Trials of the Dirt Prince

Chapters

On Days Like These...
"Am I Dead?"
The Part Where a Train Races a Car

On Days Like These...

It was a warm summer's day in the South of France. The kind of weather one would sort of expect at this time of year. Not a single cloud in the sky. A bright yellow sun bearing down on the gorgeous mountains of the French alps. Thin, twisting ribbons of tarmac snaking their way both through and around the landscape.

One such ribbon of tarmac was a road that had come to be known as the Col De Turini: a notably bendy piece of road that didn't really seem to go anywhere.

To the average person, whilst this road may have been breathtaking to both see and drive on, that would be just about it. However, to those well-versed in Motorsport, particularly in Rallying, this road meant a whole hell of a lot more. Every once a year, as part of the World Rally Championship, these roads would be closed off, allowing the fastest and (sometimes) the most insane drivers and teams to blast their cars along roads just like this one, all trying to get the fastest times. Heck, the Col De Turini itself was actually one of the many stages used on the rally. No small feat, considering that there would usually be a brick wall on one side and a steep drop on the other.

Asides from the Monaco Grand Prix, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500, no racing event carried quite the level of prestige that the Monte Carlo Rally carried. In fact, out of the four events previously listed, the Rally was actually the oldest of the four, the inaugural event taking place in January of 1911, with a Centenary being celebrated recently.

However, on this fine summer's day, there was no event taking place. This year's event had already come and gone. By this time, all the people involved with the WRC would be in Eastern Europe for Rally Poland, meaning that the road was peaceful once again.

This, however, didn't last long. Somewhere along the Turini, the peaceful silence was shattered by the buzzing revs of an engine, echoing through the mountains.

Now, this wouldn't be out of the ordinary if this was in January, when the Rally would usually be held. But alas, this was July.

The source of the sound would eventually reveal itself to any curious road users (of which there were very few today). Sat somewhere near where the Turini started, outside a rather conspicuous-looking ranch sat a Ford Fiesta S2000 Rally Car, its blue and black paintwork shining in the sun. Splattered all over the car where several different decals, showing different organisations that sponsored the team that ran this car.

Along the sides ran one huge decal, letting everyone know just what team this car belonged to.

Team McKraken

Right up on the rear passenger window, another decal displayed the car's number.

69 (Obviously)

Finally, right next to the number, a collection of name and flag stickers detailed both the Driver and Co-Driver of the car.

Alex McKraken (GBR)

Cameron McKraken (GBR)

However, whilst a rally car usually accommodates two people, there was only one person sat in the car at this very moment.

The person in question was a guy, no older than twenty six, draped in his blue and black racing suit. A mop of chestnut brown hair adorned his head. His emerald green eyes were shut tight as he tried to memorise the route he had planned to take.

This was the driver. The Prodigal son. The Dirt Prince.

Alex McKraken

Coming from a whole family of Rally drivers, Alex had been trained in the art of the sport from a young age until he was fourteen, when he competed in his first proper rally, with his mother - Eileen McKraken - as his Co-Driver. From there, Alex began to go international, entering and winning events all across Europe. As each event came and went, Alex began to build himself a reputation for being a little bit of a daredevil and a risk taker. One notable example of this came during an event in Wales. Alex, considerably faster than most of the other entrants had come up on another car and was looking to pass it. Unfortunately, there was barely any room to do so. Most drivers would have just waited for the other car to move over. Not Alex. Instead, he simply waited until the very next corner they came up to and simply slid right up the inside as the two cars drifted around the corner, leaving a hairs width between them.

In addition to this, Alex also picked up a reputation for being somewhat of a madman. During an event in Scandanavia, on the final stage, Alex was leading by a considerable margin. However, he accidentally ended up going into a corner way too fast and ended up hitting a bank. The car rolled over and the suspension was damaged and yet somehow, Alex still went on to win the event, albeit with his advantage significantly reduced. One onlooker described Alex’s driving post-crash “as if he had sat on a wasp”. Some would call this incredible talent. Alex would call it “sheer dumb luck”.

Of course, Alex, his parents and his cousins weren’t the only ones who indulged in Rallying. His uncle Vinnie was the first member of their family to take a car up the infamous Pikes Peak hillclimb in America. In turn, he and and Alex's dad - James McKraken - had both taken part in the Dakar Rally quite a while ago as well. Then, you also had Auntie Emily. If the family was ranked on who was the craziest, Emily would probably sit right at the top. When she was an active driver, she drove around in Group B cars, the most powerful and dangerous Rally Cars to have ever existed. Even his Granddad made a name for himself in Rallying.

In fact, pretty much every living member of his family either was or had been involved in Rallying, even right down to his two sisters, who worked as mechanics for the team. The only exception to this (in his immediate family, anyway) was his brother Toby. Ever the odd one out in the family, he had decided to make a name for himself in circuit racing and single-seaters.

It was when this heritage was recognized when Alex earned his most well-known nickname: The Dirt Prince.

With the help of his family, Alex eventually reached the European Rally Championship and, piloting the very same Fiesta he was sat in, dominated the entire competition, eventually winning his first (and only) Championship in the category.

Alex had driven many cars prior to this, but the Fiesta was by far his favourite. He couldn’t really nail down why he liked it so much, though. Maybe it was just the way it felt when it slid round a corner, back end stepping out slightly, but not too much.

Now logically, the next step would be to get a new car and head right for the World Rally Championship. However, Alex decides against this. He believed that if he were to join the category, he would need as much preparation as possible. He therefore decided to take a sabbatical. He also decided to move to mainland Europe so that he could be closer to the overall action, purchasing a small ranch not too far from where he was currently. At the request of his family, he also took with him not just his Fiesta, but several other cars that they had also used, as their garage back at home was a bit crowded and they didn’t want to fork out for another. In the meantime, Cameron went over to America, deciding to take part in the X-Games.

(Yay! Backstory done)

So, dear readers, if you haven’t nodded off from reading all that backstory, this is now where Alex found himself: sat at the wheel of his beloved Fiesta, prepping himself for a drive along the Turini.

On the seat next to him were his helmet and a small rucksack, containing some snacks.

Of course, Alex wouldn't be going at 100% on this run. He had only been up the Col De Turini just once, so needed to get used to the route a bit more before this was possible. Plus, he didn't want to accidentally run into any regular motorists. Not that this was a major problem or anything.

What Alex was about to do wasn't totally illegal. Technically, the Fiesta (despite its upgrades) could still be driven on a regular road, as it was both taxed and insured to do so.

Besides, its not like there would be many police cars up in the alps anyway.

Finishing up with his visualisation, Alex opened his eyes, seeing the stretch of tarmac lying out before him.

He took a brief moment to reach into his pocket and pull out a silver iPod, turning it on and placing the heads of his earphones into...well, his ears. As he selected the playlist marked "Driving", his ears were soon filled with the soothing sounds of Matt Monro as he slid his helmet over his head.

"All I need now is a Miura and this moment would be complete" he thought to himself as he revved the engines, his right hand tightening around the steering wheel whilst his left gripped the handbrake, ready to release. As he continued to rev the engine, he could feel that tingly feeling he had whenever he was about to set off in cars just like this one.

Finally, he dropped the handbrake, pressing his foot hard on the throttle at the exact same moment.

Despite the Fiesta having only 280 Horsepower (the maximum limit for an S2000 car), the acceleration of the car felt as if you were being kicked in the gut.

Very soon, the Fiesta had accelerated past sixty miles an hour as it sped along the Turini, Alex quickly climbing through the gears. Each time the car approached a corner, Alex would back off slightly before pitching the car in, making it drift slightly but not too much, so that he could correct the steering if he made a mistake.

For mile after mile, Alex blasted by, he and his machine in perfect harmony with each other. No one and nothing seemed to come along and try to interrupt them.

Alex felt as if he could do this forever. But alas, as he felt his stomach rumbling, he was reminded that he couldn't.

Thankfully for him, however, he knew a good place to stop for a break.

About thirteen miles down the road from where he started, He pulled off the road and stopped at a small spot, looking out over the mountains. Looming above them was an old archway, built out of stone bricks.

Switching the car off and pulling off his helmet, Alex grabbed his bag and stepped out of the car before perching himself on the bonnet, producing a cheese roll and a bottle of water from his bag.

As he ate and drank, he stared out over the landscape below him.

This whole situation he was in made him feel grateful. Grateful to be was alive. Grateful to have been given the gifts that he had been given. Grateful for all the opportunities to succeed. But most of all, he was grateful for the opportunity to accomplish his dream of conquering the world of rallying.

As he finished his roll, he heard the hum of a sports car engine. Craning his neck, he watched as a silver Porsche 911 went by, disappearing under the archway.

However, as he watched the Porsche go by, he noticed something...odd.

Right across the road from him was the entrance to a tunnel, seemingly cut deep into the mountain.

This was caught his attention.

"I don't remember that being there last time". He thought to himself.

Intrigued, he walked across the tarmac and right up to the entrance. It didn't really seem to come out anywhere, as Alex could see nothing but pitch-black darkness.

Initially, Alex felt a bit uncomfortable. Something about this tunnel seemed off. There was no way that this thing could have been constructed without him knowing about it beforehand. However, this feeling of discomfort was soon replaced with intrigue.

He wanted to know where this tunnel led.

Loading up and turning on his car, he turned it around and slowly entered the dirt-tracked tunnel, switching on the headlights. Despite this, however, inky-blackness still filled the tunnel, with only the walls and the pathway being visible (albeit barely), so Alex didn't dare go any faster than twenty miles per hour, in case he encountered...something. He did have a plan for this, however. In the event that something unfriendly did appear, he would simply hit the reverse and get out of there as fast as possible.

This plan seemed less and less safe as Alex watched the light from the entrance get further and further away in his rear view mirror. He pressed on regardless, however.

Further into the tunnel, he decided for this brief moment to stop, poking his head out of the window.

"Hello?" He called into the darkness, his voice reverberating throughout the tunnel.

Asides from his light breathing and the steady humming of the car's engine, nothing but silence greeted him.

He was starting to feel a teensy bit more wigged out. This, however, failed to stop him from pressing forwards.

