The Fast, Dangerous and the Furious

Chapter Twenty Eight: Need For Speed

I sat on top of my glider inside the empty parking garage. Shotgun in hoof. There was a lot to think about. This was something I needed to do. Daring walked out from the elevator dressed in her usual attire.

I set the gun down on top of a work bench immediately taking the saw and cutting the barrel on the shotgun off. “Daring,” I said catching her attention. Daring walked over to me staring at the shotgun. “In case things go to shit.” My horn lit up, levitating the weapon over to her. Without a second thought, Daring slid the gun inside of her saddle bags.

“Hey,” O’Conner called out to us. “You guys ready yet?” Daring galloped off while I got my Eclipse ready. Glider came out of the elevator next.

She walked by me, then turned back around. Her hoof tapped me a few times. I faced her. “Heard you were playing the pipes last night.” What? I. Don’t know. What the hell that means. “Playing the pipes.” I shook my head still not getting what she was saying. “You’re mare is not quiet.” She gave me one last pat on the shoulder while I brought my hoof to my mouth.

*** ***

To my demise King Sombra hadn’t been taken out during the death race. Sadly that just meant I had to deal with one more problem. Actually this was Daring’s problem. With any luck she can ice him after this race, then we can get to Bolt Action. That’s if Celestia and Luna are smiling down on me.

My GPS screen blinked several times while I got into position at the starting line. I tapped the screen seeing a map of Equestria pop up with a highlight route. We we’re going through Equestria’s biggest cities today. This is going to be fun. Now we were just racing. Even with cop trouble, which should be scattered in cities like these, we could slip in and out of both places without much of a hassle.

I revved my engine while a red flare was sent spiraling into the air. A yellow flare went up shortly after. O’Conner whistled at me. I turned to him. “Stick close to me or Diesel Fuel. We know these cities just as well as the cops.” I gave him a dirty look. He was a cop. I bet he knew both cities very well. That said I know who I’m sticking to.

A green flare went up.

My hoof struck the gear shifter, then gas pedal. I galloped off across the ground leaving behind King Sombra. From the looks of his glider, it was one that slowly drew power out over the course of the race. Time to put some distance between him and me. I doubt he will follow any rules.

*** ***

No Fly Zone.

A sign about half a mile from Fillydelphia claimed this wasn’t a place to fly. Having been here before I knew that was a lie. But since this race seems to have a reputation I won’t be the jackass that triggers any sort of defense system.

I landed on the ground galloping at sixty wing power.

It had been a decent race so far. The country roads leading away from the Badlands had wide turns in them with little to no traffic at all. Most of us just went along for the ride, galloping at roughly fifty wing power enjoying the wind blowing through our manes. With each passing second though I knew the feeling wouldn’t last when we sped through Fillydelphia.

I galloped past Diesel Fuel, over shooting O’Conner at the end of the turn that put us all on a straight shot to the city. In the distance I could see its skyscrapers quite literally doing their thing. They stretched so high up I could barely see the top. “So this is what it’s like being in first,” I muttered to myself. “I could get used to this.”

Several other racers galloped past me in my daze. I shook off whatever had me mesmerized before pouring on even more speed. Diesel Fuel passed me up with O’Conner drafting right behind him. They still weren’t on speaking terms as far as I could tell, but they were more than accepting of each other on the track.

I shifted into fourth.

A loud rumble above me and the other fliers all made us look up as we closed in on the highway entrance to Fillydelphia. King Sombra was flying. And I mean FLYING! “Damn it.” Every racer still on the ground shifted into their next gear as we passed the population sign heading right into the city. I looked up at King Sombra just before he passed four flashing devices mounted to the buildings we had just passed. Red lights began flashing with sirens going off in every direction. I frantically looked around for what was going on.

WHA-THUNK!

I jerked my head to the sound of a machine snapping just in time to see a net come flying into an intersection. The fliers that had passed me became entangled in the net just before it sent waves of electricity through them. “Oh crap,” I hit the brakes, sliding on the ball of my horseshoes down the off ramp after O’Conner.

