Chapters 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.
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."
Author's Note
To those of you reading you may be wondering, wasn't this story here before? Well, the reason why I'm re-uploading this fic is that, while I would really like to make this into a comic, or a short animated series, I'm far too busy with my other comic Idol so I decided to give this fic another shot.
With that out of the way, get ready for a tale of adventure, determination, and excitement!
Author's Note
A bloody past
A Tattered Legend
There was a moment of silence as the three bakers stared at one another. While Pinkie looked at her boss with immediate bemusement and confusion, Mrs. Cake 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 him. Still, he knew he couldn’t keep the secret any longer, lest she learn the truth from some other source. ,
"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 found Carrot Cake, or rather, Accelerator foraging through his bedside nightstand. "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 confused, 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."
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 being opened for the first time, yet the small cloud 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 dropped a slight octave as he spoke. 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 Trotter Sombrero AE86. In the middle of the room was an old lazy-boy chair and barrel, which was modeled, 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 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, Mrs. Cake turned to her husband for further questioning, "Dear, what is all this?" She asked, her wide confused eyes gazing at him. "And those handkerchiefs," 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 handkerchief."
"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, Mintoria, and even the Dragonlands!" She turned to her employer, still dazed by the sudden realization, "So you really are-"
The Cakes and Pinkie 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, Rarity. Her gaze soon followed the room, finding herself enthralled by the warm and inviting 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 offended by the former 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 tires 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, illegal?"
"Oh blarg!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "You seriously threw all that excitement, just to be some boring baker." She rolled her eyes and turned towards the door, only to be stopped by Twilight.
“Hey” Pinkie exclaimed, offended by her friend's statement
"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, Pinkie 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."
Carrot Cake face-hoofed in response to her speculation,"Pinkie, why would customers want to break down our door, when they can see that we’re 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 males, 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, hoping to get a good look at the unknown parties. 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 to sudden behind him. Turning towards the noise, he sees four familiar faces. "What are you guys doing here?" he whispered
"Well," Twilight began "After Rainbow left, Spike started following 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 noticed 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 jab, nodded in response. This got a giggle out of the white feathered female griffon, who wore a red crop top, and black mini-skirt. "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 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’s 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. "You know," He took a step closer to the stairway, "My father... the one that he killed."
Same Fighter, Different Challenge
As Luna's moon sunk below the horizon, the night sky began to brighten into a nice pinkish-yellow haze, followed by the familiar illuminating ball of light and fire courtesy of their celestial monarch.
A cool breeze passed through the city, with many ponies being elated to finally enjoy the calmer weather after a particularly hot couple of weeks.
Around six-thirty, the shops of New Mane City opened to not just a new day, but to a new city as well. Granted there were some who weren’t happy with the change, mainly shifting from a sleepy town to a bustling city, but it was something they would learn to adjust to.
The last shop to open was, surprisingly, Sugarcube Corner. While normally they’d be open by six, yesterday's events were still fresh in their minds, so it took them a little longer before they could finally open the shop.
Around seven o'clock in the morning, a horrible scream tore the city out of their stupor.
"What the heck was that!?" frightfully questioned a random bystander, who was on his way to the bakery.
It was prior to this event that Mrs. Cake, groggily, left her bed to begin her morning routine while her husband remained. However, even in his drowsy state, he continued to ponder on the actions that transpired the previous night, tossing and turning in stress, fearful of what the Griffins might do? Eventually, however, he decided to simply get out of bed and prepare for the day, finding no benefit in wallowing in his stress.
The maternal earth pony gazed at her husband with worried eyes, "I'm going go ahead, and open up the shop," she said, waiting for a response from her husband. A grunt of approval from the bathroom merited Mrs. Cake to proceed down the second-floor hallway check on her two foals when an odd glimmer caught the corner of her eye. Curious, she made her way downstairs. As she got closer to the bottom, she heard what appeared to be pained moans, moans that belonged to a familiar pink pony., "Pinkie!?" she exclaimed with worry, and quicked her pace down the stairs.
Once she got to the front of the store, her eyes widened in horror at the sight in front of her. The entire store had been trashed, with furniture broken and splintered, many framed photos torn to shreds and frames broken, several claw-marks visible. Some were even burned or singed at the bottom, with the flakes at the bottom being a result of the burns.
But that's not what caught Cupcake's eyes, nor was it the equal calamity in the kitchen, what truly frightened her was the image of her pink co-worker. Her usual poofy hair was now flat, slightly darker colored mane while the top of her head seemed to be covered in blood. Additionally, her right forearm was badly scraped up. Pinkie's long sleeved shirt was torn in the middle and the collar of the stretched to where the collar of said shirt lowered to her shoulders. The final icing on this disturbing cake was that the pink mare's eyes, both as pink as strawberry ice-cream, with faint tear streaks visible on her cheeks.
Stirring about, Pinkie looked up and stared at her boss intensely and then whimpered "M-M-Mrs. Cake..."
Baffled by the image in front of her, Cupcake thought of the only rational thing to do at that moment, "Honey!" she shouted- or screeched rather-to her significant other.
Hearing her cries, Accelerator quickly ran down the stairs, and once he made it to the bottom, his face showed the same horror as his wife
"What the hell happened!?" he shouted, immediately going over to aid his pink assistant. Still shaken by the events of last night, Pinkie recalled the act of what exactly happened.
"If I remember right," she began, propping herself on the cashier desk, "All I heard was a whooshing sound..."
“I was in my room doing my usual pre-bed stretches when all of a sudden when I heard a noise downstairs and saw a bright light.n I wasn't sure if you guys were still up, or somepony was trying to rob you, so I took my chances on the latter. So I went downstairs to see what was going on. I guess in hindsight I should have woken you up.” She tried to over a chuckle but flinched at still being sore.
