Lightning Dust slowly forced her eyes to open, she didn't know how long she had been out for but she figured it should have been quite some time. Considering it was late afternoon when she last remembered she only assumed it had been a few hours at least. She was aware now that she was in the hospital, if the room she was in was anything to go by.

"Okay, what was the last thing that i remember... oh right the tree that I flew into at full speed." She thought, chuckling slightly at her inability to spot the biggest object nature could have created with wood. Suddenly the nurse, she assumed it was the nurse, came in to greet her.

"Good morning Miss Dust, I see your awake."

"Of course I am, I'm the toughest pegasus in the area! Can't keep me down forever." Lightning boasted.

"Yeah... of course!" The nurse replied, nervousness shown clearly across her face.

"Is there anything I need to know, before I leave I mean?" Lightning questioned. This made the nurse even more tense "Something wrong?"

"You might not like it."

"Oh come on you can tell me anything, It sure seems important."

Later that day...

If Lightning had never felt true pain before she most likely felt it now and then some. She had been told that after the tree she crashed into caused her complete black out, the way she had landed severed the nerve connection in her wings. She first thought it was a joke, until she realized she couldn't feel either one in the slightest. The next few hours were pretty self explanatory, with the mental breakdown rivaling Twilight Sparkles' when she was late on her friendship report. When she was discharged from the hospital all emotion had left her. She literally felt nothing, literally and figuratively, and was left with her only option being to walk the entire distance back home.

All her years living as a pegasus and flying at her hearts content, ripped from her as if she was only ever just an earth pony. It was humiliating for her and before she even walk could more than a quarter mile down the long road home, shecompletely lost it. She had no idea how long she had been there but it was quite some time, and she knew it was best to get home sooner than later.

As she continued the incredibly long trek home, she continuously was alerted to the sound of a vehicle passing by. Cars had been an entirely new thing for Equestria and only recently over the years had become more affordable for unicorns and earth ponies that needed to travel large distances quickly. Most pegasi however did not really favor these and Lightning was no exception. It was unnecessary for pegasi to need a vehicle because they already could fly! At least in Lightning's case used to fly.

The constant noise of the cars passing her every few minutes curbed her ideas of walking straight home. She took the chance on a longer, but more scenic and less noisy route. Edin Shores was a great place for exercise with such open air. Every vehicle that passed her was a painful reminder of what she had become, and what was her future. She didn't know if she could even consider herself a pegasus without being able to fly! Normally she would just fly over the bridge from downtown to the shore like any other pegasus. Instead she took the south exit and took a back road parallel to the highway.

She was so focused on her internal struggle over her own sanity that she had no idea she was coming upon an abandoned building until she just about walked by it. She wasn't sure why it caught her attention. It was no more than just an average sized garage, barely able to fit a single vehicle. It wasn't even like she cared, there was nothing special about it, however something compelled her to walk up to it and open the large door concealing anything that it may contain. It was as if some sort of magic had taken control of her mind. Finally giving into herself she trotted up to the large building and forced up the door revealing a worn out, rusted piece of junk. To her at least it would seem like it had been there since the dawn of time. For some reason though she felt like it looked sort of familiar, as if she remembered seeing a design for something like this years ago. It didn't take her long to remember, it was a model that had been announced back when cars were just starting to become in high demand. It had been revealed in Baltimare while she had been visiting the area shortly after being expelled from the academy a few weeks prior. She never saw them in Wing City though

"What was it called again? I remember it was made by a company called Toyota but I can't recall the name, did it start with an S?" She dismissed the thought as quickly as her 0 to 60 used to be when she could fly. It wasn't getting her home anytime soon. She knew of a pony in her neighborhood that was a mechanic for cars, though she never got his name. One thing she knew was that the stallion was good at restoring just as well as maintaining them. She would perhaps visit him tomorrow, see if he knew anything about it or could fix it up, not like she cared that much about it. It was just because she felt like it was something that could satisfy his itch for cars. She continued on her way home, shutting the garage door back down to make sure nothing happened before he got there.

The next day Lightning woke up to a very bright morning. She had most likely slept in because she no longer needed to do her morning routine to keep her wing strength up, given she couldn't even use them anymore. The only thing she needed to do other than keep herself fit, minus the wings, was to talk to the stallion about the abandoned vehicle. As she made her way over to the shop from her neighborhood she received a few curious glances from passerby, likely since they usually saw her in the air. It was more frustrating than anything to be reminded by others of her new disability. She decided to slightly quicken her pace to limit the amount of time she was outside.She crossed the south west bridge and minutes later her destination came into view and she entered through the push door. Thankfully for her the place seemed empty of any ponies minus the one that worked there, he most likely was somewhere at the back. She tapped the bell to notify him of her presence and seconds later the stallion arrived at the desk, dirty and covered in what Lightning assumed was sweat.

"Finally, about time some pony showed up. I was beginning to think nothing was going to happen today. Name's McClare, what do ya need today miss?" The Stallion, now known as McClare, asked.

"Well..." Lightning Responded " I spotted an old run down vehicle a few miles up the road form here, I heard about the fact you love old models and I thought I would like to show you where it's located."

