Prologue (World Building)
The world of Equestria was that of a more technologically advanced society than it was thousands and thousands of years ago. Those many years ago, Princess Celestia discovered a mirror shaped object that was able to transport her to a world filled with a species she never imagined she would see in her lifetime. Humans.
Rather than close off such an artifact, she had her most prestigious royal scientists and explorers; study and research the strange new land; and, with such information came ideas of the uses for such technology in Equestria. One-hundred years after the exploration of such a dimension, architects, inventors, and business ponies alike were both amazed and intrigued by such fantastical building structures and technology, which ultimately led to attempts at emulating and replicating the alien technology.
Most of these efforts were successful.
The outcome of such technological innovations that swept Equestria led to an all-out rise in greater educated population, such as the information that not only pertained mostly towards Equestria but information about the human world as well. And with such information, a large abundance of political ideologies came into play, with many ponies petitioning for a modicum of democratic influence. As a result of many rallying behind the democratic ideology, the 'Equestrian Constitution' allowed for a Prime minister to gain most of the political power and general royal duties that befell upon Celestia, while in turn, Celestia's political power would be lessened to only her current position as judge of the day court.
By the time that Twilight Sparkle, one of Celestia's former students, received her talent mark, the use of computing, cellular phone, television and even automotive technology had expanded beyond Equestria. Although some minor changes were done in order to accommodate for the equine species, such as the magic gloves which were magically charged gloves that emulated the feelings and mechanics of a human hand, as a way for all equine races to grip the steering wheel of an automobile with ease; the innovations of such creations supported Equestria ,and many countries economically with an increasing employment rate, which in turn, caused the population to rise.
As a way to accommodate the increasing population, Celestia, the prime minister, and many other world leaders followed came to an ultimate agreement of building cities in areas of the world that were entirely too inadequate for such a populous.
...Which now brings us to Ponyville...
The day after the reformation of nightmare moon, an election was held in Ponyville for a new mayor. After the following election days, the one chosen for mayoral duty was a pony that most felt was right for the job. Granny Smith, with her immense wisdom of Ponyville, and being one of the founders of the city, it'd only make sense to vote for her.
As a business pony, she began working on reforms for every and any business owner in Ponyvillian economics; she then started various projects and conferences with many architects to construct larger buildings in the town. One of the buildings she suggested, titled, "Tower of Comradery", was modeled after the World Trade Center of the human world with few changes to the structure such as the statue of one of the founders placed at the top of the building.
As of today, a petition was formed for the change from Ponyvile to New Mane City. In the next few hours, the results will be announced at a press conference in the Tower of Comradery
The streets of Ponyville slowly began to die down, as Celestia's sun began to set. "Have a fantastic day!" Pinkie exclaimed happily, as the last customer left the small bakery.
After Granny Smith was elected, she opted to expand small businesses; the first on her list of 'ma and pop' stores was Sugarcube corner. Because of her contributions to the bakery, she helped expand the store's business to other Equestrian states.
In the back, Mrs. Cake began cleaning off the counter of the various contents strewn about, while Mr. Cake took to the tables, wiping each one. The door rang once again, as a young grey colt entered the store with his saddle bag on his back. He scanned the room to see if he arrived before the store could close; however, his eyes became fixed on the yellow colored equine. He stared at Mr. Cake a good ten minutes until the pink mare behind the counter attempted to call over the young unicorn
"Hello, earth to- whatever your name is- are you alright?" the young unicorn continued to stare.
"Um, Mr. Cake," She began, catching the attention of both the colt and her boss, "I think you somepony might want to talk to you?" Curious, Mr. Cake turned to see the customer in question. The grey equine blinked once he met face to face with the shop owner. The long was a long span of silence between the two, while the young unicorn looked longingly at the stallion, Mr. Cakes would occasionally away from his eyes. What finally broke the tension was the sudden movement of the colt, as he removed his saddlebags from his back, and began looking into it.