“It all happened really super fast. The second I got downstairs, somepony hit me with a wooden plan. When I finally came too, I saw. I saw,” She paused, grimacing after recounting the faces of her assailants. “I saw the three griffons from last night, the one who tried to challenge you, to be specific, holding something while the others, just finished breaking the last of the furniture.”
The trio of vandalizing griffins turned to the terrified mare. “Well look who's awake.” Will chuckled, his gaze locked firmly on Pinkie.
Though terrified, Pinkie quickly found her voice, “Y-y-you won't get away with this when Twilight hears about-” her warning was interrupted when the female griffon severely slapped the poor mare across the face, resulting in a loud slap that echoed through the room.
“Ow!” Pinkie cried out, only to be immediately silenced, as a set of talons were suddenly wrapped around her mouth.
When she looked up she saw Duncan staring intensely at Pinkie “If you tell anyone about his,” he growled. though his expression shifted to one of sadistic amusement as he pulled out a lighter. “Well let’s just say, your friends will get an idea what it’s like to be baked like one of their own so delicious pastries.” He emphasized his point by flicking the lighter on, holding the tiny flame close to one of the tables.”Got it?”
Despite Pinkie’s wish to retaliate she could tell the griffon would make good on his threat and offered a sorrowful nod in agreement.
“Nice to see you’re a lot smarter than you look pony.” He quickly closed the lighter and returned it to his pocket. He looked over at his partner.
“You manage to get the bandanas?” He inquired to Will, who merely raised a claw, filled with various bandanas, a satisfied smile etched into his beak. .
“Sweet, this was even easier than I thought.” The trio took another look at their prizes before making their way to the door, making Pinkie breathe a sigh of relief.
However, just as they were about to leave, Will turned back to the pink mare. “Oh, and just one more thing.” He took the plank of wood and walked up to the earth pony. “Nighty-night pony!” And in a single swift motion, smashed the plank over the mare's head, knocking her out instantly, only catching a glimpse of the trio leaving the store.
.
"And that all I remember," Pinkie recalled, wincing in pain from her head injury. Both of the shop owners were appalled by the story. Of the two, Mrs. Cake had it worse, her mouth covered in shock at the sight of her bleeding co-worker, made worse knowing she’d been violently attacked.
Accelerator, on the other hand, was absolutely infuriated, though not by the damage to his store. He could tolerate that, no, it was the threat to his family and friends that was making his blood boil over. "Those bastards," he growled, his eyes inflamed with rage. "How dare they..." he paused "How dare they threaten us like that!" His roar of fury actually causing the room to shake.
"Honey please," consoled Cupcake as she went to her husband's side. "We need to calm down before the kids wake up."
Her attempts, despite her husband practically shaking with rage, seemed to yield some result as e began pacing the room, quietly simmering down his heated anger. During his tirade, Pikie made a suggestion, "Maybe we should call the police."
"That won't do any good," Accelerator objected, continuing his pacing.
Baffled by such a ludicrous the objection, Cupcake retorted, "What do you mean it won't work?" Her husband sighed and looked Cupcake dead in the eyes before explaining himself.
"Because I know how they work," he explained, "Or to be more specific, I know about his gang, even if one of them is arrested, they'll keep coming back. Trust me, I know from experience how these things play out."
"What do you mean by played out?" Cupcake asked
Carrot sighed and began explaining, "An old friend of mine thought he could leave a gang in Manehatten by calling the cops. But even after some of the members were arrested, my friend didn't get any witness protection, and because of that, the other members found him, and..." Carrot paused, as he went slightly pale. Seeing this, Cupcake decided to not prod her husband any longer, lest she trigger another traumatic memory of his.
As the formerly known Mr. Cake was going to search the kitchen for any major damage, he found a note on the counter of the cashier desk. Intrigued he picked up and read it.
Dear Accelerator,
If you got this note then that means you got our message, a.k.a, your stores' current condition.
I thought I'd just let you know that those bandanas of yours have been given to their proper owner, us, seeing as you've turned you back as the pitiful coward you really are.
But, since I'm so nice, I'll give you a chance to get them back. Meet me in Goldonia, Griffonstone at eight-thirty on the dock to get them back.
That is if you have the stones for it
Signed,
Will.
"Honey, what’s that?" His wife asked with a concerned look.
Accelerator didn't answer her question, instead, he marched over to his pink co-worker. "Pinkie I'm gonna need you to call the girls again-" he turned to his wife "-and Honey, I'm gonna need you to close the store." Before she could respond, the determined stallion began walking upstairs
"Honey, please tell me what's going on!" pleaded Mrs. Cake
He turned back to his wife with a reserved, but determined look. " I’m going on a business trip…” he continued to walk up the stairs, ignoring his wife’s pleas.
The afternoon was beginning to set, as the Cakes and the 'Mane Five', specifically Rainbow, Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy, the latter of whom was attending to the pink mares wounds, while Spike helped the cleanup and refurbish some of the broken objects of the shop.
While they were working away, the cyan speedster continually grumbled to herself about the break-in, chastising herself for not helping the family sooner. Hearing this, the caretaker, and local animal nurse of the group went to console her friend.
"It's alright Dash, none of us knew what happened-"
"But that's the thing," she interrupted her friend, startling the yellow pegasus, "I should have known, it's my fault that Pinkie got beat up like that," Rainbow turned her attention to the debris of what used to the table, "I swear, if I ever get my hoofs on those guys..." The Cyan pegasus’s voice cut off, drowned out by an angry growl as her wings flared.
"Rainbow," Pinkie began, going over to comfort her angry friend. "I don't mean to sound harsh, but those guys would have been all over you too, there's no telling what they could have done if you were there." She looked sadly at her friend, hoping the message got through to her.
Soon Twilight joined in on the conversation, siding obviously with the two other mares. "They're right Rainbow," she began "There's no telling what those griffons could have done to you." She placed her foreleg over the pegasus's shoulder.
