Chapters He remembered it so vividly, sitting on his butt right on the tarmac. About a 100 feet away, lay his bike, wheels spinning uselessly in the air. There was a loud ringing in his ears, as the sound of the roaring crowd faded. His mind instantly replayed what had happened a few seconds earlier and he felt like kicking himself. He thought to himself, 'You twit! You had this in the bag! Nearly 30 seconds ahead of the pack on the final lap. Haven't put a foot wrong all weekend. But noooo!!! You just had to get cocky, squeeze the throttle too early and highside, didn't you?'
After mentally berating himself, he blinked a couple of times as a new thought filled his still ringing head. The bike didn't look too badly damaged, so maybe he could salvage something from the race. Slowly and gingerly, he picked himself up and took a step towards his stricken bike. Suddenly, his side exploded in excruciating pain, and the last thing he remembered was the feeling of weightlessness. Then his back smashed into something hard and he blacked out.
Suddenly, he woke up with a start, and it took a few moments to get his bearings. He was seated at a small table and had been leaning his head on the window of his mobile motorhome as it weaved in and out of traffic. They had just passed a snow-covered sign reading, "WELCOME! You are now entering Canterlot City!"
A familiar voice broke his thoughts, "Hey Slipstream, you okay? You look a little freaked out. Bad dream? I'm not judging, cause everyone gets that from time to time."
He turned towards a young woman in her early 20s, looking at him in concern. Slipstream shook his head and massaged his temples, "I'm fine, Countess. Just memories of that stupid crash. Gods above! I was such an idiot!"
Countess Coloratura took a seat across him and rolled her eyes, "Slipstream... How many times have I told you? Call me Rara."
He shot back, "Let's compromise! How about Boss? I mean... It was your idea to start a racing team and you approached me to be the team principal."
She tugged at her woollen sweater and shrugged, "What can I say... I've been a big fan of yours, and you have one of the best strategic minds. I still think you could have been a 2-time champion, if not for that crash, four years ago. In my mind, you were the perfect candidate for team principal. Now all we need is someone to ride the bike."
He steepled his fingers, "You mentioned an old friend of yours. Applejack, right? You think she's good enough to handle the bike?"
"If not her, then maybe she knows someone who can help. Any luck convincing the officials to allow us to field a second bike?"
Slipstream shook his head, "I'm afraid not. Firstly, all the slots are full, and secondly, I'm not sure if we have the budget for it. Remember... We're starting this team from scratch. I tried asking if we could bump up Hitch Trailblazer or Zipp Storm from 250cc, straight to 1000cc. Those two have the most potential, but the officials said that they didn't want to risk it, because they are too young and inexperienced."
Rara smiled, "I'm glad that you established that rider's academy last year. Who knows... Maybe some day one of them will be a future champion."
Suddenly, there was an odd sound that slowly faded in. Slipstream craned his head and saw a stunning-looking jet black Suzuki GSX-R1000, half a mile ahead them. It was getting closer and louder, before it rocketed past them, going in the other direction. He also could have sworn that he caught a glimpse of red as well. Rara stood up and pointed, "I see it! It's pulling into the driveway of that diner! Fetlock! Can you take a U-turn and head to that diner?"
One of Rara's backup dancers, was driving the motorhome, and he promptly obeyed. Two minutes later, they pulled into the driveway, and sure enough, the bike was there, sans the rider. Rara eyed him, "Do you want to handle it or do you want me to come too?"
He shifted a little in his seat, "I can handle it. Can you pass me my wheelchair?"
She dutifully wheeled it over to him and eased him onto the wheelchair. Then, she and Fetlock helped him down and he wheeled himself inside the diner. It was around 8 in the morning on Christmas Eve, so the diner was fairly empty, except for a teenager in a black leather jacket. She sported red hair and blonde vertical highlights, and had yellow skin. The girl was also hunched over the countertop and her shoulders were shaking.
Not wanting to come off like a creep, Slipstream rolled up and parked a couple of seats to her left before ordering an espresso. They stayed silent for a while and then he softly spoke, "Rough day, pal? Boyfriend broke up or you caught him with another girl? Gotta tell you, that sort of thing sucks, so close to Christmas."
The girl let out a strangled laugh, "N-no! I'm happily single. Its just... I had a big fight with my friends about Anon-A-Miss."
He stayed silent for a beat and then, "Right... I have no idea who that is."
She munched on a bagel and grunted, "Basically, someone set up a MyStable profile called Anon-A-Miss and started posting embarrassing secrets about the students. Starting with my friends. They all suspected me, because I used to be a big bully, but I've changed and they won't believe that I'm innocent!"
He gestured, "May I?"
She shrugged and he moved his wheelchair closer. The girl showed him her cell phone which was opened to this mysterious Anon-A-Miss page. Looking at the profile picture, it was red and gold. He murmured, "Well it kind of matches your color scheme, so I guess that's what prompted folks to point fingers."
The girl glared and he raised his arms in surrender, "Hey, I'm a neutral party in all this, kid. I'm just saying it like it is. I don't even know you."
She sighed, "Like I said, I used to be a bully. A real queen b***h. But I was subtle about it. Never made it look like I was the culprit."
Slipstream hummed, "Right... So this is a frame job and a sloppy one too. No offence to your school mates, but they're all morons."
An idea struck him, "Hey kid, I have an idea. Want to disappear for a while?"
The girl raised an eyebrow, "That your idea of a pickup line? Because it sucks."
Slipstream snorted, "Get your head out of the gutter, kid. Look, I'll admit that I have a thing for redheads, but you're too young for me. I'm 22, and you're what? 16?"
"Be turning 16 in a couple of months. Is that why you keep calling me, 'kid'? First off, my name is Sunset Shimmer."
He grinned, "Glad to put a name to the face! Call me Slipstream. Also, I have a job for you. That's why I was asking if you wanted to disappear for a while. Don't worry, we'll return you unharmed. Hopefully by then, these schoolmates of yours would have wised up or caught the culprits."
A small smile played on her lips, "You know... That sounds like a good idea. What do you have in mind?"
He glanced outside and gestured, "That your bike? She's a beauty! Ridden one myself and I love the way it handles."
Her smile grew wider, "Yeah... It's actually a guilty pleasure of mine. Also, I have a license, and my frien- former friends don't know about it."
Slipstream grinned, "You're fast too. Now... for the REAL reason why I'm here. I was a former motorcycle racer and did win a championship. But I'm now forcibly retired, for obvious reasons. Recently, I was approached to be the team principal for a brand new racing team. They're also on the hunt for a rider. That's where I'm hoping that you could factor in. We're willing to offer you a one-year contract."
Sunset was a little taken aback, "Wait... You want ME to race for you guys! Why me? I'm a girl?! I'll get my butt kicked!"
He snorted, "Sunset, I've known plenty of female racers, and they're not afraid to play with the big boys. Sure, they're all retired now, but you get my point."
The girl felt hope bloom in her chest, but then another thought struck her. She said, "Wait, what about school? I'll be away for a year. I've been a straight A student, and I'm not planning to repeat a year."
He smiled, "Ahh yes... I was wondering when we would address the elephant in the room. Tell you what, I'd like to meet your school principal and negotiate with her. Come on, I'll get some of our guys to load your bike into my motorhome. I'll also take you to meet the boss. She's the one who owns the team and is sponsoring us for now."
Slipstream paid for their meal and led Sunset back to the motorhome, while Fetlock and two others loaded her black Suzuki in the back. Inside, the former champion definitely enjoyed Sunset Shimmer's poleaxed expression at seeing Countess Coloratura. He entered behind Sunset and grinned, "Hey Boss! As you can tell, mission accomplished."
Sunset stammered, "C-c-c-Countess Coloratura?! What are you doing here?"
She had a wry smile, "Dramatic effect, mostly. Also, I own the team. Hey Sunset, haven't seen you in a while. How's Applejack?"
Slipstream left the two to talk while he wheeled up front to the driver's seat. He spoke, "Hey Fetlock, can you set the GPS to..."
Sunset hollered, "Canterlot High School!"
The burly man punched in the coordinates and the motorhome roared to life.
Author's Note
Hey, so here is the reboot of this story. One of the big mistakes that I made was that I crammed in too many characters. This time, I'm starting off small scale.
