friend.” I felt a spark of hope go through my body but it quickly went out as a thought came to me and I hung my head in defeat.

“…But she’s royalty. I’m just a racer.”

“Look, Silver, sometimes you’ve just gotta realize this; it doesn’t matter who you are. What really matters is how you feel and what you think you should do.” I felt that spark of hope go through my body again, but this time it stayed. I picked my head back up.

“You’re right. I’ve just gotta go for it; give it my all, like with everything else I do.” Swift beamed.

“See, that’s the spirit!” Swift said. “Just keep up that attitude and be yourself; before you know it, you’ll have won her heart!” I smiled widely and I felt a tear of joy run down my muzzle.

“Thanks, Swift,” I said, slightly choked up. I put out my hoof.

“Anytime,” he replied, smiling as we brohoofed. I then checked the time and saw that we’d already been on the break for 25 minutes, so I had five minutes to get a drink, regain my composure and head back out onto the stage.

“Well, you and AJ had better get back to the audience,” I said to Swift. “Don’t want you two to get caught back here, ‘cause technically you aren’t even allowed back here. ‘Course, I can pull some strings if you do get caught…”

“Naw, I get it,” Swift said as AJ finally walked back over and stood next to him. “We’ll get on back out there. Thanks for letting us come back here, though.”

“Haha, no problem, my friend,” I said. Swift tipped his hat to me, and I nodded and wished Swift and Applejack the best as they headed back out to the main area.

Five minutes later, we were back on the stage, getting everything ready for the next song, but as the others tuned their instruments again I kept the crowd entertained.

“So, how many of you out there have enjoyed the show so far?!” I yelled, and the whole crowd cheered. “Well, that’s great to know, ‘cause we’ve got at least another hour of amazing music, and you’ll love our closing tune for the night!” I looked back to Gold and Blades, and they nodded at me. “Well, it looks like everything’s ready to go! So here we go again, fans!” I turned and nodded at them, and we started up our next number on the list; “Welcome to My Life” by Simple Plan.

Chapter 5-The Concert; Part 2/The Meeting and Unexpected Love

After another fifty minutes or so, it was completely dark, with only a full moon and the stars for light. I smiled as we finished the second to last song on our list, but we had just one more left.

“Alright everypony, this is our last song for the night, but it has been an absolutely AMAZING night for us and for you, and we’ve all gotta give a HUGE thank you to all of you who stayed for the show and even those who showed up a bit later! So thank you, fans, you’re the ones who made this whole show possible!” The crowd cheered. “Now, this last one is a bit of a change from what you’ve heard tonight; it’s a love song, and you can slow dance to it! So go ahead if you feel like it, grab your marefriend or stallionfriend, or just somepony you want to dance with for that matter! So here we go, here’s ‘Kiss Me Slowly’!” The crowd cheered. “I have to do this right now though; I’ve gotta dedicate this last song to the one I love.” The crowd went “Aww…” I smiled. “I know everyone out there has somepony that they love, even if they haven’t met them yet. So think of that somepony as this song plays for you out there.” The crowd cheered again. “Alright, here we go!” I started playing the piano chords that opened the song as Shadow started the drums up, and I started singing, thinking of the only pony in the world that I loved; Princess Luna herself.

“Stay with me…

Baby, stay with me…

Tonight don’t leave me alone…”

Gold echoed the words “me alone” as I kept playing the piano and Takashi began playing his guitar, though it was an acoustic one this time.

“Walk with me…

Come and walk with me…

To the edge of all

We’ve ever known…”

Gold echoed “ever known” as everyone kept playing, and the crowd was now dancing with their marefriends or stallionfriends. I smiled as I kept singing.

“I can see you there with the city lights,

Fourteenth floor, pale blue eyes

I can breathe you in…

Two shadows standin’ by the bedroom door,

No, I could not want you more

Than I did right then…

As our heads leaned in…

Well, I’m not sure what this is gonna be,

But with my eyes closed all I see

Is the skyline, through the window,

The moon above you and the streets below…

Hold my breath as you’re movin’ in,

Taste your lips and feel your skin,

When the time comes,

Baby, don’t run!

Just Kiss me Slowly…”

The crowd was enjoying the music silently as they thought of, danced with or kissed the one they held most dear as we kept playing the song. I kept smiling and closed my eyes as I started singing again, Princess Luna still on my mind.