Rainbow Dash wanted to object, but she submitted to their plea "Your right Twi, sorry.." The three mares hugged their friend.
The sweet moment was cut short, as Rarity coughed, as a reminder of their predicament. "Um, I don't mean to ruin the moment," she apologized "but I'm finished with the kitchen, and I was just going to ask Mr. Ca- I mean," she corrected, "Accelerator if there was any other damage to deal with."
"Speaking of which," Spike added, "Where is he anyway?"
Just as he said that a creaking sound could be heard down the stairway. Turning their heads, they looked at the tall figure and gasped at the yellow stallion, Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise and excitement.
There at the end of the stairway, was Accelerator, wearing a familiar black leather jacket, and sporting a spikier, yet slicked back hairstyle. "Sorry I took so long," he apologized as he trotted down the stairs, his wife in-toe, "I just needed to get back into the swing of things." He strongly emphasized the 'swing' part of his statement.
Among them now was the real, genuine, ultimate drag racer himself.
"Accelerator?" Twilight gazed at the stallion in amazement.
Last time on our journey, our hero Accelerator, formally known under the moniker of Carrot Cake, meet with three griffons; Will the lead griffon, challenged our lanky protagonist to a race for not only his title, but for his past rewards as well, the rewards being his collection of bandanas he procured from his racing days.
After declining his challenge, however, the three meet a mysterious pony, dawning a dark fuchsia cloak. While talking to the aforementioned pony about their scheme, the hooded individual teleports them inside the bakery, where they not only destroyed the building and stole racehorses memorabilia, but attacked said pony's employee Pinkie, and threatened to kill his family.
With an iniquitous threat such as that, and with a note left by the three perpetrators; challenging the stallion once more, he concedes and enters the world once more as his true self.
Now we come back to the story with our hero and his friends and continue on with this titillating adventure...
Flying above fifty-thousand feet, Accelerator and his friends were sitting on, what was revered as Equestria's best air travel system. You see, during the expansion of automotive technology, many equestrians were ecstatic about the idea of travel that would take less than five days, and in the air no less.
And of course, they would be given extensive training.
This gladdened the pegasi population, and as such, allowed a broader demographic of equestrians and other species to join flight schools.
With such a new way of travel, this boosted ideals for the equestrian stock market, which brought much revenue to many countries with winged species.
With leather seats, faux leather mind you, as well as much needed security measures to ensure the safety of both the passengers and the pilot, the Equestrian Airlines accommodated for almost anything and were prepared for anything- "Are we there yet" -except for annoying passengers. While they were at the airport, the group were elated to find out that, mainly because of Twilight and Spike's royalty status, those who are relatives or friend-slash-co-workers of royalty would be suited for first class seating.
Entering the plane, the group's perception of what first class flying was like was completely different from what they saw.
With all those accommodations, you'd think first-class would be enjoyable, but to Accelerator's and Applejack's dismay, Pinkie, who soon recovered from her injuries, as well as returned to her old persona, puffy hair included, she annoyed the group with childish travel games, and an abundance of questions, the one most asked being...
"Are we there yet?" Pinkie groaned as she took another sip of her cola.
sighing heavily, the orange farm mare glared at her pink friend in annoyance, "For the last flippin' time," she grumbled, "we're not there yet! If you remember what that mare at the desk told us, 'we land at Silverstein airport at approximately six-fifty five-" she placed her right foreleg on Pinkie's shoulder "-now would you please shut up,"
"Sorry," Pinkie apologized, "It's that, I've never been much of a plane pony, so I'm not used to sitting in one area for so long." Hearing this, Rainbow, who was sitting in the window seat, one row to the right of the three, sided with the pink mare "Your telling me," complained the cyan pegasus as she turned to face them, "I'd rather be flying over the open sea than sitting here beside some fat, drooling, stallion for Celestia knows how many hours." Unknown to her said overweight stallion took an umbrage to her complaint, huffed, and went back to listening to his music, and reading his newspaper.
Rarity, who was sitting to the right of Fluttershy, and to the left of Spike, scoffed at Rainbow's criticism, "Oh come now Dashie," she said assuringly ", as a world-class designer, the world of air-travel, once you get used to it, can be quite enjoyable."
Both Spike and Twilight hummed in agreeance, "She's right Rainbow," Spike complied, swallowing what seemed to be the last bite of his ham sandwich with a melted tanzanite spread, "not to mention the food here is incredible, the drinks too, they have the best-imported wine from-" he stopped mid realizing that not only that what he was about to reveal was against the law, but that Twilight, his surrogate sister, was one row over.
"What was that Spike?" Twilight questioned suspiciously.
Glaring at the purple drake, Twilight turned her attention to Accelerator, "Anyway,' she began "we should be landing at Silverstein airport in just a few minutes." Accelerator replied with what seemed to be a bit of a forced smile. Seeing this, Applejack, asked the disheartened stallion, "What's wrong sugar-cube?"
"Oh come on," Rainbow exclaimed, her back still turned to face the stallion "You didn't get the title of ultimate drag-racer for nothing. Where's your spirit?" Accelerator looked at the pegasus with dejected eyes, feeling slightly ashamed. Realizing this, Rainbow thought of something and stared at the stallion, "Who are you?" she asked incredulously.
"Accelerator," he mumbled continuing to look at the ground
"I said, who are you?" she asked once more in a more demanding and raised tone of voice.
He answered again, but this time, for whatever reason, he felt a bit more determined and lifted his head slightly "My name is Accelerator." he said in a more uplifted tone.
"Who are you!" she suddenly exclaimed
"My name is Accelerator damn it!" The patrons aboard the plane looked in confusion at the scene. Standing tall, the yellow gangly stallion regained his determined look of passion. The two bumped hooves, "Your right," he complied "I don't know why I was so worried, I'm definitely going to win!"
