Chapters Author's Note
Hello everyone! When I was writing this chapter, for some reason I've been listening to "Underwood". Hope you'll enjoy them as much, as I did!
The screaming gun
"So, how's the life, Sid?"
"Sort of good, Spike. I mean, I'm still stuck here, but at least I have a job now, so I will not die from hunger."
"And what's the job?" Spike asked.
"Now I'm testing all the newfound technology from that underground hangar," the man chuckled.
Cider and Spike were riding in an old GAZ through the streets of Canterlot. After sort-of-completing the mission about the Queen Chrysalis, everything's sorted out a bit. The human now was maintaining the special department of the Royal Canterlot armory -- the one, that's been recently filled up with human technologies, that were found under the city of Manehattan. Princess Celestia said once, that she would organise search-and-rescue teams to find more stuff like this, but Cider didn't really care about it, since it didn't help him in getting back to Earth. However, now his life wasn't too bad, too -- Princess Luna has given him a place to stay in one of Canterlot's small hotels, provided him with an unlimited access to fuel depot and also said that if he needed any sort of armament, he should write to her.
"Alrighty, Spike... What's the business today?"
"Twilight and princess Luna said that they will be waiting for you in the castle. And also, they said that there's no rush -- they have a plenty of time today."
"Castle, then... Alright," Cider hummed thoughtfully, "But first I'll get some coffee. Had to get up early this morning."
After stopping by a cafe and getting a hot, steaming coffee, Spike and Cider continued to roll through the streets of Canterlot. The weather was nice, so the human has totally enjoyed the ride in his open-top offroader. However, he couldn't let himself drift into daydreaming too much, so he started a conversation with Spike.
"So... How's Chrysalis? Everything's fine?"
"Yeah, pretty much. However, her wings have changed..." -- Spike made an uncertain gesture with his left hand -- "They've started to glow. Slightly. Starlight keeps telling me, that the same thing has happened to my friend Thorax before his transformation."
"That's good, I guess..." Cider replied, "Not that I like her much, but it will be good if she won't cause any trouble. No more news from Ponyville, I guess?"
"Nope. Since you've moved to Canterlot, there wasn't anything worth mentioning."
"Gah, that's boring... Good thing that Luna has provided me with some work, or I would die from boredom."
Pretty soon, the car's stopped in front of the main gate of the Princesses' castle. After exchanging formalities with guards, Spike and Cider made their way inside. As they came in, Twilight Sparkle, who's been waiting near the door, immidiately greeted them.
"Hi there, Cider! Hello, Spike! Everyone's waiting for you in the Royal Garden."
"Hi there, Twilight," Cider replied softly, "It's nice to meet you too once in a while. Anyways, what's the deal?"
"Well, you've been doing artillery tests with all these guns that you'd found, but this one has impressed even Celestia. The one, that has 203-millimiter caliber," the alicorn smiled back while accompanying the human and the dragon, "When she heard that its shell broke the Crystal Throne, she's called for me and Luna. They want to see it in action."
"That B-4 howitzer? Well, I hope that they have an earplugs!" Cider chuckled, "And they want to fire it from their garden towards... Towards what?"
"The Wonderbolts crew has set a target in the clouds above, so there's no problem with that."
"Well, if you say so..."
As the trio came out to the garden, Cider immidiatelly saw a few ponies in the distance, gathered near the howitzer. As he came closer, he greeted the Princesses, and the Wonderbolts captain, Spitfire.
"Hello everyone. Celestia, Luna -- my pleasure," said the man, while bowing half-jokingly and recieving a chuckle from Celestia, "Spitfire -- nice to meet you too. It's been a while since Manehattan, really."
"Hello there, Cider! Yeah, it's been quite a while. But, let's discuss all this stuff later," the pegasus in uniform said, while pointing to a group of clouds in the clear sky, "That's the target. Our boys have managed to build there a concrete wall, so the detonator of the shell will ignite. Fire when you're ready."
As the man got to the howitzer, he released the hydraulic brakes, that would prevent the chassis from rolling back. Then, after a few ballistic calculations, he managed to aim the gun in right direction (with the help of Spike, or else it would take much more time). After doing so, he's managed to load the shell with a crane, and strap a rope to the firing lever.
"Everyone ready?" he asked the surrounding ponies, while making a few steps back and putting on his armor and helmet. After recieving a nod from everyone, he filled his lungs with air and shouted:
"ARTILLERY!"
As Cider pulled the firing lever, he opened his mouth to ease an impact of the blastwave. However, that didn't help much -- he became deaf for a few seconds right after the gun's shot. The ground under his feet shook, and the massive recoil has made the gun move along with the dirt under its brakes. However, the human didn't lose his bearings, but took a look at the target. After a few seconds of silence, another loud "BOOM" has shaken the skies, and the rest of clouds dissappeared. The only thing that remained on their place, was the smoke from the shell's explosion.
"BULL'S EYE!" Cider shouted... And almost didn't hear himself -- the blastwave had its impact on his ears, after all. "ANYONE CAN HEAR ME?"
As the man looked around, he saw that the glass windows of the nearest section of the castle were broken, and everyone else were lying on the ground. First to regain her bearings was Twilight Sparkle. As she tried to say a few words, she realised that she became temporary deaf, too. As she looked towards Cider, she saw that he was gesturing to his ear. After a few seconds of thinking, Twilight's horn started to glow with purple aura, as well as everybody's heads. After recieving a tingling sensation, Cider realised that he could hear the ambient again.
"Thanks, Twilight," he said, "But that wasn't necessary. We would be deaf only for a limited time."
"Maybe, but still, I want to hear everything," the alicorn chuckled, "But anyway, that was..."
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" suddenly, Spike shouted while getting up. "So much power... O-ho-ho, that's even better than breathing fire! And look at the castle's windows..."
"Yeah, that gun is my favourite. "Stalin's Sledgehammer", as Germans named it. POWER!" the human shouted and threw his fist into the air.
"Woah... And the target is a goner. It's been made from concrete, you know that?" Spitfire said, while scanning the sky.
"Well done, Cider," -- Celestia joined the group along with Luna -- "But next time, please, warn us about the blastwave."
"Also, if you need any tests, or ammunition, just let us know, okay?" -- Luna winked and made a step forward -- "Not only for research, but for your personal purpose, too. I can see how you enjoy all this military stuff, and working with interest improves the final result."
"Sure thing, Luna," Cider said, while heading back to his car, "Spike, Spitfire, are you coming?"
"Nah, I'm cool, Sid. I'll stay with Twilight for the rest of the day," Spike replied.
"I'll go with you, then. Still have nothing to do today," Spitfire said, while coming closer to the human.
"Good. See you later, lads."
And after saying their goodbyes, Cider and Spitfire headed to the soldier's car.
"You know, Cider, I've never been riding in a car before. Really strange feeling," Spitfire stated, "But I like it. It's almost like flying, but except you don't fly."
"Well, humans can't fly. That's why we've invented the internal combustion engine to help us cover big distances," Cider replied, while maneuvering between ponies on the street, "And it really does its job well. Too bad that you ponies use only diesels, and only on construction sites. Steam engines... Archaic. It's like a stagnation."
"Well, we don't really need fancy technologies. We have our wings, strenght and magic," Spitfire shrugged.
"Exactly! And that's why I feel myself useless. What can I do without my car or weaponry? Nothing! Stupid feeling, but I can't get rid of it."
Cider parked the car near the hotel, where he was living, and shut down the engine. As he and Spitfire got out from the vehicle, they headed inside the building. By the entrance, they were greeted by a young unicorn mare with brown mane and white fur.
"Welcome back, Cider! How was the day?" she said, smiling warmly.
"Well enough, Chocola. You?"
"Quite good, too... Wait, is that?.." -- Chocola got up from her seat, and took a look at Spitfire. -- "You're Spitfire? From the Wonderbolts?!"
Spitfire smiled widely. "Yeah, that's me. I'm the captain's friend."
"Woah... Well, it's good, I guess. Not many people can build a nice friendly relationship with a mare of your rank, after all!" Chocola said, grinning. "But before you go, can I have an autograph? Ple-e-ease?"
"Sure thing, miss."
As Cider and Spitfire entered the soldier's room, the pegasus saw that it was quite small, yet cozy. Being located on a second floor of the building, its window was facing the street. The room itself was nothing special -- a bed, a table, a couple of chairs and a closet. On a table, there were lying some books and electronic devices (which were pretty useless without any charger, and were lying like a dead weight). Aside from that, there was only a small fridge. As Spitfire took off her shoes, she moved herself into the room and sat in one of the chairs, while Cider was dealing with his combat boots. When he finally managed to take his boots off, he moved to the fridge and took two bottles of port wine from it.
"Want some? "Three Axes", the most shitty port wine you can find here," he offered with a good piece of sarcasm. Spitfire only laughed a bit.
"Sure thing. I've come to Canterlot to rest, after all."
"But I must warn you -- I have no glasses. Are you okay with that?"
"And why I shouldn't be?"
As Cider opened the bottles, he passed one to Spitfire, and took another for himself. After that, he sat into the second chair near the pegasus.
"Cheers, mate!" the man said, clinging bottles with Spitfire.
"You too, Cider."
As Cider took the first sip, he felt how the warmth began to flow through his body. The man took off his helmet and armor, and put them near the table. The setting sun was gently sending its rays through the window, creating a nice warm atmosphere in the room. White blankets of the bed, walls and interior looked yellowish, like on an old photograph. And Cider smiled in enjoyment, remembering the old times. His dreamy face made Spitfire feel uneasy.
"Hey, Cider... You alright?" she asked. The man only smiled wider.
"Good enough. Just remembering the old times," Cider replied, taking a good gulp from the bottle, "You know, when I was much, much younger. Shit, this was a lo-o-ong time ago..."
The yellow pegasus chuckled, "You know, you've managed to intrigue me!"
"Yeah-yeah... I was something like... Fifteen or sixteen years old, and these times were great. I could hang out with my classmates after school, and the summer was hot as hell. I loved it -- I could do whatever I wanted and whenever I wanted. And also, I was a racer. I loved racing back then... Well, I still love it, but I basically have no money or time. Too bad, I was good enough to beat anyone, heh."
"And what kind of racing you were doing? Wonderbolts can offer you a good challenge, if you want." -- Spitfire lifted her brow, after taking another sip from the bottle.