“Oh shit.” O’Conner, while a cop, was just as shocked as I was to see that speed trap sitting there. Good to know he isn’t plotting to try and sabotage the race.

I slid into my transparency spell, looking through the buildings in front of me. On the conjoining street several cops were heading our way. Fast. I slid out of my spell. My hoof hit the brake and I turned into a parking garage. Daring followed suit. “I’m taking off, see you at the finish line.” She tipped her helmet to me before flying out of the building. Aside from her and O’Conner I was pretty sure the others had gone off the grid someplace else in the city.

My hoof hit the brake pedal again, letting me slide out of the nearest exit right into the face of several cops. They all pulled their guns out taking aim at me. I hit the gas pedal sending the tachometer into a high rev before shifting into a lower gear then into fourth. Fire exploded out the back of the blocks sending me flying into an alleyway right through a chain link gate.

Several autowagons, much more compact then the ones from yesterday, drove into the narrow space coming at a relatively slow speed. As I drew closer to the end of the alley a cop wagon moved out in front of me completely blocking my path out of here. No place to turn to either! With all the strength I could muster, my hooves pushed me up into the air right over the cop wagon. As the glider slid out from the narrow space the wingspan ejected out letting me fly up into the third story of a parking garage across the street.

“So much action! I love this!”

My hooves hit the ground with a stumble forcing me to drop a gear with a bit of speed. Pressing on as fast as I could. Loud sirens drew my curiosity sending me right into my transparency spell. Cops began moving as fast as they could into the parking garage heading straight for me. I turned my attention to the other side of the parking garage while sliding out of my spell.

Hitting the gas pedal back a bit more I caught a glimpse of the speedometer passing sixty wing power. The wings retracted back inside while I pushed off the ground, clearing the cement barrier in front of me by several inches. The parking garage disappeared out from underneath me while I landed the three story jump only thanks to the shock absorbers inside my horseshoes.

I galloped down the road hearing several sirens following after me. With a groan I called out to cops, “Hello officers, trouble in the city?” My hoof struck the gear shifter putting me in fifth.

WA-THUNK!

Pffzzzt. Pfftzzt.

I snapped my head to the sound of a net being flung in my direction. Slamming back on the emergency brake I slid onto the main road nearly taking out a lamppost in the process. To make matters worse something was now screwing with my radio. Probably the cops trying to pick up on everypony’s location.

The net flew past me, latching onto a cop speeding around the corner, electricity surged through it disabling the vehicle with little effort. I paid the pig no mind while pressing on down the road. Three cop wagons slid out into the intersection ahead blocking off my path. “Shit, gotta jump it.” I threw my fore hooves up, ejecting the wingspan out. Fire burst out the blocks sending me flying right over the cops. Each one of them pulled out a pistol and began unloading their clips at me.

Another flier slid around the turn joining up with me. He looked over his shoulder and gasped just as a net wrapped around him shocking him into unconsciousness. “How many fliers have bit the dust?” It was unreal how fast the cops were picking fliers off. I just hope I’m not one of them.

I lined myself up with a cement barrier dividing the road in two. Another cop wagon sped out onto the road several feet behind me. It was beginning to feel like the wagons had been given an upgrade. The vehicle was literally on my heels in a matter of seconds. As a cop leaned out with a net in his hooves, I down shifted, moving right in front of the cement barrier then onto the right side of the road. In an attempt to follow me the wagon sped up, hitting the edge of the barrier, before being sent into a tailspin that took out a lamppost.

There was a satisfied smile on my face. My back hoof hit the brake letting me slide on the ball of my horseshoes and onto another road. My spoiler came close to hitting a speed limit sign, which I took note of. “You’re looking loose in the turns,” O’Conner shouted to me while he caught up with my Eclipse. I nickered.

Daring flew past me with a determined look on her face. Knowing her she probably gave the cops more than they bargained for. O’Conner’s eyes widened, Oh, shit!” He slid into an alleyway to our left. Daring tired diving down, but the net wrapped around her, forcing her to hit the ground with a loud smack that sent her rolling onto a road leading right out of the city. I halted, unstrapping my glider faster than I had ever done so before. I scrambled for Daring while her body began shaking uncontrollably.