"That's what I like to hear!" Rainbow praised his declaration.
Before they could continue with their pep-talk, a griffon stewardess walked up to the two, "Excuse me, sir, could you please keep it down."
Accelerator looked around to see everyone on the plane glaring at the stallion in annoyance, his cheeks became pink with embarrassment, "Oh, um, sorry." after apologizing, he sat down back in his chair.
Just as he sat down, the intercom on the plane came to life with the voice of the pilot, "Attention every pony," he announced, "we are now arriving in Griffon Stone, please be sure to grab your luggage, and thank you for flying with Equestrian Airlines."
As the plane was beginning to decent, Rainbow looked back at the stallion once more, "You ready?" she asked determined
"As ready as I'll ever be!" he replied with the same gusto.
With the group out of the plane and out of the airport, Applejack called for a taxi, "Where to?" asked the driver, who seemed to have a bit of a Manehattanites accent,
"Just to the Goldonia Hotel, sugar-cube." As he was about to turn his meter box to the regular setting he noticed Twilight was sitting in the car, Princess Twilight to be exact; he raised the box to about ten notes more, and left for their hotel. But before they made it to their temporary sleeping quarters, Pinkie suggested they get something to eat, or maybe go sightseeing.
He eventually complied and asked the driver to take them to the main city and, with the promise of Rarity, would pay extra. Nodding, he took a right turn into a tunnel; the tunnel was seemingly dark, but once out of the dark tunnel, the group's eyes widen.
As they exited the tunnel, the group was assaulted with bright lights and loud noises of the many griffons around them. Once their pupils were dilated, the scene of Goldonia could be compared to that of Dragontown, or Akittybara, Nippone. The bright red lights of the district shone greatly, as did the giant billboards that used ever instant of spotlights. The main area of the city was like a giant park, with the middle section showcasing a large water fountain-like statue of their past leader. Past that was the food district of the city; there was a large walkway that was illuminated by the various orb-like lanterns, where many could walk and either enjoy their leisure or eat at one of the many brightly-lit restaurants in their vicinity. And beyond the food district was the main city of Goldonia, the heart of the country of Griffonstone: A large metropolitan area consisting of tall buildings and small, yet very popular shops. Within the city, there were a variety of museums on not only griffon history but the history and cultures of other species as well.
The mix of modern and traditional theme caused Applejack's heart to go a flutter, "Well I'll be..." her eyes wondered the various bright alleyways and small shops surrounding the district, " It's so beautiful." To her right, Applejack saw a group of young Griffonesses wearing traditional dresses, most of which were heavily inspired by traditional Chinese clothing. The mixtures of colors in their clothing was truly something to look at.
"It's almost breathtaking," commented Spike, as he too was awestruck with the image of Goldonia as he stuck his head out the same window as Applejack, the large skyscrapers mixed with the traditional culture of the eateries and clothing boutiques. Rarity began thinking of opening a line of her store here in Goldonia.
As the driver continued to drive through the large town, and with most of the group looking around the sights, Pinkie finally found one familiar eatery that caught her eye, "Guys," she called to her friends "what about that place?" Looking out the window, everyone was what appeared to be an average restaurant, one which apparently sold ramen, scones, and equestrian imported hay. Intrigued by the shop, Twilight called for the taxi to stop, and as soon as it did Twilight caught a glimpse of the meter price, and gasped, "ninety-eight notes!" she exclaimed
"Well with you bein' royalty and what not, the price goes up a bit more than for normal griffons" the taxi driver explained. Disgruntled, Twilight was about to lecture the griffon, when Rarity stepped in "Here you go sir," she handed out about one hundred notes to the greedy griffon, "and remember, just because we are of royalty does not mean you can simply overcharge us."
As he took the money, the driver seemed to have a sudden change of heart, as he turned to the group, "Hey I'm sorry about that," he apologized, averting from the group, "It's just a tough economy you know, how about I give you guys a ride back to the hotel free of charge."
Most of the group nodded with his proclamation.
Exiting the car, the driver told the group that if called him he'd come back to get them, and then proceeded to give out his phone number to the white unicorn. After that, he drove off, "Wow Rarity," Twilight said in a surprised tone "nice save."
Rarity replied with a giggle "Well like I always say, generosity will get you everywhere."
"Really," AppleJack questioned suspiciously, "Because I've never heard you say that-"
"Well I am starving," Rarity interrupted, peeved by her friends criticizing,"let's go shall we."
As they entered the shop Rainbow began talking about the race, and as she kept talking she bumped into a griffon with white feathers and long feathers atop the griffons head that reached to their neck, said feathers made it seem like the griffon had long hair. "Sorry about that," she apologized. Instead of apologizing, however, the griffon turned around to face the cyan pegasus, and soon, Rainbow was met with a familiar face...
"Gilda!"
"Dash!" The griffon shouted as she looked at her equine friend.
Rainbow stared back at her avian friend as well, elated to see her "I can't believe it's you, how are you-" she stopped mid-sentence as she took a double take on her friend's appearance, something was different, one very noticeable thing was different about Gilda; one very egg-shaped thing was different about her. Looking down, not only did she noticed Gilda wearing an apron, but a baby carrier that held an egg. "Wow," Rainbow gasped at the sudden news "Gilda, you-you're-"
Her friend interrupted her and completed the rest of her statement, "Yep," she replied "Not only do I own this joint-" she then pointed to her egg, "this little guy here is my son," she continued, "a.k.a my next of kin who's gonna take over the biz'."She said jokingly.
Pinkie and Rarity walked over to Gilda, admiring the vibrant color of the shell, as well as the softness of the shell as they carefully touched it. While the rest group was intrigued, and even excited by this news, Rainbow was somewhat taken aback; don't get her wrong, she was glad for her friend, but the fact that she hadn't told her about this soured the moment.