And yes, this is around the time of the infamous Anon-a-Mis mess, but I'm not touching that at all. Those events are gonna resolve themselves on their own, because Sunset is gonna be away
About an hour later, they pulled up to a large imposing building with a horse statue in front of it. The school was empty and Slipstream frowned, "Hey Sunset, are you sure your principal will be in the school? Isn't it the Christmas vacation? Surely she would have gone home by now and the school should be empty."
The girl replied, "Actually, it's relatively well-known that she and her sister Luna do stay in the school for a week after it lets out. Something about last minute paperwork, I know this because I used to help her out often. Today is supposed to be her last day in the office."
He shrugged, "If you say so. Why don't you stay here in the motorhome and make yourself comfortable. Rara and I will take care of everything."
Soon enough, Rara wheeled him up a ramp, mostly because the ramp was icy. Her footsteps echoed through the empty halls and eventually they happened upon the Principal's Office. Rara took a deep breath and then knocked on the door. A gentle voice called out, "Come in!"
Rara opened the door and wheeled him in. At a desk, sat a tall woman with alabaster skin and multi-coloured hair. Her moderate heliotrope eyes lit up in recognition, "Coloratura! What a pleasant surprise! It has been ages! You graduated, what? Three years ago? Who's your friend?"
Rara smiled, "Hello Principal Celestia, it has been a while. Gosh! I missed this place. I actually came here because I need a favor. This is my business associate, Slipstream. He's a former motorcycle racer before an accident ended his career. We have a small situation..."
Celestia leaned forward and threaded her fingers, "Go ahead, I'm listening."
Slipstream spoke up, "Ma'am, the basic premise is that Coloratura here, is establishing her own racing team. She's probably going to be the first celebrity race team owner. She hired me to be the team principal, so Coloratura is basically my boss. We came to Canterlot to look for a potential rider and we think we found them. She's one of your students, a Sunset Shimmer."
Celestia smiled, "Oh that's wonderful!"
Then her smile froze, "I... don't suppose you heard about what's been happening lately, with this Anon-a-Miss business. She has been getting some of the blame for it. I personally don't think its her, though. She's changed a lot, and even at her worst, this seemed too on the nose. Unfortunately, mine and my sister Luna's hands, are tied."
Slipstream nodded gravely, "I heard about that, straight from the source. I guessed that she could use some time away from this environment, which could be potentially toxic. I figured that if she's not there and secrets are still being posted, it should eliminate her from the suspect list. Hopefully by then, the culprit slips up or the students are smart enough to put two and two together."
Celestia leaned back and asked, "So you wish to keep Sunset away until the situation is resolved?"
His cheeks reddened and he rubbed his dark brown hair sheepishly, "Um... Yeah... About that- We were planning to sign her for a one-year contract for our team."
Her posture changed instantly. She sat up straight and peered him carefully with her eyes narrowed, "A one-year contract? But that would mean that she would miss a year and possibly repeat it. Also, she's 15 years old. Should she really be competing in such a dangerous sport at such a young age."
"That's why I was hoping to talk to you. My idea is that you or the faculty forward me the lesson plans and I can teach her. As for exams and tests, just let me know the schedule and we can set up a conference call so that the invigilator can supervise her during her paper. Just a heads up though, Fridays till Sundays are usually the race weekends, so she will be racing at the time. Also, I completely understand your concern. I've been competing at the top level of motorsport since I was 16. Won the championship at 17, and then had my career-ending accident at 18. But many of us riders have been competing since we were very young. I knew some ladies who began go-kart racing when they were just four years old, just like I did. Don't worry, this is just a one-year contract. If she wanted to continue racing, that choice will be up to her."
Celestia leaned back and cupped her chin. She thought about it for a really long time. Finally she sighed, "Very well... I'm going against my better judgement here, but I trust you because Coloratura vouches for you. Please do not make me regret this decision. My only fear is that if she stays here, this Anon-a-Miss situation will spiral out of control and the students will be very vindictive. Please give her my best."
He handed her his business card and said, "My cell phone number is on that, along with my email address."
She tucked the card away in her breast pocket. Celestia smiled, "It was a pleasure to meet you. Between you and me, I hope this situation resolves itself. By the way, how will I be able to watch the races? I was a bit of an adrenaline junkie when I was little, and I like sports."
Slipstream replied, "If I'm not mistaken, the Cloud Sports Network is picking up the broadcast for this season. The first race of the season is in March. Before that, I'll need to prepare Sunset. Get her registered as a rider, get her a Superlicense, sign the contract officially, unveil the bike, and then testing begins in February."
Celestia raised an eyebrow, "A Superlicense? What's that?"
"It's a special license that ensures a racer is eligible to compete in an officially sanctioned racing series. Of course, you do have to have a regular license as well."
After a while, they rejoined Sunset in the motorhome. Rara called out, "Hey Sunset! Can you share your home address? We'll need to help you pack up ASAP. I mean, you're probably not going to be home for a while. Don't worry, we've sorted out everything with Celestia. She will be forwarding the lesson plans to Slipstream and he'll be teaching you during the off days. As for your exams, you'll write them remotely and email your answers to her."
Sunset gave them directions to a relatively ordinary apartment complex. She waved to a cheery woman with light cerise skin and freckles, and the woman also had moderate and light purple curly hair. Sunset said, "Hi Mrs Petunia Petals! How are you this morning? How's the husband? Anything in the mail for me?"
Petunia Petals waved back and spoke, "Hello dearie! Currently, there's nothing yet in the mail. You've paid your rent last week, if I'm not mistaken. Also, Sunny Skies is pretty hard at work running for mayor of Canterlot City."
Sunset smiled, "Mrs Petals, I wanted to let you know that I will be out of town for a while. Probably a year, at most. If you want, you can rent my apartment to someone else who needs it."
Her eyebrows raised, "Oh... Does it have to do with that young man in the wheelchair there?"
"Yeah... He's technically my boss. Turns out, he is a team principal of a motorcycle racing team and I've just been recruited on a one-year contract."
The woman's eyes lit up, "Oh dearie! That's wonderful! Well I certainly wish you all the very best. I'll miss you terribly. Now, why don't you pop upstairs and clear out your room. When you're done, just hand me the keys and I'll take care of the rest. When you do return, I'll be sure to save a room just for you."
Over the next few days, Slipstream and Sunset got a lot of paperwork done. She underwent medical checks, physical training, simulator work and he gave her a crash course in understanding data. Apparently, Physics was one of her best subjects, so she took to the information like a duck to water. Two days after the New Year, they booked a flight to Spain because he managed to get her entered in the Rookie test.
Their team was officially called Countess Racing and was powered by Aprilia. He explained to her, "We've got a bunch of different manufacturers competing. Ducati has some of the fastest bikes, but we're not far behind in speed, along with KTM. I also know that Yamaha and Honda have been struggling, and there are talks of Suzuki, Kawasaki and BMW joining next year."
She tilted her head curiously, "BMW? I thought they only manufactured cars?"
"They do both", came the reply.
Then an idea struck him and he called out to a group of teenagers hanging out by reception, "Hey Pipp! Could I borrow you and your friends for a sec?"
A teenager with pale light grayish fuchsia skin and violet hair falling over one moderate spring bud green eye, came over. There were four others with her, three girls and one boy. She waved and spoke in a posh accent, "Hi Slipstream! What do you need me for?"
"You're on social media, a lot, aren't you? I know that racing's not your thing, unlike your sister and Hitch. How would you like to be Sunset's social media manager?"
Her eyes sparkled as a big smile plastered itself on her face, "Really?! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!"
A girl with light gray skin and brilliant rose-colour spiky hair with moderate cyan highlights drawled, "What about us?"
Slipstream replied, "I know that Sunny Starscout and Izzy Moonbow aren't that big on racing either. I'd hate to split you guys apart, so I'll find something for you guys to do as well, within the team."
He turned to a girl with grayish mulberry skin and moderate cornflower blue and cobalt blue frizzy hair. She was pretty much bouncing in place, "Izzy, how would you like to be Sunset's PR officer. Zipp and Hitch, I've managed to convince the officials to let us have four wildcard entries. Zipp, you will run two wildcard races, Hitch, you'll run the other two."
Then he turned to the last girl, "As for Sunny... I'm not sure of what you've got an aptitude towards. For now, I want you to just be Sunset's umbrella girl until I find something else useful for you. That alright?"