Biting down on the net, “AGH!” Volts of electricity went surging through my head like an anti-headache medication. Several gliders with Fillydelphia Police Department logos all landed down a couple of steps away from us. “Come on, think. Think, think, think!” I looked around at the cops loading their guns. There wasn’t time to think. No plan of action I could slide into. I bit down on the net, surges of electricity went through me, now feeling like knives being thrown into my body.

Slowly, I began pulling the net from Daring, untangling her body with what little sense I could gather with all the pain I had flowing through me. “Get on the ground. NOW!” One of the cops shouted at me. Another one leaned into a scope aiming it right at one of us. They loaded a round into the gun.

“Get on the ground.” “Stop resisting arrest!” Voices mixed together as I threw the net away from Daring, holding her close to me. There wasn’t time to move to my glider. Any sudden moves and that sniper aiming his gun at near point blank range would take the shot.

CRACK!

Vin landed next to me, his pistol firing three more rounds at the cops making them take cover. His head frantically snapped around looking for an out. “Go, get out of here.” Wrapping a claw full of net, Vin chucked the thing at a cop, entangling the cop to the point he fell back electrifying an autowagon. I put Daring on my back, galloping straight for my glider. Her body stopped shaking enough for her to wrap her fore hoof around the ‘oh shit’ bar. I started up my glider, strapping myself to it right away.

I flew. I just flew off. Leaving behind the cops. Leaving Vin to out run the cops. I wasn’t worried at all. After all my family was tough. Especially that griffon.

As we flew out of the city still following the map, I looked back at Daring, she slowly opened her eyes after what felt like hours of flying. In reality it had been just a couple of minutes. During those few minutes I spied Sombra getting away without so much as a scratch on him.

Daring was the center of my world right now. I just wanted to know she was okay. From the look on her face she could tell what I was thinking. “I’ll be fine. Just keep heading to Manehattan. By then I’ll be good to go.” She cracked the wing that looked the most banged up. Well, if she’s this enthusiastic then I know she’s fine. Tough son of bitch ain’t she.

*** ***

Once I saw the no flying sign, or in this city it was a ‘you-can’t-fly-higher-then-this’ limit, I landed on the ground with my attention carefully kept on Daring Adventure. She continued hovering near me, only wincing or cringing when she flapped her wings harder then she needed to. I felt bad, but there wasn’t much I could do.

Lucky for Daring I still had a bandage rag in the trunk, sadly that net did more damage than we thought. The rags would fix her, but she would need a proper doctor to check her out. Good thing the next town was a straight shot once we got out of Manehattan.

A city limit sign went by, signaling me and the other fliers close by to keep an eye out for any speed traps. King Sombra closed in on us, not sure how I passed him, but he wasn’t going to let another speed trap stop him. In fact I’m pretty sure he triggered the first one on purpose. Three more fliers managed to pass me. My eyes narrowed in on the first off ramp I could make out the closer we got to the city.

Red lights began flashing the second Sombra flew past the sensors. My attention went to a track system attached on two buildings across the street from one another. A net went shooting up the two tracks, snapping into position while the three fliers ran into it, the entire thing shook before it came crashing down on all three of them.

Daring banked to the left in panic of being caught. O’Conner sped down the off ramp with me and Diesel Fuel while the other team members flew off after Daring. We left the highway behind, trading it for the uncommonly empty city streets below. Now I know this is a trap. Both cities wouldn’t be empty like this, not without a notice to get everypony off the street sent out in advance.

Diesel Fuel looked straight at O’Conner without any form of trust in his eyes. “That shit was orchestrated.” There was a light groan from me. After everything we did yesterday I was hoping they would get along, maybe even respect each other enough to help me get this done. The RX-7 started closing in on the Supra, preparing to send him into a tailspin.