"Oh, my," Pinkie said, amazed, "what's his name?"
"Also," Rarity interjected, "Who's the lucky stallion?"
Just as she asked that the door to the kitchen opened, another familiar character entered the conversation, or rather, another familiar stallion. Entering now was a tan-coated stallion with a brunette mane, wearing an apron, as well as, sporting a chef's hat, "Hey babe did you get those new-" he stopped when he noticed the group; especially when he noticed Rarity, "Oh, hey guys." he greeted the group casually.
"Carmel?" Rarity said shocked by the stallions appearance "My, I haven't seen you in ages."
"Me either," Spike commented, rubbing his chin in speculation. "What are you doing here?"
Caramel chuckled slightly before answering the two, "Well," he began "I think I met Gilda when she was in Ponyville along while ago-" before he could finish, Gilda interjected, or rather, specified that events that lead to their courtship.
"Oh yeah," Rainbow begrudgingly confirmed, remembering how, explosive, their fight was...
"And don't let me see your ugly mug around Ponyvile again!" Gilda walked out of the bakery with a few bruises on her beak.
But after what happened at the bakery, after she almost punched that stupid pink pony and how dash had to take the fall, how they ended up screaming at each other and got into that fight, she might as well cancel the trip altogether. All that planning, she thought to her herself, grimacing at the idea of what was supposed to be a fun weekend. I canceled plans with my old man for the opening of our restaurant, took off work, all that just to come home this early- tears were beginning to swell in her eyes -to go back to my empty apartment, alone. Unaware of her surroundings, she was about to crash into that local pub, luckily she stopped just in time before she could hit the wall. "A drink," she mumbled to herself "after the day I've, I don't deserve one-" she paused "but I need one."
Wiping the tears from her eyes, she entered the bar and quickly found a seat at the bar table and seated her self on the stool. She contemplated asking the bartender for a drink, but with what little bits she had in her purse, that she and Dash would just share in paying whoever was serving them, and that fact that her voice was a little hoarse from the fight, and from crying, she decided against is and just sat their. Lucky for her there were many ponies in the bar at the time, so the bartender hadn't noticed her, yet.
Gilda sat there, and continued to sulk; it was unlike her to act like this, she wasn't the type to just feel sorry for herself, but what could she do? Her best friend or someone whom she thought was her best friend, just dumped her for someone she barely knew, or at least that's how speculated the friendship she had with the other ponies.
To her, it seemed like minutes had gone by, unknown to her though, the bar began to clear out, and soon, only her, the bartender, and a few other patrons, most of whom were elderly stallions, remained. She was a bit confused by the fact that no one seemed to jostle her or anything, I guess they thought I was already drunk or something. She thought to herself. As she was about flip open her phone and check the time, the bartender, a brunette, and caramel coated stallion placed a glass of whiskey in front of the griffon. Confused, she looked up to see that looking back was the stallion in question.
He hummed a bit before asking the depressed griffon, "You looked a little down," he began "what's a broad like you gotta be sad about?"
She would have called him out for giving her such a chauvinistic name, but she didn't even have the energy to yell,"Look, buddy-" she pushed back the shot glass "- I'm not in the friggin' mood." She waited for some sort of insult, or objection from the stallion, but instead, he stared at her intensely, as if he was looking into the eyes of her soul. Confused, by his action, she backed up, what's this weirdo doing-
"You got into a fight with your friend didn't you?" he asked inquisitively. Gilda was slightly taken aback by his words; how was he able to guess that quickly?
Caramel gave the griffon an inquisitive look before asking her "Really?"
"Yeah," she said confidently.
"Then how'd you get that shiner?" She probably should have noticed the large black eye that her former friend had given her. Handing over a very convenient mirror, Gilda got a good look at her self; not only did she have a black eye, but her eyes were red from crying as well. "So," he began, a smirk on his face "Am I on the money or-"
"What do you want?" Gilda asked bluntly "If you lookin' for a cheap lay you've got the wrong girl." she stared at the bartender in anger, weirdly hoping she would get a chance to start a bar fight, or at the very least kick some ass.
Instead of badgering the griffon for lewd acts, however, he poured a glass for himself, and looked back at the griffon, "You know," he began his smile faltering a bit, "I've seen a lot of mares through my life as a bartender, but none as blunt or passionate as you are."
Gilda scoffed at his words, seeing them as nothing more than meaningless things just to bed her.
"How so?" Gilda asked inquisitively
"You're violent, you emotional," he went up closer to the griffon and took her talon "and most importantly-" he began rubbing her talon "You're not just here to talk about yourself."
"Well," he began "You might be inclined to believe that, but," he hopped over the bar table, which took Gilda by surprise, "I think that, in terms of emotion, Violence can sometimes show how close you are to somepony, or how much you care for somepony." After he finished his statement, Gilda took a quick sip of her whiskey, got up from her stool, and walked towards the entryway.
Feeling as though his words were unheard towards the griffon, disheartened, the brunette-maned stallion went back behind the desk to continue his work, when suddenly, Gilda turned back to face the stallion, "You know I was planning on canceling my trip out here because of the fight," she explained "I'm not one for vacationing by myself, and I really don't wanna go home alone again," she paused as her cheek grew a brighter red "Maybe you want to hang-out sometime?"
Caramel placed a chin on his hoof as he thought about the offer. "Well," he began "this place opens around twelve o' clock;" he looked back as the griffon with eyes not of concern, but with joy, "but I think I can get one of my friends to hold down my shift."
Gilda looked at the stallion happily, and after exchanging phone numbers, Gilda left the bar somewhat lovestruck. "Maybe this trip went better than I thought," she said brightly. She spread her wings open and flew off into the night with a brightened mood.
