Despite it being 4 in the morning, was awoken from what was a peaceful slumber. She shifted over under the covers to look for the source of the noise that awoke her. She found the tablet, which only meant one thing. A notification regarding Perfect Shift. Begrudgingly she moved the covers away and stood up. She gave herself time to adjust her eyes by turning on the lights in the room and eventually turned on the tablet to read the notification. This one was different from the rest, it wasn't an announcement. It was a direct message, coming from the mare herself.

Superstorm

Due to your ability to exceed expectations regarding your spot in Perfect Shift you have been granted limited access to a high tier vehicle for an upcoming preview event. I will be personally shipping the ride to you, from my own collection. It will arrive for you in the morning. The event will be held during the day at 4:00PM. You are permitted to test and tune the car, but you may not upgrade or customize it while in possession of it. If the inspectors find any changes you will be penalized accordingly.

Win the preview race, and you get to keep the car. You're opponents are as follows

Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 "Special K"
Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR "Zephyr"
McClaren MP4-12C "Ravager"
Ferrari F40 "Marksman"
Aston Martin One-77 "Psycho"
Ford GT '17 "Blue Hornet"
Saleen S7 "Silber"

Cheers, have fun with it.
VItality, Head of Perfect Shift

Again, she was mixing it up with Zephyr. Vitality called him out by name, as well as the two others in his group Special K and Blue Hornet. Did they know each other? No time to think about it now, and no chance of going to sleep with the amount of excitement brewing in her. The sun was just now coming up, meaning the night patrols of the police force were heading in to switch with day shifts. A perfect time to explore while she waited for her ride at the garage.

After a shower she entered the M3 and began to head northwest before turning onto the bridge connecting Bayview Park to Westside. On her right, a golf course. It was rarely ever in use, mostly because of dangerous racers using the walkway as racing pavement. She parked alongside it and brought up the map. Collectibles, they were scattered throughout the city. So to were jumps, speed-traps, and billboards. The jumps were named, and everything was distributed into sections corresponding to the areas of the city. They were a good time filler, Lightning would spend some time doing them while she waited.

As she began to make her way back to the garage she decided to go out of her way to hit every billboard and jump that she found. Each one giving bonuses as she did so. As she finally made her way to the garage she found no indication that her ride had been delivered. With no info on when the ride would arrive she entered the workshop.

Crimson and McClare were working on the Mustang Boss 302. The stallions liked interacting with each other and their common interest in building classic card was always on display. In the back, she found Aqua and Emerald. Aqua was once again on her hooves, the mark on her head scarring over.

"Nice yo see you standing again."

"I'm just happy to be alive, I owe Crimson my life at the moment."

"Why yes dear, but you have a more pressing issue. Your car is completely totalled."

"Yeah, I'll have to get a low budget replacement I guess."

"Hey cheer up kid, you'll figure out something."

"You've been out on the streets for two weeks and you're already calling me kid?!"

"I'm just playing with ya. You want to walk around a bit?"

"Better than sitting in...."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud engine roar. It came from the front of the garage. Lightning knew exactly what was making that sound. She was the first to investogate. What she found was astonishing.

A fully kitted silver Porsche 911 GT2 RS with lime trim. Along the front bumper were SpeedHunters sponser stickers and along the top of the windshield lay text that read "Speed Academy". The GT2 RS was a track built car made for the road, unmatched in pure power by an 911 before it. This was a racecar by design, made for the streets. It had once been Vitality' s ride, now she was lending it over to Lightning.

Lightning entered into the 911, finding the push to start button. The engine was brought to life, but this was not the Flat 6 that the 911 was known for. It was much louder and more dominant. She brought the ride inside.

As she entered the work area with the loaner car, she received a whistle from McClare, clearly he was impresses by this new addition. Aqua and Emrald also joined the floor with Crimson to check out the new set of wheels. Lightning was not the only pony to notice that different sounding engine that brought the car along.

"Lightning, mind if I take a look under there? That is not a Flat 6 under that hood."

"As long as you don't change the parts, Vitality doesn't mind."

"Hold up, the... Vitality."

"Yes Crimson, it's on loan for now. I've got a race at 4 today."

As Lightning explained the reason she had acquired a new vehicle so suddenly McClare got his view of the specs under the hood. What he saw was completely unexpected.

"So Dust, did you know what you were getting when you received this?"

"No, it was a complete secret."

"Well, this is the first time I've seen a 7.0l V12 in a Porsche."

The entire crowd of ponies looked at the stallion with mixed expressions of shock, excitement, and confusion.

"And apparently I'm not the only one either."