I wedged myself between them, keeping an eye on Diesel Fuel to make sure he didn’t do anything to separate the team any more than we already were. “Now hold on, Fillydelphia and Manehattan have a pretty large distance between them.” Diesel Fuel galloped away from me letting me have a bit more room. “Odds are they got word from cops over there, which would give them more than enough time to set that trap up.” I reasoned to him fairly well. O’Conner didn’t have anything to hide from us. After all he was being chased by the cops with us which meant that they didn’t know he was here.

At least.

I really hope I’m right about that.

“Not to mention this race has a rep,” I muttered rather lowly.

Sirens wailed behind us. My gaze fell to my rear view mirror. Cops were all over us. In autowagons. More importantly they were all over the three of us! “Pull over Diesel Fuel!” “Pull over to the side of the road!” It was like they were reading from a script! The one thing that actually registered to me was that Diesel Fuel also had a reputation around Equestria.

O’Conner whistled at me. I turned to him while Diesel Fuel banked left onto another street leading one of the cops away. “Hey,” O’Conner whispered. His hoof pointed to something in the distance between several radio towers. “You see the bridge?” I narrowed my eyes, occasionally stretching my neck up trying to get the bridge into view. After a moment of looking around I spotted an arch. “That’s our way out of here.” A cop wagon pulled out in front of us. Without so much as a second thought, I galloped around it taking to an alleyway for cover. In the midst of all this I lost O’Conner.

It took me less than a minute to find the main road that could take me to the bridge. Several autowagons pulled into the intersection, all with cop logos, without thinking I banked into an alleyway.

After a moment of knocking trashcans out of my way I busted out into the open, galloping right under a bridge that seemed too stretched endlessly over the road. There wasn’t a lot I could do except keep moving. Just reach the bridge and leave this all behind.

Another intersection went by with at least one cop spying my glider going over the speed limit. Now would be a good time to unleash a beast! In my rear view mirror two autowagons slid out onto the road I was on. So far there were still no streets giving me a way out. As a matter of fact there weren’t any alleyways. Beside me, a grassy hill slowly rose up to meet the end of the bridge I was under.

My eyes widened.

Dead end.

Pffzzzzt. Pffzzzt.

My hoof stuck the radio. Now was not the time. “No. No. No” Why couldn’t there be an intersection here? Damn it! I frantically looked back into my rear view mirror. They had me cornered.

“Is this Runner,” DJ-Pon3’s voice rang out.

I looked at my radio with wide eyes. This was a two-way radio? I answered back with a hum. “Good. I’ll make this quick, I like your style kid. Seen a lot of good stuff with you playing a good role.” That was nice to hear. Even if it was from a complete stranger. “Tell you what, I’m going to help you escape these cops.”

“What’ve you got in mind,” I asked staring at my rear view mirror. Cops were gaining. Faster and faster.

“You see that grassy hill?”

I looked to my left spying the narrowly closing gap between the road and bridge. That wasn’t a way out. But without any way out I gave her a polite hum. “Pull a grasshopper for me. Right over that hill.” I moved closer to it.

Grasshopper? What the hell is that supposed to be?

“A what,” I questioned.

There was a loud groan. The radio became static for a moment. My eyes widened. Did I really just lose my only help? Runner, you’ve got to be better than this. “Kid, you are really messing with our cool factor right now,” she said rather enthusiastically. “Gallop up the hill and gun it right as you get to the top. Then let your wings soar baby!”

My back hoof struck the gear shifter, putting me in fifth. The needle on the speedometer jumped up reading at least seventy three wing power. I galloped up the grassy hill, the edge of the bridge looking ready to chop half my glider off. Part of my glider hit the bridge sending sparks flying everywhere. The wingspan ejected out while I took a small glimpse of what was below me. Autowagons lined the street below. “OH SHIT!” My pupils shrank just before I landed inside of a vacant spot in rush hour. I slowed way down, shifting back into first.

Where to turn? Where to turn?

“Slam on the brakes, turn left,” DJ-Pon3 commanded.

My hoof hit the brake, earning a loud rev from the engine somehow, sending me sliding onto another street away from the traffic. I let out a breath I wasn’t aware I had been holding. The wingspan retracted.