Eventually, he began to get quite bored. He had discovered absolutely nothing and the light from the entrance was now just a speck in his mirrors.

"I'll carry on for a little further" He thought to himself. "If I don't find anything, I'll just sod off back home".

However, just as he thought this, his heart skipped a beat as he noticed the headlights of his car flickering. This was something they had never done before, no matter how much damage it had attained during an event.

"Come on, don't do that" He said softly to his car as he tapped the dashboard, hoping that this would do something. "What's all that about, eh?"

However, in this brief moment that Alex took his eyes off the path ahead, the path seemed to just disappear altogether.

The next thing he knew, Alex began to fall into a pitch black void, managing to get out a loud yell of "WOAH!" as the car began to plummet.

As the Fiesta began to fall faster and faster, Alex's heart began to race, beating harder and faster. It felt as if it was about to break out of his chest.

He was so scared he didn't even have the power to scream.

As he sat in the driver's seat, wide-eyed and breathing rapidly, his initial reaction was to slam the brakes on as hard as possible in some vain attempt to slow the falling Fiesta down. Unfortunately, the car only continued rapidly picking up speed, now seeming to point straight down.

Fearing the worst, Alex braced himself, placing his head as far back as possible in the seat and crossing his arms in front of his face, his eyes tightly shut and both of his feet still jammed on the brake pedal.

He waited for the inevitable crunching sound of his car hitting the ground.

It never came.

Instead, for the first few moments, he still continued to fall. Then, eventually, he heard a sound that he was familiar with: a moderately loud thud, as his car seemingly came touched down on dirt, as if it had completed a jump. Then, at about the same time that this happened, the car rapidly began to level itself out before, finally, it came to a stop.

Slowly, Alex moved his hands away from his face, placing them back on the steering wheel and opening his eyes. His heart was in his throat. His hands were shaking. But he was alive.

He shut his eyes again and lowered his head, trying to calm himself down. His mind was racing, so he didn't 100% know just what had happened, but all he could really guess what that his car had hit some sort of ramp at the bottom of the pit and (miraculously) did it on all four wheels.

Eventually, both his heartbeat and breathing seemed to return to normal, thus allowing him to lift his head back up and proclaim just how he was feeling at this very moment.

"WHAT THE SODDING HELL WAS THAT?!"

However, before anyone or anything could answer his question, Alex noticed something far ahead of him.

A speck of light was shining into the tunnel. It was small, seemingly a long distance away, but it was shining brightly.

He instantly knew what to do.

"Screw it" He muttered to himself, lifting his feet off the brake and slamming them both back down on the accelerator, causing the car to launch away from a standstill, roaring towards the light. Alex wanted no more of this madness. This time, he just wanted to get the hell out of whatever crazy pitch-black hell hole he had fallen into. Any abominable creatures that happened to step out of the darkness would end up squashed against the path, the unevenness of it failing to slow the Fiesta down.

Finally, mercifully, the Fiesta roared out of the dark tunnel and into the light of day...right towards a massive wall of rock. Thankfully, Alex's quick reactions allowed him to slam both the regular brakes and the handbrake on. This caused the Fiesta to spin considerably but regardless, the car came to a halt just in time, now facing towards the tunnel they had just exited.

Alex let out a sigh of relief, putting the car into neutral. He was out. He had escaped the tunnel with in one piece. He had no idea what had just happened, but he didn't care. What he had just gone through may have been the single scariest experience of his entire life.

However, right there and then, things got even stranger. To Alex's surprise, the mouth of the tunnel suddenly phased away, as if it had never existed, leaving just a large wall of rock in its place.

Alex didn't say a word. He just stared at the rock in confusion, deciding not to question what he had just seen. His day was already weird enough. His thoughts returning to the task at hand, he got out of the car, walking around it and checking for damage. Despite some minor bodywork damage, presumably from the landing after that fall, nothing major had happened to the car.

"Alright, that's good." He said to himself. "I guess the next step is to find a way from here to home...wherever here is".

He quickly pulled out his mobile phone from his bag to check if he had signal in the event that he needed assistance, turning it on.

No signal

"Damn. Guess if I have a problem, I'm stuffed".

Alex looked up at the sky. Almost immediately, he discovered that the two walls of rock either side of him made up a ravine. It was deep, but not deep enough to make it look inescapable.

"First thing's first. Find a way out of here"

Alex clambered back into his Fiesta before heading off in search of an exit out of the ravine. He wanted to get home as soon as possible. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something seemed...off about this place.

After half an hour of driving, The Dirt Prince had found a way out of the ravine and had begun travelling along yet another dirt pathway at a steady fifteen miles per hour. As he drove, he found himself seemingly lost in the luscious nature that surrounded him. Thick, dark green trees seemed to almost obscure the daylight, whilst bushes and undergrowth littered the sides of the path.

In any typical situation, this would actually be quite pleasant. But for Alex, his drive through the forest only confirmed his suspicion that something was off about his location, not least by the rather strange looking plants that he spotted when he drove past. He was no expert on nature, but he could just tell that these plants were not the kind of plants one would find in France....or anywhere for that matter.

As Alex continued to drive, he eventually came across a small, swamp-like habitat. The water ran as a muddy brown/green colour and the stench was almost overpowering. In any regular case, Alex wouldn't have paid much attention to it. However, just as he was about to continue on, something caught his eye.

On the opposite side of a swamp, is a small, dark cave, Alex spotted something moving. He couldn't quite make out what it was, but he could tell that something was there. On the off chance that it may have been friendly, Alex decided to check it out, rolling around to the opposite side of the swamp before stepping out of his car, carefully peering in.

Even in the position he was in, he still couldn't make out the shape of the what was hiding in the cave. He couldn't tell how big it was, what it looked like, what gender it was. He couldn't even make out what species it was and yet he still persisted on the off chance that whatever was in the cave was intelligent.

He then went and made the second worse decision he had made that day.

"Hello?" He asked the shape.

The shape growled back.

Alex could tell right there and then that whatever this creature was, it didn't seem friendly.

This point was confirmed when suddenly, the shape leaped out of the darkness, almost ready to devour Alex. It would have done just that as well, if he hadn't managed to leap out of the way.

As McKraken rose back to his feet, he could now properly see the ravenous beast that he tried to eat him. At first glance, the creature carried the most resemblance to the shape of a lion, albeit with a few small differences (like the much larger ears). Then came the much more notable differences, like the bat wings and the scorpion tail.

Whatever this creature was, it opened its jaws, baring its long, sharp fangs before rearing its head and letting out a long, loud roar.

When it ended, there was a small moment of silence before the roar was replied by several other similar roars, echoing from elsewhere within the forest.

As the creature's gaze returned to Alex, he instantly understood what was happening. Whatever this creature was, there were more just like it in the area.

And they were hungry.

Without thinking twice, he bolted back to his car, clambered in and shut the door just before the creature got to it, leaving it furiously scratching at the paintwork.

“Stop scratching my bloody car!” He yelled at the beast as he scrabbled into the driver’s seat and stamped on the accelerator, the car rocketing away from its attacker.

This time, Alex decided to throw caution to the wind, sending the Fiesta hailing along the dirt pathway as he desperately tried to pull his safety harness, giving up when he managed to get four of the six buckles in. This distraction, however, allowed the creature to catch up, something which Alex realised when the creature went and thrust it's tail at the car’s roof, leaving a massive hole behind.

Alex instantly responded by putting his foot down, his hands tightly gripping both the gear level and the steering wheel. As the car continued to build up speed, Alex continued to check in his rear view mirror. Luckily for him, the creature could only fly so far, allowing the Fiesta to gradually pull away. This didn’t stop him from keeping his foot pressed flat on the throttle, not happy until the creature had disappeared from his view.

“This would be so much easier if I had dirt tyres” Alex muttered to himself as his car rocketed past eighty miles and hour.

However, as the car continued to get faster and faster, Alex noticed something.

The forest suddenly...stopped. The low hanging, dark trees that had surrounded him on every side were now replaced with beautiful fields of lush green grass, with the trees now being much fewer in number.

He looked back up in his mirror, breathing a sigh of relief when he noticed that the creature had disappeared, perhaps giving up when it realised that it couldn’t outrun its prey.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’m in France anymore...or Kansas, for that ma-”

He got no further. As his attention returned to the path in front of him, to his horror, he found himself rocketing towards a rather sharp turn at nearly one hundred miles an hour. On the inside of the turn was a rather large bank, whilst on the outside were a row of trees, standing in front of a small river.

Alex lifted his feet off the throttle and braked hard, trying as hard as possible to get as tight a turning angle as possible.

Much to his misfortune, however, he ended up getting too tight an angle, the left side of his car going a bit too high up the banking. This, combined with the tightness of the bend ended up causing the car to lean on both it's right wheels.

Inside the cockpit, Alex desperately wrenched the wheel to the left, trying as hard as he could to correct his error. This effort would prove to be in vain, however, as the Fiesta continued to lean over before finally falling with a “thud” onto its side, scraping rather quickly along the ground...towards the trees.

Realising that there was now no way out of a crash, Alex once again closed his eyes and braced for impact.

It happened this time.

A loud smashing sound and a sudden pain to the head were the last things he felt before blacking out.

(A few minutes earlier)

Today had been a rather busy day so far for Fluttershy.

Since the very moment she had woken up, she had been busy tending to and feeding the various animals that lived with her at her cottage, just outside the Everfree forest.

For the first couple of hours, the soft-spoken pegasus pony had headed into Ponyville to get some shopping. She had then come home and spent the next couple of hours creating dishes for the animals.

Thankfully for her, she was now almost finished and all the animals had enjoyed their meals, leaving just one animal left to feed: her beloved pet bunny Angel.

Fluttershy had already planned ahead for this, making the bunny a dish of carrot soup. Angel (naturally) loved carrots, so logically, he would be able to down this without much fuss.

She eventually found the bunny waiting in the living room, tapping its foot impatiently.

