Author's Note

Hi Guys! It's me again! I'm back with another chapter. Luckily, someone informed me of the problems with this fic early on before they got any worse. I wanted to give Twilight's personality a little something special to make her seem more suited to this sort of lifestyle, and I had a way to justify it, but I decided against it and made some minor changes to how the chapter played out in order to fix that. Go read it again if you want the edited version. Then again you guys never read what I put up here so why am I wasting my time. However, if some of you are reading this, then go do that, then put down below in the comment section what you think the button does. That'll be fun to see.

Burning Rubber Part 5

"Are you ready, Sunset?" Twilight said as she sat on her motorcycle, looking down at the bacon haired teen.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Sunset gave a mock salute and giggled, watching as Twilight got off her motorcycle and walked up to her.

"Hey!" Twilight giggled as well. "I know I said i'd be training you, but there's no need to be so formal, you know?"

"Understood, Ma'am. Will do, ma.'am." Sunset continued despite Twilight's wishes, making her laugh uncontrollably. Sunset soon joined her.

"Oh...oh, my. Well, then, I suppose we should get started. Feel free to get on, Sunset."

Sunset did as she was told, and got on, revving up the great beast of a vehicle. She smiled at the sudden feeling of shaking caused by the engine turning on.

"Are ya'll startin' without me?" called a voice from Twilight's right side. She looked to see Apple Jack coming up towards her, her stetson hat tied around her neck and hanging behind her back as she unscrewed the top off of a water bottle and proceeded to drink from it.

"We wouldn't dream of starting without you, Applejack. Thanks again for letting us use the track behind your barn, by the way." Twilight said, smiling

"Don't worry about it. What are friends for?" Applejack said, returning her smile.

Twilight turned to Sunset and, raising her voice to be heard over the engine of the motorcycle, said, "Okay, when I say go, start racing the track. Go at your own pace. And remember to try not to crash! This is Applejack's Magi-Cycle after all."

"Okay, got it!" Sunset said as she readied herself to start the track.

"3...2...1...Go!" Twilight yelled. She watched as Sunset peeled off. kicking up a small amount of dust on her way. She watched for a while longer as she made the first turn, then turned to Applejack when she heard her ask the question,

"So what is all this trainin' for again. If we're trainin' 'er, then why are we just letting her take off like that?"

"We're not just letting her take off, Applejack. We're trying to see what she needs to improve on so that we can help her work on it. It's just like Principal Celestia always told us, 'You can't know what you need help with, until you actually try something yourself'."

"Oh, I see. So this is somethin' like a pre-test? To see what she knows?" Applejack said, finally understanding why they decided to rush so quickly into getting her on a Cycle.

"Exactly." Twilight says, just as soon as she turns around to see Sunset make the first turn of the track. She watches for a while, taking note of her turn style and balance in her mind.

"Well, seems to me like she's doing pretty well so far." Apple Jack said, turning to watch her as well.

Applejack was right. So far, so sunset was doing really well. She didn't seem to have any issues at all. Her speed was well beyond what one would expect from a newbie, and she seemed to be taking the sudden acceleration pretty well. Her balance was surprisingly well managed, and her handling was top notch.

"Yeah! You're right AJ! It's almost like she's a prod-." Twilight gasped. "Sunset, slow-"

"Whoa-Whoa!....Whooaa!" CRASH!

"Me and my big mouth!" Twilight and AJ both said at the same time.

"Sunset!" Twilight yells, going over to her and seeing her dazed form laying sprawled out on a now crushed bale of hay.

"Ugh....did anyone get the number on that truck?" Sunset said as she began to see stars.

"What?" Twilight asked, confused even as she lifted Sunset up and draped her arm over her shoulder. "Come on, Sunset. Let's get you inside."

With that, the three girls made their way into Applejack's barn, where they sat Sunset down on the couch, unconscious.

Sunset's eyes fluttered open as she regained consciousness, her vision slowly returning to her. She could barely move, and her body felt so heavy that she thought she wouldn't be able to get up if she tried.

When her vision finally returned, she was surprised to see that she wasn't outside, but in AJ's barn.

"How did I get here?" Sunset asked to no one in particular. Surprisingly, she got an answer.

"We brought you in after you crashed. Don't you remember?"

Sunset looked over to where she thought the voice came from only to see Twilight sitting next to her.

"T-Twilight? Oh, yeah, that's right. I crashed." She clutched her head and groaned. "Ugh...that hurts." She tried to sit up, only to feel Twilight's hand as she helped steady her.