"Nah, you can't. I was a race car driver. At first, there were go-karts, and then small Formulas. But, it requires a lot of money to participate in such kind of competition, so I ran out of it," the man sighed, "And never came back to doing anything like that again. Ridiculous -- a few meters of steel tubes and a two-stroke engine cost like a good car like mine! Of course, even the smallest kart is much faster than a regular car, but it's fucking expensive. And you ponies don't even have regular cars, so you can't challenge me."
Spitfire blushed deeply, "And why not? You still have your offroader, after all!"
"Because you can fly much faster with your wings than I can ride in a car. Be damned your magic world, but it gave you a couple of nice perks."
Spitfire suddenly felt uncertain. Of course, it's always nice to know that you're better than somebody, but not when that "somebody" doesn't even have a chance to prove himself. So, she took a good gulp from a bottle and faced the ceiling.
"Too bad that you can't even prove yourself, Cider. Even the Wonderbolts team needs a good challenge sometimes. Especially Rainbow Dash... Well, you know her," the mare stated.
"Yup. Heh, it's quite ironic, because I have a piloting licence for light aircraft, but no aircraft to challenge her," Cider replied. As he saw by the look of Spitfire, that she didn't understand, he explained: "Aircraft is a sort of machine, that can fly, using a motor."
"Woah. Cool tech, I must say..."
"Sure thing it is."
After taking an another gulp from the bottle, Cider got up from the chair, and walked towards the window. The view outside was peaceful -- a few ponies walking here and there, and the warm sunrays lighting up the street. The man heavily sighed.
"Spitfire..." he said, and took a pause, "When you were young, did you think that everything is possible? That you can become anyone and do whatever you want? Answer me honestly."
Spitfire hummed quietly, concentrating. "Well... Of course, I thought so. I've always had a passion for perfection, you know. And now I am a captain of the Wonderbolts. And I'm quite happy with that, if you ask me. My life objectives are completed, sort of."
The man smirked and looked straight into the mare's eyes. "That's what I thought. You are very lucky, must say -- back in our world, money is a key factor to success in anything. You can make through all the difficulties, but you must be genious. And that comes to it -- I'm good, but that's not enough."
After finishing his speech, the soldier finished his bottle and came back to Spitfire. After leaving the empty bottle in a bucket near the table, he tiredly sat back in his chair.
"You know, Cider..." -- the mare put her hand on the man's shoulder -- "You may not be a famous racer, or a perfect person in general. But you've still saved Equestria along with the Elements of Harmony. And I'm more than glad to know you personally. Maybe even call a good friend."
As the man felt Spitfire's arm on his shoulder, and as he heard what she said, his heart started to beat faster. He felt a tear come into his eye.
"Thank you. So much."
The pegasus only smiled and leaned closer. Surprisingly for a man, she softly hugged him.
"No probs, mate. Just telling the truth," she said, "And thank you for being honest."
And the pair was sitting, while the warm sun was setting down. The ambient of the street softly loosened the man's mind, and he felt that he had at least a few persons, that he could rely on in this world.
"DP machine gun, 7.62-millimeter caliber versus steel target, full mafazine, take three. Ready..." -- Cider took aim towards the target -- "Fire."
As the man pulled the trigger, the loud banging filled the surroundings. For a soldier, everything felt like in a slow motion -- how the used cartridges were extracting from the gun, how the target has been pierced by bullets... "Bang-bang-bang" -- the gun echoed, until the magazine went empty. After the gun stopped shooting, Cider unloaded its magazine and went to the target to examine it. Its shape was terrible -- ater the gun's firing, it looked like a mess, with all its holes and tears.
"For the record: this one goes with me. I will mount it on my offroader. The tape's still rolling?" the man asked a stallion, who's been standing behind a firing position with a camera.
"All good," he calmly replied. Cider happily sighed and came back to the firing table.
"Very well, then," the soldier tapped a camerapony's shoulder, "We're done here. See you around."
The sun was setting above the shooting range, which was just a few kilometers from Canterlot, being located higher in the mountains. Green grass, great acoustics and noone around -- and what else do you need for a shooting range? And, as another test day passed by, Cider began packing his offroader and was ready to head back to the hotel. But right when he began to put his belongings inside the car, he heard someone's voice behind himself.
"Captain Cider, sir!"
As the man turned around, he saw a pair of buffed Royal Guards. Their golden armor plates shined in the rays of Celestia's sun, which even made his eyes teary.
"Evening, lads," Cider said with a smirk, "How can I help you?"
"We are here to escort you to the Princesses' castle," one of the guards replied, "Princess Celestia wants to meet you immidiately."
"Immidiately? Well, seems like tough shit. Any info besides that?"
"No, sir," the first guard's companion said with a stern face.
"Welp, let's hope that won't take a lot of time..." the man said, while getting inside the car. "You two! Wanna' ride with me or stay behind?"
"We will stay behind, sir," said the first guard.
"Thanks for the offer, sir," replied the second.
"Well, as you wish..."
"So, what's the case, Celestia?" Cider asked, while walking alongside the princess.
"Well, I've told you that our scouts are searching all across Equestria to find vaults similar to the ones in Manehattan and Ponyville," Celestia replied with a smile, "And guess what they've found."
After her last phrase, Celestia handed the man a pack of photographs. As he started to look through them, his eyes widened.
"You are fucking kidding me..." the man swore, and immidiately recieved a glare from the Princess. "Sorry for that. But do you even have an idea, what have you found?"
"What, do you see something specific on these photographs?" the princess asked curiously.
"What I see here... Is a great garage, filled with racing vehicles... And you have no idea, how happy I am right now..."
Cider's joy was understandable. On these photos, he saw an enormous garage, in which were standing old cars of all sorts -- civillian sports, racers, stock cars, motorcycles, trucks, towing platforms, tires, wheels, spare parts... And even on the photos, the place itself looked at least twice as big as the famous Zadorozjny's technical museum. Except the museum was much less dusty.
"Okay, for the record -- you can take all the trucks from the armory and give to anyone for experimenting, researching or else. Because these are going to be my favourite! Just look at all this beauty! Formulas, sportcars, motorcycles... And with tires and spare parts! Your world is truly a wonderful place!" -- the man's mind was overwhelmed, and he began to grin like an idiot.
"I'm glad that you're happy, but there is a big problem, if you want to take all this stuff," Celestia cut the man off, "Because the vault itself is located under the desert of Badlands. And it can fall apart anytime soon, so you need to hurry, and probably get some help."
"Cool, I guess... And how did you find it?" the man looked at Celestia with a puzzled look.
"We didn't find it, really," the princess stated, "It's just shown up in a middle of a desert. One of patrols from a local weather monitoring outpost has spotted the entrance from a height. That was very convinient, if you ask me."
After a quick thinking, the man stated:
"Alright. I'm heading out tomorrow. I need a team of qualified magicians and technicians aside from your tomb raiders," the man smirked, "And I'll probably ask Twilight for help. Thanks for letting me know, Celestia."
The princess smiled warmly. "Good to see your enthusiasm. I will send a team with you tomorrow. And now, good night, Cider."
"Good night, Celestia," the man said, leaving the throne room of the castle. "I'm going to be the Duke of the Motor City," he thought for himself.
A few days later after the conversation with princess Celestia, the man was riding in a train, that sped towards the Badlands -- the unforgiving and harsh desert at the outskirts of Equestria. Before the start of his new trip, he met a crew of well-qualified unicorn specialists and scientists, as well as Twilight Sparkle. And now, while he still had a chance, he was repeating the instructions in front of a big audience.
"In a few hours we will reaach the drop-off point, people," the man started, standing in a middle of a crowded railway carriage, "I really hope that nobody has forgot the basics of car driving that we've learned. I remind you that our task is pretty simple -- as we drop off, me and miss Sparkle go for recon first. All others go after us. Our task is to re-fuel the trucks, your task is to load the remaining stuff on the trailers. After that, we will drive the trucks out, and if anything else remains, we will move it manually. Understood?"
The crowd responded with a hum of agreement.
"Good. Now, you still have a couple of hours before the drop-off. Dismissed!" Cider said with a grin. As the ponies started to walk away, he turned to Twilight and said, "Thanks for accompanying me here. Really appreciate it."
"No worries, Cider! I'm just as enthusiastic as you are," the alicorn replied, "You know, when I first saw your car, I thought that I could study it. And now we will have literally TONS of new material for testing!"
"Don't get too excited, Twilight," the man chuckled, "But I think that you can borrow a car or two. What about the rest... I can say from Celestia's photos: most of tech is pretty old, but there are a couple of interesting machines, like old Formulas, or even prototypes... And there's anoher thing, that's bothering me."
"Well, spill it out," Twilight laughed.
"If all these cars are here... Where are their owners? And did they truly come from my world, or it's just an enormously fat coincedence?"
"Well, I guess that we can only get there and find out..." the alicorn hummed. "Besides, I thought that you don't care."
"Yeah, I don't care. But still, these questions are quite interesting, aren't they?"
"Sure they are, Cider."
As the time passed by, the view outside the window became unfriendly. The Badlands was a massive flat territory of rock and dust, and as far as the eye could see, there was nothing more. And at some point, the train started to slow down, coming to a complete stop soon. As the man looked outside, he could see a small trainstation with a sign on it.
"Badlands weather control outpost... We're here!" the man thought, and in a few seconds, shouted loudly:
"DROP-OFF POINT! EVERYBODY, TAKE ALL THE BELONGINGS, INSTRUMENTS AND FUEL FROM THE CARGO COMPARTMENT AND WAIT OUTSIDE!"
After a few minutes of running and gathering everything, Cider drove his off-roader in front of a crowd, that stood in front of a steam engine. He was accompanied by Twilight Sparkle, who started her speech in front of other ponies.
"Listen up, everypony! Me and Cider are going to go first, so in case of anyhing we will have time to return and warn you. Everybody, follow the south direction, 6 hours five minutes. You shall see the entrance in about two hours of walking. Understood?" As Twilight saw everyone nodding, she finished: "Good luck, everyone! You can go, Cider."
And right after that, the offroader, that was filled with fuel and tools, sped into the unknown of the desert.
The blazing sun was baking the Cider's head, even under the helmet. So, when he finally saw an entrance, being surrounded by a great number of archeologists, he sighed with a relief.
"Well finally! I hope that under the ground there will be a cooler air," he said happily.
