Motorization

A line of trucks was thundering through the ancient streets of Canterlot, carrying and towing vehicles, spare parts, fuel... Cider hated it. Mainly because he didn't sleep during the trip back to the city from Badlands, checking up on EVERY car and EVERY part, solving problems here and there, gathering manuals, racing equipment, tools... And now he had to stay at the passenger's seat near Twilight in a head truck of the collumn, since he couldn't drive due to his tiredness. But still, he was happy.

"Still can't believe that we did this, Twiligh," he said in a tired tone, "And now we have all these beauties, no speed limits and wide open roads. Can't wait to test 'em out!"

"Yeah, me too! It's a wonderful chance to improve Equestria's industry, I think. Most of ponies rely on magic, but I think it's a dead end," Twilight replied, but then her voice saddened, "Anyway, I think that we need a lot of effort to push this idea into the minds of Equestrians. They prefer to use outdated technologies like steam engines, even when they have diesels, ugh..."

The man rested his head on the back of his seat. "Yeah, that would be a tough task... In our world we don't have magic that would make everything easier. Our machines are way, way more reliable and powerful than these."

"And what about these? Are they powerful?" Twilight asked, showing her curiosity.

"Yeah, pretty much. For example, there are two MZMA prototypes for Formula-one races, they develop about two hundred and fourty break horsepowers and have a speed limit..." -- Cider tried to concentrate, but eventually gave up -- "Shit, I can't even remember. But still, they are powerful."

"Well, if these machines are powerful, I wonder what machines from your world can do," the princess chuckled and stopped the truck. "Alright, Celestia's and Luna's castle. Get out, I'll go and meet them."

As Cider got out from the ZIL truck, he felt a cool breeze on his face. He felt tired as hell, so he sat on the ground, leaning to the truck's wheel.

"I'll have a quick nap until Twilight shows up," he thought to himself and closed his eyes. However, despite being tired as hell, he couldn't shut his brain down. His thoughts were circling around his go-kart and his race clothes, that he found back in the garage. Something was telling him, that this couldn't be a coincedence, and it was pretty important. However, Cider tried hard to hide these thoughts into the back of his head.

"It's still fucking interesting", he thought, "Just how my stuff came here? Is there any portal? Was it a result of universal fluctuations? Ugh, this makes my head hurt..."

However, Cider didn't manage to overthink himself -- as he felt a tap on his shoulder, he opened his eyes to see Celestia, Luna and Twilight staring down at him.

"Oh, morning, la-a-ads," the man said, trying his best to not yawn in front of the princesses, "I was just thinking."

"Yes, we saw that," Luna said with a giggle, while Cider was getting up. "Must say, you've got a wonderful stack of machinery over here. Twilight told us, that you're eager to test it?"

"Sure I am. But first, I'll sleep for a couple of days!" Cider laughed.

"Good. But Twilight also told us about these machinery's possibilities..." -- Celestia came closer to the truck, investigating it, -- "And I think she's right. We need to develop the interest of Equestrians. Do you have any ideas?"

"I haven't slept for a couple of days! What ideas should I have?" -- Cider grimaced and crossed his arms. Celestia made an apologestic look.

"Sorry, haven't thought about that... But still, we need to resolve this problem..." the white mare held her chin and hummed in thought. As she looked through the collumn of standing trucks, cars and motorcycles, she gave a suggestion, "Maybe we should ask Rarity about this? With her fashion shows, she can make ponies literally drool in awe."

The last phrase catched Cider's attention. "Fashion show, huh... More like a motorshow."

As he met confused looks, the man explained, "You know, back in our world, they build big showrooms, and exhibit all sorts of cars, parts, engines etcetera. You know, you can organize something like that. Maybe yeah, with Rarity's help... But start without me -- I'm tired as hell."

"Sounds like a good idea," Luna replied, "However, static exhibition won't attract many ponies."

"We'll think about it. But not no-o-a-a-aw...", Cider yawned tiredly, "You can have these cars for now. I'll come back in a few days. Promise me, that you will not break anything."

Twilight smiled warmly and put her hand on a man's shoulder. "We won't let you down, Cider, I promise," she said.

"Good. I'm heading home, then. Have fun with these babies."

And the man slowly walked towards the hotel to bury himself in his bed for a couple of days.

A week of preparations before the start of a Canterlot Motorshow passed by like a wind. There was a lot of work for everyone -- while Cider was busy with washing, polishing and shining his vehicles, Rarity came to the Canterlot to take a look at all this machinery, that's been standing in the Royal Hall. And her first impression was...

"Chrome! So much shine and chrome! Cider, why didn't you tell me, that these curves can shine so much?" -- the mare nearly fainted, as she and the man walked inside the hall.

"Well, it was princesses' suggestion. Do you like these women?" Cider smirked, walking alongside Rarity just in case she faints for real.

