Author's Note

~~Driver~~ Reader Note: Please indicate your route choice (right/left) in the comments section upon reaching the end of this stage.

Stage 1-5: Chase the Horizon

Trixie’s wagon appeared out of nowhere. Apple Bloom had only just eased the kart around the corner and onto Saltlick Lane when she saw it—a blur of garishly painted wood that seemed to fill the whole dirt track ahead. Diamond Tiara whickered and braced herself as Apple Bloom pulled hard on the steering wheel, attempting to cajole the kart into the one gap between the wagon and the houses where it would fit.

She barely registered Trixie’s wide-eyed stare as the fender of the kart came within a hairsbreadth of her and the wagon, and whatever apology had started to come from Apple Bloom’s mouth was lost within the whip of the wind as they passed. Attempting to straighten the kart back out again, Apple Bloom felt her blood run hot and her skin turn ice cold. She swallowed, forcing her eyes to stay focused on the road ahead, and fighting against the urge to slow down. The timer in the kart seemed felt like it was counting down in something other than seconds, something much faster.

Too late she realised that the evasive manoeuvre had taken the kart too close to the edge of the lane; as the left-hoof corner towards the bridge out of town sped towards them, Apple Bloom knew they were going to run it well wide. She tried to wrestle with the wheel, but her forelegs suddenly felt stiff and unresponsive. As she remembered her last practice session in her own kart, panic began to creep out from Apple Bloom’s chest, smothering her lungs and paralysing her body.

“Change the gear!” Diamond Tiara hissed at her. Apple Bloom blinked in confusion.

“What?”

“The gear! Remember what Peach Fuzz said—oh for goodness sake, here!” Diamond Tiara leaned across, yanking the stick down. “Now brake and steer into the apex! Quickly!”

The snapped instructions broke Apple Bloom free from her paralysis, and she stamped her hoof onto the hard wood of the brake pedal, easing the kart towards what she hoped was the optimal racing line through the corner. The wheels shuddered and squealed, but the kart ultimately obeyed, and Apple Bloom smacked into the driver-side door as the world seemed to rotate around her. Then they skidded across the bridge, leaving coils of dust, and what felt to Apple Bloom like her entire stomach, behind them.

“So was it your grand plan to break Peach Fuzz’s brother’s record for the lamest crash out?” Diamond Tiara’s sarcastic tone could barely be heard above the sound of the engine and her own ragged breathing. “Or are you just settling for killing us?”

“Well I didn’t ask you to—” Apple Bloom swore under her breath as the kart bounced over a patch of uneven ground. As relative silence returned, she was able to calm her nerves and ease her embarrassment by focusing on the long, straight road toward Sweet Apple Acres.

“I’m sorry, DT,” she said after a minute. “And thank you.”

“Well clearly somepony has to keep an eye on you.” Diamond Tiara looked across, a faint smile spreading on her lips which Apple Bloom quickly returned.

The going gradually became easier as Sweet Apple Acres drew near; they encountered a few more wagons and carts carrying produce and goods towards Ponyville, but the dirt road was wider now, and Apple Bloom had plenty of space to pass them safely and without compromising her speed. Every now and then her eyes dropped to the timer that was ticking down, a disconcerting cycle of anxiety and confidence travelling through her body on the approach to each magical checkpoint.

“It’s so strange,” she shouted over the wind as the timer was topped up again. “Kinda thought I’d see something else happen when we pass these checkpoint things.”

“What, like lights and sparklers or fireworks? Trust me, you don’t need any more distractions.”

Apple Bloom giggled. Having Diamond Tiara with her was something of a relief; she had no idea how strange and alien the race would feel to her until those lights had turned green, and having the company of a friend—no matter how snarky—was comfort beyond words.

And that comfort felt even more important the moment Sweet Apple Acres came into view, cresting the gentle incline they were driving along like a bird of prey. She had never seen anything about the place move quickly before, and the haphazard rows of apple trees now blurring past were disconcerting. Pressing her hoof down a little firmer on the accelerator, Apple Bloom looked across at her friend.

“So why did you come along, anyway?”

Diamond Tiara kept her eyes on the passing orchard and didn’t respond, even though Apple Bloom was pretty sure that she had heard her.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding!” Diamond Tiara’s half-relieved, half-irritated voice was carried up the hill by the afternoon breeze. “Did you honestly think I was going to let you get away with missing our evening hooficure appointment? We were supposed to be at the Day Spa an hour ago.”