"I hope so... Shoosh, I can feel myself overheating..." Twilight responded, as the man parked his car near the improvised camp of the expedition. As he got out from the vehicle, he shouted:
"WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?"
After a few seconds of waiting, he saw an earth pony walking towards him. It had a white mane and a coffee-colored fur. He wore a hard hat, and a pair of glasses, along with a working suit.
"Hello there, mister. Your highness," the stallion bowed before Twilight, "You must be Cider, right? Who does the research of newfound mechanisms? Name's Bone Digger."
"Yeah, that's me. I can see that you weren't wasting time here, eh?" the man asked.
"Yeah, we've done plenty of work before your arrival. Must say -- all this machinery looks fascinating! Come, let's take a look."
After taking the lamp from the trunk of his car, Cider and Twilight followed the Bone Digger inside the wide maw of the vault.
"This entrance looks like an exit of some sort... Maybe an exit from the underground parking or something," the man stated, while lighting up the lamp and investigating the spiral-like shape of the road.
"Indeed! I've seen some ancient places of long passed days -- royalty loved to build places like this one for their chariots. Except, they were much smaller," the stallion replied, and stopped on his path. "Well, here we are."
When Cider stood beside the Bone Digger, his mouth went agape. The garage really looked more like an enormous vault. It's been lit up by an enormous amount of lamps, and different ponies were taking photos with their enormous cameras, making notes, cleaning the machinery from dust with their archeologic equipment... And the size of this garage was impressive -- at least five hundred meters in lenght, three hundred meters in wide and four meters in height. And every single meter of this garage was filled with MINT MACHINERY.
"Twilight..." -- the man facepalmed -- "I am in heaven. We HAVE to dig out all these cars!"
Twilight slightly giggled. "Well, I think you like what you see! Can recognize any of this machinery?"
The group came closer to the first line of cars. Different kinds of trucks were standing, like mighty guardians of the long forgotten treasure room. The man smiled and said:
"Of course! These two are ZIL-4421 SE, for example -- Chris Hodge Racing and factory team, the next one to it -- their towing truck, the next one is MAN, the next one is Caterpillar prototype... I know almost everything about cars," the man grinned widely and looked around, when something caught his attention. "NO FUCKING WAY! ZIL ROADSTERS!"
The man ran to the second line of cars, and literally tried to hug the first car he ran into. "This is ZIS-101 Sport, Twilight. A massive piece of a roadster!"
"Hey, Cider, look! Something lies inside it!" ignoring the man's excited shouts, Twilight said. Cider immidiately stopped talking crap and got up. As he looked inside the car, he saw that some kind of a book was lying on a passenger's seat. He carefully got to the driver's door, and pulled the lever. Without a screech, it opened.
"Wo-ho-ho, everything's in mint condition!" Cider said, being excited, and picked up the book with a piece of metal beside it. Twilight became excited, too.
"Well, what's this?" she asked in joyful tone.
"This is a user's manual, Twilight," the man replied thoughtfully, "It's in Russian, so I can read it. Take a look inside big trucks -- there may be some gear, instructions and other stuff. We will use them to tow all these cars out of here."
"Sure thing, Cider!" the alicorn said in a happy tone. "Oh boy, let me grab the instructions that I will understand -- Equestria will meet the age of motorization," she thought for herself. Everything went smooth by far.
When the rest of the crew from the train arrived to the digsite, the work literally boiled up. Trucks were refuelling and warming up, trailers were filling with cars and other cargo, and archeologists were moving their stuff from the underground. And Cider was controlling everything, with the help of Twilight, of course.
"Twenty trucks with cars and cargo -- check. Ten technical vehicles -- check. Supplies -- check. Looks like that we've managed to pack everything up, Twilight!" the man said with joy in his voice, while tapping the leading truck's door. "Roll out, boys! Go to the trainstation, see you outside!"
"Cider, I think that we've missed a couple of cars! They're standing at the farther side of the garage!" Twilight shouted, trying to beat the roar of many truck engines.
"Alright, let's have a quick look!"
As the last truck rolled out, and a heavy silence filled the place, Cider lit up his lamp and followed Twilight to the farther side of the garage. And she was right -- two cars were standing there. Go-karts, to be more precise.
"A couple of go-karts, huh? And the gear lies inside, too..." the man smirked, while lifting up the dusty helmet, gloves, racing boots and the firesuit from the go-kart's seat. The helmet was nothing too special -- Arai SK-6, which was very common in his world... And the last realisation hit his head like a heavy brick.
"Wait... Wait-wait-wait... This gear doesn't seem too old, like other cars," the man hummed, while taking a look at the helmet. Something in it was intrigueing him. It had a black polycarbonade vizor, a pair of air intakes and exhausts on its head and literally nothing special on it. Its furniture was quite standart, too -- soft pads and a few ventilation holes. So, the man handed the helmet to Twilight Sparkle, who was curious about sudden change of the man's behaviour.
"Is... Is everything alright?" she asked, while putting the helmet on the ground.
"Yeah... Just let me check a couple of things..." Cider hummed, while examinying the firesuit and the rest of the gear. Gloves -- black OMP fire-resistant racing model. Boots -- lightweight, high-heeled, pedal-friendly, made by Puma. And the firesuit, which looked quite fancy, compared to the rest of the gear -- white, with red and golden streaks on its sides, with "Superkart", "Formula Kart Stars", FIA and FOM patches all around it. Some of its parts were covered in oil, but in general, it was a reliable piece of clothing, manufactured by Alpinestars. But, as the man examined it further, he found a patch on its belt, that literally froze his mind.
"SIDOROV" -- bold black letters with golden outlines burned into his mind through his eyes. "No... No-no, th-this can't be..." the man whispered, with eyes as wide as artillery shells.
"What? What's the matter?" the mare beside Cider asked with a worried voice. He immideately shook his head, and looked around the kart. It had sleek green-and-white striped cowling around its metal chassis, that was covered with stickers. As the man wiped the dust from the frontal cowl, he saw a black number "99" on a yellow background. Cider suddenly felt pain in his head and grimaced.
"N-nothing, Twilight... Just nothing..." the man said, focusing on his pain, when he suddenly heard a rumble, coming from the ground.
"Cider! Do you hear that?" the princess said, feeling nervous. A few seconds later, a roaring sound boomed across the garage, and the pair heard the cracking sound.
"That's what Celestia meant! Quickly, get into the kart!" the man shouted, realising, that the garage was going to meet its end in a few seconds. As Twilight sat into the second kart, he praised to anyone that it has been refuelled and operational.
"Got it!" the mare shouted, while putting the gear, that originally laid inside the kart's seat, onto her knees. The man quickly reached her, and looked at the engine to her right hand. Vortex KF3 engine, a very mean machine in bad hands... As the man turned the ignition primer, he shouted to Twilight through the rumble of the garage:
"RIGHT PEDAL IS GAS, LEFT IS THE BRAKE! NOW MOVE!"
After releasing the shout, the man pushed the "Start" button between Twilight's legs. First, there was a popping sound of a cold engine starting, but then, the kart roared, and shot to the exit, nearly throwing Cider to the floor. As Twilight rode off, Cider ran towards his kart, and literally jumped inside it. As he laid the gear onto his knees, he heard a cracking sound just above him.
"Ignition primer, fuel, start..." -- the man thought, and, as the engine roared, sped forward with a massive wheelspin. After that, he heard a booming sound of a falling piece of ceiling behind him, but he didn't look back. As he saw more rocks falling in front of him, he rapidly moved into another lane between the collumns, and pushed the pedal to the floor.
"Not now... I've found THIS today... I will not die now..." the man thought, while maneuvering between the falling pieces of rock. Then, he saw how the large piece of ceiling just near the exit started to crack. The man held his breath and started to count.
"One."
The kart was speeding up, reaching its limit. The wind filled the man's ears, along with the raging sounds of the garage, that was falling apart and the engine, that was screaming at the top of his exhaust.
"Two."
The kart got on the spiral-shaped piece of climbing road, and with a massive wheelspin, sped towards the exit. Cider was driving almost instinctively, as he couldn't see the sun from upwards, and the only source of light right now was the lamp, that he held between his legs.
"Three. Liftoff."
As the go-kart reached the exit, it looked more like a ramp. But Cider didn't care -- as he pushed the gas pedal, the machine shot to freedom, jumping highly due to the angle of an entrance. As the man felt the fresh air, he drove for about one hundred meters away from the garage entrance, and saw, how it collapsed. While turning the engine off, he stood up from his kart and looked towards the former treasure chamber, when he felt a tight hug from his back.
"Cider! You are okay, thank Celestia!" a familiar voice of Twilight Sparkle warmed Cider's head.
"I guess so, Twilight... I guess so..."
The man tiredly sat on the ground near his go-kart. The place, that a few hours ago had been a treasure chamber, became a mess with a cloud of dust above its former entrance. But the most worrying thing for Cider was gear, that laid inside his kart.
HIS gear.
Long time ago, he was a racer. But these times passed, and all his racing clothes were collecting dust at the farther end of his flat. And now, his go-kart, his gear and his memories came back for no literal reason. And nearly killed him, to think about it...
"That's sure an interesting thing. What shall I do now?" the man thought, "Still, don't need to lose my head. I'll just be happy that my favourite things are with me now."
The man stood up and walked towards his go-kart. As Twilight has been already sitting in hers, she smiled.
"So, Cider, ready to roll out?"
"Hell yes I do. You have the compass, so I will follow you," the man said with a smile. And, as two engines roared, the pair shot into the night, riding on the flat and dusty landscape of the Badlands towards the trainstation.
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.
The motorshow was going on without a hitch. Ponies, griffons and some other creatures were walking here and there, fascinated by cars of all sorts. For some reason, the most adored by public was a Le Mans racer Chevrolet Corvette, which had Allan Anderson's and Rob Luerre's names on its doors for some reason. Though, the car did really look good: white body with blue sides, and big numbers "23" everywhere. And what about Cider... He was standing a bit aside, talking with Twilight and Rarity.
"...And then, I decided to do a burnout. Well, since we have quite a lot of spare parts and tires," the man said while leaning to the nearby KAMAZ racing truck.
"Well, that was quite a show, I must admit. Though, that... "Burnout", as you call it, looked not elegant, but vulgar!" Rarity stated.
"Still, the crowd loved it, so I guess that everything goes well so far," Twilight grinned. "Besides, I've already managed to sign a couple of contracts with a few manufacturers, so after we test all these cars and parts properly, we will have our own automotive industry."