This was turning into Manehattan city mayhem, but the rush was fantastic.

The sounds of sirens were completely drown out now. No more ponies around with nets ready to shock me. On the plus side one of the co-hosts was on my side. At least for now. “Thanks, whoever you are.” I couldn’t help but chuckle at what I had said. A complete stranger helping me out, just like Candle Light.

“Don’t mention it, seriously don’t, I’ll get in trouble!”

Pfffzzzzzt. Pffffzzzzzzt. Pfffzzzzzzt.

The radio cut out leaving everything around me quiet. However, that didn’t matter as the main road came into view. I’m back in the race! Sliding out onto the main road, I found O’Conner galloping towards the bridge which was still rather far. All around us buildings seemed to stretch up aimlessly.

We didn’t exchange any words. I think it goes without saying that we just wanted to get out of the city. Seeing our fellow fliers get taken down with such precision wasn’t something I liked being subjected to. With any luck though they’d only have their gliders compacted then be released with a slight slap on the hooves for street racing.

O’Conner cursed. My eyes fell to the rear view mirror. I cursed with him. There it was in full glory gaining on us like it was nopony’s business. O’Conner kept his attention split between the road and ponies gaining on us. “Koenigsegg spec ops autowagon with three coverts following.” I gave my friend a blank stare not understanding any of that. Scratch that. I understood that first word. The rest was over my head. “That’s the speed team that Twilight Sparkle put together a long time ago. They’re given some of the fastest autowagons to catch street racers with.”

Looks like DJ-Pon3 isn’t the only one with one of those super gliders. I mean autowagon. Super Autowagon. Get your terminology right, Runner.

Shit.

The super autowagon pulled up next to me. My hooves instinctively slammed on the brakes allowing me to fall behind the autowagon. The three covert autowagons following behind us went for O’Conner who went straight into oncoming traffic. Several loud horns blared at the stallion while one of the covert autowagons collided with another vehicle. A wagon pulled out from an intersection leaving O’Conner with one option. He jumped into the air, galloping over the vehicle just before another covert rammed into the side of it sending both vehicles into a spin. O’Conner landed on the ground, merging back with the correct flow of traffic.

My hooves were beginning to ache from all the shifting I was doing. The super autowagon in front of me wasn’t helping at all. It sped forward, sliding right in front of me in an attempt to keep me from going forward. I struck the gear shift several times putting my glider into fourth. Hitting the gas pedal a bit more I pushed off against the ground hearing fire explode out from the blocks while I lifted up over the autowagon.

As I galloped over the wagon I could see my hoof prints being left on top of it. I groaned loudly, not out of leaving evidence, but out of ruining such a good paint job! I hit the ground with a slight stumble before shifting back into second. From the way things were going the covert autowagons would box either me or O’Conner in.

I slid into my transparency spell. To my right was a road that stretched around several buildings until it rejoined the main road. Putting the Eclipse into third I turned right, leaving O’Conner to out run the autowagons. He didn’t need me to do deal with that.

Before I knew it the entire main road had disappeared leaving the sight of several older buildings. Along with a very nicely made brick road. Celestia bless this place! It was almost as nice as Canterlot.

A loud rev from what sounded like a super autowagon caught my attention. A very long groan escaped my lips. At this point I was considering taking off into the air, but knowing that there were still cops with gliders that left me trying to choose between two evils. Well. Two goods that I feel are evil. The window rolled down revealing a pony wearing a helmet with a black visor. “Pull over, we need to talk.” The voice speaking to me was female.

Oh, please let it be Not Important! Come on! Please.

The mare slowed down a bit and I did the same. She flipped her visor up, then removed the helmet letting her mane fall down. “Runner, I thought you said you were going to stay away from street racing.” Summer Breeze looked right at my eyes. It had to be her.

“That’s before I knew Bolt Action was in charge. Plus, I know he won’t leave my family alone,” I said coldly. I knew he wouldn’t. Especially Glider. He was going to kill her after this. I will make him go through me first. “He’s going to come after a close family member of mine.”