Apple Bloom kicked out her hind legs as she sat on one of the swings outside the farmhouse. In front of her, the sun was continuing its lazy arc down towards the horizon, carrying with it a vibrant swirling blanket of pink and purple. Oceans of trembling corn stretched beneath it, running up to the western boundaries of Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom had always loved the way it looked on a summer’s evening.

“Sorry,” she said, finding her voice. “I must have lost track of time.”

“Like that wasn’t obvious. If I had stood around looking like a loser who'd been ditched by their date any longer, I might have died.” Diamond Tiara reached the top of the hill and paused beside the swing. She was frowning, but her eyes betrayed her concern.

Apple Bloom’s lips twitched at the rebuke, though they felt as though they were moving more from an expectation than genuine mirth. She kept her eyes on the sun, which looked as though it was drowning in the vast sky.

“You know, DT, I used to think I could reach the sun if I swung high enough.”

Diamond Tiara followed Apple Bloom’s gaze, her head cocked to one side. “Really?”

“Sure. I mean, when I was little, of course.”

Her friend snorted. “Don’t worry, I didn’t have you down as being that backward.”

“Oh, go choke on a clafoutis.” Apple Bloom looked over her shoulder and smiled. “I am really sorry, though. I don’t know if you heard, but I crashed my kart earlier. I’ve not really been in the mood for company.”

“Well tough, I’m here now.” Diamond Tiara’s brow furrowed in thought. “Peach Fuzz said something about that to me when I saw her earlier. She’s going to try and repair it, right?”

“You didn’t see it, DT!” Apple Bloom snapped. She took a breath of the cool air, the tang of fresh cider clinging to it in a way that made her jaw clench. “You could probably sell it for timber or something, but it ain’t much good for racin’.”

Diamond Tiara opened her mouth to retort, her pink cheeks darkened. Then she paused, her blue eyes becoming anchored to some point in the sky above. With slow steps, she trotted behind Apple Bloom and rested her hooves on the swing she was sitting on.

“I guess Peach Fuzz did look rattled, and it’s not often you see that. But you never know.”

“It’s not like we have the time now anyway.” Apple Bloom gripped the ropes tighter as Diamond Tiara started to push the swing. The horizon began to dip and soar, and she closed her eyes to stop herself feeling sick. “Berlinetta is supposed to be coming back tomorrow to fit that magic time doohicky to my kart. If it isn’t ready then…”

Her loose mane tumbled about her shoulders as she shook her head. All around her, the land of Sweet Apple Acres stretched out as far as the eye could see, and yet Apple Bloom had never felt more boxed in. Her skin had prickled and itched all afternoon, but now it was feeling so tight that she wished she could just rip it from her body.

“Maybe it’s for the best,” she said eventually. “I mean, if I can’t even turn a corner right, then perhaps I’m not cut out for this.”

Diamond Tiara gave the swing a powerful push, and then leapt up onto it, standing with her hind legs planted on either side of Apple Bloom’s flank.

“Is that such a terrible thing, though? So you’re going through a rough time of it at the moment. Ponyville is your home, though. Your family is here. You’ve still got friends here too—good friends.”

Apple Bloom lifted her head to look at Diamond Tiara; though she couldn’t make out her expression, it was obvious she, too, was staring at the cornfields in the distance. The voluminous curls of her mane danced, trapped between the breeze and the motion of the swing.

“I guess you’re right,” she replied. The concession was a lead weight against her body, and immediately she knew she had to reject it. “Guess I’ve always wanted to see the world, though. When you think about Applejack and Big Mac, well, their world kind of starts and ends here at the farm. I understand that, and maybe it’ll be the same for me one day. But right now..?”

Diamond Tiara shifted her weight. “But do you need to do that somewhere else? Can’t you find your answers in Ponyville?”

“Maybe. I guess I ain’t never really thought about it. But I think it’s something I want to go out and look for, even if it’s for just a week or two.” She tapped Diamond Tiara on the leg. “But that’s got no bearin’ on you and my other friends here. I love you girls.”

Diamond Tiara looked down, the shadows across her face only partially obscuring her scowl. “I know that! You don’t need to tell me!”

Apple Bloom furrowed her brows and looked down at the faded and cracked pain on the swing. “Oh, I just thought… You’ve seemed pretty mad at me for a while now. I thought that might have been the reason why.”