"Sounds awesome, Twi. I hope that this whole initiative will work out," Cider chuckled.
"So do I, Cider, so do I... Well, I think me and Rarity must get going -- Luna wanted to see us for some reason. Don't get bored over here!"
As Twilight and Rarity walked away, Cider decided to walk around the place, too. Ponies, dragons, griffons -- lots of species were gathered at the motorshow, and this made quite an unusual sight for the man. But, as he walked, he felt someone's hand, tugging on his firesuit. As he looked around, he saw three fillies about the age of 16-17 years old, as much as he could tell. But still, as most of grown-up ponies were taller than him, and these three fillies were just as tall as he was, it was really hard to tell. One filly had a yellow coat and a red mane, another was a white unicorn, and the third had a sort-of orange coat with purple mane.
"Hello there. Anything I can help you with?" the man asked, offering a hand. As the fillies shook it one after another, the orange one started to speak:
"Hello there! My name is Scootaloo, and these are my friends: Applebloom and Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo gestured to her companions, and Applebloom with Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.
"Pleased to meet you, young ladies. Name's Cider. But anyway, do you need some help or you need a company to chit-chat?" the man said with a smile.
"Well, I'm here to support Rarity," Sweetie Belle spoke, "But my friends came along. We were standing in the crowd, and watched you riding all these... Vehicles..."
"That was totally awesome! I loved the Ibra... Ibghraghi... Ibraghymm..." Applebloom mumbled, while trying to pronounciate the name of a vehicle.
"Ah, the "Ibragimych". That motorcycle, right?" the man corrected the filly, and she blushed.
"Yeah, that one... But anyway, it looked awesome! Shining chrome and black tires!" Applebloom managed to regain her confidence and squeaked in excitement.
"Yeah, first Russian chopper motorcycle, what can I say? Though I prefer cars. I've been a racecar driver, after all."
"You've been a racer? Rainbow Dash never told me about that," Scootaloo hummed, thinking.
"Seems like you know her personally, too? Yeah, not many people know about it -- they just don't ask," Cider laughed, "And knowing Rainbow Dash, she would definetely dare me to race her."
"Oh sure I would do that!" suddenly, a very familiar voice emerged from Cider's behind. As he turned around, he saw Rainbow Dash in her Wonderbolts flying suit along with a couple of other team members.
"Hello there, Rainbow. Long time no see," Cider shook the mare's hand, "However, I think I'll say no."
"WHAT?! HOW?!" three fillies shouted in unison.
"I've been told that you are one of the bravest creatures in Equestria, and now you refuse?" -- Scootaloo facepalmed.
"Yup. I've been told that Rainbow Dash is capable of Sonic Rainboom. Don't know what that is, but it sounds neat-o," Cider shrugged, "I don't think that any of my cars can develop a proper perfomance to catch up on her."
"Well... I am awesome, that's right," Rainbow Dash agreed, "But you don't even try to outperform me! And you call yourself a racer?"
"Yup. But you have an advantage in your magic flying abilities. Even if I wanted, I would have to race using outdated tech. I'm not sure if any of modern cars from my world can develop such speed as yours, and now I have at least twenty-years-old rarities, or even older."
"So, you're scared of losing to me?" Rainbow Dash grinned mischievously.
"Nope. Just being careful."
Rainbow's face fell in deep thought. When she heard that Cider was a racer, she immidiately told herself that she would beat him in a race. And now he was... Just saying "no"! But then, an idea came to her mind.
"So... You say that you're not afraid of racing?"
"Uh-huh."
"But you will not race?"
"Nope."
"Well..." -- Rainbow brushed her hair and leaned closer to Cider. "I will tell everyone that you have a crush on Spitfire," she whispered.
"Very dumb of you, Dash," the man grinned, "So freaking dumb. Do you think I will buy that? Spitfire is one of the prettiest ponies in Equestria even for myself. I bet that colts would literally run after her, if they could keep up. So even if you tell that nonsense to everyone, why anyone should care about it?"
Cider's reaction catched Rainbow Dash off guard. She felt how the anger was boiling up inside her. Frustrated, she turned to her Wonderbolts pals, and shouted:
"Well, fine! I leave this stupid show of yours! Be pleased to gawk at your stupid pieces of junk, that can't even catch up on me! They are useless as racers, and so you are! Your name is Failure and your cars are named Junk!"
But after saying these harsh words, Rainbow Dash noticed how the crowd around them became silent. Everybody was staring at her and Cider, who's anger was boiling up, too. He slowly walked to the pegasus, giving her a death glare. As he kept walking, Rainbow Dash couldn't move, drowning in his furious eyes. His face became stern, and his palms curled up into fists. As he came to the pegasus, he grabbed her by her flightsuit, and hardly pulled it, so she fould face him.
"My name is Nikita. You can translate it as "a winner". Nothing close to a failure for me," Cider said roughly. "Next week, main strip, 7 p.m. You will recieve what you're searching for, and after that you will never speak to me again. Got that, ye' basterd?"
After recieving a nervous nod from the pegasus, Cider released her, and walked away, past the shocked public, shocked filles and even shocked Spitfire, who was passing by. As the Wonderbolts' leader looked around, she only managed to say with a confused look:
"What?.."
A cold wind gave Cider shivers, as he stood at the beginning of an empty main street of Canterlot, which shot like an arrow through the city from the castle's gates. All around the place were standing racecars, those that he wanted to test before the big day. Most of them were Group C Le Mans prototypes and Can-Am racers, but there also were a few of Group S prototypes, such as Lada S-Proto and Lancia ECV, a couple of outdated, but still fast Indycar racers, and a number of curcuit racers, such as Lada 2908 LSGA or Alfa-Romeo 155, the legend of DTM. The man even considered using a Porsche 2708 CART racer, just to be sure. Quite a stack to choose from, and Cider needed the fastest car availible for the upcoming race.
"Chocola," the man asked the mare from the hotel that was standing nearby, "Tell me honestly -- what do you think of this idea? Idea of beating Rainbow Dash on the track?"
"Well, to be honest... I don't think that you will win," the mare said, while shivering from the cold wind, "But you must give it a try. I repeat again -- I saw, what happened yesterday at the motorshow, and what you are going to do, is the best thing to save your pride. Even if you will not win, you at least have to try."
"Thanks for your opinion... It's all I wanted to hear," Cider's face remained content, but his voice lightened up a bit. As he put on his helmet and racing gloves, he walked to his first car -- Lada 2908 LSGA. After getting inside, he closed the door and started to work with its tech.
"Ignition... Primer... Fuel pump... Anti-fire... Green lights are out. Start," the man mumbled to himself after switching all the levers, and starting the engine. After a few coughs, the car roared, warming its flaming heart up. After a couple of minutes of standing by, Cider gave a sign to Chocola, and she put out a stopwatch. The man revved up the engine, and as soon as the mare gave him a sign, shot towards the unknown.
As the car was speeding up, Cider felt more and more courage. Second gear, third, fourth, and the fifth... Speed was increasing rapidly, and as the car passed the half of a street, it was exceeding 220 kilometers per hour. The man felt a sensation, that he has forgotten long time ago -- his body was filled with adrenaline, and a wide grin emerged on his face. Just like when he was 16 years-old boy, and he passed his first test in a Formula-3 racer.
As the car reached the first corner, the man dropped the speed, and entered it sharply. With the screech of tires, Lada passed the corner, and came to the edge of Canterlot, as the street was literally placed on the edge of the mountain. Shifting the gear, Lada shot forward towards the great greenery of Canterlot University. The engine echoed all across the empty streets, as it was still to early forponies to go out. Cider maneuvered between the buildings, as green gardens and fields passed by. The roads of the University were smooth, yet constant changes of leveling couldn't let Cider to rest even for a second.
As the car passed the University, the man found himself in some sort of a chain of mountains, as the road began to climb. Cider could see snow hats on tops of the mountains, and strong winds that slowed him down. The mountain road itself was smooth, and driving on it was pleasant. Smooth level changes weren't much of a trouble for Cider, as he enjoyed the ride. Pretty soon, though, Lada finally ascended to the plateau on the top of the mountain, and after the few turns of the road, came to a steep descent. Pretty soon it exceeded the speed of 260 kilometers per hour, and Cider had to maneuver rapidly, to keep up on the speeding car. As the man saw that he was approaching Canterlot from the side of the mountain road above the castle, he couldn't help but give a glance to the Canterlot panorama.
"Looks fabulous..." the man thought, as the car entered the city at high speed. Cider was passing one quarter after another, and everything looked like a blur to him. Though, as he passed a couple of kilometers, Cider saw that he was approaching the place, where he started -- the royal castle's main gate and the main strip of Canterlot. As he turned towards the main street and passed Chocola by, he started to slow down. After going for a couple of hundred meters, the man turned his car around and drove to the standing mare. And after Cider stopped the car and got out, he reached the stopwatch to look at his time.
"Twenty kilometers of public roads without a proper warm-up in less than 10 minutes, huh? Looking good," Cider hummed, being satisfied. "And what do you think, Chocola?"
"That's pretty fast, if you ask me! But I think that Rainbow Dash is faster," a mare smiled sheepishly.
"Well... We still have a lot of cars to choose from," the man shrugged and walked towards the Mazda 787B prototype. It was a very delicate car -- despite having big barrel-like wheels and 700-BHP rotor engine, it looked like a precious woman to Cider, with all its curves, big headlights that looked like eyes, and of course, its green-and-orange livery, with "RENOWN", "CHARGE" and "MAZDASPEED" stickers all around its body. As Cider went along, he came to the right side of the prototype and got inside through the opened door. After investigating the interior, the man managed to get in and buckle to the seat. Of course, he managed to study the manual before actually beginning the tests, however, controls looked very unfamiliar -- pedals were placed tightly, the steering wheel was much bigger compared to Lada's, and the gearbox shifter... Well, maneuvers with it were quite hard to remember -- first gear would engage when the pilot would pull the shifter towards himself, second and third gears would require pushing the shifter towards the torpedo, and fourth with fifth gear needed a pull towards the driver again... Quite a lot of stuff to handle.
"Alright... Nice and smoothly..." Cider thought after turning all the systems on. Without further hesitation, he pushed the starter button, and after a couple of coughs, the engine released a thundering screech, which was stunning even for Cider himself. As he played with the gas pedal, warming the car up, the engine picked up the tone, waking up ponies all across Canterlot.
