Aqua was struggling to keep pace with either of the Nissan's Lightning and Emerald were driving. Lightning, true to her nature, was learning how to handle a drift build quite fast. The fact that she kept up with Emerald proved it. This left Aqua's BRZ with insufficient power to keep up. She crossed the bridge one more time going the opposite direction from before. Her companions were long gone by now but thankfully she knew her way back to Lightning's place. She hit the speed trap going 155, a personal record, and continued on. She passed by a gas station on the left, however she didn't notice the black and red Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX that had been parked in the lot.

She passed through a series of shallow curves. Coming into a four way intersection she intended to blaze right through it. She never saw the matte black Challenger Concept coming. She took the full front of the collision on the passenger door. The impact of the much heavier muscle car sending her off the intersection and down a hill into a back road. Her Subaru lay on the edge of the road with a dent the size of a fridge in her door, the impact knocking her out but for only a moment. The driver of the Challenger came down to admire the work. As they did so Aqua came back to, a large cut on her head where she hit the dash. The Challenger parked on the side of the road just a few feet from the BRZ.

Rogue stepped out of his crew car, he only used it for jobs. He casually walked up to the door of the BRZ and opened it. Aqua, dazed from the collision, put up no resistance as he pulled her from the car and threw her to the road. She went limp once again, with her belly flat across the road like a new born filly. Rogue had so much more planned.

Suddenly from up the road a Mustang flew by dangerously close, Rogue was forced to roll into the ditch to avoid taking a direct hit as it parked itself immediately. The door flung open as the occupant scrambled out of the car. As Rogue regained his bearings and got back on his hooves he was met with a full force hoof to the muzzle. He was sent sprawling into the ditch, rolling like a tin can. He would be out for a few minutes at least.

"Punk." Was all Crimson Flare needed to say. Hey took a second glance at Aqua. She wasn't getting out of here under her own power.

He opened his trunk and retrieved a hitch and cable, attaching one end to his Mustang and the other to the Subaru before placing Aqua on his shoulder and settling her gently in the passenger seat. She was still out cold, but alive. He began to gently drive the Mustang back to where he expected her to be heading. Lightning's place wasn't that far, but he needed to slow down with the extra weight his car was carrying. He left Rogue in a heap, it was all he wanted anyway.

Lightning was getting used to the Silvia quite fast. The only problem was its unnatural desire to jump out at every opportunity. It was a drift car, but it was only really meant to be a drift car. Emerald had replaced everything to make the car go sideways in the corners. The name Sidewinder was quite fitting for the unicorn.

They had been nose to tail for most of the journey back to the garage. Emerald had gotten ahead as she brought the 370z through the corners much more efficiently than Lightning could, but Lightning never fell to far behind. The same could not be said for Aqua, who had fallen behind them rapidly.

They had arrived at the garage, McClare waiting patiently for them. However, he mentioned a few finishing touches needed to be equipped to the M3, a surprise he added. Lightning would have to be patient for just a few more minutes. Emerald gave her an idea. Since Lightning needed some extra practice with drifting, perhaps she could enter a drift trial to get some time to adjust to the Silvia.

And so Lightning found one, on the small island between Downtown and Eden Shores. a three lap circuit event with a total goal of 175,000. It seemed imposing, but if she could string together multipliers like Emerald had mentioned it wouldn't be that much of a challenge, and it was a three lap event which meant plenty of time to get a line running.

Plenty of ponies in the crowd too, all of them excited to watch the display. Lightning began to rev up the Silvia as the countdown started.

3...2...1...

A good launch, but speed was not the objective here. No pony to race, just a show to put on. She went through the shallow right turn and kicked out the rear before immediately releasing the throttle and pulling hard left. She didn't get many points for it but she was just starting. A wide right under a walking bridge gave her a good sum of points and a multiplier. Another quick left and right caught her slightly off guard and she went off the road a bit. She recovered the Silvia quickly and continued on. Yet another pair of alternating turns followed up by a very wide right. She kicked the rear as far as she could hold it, and with a 3x multiplier it gave her serious score. Another right followed by two lefts, the 3x multiplier still holding up strong. One more right turn, a good one too. She went to boost out through the corner but her tires were still sliding she had to use the e-brake to slow down fast and not impact the wall. She righted the Silvia and kept the multiplier going, but she had lost all the speed she had built up. One lap down, she glanced at the score she accumulated.

83,592

A solid lap, she went on towards the second. She did not take the shallow first corner sideways. Instead, she lined up the second and got a solid drift out of it. Once more under the bridge and she boosted out. It was timed much better and it set up for a very wide arch into the next left. She got close to the wall, but that gave her bonus points. Once more through the series of alternating turns. She took a very smooth line and set up the wide right. Perfect entry and she kept the car stable. The corner granted a temporary 4x multiplier and gave her ten thousand points. A right once more and two more lefts. She gave the second left an extra kick to add on to the score. The final right was a solid one, she did not boost out of it this time. One lap left.