“Stay with me…

Baby, stay with me…

Tonight don’t leave me alone…”

Once again, Gold echoed the words “me alone” as we kept playing.

“She shows me everything she used to know,

Picture frames and country roads

When the days were long…

And the world was small…

She stood by as it fell apart,

To separate rooms and broken hearts,

But I won’t be the one to

Let you go…

Ooohhh!

I’m not sure what this is gonna be,

But with my eyes closed all I see

Is the skyline, through the window,

The moon above you and the streets below…

Hold my breath as you’re movin’ in,

Taste your lips and feel your skin,

When the time comes,

Baby, don’t run!

Just Kiss me Slowly…”

We kept playing as the crowd kept swaying along to the beat of the song as we transitioned into the bridge. I was still smiling, Luna still on my mind as I kept singing.

“Don’t run away!

And it’s hard to love again,

When the only way it’s been,

When the only love you knew,

Just walked away…

If it’s something that you want,

Darling, you don’t have to run,

You don’t have to go…

Just stay with me…

Baby, stay with me…

Well, I’m not sure what this is gonna be,

But with my eyes closed all I see

Is the skyline, through the window,

The moon above you and the streets below…

Hold my breath as you’re movin’ in,

Taste your lips and feel your skin,

When the time comes,

Baby, don’t run!

Just Kiss me Slowly…

I’m not sure where this is gonna go!

But in this moment, all I know

Is the skyline, through the window,

The moon above you and the streets below…

Hold my breath as you’re movin’ in,

Taste your lips and feel your skin,

When the time comes,

Baby, don’t run!

Just Kiss me Slowly…”

The song came to an end, and the crowd went absolutely wild, a few ponies still kissing. I looked out and saw that one of those pairs was Swift and Applejack. I smiled. I then looked up towards the sky and the stars.

That’s when I saw it; or, rather, saw her.

A shape flying majestically through the night sky, among the stars; it was unmistakable. “Luna…” I whispered. “This is my chance… and I’m not losing it!” I looked out to the crowd. “Alright everypony, that’s it for tonight! I’m Silver Flare, and this was the Garage Stallions, LIVE at Import Knights! PEACE!!!” The crowd went wild as I put the microphone back in its stand and ran to Gold. “Hey, can you guys get the stuff in the van and get it home for me? I gotta go do something.”

“Yeah,” Gold replied. “Where’re you headed?”

“For a drive,” I replied simply. “Thanks, bro.” We brohoofed and I ran off the stage, practically diving into my 240SX, starting it up and tearing through the gates, following Luna’s form through the sky.

I followed her majestic form for nearly an hour, and I was going nearly 200 miles per hour just to keep up with her. I had drifted around countless sharp corners and weaved my way through trees and forests just to keep her outline in my sight. Finally, she began to descend as we came upon a small lake, where she landed lightly and I cut my engine before rolling to a stop. She heard my car pull up, though, as the road that I had been following her on was a mix of gravel and dirt, and she turned her head, her cobalt mane sparkling and flowing in the breeze as I stepped out of my car, making sure to leave my hat behind. I swallowed nervously, pawing at the ground.

“Have you been following me?” Princess Luna asked.

“…Yes, Your Highness,” I said softly, bowing a bit. “I apologize.”

“What is your name?” Luna asked.

“Silver,” I said. “Silver Flare.” My heart was beating faster than my S13 could ever go, and I felt myself shaking a bit, but I managed to calm down enough to the point where the shakes stopped.

“I assume that you have a reason for following me here, Silver Flare?” Luna said, turning around and looking at me.

“There is, Your Highness,” I said.

“And that reason would be?” The princess asked. I took a deep breath.

“…Your Highness, the reason that I followed you is because…” I trailed off, looking at the ground.

“Because?” Luna inquired gently. I swallowed, feeling myself sweating. I took the deepest breath I’d ever taken in my life. Swift’s words echoed in my mind;

“You’ve just gotta be yourself,” Swift’s words echoed. “Before you know it, you’ll have won her heart.” I then closed my eyes and went for it.

“…Because I… I… I love you,” I whispered.

“Hm?” Luna said, walking a bit closer. “What did you say?”

“…I love you, Princess Luna,” I said, a bit louder. “I love you. Nopony else. It’s you that I love. Even if you don’t feel the same… I’ll love you forever and always, Your Highness. No matter what happens.” I looked up and into her azure eyes. “I love you, Princess Luna.” I hung my head again.