And within a couple of seconds, as Cider saw the signal of Chocola, the green-and-orange Mazda shot forward faster than the wind itself.
"That was..."
As Cider shut himself up for a couple of seconds, he shrugged and only managed to say:
"I don't know. That was just awesome."
"I don't have proper words to describe, how fast it goes..." Chocola said, trying to not tear her face apart with her grin. "And the sound -- it souded like a screech of a wild animal! Horrible, but so powerful! And with that car, you have a good chance of beating Rainbow Dash."
Cider and Chocola were standing nearby their improvised car park, drinking coffee. A lot of curious ponies were looking at them, whispering. Some of the bravest were hanging around the cars, taking photograps or occasionally ask a question or two about them. They were simply too stunned to carry on.
"Still, this car is hard to drive. We need to survive a three-hours marathon, and despite being fast and pretty," -- Cider made an unsure gesture towards Mazda with his free hand -- "I remember that it has sort of a weak chassis. I don't want it to break apart. Besides, no differential, tight cockpit, and an enormous steering wheel would tire me in less than an hour. It's dangerous not just for our victory, but also for the safety of others. So we'll continue our tests."
"Sure. Just let's finish our coffee first, m'kay?" Chocola closed her eyes and giggled.
"Okay then. The next car to test will be... Hm-m-m..." Cider hummed in thinking, looking at standing cars. "Let it be... A-ha, Peugeot 905 Evo."
While Cider and Chocola chatted, they didn't notice that someone else was coming their way. And when they noticed, they saw that it was Twilight Sparkle herself. The man suddenly felt himself uncomfortable, though Twilight didn't show any signs of being angry or annoyed. More than that, she wore a warm smile on her face.
"Good morning, Cider! Testing your vehicles already?" the princess asked.
"Yeah, sort of..." -- Cider rubbed his head with his free head, being a bit nervous.
"Oh, that's great! What cars have you tested already?"
"Mazda 787B and Lada 2908 LSGA," the man replied, "Now we're having a break."
"Cider wants to show his best result next week! I think that he has a good chance against Rainbow Dash," Chocola added innocently, and Cider's face fell down.
"What are you talking about? Did you set up a race with Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, being confused, and came closer to the pair. Chocola's eyes widened in disbelief.
"YOU DON'T KNOW YET?!" she shouted in Twilight's face, as she was forced to close her eyes. "Rainbow Dash called his cars a pile of junk and himself a failure at yesterday's motorshow! So Cider will race against her next week for his own glory and pride!"
Twilight's eyes shot wide in disbelief. "Cider... Is that true?" she asked in a downed voice. The man only gave a short nod. "My... Goodness..." the alicorn said and leaned on a nearby-standing Mazda.
As time was passing by, a heavy silence fell upon the trio. And while Chocola didn't have anything particular on her mind, Twilight and Cider were thinking. Twilight -- about how in Equestria Rainbow Dash managed to ruin her friendship with the human, Cider -- about what he would need to beat Rainbow Dash on the track. But eventually, he finished his coffee, and after throwing an empty cup into the nearby trash bin, he picked up his helmet and walked towards the Peugeot prototype.
"Chocola, ready up the stopwatch. Time for another run," Cider said, sighing. "Twilight, would you like to watch? Maybe you can tell something cool after my run, or maybe even look from uphigh."
"Yeah, sure..." Twilight said without much enthusiasm. This was going to be a lo-o-ng day...
"To sum everything up -- all of these cars are pretty equal, except for rally prototypes and touring cars," Cider said with a sigh. "And all these cars still don't have enough perfomance! More than that, I don't have enough perfomance in myself!"
The man sat on the ground and leaned to a Porsche 917 Can-Am prototype, covering his face with his palms. He was exhausted and dripping with sweat, and what annoyed him for the most, every car he tested wasn't just good enough. There was only one left that he didn't take out for a ride, but he knew it wouldn't be any better than the others. Chocola's mood was basically a reflection of Cider's -- she's been helping him a lot while he'd just arrived to Canterlot, and she couldn't watch him being in bad mood. And what about Twilight... Well, she was angry. As Cider was testing his cars all day long, she did a little research on what happened back at the motorshow. "I can't believe Rainbow did this! We need to have a serious talk. Why does she act so self-centered sometimes?" Twilight thought to herself, "Alright, I'll think about it later. But now..."
As the alicorn looked around, she saw quite a big crowd, gathered around the cars. Especially the green Porsche 2708 CART racer. Its polished body shined in rays of setting sun, and its massive wings looked like razors, designed to cut through airflow like a hot knife through butter.
"Hey, Cider," Twilight said, coming closer to the pilot, "Have you mentioned anything about the race distance?"
"Only timing. Three hours of raw competition," Cider answered. "And why do you ask?"
"I just want to know, would you like to use only one car or a few different ones," Twilight smiled, "Because I think that we have a few good reasons to do so."
"I'm interested. Go on," the man stood up from the ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"First, you won't need to change tires and refuel. Second, I can gather much more information from you after the race, and I will have more samples to test. But the most interesting thing is... Well, you can use this," -- Twilight pointed a finger towards a Porsche racecar -- "I heard how you complain about your own physical strenght. You can use this for the last section of the race. It will be your trump card."
Cider held his chin, thinking. Twilight and Chocola could almost see, how gears inside his head were turning. And eventually, he said:
"I guess, we can give it a try... Twilight, you'll get the engine running with the starter when I give you a sign, it's lying under the diffuzer. Chocola, you will operate the stopwatch. Move, people!" Cider commanded with regained enthusiasm. As he put on his helmet, he ran to the racecar and got inside. After buckling himself, he gave an o.k. sign to Twilight, who's been already standing behind the car with the starter. And after a few coughs, the engine roared furiously, scaring the nearby crowd. However, nobody walked away.
"Alright, pal... This is your last ride for today. Show them your maximum," the man mumbled to himself, though, he couldn't hear anything aside the thundering V8 behind him. After shifting to the first gear, Cider carefully tested the gas pedal, and lined his car up with Chocola. As she lifted her free hand, the man revved up the engine, making himself deaf for a second. And as he regained his bearings, the mare has thrown her hand to the ground. As Cider carefully released the clutch pedal, the racecar began its movement. At first, it was slow due to the man's caution, but as he hit the throttle to the floor, the car shot forward like a bullet.
"MY FUCKING GOD!" the man could only think, as acceleration pressed his body deeper inside his seat. He could only watch, how everything outside the cockpit was becoming a blur, and quickly passed by. And the speed -- oh boy, it looked more like teleportation to Cider. He managed to reach 320 kilometers per hour before the first turn. As the driver hit the brakes, his head immidiately shot forward, almost reaching the steering wheel, as Cider wasn't aware that such G-forces take place in a car like this one. And when we was passing the first corner, he felt himself like a plushie toy, being thrown inside a washing machine. The man would even think, that junior Formulas that he drove at past, had literally nothing in common with this CART racer... If his head wasn't empty due to suffering big G-forces.
The next section of the track, that came through the Canterlot University, was truly a hell even for our soldier-slash-racer -- turns were sharp, rear wheels would slip from time to time because of enormous amount of POWER, and the man himself just tried to keep his head on his shoulders. They started to hurt badly after a couple of turns, due to their tension.
The third section of the track was a great relief for Cider -- mountain road was fast and smooth, and a cool air from the upper side of the mountain chain rushed through the car, cooling down the man's muscles. "Alright, I can have a little rest at this part of the track during each lap," the man thought to himself after regaining the ability to do so, "Wonder how fast Rainbow Dash can go here. She will probably lose a lot of energy due to these strong winds."
And, after going through the passage at the top of the mountain chain, the road fell downwards, and for another time, Cider felt an enormous acceleration on himself. As the car quickly exceeded 360 kilometers per hour, it felt like being glued to the road, thanks for its massive wings. As Cider was rapidly turning the steering wheel, his neck began to hurt again. However, when he literally thundered into the city, he took a quick look at the speed gauge.
"FOUR HUNDRED! AWESOME!" the man shouted, though nobody could hear him, even himself. Crossroads and quarters whizzed by like a blur, and the only thing the man could focus on, was the massive golden gate of the Royal Castle on his left, just a mile away. And after a few seconds of thundering through the streets of Canterlot, Cider finally hit the brakes, feeling how his head wanted to go off his body. As the car came to a complete stop in front of the castle's gates, Cider shut down the engine. But he didn't come out from the car just in the next second, however...
"Awesome. Must do it tomorrow," he thought to himself, releasing the steering wheel from his grip and resting his hands on the knees. And, as he didn't really care, he didn't notice, how the crowd around the place was booming with cheers and applauds, and how Twilight and Chocola were standing with their eyes being as wide as saucers, and with their mouths open...
Cider was running through the empty streets of Canterlot. The time was 6:20 a.m., according to his wristwatch. He was wearing his military clothing, along with a helmet, body armor and pouches. Also, he carried a big backpack that was stuffed with different military and personal things, and his good old AK-74 rifle. All the equipment that he was carrying, was rattling on him and the sound was echoing across the street, along with heavy steps of combat boots.
"Heh-whooh, heh-whooh, heh-whooh..." Cider was panting heavily. Going through his morning routine everyday was a hard task, but he had his own reasons. First -- to kill the boredom. Second -- to keep himself fit for the upcoming race against Rainbow Dash. A single thought about that mare drove Cider's mind crazy, and with every surge of adrenaline, he could run faster and farther. However, even a military person has its own limits -- as Cider reached the hotel where he lived, he started walking instead of running. And as he got inside the building, he saw that Chocola has been already behind the counter.
"Morning, Chocola," he said, "Why so early?"
"Morning, Cider. Same for you," the mare giggled. "For some reason I woke up earlier than usual, and couldn't get back to sleep. You?"
"Just going through my routine, I guess. I run every morning, you know," the man answered and got rid of his backpack with a grunt. "You just couldn't notice since you're a sleepy one."
"Not today! Alright, since both of us are up, would you like some coffee?" Chocola offered, while holding a couple of cups.
"Would love to. Just give me some time to shower," Cider replied while heading back to his room.
As the man finished his morning routine, he came back to the counter, where Chocola was waiting for him with a couple of steaming cups of coffee. As both made themselves comfortable, Cider took a sip from his cup.