As he closed the hood on the Porsche, Lightning examined the interior of the ride. Fully customized, designed like a try race car. It was time to get some driving in. It was now 9AM, she had plenty of time to get a feel for the car. She marked a destination, the safe house in Mendoza Keys. Soon she was off.

The Porsche's steering was very responsive. Lightning liked that, though the very grippy tires meant it was unlikely to spin out. When she turned past the upgrade shop she was able to kick the back wheels out. So it could drift, just no reliably.

She noticed something as well, the nitrous system had four charges. She pressed it once, unleashing the beast. Then when pressed it again. Two charges and now she was going well over 200. Her body whil le used to the G-forces was getting battered into the seat. She pulled over on the intersection curb and rolled down her window in an attempt to reduce the strain she had put on herself.

She then continued onward turning left at a reduced speed, 150MPH to be exact. She passed over a small bridge, then upped her speed again. She turned right once again then entered the bridge. She overtook a black Camaro SS on it's left. She did not expect it to be an undercover cop. The unit flashed it's siren much to her surprise and disdain. With nothing to lose or gain she pulled over. She wasn't racing, she had nothing to be busted for.

The Camaro parked behind her, stepping out was a dark blue earth pony stallion. Without hesitation he stepped to The window of the Porsche. Lightning already had the window rolled down.

"Any idea how fast you were going dear?"

"Faster than your car can go."

"See, I don't take well to small talk. You're lucky I didn't catch you out here at night. Otherwise you would be getting more than just a warning. The last time some pony came down this bridge at night their call ended up in the drink."

So, this was a cop that was proud of his job. Lightning was unfazed by his bragging.

"Neat story. Tell me, are you familiar with how many street racers there are out here. Because there doesn't seem to be any change in how the city has been."

"Ah, just wait. One day, the police will own the night. Take care."

With that, the black Camaro continued on its patrol. Lightning decided to commit to the speed limit, until the Camaro was out of sight. Then she pulled an immediate 180 turn. She expelled all of her nitrous in one go.

"Good luck sir, you're gonna need all of it."

It was now 10 minutes until 4, and Lightning was already at the meeting point. Parked in the lot by an auto parts shop near the mall in Edgewood Valley. She had now been waiting for several minutes. Just as she was getting bored, a vehicle arrived.

She could easily make this out as Zephyr, his Mercdes CLK GTR Super Sport was styled to match his Fiesta ST. He did a quick circle around the lot, and Lightning pulled away to follow. They were on a time crunch and needed to get to the start line. Lightning received a voice call from him as he drive away.

"Fancy meeting you again."

"Likewise, since Vitality called you out by name I assume you know her?"

"We are well acquainted. She gave you a nice ride. You're going to need it to keep up."

She followed him southeast, heading towards Cape Castille.

"So, how was the vacation?"

"It wasn't much of a vacation so to speak, but it turned out well. Made friends with a princess."

"Lucky you, so why are you back?"

"Vitality's request. Besides, can't just leave this place to rot. Plenty of competition around."

They got up to speed on the freeway. Zephyr's CLK had great acceleration and was good in a straight line, but so to was Lightning's 911 GT2 RS. After a quick series of turns they found themselves in Cape Castille. He lead her into a small district. Passing by an open security gate and into a parking lot where the 6 remaining vehicles were.

Blue Hornet and Special K were easy to pick out, their respective Ford GT and Lamborghini Gallardo were painted just like the BRZ and RX-7 from before. Silber in a Silver Saleen S7 with the same decals. In fact, Psycho's white and black One-77, Ravager's purple and black MP4-12C, and Marksman's black F40 all shared the same exact vinyl style.

Lightning quickly realized she was racing all members of Trinity at once.

"We best get going, I bet the crowd is waiting for us." Zephyr noted.

One by one the members of Trinity pulled away from the lot in a two by two formation. Going around the buildong and through the other security gate. A little further up the road and Lightning noticed the crowd in question. They pulled a left and every car lined up underneath a toll booth.

Marksman and Psycho on the front row, Silber and Ravager behind them, Special K and Blue Hornet holding the third row, and Zephyr and Superstorm at the tail end. Engines began to rev as the racers awaited the countdown. Off to Lightning's left she noticed a familiar face step out from the crowd. A Red pegasus, with a mobile camera, coming in to admire the rides.

Soon enough the race was ready to go, this was going to be important for Lightning. If she could win, she had a free ride when she made it to the next class. Lose, she would have to buy one out of her own bank.

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

Every launch was admirable. Silber got the best one, and gave a slight shunt to Marksman before ducking between him and Psycho. Ravager was content with fourth while the racers behind got jumbled up. Zephyr got alongside Special K while Lightning's attempt was blocked by Blue Hornet. Instead of backing off, she pushed him forward. The makeshift bumpdraft got them both by the pair alongside them.