Summer Breeze just nickered. As if she knew a way out. Sadly, even if I’m doing this to help Discord I’m sure he couldn’t bail me out of jail. “So you accepted his challenge then. Or is it possibly DJ-Pon3’s challenge?” How did she know about … that’s a stupid question. Everyone knows DJ-Pon3 is an avid racer as well as master of the wubs. “I caught part of her broadcast to you. Not every day someone gets her attention like that.” I hummed in agreement.

There was a pause.

We both knew that one of us had to go down. Summer Breeze, however, had a look of sympathy on her face. “Runner, I’m giving a chance to walk away. Don’t make the same mistake Rusty made. Please.” I shook my head to decline.

“I can’t let Bolt Action go knowing what he’ll do after this race.”

Summer Breeze slid her helmet back on. Her visor went down over her eyes. We didn’t have anything left to talk about. My mind was made up and she knew that she’d have to stop me one way or another. “Runner,” she spoke softly. “You better kill me, because if you don’t I will come after you.” I know she would. After all it doesn’t take a genius to put Rusty’s profile, plus his last crime, together with my profile. Should have been more careful working with him, but shit happens.

I revved the Eclipse’s engine, preparing to bolt. Summer Breeze revved her engine loudly. Everything around us felt like it was shaking a little. My back hoof slammed the brake, pulling me to a sudden halt while Summer Breeze sped straight past me. Glad that worked, sadly that’s my only trick to avoid that stupid autowagon. I struck the gear stick into second, then third. Galloping to the left I turned down a road connecting me right back to the main street.

By the time I got back to the main road Daring had joined up with O’Conner and Glider. As for everyone else I assumed they were still in the city. Knowing them they probably had a good idea of where other exits were. I’m pretty sure Diesel Fuel at least knew several other ways out.

Daring jumped onto the Eclipse’s hood, wrapping her hoof around the ‘oh shit’ bar. “Was that who I think it was?” Oh. Goodie she knows who Summer Breeze is. Thank Celestia I don’t have to explain her to Daring. I hummed to her. “Then we better get moving.”

My hooves kept putting as much speed as I could muster up. As we galloped towards the end, Glider spotted something, O’Conner moved to the left of us while the Koenigsegg rolled out right in front of the bridge. Glider flew right over it while several bullets found their way into her wing, her real wing, not the metal ones she was using to race with. O’Conner followed suit.

“You don’t have enough speed for that!” Daring pointed out the obvious. My hoof went straight to the NOS button. I saved the spray for when I needed it. And I need it now! As I pushed the button down everything blurred around me. With all my strength I pushed myself up simultaneously shifting into fourth then fifth.

My hooves planted themselves firmly on the super autowagon, cracking the windshield, before I came landing on top of the cement bridge. One of the covert autowagons lost control in panic of hitting the leader. The driver veered off to the left ramming the wall of a nearby bakery leaving the front of his vehicle totally thrashed.

Several autowagons coming towards me panicked. One of them tried to stop while Summer Breeze came roaring behind me. She swerved to the right, narrowly avoiding the vehicle, only to have her bumper nicked. Several parts broke off from the Koenigsegg, one of which flung itself forward stabbing my Eclipses hood, Daring rolled off just in time to take off into the air. I prepared to use the last bit of NOS.

Summer Breeze sped past me, moving right in front of me with the tail lights flashing red. Tires screeched next to us. I had enough time to look over at Glider, who was narrowly avoiding an oncoming autowagon, of which sped into our lane. With little time to react, Summer Breeze tried moving to the right only to have her left bumper T-boned sending her into a tail spin. I hit the NOS button, feeling my vision start to blur. My glider started to lift up, but kept me on the ground.

The Koenigsegg spun in front of me, my hooves went up in self-defense. As my hooves hit the machine the rest of it went spinning over the edge of the bridge. I turned my head slowly, horrified, seeing Summer Breeze’s autowagon flung over the edge before it burst into flames. “No.” My glider finally picked up speed allowing me to lift off the ground.

*** ***

It was a miracle.