All five nodded and he said, "Okay, all you, except for Pipp, may go. Pipp I'm gonna need your help. Sunset, can you tell her about Anon-a-Miss? In case those vultures that call themselves the media, start snooping, she can fix your reputation. If you need me, I'll be looking for accomodation."
Sunset explained about Anon-a-Miss, and to her relief, Pipp Petals was very sympathetic. Then the girl made up her mind and extended a hand, "Okay, could you give me your phone?"
Sunset eyed her carefully, "Uhh... why? We're sticking together for most of the year, right? My phone's switched off, because I'm not in the mood to be bombarded with hate mail."
She gestured slightly impatiently, "Just give it. I'm going to deactivate your MyStable profile."
Pipp Petals switched the phone on and ignored the constant pinging from the messages app. She visited Sunset's profile and then handed her the phone, "Here, just download all the images and videos from your profile and save them somewhere."
She did so and Pipp promptly deactivated her account and then turned off the phone. She pocketed it, "I'll ask Slipstream to buy you another phone and change your number. I have a feeling that the heat will still be on. Give it about a week and I'll switch your phone on. Oh, and my advice would be to save all your friends contacts. Sure, you may be persona non grata at the moment, but once your innocence is proven, would you be willing to forgive them?"
Sunset thought about it, "Hmm... Maybe not immediately. The girls really hurt me badly. After they apologize, I'll let you know when I'm ready to forgive them."
Two weeks later, the team travelled to Valencia, Spain for the rookie test. That was also the first time Sunset had ridden an Aprilia, and it took some getting used to. Fortunately, they had the whole day to test and she was the only rookie that season. With permission, Hitch Trailblazer and Zipp Storm were also allowed to test with her, just to give her a sense of how to ride while competing with other bikes, and get some extra data. The best part was that Sunset was a quick learner.
February began and in the first week, they launched their bike. The primary scheme was light aquamarine gray and her number was #19, the secondary scheme was dark grayish indigo with dark indigo and moderate opal highlights and light orchidish gray with moderate purple streaks. Zipp would be running the #26 and Hitch was going to use the #8 number. The launch ceremony was relatively bombastic, as Coloratura came on stage and performed a few songs before the unveiling.
Three weeks later, the entire team, consisting of nearly 60 people, travelled to the country of Qatar for the first pre-season test. When it began, Sunset took about five laps to learn the circuit, which also included finding the right braking points. Though at one point, she almost got into a scrape with another rider called Powerslide. As she rode back into the pits, she was fuming. Sunset got off the bike and stormed in. Slipstream sensed trouble and moved inside the garage. He guided her to the back and let her vent.
She raged, "What the hell was that moron thinking! I was just backing off to try and warm up my tires! He came out of f***ing nowhere and almost wiped me out. I'm gonna go and give him a piece of my mind."
He grabbed her arm before she could flounce away, "Don't even think about it, kid. First off, I had no idea that you had a bit of a temper. Thank God I found out now, instead of mid-season. Second, I had a look at a replay, and you were riding slowly on the racing line. Had this been the official race weekend, you would have been penalised. If you have to slow down to warm up your tires, make sure that you are off the racing line. Powerslide was on a timed lap, and you got in his way."
She glared at him, but he was unmoved and poked a finger to her chest, "Hey! Don't you dare give me attitude, kid! I'm still your boss! Look, it's not gonna get any easier, but you gotta keep a lid on that temper of yours. You're only gonna make Pipp and Izzy's jobs a lot harder if you blow up like that. The fans also detest someone like that because it makes them unapproachable and unlikeable."
Sunset glared once more for a few seconds before deflating, "You're right... I-I'm sorry... I should have told you about the anger issues. That's on me. I guess that's why it was so easy for me to go into 'b***h mode'. I promise I'll work on it. I'll also apologise to Powerslide."
He patted her cheek gently, "You do that... I'll get the mechanics to make some setup changes. I want you back out there in 5 minutes. We're currently on the edge of the Top 10. Apart from that little spat, you're doing good."
They parted ways and she went and apologised to the older rider. Fortunately, Powerslide was very understanding. As he put it, "Hey, we were all rookies once. You're lucky that I'm a nice guy. There are some riders on the grid, who won't be so understanding. Also, I think your boss would have told you already, but had this been a race weekend, that would have been a slam-dunk penalty. If I'm not mistaken that kind of offence nets you a 3-place grid penalty. Do it too often, and the penalty increases to 5, then 10, then back of the grid. Worst case scenario is a one-race ban."
Sunset smiled softly, "Thanks Powerslide. I appreciate it. This is all pretty new to me."
The 31-year-old South African rider pat her back, "No worries, my friend. I heard paddock rumours that your path here was pretty unconventional. You're the first one who was literally picked off the streets, so the journey's gonna be tougher for you. A lot of us, like myself grew up racing on minibikes before slowly moving up to higher division, and that gave us experience. I think a couple of people entered the sport thanks to a video game background. "
He leaned over and whispered, "Here's my advice. Watch out for those chaps. they can get pretty aggressive on the track. They have a tendency to crash a lot, because that's what some of them did in the games. In front of your TV/computer screen, there's no danger. If you crash, you can just reset. Out here in the real world... there are consequences."
Powerslide held out his left hand and moved his sleeve back to reveal his bare arm. That arm had the remnants of a number of staples, and Sunset winced. He gruffly said, "Injuries are part and parcel of the game. There's no preventing an accident. The best way is to learn how to crash."
She tilted her head in confusion, "How do you learn how to crash? Don't crashes just... happen?"
He chuckled, "That they do kiddo. The worst type of crash is the high-side. That's where you lose the rear end of the bike and then it pitches you in the air before a painful landing. I've had a few of those in my time, and your boss has had them too. The trick is to angle your body while airborne in such a way that it minimises the damage. Tell you what... Why don't you do some research and look up videos of motorcycle racing crashes on the internet. Focus on how the riders react in the accident."
Powerslide walked away, leaving her in a pensive mood. Soon afterwards, she was back on the bike with a different setup. This carried on for a while, until an hour before the session ended, she had her first crash. Sunset was on the second-to-last corner, which was a long sweeping left-hander, which tightened up into another left-hander which led to the front straight. She leaned a little too far left and her bike slid off from under her. She was sent rolling into the gravel, where she lay winded for a minute.
Marshals were quickly on the scene and checked on her and the bike. Fortunately, the pit lane was about a 100 meters away, so she was able to re-mount and ride slowly back. Entering the garage, she hopped off the bike and gingerly trudged to the back and sat down. Team medic Red Cross immediately checked on the girl as she undid her helmet with her right hand. After setting it aside, she cradled her left hand, which was badly bruised.
Slipstream came to check on her and be on standby in case Red Cross needed some help. Sunset yelped as Red Cross swabbed the bruise with cotton soaked in steriliser. She moaned, "Ow! Ow! Ow! It hurts!"
Slipstream rolled his eyes, "Oh come off it, you big baby! It's just a bruise! Damn thing will heal in no time flat! Bruises will happen all the time, pal. You got to tough it out."
She spat, "Easy for you to say! You're not the one who's arm is on fire!"
He scoffed, "You think bruises hurt? Kid, you don't know pain until you've broken a bone or two. In the mildest case, you can simply ride with a few painkillers. Races aren't too long, just about between 25-30 laps depending on the track, maximum, lasting around 45 minutes."
Cross replied from her position, "He's right, Sunset. Bruises happen every day. We do have an infield medical care centre at every track, but you would just be wasting their time if you go to them with a simple bruise or two. They only deal with serious stuff, like broken bones, concussions, illnesses, and more. Otherwise, all teams have someone like me, who has basic first-aid knowledge to treat bruises and scrapes. Ahh! There we go! All done, sweetie."
Sure enough, the bleeding had stopped and Red Cross had applied some ointment. Sunset turned to her team principal, "Anything else for me to do?"
He looked at the TV screens, "Well... We have 50 minutes left. I want you back out there in two minutes. We're going to do some long runs."
Two minutes later, the #19 bike was back out on track, and Sunset was being more careful this time. She carried out her programme, and when the chequered flag waved, she stopped on the grid. Several other riders had the same idea and also stopped. They all watched the lights, which were off. Then, the lights blinked red and everyone tensed. A couple of beats later, the lights went out and turned green. Everyone reacted instantly, though Sunset was a little late in her reaction.