"Here you are, Angel" She said in an almost motherly tone. "One warm bowl of carrot soup"

As she placed the bowl down! Angel leaned over the rim, inspecting the creation with a keen eye. Every once in a while, he would nod, as if to say "not bad"

Finally, Angel slowly took hold of the bowl with both paws before slowly lifting it up to his mouth and slurping up a little bit of soup, swallowing it.

He grimaced slightly.

“What’s wrong, Angel?” Fluttershy asked, concerned. “Does it not taste right?”

She wouldn’t be surprised if this was the answer. It had actually been a while since the last time she had made carrot soup.

Putting the bowl down, Angel made a gesture to Fluttershy, appearing as if he was shaking an imaginary salt/pepper shaker into the soup.

“Oh, do you want more seasoning?”

The bunny nodded.

The Pegasus produced salt and pepper shakers, giving them to the rabbit, who then proceeded to vigorously shake the pepper into the dish before taking another slurp.

One small shake of salt would do it.

Angel gently shook a little pinch of salt into the bowl, before taking another slurp.

He smiled happily, tucking into his meal.

Fluttershy smiled happily.

“There you go. Enjoy your meal”

Her work done, the yellow Pegasus trotted over to her comfy armchair, ready to have a little rest.

It always made Fluttershy feel good inside whenever she made someone feel happy. The sight of a friend enjoying their day was always something she enjoyed.

As much as she enjoyed this, however, one thing she certainly did enjoy was a little bit of peace and quiet.

Settling into the chair, she laid her head back and closed her eyes. Right now, it felt as if she could fall asleep right there and then.

However, just before it felt like this was about to happen, Fluttershy heard the faint sound of a Manticore’s roar echoing out of the Everfree Forest.

The Pegasus was no stranger to this sound. The first time she had ever ventured into the Everfree forest, she had encountered a Manticore.

However, what did concern her was the group of similar roars that followed.

She opened her eyes, concerned as to what was happening.

“I don’t know what multiple roars like that mean, but I’m sure it can’t be anything good” She said to herself as she got leaped out of her chair. “Oh. I hope that’s not the case”

She briskly trotted to the door, ready to go out and see what was going on. However, just before she did so, her ears were greeted by what sounded like some sort of faint buzzing.

Initially, she passed it off as a swarm of bees. But as the noise continued, she noticed that the way it buzzed sounded nothing like bees. The noise seemed to slowly rise in pitch before suddenly dropping back down again, where it would then repeat in a cycle.

“Bees don’t buzz like that”

She then noticed that the noise was gradually getting louder and louder. Whatever was making the buzzing noise was getting closer to the cottage.

Tentatively, she opened the door and looked out, hoping to get a glimpse of whatever strange beast was making that noise.

What she eventually saw was no creature.

In total shock, Fluttershy watched on as what appeared to be a metal box on wheels came roaring along the pathway, faster than any creature she had ever seen (asides from a few other Pegasus she knew).

The box itself had windows looking into it, allowing Fluttershy to see what was inside.

Her jaw dropped as she noticed a strange, ape-like creature gripping on what appeared to be some kind of wheel, positioned within the box. The helmet on the creature’s head obscured most of its features, but the one thing Fluttershy could see was the look of utter terror in its green eyes as the box went flying around the bend outside her cottage.

Unfortunately for the creature, it appeared that it was travelling too fast to make the turn properly, resorting to it having to take to the steep banking on the inside.

Fluttershy’s shock turned to horror as the box ended up leaning on two wheels before landing with a loud crunch on its right side as it skidded along the pathway.

The Pegasus didn’t dare look at the accident that she knew was about to happen.

CRUNCH!

SMASH!

As she shielded her eyes, all she heard was the sound of metal hitting a hard chestnut tree, accompanied by the sound of glass shattering.

She slowly un-shielded her eyes to find that the box had finally come to a stop, with the only sound coming from the crash a low humming sound.

Fluttershy had no idea what kind of creature that was in the box. She didn’t know where it came from or what kind of food it ate. She didn’t even know whether or not it was hostile.

All that she knew was that whatever that creature was, it may have been hurt or worse.

She bolted out of the cottage and over to the wreckage as fast as her legs could carry her. Quickly assessing the situation, she discovered that the tree had completely missed the front end of the box, impacting with exactly where the creature had been within it and shattering one of the windows. This meant that she had to get it out and get it some help as quickly as possible.

Carefully climbing up on top of the box, she discovered that one of the windows was actually part of a door, allowing her to gain access to the creature. As she threw the door open, she found it strapped into what appeared to be a seat of some kind.

It wasn’t moving.

Fearing the worst, the Pegasus gently dropped into the box, placing her ear close to the creature’s mouth.

She breathed a small sigh of relief when she felt warm breath.

Then, placing a hoof against the side of its neck, she found the creature’s pulse. It was beating quite rapidly, but it was present.

At best, the creature was just unconscious. At worst, it may have been comatose.

“Um...hello?” She asked the creature. “Can you hear me? I’m going to get you out of here. You’re going to be okay.”

Slipping her head underneath one of the creature’s forearms, she proceeded to lift it out of the wreck, careful not to make any sudden movements that may upset it and injure it further. No small task, considering how heavy it was.

Finally, when the creature was out, Fluttershy gently lifted it onto her back and carried it back towards the house, straining as she went. However, despite its weight, this failed to stop Fluttershy from carrying it inside before gently placing it down on the floor. Noticing the buckle on the helmet, she quickly released by pulling it with her teeth, allowing it to fall away, revealing a mop of chestnut brown hair on its head.

It was at this moment, as Fluttershy caught her breath, when what had happened dawned on her. She had never seen anything like this in Equestria in before, not even in the Everfree Forest.

This couldn’t have been a regular animal. Was this an alien?

This sounded alarmingly plausible, considering the box she found it in. What that it’s vehicle? It did make a little bit of sense, but still left the Pegasus asking dozens of questions.

She knew right there and then what she needed to do.

“I need to find Twilight. She has to see this”

Author's Note

To prevent any confusion, this story takes place halfway through Season 5 (between “Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?” and “Canterlot Boutique”), as this is about roughly how far I have gotten into the season.

Also, for those who don't know, here is an idea of what Rally driving is like:

"Am I Dead?"

Fluttershy had never been the most physically gifted out of her and her friends. Applejack was always the strongest, whilst Rainbow Dash had always been the fastest.

This fact, however, hadn't stopped her from running all the way from her cottage and into Ponyville to find Twilight and ask for her help in learning more about the creature she had found.

She now found herself quickly galloping up the doors of the gorgeous Castle of Friendship faster than her little legs had ever carried her. She was almost out of breath and she was starting to feel light headed, but this didn't stop her. She knew that there was very little she could do to help a creature like this and as Twilight knew the most about mythical creatures, going to her seemed like the best idea.

Eventually, she came to a halt in front of the doors, wheezing for breath as she gently tapped on the door. There was no answer initially, leading the Pink-maned pony to tap slightly harder.

Still nothing.

"Erm...Twilight? Are you there?" She asked as she tapped slightly harder. "Sorry if...you know...this is a bad time or anything, but I...I really need your help."

Seemingly miraculously, Fluttershy got an answer this time...but not from Twilight.

"HI FLUTTERSHY!" Yelled a high pitched voice from right behind her, causing the pegasus to jump in fright.

Turning around, she found a bright pink mare grinning from ear to ear right at her, her curly pink mane seemingly even more curly today.

This was Pinkie Pie.

"Oh. H-hi Pinkie Pie" The yellow pegasus replied, still slightly freaked out by the surprise appearance of one of her friends. "What brings you out to Twilight's castle?"

"Oh, nothing much" Pinkie replied in her usual bubbly manner. "I was just wondering if Twilight would like to try some of my super-delicious quadruple-frosted cupcakes! Want to try some?"

As if by magic, she produced a tray of gorgeous Pink cupcakes from her mane, each one covered in thick icing. This feat would be impossible until you remember this is Pinkie Pie we're talking about.

"O-oh, not right now, thank you. There is something really important that I have to tell Twilight about".

"Ooh, what is it?" The Pink mare asked inquisitively, stuffing the tray back into her mane.

"I-it may be a bit hard to explain properly, but..."

"Earthquake?"

"Well...no"

"Flash Flood?"

"No..."

"Tornado?"

"No..."

"Volcano?"

"Not quite..."

"ALIEN INVASION?!?!"

"I...I don't think so".

"Then, what is it? Tellmetellmetellmetellmetellme!" The Pink Pony exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement.

"What's going on out here?" Asked a voice.

The two mares turned their heads to find a purple alicorn standing before them in the doorway, clearly having been alerted to their presence from all the noise Pinkie Pie was making.

To Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, this was one of their closest friends. But to everyone else, she was one of the most powerful beings in Equestria.

Princess Twilight Sparkle.

"HI TWILIGHT!"

"Is something wrong? I heard Pinkie Pie yelling about an alien invasion".

"Oh, I was just coming to find you to ask if you wanted to try some of my super-duper-delicious quadruple-frosted cupcakes but when I got here, I found Fluttershy here tapping your door with something reeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaalllllllyyy important to tell you. I haven't worked out what it is ye- I'VE GOT IT!"

The Hyperactive pink pony took in a deep breath before sharing what she thought was so important that Fluttershy needed to find Twilight.

"Lightning bears"

The two just looked at her with confused expressions on their faces.

"What? It could happen!"

"Okayyyyy" Twilight replied, quickly changing the subject back to Fluttershy. "Sorry about not hearing you knock. I was in the middle of reading another book. I must have been so focused I didn't hear you"

"Oh, err, that's alright Twilight" Fluttershy replied.

"So what was the important thing that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Um...well, just a few minutes ago, I discovered a new...a-at least I think "new" species of animal that I...haven't actually seen before. If it's no trouble, could you please...um...help me to identify what sort of creature it is?"

This caught the attention of both Twilight and Pinkie. A new species in Equestria was always a big deal.

"Absolutely, Fluttershy" the alicorn replied with a nod of her head. "Where did you find it".

"Well, I...f-found it outside my house. It should be resting inside".

"Then let's not waste any time. You want to come and see, Pinkie?"