"And that's basically how we met," Caramel finished as Gilda got back with the group's food, and joined back in the conversation. "After that,' he continued "I ended up moving in with, then one thing leads to another, then-"
Gilda interjected "Then, after my pop said he was passing the business down to me, we went out to celebrate, had a few too many to drink; we went back home, got a little excited, and then-" she said as she proceeded to point at her egg. "a few months later I ended up 'eggnant' with this little guy."
"Eggnant?" Twilight asked inquisitively, stifling back a chuckle over the silliness of the name.
"It basically the term griffons used then we've had the egg inside of us for three weeks," she explained "and after it comes out, the egg acts as an incubator like it normally would, but instead of just leaving it at home we take it with us, because it feeds off of our energy, which is why we came up with the term 'eggnant"
Almost out of nowhere, Twilight took out a notepad and began to take some notes "fascinating" she commented.
Not wasting another minute the group began to eat.
Her friend looked back at her with saddened eyes, "It's just," she began, "I didn't realize that our fight cut you that deep. I didn't know that you lived alone so..." Rainbow suddenly stopped when, almost out of nowhere, Gilda hugged the dejected pegasus. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, taken aback by her sudden gesture. "Gilda what are you-"
"Don't beat yourself up Dash," she assured her, in an oddly soft voice "you didn't know, what's in the past is in the past-" she released the pegasus and placed her talon on her shoulder "Sure, we had a bad fallout, but," she looked back at her lover, "but because of that, me and Caramel were able to get together, and more importantly, for once, I didn't feel so alone. I had many friends back in Griffon Stone, so just being with someone like Caramel made me feel not so isolated."
Rainbow was slightly baffled by Gilda's words; to believe that such a violent event, would create a positive outcome as this, not only that surprise Rainbow Dash but her friend's sudden change in tone as well. Her usual gruff deminer was replaced by a softer, almost motherly tone. She sighed and later thanked her friend for her words of encouragement, "Thanks, Gilda," she said appreciatively, "I guess just seeing you again, our history together, and how much you've changed just, kinda got me all emotional and whatnot."
"Hey no problem, besides-" Gilda stretched her arm around the mare "What are friends for." after a few laughs, most of the gang finished eating, it almost seemed like they had forgotten the challenge that Will placed on Accelerator. As Rainbow was about to pay, Gilda tolded the pegasus, "It's on the house."
After a hug-filled good-bye, they finally left the restaurant, and as soon as they did, Accelerator pulled out his phone and flipped it open. his eyes slightly widened, as the time read: eight-fifteen, "Oh crap," Accelerator exclaimed, "it's almost eight thirty, we need to get to the race pronto."
"Not to worry," Rarity assured the stallion "I'll simply call our taxi-stallion, and he should be here in a jiffy." Accelerator sighed in relief hearing that. However, as soon as the phone's receiver picked up, his worry intensified, "Hello, welcome to Mama John's how may we help you," on the other line was not that of their gruff taxi driver, but instead, it was a squeaky sounding teenager, who had repeated the same line he's told other customers in an apathetic tone.
Rarity looked at her phone in a mix of befuddlement and anger, "That-" she began her voice slightly quivering "That piece o' shit, feather-brained, taxi driver fuckin' gipped me!" her friends, although shocked by her sudden outburst, quickly shushed the white unicorn for the use of that derogatory term, The one shushing her being Applejack.
"Look here sugarcube," she whispered to the fashionista "You can't be sayin' that kinda stuff," she looked around in case anyone heard her outburst, "especially in Griffon Stone!"
It took awhile for her to calm down, but finally, Rarity's anger simmered, she coughed and then apologized for her outburst, "Sorry about that darling's, that was utterly unladylike of me."
"We can talk about you hidden racist tendencies later," Rainbow dismayed and said mare looked down at the ground with dejected eyes, "we need to get to the race and fast."
"But how?" Spike asked. Looking around, the purple drake's eyes widened with excitement, "Hey look!" he called.
Looking over the group found another taxi, an empty taxi to be exact. Concerned, Twilight asked her surrogate brother,"Spike what are you suggesting?"
"I'm just saying," he began, his eyes looking away from Twilight "Maybe we can 'commandeer this vehicle' -" he brought up his and started doing air quotes, "for an 'emergency reconnaissance mission' if you catch my, Tokyo Drift."
Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack were shocked by Spike's speculation, while the rest of the group crined at his pun, "Are you suggesting we steal this taxi!?" Twilight exclaimed.
"Hey, if there's anything I've learned from Grand Theft Chariot," he explained, "It's that in order to get anywhere, it's that you gotta think fast, and be quick."
I should have never bought him those games . Twilight chastised herself. She was about to scold her assistant, when all of a sudden, they hear a revving noise behind them. In frort of the groups, the back lights of the aformentioned taxi illuminated, and in the front seat of the car was certain pink mare, "Are you guys coming or not?"
In a random alleyway, with loud music blaring the street, a long line of cars could be seen, as well as a large community, of griffons most of whom were either lounging around, playing dice or drinking. Sitting on the hood of a black, Ford Mustang, modified with a few boosters and hydraulics, was Will, who was tapping on his chin at a rapid rate as his patience running thin, "Where the hell is that bastard!" he growled, looking back at his phone, " it's almost nine!"
"Maybe he wussed out," Maria commented Taking another drag of her cigarette, "Knowing what he is now, its possible he probably just called the cops."
"Wait," he objected "didn't that pony say-" Before he could finish his rebuttal, the sounds of screaming, and screeching tires could be heard in the distance; soon the noise grew closer, and soon a grundy yellow taxi pulled into the alley-way and made a full stop just before it could hit any of the other cars. "Who that hell was that!?" Will shouted in anger.
"For the sake of my family," Accelerator began, "I will defeat you." both he and Will glared at each other intensely.