By the pit wall, Slipstream mused, "She's a bit green around the gills. I got to buy her one of those devices with the lights. Improve her reactions a bit better. Else she's going to get her butt kicked at the race starts."
Around the second week of March, and it was officially race week. That Monday though, she had other things on her mind. Slipstream noted her downcast mood, "You alright, buddy?"
She mused, "I'm just thinking... It's now been three weeks since school began. If I hadn't met you and Rara, my life would have been miserable. By now, Anon-A-Miss would have been wreaking havoc in the school. If I'd been there, I would have probably endured a lot of abuse. Maybe it would have targeted the rest of my former friends or expanded to the whole school. My life would have been ruined forever."
He wheeled over and rubbed her back, "Best not to think about it too much. I'm just glad that luck or fate allowed our paths to cross. By the way, I had a brief glance at your phone the other day. You're still getting a lot of hate, because your messages have been blowing up like crazy. Some of the insults are a little creative, let's just leave it at that."
Sunset whistled softly, "I still can't believe you're going through all my hate mail for me?"
He waved her off nonchalantly, "Nah, this is nothing! You should have seen me in my championship-winning season. We were at Mexico, which is sadly not on the calendar this year. The year before, I dove down the inside of this fellow, Blitzkrieg at one particular corner. Lost the front end of the bike, and he happened to get caught up on the outside with nowhere to go. No hard feelings between us and the bloke was very understanding, but the fans... were a different story. Got death threats from all my social media, because he was a local boy. Fast-forward a year later, the Thursday before we were supposed to leave for the track, bunch of crazy fans actually kidnapped me."
Her eyes widened, "Seriously!"
He laughed, "Dead serious! Was ransomed for 10 million dollars and some of them even ordered me to deliberately lose the race. Luckily, my team called the cops and launched a massive rescue operation. Got back in time for the race weekend, and since then, I never travelled without bodyguards, and neither does anyone else. Heck, why do you think Fetlock sticks close to you? Did you think he was merely one of Rara's backup dancers?"
She changed the subject, "By the way, I checked the race timings, and it starts at 10:30 at night."
Slipstream slapped his forehead, "Damnit! I knew I forgot something! Yeah, Qatar is the calendar's only night race, and its pretty self-explanatory. So far, you've only been riding in the afternoon, where the temperature is pretty high. So at night, the temperature drops dramatically, and that lowers the on-track grip. Oh, by the way, if you want, you can also come early on Sunday and watch Hitch and Zipp's race. It'll give you an idea of what to expect."
Friday arrived, and the first practice session wrapped up. Most of the Ducatis were in top form, but the big surprise for everyone was Sunset Shimmer ending the session in P3! She did get a small scare when she leaned a little too far to the inside of Turn 1. She overbalanced and her left leg dangled briefly before she got a foothold. Admittedly, Gearwrench, her engineer, was not too thrilled when she lost one of her brake protectors.
Sometime later, Slipstream was called to the media pen. He said with a broad smile, "I gotta tell you! She just jumped on the bike and rode it almost like a natural. I'm still pinching myself, wondering how we managed to luck out with her. Look, no disrespect to the other riders, they are all top talents and world champions. You may call me biased, but I firmly believe that there is something special about Sunset Shimmer."
The second practice session saw a lot more eyeballs on Sunset, and she delivered with another third place finish. The next day, during the qualifying session, a bunch of teams turned up the wick. In the last five minutes of the session, Sunset found herself 9th fastest, around seven tenths slower than the fastest lap. Her final lap saw her jump up, to fifth, but a few other riders were going quicker still. In the end, she was classified in eighth place for Sunday's race.
Sunset trundled back into the pits and walked inside, very downcast. Gearwrench and Slipstream surrounded her and pat her back comfortingly. The latter asked, "You okay, buddy?"
She mumbled, "I don't understand it! Yesterday, we ran so well! Could have even stuck it on pole! I don't know, the lap felt decent. Nothing seemed wrong with the bike. So, why are we so far down the pack?"
Gearwrench calmly said, "Shimmer, I'll give it to you straight. We're still a small team. No one is expecting miracles from you. Maybe the conditions yesterday, suited your bike better. I can't control the weather, kid. Just cause you got two Top 3 finishes, it kind of made you a touch overconfident, didn't it?"
Slipstream nodded sagely, "He's right. The silver lining is that we are in the Top 10. So there is a shot for a good points haul. Listen, it's too early to think about gunning for the championship, and a little bit arrogant. Let's just take everything one step at a time. We might not challenge for the title, but we can still prove to be a nuisance for the front-runners. Now, chin up... We've got a long race ahead of us tomorrow. I'm sure Hitch and Zipp would appreciate it, if you watched their races."
Finally, it was race day, and Sunset woke up with butterflies in her stomach. As she sat up in the bed of her hotel room, she heard a knock, "Sunset? Rise and shine kid! It's Slipstream! You decent?"
She called back a little shakily, "I'm up! You can come in!"
Sunset heard the sound of a key card being inserted and the door opened. Slipstream wheeled inside, "Morning! Thought I'd let you know, a bunch of us are going sight-seeing for a while. We won't be needed at the track until around 4 o'clock. You game? Powerslide and a few others are tagging along. I believe he heard from another rider, that the lamb kebabs are to die for!"
The group enjoyed themselves for a while, until they all turned back at around four in the afternoon. Powerslide explained that there would be a 10 minute warm up session at ten past 6, followed by media appearances. Then at seven thirty, the junior-most division, where Hitch and Zipp would be competing, would kick off.
The warmup ended with Sunset in fifth place. Just before that race began, Powerslide dragged Sunset to the pit wall, where they all leaned out. She asked, "So, what are we doing here?"
He grinned, "Well, there are three big reasons for this. Firstly, the 250cc division is easily the most entertaining class. Since these guys are rookies, the battles are pretty much no holds barred. The second reason is that everyone is watching to see how the lights work. It helps us time our starts better. Lastly, much like your boss, Slipstream, there are some riders who own a race team and want to monitor their progress."
He pointed, "Look! They're off on their final sighting lap before the race! Now the fun starts."
About half an hour later, Sunset Shimmer's eyes were wide, "Holy crap! That was freaking intense!"
Powerslide smirked, "Told you so! Unfortunately, we can't watch the whole of the second race because we have to get ready. Good luck and I hope you give us a good fight!"
At around 10PM, Sunset rode out onto the track and gauged the conditions. She spoke to Slipstream, "Can you let the guys know that I want a medium front and medium rear tire combination."
He glanced at her, "Are you sure? Wouldn't a medium-hard combo last longer?"
She firmly nodded, "I'm sure! If I'm wrong, so be it. At least we would do our best in this race."
Slipstream smiled, "Cool, I'll let the guys know."
As Sunset waited on the grid, Slipstream was back, with a pensive expression on his face. He casually sidled up next to her in his wheelchair. He spoke, "Hey kid, does the name Flash Sentry ring any bells?"
She frowned a little and murmured, "Ex boyfriend. We parted on pretty bad terms, back when I was still a bully. But after my change of heart, we're back as tentative friends. Why do you ask?"
He shrugged nonchalantly, "Oh nothing... Your old phone has been frantically blowing up for the past few minutes, thanks to him. I checked the messages, and it seems that he's figured out that you're innocent. I'm betting that he's either finally noticed your absence or he's seen you on TV. I think he also tried to call, a couple of times. Do you want a quick word and hear his apology, or do you want to focus on the race? Just so you know, I believe it is 12:15 in the afternoon back in Canterlot, thanks to the timezones."
Sunset Shimmer agonised for a couple of minutes, "I just want to focus on the race, for now. I'll talk to him after the race. Any word from the girls?"
He winced, "Most of them are still angry at you, sorry kid. Though I think some Fluttershy lass is starting to have doubts. Do you want to call her too?"
"No. They hurt me the most. I'll probably take some more time to work up the nerve to talk to her. And that's only after she apologises and knows that I'm innocent."
Slipstream smiled softly, "Okay then. Good luck, kid. Stay safe. Remember, no heroics into turn one. I don't want to have to deal with an angry principal Celestia. As I often say-"
"To finish first, first you have to finish"
"To finish first, first you have to finish"
The two of them spoken in unison, though Sunset sounded more robotic, as though she had heard this a thousand times already. Slipstream mock-scowled at her grinning face under the helmet, "Cheeky brat... Just do your best and bring us a nice points haul, though we certainly won't complain about any silverware."