In his bag, he pulled out a photographed picture. He looked at the picture, then back to Mr. Cake, the back to the picture repeating the same head movements until he finally stopped and stared at the slightly uneased stallion.
"No. Fuckin'. Way"
Mr. Cake face went from uneasy, to slight irritation. With good reason being that his two young foals were not out of hearing distance. "Sir," he began, "are you going to buy something or-" before he could finish speaking, the colt exclaimed a word, or rather, a name that Mr. Cake had tried so long to forget.
"Accelerator...is that really you!?" The moment he heard that name, his eyes widen in both ineffable shock and fear, for he had not heard of such a surname in years. In an attempt to steer the suspicious activity away from him, he quickly composed himself before replying back to the young colt.
"I-I beg your pardon-" he stuttered, but was once again cut off by the awe-stricken customer.
"I can't believe it's you," he paused. As he continued to look at the baker, his face changed to that of slight disgust "I can't believe it's you..."
Entering the conversation, was a now curious blue earth pony. As she looked towards her husband, a sense of worry began to grow in her. "Is everything alright, honey?" she asked. Both males look towards her in a state of surprise.
"Honey?" The colt looked on in confusion before the realization finally struck him. "Wait, you settled-"
"I'm sorry sir the bakery is closed," Mr. Cake quickly walked over to the colt and forcefully pushed him out of the store. Struggling to keep his stance, the unicorn began to bargain and plead with the owner, claiming several times that he was just there for a baker's dozen. Obviously, the stallion was having none of it. "Wait," he began as Mr. Cake had pushed him further and further towards the door frame, "can I at least ask you one thing before you throw me out?"
"And what's that?" he complied
"Can I get an autograph?" With much gusto, the baker quickened his pace and pushed out the crazed unicorn. When he reentered the store, both his wife and employee looked at him with much confusion. Mrs. Cake then asked her husband about the event that unfolded in front of her.
"What was that all about dearie?" she asked concerned for the well-being of her life partner. Pinke also entered the conversation, as she became a little suspicious of her employer.
"Yeah, I've never seen you this upset since that hoofball game." Recounting the many pieces of broken glass left by Mr. Cake and his sports buddies. Also having to extinguish the fire that Spike created in her bedroom.
Remembering such events, he began to blush a heavy tomato red breaking eye contact with the two. "Well first off," he began, returning his look towards the two, "Pinke, Cup Cake I've apologized immensely about that game night, could we please just forget about that for a second." Although she was slightly annoyed by his 'forgive and forget' gesture, Pinke and Cup Cake decide not to go down that road once more.
"And secondly..." he trailed off, once again breaking away from the concentrated looks "I want you to close the store, but could you call Twilight and the others over." With a slight look of worry on her face, Pinke made her way to front door and flipping the switch for the neon sign from OPEN to CLOSE
Taken aback by her husband's suddenly serious tone, she made her way upstairs to gather her two foals. When she returned, she glanced at Pinke, who was seen sporadically texting her friends at a quickened pace. "Carrot Cake," she began "please tell me what going on."
He sighed deeply before facing back to his significant other."Honey...I need to be one-hundred percent honest with you..." He took a brief pause before finally finishing his sentence. "I've been lying about my past," he continued, as his wife's face contorted to that of absolute dread "My real name isn't Carrot Cake...It's Accelerator."
"Wait," Pinkie looked at her employer with slight mistrust in her eyes, "Are you telling me that-" Mr. Cake cut her off before she could affirm out her conclusion.
"That's right" he confirmed his pink co-worker. "I'm known as one of the best drag racers in Equestria."
There was a moment of silence as the three bakers stared at one another. While Pinkie looked at her boss with immediate bemusement and confusions; his wife, on the other hand, stared blankly at her significant other. The continuation of the silence caused Carrot Cake to sweat profusely, as he was unsure what her next words would be, Oh gosh, he thought to himself I hope she isn't upset- his inner thought had been interrupted, as his wife erupted with a somewhat deep, and hearty laugh.