"Really? You don't mind showing me where this is, I would like to get a good look at it. Maybe I can fix it up and keep in the back. You probably wouldn't need it being a pegasus and all that but I thank you for the offering. Lead the way, i'll get the flatbed out back an follow you there. Just remember to not get to fast, i'm limited to the road you know"

Lightning looked away from the stallion, visibly upset. The sentence, though unintentionally, made her even worse. She still hadn't gotten over the loss of her ability to fly. Even though her wings were still there to keep her dignity, it just served as a painful reminder of what it used to be.

"You alright kid?" The sudden voice brought her attention back to the stallion.

"Oh, it's not much just... i'm not really feeling myself today. Last night I was told i'll never fly again and everyone who doesn't know it just looks at me funny."

The weight of her situation gave her chills, but the stallion only brought his hoof around her body.

"Alright, sorry I didn't know, come on i'll let you ride with me. Just let me know where i'm heading."

His voice seemed to calm Lightning just enough for her to settle down and they went outside to grab the truck in order to bring back the vehicle that she had located just yesterday. Locating the garage once again, Lightning and McClare walked up to the garage and opened it up. McClare was quite impressed.

"You made quite the find here my friend, They don't make them like these anymore. Really old model, probably from the early days of this kind of thing. Know what it is?" McClare questioned.

"Not really, never really paid any attention to stuff like this when I was younger." Was Lightning's answer. McClare took a look around the vehicle taking in every detail.

"This my friend is a Toyota Supra, really old too. I can tell by the design, this was the earliest model of these things. This will look fitting with everything else I got back there. You mind helping me get this thing on the back of the truck?"

Lightning was silently thankful that the "Supra" still had it's wheels attached, it made it astonishingly easier to push it rather than attempting to lift the mid-sized vehicle. When the automobile was loaded up they headed back towards McClares's garage, they were a few miles short when two much smaller and quicker vehicles sped by one after the other, each one decorated with separate styles of paint. Lightning was momentarily stunned by the speed they passed by with, while McClare just shook his head.

"Street racers..." he acknowledged "I have nothing against them personally, but some are just flat out reckless. Though in my opinion, that RS4 has got nothing on the DB9." He commented, earning a glance from Lightning.

"What do you mean, what's a 'Street Racer'?" She questioned. McClare sighed, this wasn't the first time he had explained it.

"You wouldn't know because you're a pegasus, no offense, so I'll give you the simple version. Over the last few months unicorns and earth ponies have started using automobiles for illegal competitions around Equestria. Basically, If it has four wheels, an engine, and goes fast enough, it's fair game to race with."

"If it's illegal, doesn't that mean the authorities should be shutting it down? Surely they have cars too."

"They try Lightning, that doesn't mean it always works. Most of the time the racers are too fast and end up shaking them off or straight up running them off the road. Even if they do catch them another is bound to take their place anyway, the idea is spreading like wildfire."

Lightning didn't press further, she understood what he said to an extent. She had heard before that many vehicles could keep up with and even be faster than most slightly better than average pegasi, some of them going as fast as 250 mph or more. She could see why a unicorn or earth pony would get jealous, but to break rules just to get a thrill? She remembered where doing that got her last time. The pain still filled her heart from that day she failed to achieve her dream, not to mention even if she had ever been given another chance in the future it would not matter in the slightest.

"You know what Lightning, i'm surprised you considered that kind of stuff as wrong as you did. Maybe it's because your a pegasus, but I think you would get plenty of thrills from that kind of stuff. I know my friend Neon did, I help her build and maintain her car nowadays."

Lightning pondered the idea considerably. She had stretched limits before but she didn't feel above the law in any way. Thrills had always been part of her day to day life and flying was all she needed then, without it though what would she do for the remainder of her life? She didn't want it to become nothing more than wasted energy. She had been thinking about it so long they had arrived at the garage before she even realized. McClare jumped out an went around the back of the flatbed.

"Are you going to help me get this in the garage?" He asked, snapping Lightning from her thoughts. She quickly hopped out as well and the two of them rolled the newly acquired vehicle inside. With it inside the garage he thanked Lightning and turned to get back to his original work from before. After a quick hesitation Lightning asked a pressing question.

"How long do you think it will take to get it back to it's old ways?"

"Given the condition, I would say a week maybe two. It's in fair shape considering where we found it. Got a reason why?" Was his response. Lightning hesitated before replying back.

"I think I would like to take a look at it when your done. Might need to learn how to drive one soon anyway, given that I can't fly anymore." Her voice somewhat faltered but McClare either didn't notice or care.

"Fair enough, give me a week and check back. If i'm not done by then i'm sure i'll be done by two."

this was good enough for her as she nodded and walked out back towards her home. Had she never met McClare she wouldn't know if she would ever even attempt to get over the loss of the ability to fly, now she was somehow calm and collective, a striking contrast to herself the night prior. She wasn't sure why she had felt this way, it was something she couldn't quite comprehend herself at that moment. One thing she did know was that she was back to her old self, and she would stay that way, even without the ability to fly!

Author's Note

This chapter is just to get the story moving, and chapter two will mostly be a transition chapter. Once I make it to chapter three we will get into the racing that will highlight the focus of the story. The garage is in the same location as the one you get your first car from and the Supra is on the highway between Palm City Raceway, Mendoza Keys, and Edin Shores.