He patted her helmet, where her cheek was, before leaving the grid. From there, Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes and began to focus. As the non-essential personnel cleared the grid, she tuned out all the noise and focused on the lights. The lights turned and they set off for the final sighting lap. She had been told that there was no need to worry about overtaking during this phase, as long as she found her correct grid slot after the lap. She and the other riders rode slowly, occasionally weaving to get some temperature into their tires.
As soon as the lights went green, Sunset Shimmer got an average start and immediately swerved to the right to fend off an attack from the inside. Unfortunately, she got bundled down a position, heading into the first turn. She lost a few more, finding herself down in 10th by the end of the first lap. The good news was that, at the start of the next lap, a rider ahead of her, fell off the bike, promoting her up a place. She soon followed that by by overtaking another and snatching 8th place.
Two laps later, Sunset began a steady climb up the order, and was up to 6th place by the end of lap 4. The best part was that she was two-tenths faster than the race leader. During her next tour of the track, Sunny Starscout and Zipp Storm relayed some information, and egged her on. With 17 laps remaining, Sunset was up to 5th place on the track, and marching up the pack. On the pit wall, Slipstream pumped his fist with a big smile on his face.
Unfortunately, five laps later, Sunset Shimmer made her first big mistake. She was at the back of a 4-bike battle for 2nd, when the 4th-placed rider ran wide, and she ran wide as well. Fortunately, she held her position, and on the next lap, Sunny and Hitch urged her to calm down.
10 Laps remaining, and Sunset dove down the inside to snatch 4th place. Unfortunately, she botched up a couple of laps later, when she ran wide and dropped to fifth. Things got worse when she started losing ground and slipping back into the clutches of P6 and 7. Later on, she ran wide for the second time, and dropped down to 7th.
The red and blonde-haired girl shook her helmet in frustration. By the pit wall, the mood was much the same, with Slipstream clutching his head in disbelief. As the laps ticked by, it was clear that Sunset Shimmer was struggling. Slipstream moaned, "Ayeyeyeye! I warned her about tire wear! She's dropping like a stone."
Sure enough, her pace continued to drop, and she fell down to 9th place. The good news was that the torture was not going to last much longer, as there were two laps left. What made it even better was that P10 was too far behind to make an impression. Finally on the last lap, the final message to Sunset was "P9, OK. Bring it home."
Soon, Sunset Shimmer saw the chequered flag and ended the day in 9th place. On the cooldown lap, she made sure to congratulate the winner and podium finishers, which also included a delighted Powerslide in 2nd. Sunset trundled back into the pits and walked to the back of the garage. Inside, Sunny, Pipp, Zipp and Izzy hugged her, while Hitch squeezed a shoulder. Then Slipstream wheeled inside and smiled, "It was a good run kid, but at least we salvaged some points. We're off to a good start. Don't worry about the result too much, you did good, for a rookie. Come on, we can bounce back from this. Now I believe you have a call to make."
Sunset looked up at him, with a morose expression. Then she took a deep breath and exhaled, "Okay... I can do this."
They exited the garage, fielded a few questions from the media, and returned to the motorhome. The first thing she did was pick up her old cell phone. She was about to open her messages, when a thought struck her, did she really want to do this? Was Flash being genuine? Did he really believe her? Or was it all a ruse to accuse her again. Slipstream, Pipp and Izzy also waited, as her internal debate raged. Finally, Sunset took a deep breath and fished out her new phone.
FS: "Hey... uh... Sunset... Are you free to talk? I just want to say that I believe that you're innocent."
SS: "Hey, it's Sunset here. I changed my number because I didn't want to get bombarded with hate messages or death threats. Sorry, I was a little caught up with something. I'm free now."
FS: "That was a smart move, to be honest. I was there during that dramatic little showdown with the girls at the Sweet Shoppe. I'll be frank, I didn't know what to think about the accusation. I doubted that you would suddenly change back into that mean girl you used to be. Unfortunately, that blow-up spread like wildfire, and everyone in school is at each other's throats, and some are out for your blood. In a way, I'm kind of glad that you're not here."
SS: "I just had to get away from it all. By the way, how did. you come to the conclusion that I was innocent?"
FS: "Like I said, I doubted that you would throw away that friendship so quickly. So you can imagine my surprise and vindication when I'm just flipping channels and suddenly I see your name and face on TV. Participating in a motorbike race... You've been holding out on me, Shimmer. ;)"
SS: "That's a long story. Are you the only one who's figured it out?"
FS: "Immediately after I saw your face, I got a text from Bulk Biceps, Micro Chips, Derpy and someone called Wallflower Blush. I was a bit surprised about that last one. That girl's quieter than Fluttershy, I almost forgot she existed. Anyway, Bulk and Micro also just happened to see your face on TV and tuned in for the race. Derpy and Wallflower, are apparently closet motorcycle racing fans. In Micro's words, 'There's no way Sunset Shimmer can be Anon-A-Miss, if she's halfway across the other side of the freaking globe!'"
SS: "I just hope that my name gets cleared, by the time I finish the season. I'm on a one-year contract."
FS: "Micro Chips has a plan. He's going to talk to VP Luna so that he can 'legally' hack into Anon-A-Miss and expose the culprit. Your former friends are convinced that it is you, though Fluttershy and Pinkie are a looking a little iffy. I think when you didn't turn up to school on the first day after vacations, a lot of them chalked it up to you being too chicken to own up. That day itself, some more secrets were exposed. I think that's raised Fluttershy's suspicions, because how can you post someone's secret, if you're not showing up in school. Took a week for Pinkie Pie to also catch on. It's been three weeks since school has begun, and no one else seems to have figured it out. Of course, Pinkie and Fluttershy are too scared of airing those suspicions to Applejack, Rarity or Rainbow Dash. Those three are on a warpath"
SS: "I'll wait for Shy and Pinkie to apologise. I'm not making the first move. Anyway... Changing the subject, do you want to catch one of the races, live? I can talk to my boss and ask if he can hook you up with some tickets. If you're not up to travelling abroad, Round three is at Texas in April."
FS: "Awesome! I'd love to be there! I'll be rooting for you, Sunset. Man, you were so close."
SS: "Yeah... my tires ran out of grip, so I was struggling towards the end. Listen, I've got to go. We have to pack up and leave the track shortly. Good night, Flash."
FS: "Night? It's 1:45 in the afternoon."
SS: "11:45 in the night, here in Qatar."
FS: "Oh right... time zones. I'll text you later."
After the opening round in Qatar, there was a two week gap to the next race. During that time, Slipstream brought Sunset, Hitch, Zipp, Pipp, Sunny and Izzy, to Spain. They spent a couple of days relaxing, before one morning, Sunset was awoken by a knock on her hotel door. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she opened the door to see Slipstream dressed in a skin-tight suit that was made from polyester.
She looked out of the window, and the sun had only just peeped on the horizon. Slipstream grinned, "You up for some early morning cycling? The others are just getting ready. I've rented out cycles for all of us, including a specially modified for myself. I may have lost the use of my legs, but I still like to keep fit."
Sunset got ready and joined the others downstairs for a light breakfast. Then, she and Izzy carefully lifted Slipstream and transferred him to the hand cycle. From there, the seven of them cycled through the picturesque city of Andorra la Vella. Sunset whistled lowly as they rode through the city, "Wow! This place is gorgeous!"
Hitch grinned and called out, "You think this is pretty? Just wait until we reach the mountain roads! Luckily, Pipp always brings her camera with her."
Pipp blew him a raspberry and primly said, "Obviously! I never leave home without it! The countryside selfie is going to be gorgeeeeoussss!"
The last word was uttered in a high-pitched sing-song voice. At that moment, Sunset Shimmer fought down a brief pang that spiked in her heart. Pipp reminded her so much of Rarity, that it was almost scary. After an hour, they finally left the city and were cruising down winding roads in the countryside. Seeing Sunset's awestruck face at the beautiful landscape before her, was totally worth the trip.
The group cycled for a while longer, before returning back to the city. However, instead of going back to the hotel, Sunset was steered away and inside a gym. Hitch grinned, "Alright! Time for some training! Next week's race is going to be tough because we're off to Portugal. I love that circuit because it is like a freaking rollercoaster."