“Well it’s not.” Diamond Tiara dismounted to give the swing another push. Once she had climbed back into position, she swished her tail against Apple Bloom’s foreleg. “I’m just being selfish, I guess.”

“Say what now?”

A frustrated noise escaped Diamond Tiara’s mouth, though she said nothing further. The two ponies remained swinging for a few minutes, with only the creak of the ropes and the distant grunting of satisfied pigs breaking the silence. Then Diamond Tiara tapped Apple Bloom on the shoulder.

“You can have my kart.”

The horizon seemed to lurch and spin, and Apple Bloom wasn’t sure if it was from the motion of the swing or the way she jerked her head to look up at her friend. Her mouth attempted to silently recreate the sentence, but was thwarted at each attempt by how nebulous it had become since leaving Diamond Tiara’s.

“Er, ’scuse me?”

“My old one, from the Applewood Derby.” Diamond Tiara lowered herself from the swing and sat down among the wild grass and studied her friend.

“Are you serious?” Apple Bloom ploughed her hind legs into the dirt to stop the swing and dismounted.

Diamond Tiara’s expression was unreadable, but she looked tired. “Yes, I’m serious. I’m clearly going to regret it, but you’re not going to be happy to until you do this thing, right?” She wagged a hoof at Apple Bloom. “But you promise me right now that you’ll take good care of it. It’s special to me—probably as much as this lame race is to you.”

“I don’t know what to say, DT.” Apple Bloom dropped to the ground beside her friend and stared up at the sun, which looked as though it had found its course and was once again in descent. All of the possibilities and plans she had just given up on came flooding back, bringing with them new questions: Would Diamond Tiara’s kart handle much differently to her own? Was it even okay to switch karts like this once you had registered? There was still so much that she needed to. Still so much she would now need to say.

Her eyes moved to Diamond Tiara. Sitting beside her and gazing at the ground, the young mare was wearing a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Apple Bloom still couldn’t put her hoof on exactly what was troubling her, but she knew she had to do something about it, like her friend had done for her.

Leaning across, Apple Bloom swept Diamond Tiara up in a tight embrace.

“You’re the bestest friend a pony could ever ask for, DT,” she murmured. The air smelt of heather and apples and whatever it was Diamond Tiara was wearing; it smelt of magic. “Thank you so much.”

“I’m already regretting it,” Diamond Tiara replied with a chuckle. In the silence that followed, however, she returned the hug just as tightly.

The trees continued to pass by at speed, and the closer the kart came to passing by the farmhouse, the emptier they were. Apple Bloom watched them out the corner of her eyes—closer scrutiny of the empty and half full bushel baskets made her stomach cramp—but the swing on the hill demanded her attention as it came into view.

She wondered whether Applejack and Big Mac really would be okay managing the harvest on their own. Sure, they had done it before Apple Bloom had started to help out, and the farm had more than enough helping hooves these days to ease the burden, but those facts did little to ease her doubts. Diamond Tiara had called herself selfish back when they were sitting on that swing a week ago, but could Apple Bloom honestly say she was any different?

They drove beyond the shadow of the trees and back into the warmth of the sunlight, and Apple Bloom lifted her face towards it appreciatively.

Come on, girl. She gave you her blessing, she told herself, recalling the last conversation she had with Applejack on the matter. She gave you her blessing. The least you can do is make it count.

“You’re grinning like an idiot, you know that?”

“I am?” Apple Bloom chanced a glance across at her friend, and laughed. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

Diamond Tiara studied her face for a moment, before smiling. It was a warm smile, genuine. In fact, it was the first time Apple Bloom had seen her smile like that in weeks, and it filled her with a pleasure she just couldn’t describe.

“So you ready to get on with our adventure then?”

Diamond Tiara blinked. “Our?”

“Of course!” Apple Bloom turned back to the road as the farmhouse passed by. She knew that a little way ahead the road would be forking, with one dirt road heading right into the Everfree Forest, and the other left towards the Sunset Hills. She had no idea which route they were going to take and she didn’t care.

“I’m really glad you’re here with me.”

Diamond Tiara held her gaze for a moment before nodding. Reaching down, she pressed a button beside the steering wheel and leaned back in her seat as the first swirl of synthesised beats filled the kart.

“Let’s go then,” she said, folding her forelegs behind her head.

Apple Bloom grinned into the breeze, and pressed down on the accelerator. Hard.