"Heck yeah! I need to throw it a party! A "Welcome to Existence" party! What kind of cake will it like? What colour streamers...?"

Not wanting to hang around any longer, Twilight teleported herself and her two friends from Ponyville into Fluttershy's cottage with a flash of light from her horn.

No sooner had they arrived, Twilight began looking around for the creature.

"Alright, we're here. Where is the-"

Before she could finish her sentence, she caught sight of the creature, lying asleep on Fluttershy's sofa. The very moment she saw it, she froze, her mouth agape in shock.

"Is...Is this it?" She whispered, amazed by what she was seeing. Fluttershy nodded in response.

"Fluttershy, do you know what you've found?"

"N-no"

"You found a human! An actual, live human being...in Equestria, no less!"

"Erm...Twilight...what's a human?"

"Sounds like some sort of relish"

"Now's not the time, Pinkie. Anyway, human beings have been described in various accounts sporadically for over several thousand years. I think the last one I read dated back to roughly around the same time Princess Celestia began her rule. I always thought that human life in Equestria was just a myth, but now...we found one!"

She drew closer to the human, excitedly studying it.

"How is it here, though? If humans were already living in Equestria, we would have found them by now. Maybe this one is from the other world?"

"Other world, y-you mean like the one Sunset Shimmer is in?"

"Exactly. The entire world there is populated by humans. Heck, Sunset and I were both turned into humans upon arriving there. But if that's the case and this one is from the other world, shouldn't it...he...have changed into a pony?"

She let out a breath.

"This is heavy, girls. It's pretty big news whenever a new species is discovered. But this is something else. If this human is like those on the other world, this creature is intelligent as well."

Twilight turned to her two friends.

"Fluttershy, where exactly did you find this human, again?"

"W-well, I actually found him when-eep!"

She yelped in both fear and surprise when the human made a low groaning sound as it shifted on the sofa.

Both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie shifted behind Twilight as it began to stir.

"Don't worry. I know humans. Just let me do the talking".

The first thing Alex felt when he awoke was a feeling of dull pain coursing through his head.

"Urgh...Son of a bitch" he muttered, rubbing his forehead as he sat up. That being said, though, despite his pain, the headache was the only thing that he could feel pain-wise. No dizziness, no nausea, nothing.

It was at this point that Alex realized that he was actually sitting on a sofa.

"Huh. Somebody must have found me. I'd better thank them when I see them"

He stood up from the sofa, cracking his back.

"I guess I had also better find out where I-"

He stopped himself when he noticed that three strangely-coloured ponies were all standing before him. One of them, a yellow pegasus, seemed slightly scared by his presence. The second one, a regular (if you could call it that) Earth pony stared on curiously. The third one, a weird pegasus-unicorn hybrid, stood there with a friendly smile on its face.

Alex was no expert on animals, but he knew for a fact that these weren't what regular ponies looked like...nor did they have horns...or wings.

Alex and the hybrid pony stared at each other for a moment.

"Okay, so perhaps the person who brought me in is a weird, messed-up scientist who likes to perform experiments on innocent ponies. Sick bastard".

As you can imagine, he was quite surprised when the purple hybrid pony cleared her throat in the same manner a human would.

"Greetings, human!" She said confidently. "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle. I bid you a warm welcome to Equestria".

Alex didn't say anything. He just stared at Twilight, a look of utter shock on his face. As far as he knew, 1) ponies weren't multi-coloured (at least, not in this style), 2) there were no unicorns, 3) Pegasi didn't exist either and above all else, 4) they didn't speak.

After a while of staring in shock, Alex held up a finger, a nervous smile appearing on his face.

"Err...heh. Excuse me for one moment".

He turned away from the three equine beings, placing a hand on his head as he tried to process what he had just seen. There was no way this sort of stuff could have been possible.

No...no, there was no way this was real. Perhaps he was just hallucinating. He had passed some weird looking plants back in the forest.

He would have continued to think this until the Pink pony suddenly leaped up in front of him, causing him to jump in shock.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Twilight said you're not from around here. Are you an alien? I've never thrown a party for an alien before! Oh well, no party is too difficult for Pinkie Pie to throw! Speaking of which, I need to start planning yours! What kind of cake do you like? What colour would you like your streamers? How about Black and Blue? Are Black and Blue your favourite colours? Is that why your clothes are Black and Bl-"

"Thank you, Pinkie, but we really don't want to spook our guest out right now!" Twilight interrupted, pulling Pinkie Pie away from Alex before she could continue any further.

As Alex turned around to face the three mares again, he ran the most likeliest reasons as to how he was where he was through his head before clearing his throat.

"Okay, so as far as I can tell..." He replied, trying his best to keep calm. "...we can somehow speak the same language. Mind if I ask a few questions?"

"Sure. Ask away" Twilight replied happily.

"Am I dead?"

The three seemed rather surprised by how blunt the human was with his question.

"Well...what makes you say that?"

"Quite simply, the last time I checked, ponies in my world didn't have wings...or horns...or multicoloured manes...or the ability to speak".

"Strange. I didn't encounter any ponies in the other world. Perhaps this human is from an all new world" Twilight thought to herself, before replying to the human "Well, your heart is still beating and your lungs are still breathing, so unless this happens to be the afterlife (which I'm pretty sure it isn't), then you're most definitely not dead".

"Okay. That's...that's good. Next question: am I in a coma?"

"Well, I...I don't think so".

"Third Question: How the hell are you speaking English?!"

"We might ask you the same question: How are you speaking Equestrian?"

"How am I speaking what?!"

"Equestrian. The language of ponies in Equestria"

"What the hell is an Equestria?!"

"It's...well, it's where we are right now. I guess you're not from around here, are you?"

The human sighed.

"I guess. The last I checked, there certainly wasn't a nation called..."Equestria?"...on my...well, I guess I'm probably not even in my own world anymore."

"Hmm. Sounds about right. This is the first proper sighting of a human in Equestria".

"I guess that's it, then. Thanks for answering my questions, anyway, Miss...I'm sorry, what did you say your name was, again?

"Princess Twilight Sparkle. You've already met Pinkie Pie, and this is Fluttershy". The Princess replied, re-introducing herself and the pink one before pointing to the timid yellow mare hidden behind her. "What's your name?"

"What kind of sadist would name their kids like this?"

"Alex. The name's Alex. Alexander Charles McKraken in full."

"Okay then...Alex..."

"I certainly don't remember the humans in the other world being named quite so...colourfully"

"...again, welcome to Equestria. Thank you for giving us such an amazing opportunity to meet a being like you".

"And thank you for not probing me".

"We -- wait, what?" Twilight was surprised by this.

"Well, technically, I am an alien to you and I can safely say that you three are technically aliens to me. Plus, there's a belief back home that whenever someone meets...or rather, is abducted by aliens, the aliens often end up leaving the human with a probe stuck up their...uh...poop chute".

The three realized just what he was getting at, deciding to quickly change the subject.

"Anyway, speaking of aliens, how exactly did you get here...and where did you get here from, for that matter?"

Alex opened his mouth to answer, but before he did, he noticed a continuous humming sound, which seemed to be coming from outside. It took him a moment to jog his memory before he realized what it was.

"OH S***, MY CAR!" Yelled Alex before bolting past the three mares and out of the front door of Fluttershy's cottage and down to the pathway. There it was: his beloved Ford Fiesta S2000, still ticking over, lying on its right side and with the cockpit crumpled in thanks to the tree it had stopped against.

"Aww. Son of a bitch." He muttered, as he inspected the damage. Thankfully, it didn't look as if the tree had been able to damage any of the vital parts of the car, but the cockpit would almost certainly be caved in.

The three mares inspected the wrecked Fiesta as well, trying to understand just what it was as Alex clambered onto the car, climbed into it and flicked one of the switches on the dashboard.

The whole thing stopped.

As he clambered out, he noticed the three mares staring on in awe.

"Like what you see?"

Still struggling to find the right words, Twilight eventually spoke up.

"Alex...is this...your spaceship?"

"Oh, I wish." He replied, landing back on the pathway. "This is my car. My beloved Ford Fiesta. It's not a spaceship, but I still arrived here in it."

He sighed.

"Pity it's not going to be going anywhere anytime soon".

Finally, Fluttershy, who had finally plucked up enough courage, raised her hoof.

"Um...E-Excuse me, M...Mister Alex...If you don't mind, I...uh...have a question to ask".

"Sure. Fire Away".

"Um...Well...What's a car?"

Almost instantly, he figured out just what Fluttershy was getting at, groaning as he placed a hand to his forehead. They simply hadn't invented cars yet.

"Let me guess" He muttered. "You have..."

"C-Carriages, yes".

"I guessed as much. Simplified, a car is essentially a horse-less version of one of your carriages. Carriage 2.0, if you will. I would show you how this one works, but...as you can see, it's currently on its side, so I can't do so".

"Oh, that's alright" Twilight said to him. "I can use my magic to sort your...car...out".

Alex simply looked at Twilight with a look of utter disbelief.

"Okay, hold up! Time out! Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you say..."magic"?"

"Well, yes. Yes I did".

Clearly, Alex was quite skeptical about this.

"Let me just stop you right there. I can accept that I may somehow be in a completely different world than the one I'm from. I can also accept that I'm in the presence of three talking ponies. It's been a strange sort of day. But magic? Now's the part where I call bull".

"You...don't believe...in magic?!" Fluttershy asked, taken aback by Alex's response.

"Nope. Not one bit".

"What do you mean you don't believe in magic?!" Pinkie Pie chimed in. "Magic's, like, the force that joins us all together. That allows us to create awesome stuff and live and...well, you get the idea. How do you not believe in magic?! I demand an answer, mister!"

"Quite simply, we don't have magic on my world. Or at least, we do, but what counts as "magic" where I'm from is nothing more than cheap parlour tricks, the kind of which blow your mind when you're a kid, but what you can easily figure out as an adult".

"B-But that must be awful. No magic. How did your kind create such a...strange contraption?"

"Two words: Science and Technology...wait, technically that's three words. Either way, you get my point".

Whilst the other two were still shocked by this revelation, Twilight saw an opportunity to prove another naysayer wrong.