Sunset tilted her head curiously, "What do you mean?"
Zipp explained, "Right, so this track is well-known for having a lot of uphill and downhill sections, and its like a rollercoaster. It's super fun to ride and just as fun to watch on TV."
Sunny Starscout interrupted, "To be able to handle that, you're going to have to build up your leg muscles. Also, don't think we didn't catch you twisting your back a few times. You're going to have to do a bunch of back exercises because riding will take a huge strain on your back. Izzy, can you spot her?"
Izzy grinned cheesily, "You got it!"
Sunset once again ignored the pang in her heart, because Izzy reminded her of Pinkie Pie, only less random. A slight shiver ran down her spine at the thought of both of them meeting, if ever.
All the way back at Canterlot High, Pinkie Pie sat up ramrod straight at her desk. She mused aloud, "Why do I get the feeling that I have a soul sister somewhere out there?"
Back with Sunset and her new friends, Izzy explained, "So these back exercises are you help you approach the best way to brake on the bikes. The first turn has a downhill approach, so it would be easy to overbalance and fall in front of your bike."
Sunset got changed into a sports bra and track pants, before getting started on the first exercise. She struggled initially, but soon got the hang of it. After performing a few sets, she went to the lumbars, and that was when Izzy really came in handy. At one point, she nearly exerted herself, but Izzy managed to get her under control. Exercise number three saw Sunset at a rowing machine, and finally she ended her routine on a stationary cycle.
Next, Hitch helped her work on her upper trunk and abdomen and then guided her to a machine that worked on her thighs. He explained that this would allow her to use her legs to grip the sides of the bike better. Sunny took over with her balance exercises. Finally, Zipp led her back to the changing rooms, "This next bit of training can't be done in a gym. We're going to take you to a motocross track, because that place has a lot of jumps and dips, and it'll be perfect to prepare for Portugal. Just... try not to ride too rashly. Lots of injuries can happen during a motocross race."
As they all exited, they spotted Fetlock inside a van that was waiting for them. He called out, "There are a couple of motocross bikes in the back! We'll head to the track from here! It's just a 15 minute drive!"
Inside the van, Sunset asked, "We can just go to this motocross track, just like that? No questions asked? No membership?"
Slipstream grinned, "There is a membership fee, but we can get in easily. I own the track. I set up a rider's academy, a few years ago, and had a motocross track built. Zipp and Hitch have been there several times. So what we're gonna do is, let them have a run first, and then you can have a turn after you see how it's done."
Sunset watched a couple of races, before she had a turn on the motocross bikes. In the first few races, she was a little timid on the jumps, but eventually decided to take the plunge. Sunset admitted afterwards, that that first jump was pretty exhilarating.
Two weeks flew by quickly, and Sunset filled up that time with lots of training. Sunny Starscout finally decided to take on the role of her dietician. The Wednesday before the race weekend, they all flew in and checked into a hotel. That day itself, the group decided to cycle to the track and do a track walk. Sunset finally realised what Hitch meant by a rollercoaster.
Thursday media duties passed quickly, and then it was time for practice. Just before the session, Slipstream called her away and took her to the back of the trailer. He told her, "I've got a good exercise for you, to test your reflexes."
He leaned forward and held out both hands. Clutched in each hand, was a tennis ball. The former rider instructed her, "Place your hands over mine and look me in the eyes. Don't look at the tennis balls. Eyes on me, only."
She obeyed him and he started the exercise. Nothing happened for a few seconds, and she waited in anticipation. Moderate cyan eyes locked onto deep brown eyes, and then he released both balls unexpectedly. Caught a little off guard, she fumbled and dropped them. Sunny was nearby and collected the balls before tossing them back. Slipstream and Sunset assumed the same pose. He dropped the right ball and she managed to catch it. He took the ball and they assumed the position again.
Once again, he dropped the right ball, and she caught it. Then he switched up and dropped both, and she caught them. He repeated it once more, before dropping the right, then the left, the left again, both, left, both. Each time, she improved her reactions. He grinned, "You're good, kid. I won't keep you any longer, get out on the track."
Soon, she was out on the track, just exploring each and every inch of it on her bike. By the time the session ended, Sunset was down in 15th, but there was no need to panic. In the second session, she turned things around completely, by finishing 2nd. Then it was time for qualifying, and Sunset was right on the pace. The last five minutes were really frantic, and Sunset's initial best lap put her in 5th on the grid. However, some faster lap times saw her drop down to 7th, and heading the third row.
Then race day arrived bright and early. Sunset and the gang arrived bright and early for the warm-up session and making last minute adjustments. Like before, she watched Hitch and Zipp race, and the quality of racing didn't disappoint. Zipp came ever so close to the podium, while Hitch was in the tail of the Top 10.
In the build-up to the main race, Sunset and Slipstream disappeared to the back of the garage with Hitch and Zipp. Once again, they performed the tennis ball reflexes ritual, and Sunset nailed it immediately. Out on the grid, Sunset suddenly decided to hop off the bike and utter a small prayer. Slipstream nodded approvingly at the gesture and folded his own hands in prayer.
Just as he was about to leave the grid, he cupped Sunset's helmet and leaned in, "Alright kid, we've worked hard for this. Have a good race, and stay on the bike. No heroics into Turn 1. This track is tricky, so watch out for any bumps. Let's go, full gas!"
One final sighting lap later, Sunset Shimmer was awaiting the lights and focused. Her start was normal, but she got bumped down to eighth by the first turn. Fortunately, she managed to snatch seventh place back. About two laps later, she made a play for 6th, but overshot the corner and lost another position to Powerslide. With 21 laps left, Powerslide was right behind his teammate and lined up a move into the first corner. He nudged his teammate wide, and Sunset was not about to deny an open invitation.
For two laps, Sunset stalked her new friend, and then pounced while heading down the hill into the first corner, taking P6. On the very next lap, she managed to catch and pass another rider to enter the Top 5. Her next target was a rider called Slick Shifter, who happened to be the defending champion. With 14 laps to go, she made her move, but Shifter performed a switchback and took the place back. His move was also aided by Sunset getting a big wobble, while entering the first corner, which was quickly becoming her favorite overtaking spot.
By the pit wall, Slipstream was close to having a heart attack. Then the mistakes started to slowly creep in, by lap 10. Fortunately, she did not lose a position, but instead changed tactics to settle down and save her tyres. She was not about to make the same mistake like two weeks ago. Sunset played the waiting game until there were five laps to go, and she dove down the inside to seize fourth from Slick Shifter. He attempted a switchback again and stuck a nose down the inside, but she crowded him out.
From there, she eked out a gap and was trying to hunt down a podium. Next to Slipstream, he was busy wincing as Pipp and Izzy were grabbing his hands and squeezing very tightly. Then on the last lap, it happened. Sunset was just entering the first corner for the last time, when she noticed something in the corner of her eye. Someone had crashed over there, and she didn't think much of it. So one could only imagine her surprise and joy, when she got on the front straight and saw the chequered flag. Then her attention went to her pit board, which read, "SHIMMER P3!"
It hit her like a brick... Sunset Shimmer was on the podium in just her second race. She whooped underneath her helmet and fist-pumped several times. Meanwhile in the garage, they all erupted in cheers and there were hugs all around. All the way back in Canterlot, Flash Sentry, Bulk Biceps, Micro Chips, Wallflower Blush and Derpy Doo were all cheering wildly as they gathered at Flash's house for a watch party. Elsewhere, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna were also dancing around their living room in joy.
Back in Portugal, Sunset did her slowing down lap, accepting congratulations and back slaps from other riders. As she entered the pitlane, she was directed towards the podium circle with the winner and second place. Once she stopped the bike on its marker, Sunset leaped off it and charged towards her team with a flying hug. Slipstream grabbed her and pressed his forehead to her helmet and began vigorously shaking her. The wheelchair-bound man practically blubbered, "YES!!! GET IN THERE, YOU BEAUTY! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!"
Pipp clambered over the divider with her cell phone in her hands. Sunset got the idea, and then reached over to grab the cardboard sign that depicted 3rd place. She held it aloft and posed with it, as the team gathered around her and celebrated. Then she was guided to a cool-down room by race officials with the other two riders. They made some small talk as they watched the race and reacted.