173,648

Oh yeah, she already had this one down. But extra points are just that, extra. Lightning loved putting on a little extra. Again, smooth entry into the first corner to set up the second. she hit the target score, now it was time for the extra. The third run through the third corner was her best. A perfect slide kicked up plenty of green smoke. She passed the left with no problem, then hit the double corner and into the wide right. Not as good of a corner than her previous time around but it worked. She put the throttle down a bit early and had to release it to stabilize the car. She powered on. Not enough speed for the right but plenty for the pair of lefts. Once more through the final right turn and past the line.

Final score, 271,819

A solid run all the way through, a few minor slip ups but nothing that hindered the run at all. She was about to celebrate when she got a call from... Crimson?

He had completely vanished yesterday, and was only now calling her? She answered quickly.

"About time you called."

"This isn't about last night Lightning, it's about right now. Meet me back at your place. I'm already here."

He hung up without letting her answer. Judging by only his voice it was more of a command than an invite. Lightning sighed and began the short drive back home. When her tires began to slide she decided to make it a slow trip back.

As she parked her Silvia she did see Crimson's Mustang parked in the lot along with Emerald's 370z and McClare's 180SX.
Crimson was standing at the doorway.

"What's this about if your not here because of last night?"

"Come inside, you'll figure it out soon enough."

She followed the stallion into the garage. They found McClare still working on a car, but it wasn't the BMW. The BMW was covered up in the corner of the garage. McClare was checking on Aqua's BRZ, which had a massive dent in the passenger side door. Lightning was astonished, Aqua had just been with her 30 minutes ago and that damage surely had not been there. Aqua had fallen behind her and Emerald on their way home but she never expected this. The pony in question however was not present in the room and neither was Emerald.

"Where... where is Aqua?"

"In the bedroom with her friend." McClare was the pony who answered her. She didn't miss a step on her way to the room, Crimson following her back. She found the two ponies she was looking for. Emerald sitting on the side of the bed looking over Aqua, almost in tears. Meanwhile Aqua was belly up on the bed, and in pain. Lightning could see why, a large gash on her head where she had impacted the dash during the incident. She was conscious and no where near death but the sudden severity of the situation put every pony present on edge. She had been just fine an hour ago, now she was out of action. That put everyone on notice.

"She's damn lucky I was passing by, if I wasn't she'd already be knocking on deaths door. And no, it wasn't an accident. It was a fucking ambush."

Lightning gave Crimson a knowing look.

"Rogue?"

Crimson nodded, before having to hold Lightning away from the door. She was fully intent on getting out and finding that stallion. Crimson put her on her hind before she got the chance.

"Don't you dare go out and looking for that bastard. We all know what he's gonna do if you come looking for him."

"He's already doing it behind our backs! Neon was a racing incident. This is deliberate sabotage. If he wants a damn fight i'm gonna give him one."

"Lightning! calm yourself. I'm not going to just let you throw yourself at the stallion. He'll eat you up and trash you after. We have to stick together, or else this shit is going to keep happening."

Her was right, and Lightning didn't want to admit it. She was so close to losing a second companion to Rogue and if Crimson had not been present it would have happened. Lightning turned back to Emerald and Aqua.

"She's going to fine right?"

"Yes, i'll take car of her dear. She'll be back in no time. Why don't you go talk to your friend. He says your ride is ready."

Knowing the M3 was ready completely erased the thought of Rogue from Lightning's mind. She made her way back to the garage. That was when she finally saw it.

the BMW M3 had gone through a complete conversion. A brand new body kit, spoiler, and rims. The white coat of paint had been replace with a bright shade of green, one which matched Lightning's coat. Along the side of the car were golden wings and along the hood was a pair of twin lightning bolts. above the bolts was the word "SHIFT". The front window had a white sticker that read "Fastlane" and the back also had a much larger sticker that included stars and the words"Perfect Shift". Finally a custom license plate, it read "SUPRSTM" and had a tag that said "I Excel Then Prevail".

The entire car had been given a completely new look, and Lightning looked like a filly in a candy store.

"Looks like I outdid myself this time." McClare commented as Lightning entered the M3 once again. She started the engine again and gave the car a few test revs. The exhaust began spitting flames as the cars engine gave its new parts a good test. Now fitted with a turbo charger and a 9lb nitrous tank, the engine now cranked out 635 horsepower with a 0-60 of 3.37 seconds and a top speed of 214 mph. A supercar in a coupe's body.

"I think it's time to take this to the streets."

"Sounds good Superstorm. Just watch yourself out there. We know he's out there now, if you need me you know where to find me."

And with that, Crimson went to his Mustang and took off heading east. Lightning exited the garage as well. She intended on heading north for Westside. There was some competition there she wanted to test her new ride against.

Author's Note

Bet that brought some one out of their seat, perfect time to utilize the swearing tag.

I did the entire drift event by myself with the recreation of the Silvia by scratch and did the entire run myself, pausing to write and check scores. I also have been planning on showing off the M3 for some time now, every part is fully recreated on NFS Heat in Game and the stats match up perfectly.

I hope you all are excited for what's coming next.