Silber managed to take the lead with his wild move, his Saleen S7 rocketing ahead. Marksman took second leaving Psycho to defend third from Ravager. Blue Hornet and Lightning were dead locked for fifth and Zephyr took seventh from Special K

They took the first left, Ravager getting the better of Psycho with a clean love for third. Blue Hornet relentlessly defended his position from Lightning and she was unable to make a move. On the exit Zephyr began to set up a slingshot on the duo. He waited for straight road and made the move work.

A series of s-curves awaited them. Marksman began to put pressure on Silber and Ravager began to close as well. Zephyr pulled away intending to join the fight for the lead. Lightning had plenty of grip in the corners and Blue Hornet was hugging the inside. Using the power of the newly modeled Ford GT to power-slide through the tight corners. Lightning used an opportunity to pull around the outside on the third corner. Her grip held and the move worked. Showing off had cost Hornet the position to her.

Ahead Silber was trying to hold off a pair of charging opponents in Marksman and Ravager. Zephyr caught up to Psycho and Lightning pulled away from Blue Hornet who was now in a battle with Special K. The road pulled off to the right and led down a long straight road. Silber's S7 gained some breathing room from it's crazy acceleration. Ravager's modern MP4-12C outclassed Marksman's retro F40 and he inherited second. As the three of them continued straight Psycho peeled right onto a downhill curve. Zephyr followed and Lightning was close enough to see this happen. On her map, she saw that they were taking a different route than which was marked. However, this looked like a shortcut. She followed suit. Blue Hornet and Special K stayed on course.

Psycho inherited the lead on the other side, Zephyr now in second. Silber managed to hold third as Lightning gained two positions following the shortcut. Silber defended the position relentlessly. Every move Lightning made was blocked. Ravager and Marksman caught up and suddenly there was a four way battle for a third place finish. Lightning didn't need third, she need to win.

Ravager looked to her right and she let him go. His move prompted Silber to move over to block him, which opened the door for Lightning. That option was quickly shut however by Marksman having the same idea. Silber soon realized the mistake and went to close down this move. He went to block, and ended up door slamming the F40. Marksman powered on, almost spinning as he got clipped by the S7's fender. Lightning kept her line, running side by side with Ravager. At this point Psycho and Zephyr were long gone. Marksman now needed to defend from Silber and he was defending from both Ravager and Lightning.

She needed to make something work and fast or there was no hope in catching the two leaders.They were now on a land bridge in Mendoza Keys. It was here that Lightning found an opportunity. She cut her line well onto the embankment of the second turn. It was a rough transition, but neither Silber nor Marksman attempted a wild block. Finally she acquired third and managed to pull away. Now it was a matter of catching Zephyr and Psycho.

Zephyr was now ahead of Psycho heading north out of Mendoza Keys. Lightning hooked a sharp left. She was now heading north as well. She drove this exact road in the Camaro, just in the opposite direction. By the time she reached the tunnel connecting Mendoza Keys and Eden Shores she had caught up to Psycho.

Psycho preceded to jump a ramp and smash a billboard. Now running along a jogging trail meant for ponies on hoof. Thankfully it was raining and no pony was outdoors. Lightning decided it was best to stick to the road and try to keep pace with Zephyr.

Without warning Psycho launched off another ramp at full speed, leaping over the two to retake the lead before making a sharp left. His One-77 survived the landing but it appeared as if it was limping. That's when Lightning noticed the reason, a punctured left rear. There was no way he could keep up without it. That left her and Zephyr to fight for the lead. They crossed the bridge leading towards Westside. It was now on, the race was almost done.

Two track cars, repurposed for the streets, and only a mile to go. All that was left between them and the finish was a final series of s-curves. Lightning looked left, and was blocked. They entered the first left and both racers used e-brake to stop quickly enough to make the corner. If either of them crashed Marksman, Ravager, or Silber were close enough to take advantage. On the second corner Lightning went for a risk. She held a solid line when Zephyr attempted to slow down. Her Porsche went tight and she needed to slow for the exit. She was ahead, but Zephyr's CLK quickly caught up. One more corner, and Zephyr pulled alongside for it. They were dead even coming out but Lightning had the inside for the final run.

She held the line through and the Porsche held its ground. By no more than half a car length she beat the Mercedes to the line. Ravager was not far behind followed by Silber and Marksman. Psycho limped across just ahead of Special K and Blue Hornet.

She won the race, now the Porsche was rightfully hers to keep.

Author's Note

Wow this chapter was a chore to write. Pretty long too, but I needed to make this race seem big and important since it was. Hope you enjoyed!