Sunset saw the incident that got her promoted to the podium, and blurted, "I knew I saw someone crash! What happened to him?"
Race winner Apex mused, "Looks like Velocity had some issue on his bike. Look! He's suddenly slowed on the straight, and that's how Bullet overtook him. And there! He's gone wide and then high-sided. What a shame... He's been on a winless streak for three years now."
Then, they were led out to the podium, with Sunset being brought out first. She took her place on the third position on the podium. Bullet took second and Apex stood in the middle, and next to Sunset was one of Apex's crew members to collect the constructors trophy. The redhead gracefully accepted her trophy and held it aloft, to the cheers and hoots of the Countess Racing Team. Then, two ladies stepped out and handed Apex and Bullet two glass bottles. They looked at each other a little weirdly, as well as Sunset.
She was confused, "What?"
Bullet hesitantly explained, "Yeah, this is a little awkward. The thing is, its a tradition for the podium finishers to spray champagne on each other to celebrate. The thing is... You're underage, kid. Gotta be 18 or above to be able to drink alcohol, sorry, kid."
She waved them off, "Don't stop on my account, you can spray each other."
Suddenly, she heard a shrill whistle and turned just in time to catch something that Slipstream tossed towards her from below. It was a soda bottle. Apex grinned, "Ahh... That'll work! Soda's fair game."
The two men sprayed each other and then caught a soda bottle each, before Sunset joined in. Apex and Bullet even teamed up to dump soda onto Sunset. Bullet explained that it's an unofficial tradition to do it to any new visitor to the podium. A while later, a deliriously happy Sunset Shimmer rejoined the team after the press conference. They hoisted her on their shoulders and carried her back to the garage to continue the party.
Author's Note
So in my headcanon for this story, I'm going to assume that Canterlot is in California. I dunno, it made sense in my head.
Homecoming: Part One
"So you're Flash Sentry, right? Before I book the tickets, is it just you, or do you have some friends tagging along? If yes, then how many?... Got it! Just a tip though, it's going to be hot, so pack plenty of sunscreen and water. Also make sure that you book a decent hotel. I'll send someone to meet you by the entrance of the track to hand you some goodies, courtesy the team. We're giving you VIP passes so that you can hang out in our garage and watch the race. Oh, and before I forget, make sure that you buy ear plugs. Those bikes are loud, with a capital L. Glad you guys can make it. I'm assuming that you guys are flying over to Texas? I mean, Canterlot is in California, right?"
Slipstream suddenly sat up, ramrod straight, "You're WHAT! Are. You. Mad! That's going to take a full day! Come on pal, don't tell me that you're a cheapskate. Look, I'm telling you, air is the best option. Great! I'll see you on Saturday! These trackside tickets I'm booking are for two days. As for the rest, you're on your own there. Look for a someone wearing a light aquamarine gray T-shirt and black trousers."
He hung up, leaned back on his wheelchair and whistled, "Man! Sunset, this guy can be stubborn. Would you believe, the idiot was planning to drive all the way to Texas?"
Sunset rolled her eyes as she walked in carrying a soda in one hand and a rolled up sheet in the other, "He just wants an excuse to take that shiny new Camaro of his for a spin. He got it as a Christmas present."
She then unrolled the sheet, revealing a small circuit map on a table and inspected it. Sunset asked Slipstream, "So, what's special about the Circuit of the Americas? The shape looks pretty interesting."
The former champion grinned, "Oh this track is fun. The first corner is a tight left-hand hairpin, so watch out for dive-bombs. However, the tricky part about this corner is that it is uphill. And when you exit the corner, you go downhill. You gotta position yourself just right for this sequence of left-right corners. Then there's another short hairpin, and then a long back straight, perfect for drafting battles. That's why my folks named me Slipstream."
The next day in a small villa in Spain, Slipstream got a message from someone called Cheerilee, who happened to be one of Sunset's teachers. Apparently, the girl had a geography test in two weeks. He promptly opened his laptop and accessed his email. The young man read it, printed the syllabus and called out, "Hey kid! I got a text from one of your faculty. You've got a geography test in a couple of weeks."
He handed her the sheets, "You've got to study up on these topics. I'll tell you what, you've got gym in half an hour. When you get back, you can study up for a bit. We'll try and squeeze in study sessions in between gym, motocross and regular training."
Just then, the doorbell rang and Izzy raced over to answer. She called out, "Slippy! Special delivery!"
He wheeled out as fast as he could, "It's here already? Brilliant! Oi! Hitch! Sunny! I'm gonna need some help here! This thing's heavy!"
The two rushed over to help him carry a large cardboard box and they carefully set it down. Sunset came over as they began unwrapping, to reveal a strange device with various lights, "What is this?"
Hitch and his friends immediately went about installing the device on a nearby blank wall, before plugging it in. He explained, "Remember the tennis ball test for your reflexes? This is a more advanced method to test them. It's called a BATAK Board. It tests your reactions, stamina, peripheral vision. I'll give a demonstration before you and Zipp have a go. Sunny, can you set a timer for 30 seconds?"
What followed next was a study in concentration, as Hitch steadily jabbed at buttons, as soon as they lit up. By the time the timer ticked to zero, he had scored 42 points. Then Zipp Storm took her place, and when the timer started, her hands were a blur. Sunny counted down to zero and Zipp's score was 48 points. Finally, Sunset Shimmer took her turn, and when she ended, she was miles behind on 35 points.
She whistled, "Wow! This is hard! How often are we going to practice this?"
Slipstream replied, "When we're at home. Can't take it with us to each race because it is flipping heavy. The board stays here, and we can make do with the tennis ball test when we're travelling."
Over the next couple of weeks, Sunset alternated between training and studying for her test. Slipstream had fixed up an appointment to conduct a conference call with Cheerilee, 2 hours before the second practice session. So Wednesday found Sunset on her laptop taking notes in the airport before her flight to Austin, Texas.
During the flight, Izzy, Hitch, Pipp, Sunny and Zipp passed the time by quizzing her. The best part was that she nailed most of the answers, and her confidence grew. On Thursday, she got all her media duties done before heading back to the hotel and studying once again. Friday arrived and she finished third in the opening practice session. Since Practice 2 wasn't until 3PM, she wrapped up her programme early and then headed to the trailer.
The conference began sharp at 11:45 in the morning and Cheerilee watched through her computer screen as Sunset opened her email and got the question paper. Then she began scribbling away furiously, her face bearing a look of utter concentration. The moderate cerise-haired woman couldn't help but have a soft smile on her face. Sunset Shimmer was obviously in a better place, far away from the vitriolic cesspit that Canterlot High was becoming. She admitted to herself that she had doubts whether this plan of Slipstream's would work, but everything looked to be running smoothly. From her vantage point, it didn't look like Sunset was getting any aid for her test.
About a hour and 45 minutes later, the red and blonde-haired girl was done. She promptly had her answer sheet scanned and mailed to Cheerilee immediately. The woman smiled and said, "Thank you very much, Miss Shimmer. I shall let you know your test scores by Monday. I'm already in the midst of correcting your classmates' papers, and yours will be assessed after theirs."
By the time she exited the motorhome, she had an hour until the second practice session. As such, she headed for a quick bite to eat before returning to the garage. Soon afterwards, she rolled out her bike at the pit entry and waited for the lights to turn green. Just then, Slick Shifter rolled up next to her and called out over the din, "Hey Shimmer! We missed you after FP1! Me and some of the boys had gone to a nearby arcade for some bowling. We were hoping to invite you, but your team said that you were not to be disturbed."
She hollered back, "I had a test to take care of. I cut a deal with my school principal that I would keep up with my studies and not lose a year."
He shot her a thumbs up in response. Then the lights turned green and they were on their way. Once again, Sunset set off to continue her programme. Her first timed lap was nothing to write home about, because she made a mistake at the Esses and went off track. On the second lap, she outbraked herself at Turn 1 and went wide. So when she came around for Lap 3, Sunny leaned out of the pit wall with a message urging her to calm down. From that point onwards, Sunset's riding was flawless. When the chequered flag waved to end the session, Sunset had topped the timing sheets, and she returned to the hotel room in good spirits.