"Well, if this is so, then will you please humour me for a moment?"

Alex raised his hands. "Be my guest".

Smiling, Twilight closed her eyes and began to focus her magic, a small ball of it appearing on the end of her horn. As she did so, a purple aura surrounded Alex's car.

Now, Alex had had a pretty weird day up until this point. He had crashed through a strange tunnel, been chased by a weird lion-scorpion-bat hybrid creature and was now in the presence of three talking ponies. But not even he could prepare himself for the sight of Twilight's magic pulling the Fiesta away from the tree it had crashed into, the bodywork groaning as the car and the tree separated, scraping along the ground before coming to a stop.

Twilight's magic then lifted the car up off its side, tilting it on its two right wheels before it landed back on all four.

And if Alex thought THAT was shocking, he hadn't seen anything yet.

With Twilight focusing her magic even harder, the crumpled cockpit area of the car began to groan, altering before Alex's eyes. The metal beams connecting the roof to the rest of the car began to bend, moving back into place. Before long, the whole cockpit area had been un-crumpled. Then, if that wasn't enough, the whole area surrounded the car began to glow with a similar coloured aura as small fragments of the windshield levitated upwards before being placed back into where the windshield had been, each fragment neatly fusing together. The magic even picked up and re-attached the right-side wing mirror, which had detached when the car had rolled onto its side. All the small bits of damage in the bodywork were also fixed.

Finally, Twilight relaxed, her magical aura subsiding.

Alex simply stared at his now fully repaired (albeit still dirty) car, his jaw hanging wide open. His mind was rushing with thoughts right about now.

"Umm......" He mumbled, trying desperately to keep his emotions under control.

He twitched a little bit.

"...well. That's, erm...That's a thing, ain't it?" He declared as calmly as possible. "Thanks for...er...f-fixing my car."

“How are you so calm about this?” Asked Twilight, perplexed by Alex’s attitude.

“Oh, I’m not actually.” The Dirt Prince replied. “I may look cool, calm and relaxed. But inside, I am freaking out so hard right now. I have a lot of emotions bottled up at the moment. In fact, hold on…”

Alex took a few steps back, giving himself a bit more space.

“What are you doing?”

“If I’m going to go about this properly, I need to get all of my panic out of my system”

He then took a deep breath, placed both his hands on his head and finally released the Freak-out.

"I'M GONNA DIE! OH, MY FAMILY! I'LL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN! AAH, I'M GONNA BE STUCK HERE FOREVER WITH MAGICAL TALKING HORSES! WHERE ARE YOU, CAMERON?? AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

He then calmed himself down, acting as if that freak-out never happened.

"Okay, I'm good now. So, with that all out of my system, I should be fine to-"

He had to stop himself again, however, as there was still a little bit of Freak-out that needed to be released.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!! OH GOD!! EVERYTHING IS HORRIBLE!! I'M GONNA DIE!!"

Now he was done.

"Okay, I'm all good now. I think I got it all out. Now, I can calmly and rationally work out where to go from here".

Twilight pondered for a moment.

"I guess the best thing to do would be to be to let Princess Celestia and Princess Luna know about your dilemma. If anyone can help you, they can".

"Well, that's good and all, but as powerful as these Princesses may be, I'm going to need more than that to get home. Get me to the king and/or queen and then we can get somewhere".

"Small issue with that: There are no kings...or queens. Or at least, there aren't any in Equestria."

"What do you mean there aren't kings or queens?! What kind of monarchy do you have here?"

"Don't worry. The two Princesses are the most powerful beings in all Equestria. If there's a way to get you home, they'll find it. Speaking of them, I had better let them know about your predicament. Head into town and find the Castle of Friendship as soon as you can. You won't miss it"

In a flash of purple light, Twilight disappeared.

"Teleportation as well? Cool".

Alex turned to the remaining two mares.

"Alright, then. To town, I guess".

"Absolutely!" Pinkie Pie replied, a massive grin on her face. "It's only a short way up the road, but it shouldn't take to long to walk-"

"Who said anything about walking?" Alex replied. "If I am the first official sighting of a human in Equestria, then I might as well let everyone know that I'm here. Besides, I'm not going to leave my car behind. It's one of few things I have on this world".

The massive grin on Pinkie's face seemed to grow wider at the mere thought of riding in an alien vehicle. Fluttershy, on the other hand, was naturally quite nervous.

"Are...are you sure? I mean, that accident you had was...uh...p-pretty bad".

"Don't worry. It'll be fine. I was merely going too fast. If it makes you fell any better, I'll take it nice and slow."

"Well...al-alright then. Thank you".

"Okay. Now then, you two get yourselves...oh"

"Is something wrong?"

"Sort of. I just realized that my car has two seats. I'm going to need to use the driver's seat. I guess that means that unless any of you want to walk into town, then someone's going to have to sit on the frames in the...wait, where did Pinkie go?"

It didn't take long for Alex to realize that Pinkie had taken a seat behind the metal bars, leaving Fluttershy to ride shotgun.

"Alright then. Passenger seat for the shy one". Alex declared, leading Fluttershy around to the passenger side and opening the door before lifting the pegasus up into the seat and doing up the safety harness. He was about to head over and get into the driver's seat before realizing something.

"Hey, quick question: does anyone know where my helmet is? I had in on when I crashed".

"Oh, erm...I took it off when I found you. Uh...I put it up on my kitchen counter".

"Okay thanks"

Alex disappeared into Fluttershy's cottage to retrieve his helmet, re-emerging very soon. A quick inspection of the safety device showed no major damage to it.

Finally, Alex clambered into the driver's seat, fastening his helmet up. To his pleasant surprise, he found his bag, still in his footwell.

"That's lucky" He muttered, placing the bag on the back next to Pinkie Pie before tightening up his harness.

"Hey, Fluttershy. Before we set off, can I say something to you?"

"Oh, um...sure."

"Thanks for getting me out of the wreckage".

"That's alright, Alex. I'm always happy to help somepony out".

Deciding not to question to use of the word "somepony", Alex began to flick the switches on the dashboard.

"Ooh! Ooh! Which one activates the laser cannons?" Pinkie asked eagerly.

"What? Erm, Pinkie, this car isn't-"

"Is it this one?"

"No, that's-"

"What about this one?"

"No-"

"This one?"

"Pinkie, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this car doesn't have laser cannons."

"Awww" She replied, disappointed.

Finally, As he set the car back into neutral, Alex pressed his finger against the starter button.

The Fiesta roared into life, causing Fluttershy to release a small "eep!".

"Oooooh, the vibration tickles!" Pinkie declared, giggling.

Alex gripped the steering wheel, happy to have his car back in working condition again. Then, finally, he released the handbrake, set the car into first and gently pressed the throttle.

Much to his delight, the Fiesta burbled away, heading towards town.

Spike was having a great sleep until twilight came back. He was just lying on Twilight's throne, dreaming about gems and Rarity and all sorts of other things Spike would dream about. That is until Twilight used her magic to shake him awake.

"Spike, wake up!" She said to the baby dragon. "I need you to scribe me a letter!"

"Huh? W-W-what?" Spike murmured, still half asleep as he picked himself up off the throne.

"I said I need to you to scribe me a letter. A letter to Princess Celestia, to be precise".

"Can't it wait a little bit longer?" Spike groaned. "I was having such a great nap".

Twilight gave him a dirty look.

"Spike, this isn't something that can simply wait for you to finish enjoying your sleep. This letter is of the utmost importance and it is vital that Princess Celestia receives it as soon as possible".

"What could possibly be so important this time? Another dark force from 1000 years ago attacking Equestria?"

"No, Spike. We found a human".

This woke Spike up. He had spent countless hours helping Twilight to translate dozens of Ancient Equestrian documents, so he had been familiar with the various stories about humans. They both scared him and amazed him.

"You...found a human? A real life human?"

"Yes, Spike. In fact, the human is on his way here now".

The purple dragon was too shocked to speak.

"Are you ready to write that letter now?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Yes! Right away!"

Twilight handed Spike a parchment and quill. The dragon then began to write out a letter from Twilight to her mentor, with the purple alicorn instructing him what to put down.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I write to you with the utmost urgency. Earlier today, I was informed by Fluttershy about the discovery of a new species. However, arriving at her cottage, where she was taking care of it, I discovered that she had come across a member of the mythical species commonly referred to as "Human". Don't worry. Despite past stories telling of possible encounters with humans in the past, this one doesn't seem particularly violent, just more confused than anything else. As far as I can tell, this human comes from another world and is stuck on ours with seemingly no clue as to how he got here or how to return home and I honestly feel as if we should at least try to help him do so. Please get back to me as soon as possible

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

P.S.: He calls himself Alex

"Is that all?"

"Yep, that's about it. You can send it now".

Spike nodded, breathing out a puff of green smoke, causing the scroll to disappear.

"So, what you said about this human..."Alex", wasn't it? Is it true?"

"What?"

"About him not being as violent as some of the other humans described in the transcripts?"

Twilight sighed.

"I hope so, Spike. I really do. I mean, as I said, he doesn't seem particularly violent, just confused. But I fear that this confusion may, at worst, turn to violence".

"Let's just hope that this isn't the case".

"Yeah. I guess so. I just hope Princess Celestia replies soon..."

The Part Where a Train Races a Car

The citizens of Ponyville were kind of accustomed to strange occurrences at this point. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek, Parasprites, Bugbears, Ursa Minors. All of these incidents the townsfolk had witnessed and survived through. But not even their years of experiences with occurrences like these could prepare them for the arrival of Alex, as the S2000 buzzed over the bridge and into town. The residents watched the car burble past, all looking at it with fear. Some just turned and fled, fearing the worst.

The Dirt Prince didn't take must notice of this, however, instead choosing to keep his eyes focused ahead of him, humming Black Hole Sun as he drove. He liked that song.

In the passenger seat next to him, Fluttershy was now feeling much more comfortable about being in an alien vehicle. The vibrations had become more soothing now than anything else. Yet despite this, she still felt a little bit on edge, as if the vehicle would come alive and eat her at any moment.

Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, felt no such feelings, happily waving to everyone as they passed by.

Eventually, the car came to a halt just before the doors of a large crystalline castle, towering over the rest of the town.

"Huh. I guess that's the Castle of Friendship" Alex said to himself as he removed his helmet and dropped it into the footwell, not really taking too fondly to the name. He made a mental note to himself that it looked more like a giant treehouse than an actual castle as he switched the Fiesta off.

The group of three climbed out of the car and stepped up to the front doors, a crowd of ponies curiously watching from afar.

Looking over her shoulder, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at all of the eyes looking in her direction.

"Don't worry about them" Alex reassured her. "They're just staring. Just ignore them and everything will be fine".

He knocked on the door.

Initially, there was no reply, prompting him to knock a bit louder.

"Hang on, can you give me a sec?" Came a faint reply from within.

The three spent a short while after that waiting for someone to answer the door.

"Does Twilight usually take this long?"

Before either of the two ponies next to him could answer that question, they heard the sound of tiny feet running up to the doors before they flung open.

"Sorry about that. Had to send out a few more letters for Twi-"

An awkward silence descended over the group as Alex stared in shock at the talking purple and green dragon looking up at him.

Eventually, Alex brought himself to speak.

"Erm...hey, you two...is that-?"

"A dragon? Yuppers!" Pinkie replied happily. "Alex, meet Spike! Spike, meet Alex!"

The two stared at each other for a few more seconds before Spike decided to try and break the ice, clearing his throat.

"Sorry. I'm kinda nervous. It's just that I've heard so many myths about humans and now I actually get to meet one"

This prompted Alex to speak.

"I guess I can relate to that a little bit. Where I'm from, dragons are mythical as well....and apparently quite a bit bigger".

"Oh, much bigger dragons exist in other parts of the world. Besides, I was a big dragon at one point. It was not a good experience".

Alex was about to continue the conversation on further, when he noticed something. Fluttershy was still standing next to him, but Pinkie Pie had completely disappeared.

"Hey, where did-"

"I'M UP HERE, SILLY BILLY!"

Looking up, Alex's confusion was answered, as he noticed the pink mare standing on one of the balconies overlooking the town.

"HI!" She yelled down to them, waving with a big smile on her face.

This only served to make Alex even more confused. He hadn't seen Pinkie go through the doorway.

"But...what...how did she-?"

"Don't question it." Spike said to him, giving a dismissive wave of the hand. "It's Pinkie Pie. Even after all the time we've known her, she still confuses us."

Deciding to follow Spike's advice, Alex opted to simply not question it. Heck, after having met Fluttershy, Pinkie and Twilight earlier, he had stopped questioning the world he bore witness to.

The baby dragon led Alex and Fluttershy into the castle, closing the door on the crowd of onlookers behind them.

As he was led up the steps and through the corridors, Alex took in his surroundings. He had been in a handful of castles in his life (all in his home country), but none were quite as aesthetically pleasing as this one. Everything from the stained glass windows to the crystalline pillars seemed to have been crafted by angels.

The group of three finally stepped through a large pair of doors into the throne room, where Twilight and Pinkie Pie were looking over a large, seemingly holographic map, surrounded by six large thrones (and a seventh small one).

"Ah, good! You made it!" Twilight exclaimed as she noticed the three standing before her. "I take it you didn't have too much difficulty finding the castle"

"None whatsoever. It's literally the tallest building in the area. Plus, since cars haven't been invented here, I can just park pretty much anywhere".

"Not if you were in Manehattan, you wouldn't. Anyway, I've taken the liberty of contacting Princess Celestia, who we should be hearing back from anytime soon. Spike and I have also contacted some friends of ours and they should be here-"

A distant knocking sound echoed from the way Alex, Fluttershy and Spike had come.

"Well...now, would you believe?" Twilight finished as Spike scuttled off to answer the door. "In the meantime, would it be alright if I...well, ask you some questions?"

"Oh, not at all. I've had quite a few interviews in my life, so another one should be a breeze".

It was at this point where the doors opened again and Spike re-entered the room, followed by a palomino earth-pony in a stetson, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and a light grey unicorn with a purple mane.

"Ah, good! You made it!" Twilight said to the three as they entered. "Thank you for coming here on such short notice".

"That's quite alright, Twilight" The light grey unicorn replied, Ryan making note of her posh accent. "We wouldn't want to miss out on a situation quite as important as this one".

The rainbow-haired pegasus didn't say anything, simply hovering over to Alex, eyeballing him, obviously suspicious.

"So you're the human, huh?" She asked, trying to sound as tough as possible.

"Uhh...Yes." Alex replied, a bit taken aback by the aggressiveness of the pegasus. "Hi".

The pegasus didn't reply. She just hovered around him, suspicious of the newly arrived human.

"Don't mind her, darling" The Unicorn said to him reassuringly. "She's just being a bit protective"

She extended a hoof.

"The name's Rarity. That's Rainbow Dash. Pleasure to meet you".

It took Alex a few moments to realize that this was essentially the pony equivalent of a handshake, gripping the mare's hoof and shaking it.

"Thanks. Name's Alex".

No sooner had he released the unicorn's hoof, he found his hand caught in the grip of the Applejack's hoof, as the palomino shook it. Like, really shook it.

"Howdy, partner! I'm Applejack and on behalf of the Apple family of Sweet Apple Acres, I bid y'all warm welcome to Equestria!" She declared happily in her typical southern drawl. Eventually, mercifully, she released Alex's hand before it ended up coming off.

"Uh, yeah...thanks....Ow...Nice grip" He muttered, nursing his wrist.

"Hey, Twilight, not that I don't want to be here, but this can't be the only reason you called us out here, right?" Rainbow asked, clearly unimpressed with the human.

"Actually, it's exactly why I asked for you. Alex is apparently from another dimension and will need our help to get home. Until we can help him, I thought that it would be best if we got to know him a little better. Besides, this may be the first time that a human has actually been seen in this world."

She produced a parchment and quill, before pulling up a stool for Alex. As the six ponies (and Spike) sat down on their thrones, Alex placed himself on the stool, right between Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

"So, what? Is this like an interview or something?"

"Effectively, yes. It's just a way for us to get to know you and perhaps gleam a little bit of knowledge about humanity. Don't worry about telling us how you got here, we'll discuss that with the princesses if we get a reply from them".

"Alright then. So where do you want me to start?"

"Well, tell us about yourself. Name, gender, where you're from, things like that".

"Okay, I'll...I'll see what I can do".

Alex cleared his throat as Twilight readied her quill.

"Hi there. I'm Alex. Alexander Charles McKraken. I'm a human male, aged 24 from a country known as the United Kingdom. Currently, I live in the Alpes-Maritimes region of a nation known as France on a ranch all by myself. I had formal education at school from the age of 4 until I was 16, at which point I went off and studied four subjects for my A-Levels: Technology, History, IT and Maths. Once I had finished A-Levels, I spent about a year doing a university course in Mechanical Engineering before realizing that it really wasn't for me, dropping out to focus on my career."

He stopped for a moment, trying to gauge the reactions of the group. Twilight was rapidly writing notes down, seemingly intrigued by what he had studied back at school. Rainbow seemed as bored as all hell. Rarity seemed less focused on what he was saying and more focused on the suit he was wearing. Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike just seemed to be listening in. As for Pinkie Pie, she wasn't even looking in Alex's direction, seemingly distracted by a fly on the wall.

"Erm...where do you want me to go from here?"

"How about diet? What does a Human like yourself consume to live?"

Alex stopped. He knew that what he was about to say would not be something the six would want to hear. Regardless, he pressed on anyway.

"Well...I guess you can consider humans as Omnivores, as in we eat both meat and plants. I personally prefer the former over the latter".

He stopped to gauge the reaction of the group. As expected, all six of them (plus spike) carried horrified looks on their face.

"Don't worry, I don't eat ponies" He reassured them, chuckling. "I did try it when I went to Thailand, mind you. It was alright, but I'm not in any real hurry to eat it again".

This helped them to calm down a bit.

"I also like junk food"

This helped them calm down a bit more.

"Anything else?"

"Ah'd like to know about that mighty strange contraption outside. That's yours, ah presume"

"It is indeed. It's called an automobile or "car" for short. It's basically like a carriage, but with an engine instead. The general purpose of a car is to allow the driver and passengers to get from Point A to Point B like most other forms of transportation. Some cars do have a different purpose than others, though. Some are made for luxury, whilst some are made for speed."

"What about yours, darling?"

"Oh, my car? Competition. It's called the Ford Fiesta S2000. Ford is the company that built it, Fiesta is the model it is based on and S2000 is the classification of car it is part of. It weighs 1.2 tonnes and produces about 280 horsepower - that's a measurement of power, I might add - from a 2.0 litre engine."

The talk of competition had piqued Rainbow Dash's interest.

"How fast does it go?"

"Top speed...honestly, I don't know. I've never actually found out. All I can say is that the acceleration is nuts".

“Do they have-”

“No, Spike, they do not have laser cannons. Sorry”

The dragon’s face fell in disappointment.

Alex looked over at Twilight. The alicorn had stopped writing notes and appeared to be pondering something.

“Is something wrong, Twilight?” Fluttershy

“Hmm? Sorry, I was just trying to remember something. It’s just... I think I’ve seen something like Alex’s...erm, car...before. I’m just trying to place a hoof on where-”

The answer dawned on her very quickly.

“Horseapples!” She declared. “Of course I’ve seen them before! They were everywhere in Sunset’s world! How could I have missed them?!...No, it’s fine. We all make mistakes. Anyway, does anyone else have any other questions, or do you want me to continue?”

“Oh, I’ve got one, darling. Alex, why do you-”

Before to presumably ask about Alex’s racing suit, Spike let out a small yelp, clutching his stomach.

“Hang on...I think a letter’s com-BUUUUUUUURP!”

With a loud hearty belch, Spike launched a small jet of green flame out of his maw. Much to the surprise of Alex, a sealed scroll materialised out of the fire, dropping onto the table.

“Okay, that’s pretty cool”. Alex said to no one in particular.