"Careful now, you're still in pain. You need to be careful." Twilight said.

Sunset frowned. "I can't believe I crashed."

Twilight smiled and looked up at the pain ridden girl. "Well...look on the bright side. At least we know what you need to work on."

Sunset laughed. "Yeah. Paying attention."

The two girls chuckled to themselves. That is until Sunset started clutching her stomach and coughing.

"Oh! Here, let me help you." Twilight said as she led Sunset back down onto the couch, helping her relax.

Twilight removed her hands from Sunset's back and was about to put them down to her sides when suddenly, she felt a hand grasp her own. She looked up to see Sunset, her fingers clasped around her own.

"Can I do this, Twilight? Can I really become a Racer?" Sunset asked, and Twilight could see the worry in her eyes, hear it in her voice.

"Sunset." Twilight's expression showed compassion. "Sunset, you just started today. You're not gonna become a pro in a day, you know?"

“I know that...” Sunset said, “but if I’m already crashing on my first day then what hope do I have of getting any better?”

“Sunset...” Twilight simply stared into Sunset’s eyes. She could see that this was a truly deep worry for her. She truly believed that she might not amount to much here. That’s it. Her mind was made up.

“Sunset, I...No one’s perfect. Even I started out the same way you did.”

“R-really?” Sunset asked. “But you’re the leader of your team. You’re...different.”

“No, sunset, i’m not. I wasn’t always the leader of this team.”

“You...you weren’t?” Sunset asked.

“No, I wasn’t. Just two years ago, I was just like you. Fresh, new, excited. But most of all, nervous. I had no idea what I was doing, and I, like you, believed that one crash, one loss meant everything was over, that I couldn’t hope to make it in this sport.”

“So, what did you do?” Sunset asked.

“I didn’t do anything. It was the leader who pulled me out of my sadness and told me what I needed to hear. Just like I’m doing with you right now.”

“Who...who was the leader?”

“She was a wise and beautiful woman. A pillar of hope for her entire team. She held them up when they were down, and kept them grounded when they aimed too high. She led them into an age of fame that has lasted to this day. Her smile, as well as her ride, was said to shine like the sun.”

No. It couldn’t be. There was only one person she knew that even warranted that kind of praise from anyone.

“You-you mean…?”

“That’s right, Sunset. You know who I mean.”

“P-principal Celestia?”

“Yes. Her and her sister led this team long before I did.”

“What happened to make her stop?” Sunset asked, genuinely curious to find out more about her school’s principal.

“I don’t know, Sunset. I’m afraid you’ll have to ask her that yourself. But my point is, that while you won’t get better right away, over time you’re sure to grow stronger and stronger, just like I did. Do you understand?”

Sunset looked about ready to burst into tears by the time Twilight finished her tale. She had tears threatening to roll down her face, and her lip was quivering.

“Whoa...Sunset...I-I didn’t mean to make you cry, I was just...”

Her voice trailed off as she saw Sunset smile. “S...Sunset?”

Sunset sat up slowly, trying not to agitate her now forming bruise.

“Whoa! Sunset, what are you-...?”

Sunset wiped her eyes and threw herself onto Twilight, hugging her close, as tightly as she could.

“Sunset...” Twilight said as she returned the hug.

“Thank you, Twilight. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. I mean it.”

Twilight smiled. “I know you do, Sunset. And you’re welcome.”

“Ahem!”

The two girls were broken out of their moment at the sound of a voice. They looked up to see Applejack standing just outside the door.

“Applejack! Wh-what a surprise! Where’d you come from?”

“I just came from the kitchen. And If you two lovebirds are done talkin’, Granny Smith says lunch is ready.”

“L-lovebirds?!” They both said in unison. “We’re not-”

“Oh, please. Anyone could tell that from a mile away. I’ll leave you two alone to talk some more.”

She turned and walked away, stopping just before she left sight to say, “Don’t forget to come get lunch, you two!”

With that, she left, leaving Twilight and Sunset alone in each other’s arms. They looked at one another before letting go of each other quickly and tearing their eyes away, blushing.

“L-let’s go, yes?” Twilight asked.

“Y-yeah. Let’s go.” Sunset agreed.

The two of them walked into the kitchen, blushing like mad and trying as hard as they could to not look at each other.

But despite their best efforts, they couldn’t resist, and locked eyes with each other, smiling and letting out small giggles as they did so.