The two stood in silence for what felt like a minute, that was until the announcer of the competition broke the silence via megaphone. "Alright racers," the young announcer shouted, "Rev your engines!"
Author's Note
I know this chapter has a bit of filler with the Gilda and Carmel but I just thought it'd be an interesting touch to the story. But now we're finally getting to the exciting part of the story: Will Accelerator win the race, how will this battle of vengeance play out, and how the hell did Pinkie hotwire a car; all that and more on the next installment of...
S PEED KIN G
New Challenger, Same Fight
"My father, the one you killed..." The air in the room grew cold as the brown griffon blurted this out. Not only was the accusatory remark the cause of the grim mood shift of the room, but it appeared that the formerly known, Carrot Cake, had been afflicted by his assertion. Though most of the group didn't want to believe such a charge, the expression plastered on Accelerator's face told them a very, disheartening truth was soon to follow.
Of the group, Rainbow Dash, whose face had turned a slight shade of rose from confusion, and irritation, took an umbrage to such accusations and began walking closer to the main griffon of the group, chastising him for such implications.
"Look here buddy," she began, getting closer to the large-beaked griffon, "I don't know who you are, you better back the fu-" she stopped herself mid-sentence remembering that the twins were in close propinquity of her; wanting to be a role-model to ever young Equestrian, she corrected herself "- you better back up whatever crap you're spouting, because I don't believe that for a second!"
The main griffon began chuckling at Rainbow Dash's offended outburst, "Man, oh man-" he sighed, running his talons through his hair, "I forget how stupidly gullible, and optimistic you ponies can be sometimes."
"What the heck are you talking about!?"Rainbow Dash growled growing more infuriated by the minute.
Eye to eye, Will told them the story of his deceased father, "It’s like this," he began,"Encase it wasn’t obvious, my dad was a racer, an’ a damn good one-two. He’d even take me to see him race, even when I was just a chick. He was also an upstanding kind of griffon, always made sure I only watched when I wasn’t in school.”-"
Rainbow Dash seemed slightly perplexed by the direction of the conversation, “Okay, so you’re dad liked to race and helped you keep your beak clean, what’s your point?”
"I was getting to that!" Will growled in annoyance, "My dad was an amazing racer and I used to look forward to his races as they were some of the only times I got to see him. Used to be something I had fond memories of. At Least, until…” he paused during his reminisces looking over towards the mustard yellow stallion, "Hmm-" he closed his eyes, "-you know, that part always gets a little fuzzy, mind explaining how you careened my dad off the road."
"There you go again," Rainbow shouted. "Spouting more BS again, I already told you that if you-" she hadn't seen it, but the rest of the group noticed the sudden vacant look in Accelerator's eyes.
"It was an accident," he admitted, his voice quavering in the process. Ignoring the looks of horror of the others in the room, he reluctantly began explaining. "It was intensely rainy that day, I didn't want to race at the time-" he paused briefly, the grim memory lowering his voice. " But, my damn pride got the better of me, I wanted that checkered handkerchief so bad I had completely ignored the weather conditions. I just wanted to win so badly." He took another pause before he finished his admittance. "Even if it meant certain death."
Everyone in the room, mostly the ponies, looked at the stallion with a mix of fear, pity, and a bit of betrayal. The pony who they thought they knew, the kind caring to father of two now felt like nothing more than a lie, a dark, morbid, and all-out horrible truth.
Will took notice of the group's faces and decided to make a snide comment at their expense. "You know it's funny," he began, a grin growing on his face, "You ponies always joke about how greedy griffons are, yet you had no idea that your so-called friend-" he walked over to Accelerator, grabbing him by the collar, and lifted him to his eye level,"-Was nothing more than just a greedy, dirty killer-"
"So!" Everyone seemed to snap out of their stupor, as they looked towards the source of the voice, belonging in question to the Princess of Friendship's fabled assistant. " I mean, I know what he did was wrong, but can't you see he's been through enough."
“Been through enough?” The griffon repeated the last part in his mind, dropping the former racer to better process the last bit of his statement. “Been through enough!?” A vein formed on his forehead, his teeth gritting attempting to quell his angered shout. "What the hell do you mean, 'Been through enough !?" He practically spat those last words, practically frothing at the mouth as he did.
He growled intensely, his vein beginning to pulsate.
Noticing this, Spike slowly backed away, trying to stutter out a response. "I-I mean," he began "Changing his identity, moving to Ponyville, starting his whole life over. I mean, when you think about it, he was probably suffering over this for a long time, right?"
The aforementioned yellow stallion lifted his head, his eyes lightened by the dragon's revelation, quickly agreeing with the biped. "Y-yes," he stuttered, "Ever since that day, I've been lamenting about over the entire incident. I even contemplated going to the funeral, but." He lowered his head once again. "I was afraid of what would happen if I went, I thought you would kill me once I got there..."
"Oh, honey." The racer's wife went over to comfort him, "No matter what you did, you know I'll always forgive you." Quickly, the other ponies and one dragon began hugging the depressed the stallion, who now had tears forming in his eyes, silently thanking them for their understanding and forgiveness. Even with his gruesome and iniquitous past, they still forgave him. At some point, Accelerator could feel a few strings of tears streaming down his cheeks.
“I'm so lucky to have a family like you!” He thought to himself as he hugged his friends and family tighter.
This warm moment was cut short, however, as the trio of griffon began to chuckle. Annoyed once again, Rainbow Dash faced them once more. "What's so funny!?" The feathered trio quelled their laughter and looked at the cyan pegasus with excitement.
"It's just-" he exhaled sharply, attempting to calm himself from the outburst, with 'attempt' being the operative word, as it took a good minute or two for them to quell their giddiness. Once they were calmed down, and finally noticed the annoyed glares pointed towards them, they explained their sudden eruption, "-This is exactly what we were expecting!" he happily exclaimed.