"Strong stuff," he commented, "But good enough to wake up. What sort of coffee is this?"
"We call it the "Equestrian Classic". Not many ponies like it, but eh, it's quite popular among businesscolts. Like it?" the mare asked after taking a good gulp.
"I'm not a strong coffee type, but eh, it's quite good. Reminds me of Americano from my world," Cider commented.
But, the chit-chat has been cancelled by a ring of the door bell, as someone came inside from the street. Both Cider and Chocola looked from behind the counter to see a yellow mare with the mane, that looked like a torch.
"Hello there, miss! Have you seen..." a pony, who happened to be Spitfire, was ready to ask Chocola about something, but then she saw Cider, sitting nearby. "Oh, hello Cider. Up and boosting early, huh?"
"Nah, that's just a routine. Though, I would love to sleep for another couple of hours, but hey -- in a military, people must keep quality," the man chuckled. "And what brings you here, Spitfire?"
"Oh, there's a lot of stuff on my mind... Can I have a seat?" the pegasus asked, and after recieving a nod from Chocola, moved one of nearby chairs closer to the counter. "First of all, this situation with Rainbow Dash is sort of ridiculous, must admit. She pissed you off that much?"
"Sure thing she did! Or else I would never want to shove my boot deep up her fat ass!" Cider commented in annoyed tone. However, Spitfire and Chocola only laughed.
"Easy there, soldier-boy, or you'll have to find another opponent to compete!" the earth pony mare stated, while holding onto her belly in attempt to not lose her balance.
"Well said, miss Chocola! However, I wonder how deep the boot will go -- RD recently became a sting for me. She's totally obsessed with the race," Spitfire said after she stopped laughing, "She literally pushes berself to the limit right now! And that becomes dangerous. She tries to reach the speeds that even exceed the speed of reaching the Sonic Rainboom."
As Spitfire said her last phrase, Cider's face became stern. "Totally not good. Even for her, not mentioning the upcoming race. She dives when trying to do a Sonic Rainboom, right?"
"Nope. She has managed to reach the speed in a horizontal flight," Spitfire stated.
"But... What about her endurance?" Chocola said in a hopeful tone.
"Usually our airshows last for an hour, and I've never seen RD being tired after them. And why do you ask?" Spitfire asked with confusion.
"The race will last for three hours. And the big time limit is our only hope to win," the man said. "I can't outrun her, so I am going to outlast her."
"Well, good luck with that, I guess..." the pegasus hummed, thinking abot something. Then, she asked: "Anyway, where are you going to race? Any ideas?"
"It will be a race around Canterlot. The start-finish line will be at the main strip, then we'll go across the University's territory, following the mointain road uphill, then the road back to Canterlot and towards the main gates of the castle. After that, a sharp right turn towards the finish line. That's all."
"And it looks like that you're basically making up a street race. Uncool, Cider. Very uncool. You may hurt somepony on your way," Spitfire sighed. But then, something clicked in her mind. "Unless you let me help yourself."
"Well, since you're right about everyone's safety... But I bet this is no charity, eh?" Cider smiled in realisation.
"Exactly. Well, I can arrange you a great racetrack and a good show. In exchange, I want my top Wonderbolts on the track along with you and Rainbow Dash. You can put someone in a racecar too, if you want," Spitfire proposed her offer. And after a quick thinking, Cider shrugged and agreed.
"Okay, let it be, then. I have nothing against your other fliers, so it will be a good chance to test their metal. And what about another racer in a car, I have a pretty good idea who would want to drive..."
"So, you're asking me to drive for you, so I could improve my skill?" Twilight asked Cider, as she made herself comfortable in the seat in the middle of the hall of the hotel.
"Basically, yes. You're the one of not many ponies, who's learned how to actually drive a car. I need a company for the show, you need something to practice on. Win-win!" Spitfire shouted from the nethers of the fridge, while searching for anything to drink.
"Well, you have a point there... Still, I think it would be sort of embarassing, if I'd be far behind everyplny else."
"Exactly. That's why we are going to train you!" Cider said proudly. "If we practice before the race, it will be easier for you to keep up."
"Well, if you put it that way... But, who is going to manage your spare parts, cars and fuel in case if anything goes wrong?" the princess asked with a look of confusion.
"I will handle that," the yellow pegasus answered before Cider, "I'll get the rest of the Wonderbolts up and running. So you better start your training today."
"Alright, you have my word, then," Twilight replied confidently, and with a flash of the horn, her outfit has changed to the purple firesuit and lavender open-face helmet.
"Awesome. We'll get going, I guess. See you later, Chocola," the man said, while picking up his own gear.
"Later, pals! Show'em what you've got!" Chocola shouted, as Twilight, Spitfire and Cider left the hotel and headed towards Cider's old GAZ-69.
The pair of prototype racers was going through the streets of Canterlot. Cider was going first, riding in a Porsche 956, and Twilight was going right behind him in a Peugeot 905 Evo. The first lap was a warm-up, so nor Cider or Twilight were testing their metal. They were going in a steady pace, keepeing the speed just above 120 kilometers per hour, and Twilight was copying the trajectory of Cider's car. As the first lap went quite smoothly, Cider decided to speed up a little for the next one. When he and Twilight drove to the main street after finishing the first lap, he slowly raised the speed up to 200 kilometers per hour. And without any hesitation, Twilight's car accelerated as well. However, as the pair reached the first corner, the alicorn's car spun around and stopped in a middle of the street, causing Cider to stop his car as well, while he waited for Twilight to regain her bearings and catch up on him. As he got out from his car, the white Peugeot has already been positioned behind his Porsche. So, he quickly got to Twilight's goor and opened it.
"Your main task is to not lock the brakes, Twilight! Especially in corners!" Cider shouted, beating the noise of two engines, and recieving a blush from embarassed Twilight. "And don't be embarrassed -- this is only a training! Now we will try this again, but please try to work smoothly! And when I say "smoothly", I don't mean "softly", this is a racecar, remember?"
After recieving a nod from the princess, the man closed her car's door, and headed to his Porsche. After buckling himself, he got the car moving. "This is going to be fun," he chuckled to himself.
And Cider was right -- because of being a newbie, she did a lot of mistakes. Her most common mistake was a corner-braking, but there was also the lack of control on the gas pedal and the steering wheel. However, with each lap Twilight's skill rose, and after a midday break Cider decided to give Twilight a full-speed lap, to see how she could handle it. However, he did his own lap in a Peugeot first, so he could compare his and her times. As the man got out of the car and switched places with Twilight, he spoke to her:
"Alright, Twilight, it's your chance to prove yourself. We've done a lot of work today, and I can see your progress. When I'll show you the sign, you'll go on your own. I'll measure your time with my stopwatch. Any questions?"
"No, Cider. I'm ready!" the princess answered with confidence. After recieving the answer, Cider grinned and closed the door of the car. After walking to the starting position, he took out the stopwatch and lifted his free hand. The prototype's engine immidiately revved up, being ready to send the car forward. And, as Cider thrown his hand down, Twilight shot forward down the street, hiding from Cider's eyesight. "This thing is loud," he mumbled to himself, listening to the engine sound, even after Twilight passed the first corner a few kilometers away from the start line.
Minutes felt like being glued to Cider. He could hear the engine sound of Twilight's car far away in the distance, thanks to Canterlot's acoustics, but the waiting itself was hard. The stopwatch was ticking, measuring minutes and seconds.
"Come on, Twilight," he mumbled, "You can make it."
And right after he said this, he noticed that the sound of a racecar engine was closing up. It grew louder and louder, until it heard like a furious scream. As the man took a quick glance on the road, he saw that Twilight was coming closer, with her car reaching its limit.
"Don't forget about the brakes," the man said to himself, as the car reached the last corner. And, after a proper braking, it turned around the corner and shot through the start-finish line. As Cider stopped his stopwatch, he took a look at Twilight's time and compared it with his own. So, when the princess parked the car near him, shut down the engine and got out from the vehicle, his face beamed.
"Congratulations, Twilight! Your result for your first day of driving an actual racecar is outstanding!" the man reached the alicorn and hugged her tightly. "Your time is only a half of a second worse, than mine! Someone's learned the trajectory well, huh?"
"Yeah, I felt like that you follow special patterns for a good reason," Twilight replied, returning the hug.
"That's good. Of course, we still have a couple of days before the race, but we need to train hard, if we want to win. So, what about a friendly one-on-one?" Cider proposed, grinning.
"I'm on!" Twilight replied. And, as the sun was still high, Cider and the princess got inside their respective cars.
Author's Note
Hello there. Well, I've been listening to Sviridov while writing this chapter. Some powerful music to fit, eh?
The race day
A lot of events have happened in Canterlot during the last couple of days. The news about the upcoming race were spreading quickly, and as Spitfire managed to get an official status of it from the city administration, a massive construction covered the Canterlot's streets. The main strip quickly became a start-finish line, with pit-lane, spectator's area and the race control tower. The territory of the Canterlot University was heavily modified, too -- steel barriers covered both sides of the track, as well as spectators. All other changes like closing the crossroads were minor.
And that comes to it -- Twilight and Cider were going through the mountain pass in their cars, warming them up. Cider's car was a Porsche 956, and Twilight's was a Peugeot 905 Evo. As they slowly entered the city, they saw the tribunes roaring in excitement. The man felt something twisting in his stomach -- a feeling, that he hadn't felt for a long time.
"Well, here we are again," he thought, "Just like in the old days."
And when both cars reached the start-finish line, Cider saw that Spitfire's been standing there already. So, he turned off the engine and got out from the car.
"So, here we are, captain," Cider said without taking off his helmet, which made his voice muffled, "Where are your crew?"
"Workers are in a pit-lane. It was hard, but they've finally learned, how to use a pit-board," the yellow pegasus chuckled. "So, how do you like the crowd at tribunes?"
"It has been long since I've seen anything like this for myself," Cider said, while looking around. "Anyway, where's our counterpart?"
"Right above us!" Twilight said, while coming towards Cider and Spitfire. As both looked upwards, they saw a quartet of ponies in flight suits passing above them, recieving an excited roar from the spectators. They were flying in a "diamond" formation, with Rainbow Dash in the lead. And after passing above, the Wonderbolts team has descended right in front of the start line.
"So, you already know our Rainbow Dash," Spitfire spoke, as cyan pegasus has landed, "Meet the other team members: Soarin, Fleetfoot and Cloudchaser."