I still don’t fully understand what happened at that moment, but I heard hoofsteps slowly walk right up to me, and I knew Luna was looking at me. Then her hoof came up and lifted my chin gently, and I was eye to eye with the love of my life. My heart was beating so fast and hard it felt like it was going to come out of my chest at any given moment.

“…To admit that, you are indescribably brave, Silver Flare,” Princess Luna said. “I admire you for admitting that.” She smiled. Oh, her smile. It was more beautiful than the night sky itself.

“…Th-thank y-you, Your Highness,” I said, stunned and even more nervous than ever.

“Please, call me Luna,” Pri-I mean, Luna said.

“O-of course,” I said. “…Um, Princess?”

“Yes?” she asked.

“…Would you… like to go for a drive… with me?” I asked, gesturing to my Nissan. She smiled once again. Oh, I could look at that smile all day and all night.

“I would love to,” she said. I smiled.

“Then please, come with me,” I said, leading her to my car and opening the passenger side door for her.

“Thank you, Silver,” she said, climbing into the car.

“You’re very welcome, Your-I mean, Luna,” I said. She giggled a bit as I closed the door softly and walked to the driver’s side and climbed in. I silently thought to myself “You did it, you did it, you DID IT!!! You bloody did it! Wait a minute, did I just say ‘bloody’? Great, I’ve been spending too much time around W… But YOU DID IT!!!”

I started up the engine, revved it up, and spun the car around, speeding away into the night.

_

We drove for several hours and into the early morning, simply talking and enjoying one another’s company. We talked of each other’s lives, the experiences we’d had; she mentioned that she’d once visited one of my dreams, but didn’t bother me because I was facing my fears within the dream and simply watched to see what would happen. I glanced over at the clock on my console; it read 2:28 AM. I was still in a bit of disbelief. I kept thinking that this was just a dream; that I’d wake up any moment. But it wasn’t a dream, it was all real. I thought to myself; “I know you can’t hear me, but thanks, Swift. If it hadn’t been for you, I’d have never gotten this chance. I owe ya one, buddy.” I then smiled and kept driving, slowing down to a good cruising speed as I headed in the direction of Canterlot; but that’s when Luna spoke. She had been silent for about a half hour prior to this, simply enjoying the ride.

“I heard you singing this night,” she said. “’Twas beautiful singing.” She then looked at me. “However, the last song… was the only one that I heard.”

“And it was the one that I dedicated to you,” I replied. Luna looked at me. I then changed my heading, no longer going towards Canterlot and continuing the drive.

“You dedicated your final song to me?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. I then pulled off of the road and parked the car at my favorite place to go and relax; it had a beautiful view of the valley, and Ponyville was right in the center. The moon shone brightly and the stars twinkled; this moment couldn’t have been better. “I dedicated the song to you. I never thought that I would get this moment; but somehow, I did.” I silently thanked Swift again. “Luna… this moment is one I’ve only ever dreamed of having… and this moment is one that wouldn’t be with anypony else but you.” I looked at her as the moonlight shone on her as though it were a spotlight, enhancing her beauty tenfold. “Because you are the only pony for me. You are the only pony in the whole world for me.” I looked into her eyes. “I love you, Princess Luna.”

“Silver…” she said.

“Remember what I sang tonight; when the time comes, baby, don’t run…” I whispered. Luna smiled.

“Just kiss me slowly…” she finished. I smiled as our heads moved closer. I closed my eyes.

Luna’s muzzle met mine, and we kissed with the moon shining down upon us and the stars sparkling like diamonds. I never wanted this moment to end; for it was the best moment I had ever had.

We slowly came apart a short while later, and we looked at each other, smiling.

“I’m not sure where this is gonna go, but in this moment all I know,” I sang softly, “is the skyline, through the window… the moon above you and the streets below… I won’t be the one to let you go…” Luna winked at me.

“Stay with me… tonight don’t leave me alone… Don’t run away… No, I could not want you more than I did right then… as our heads leaned in…” Luna sang. We leaned our heads towards one another once again and kissed once more, long and slow. We slowly came apart once again, and I smiled wider than I ever had before.

“I love you, Princess Luna,” I whispered to her for the fifth time that night.

“And I, you, Silver Flare,” Luna whispered back.

The End