With a few confused murmurs spreading across the room, Twilight questioned Will’s statement, "What exactly do you mean by 'exactly what you were expecting' ?"
Smirking, the griffon explained himself, "Like I said earlier." "You Equestrians are so damn forgiving and pacifist-like. We figured this would happen, and with that in mind, it makes things much easier." Once again, his statement was met with confused glances. Noticing this, he explained or announced rather his plans. "You see, I didn't come here to kill ya,'" he revealed, receiving a mixture of relief, and suspicion from the group of equines. "The real reason I'm here is to avenge my father in the best way possible."
"Which would be...?" asked Pinkie
Smirking once again, the rust-colored griffon glared at the stallion, "I, Will Talson the Third, challenge you, Accelerator, to a race. If you lose, I get not only get all your bandanas but your title of ultimate drag-racer as well!" A chorus of gasps was met with his demand, most of them belonging to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie, "So," he reached out his talons waiting for the baker to shake, "We have a deal?"
Accelerator, surprisingly, was shocked, not by his opponent’s demands, but by his sudden offense over the griffon's demand. Why would he care? More so, why should he even care about such a thing?
"I'm sorry mister Talson," he replied, "But I'm going to decline your challenge."
The pupils of Will's eyes shrank to the size of a button, he genuinely wasn't accounting for any kind of retaliation, especially from the ultimate drag racer himself. Befuddled, he glared at the baker. "What do you mean you decline?" he censured, staring daggers at the stallion.
"Listen," he began, glaring back at the griffon "I'm sorry about what happened to your father, and I know that no amount of apologizing will fix what I did, but-" he paused, turning back to his friends once again, and turned back to the griffon."-I'm done with racing. I walked away from my title a long time ago and it has no value to me now. The only things that matter to me are my friends and my family. If you want the title, fine, but I won’t risk my life over something I have no interest in now.” ."
There was a long, tense silence between the two, in fact, the entire tension of the room was so strangely strong, that it felt as if the thermometer had dropped below zero. The only noise to be heard in the room was the grinding of teeth made by Will. The vein reappeared, pulsating once more. He wanted so badly to scream, to attack the yellow stallion, but what would be the point, he's already given up on his passion. And like his father told him It ain't fair for a big man to pick on the weak. His anger quickly subsided. "Fine," he hissed, turning back to his comrades.
Confused, Duncan clutched Will's shoulder. "Hey hold up," he opposed "You looked like you were about to jump this guy, what happened?"
"Let's go, he's not worth it." Holding open the door, he motioning his two friends to leave. As they were exiting the establishment, Will faced the ponies once more. "Don't think this is over," he declared angrily, "I'm getting those bandanas, one way or another." And on that note, he finally exited the store, leaving behind a group of scared, and irritated ponies.
"Do you think they'll do anything rash?" asked Cupcake, her voice slightly quivering with fear.
Rainbow Dash went over to quickly console the blue mare. "Not while Twilight, me, and the other girls are around."
"And why is that?" the blue earth pony asked.
Rainbow explained herself, although slightly disappointed as the mare seemed to have forgotten just who those griffons were dealing with, and had forgotten just how powerful the girls were."Because we've protected Ponyville-" she was quickly interrupted by Pinkie, announcing a bit of news for the other.
"Actually-" she turned her phone to show the front of the screen, "-we protect New Mane City now." On the top screen of her phone, a recent poll showed a bar graph representing voters, and a large majority seemed to have chosen the yes option of changing the name.
Again, it was a little disappointing to the cyan pegasus, but that didn't stop her from her speech "Ponyville, New Mane City, whatever," she returned to the mother. "What's important is that with us around, you guys have nothing to be afraid of, right?"
She was indeed right, the Mane Six had faced off against far more dangerous foes s. It didn’t matter if the threat was minimal or world ending, they always bounced back. Accelerator, however, was unsure about the idea of having somepony else fight his battles.
"Look, girls, I appreciate it and all." He trotted over to the door and opened it, "But, I don't want you getting too involved in this."
"What do you mean by that?" asked an offended Rainbow Dash
"I know you girls can take care of yourselves," he admitted. "But you don't truly understand how dangerous this is, the world of drag racing can be very...unpredictable."
Dash’s expression quickly turned deadpan. “You do remember the time we fought and defeated a literal Spirit of Chaos right? Kind of hard to get more unpredictable than that.”
However, before either party could offer a follow-up a white hoof gently tapped Rainbows shoulder. "Rainbow, darling, perhaps it's for the best we take Mister Ca-I mean Accelerator's warning." The speedster looked back at Rarity with annoyed eyes but promptly submitted to her request. Without saying a word, she left, with the other girls followed suit. Eventually, the bakery was empty, save for its inhabitants, an immense feeling of concern for both the family and their now departed friends still hanging in the air.
Before exiting the shop, Spike, being the last one out turned to the family of four, "If anything happens just give us a call, alright." The family replied with a slow, yet swift nod. Once they were gone, the remaining ponies opted to simply return to their rooms and turn in for the night.
Although most of the family was asleep, Accelerator mind still pondered at the words of the griffons.
“Knowing his father, I wonder what they have planned?”
In the alleyway of a cafe, the trio of griffons could be found talking to a strange hooded figure. Said quietly inquired about their recent encounter with the former racer.
"So how did it go?" the dark figure asked.
"He said he declined 'er some shit," replied Duncan igniting a lighter to light his cigarette. "Coward said something about 'I have to protect my family or something, " he attempted to imitate the baker's response to Will's challenge.
"Well there is nothing we can do about it now," complained Maria "What we should be doing is planning on how we get back at those guys?"
While the group pondered, the cloaked figure assured them of a plan that would surely guarantee them of those bandanas," Oh don't worry, I have just the idea." Before they could ask what it was, the trio was engulfed by a bright violet light and soon found themselves in a familiar bakery.