"Pleasure doing racing with ya'," Cider shook the newcomer's hands, "Hope that this will be a good challenge."
"Easy-peasy. We will show you, that all your fancy cars are junk, compared to our perfomance!" suddenly, Rainbow Dash has interrupted the man's speech. As she recieved a deadly glare from him, she smirked. But then, she suddenly noticed Twilight. "Hey, Twilight! What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to race, obviously. Don't you see a second car?" the purple alicorn said with a sigh. As Rainbow Dash looked around, she saw that there were standing two prototypes, instead of expected one.
"Wait... Does that mean, that you will race AGAINST ME?" the cyan pegasus said, being confused and shocked. "Why?"
"First -- to test new technology, that you are trying to ignore. And second -- to teach you a lesson, that sometimes it's better to keep your big mouth shut."
After a couple of seconds of processing everything, Rainbow Dash's face fell. "So, that's what you want, huh? Well, let it be. I'll show both of you, that this is just a big pile of junk," she said, pointing to the prototypes. As she did so, she took her position on the start line.
"Well, I guess we're ready to start. The race will last for three hours. Twilight and Cider are allowed to change their cars, if necessary," Spitfire said, "Get inside your cars and warm up. There will be a marchal with a flag, who'll start the race."
"Good. Thanks, Spitfire," Cider replied, and walked towards his Porsche. After giving it the last glance, he got inside the car and buckled himself. After checking everything, he pushed the start button, and the prototype roared. Pretty soon after it, the man heard a whizzing sound of Twilight's Peugeot, too. And after that, he could only wait.
"Alright, man up. You may not win. But at least show that fat-ass that you have guts," Cider thought, increasing his grip on the steering wheel. Minutes were passing slowly, and Cider felt himself in a hot car very uncomfortable. As he looked around through the windows, he saw that all of the Wonderbolts stood on their positions, too. And, as he noticed a marchal with a green flag, that hovered a dozen of meters away, he felt the increasing nervousness. As marchal looked around, and gave a satisfied nod to someone, he faced the competitors and lifted the flag above himself.
"Finally" , the man thought and pushed the gas pedal. The engine's roar became furious, as the car eagerly wanted to shoot from its place towards the victory. And all of Cider's attention was concentrated on the flag, that the pegasus was holding. It was hypnotizing in some way -- the man couldn't blink or look away from it. Cider felt how the drop of sweat ran across his cheek, but he didn't look away.
But then, the flag in a pegasus' hand went down, and the race has started. Cider furiously released the clutch, and with a massive wheelspin, his Porsche shot forward, leaving everyone else behind. Twilight started right after him, leaving confused Wonderbolts behind, as they were just taking off.
Cider felt a massive acceleration on himself, as he was furiously shifting gears in order to create as much gap between him and Rainbow Dash, as possible. As he looked in the rearview mirrors, he saw that behind him was only Twilight in her Peugeot. However, as their speed exceeded 220 kilometers per hour, he saw that Rainbow Dash wasn't losing her time, either. After a rather smooth take-off, she was rapidly accelerating, too. Her wings were flapping in a fast rate, and the airflow after her was literally visible. And, as Cider and Twilight reached the first corner, Rainbow Dash has been already right behind them. And, while cars needed to slow down to turn, she easily passed the Peugeot. However, as she got behind the Porsche, she got caught herself in it's zone of massive underpressure, caused by its wing. So, she lost her stabilisation and nearly hit the ground, but managed to get out from the way of Twilight's car, and the alicorn easily got back on her second position.
"That's interesting. I'll be more agressive, then," Cider smirked, while checking the rearview mirrors. As he pushed the gas pedal, his car quickly made a big gap between him and the rest of competitors. However, as Twilight still wasn't very familiar with the car, a couple of Wonderbolts overtook her. And when the group has entered the territory of the Canterlot University, Fleetfoot and Cloudchaser quickly caught up on Cider as well, because he had to lose a lot of speed at narrow roads. And no matter how hard he tried, the man let the pair of pegasi slip past him. However, he didn't get upset, as he knew that he would catch up on them at the mountain pass.
However, the situation behind him was getting hot. As Twilight was struggling with Soarin, Rainbow Dash easily overtook her, and was catching up on Cider. And when the group has entered the mountain pass, the situation even became hotter -- nor Rainbow Dash, nor Fleetfoot and Cloudchaser could keep accelerating effectively because the road was going upwards. On the other side, Cider's and Twilight's cars were rapidly accelerating after a slow University section, and quickly passed by all the pegasi. More than that, the turbulence of their cars caused the Wonderbolts to pull back, and the gap between two teams was widening.
"Got to keep that up," Cider thought to himself, "After we begin our descend, I'll barely have a chance, if I won't block their way." And while he still had a chance, the man kept pushing the gas pedal, enlarging the gap. Twilight was following behind him, keeping her Peugeot a couple of meters away from Cider's Porsche.
And, as both cars crossed the highest point of the mountain pass, they began to descend. Again, the acceleration pushed Cider more into his seat, and after a few corners his Porsche exceeded the speed of 360 kilometers per hour. However, as he took a quick look into his rearview mirrors, he saw that the Wonderbolts were catching up on him and the Peugeot. And more than that, Rainbow Dash was in the lead, moving so fast that the compression of air in front of her was visible. Cider knew, what that meant -- she was going to perform a Sonic Rainboom, and now nor him or Twilight can stop her.
"Now we can only hope, that we can outlast her," the pilot thought, giving a quick glance to the speed gauge. After a few tweaks with the wings, the car was showing 390 kilometers per hour right after entering the city. The speed itself was incredible, but still, it wasn't enough to get rid of Rainbow Dash, who was closing up, as well as Soarin, Fleetfoot and Cloudchaser. The Porsche's engine screamed on top of its exhaust, doing its best to make spectators on the tribunes temporarily deaf, but then, it was literally buried under another booming sound, that was much louder. Cider didn't even have a chance to have a look at the rearview mirrors -- first, Rainbow Dash overtook him with a multicolored trail after her, and then, a rainbow-colored blastwave shook the car, giving it a good impact, and increasing its speed at 15 more kilometers per hour. The man was stunned by the force, that consisted in Rainbow's wings -- if she can do THAT, what kind of a competition that is?
"Alright, no time for feeling bad. Gotta' make her regret," Cider mumbled to himself, noticing that all other Wonderbolts kept themselves a few meters after himself, and on the same level as Twilight's Peugeot. However, they easily overtook both cars, as they lost their speed to turn to the start-finish line. And, as Cider kept himself right after a pegasi, he saw two pit-boards with his and Twilight's designations:
RBD-LEAD+0.15.52
RBD-LEAD+0.16.32
"Fifteen seconds on a first lap... That will be even tougher, than I though," Cider thought to himself. But he didn't want to let down his own sense of pride -- even if he couldn't keep up with Rainbow Dash, he could at least compete with the rest of the Wonderbolts. And the man felt, that Twilight felt the same way. And both cars used their advantage in speed before entering the first corner to overtake Soarin, Cloudchaser and Fleetfoot. The race was only warming up...
Cider was dripping with sweat, however, he felt how he was overflowing with energy. His calculations were right -- Rainbow Dash was tired after a first hour of the race, and slowly, but surely was losing her tempo, as well as other Wonderbolts. Of course, Twilight was tired, too, but she kept herself upright, and she managed to lose only 30 seconds before Cider pulled over the pit-lane to change a car. As he saw, how the team was waiting for him, he drove closer and stopped his Porsche 956. He quickly got out from the car, and headed to the another one, that stood a bit farther -- the yellow Porsche 962. As Twilight's Peugeot passed by, she also got out from the car, and headed to her next vehicle -- Jaguar XJR-11 in "Silk Cut" livery. And after a minute of buckling themselves, both Cider and Twilight roared out from the pits. As they lost a lot of time, Cider noticed, that Rainbow Dash was coming from behind -- because of the gap she made at the start of the race, now she had an advantage of one lap. However, she's been tired already, and was flying with a speed of a regular Wonderbolt, and couldn't perform the Rainboom. And, as Cider's car accelerated, it came out from the pits just a dozen of meters away from the cyan mare.
"So, you're tired, huh? Now we're talkin'," Cider smirked to himself. Rainbow Dash was literally blocked between Cider's Porsche and Twilight's Jaguar -- Cider was maneuvering roughly, trying to catch Rainbow in his car's zone of underpressure, and Rainbow was trying to avoid both his car and Twilight's attempts to overtake her. And that was it -- for a half of an hour, the situation looked like a mess, where everyone was overtaking everyone, and slowly catching up on other tired Wonderbolts. As the trio of Soarin, Cloudchaser and Fleetfoot was spread all across the circuit, pretty soon both Cider and Twilight regained their respective second and third positions, keeping Rainbow Dash between their cars. However, after another round of going through the mountain pass, she decided that she needed to go rough. With all the strenght that she had, she managed to accelerate and slam into Cider's car.
"DAMN!" the pilot cursed, regaining his bearings after the hard impact and letting Twilight slip after Rainbow Dash, due to the loss of speed. As he glanced over the dashboard, he saw that a small red lamp on it started to blink, signalising that one of fuel pumps has stopped thanks to the impact. "MOTHERFUCKER!" Cider shouted in anger, but quickly regained his sanity.
"Alright... No other choice that to go in that CART racer. Don't know, will it be enough for the rest of the race..." Cider mumbled, and hit the pedal to the metal, trying to gain up on Twiligh and Rainbow Dash. However, they've already been far away... So, as he reached the pits, he lost a sight of them completely.
"What's the matter? You were supposed to stay on the track for at least half of an hour!" somepony from the Wonderbolts team shouted, as Cider got out from his car and ran towards the CART formula -- the Porsche 2708 racer.
"Fuel pump! Will fix it after the race! Get the engine runnin'!" Cider shouted back, as he was getting inside the tight cockpit of a car. And while he was buckling himself, he heard a cough of an engine, and right after it, its mighty roar. Without further hesitation, he kicked into the first gear and started with a big wheelspin, leaving a big cloud of smoke after himself. As the acceleration was pushing Cider more into his seat, he knew that he wouldn't last long. The pilot looked around the environment -- tribunes were colored orange in the rays of Celestia's setting sun, as well as the road. As he got out from the pits right in front of Soarin, he caused him to stumble for a bit. The colt tried to keep up, but it was worthless -- he was tired, and the car's perfomance was outstanding. And Cider started to gain up on Twilight and Rainbow Dash.