Using her magic, Twilight picked up the scroll, opened it and began to read.

Dear Twilight,

Thank you for bringing this to my attention as soon as possible. My sister and I have been well aware of the myth of Humanity, but are still very much surprised by this revelation. If it is true that this human comes from another world, then we must do everything in our power to help him return home. Please bring Alex up to Canterlot Castle as soon as possible, so we can meet him in person.

Also, I recommend caution. Whilst it may seem like Alex isn't particularly violent, this is the first proper encounter any Equestrian being has had with a human, so we are not sure as to what facts are true or false.

I wish you, your friends and Alex a safe journey.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia.

"Good news, Alex! The Princesses want to meet you in person."

“And they can help me get back home, right?”

“Should be. Like I said, they are the most powerful beings in all Equestria.”

“Worth a shot then, I guess. When are we heading out?”

“Shoot, how ‘bout now? The princesses did ask to see us pronto” Applejack replied.

‘Sounds like a plan”

Twilight produced a piece of paper, writing a few things down before handing it to Spike.

“This is a list of things that I need you to do while I’m gone. We shouldn't be too long, probably just a couple of hours. But still, please try and get them done before we come back, alright?"

Spike smiled happily. "Glad to be of help. Good luck in Canterlot!" He said to the group before scuttling off to get his jobs started.

"Wait, I just though of something. What do we do about my car? I can't just leave it here"

"How 'bout y'all store it at Sweet Apple Acres? We've got plenty a space and we're always happy to help".

"Great. That works. Thanks, A.J."

"That's settled then. Alright everypony, let's make tracks".

The seven got up from the table and began to head over to the door. However, as Alex stood up, he saw something out of one of the windows that caught his attention.

Quite far off in the distance seemed two rather large groups of mountains on either side of the view, with Ponyville being placed right in the middle. However, this wasn't the thing that caught the human's attention. High up on one of the mountains on the right side sat what could only be described as a castle (and one that looked like a castle) built into the cliff face. It didn't actually seem that far away, either. Probably just a few miles at best.

"Uh, Twilight? Don't mind me asking, but who's castle is that up there?"

"Oh, that's Canterlot Castle. It shouldn't take to long to get there. The express train usually takes about half an hour if it's running on time. We'd better get down ther-"

"Hold on a minute!" Alex exclaimed, stopping everyone in their tracks. "Let me see if I've got this right: our destination is right there. It can't be more than just a few miles away...and we have to take the train?"

"Well, yeah. Pretty much, sugarcube." Applejack said to him. "The railroads 'round these parts are the fastest mode of transportation for us pony folk".

Before Alex could say anything else, an idea came to him.

"Is it at all possible to get to Canterlot by means of land-based transport?"

"Yes, but-"

Applejack got no further. The very moment she said "yes", Alex bolted to the doors, crashing through them as if he was a rugby player before running on.

Almost instantly, Twilight knew what he was doing.

"Uh oh". She uttered before lighting up her horn and disappearing in a flash.

She re-appeared in front of Alex at the bottom of the main stairwell, just as he was about to open the main doors.

"Alex, I know what you're thinking of doing and what you're thinking of doing is a bad idea!"

"Wait, what's he thinking of doing?" Called out Rainbow Dash as she quickly caught up to the two, ahead of the others.

"He was going to drive his car to Canterlot".

"And that's exactly what I plan on doing". Alex replied. "Look, I've got nothing against steam trains. I actually like them. They're absolutely magnificent, the technology is remarkable. But the thing is, compared to my car, they're about seventy or eighty years out of date. Besides, I'm pretty sure my Fiesta can get to our destination much faster than an express train can."

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Yeah, right. I may be the fastest in Equestria, but even I know how fast the express can be on a good day".

"Right, and how often are these "good days"?"

"That doesn't matter. There is no way that a box on wheels is going to be faster through the mountains".

The human couldn't help but smirk. "Is that a challenge, Miss Dash?"

Rainbow thought about it for a moment. "You know, I guess it is".

"Please don't encourage each other" Twilight groaned.

"Too late" They both replied at the same time.

"So, Dashie. Since you're so confident that I can't win, how about a little race?"

The pegasus raised an eyebrow.

"A race? Well, now you're speaking my language! What's the deal?" She asked, followed by an audible groan from Twilight as she promptly face-hoofed.

"Simple: You and your friends on the train against me in my car. The winner is the first one to reach the Canterlot Train Station".

The other four had arrived on the scene at this point and had picked up on Alex's proposal.

"Darling, I don't think it's entirely wise to challenge someone like Rainbow to a race" Rarity interjected. "She can end up getting incredibly competitive in these kind of situations".

"Well then, you've never met anyone quite like me".

"Um...also, if you don't mind me pointing out...racing up those mountains could be a bit, well...dangerous and after, you know, what happened to you when I found you...I-I don't want anything bad to happen to you".

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. I'm a professional. Driving on dangerous roads is pretty much second nature to me. What happened there was just one of those rare things. "

"Beg pardon, but what are y'all talkin' about?"

"Oh, I went and crashed my car a short while back. Fluttershy pulled me out, Twilight fixed my car. No big deal". Alex replied before turning back to Rainbow. "So, you in or what?"

She couldn't help but smirk.

"Is grass green? Is water wet? Of course I'm in!"

"Before you two go and do something that you're going to regret, Alex probably doesn't even know the way to Canterlot." Twilight went and pointed out.

"True" The Dirt Prince replied "But I think I know who does".

He stared at Twilight, with the princess instantly picking up on what he was saying.

On the one hand, she wanted to say no. She could tell just how dangerous Alex's car could be, judging from the aftermath of his crash. She knew that if he had an accident travelling along that road and ended up going over the edge, that would be curtains for the human. On the other hand, however, her curiosity was getting the better of her. She wanted to see firsthand just how Alex's car worked. Besides, if Alex did go off, she could easily teleport him back onto the road again.

"There's no dissuading you, is there?"

"Not really, no".

The alicorn sighed.

"Alright, fine. I'll come with you up that mountain".

"Sweet!" Alex exclaimed, grinning. "Okay, change of plans: Rainbow, it's now you, AJ, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie on the train against Twilight and I in my car. The race starts...how about now?"

"Sounds good to me" The pegasus replied confidently before quickly blurting out "READYSETGO!"

With that, Rainbow Dash burst through the doors and took off towards the train station as fast as her wings could carry her.

"Wow" Alex said, stunned at the sheer speed of the rainbow pony. "Do all pegasi travel that fast or is that just her?"

"Just her....oh, and a few others as well. But mostly just her".

As Rainbow Dash rapidly disappeared, the other four trotted off after her in nowhere near as much of a rush as their friend. They knew the express wouldn’t leave for another few minutes.

Alex, on the other hand, bolted out of the door and went straight for his car, with Twilight in hot pursuit.

Unfortunately, they found that the Fiesta had been swarmed by the townsfolk, crowding around it and curiously murmuring as to just what the vehicle was.

“Alright you lot, move it!” Alex declared, causing the crowd to jump back several yards. “Move along, move along! Nothing to see here!”

As the crowd parted nervously, Alex clambered into the driver’s seat, pulling on his helmet.

“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this” Twilight muttered, jumping up into the passenger seat before recognising the safety harness, using her magic to buckle herself in.

“Oh, don’t be like that” Alex reassured her, flipping the switches on the dashboard. “Think about it this way: you’re about to be the first pony to travel in a car at speed, so that’s something.”

Now completely set up, Alex’s hand hovered over the starter button. However, before he could press it, an idea came to him.

“One moment, please” He muttered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his mobile phone. “Could you hold this please?”

As Twilight gripped the phone with her magic, Alex turned it on, navigating the menu.

“So what is this thing? Will it get us to Canterlot faster?”

“Hmm? Oh no, nothing like that. Just a little something for the journey”.

Just as the Dirt Prince hit one final button, music began to come blaring out of the phone at maximum volume.

Twilight was confused.

"Music? Why music?"

"Just a little something to help me drive. Alright, which way will get us to Canterlot?"

"Well, you're going to want to go right by these buildings over here and then continue on to the-"

Before Twilight could finish, Alex jammed his finger on the ingition, with the sudden roar of the car causing the crowd to seemingly leap back several feet. He then depressed the handbrake and jammed his foot against the accelerator, with the g-forces of the sudden launch forcing the alicorn against the back of the seat.

As the Fiesta went roaring away, Alex sent it sliding around past the buildings to their right. This led to an almost straight run past Town Hall and up to one of the bridges leading out of town.

No sooner had the car finished swinging round, Alex slammed the throttle back down again, launching the car towards the bridge.

As it drew closer, the car continued to rapidly build speed. 40 miles per hour became 50 became 60 became 70, pushing Twilight deeper and deeper into her seat, with her friends just blurs as they went roaring past them. Any pony that just so happened to be in the way of the Fiesta ended up having to leap out of the way.

"THIS IS THE WAY, RIGHT?!" Alex yelled, trying to be heard over the sound of the engine.

"YES!" Replied Twilight, now fearing for her life.

"ALRIGHTY THEN! HOLD ON!"

With the alicorn trying as hard as possible to follow Alex's instructions, the Fiesta launched itself over the bridge. The two inside were lifted out of their seats, leaving them suspended in midair for what felt like an eternity, despite being only a few seconds before the car came crashing back down on all four wheels with a massive thud, jolting them.

No sooner had the car landed, Alex slammed his foot back onto the throttle, launching the car up the road once again. With the aftershocks of the jolt dying off, Twilight looked out of the windshield, gazing up at the mountains looming over them.

Her blood began to run cold. Her she was in a metal box on wheels, hurtling towards said mountains, driven by an apparently mythical being with seemingly no regards for safety.

Alex didn't seem to feel the same sense of dread, opting to yell along to the music instead.

Whilst Alex and Twilight blasted towards Canterlot, Rainbow Dash sat in her seat, watching the landscape as it rolled by, trying to catch sight of the Fiesta.

When she had stepped onto the train, she had been dead certain that the train would win. For several years, there had never been a network of travel faster and more reliable than the Equestrian Railroad.