"Like them? Oh darling, that's an understatement -- I love them!" the unicorn chirped, leaning to the nearby car, which happened to be a ZIL-112S somehow. "For example, this one -- rough, but functional interior, and absolutely fascinating curves!"

"Most of these cars have curves, Rarity. And truth to be told, I love to keep them clean. And now imagine, that all these beauties ride all across Equestria! Wouldn't that be awesome?"

"Uh-huh, now I understand what Twilight meant... But, we need to set all these beauties by their style!" Rarity grinned and stood up. "Twilight has told me, that the show itself will take place at the Royal Garden -- well, the part in front of the castle. So now it's organizing time! We need a tent for each machine, so noone could reveal anything before the start of a show. Also, I think that I'll ask Pinkie for help as well, but keep in mind that her shows can be... Well, tricky. I mean, she can drag you into some sort of an adventure without you even noticing it."

"Got that. Well, I don't mind, if it will help us in promoting the motor industrialisation," Cider chuckled.

"Very well... Let's begin, then!" Rarity said happily. However, after a couple of seconds of thinking, she added:

"Also, we need a new outfit for you. These rags won't do it."

Rarity's approach for the motorshow was new to Cider. As he'd been to a few automotive exhibitions back home, he would expect... Well, a static exhibition. But what Rarity's planned looked more like of a fashion show in her notepad. And now, the man was sitting in a warmed-up ZIL-112S, waiting for a command to roll out from under the tent. As he looked around, he saw that all other cars that Rarity wanted to show off first were standing nearby, prepared by his personal touch. The man was feeling hot, and not because he wore a firesuit (which looked stylish to Rarity, as she's managed to get rid of the oil), but because he was nervous. As he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his glove, he looked towards Twilight, who's been standing nearby. As she saw that Cider was staring at her, she smiled.

"Feeling nervous, Cider?" she giggled.

"Kinda... I feel myself sort of embarassing," the man stated, strenghtening his grip on a steering wheel, "I mean, I'm used to dangerous situations, but not to the crowd."

"Don't worry about that. Just drive along, play with gas pedal. You'll do a couple of circles and everyone will move to the static exhibition," the princess chuckled.

"Still can't believe that she decided to let me drive in front of that crowd, like on a fashion show," Cider sighed. "What's the Rarity's plan, anyway? She told me to drive, but I didn't dig into details."

"Basically, you will drive in these cars because she wants to show off a flagship of different groups -- motorcycles, rally cars, raiders, formulas, etcetera. She believes that the crowd will be intrigued."

"Cool..."

After a couple minutes of waiting, Cider heard a voice of an announcer, coming from a loudspeaker:

"Mares and gentlecolts! Thank you for coming to the very first Canterlot Motorshow! We are pleased to see you here tonight, and we hope that you will be pleased by fascinating vehicles as well."

"Showtime, Twilight," Cider said and put on a pair of sunglasses, "Wish me luck."

"We are going to show you the very best cars of each class in motion before you see the rest. Of course, all of our cars are magnificent, but these are way too good to show them in static. The first one is a two-seater roadster ZIL-112S."

As the man heard the announcer, he pressed the gas pedal, and rode off towards the crowd, maneuvering on narrow garden roads. And after a couple of seconds, he's been blinded by hundreds of photocameras.

"ZIL-112S is a racing roadster, equipped with the 7-liter V8 engine, disc brakes and self-blocking differential. It's capable of reaching the speed of 270 kilometers per hour, and goes from not to 100 kilometers per hour in four seconds!" the announcer continued to speak, while Cider was going through the crowd, that's been standing at both sides of the road.

"Okay... I'm not letting these babies down. I'll do this for these cars..." the man thought, as he kept driving along. As he played with the throttle, the car roared loudly, making a shooting sounds with its exhaust with every RPM drop. As he eventually finished the first circle, he sped to the tent, feeling how the sweat was overflowing. There, Twilight's been waiting, with the next car being ready -- Lada 2908 LSGA.

"Doing good so far, Cider," she cheered the man, as he got from ZIL, "Though you need to present a car itself a bit more."

"Got it, Twilight," the man said while getting inside a hatchback. As he thundered out from the tent, he couldn't hear the announcer, but felt way more confident -- having a roof above his head calmed him down a bit. As he drove past reporters and spectators, he stopped for a couple of times, revving up the engine, that spat fire from its exhaust and deafened the nearby ponies. And they were gawking at the side of a vehicle -- it was white with metal grey wheels, stickers and big numbers "85" all across its body. And it emitted so much power just with its sound, that bystanders could tell -- you don't mess up with this thing. And what about the driver... He began to fit into the situation. His nerver were cooling off, and he felt more and more confident with every cantimeter of the road he passed by.

"To think about it... Everything's not that bad," he mumbled to himsels after finishing another lap of showing off.