Lap after lap, second by second, Cider was catching up. After 20 minutes from his last stop, he overtook Twilight's Jaguar and the cyan pegasus. He could see the confused look of Rainbow Dash, as his dark green racer passed by her like a wind. And Cider didn't want to stop -- he had a whole lap between him and Rainbow Dash. With each lap, he saw a split time between him and the cyan mare on the pitboards --"RBD-LEAD +6.15.52 P1", "RBD-LEAD +5.10.52 P1", "RBD-LEAD +3.45.13 P1", etcetera. And when the timer on the man's wristwatch showed that he had only a couple of laps left, he saw that he finally gained up on Rainbow Dash. She was alone, as Twilight left the confrontation to change the car. And, fighting the pain and blur in his eyes, the pilot stepped on a gas pedal. Rainbow Dash tried to keep up with him, but eventiually she left the racer's rearview mirrors. And Cider was only making the gap between him and the mare only wider.
As he passed the start-finish line, he saw a sign from a marchal, who sat on the top of a control tower along with Spitfire, and a pit-board with "P1-LEAD -3.14.32 RBD" designation. As he saw the marchal's pointer finger, the pilot knew -- it was his final lap. He was one lap away from winning. So, with mind-blowing speed, he passed by. He quickly got through the first corner, recieving a tunnel visionary syndrome. His head felt heavy, his muscles ached, but he couldn't stop. After passing the University section, the pilot stepped on a gas pedal again, and the car shot upwards via the mountain pass, screaming furiously with its engine. And after passing the track's highest point, it shot downwards, exceeding the speed of 400 kilometers per hour. But...
But, when the man's car entered the city, the engine started coughing. Not realising what's going on, Cider instinctively shifted the geearbox to neutral, and stepped on a gas pedal. But, right after a few coughs, the engine's stopped. With all the will he had, Cider looked at the fuel gauge.
"Empty..." he mumbled. The car was rolling down the street, using its own inertial forces. However, despite being tired as hell, despite having the grey fog before his eyes, the man refused to give up. As the car was losing its speed, it had enough inertia to get through the last corner. Cider looked around and saw Rainbow Dash, quickly gaining up on him. So, he unbuckled himself, and got out from his Porsche. With all the strenght he had, he started pushing the car towards the finish line.
"COME ON! COME O-O-O-ON!" Cider shouted, beating the roar of tribunes in his head. He panted heavily, his muscles were on fire, but he couldn't let go of his car. He had 50 meters between him and the finish line. And right above the finish line, was hovering a marchal with a checkered flag, being ready to throw it down.
As Cider pushed forward, the formula started to roll. Slowly, but surely it was covering the distance, meter by meter. Cider didn't dare to look behind to check up on Rainbow Dash -- he didn't want anything to distract him. He was screaming in agony at the top of his lungs, pushing with his burning body, and keeping his blood-filled eyes shut. But, he couldn't handle it -- just a couple of meters from the finish line, he felt how his mind slept away from him, and he lost his balance. As he fell on the ground, he remained conscious for a couple of seconds -- he saw an orange sky above him through the visor of his helmet. He saw that someone was hovering above, getting closer and closer... But he didn't see, who it was. He snapped out from the reality.
Author's Note
That awesome song is very motivating. Helped me to finish the story, you know.
Gold
As Cider opened his eyes, he saw a white ceiling of his room above himself. As he looked around, he noticed that he was still in his racing gear, except for a helmet -- it was standing on a table. As the man tried to get up, he felt how his muscles burned.
"Fuck... Better not overexhaust myself next time," Cider mumbled and tried to stand up again. However, instead of the hard floor, his boot has reached something soft. Being confused, the man looked at the floor next to his bed, and saw a familiar cyan pegasus lying there and snoring softly. At first, Cider felt how an enormous feeling of anger tried to boil inside him... But after a few seconds of thinking, it faded away.
"She was here for me. Don't think, that she really thinks bad about me, if she can do this," CIder thought, "Still, need to wake up the RD. And to apologise..."
Cider got up on the floor, trying to not make sharp noises. As he sat beside Rainbow Dash, he noticed how calm her face was. As another quiet snore escaped her muzzle, the man couldn't help but smiled. As he carefully caressed Rainbow's mane, he said:
"Time to wake up, Rainbow Dash. You don't want your back feel sore, do you?"
The cyan pegasus' eyes opened slowly, and she noticed that Cider was softly burying his fingers in her mane, looking straight into her eyes. She blushed.
"H-hi there, Cider... I just wanted to make sure that you are okay... And, kinda' fell asleep," she said with a sheepish smile.
"I understand, Dash. And... Well, I want to say sorry for my rough attitude, while I still have a chance," Cider replied, also blushing, "I kinda' acted like a moron right there. Should've ignored your insults and talk with you about the situation. Feel myself like a total douchebag right now..."
"And you... Please, forgive me, too. I can sometimes be... Well, self-centered," Rainbow Dash released a nervous chuckle, "I am truly sorry about what I've said. Turns out, that these cars of yours can bee way too awesome not just for me, but also for you -- when you've fallen due to overexhaustion, I was scared as Tartarus! Hopefully, there was nothing too serious... And you're not a failure, too -- you were fighting for the victory even after your's car engine died, after all. And... Sorry about that yellow one -- seems like my impact has broken it, hadn't it?"
"Apologies accepted. And don't worry about the car -- nothing too serious, I'll just fix the fuel pump. Now get up, I bet everyone's waiting for us," Cider smiled and offered a hand for Rainbow Dash. As both got up, Cider checked his gear and headed outside his room, letting the mare go before him. After closing the door, the pair started their way to the guest hall.
"Always believe in your soul, you've got the power to know: you're indestructi-i-ible!" Cider sang to himself, not caring if anyone would hear him. "Always believe in, you are gold! Glad that you're bound to return, there's something I could have learned: you're indestructible!"
"Hey, Cider, what's the song you are singing?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.
"Just an old one from my world, nevermind. However, it's very motivating!" the man replied, grinning. "You just don't know, how awesome I feel right now!"
"You tell me! Glad that we're friends again," the mare said, smiling. As she and the man reached the waiting hall of the hotel on the first floor, they saw that there were a lot of different ponies. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Chocola, the Wonderbolts team with Spitfire, and what slighly confused him, there also was Celestia and her sister Luna. All of them had stern looks on their faces.
"Alright everyone, what's going on?" Cider asked loudly, smiling. And as ponies started to turn their faces towards him and Rainbow Dash, their faces started to beam.
"Cider! You are okay!" Spitfire shouted, and after a couple of seconds, she's already been hugging him.
"Yeah, I'm okay, captain. I am indestructable, you know!" the man laughed.
"I was worried about you! What were you thinking about?! Trying to push your car -- ridiculous idea!" the yellow pegasus started to throw annoyed phrases, but quickly calmed down, "But... The race was awesome. You gave my Wonderbolts a good training, even a Rainbow Dash."
"Spitfire, mam," suddenly, the cyan pegasus spoke up, dragging everyone's attention. "I say it loud and clear -- I am sorry for my rude words, and I've already apologised to Cider."
"She did, captain," Cider agreed, "And I accept her apologies. And I've apologised to her myself, so I guess now we're square."
"Glad to hear it," Celestia stood up from her chair, and walked towards Cider and Rainbow Dash, being accompanied by Luna. "I hope that both of you have learned this lesson."
"We sure did, Celestia," Cider replied, "Or my callsign isn't Cider. Speaking of which..."
As the man broke up a hug with Spitfire, he stood in the center of a hall, cleared his throat and announced:
"I think all of you deserve to know my real name. It's not a top secret info, and it was selfish of me to hide it. So..." Cider smiled, and inhaled, "Captain Nikita Sidorov, at your service!"
"Huh, that's an interesting new development," Luna giggled, "Wonder what your name means!"
"Well, "Nikita" can be translated as a "winner". "Sidorov" comes from an old slavic "Isidor", which means "a servant of goddess Isis". And in the old Egyptian myphology, Isis was a goddess, who helped anyone in need. Poor, homeless, tortured, sick, you know."
"Sounds quite noble, if you ask me!" Rarity stated, while taking a sip from her coffee cup.
"I don't know, since most of people back home pick names for their children not knowing, what do they mean," the man shrugged, "But still, I like mine."
"It sounds... I dunno, somehow... Girly, maybe?" Chocola said with a hum. However, as she recieved a confused and somehow dissappointed look from Nikita, she explained: "I mean, that ending of your name. "Ni-ki-ta-a-a" sounds very unfamiliar."
"Well duh, he's from another world!" Twilight laughed along with the others.
"Okay-okay, enough with that," the man said, "Now tell me -- what all of you are doing here? It's not like I was dying out there."
After Cider's words, the Wonderbolts team of Soarin, Cloudchaser and Fleetfoot stood up from their chairs and walked towards the man.
"Captain Sidorov, sir," Soarin starded his speech, while offering a hand, "First of all, thanks for the race. It was a great challenge for us."
"I'm not your captain, so just call me Nick, or Cider," the man chuckled, and shook Soarin's hand, "And no problem with that. It was a great opportunity to test my metal, too. But... What about Celestia and Luna?"
"Well, you are the only one, who can handle all the newfound tech," Celestia said, "So, we were worried about the situation and came here."
"We also wanted to invite you to our Wonderbolts base for a visit," Fleetfoot said.
"If you don't mind, of course," Cloudchaser added with a nod. "Not many ponies can outrun the Wonderbolts, after all."
Cider hummed, thinking. But eventually, he gave up. "I don't see, why not. I'll check my schedule. And ask Spitfire, if she doesn't mind."
And the yellow mare only chuckled at that hugging the man tightly from behind, "No, I don't mind. I'd be only glad to see you there."
"Looks like that I was almost right about one thing!" suddenly, Rainbow Dash exclaimed, grinning. Everyone turned their heads towards her. And she said with a smirk, "Before the whole situation, I wanted to blackmail Cider by telling everyone that he has a crush on Spitfire, but seems like SHE has grown soft for him!"
Both Spitfire's and Cider's eyes became wide as saucers, and the mare quickly backed off from the man. Both Spitfire and Cider blushed heavily, mumbling something related to their embaressment. And the rest of the hall laughed loudly.
THE END