I made it past the finish line with the Eclipse after everything I had seen on that bridge. However, I was feeling rather upset. It wasn’t just seeing the super autowagon go up in flames. It was the fact that the part that ripped off of Summer Breeze’s machine lodged itself into very crucial components in my glider. In fact it wouldn’t even start now. Too much damage had been done. I was out of luck.

Actually my whole family was out of luck. Diesel Fuel’s RX-7 was busted just as much as mine was. Mostly from electrical damage that couldn’t be fixed by tonight. That was the other thing. The big finale to this race was taking place early in the morning. Just before sunrise.

Vin’s glider had crapped out to. After the beating it received during the fight with the Fireflies and going up against the cops well organized plan twice it was in dire need of repairs. It held together better than we had expected it to. Sadly, even with all of us working together it wasn’t going to be enough to get all of our gliders working. In fact most of our problems were just about the same which left us without the option to take parts out of each other’s gliders and jerry-rig an engine.

Even Lucky Clover’s engine was shot, actually, it was the wingspan to. His exact words were “King Sombra doesn’t play fair,” before spitting at the ground. From what I could guess he got hit with a spell without the others noticing. Guess that meant cheating was allowed to.

There was a bright side to all of this. There were still two others in the race. Daring got herself checked out. Just a few hours of rest with some well-earned medication was all it would take to put her back in the race. O’Conner made it out to. When Glider told me that I had a small smile on my face. Somehow she knew I was feeling a lot more joy than I was displaying.

The radio turned to static for a moment then played DJ-Pon3’s voice loud and clear. “How’s it going everypony? From what I hear we’ve got some very sad news,” she said somberly. “I’ve seen some footage of a fellow racer knocking what appears to be the leader Princess Twilight Sparkle’s prized speed team. I’ll be completely honest here. I don’t like cops. Never have. But to send them over a bridge burning to death, that’s a little harsh even for my taste.” Those words. Each one hurt like a knife being sent through me. I felt bad for what happened. I didn’t want to believe I was responsible for that death.

After all another autowagon sent her into a tail spin first. I guess it really doesn’t matter now. I believe that Summer Breeze wanted to be with Rusty and now she is. That put a smile on my face. Now they can rest in piece together.

A hoof slid around my neck. I didn’t jump. Glider pulled my muzzle so that I was looking at her. “So how does it feel being a wanted criminal now?” I dead panned. “Yeah, you get used to it.”

“I need a drink.” I shrugged her off, heading for the bar.

One good thing to this race was everyone here had something they were wanted for. No pony would dare turn any pony in. There was one thing bugging me though. The fact that the cops pinned Summer Breeze’s death on me. I’ve outran a lot of things in my life, but somehow this one was going to be the one thing I couldn’t outrun.

I walked out of the elevator running into O’Conner. He pulled me to the side even though I was in no mood to speak with him right now. Or any pony really. “Hey,” he said in a calming voice. He had me take a seat with him at the bar. “Listen, I feel you. I know you want to kick some ass, but anytime you’re gonna feel like this, all I ask, just come to me and we can talk this shit out.”

Gone.

All my anger. Just gone.

I blinked slowly, keeping my attention solely on O’Conner. Man. This guy. This guy never ceases to amaze me. I was speechless in front of him. With a polite nod, I turned my head to the television. O’Conner gave me a pat on the shoulder before taking his leave. Once he was gone I could finally think of something to say. “Thanks.”

I paused.

There was one thing I needed. I pushed myself away from the bar galloping off to find O’Conner.

Down the elevator, through the parking garage. Eventually, I found him near a garage rented out to him until the race started. I stepped up to him, without alerting him to my presence.

All I could do was watch him work on the Supra. It was tuned. Fully tuned by now. I didn’t need my spell to know that. This guy was a great mechanic and knew what he was doing. Somehow his Supra Mark IV still looked as amazing as the day I first saw it. “Hey,” I spoke up. O’Conner looked up at me with a smile. “You got a minute?” He waved me in.

“Do you think I did it?”