"Oh Carrot, don't be silly," she began, wiping the tears from her eyes, " a drag racer, where on Equestria's green Earth did you get such an idea? "
He looked back at his wife with a look of relief but slightly hurt that she didn't believe her husband, "It's true dear." he began, making his way towards the stairway. Curious as to where he was going, Pinkie and Mrs.Cake followed the yellow stallion to the second floor and quickly took hold of her two foals, both of whom had been playing in their play-pen.
Reaching the second floor, they find Mr.Cake, or rather, Accelerator foraging through his bedside nightstand in the bedroom. "Dear, what are you-?" before she could finish, he pulled out a silver key with a tiny flame decal on the side of the said key.
"Like I said, I'm going to be more honest with you..." Not waiting for another second he stuck the key into the lock and opened the Armoire, which sat in the left corner of the room next to the bathroom, and immediately began to take apart the interior, from the shelf planks to the various miscellaneous items that cluttered the space of the wardrobe.
Taken aback by such a random action, Pinkie stood in confusion, unsure of what to do in such a situation, while Mrs. Cakes attempted to stop whatever her husband was doing. "Honey! I don't know what you think you are doing, but whatever it is, we can talk about it."
Her words of consolidation were of no effect on her significant other; as he removed the last bit of clutter, he tore off the padded cover in the back of the repository, which alarmed with wife more than she was
But she was alarmed with good reason, because behind the padded interior, was another door, with a padlock in the middle. "Wha-how?" Her mind was at a complete blank; the look of the door had an almost futuristic style, as the color of the door was white and pristine, almost as if it were open for the first time, yet the small could of dust that emitted from the repository would say otherwise.
Before he unlocked the door, he gave one last look towards his wife, "Just don't freak out when you see this..." His voice was a slight octave lower when he said that. He finally stuck the key into the lock, input a few of the passcode numbers, and after a few seconds, the doors opened, emitting a bright light with it. Once the light died down, what awaited inside completely shocked them.
Pinkie was the first to react to the room, "By Celestia's balls!" she exclaimed, which quickly earned her a reprimand from her boss.
"Pinkie! Not in front of the twins-huh?" He hadn't noticed until now that the cake twins were also lost in the amazement of the room.
The walls of the room were decorated with paintings of cars, most of them featuring that of a Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86. In the middle of the room was an old lazy-boy chair and barrel, which was polished, and used as a table. Said table held what looked like a bottle of whiskey, two shot glasses, and one drink glass next to a small container of ice. In the rightmost corner was a record player, with a large milk crate filled with phonograph records. The next to final decor of the room was a fireplace, which was surprisingly already lit when they entered
But what really caught the groups eye was the wooden board that hung above the fireplace, which held eight bandanas; each of them was a different color, with the first being tan, slightly opaque, and the last having a checkered black and white pattern.
Stunned by the decor of the room, Cupcake turned to her husband for further questioning, "Honey, what is all this?" She asked, her wide confused eyes gazing at him. "And those hanker chiefs," she trotted over towards the fireplace, "I've-" she paused, looking back at her husband, and then back at the board," I've heard a little bit about Accelerator," she admitted, "One thing I know about him was how after every race he wins, the defeated racer has to give up their hanker chief."
"Not to mention," the pink employee finally spoke up, giving one good look around the room, "That each of these bandanas belonged to the greatest drag racers of Equestria, Griffonstone, Minnotoruia, and even the Dragonlands!" She turned to her employer, still dazed by the sudden realization, "So you really are-"
The cakes and Pinke hadn't noticed but behind them were a familiar group of ponies that had been called prior to this new information. One of the ponies in said group exclaimed with excitement at the site of the room, stealing the next word that Pinkie was about to say. "Accelerator!" The rainbowed main pegasus quickly trotted into the room, staring in awe of the interior.
"So is this what you texted us about Pinke?" The next to enter the room was the well-known fashionista and seamstress. Her gaze soon followed the room, adoring the room form it warm decor. "While I'm not a fan of such a barbaric competition as drag racing, I will say that you have some impeccable taste Mr. Cake." Rarity complimented. The latter two who entered was the princess of friendship herself, and her fable assistant.
