It was 11:59 at night on a back alley in Manehattan. A pale green unicorn put on a huge smile and held up a camara in front of the sign for the Flying Hydra Garage. “Come on, Bon Bon. Let’s take a selfie together.”
“When we get finished with this, we’re going to have a talk, Lyra.” The other mare, a tan earth pony with a brighter pink and purple mane, frowned at her friend.
Lyra grabbed her by the neck and pulled her close, snapping the picture. “There! That’s our proof that we were here. Let’s do this.”
Bon Bon sighed and got in the car. There was precious little light in the alley, but the shiny red muscle car still looked menacing in the darkness. The exhaust loped along, reverberating off the brick walls on either side.
Lyra got in behind the wheel. She was still grinning and tapped her hooves on the steering wheel. Bon Bon tightened her seatbelt.
The dashboard clock ticked over to midnight. Lyra dumped the clutch and floored the throttle.
The car screamed forward, tries scrambling for grip. It shot out of the alley, Lyra skidding it sideways onto a wider street, tires smoking. Still sideways, she said, “We’ll need to get on the interstate.”
Bon Bon waited until the car was reasonably straight before unclenching her grip from where she had been bracing. Grumbling under her breath, she unfolded the Manehattan Downtown map.
Lyra swerved around a taxi, still accelerating. Bon Bon unfolded the map. “Take a left at the light.”
It was green. Lyra downshifted and swung around the corner, probably drifting more than really necessary.
“Four blocks, then a right.”
Lyra made it, coming back up to speed.
“Two blocks, quick left-right, then up on the entrance ramp.” Bon Bon barely had time to say it before they were there. Lyra flicked the car through the turns, hustling it far more agilely than a car that old had any right.
The car reached the top of the interstate entrance ramp, getting light on the suspension. Lyra kept her hoof down, grabbing another gear.
“So what did you want to talk about?” she asked as the road spread out in front of them.
Bon Bon shot her a look, briefly risking taking her eyes off the road. “Let’s start with why you made a bet to drive cross-country in under forty hours.”
“Because it seems easy enough.”
That was such a Lyra answer. “All right. Why did you need to buy this car?”
“Because it’s awesome.”
“A normal car is still capable of exceeding the speed limit, gets better fuel economy, and isn’t half as conspicuous.”
“A normal car isn’t awesome.”
Bon Bon didn’t even know why she was asking. But one final question. “And why did you want me to come?”
“Well, it didn’t seem like a good idea for me to drive forty hours straight. Also, navigation. You’re good at that.”
And just like that, she’d managed to introduce a touch of reasonableness into the conversation and slip in a compliment. Bon Bon didn’t know how Lyra did it. Bon Bon also knew she couldn’t stay mad, not when Lyra was still wearing that maniac grin.
She looked back at the road, the little white lines blurring by almost too fast to see. They passed a truck as if it were going backwards. The speed seemed to distort how the nighttime world looked out the windshield.
“What’s next?” Lyra asked.
Bon Bon folded the detailed Manehattan map and picked up the large Equestria-wide map. “We’ll stay on this highway for most of the way.”
“Okay. You can sleep if you want.”
Bon Bon looked at Lyra, and then back to the road. The Manehattan traffic was gone, and there was nothing as far as the headlights could reach. She glanced over at the speedometer, wishing she hadn’t.
But Lyra was nothing if not confident. “I promise, if we get into an accident, you’ll be the first to know.”
Bon Bon couldn’t help but laugh, albeit nervously.
But as the minutes and the miles passed, the drone of the engine seemed to dull her senses. She didn’t even realize she had fallen asleep until Lyra’s hoof touched her shoulder. “Hey. We’re going need gas.”
Bon Bon blinked blearily. The sky seemed grey now, just before dawn. There was a little more traffic now. “Where are we?”
“Um…” Lyra paused, but then shrugged. “I don’t know. Doesn’t really matter, since we’re not there yet.”
Solid logic, but it didn’t help them find a gas station. Bon Bon picked up the highway exit guidebook they had purchased before the trip.
She looked out the windshield, searching for a landmark or a sign. “What was the last place you remember us being?”
“I wasn’t really paying attention. I figured I should probably concentrate on the road, not the signs and stuff off to the side.”
Once again, Bon Bon had a hard time faulting her for that. She leaned over to see how much gasoline was left.
Lyra shifted in her seat. “While you look for a place to stop, I think I’ll bump it up a little. I’ve gotta go and I’d rather do that sooner rather than later.”
Bon Bon saw that the needle of the speedometer was already in the top third of the gauge. She hesitated, but decided not to say anything.
A small sign appeared and Bon Bon got her head up just in time to read it. It was a mile marker. Not as helpful as a town sign, but it might give her some idea of where they were. Sure enough, according to the guidebook, a town with a gas station was coming up. She frowned at the directions on the page.
“Well?” Lyra asked.
“Take the next right.”
Lyra squinted out the windshield. A lone exit sign appeared in the distance.
Bon Bon set her foreleg against the door to brace against the g-forces as the car swung down the curving exit ramp. She read from the book. “Take this street six blocks, then right.”
The car rumbled into town. Bon Bon mentally hoped that no police were hanging around. It seemed a small miracle that they hadn’t been stopped already.
Lyra made the turn. Bon Bon said, “Two blocks, left, then immediate right. Go through the traffic circle and take the third exit.”
“Weird town,” muttered Lyra. “Hope it doesn’t cost us too much time.”
Bon Bon glanced at the map. Five hours had already passed. They were a reasonable distance across the map, well on time.
Lyra made the traffic circle. Bon Bon said, “Okay, take the middle fork and then keep right. The station should be on the left.”
Sure enough, a gas station came into view. It was darkened, but the pumps accepted credit cards.
Lyra pulled up at a pump and sprinted for the building. The door was locked. She danced in place for a moment before zipping around back of the building.
Bon Bon shook her head. She found Lyra’s wallet in the door pocket and swiped a card in the gas pump. The machine accepted it and she began to fill the tank.
Lyra came back, looking relived. She grabbed a squeegee out of a nearby bucket and scrubbed dead bugs off the windshield.
“You want to drive next?” she asked.
“It’s your car,” said Bon Bon.
“Yeah, but it’s our trip. Come on, I want you to have some fun, too.”
Bon Bon smiled. Lyra, as always, had her own way of showing it, but she really cared.
The pump clicked off. Bon Bon stuffed the nozzle back in its holder. The two of them got in and buckled up.
It was the first time Bon Bon had been behind the wheel of this particular car. That suddenly seemed like a rather important limitation.
Lyra said, “Okay, back the way we came. Keep left, merge in.”
Bon Bon followed the directions, getting a feel for the car. She barely had to touch the accelerator to get it to move.
They entered the traffic circle. Lyra said, “First exit. Then, left, two blocks, and then right.”
Bon Bon made the turns, seeing the highway ahead. She nudged the car a little faster. In the mirror, she saw the morning sun peek above the horizon.
Lyra opened a case with two pairs of sunglasses. Bon Bon smiled and took hers, slipping them on.
Lyra tightened her seatbelt. “Okay, take the entrance ramp and then hammer down.”
Bon Bon smiled and put her hoof to the floor.