I had to know. What did other ponies think of that accident? O’Conner shook his head. “Nah.” That put me at ease. I knew that he couldn’t do anything for me. Honestly, trying to clear my name would more than likely put him at risk, and I couldn’t do that to him. I thanked him earnestly. “Sometimes all we need in life is someone willing to listen.”

“And smile,” I answered back.

O’Conner chuckled with a nod. My eyes fell to the Supra. It was one of the most amazing gliders I had ever seen. In fact it deserved to reach the finish line. “O’Conner … I need a glider, mine’s not going to make it.” I started to frown, but stopped. I smiled.

He looked at me very closely. His hoof tapped the Supra several times. I doubt he had a glider here, but I was never one to lose hope. Not anymore. His hoof pushed the keys over to me. “You’re giving me the keys to the Supra?” That was his glider though. I couldn’t just use this one. Any other glider, but not this one.

O’Conner looked at me with his ocean blue eyes. There wasn’t a smile on his face though. I could see it in him though. Actually I could see a lot. He didn’t accept handouts either, but this wasn’t a handout. “I’m a sucker for a good smile.” I took the keys in my hoof and just stared at them. No words could ever describe how good I was feeling right now. This stallion felt like a brother to me. No pony could say otherwise. “On two conditions.” I froze. “Cross the finish line with Daring, because you guys are stronger together. And bring that Supra back to me in one piece.”

All I could do was nod. I’d do all of that. He was giving me a chance that I wouldn’t screw up. Not now. Not ever. O’Conner took the keys from my hoof. “I’ll keep an eye on the Supra, go get some rest.”

*** ***

Daring stood outside my hotel room, which was odd for this situation. After all the hotel gave a room to every racer still in the race for free. I inserted my key into the door staring at her. “We should … probably stay in the same room … in case Sombra decides to take out the competition … that makes sense right?” There was a huge smug look on Daring’s face. It made me think about Glider’s comment about playing the pipes. I need a silencing spell.

“Don’t worry,” she cooed close to my ear. “It makes sense.” She followed me into the room a little sluggish than I was used to seeing her. I helped guide her to a bed, letting her curl up with her saddle bags. “Sorry, I’m not much for entertainment right now.” I held up my hoof, letting her put her head back down while I went into the restroom. Cool refreshing water splashed against my face.

My hoof remained on my muzzle while I slowly looked at myself in the mirror. I couldn’t believe what I saw. For once in my life I felt right. Aside from being a wanted criminal I felt just fine. Ready to kick some ass was a regular feeling now, which I was beginning to enjoy!

I trotted out of the restroom, turning off the light with my tail, then returned to Daring who was digging inside of her saddle bags. After a minute of rummaging, Daring pulled out Swordmares issues twenty one through thirty one. My jaw dropped a little. I put down my saddle bags on her bed. “Thanks! Just put them in here, I’ll read them later.” Daring gave me a loopy smile while opening my bags. Her hooves put the new issues inside, but after a moment of staring at something she pulled out a magazine.

I must have left one of my older comics in the bag. Shrugging it off I let my body hit the other bed. Daring cleared her throat, earning my attention despite my eyes closing. “This one’s a little light on the reading, but it has some very interesting pictures.” I opened my eyes slowly.

What the hell is she talking about? All of my comics have a decent mix of dialogue and action.

I turned my head feeling my eyes widen. My jaw dropped. “I swear to Celestia and Luna, Silver Shoe threw that out!” It was Wing Boner magazine. There were tears in Daring’s eyes, not from feeling bad, but from the laughing fit she was trying to hold back.

“Oh, so these are the kinds of mares you’re into.” There was a light hum from her. Daring continued flipping through the pages while my horn lit up. “Calm down, I’m just messing with you. And from what I’m seeing here I’m pretty sure Silver Shoe is screwing with you to.” She laughed a little. Her hooves crumpled the magazine up before throwing it into the trashcan. There was a satisfying thud that made me smile. Good riddance.

I put my head down on a pillow slowly closing my eyes.

“One question though,” Daring asked making me open my eyes again. “Why were those pages stuck together?”

Umm.

“I swear to Celestia and Luna I’m being framed!”