However, as she had been waiting for her friends, she had spotted the Fiesta flying past.

Suddenly, she had been feeling a lot less certain.

On the one hand, the train generally had less distance to cover than the car. The road seemed to wind its way around the mountains, whilst thanks to more up-to-date technology, the railroad could cut right through it. On the other hand, she had no idea how fast the Fiesta could go. The express was usually capable of a handy 70mph. However, this was usually on a more safer part track, usually in a wide open area with no sharp bends.

Currently, it was travelling nowhere near 70. Roughly 30 or 40mph would have been a closer estimate at this time.

Plus, from what she had seen, she could guess that the car was capable of going quite a bit faster.

As she continued to watch, the other four were sat on the other side of the carriage, eagerly chatting about their new friend.

"-AND THEN IT WAS ALL LIKE NEEEEEYOOOOWWWW!"

"Erm, Kinda loud...isn't it?"

"That thing was goin' faster than Rarity when she wants ta get to one a those fancy fashion shows".

"Very funny, Applejack."

Rainbow didn't say anything. However, if she had, she would have probably made a comment in regards to the sound. Quite simply, no one in Equestria had ever heard a sound quite like what the Fiesta made. To the pegasus, it sounded like an Ursa Major gargling bees.

As the train rounded another long bend, continuing to gain altitude, it passed by a section of pathway on Rainbow Dash's side. It was a short straight section, with a tunnel at either end.

She began to hear the noise again. It was quite distant, but she could hear it getting closer.

Then, sure enough, she finally caught sight of the car again as it came blazing out o the tunnel, doing a speed that she could see was clearly much faster than the express.

"HEY, THERE THEY ARE!"

The other four bolted over to the other side of the carriage just in time to watch the Fiesta disappear into a tunnel, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.

The others were in awe. Not just with the speed of the car, but with Alex's bravery. The Ponyville to Canterlot road didn't seem like the safest road in the world, so someone who had never been up it going along at that speed was simply extraordinary.

Rainbow Dash, however, couldn't help but feel worried. As much as she herself was impressed. She really wanted to win this race.

"Please don't let me down now, train".

Another track came blaring out of the phone as the car raced through the rock tunnel.

Unfortunately for Twilight, this did very little to help take her mind off the fact that Alex was driving DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO THE CLIFFS ON EITHER SIDE!

This wasn't an exaggeration either. If Alex turned too much when negotiating one of these bends, the car would end up crashing into the rock face on the inside of the turn. However, if he didn't turn enough, they would end up flying over the sheer drop on the outside.

Not that this really seemed to phase Alex, who continued to drive the Fiesta as if he had sat on a wasp, kicking the back end of the car out at each turn.

However, even he knew that the route was becoming more dangerous, his loud yelling in time with the music being replaced by quiet mumbling, as his face bore a look of concentration.

He briefly glanced down at the fuel gauge. It read as being just a little bit under half full. This was of no major concern at the moment, but could become something major if left unchecked.

"Since they don't have cars, chances are that they haven't gotten around to refining petrol. Perhaps I can ask Twilight to replicate some of the fuel in the tank". He thought.

His focus quickly returned to the path ahead, as the car continued to blast up the mountain towards Canterlot. Turn after turn, miles after mile, they continued to gradually gain altitude. They also began to see less and less of the train as well. Sightings of the express went from "Up close and personal" to "way off in the distance", to just stopping entirely. Alex didn't know how to call this. Either the car was ahead or the train was but either way, one of them was winning.

Besides, Canterlot was now much more visible than it had been a while back. In fact, there were literally just a few more bends to negotiate and they would be right outside the-

"STALLION!" Yelled out Twilight, as the Fiesta slid around yet another turn.

Sure enough, stood right in the path of the car was a dark green stallion, who had just recognized the danger he was in and had begun rapidly backpedaling, looking as if his life was flashing before his eyes!

Before the stallion could become a squishy mess on the windshield, Alex suddenly jerked the steering wheel away. The direction change wasn't much, but it was enough to allow the Fiesta to narrowly miss the pony.

This didn't, however, prevent the left rear wheel from dipping over the edge of the cliff, sending a jolt through the suspension when it left the road. Whilst Twilight let out a loud scream in shock, Alex remained unfazed, turning the wheel again and allowing the wheel to hop back up onto the road again when the turn came to an end.

"WOO-HOO-HOO, HOLY CRAP! MY HEART KIND OF SKIPPED A BEAT THERE!" Alex declared, grinning like a madman.

"ALEX...ALEX, YOU MIGHT WANT TO THINK ABOUT SLOWING DOWN!" Twilight said to him. "WE'RE GOING TO START COMING UP ON A LOT MORE PONIES!"

"DON'T WORRY, I'LL SLOW DOWN WHEN WE'RE HEADING INTO CANTERLOT!" He replied confidently.

"Oh sweet Celestia, what did I do to deserve this?!" Twilight thought, seriously regretting her decision to ride with the human.

Unfortunately for the princess, things didn't get particularly better as they closed in on their destination. As the got closer, the amount of ponies on the road became greater and greater. This did at least prompt Alex to slow the car down significantly, but even then he was still travelling at a speed greater than what Twilight would have found comfortable. Any ponies that didn't leap out of the way in fright forced Alex to weave around them.

"'SCUSE ME! PARDON ME! DIRT PRINCE COMING THROUGH! OUT OF THE WAY!"

As the weaving continued, Twilight started to feel a bit queasy. If this continued much longer, than she would end up hurling all over the place.

Until, at long last...

"Is this it?"

"Ye...Yes!"

Finally, Alex slammed the brakes on. As Twilight went flying out of her seat and into the harness, she feared that if it wasn't held together as well as it was, she would have been sent flying through the glass in front of her. Thankfully, everything held together and the car finally came to a stop right outside Canterlot Train Station, with Canterlot itself just a stone's-throw down the road.

Not wanting to hang around to find out the results, Alex rapidly switched off the car before pulling off his harness and leaping out of the car, bolting up the steps and onto the platform. He hoped that the train hadn't arrived before him. Judging by Rainbow, she wouldn't let him forget it if this was the case.

Eventually, the results were finally revealed.

Empty. The tracks before Alex were empty.

He looked over at the rest of the platform. No sign of Rainbow Dash or the others. Just a few bystanders, looking at Alex with fear in their eyes. Either that or they simple didn't notice him.

He looked at the timetable, posted on a wall before looking over positioned right next to it. The next train wasn't due in for a few more minutes.

A smile formed on Alex's face. They'd done it. They'd won.

He chuckled.

"Damn, I'm good". He said to himself as he headed back over to his car.

Twilight had now managed to unbuckle her harness and was now lying on the dirt, staring up at the sky as she panted heavily, the feeling of queasiness slowly subsiding.

Alex knelt down next to her.

"It's alright. We did it. Good job, co-driver" He said, patting her belly.

The Princess groggily waved a hoof.

"Please...please don't do that." She groaned.

“Come on, come on, come on!” Rainbow Dash muttered as the train began to slowly come to a halt. Canterlot station was literally right outside the carriage door.

“Rainbow, honey, take it easy” Rarity reassured her, giving a dismissive wave of the hoof. “It’s not like it’ll be the end of the world if the...erm, what did he call it again...?”

“Car”

“...Car (thank you Fluttershy) got here first”.

“I know that, Rarity. But I still want to win! It’s part of who I am!”

Rainbow’s attention returned to getting off the train as quickly as possible. As the train continued to slow down. It was now at just a crawl.

Finally, the train came to a stop.

“Canterlot!” Called out the guard.

As this last syllable left his mouth, Rainbow Dash threw the carriage door open and leaped out onto the platform. She began to look around rapidly, trying to catch a sight of either Twilight or Alex, but struggling to do so as several other passengers disembarked from the train.

By the time her friends had joined her on the platform, she had already scanned over the station several times.

A smile slowly crept over her face.

“I...I think we won...I-I mean of course we won. Didn’t I tell him that the express was the fastest land transport in Equestria?”

“You did, but you still lost” Called out an all-too familiar voice, attracting the attention of the group.

“Oh no. Surely not”.

The smile on the face of the cyan pegasus faltered as Princess Twilight Sparkle trotted over to the group. Her mane was a mess and her tail was frayed. But regardless, she was here with them.

"DEAR CELESTIA!" Rarity cried. "Twilight, darling, what happened?!"

"Well, if you must know, I've been bounced around, thrown from side to side and was nearly sent both flying off a cliff and crashing into a rock face, both at nearly 100 miles an hour. As far as I can tell, Alex is both brave and crazy to drive a vehicle as dangerous as that car like he did on that road."

The others were about to start asking questions. However, before they could do so, they began to hear music playing not too far away.

"Is that-"

"Probably"

The reunited group of six headed round the side of the station and onto the pathway. Sure enough, sat on the bonnet of his dirty Fiesta was Alex, phone in hand, nodding along to the song playing out of it, basking in his victory.

"Shoot! When y'all said it was fast, you weren't kiddin'" Declared Applejack.

This managed to attract the attention of the human.

"Oh, you're here!" He replied, standing upright and turning off the music. "I was starting to fear that something had happened. Must've had a greater lead than I thought".

"Weren't you...um...scared?"

"Who, me? Oh no, I've been on roads much more dangerous than that. Heck, I've literally driven to the top of a mountain before".

As Alex answered the questions from the others, she had a question of her own formulating in her head. She just needed to wait for the right moment to ask it. The very moment the human finished, she decided to go for it.

"How long have you been here?"

Alex checked his phone.

"Oh, about ten minutes."

Rainbow Dash just stood there in shock, mouths agape. For years, they had known that the Express train had been the way to go. To them, there hadn't been a mode of land transport quicker or more reliable.

And it had just been soundly thrashed by a box on wheels, driven by a madman.

Alex smiled.

"You looked a bit shocked there. That's normal, but I just want you to remember something: today is the day that your world was turned on its head. You wanna know why? Because you're currently in the presence..."

He suddenly through both his arms into the air, his hands clenched into fists as he drew in a deep breath.

"...OF A WINNAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait (depression's a bitch). Hope this chapter is worth it.