Rainbow Dash glared at the fashionista, slightly annoyed by the fist remark, "What's so barbaric 'bout drag racing?" she asked, proceeding to go into a tangent on the sport. "The way your mane waves through the wind while you're going eight to one-hundred and twenty miles an hour; the sound of your tiers screeching as you do a mad drift around the curve. The thrill and adrenaline you get from pulling sick moves-" she pauses to take a breath, "And finally, the cheer and respect you receive when you win a big race..." she finished, sighing in pleasure over the imagination of the subject. "How could you not find it awesome?"
"Wait," Spike began, entering the conversation, "isn't drag-racing, like, super dangerous and illegal?"
Accelerator nodded in agreeance, "Exactly," he replied "Which is why I gave up that life to not only keep myself safe" he looked towards his family, with a soft smile, "but for my wife and children as well-"
"Oh blarg!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "You seriously threw all that excitement, just to be some boring cook." She rolled her eyes and turned towards the door, only to be stopped by Twilight.
"Hold on Rainbow-" Twilight's objection was cut short, as a loud slam could be heard downstairs. While most of the group was taken aback by this sudden noise, Pinke being her usual self, became curious and made her way out the room. Mrs. Cake, being the motherly mare she is, attempted to stop her pink employee. "Pinkie what are you ?" she asked, holding her two foals tighter before.
Confused, Pinkie turned to her employer, "What," she began "it's probably just another customer."
Accelerator face-hoofed in response to her speculation,"Pinkie, why would customers want to break down our door, when they can see that were closed." Pinkie simply shrugged and continued on her way. "That mare," concerned for his employee, Accelerator followed her. Rainbow Dash quickly followed the orange-maned stallion, claiming, "I'll just be there for backup, 'case any shit goes down."
As the three made there way downstairs, they heard three voices: two almost identical male voices, and one sultry female voice. "Where the hell is that pony?" said one of the male voices, pacing around the room.
As the three ponies made their descent downstairs; they had a better look at who these three strange ponies were. Once they saw the strangers, one moment of realization came over them. These were not ponies, or equines for that matter, but rather, a trio of griffons. "Griffons?" Accelerator gasped in surprise at the sudden noise behind him. Turing towards the noise, he sees six familiar faces. "What are you guys doing here?" he whispered
"Well," Twilight began "After Rainbow left, Spike somehow left my vision, and followed you as well," she stopped for a brief moment to glare at her assistant, who returned with an apologetic look, and then continued with her explanation " Then when we found him we notice he was walking towards you three; and well, I got a little curious." She ended with a sheepish smile.
Accelerator sighed "Spike," he looked towards the purple dragon "While I'm glad you were concerned for the well-being of the girls, you should have just stayed with them." He turned his attention back to the three griffons, who were now looking back at the group with annoyed faces.
"You guys finished with your little tea party," mocked one of the male griffons, whose feathers were rust-colored, and wore a red leather jacket, with zippers on the pockets.
Pinkie, not realizing it to be a rhetorical mock, nodded in response. This got a giggle out of the white feathered female griffon, who wore a red leather jacket, but underneath wore an equally redder shirt that was cut at the midsection of the torso. "Come on Will," she scoffed as traces of her thick Italian accent could be heard, "you can't seriously believe that's him."
"Oh don't worry Maria," he reassured her ", I'm one hundred percent sure it's him." This got him a quizzical look from the other male griffon who also had white feathers and wore a short-sleeved shirt over a long sleeved one.
"And how do you know that?" he asked, crossing arms in suspicion.
"Well it simple Duncan," he assured his skeptical friend, "let's ask him about one of the other racers." As soon as he said that, the two griffons, and Accelerator, who was now beginning to sweat at the following words, knew what he was about to say. "You know," He took a step closer to the stairway, ", my father... the one that he killed."