Saturday dawned and Sunset woke up in an extremely good mood. Topping the timing sheets yesterday left her in a great headspace, and then she remembered that Flash was coming over to cheer her on with a few friends. As had become her habit, she joined up with Zipp and Hitch and cycled to the track. They reached at around 9 in the morning and she helped set up both of their bikes for qualifying. Once the two juniors were out on the track, Sunset decided to just wander around in the paddock. Maybe she could meet up with Flash and the gang and give them a grand tour.
The redhead made her way towards the entrance of the track, stopping to sign autographs and get her picture taken, along the way. Close to the entry of the venue, she spotted Red Cross several hundred feet away, parking a minivan. She stepped out and opened the passenger doors, passing out VIP passes. Sunset spotted familiar spiky blue hair inside the van and recognised Flash. Then the other passengers started filing out slowly, Bulk Biceps, Microchip, a girl with forest green hair, who she vaguely recognised as Wallflower Blush. Then she saw the last person step out, and she stiffened.
Turning her back, she slowly walked back to her motorhome. Sunset resisted the urge to just run back, and instead walked back at a relatively normal pace. About halfway there, she heard a voice faintly calling out her name. She stopped and turned slowly. Red Cross stood, several meters away, with a sheepish smile. Flash and his companions had uncomfortable smiles. But the last occupant was about to run and tackle her into a hug. Just before she faced them, she schooled her features into and emotionless mask and raised a hand in a stopping gesture.
Bulk understood and restrained the person. Sunset turned slightly and gestured for them to follow her. The group silently followed her back to her motorhome. Flash tried to speak up, "Sun-"
She cut him off brusquely, "Inside... Now."
The girl was not playing around, she was really angry. Slipstream was inside the motorhome, just going over some notes, when he noticed that they had company. He was about to greet them, when he recognised the frosty atmosphere. The wheelchair-bound man asked Sunset, "Should I leave? I'm just a visitor, this is looking personal."
She shook her head, "Stay. Just in case I do something stupid."
Finally Sunset levelled a neutral gaze at a nervous Flash and spoke oh-so-calmly, "I'm in a good mood today because I had a good couple of sessions yesterday. I'm being nice, so you have one minute to give me a damn good explanation as to why SHE is here. For all I know, she's probably here to accuse me of stealing secrets again. The only reason why I called you all inside here is because I don't want my dirty laundry aired in front of all the cameras. I've worked hard for several months to build up a decent fanbase. I will not let HER ruin everything in one day."
Flash knew that she had an explosive temper, but somehow, hearing her speak calmly was even scarier. He knew that she was REALLY pissed and her voice had a dangerous edge to it. He hesitantly spoke, "Listen... It all started when Bulk was sitting on the bleachers and watching the practice session yesterday. It was live, and Fluttershy happened to be passing by when she saw your face on the camera."
Bulk pipped up, "Yeah, just sort of sneaked up on me and damn nearly startled me. She said something along the lines of 'I knew it! I knew it wasn't her! There was no way she would be doing this, all the way in another continent'. When she found out that Flash was buying tickets for us, she literally got on her knees and begged to get her a ticket. She said that she wanted to make it right after betraying you."
Sunset sarcastically drawled, "Only took her two full months to realise the truth."
She addressed a shame-faced Fluttershy for the first time, "I want... no, I NEED to know one thing and I want the truth. Were you and those girls every truly my friends, or did you do it because Twilight ordered you to."
The light-pink haired girl stammered, "I-I In the first week, it was because of Twilight. B-but after I got to know you better, I genuinely w-wanted to be your friend. S-Sunset, I am so sorry for b-betraying you. I-I-I should have spoken up and defended you-"
Sunset interrupted her, "But you didn't, did you? You were scared that those girls would turn on you like a pack of wolves, just like they did me. I appreciate that you came forward on your own to apologize personally. If you had texted me, I would have ignored you, because texting is just empty words. A face-to-face apology means that you are genuinely sorry. But I want to make one thing clear. We are not friends... Not yet... Maybe sometime later, I would like to start over with you, and you alone, though I could make an exception for Pinkie, if she apologised in person, and of her own volition. Those girls... I am way beyond forgiveness, because they REALLY meant what they said when they yelled at me. For the record, I am NOT coming back to school with you guys, this year."
Fluttershy's eyes widened, "Why!"
Sunset arched an eyebrow, "Really? I am still persona non grata, and you expect me to come back to a place where I could potentially get lynched? Possibly even literally? Don't you dare try and deny it, Rainbow Dash and some of her old friends, Gilda and Lightning Dust, are perfectly capable of doing it. Hell, I'm sure Applejack would gladly help out. Even if my name is cleared, I still can't come back. I'm on a one-year contract. I struck a deal with Principal Celestia, where I would take some time away to focus on this gig. I'm still keeping up with my studies, as Slipstream here, has been teaching me. Heck, I just appeared for our geography test yesterday. My point is, when I come back, I won't lose a year."
Then she checked her watch, "Look, let's just not talk about it. Not today. Enjoy the weekend. I've got qualifying shortly. Flash, you and the others explain how this works to her. You all got your ear plugs? Follow me, I'll take you to the garage. From there, you guys can watch from the TVs inside."
Just like that, her emotionless face morphed into a more cheerful one. Sunset made her way to the door and beckoned, "You coming? I'll give you a small tour on the way to the garage."
Flash was the first one to act, followed by the others. Fluttershy was the last to move, but Slipstream called out to her, "Hey! Fluttershy, right? Could you help me down and wheel me back to the garage?"
The light-pink-haired girl dutifully helped him out and tailed the group, while wheeling him. Slipstream spoke, "Listen, I wanted to talk to you in private. She'll come around eventually. I've only known her for 2-3 months, but I think I've got her figured out. Sunset's a friendly girl, but with stunts like these, she doesn't trust easily."
The girl just gazed sadly at her former friend, "She's changed so much. Honestly, I was hoping that we would be friends again, but that's just me being naive."
He chuckled, "I bet you were expecting her to blow up at you, right? I wouldn't blame you, as she does have a bit of an explosive temper, and this Anon-a-Miss business really upset her. From what she told me, it took her a damn long time to earn you and your friends' approval. All it took was one bad day and everyone just turned on her immediately. Considering that she was innocent, I wouldn't blame her for lashing out when you guys would eventually come crawling back. We've been working on that for a bit. It'd be a PR nightmare if our star rider is a massive hothead with the temperament of a volcano. This time around though, YOU, are really going to have to earn HER friendship. Honestly, I'm really glad that I intervened when I did."
She spoke up, "What do you mean?"
He replied, "About a couple of weeks after we whisked her away, she came forward with a confession. When she met me at the diner where we ran into each other, she was having suicidal thoughts. She stopped at the diner to have a sort of last meal before she jumped off the Canter Bridge."
Fluttershy paled and looked ready to faint. Slipstream continued, "When I heard that, I sent her to Red Cross, our team doctor and psychiatrist. Sunset is a lot happier now, and this motor racing gig is really good for her. She enjoys the riding, and the fact that she gets us decent results, is a bonus, its a win-win."
At this, the teenage girl calmed down and they eventually reached the garage. Sunset immediately got to work and banished the conversation with Fluttershy to the back of her mind. She rode out, did a few exploratory laps and returned to the pits. After conferring with Gearwrench, he and the team got to work with setup adjustments. Meanwhile, she shot a look at Slipstream and he got the message. He turned around, his eyes darting everywhere, before locking onto his target.
The team boss whistled sharply, "Hey you! Wallflower, right? Could you toss me those two tennis balls?"
The green-haired freckled girl complied and he snatched them from the air. From there, he and Sunset put their heads close together, maintaining eye contact. He held up his hands, with a ball in each, and she placed her palms over his own. Off to the side, the visitors were looking in fascination. Fluttershy murmured, "What are they doing?"
Micro Chips grinned, "This is my favorite part! It's a reflexes test, designed to test Sunset's reflexes."
He pointed, "See! He dropped one ball and she caught it, while still maintaining eye contact... There! She's done it again... And now she's caught both..."
This carried on for five minutes, and when she was done, Sunset Shimmer had only fumbled twice. The girl went back out and set a few banker laps. The minutes ticked by, and everyone just alternated between setting lap times or testing setups. However, with five minutes to go, things got serious. By then, Sunset was in 6th place and just heading out of the pits. The lap times began to tumble, and then, Sunset Shimmer banged in an insane lap that placed her in second place, on the front row of the grid, alongside Velocity. A cheer erupted from the garage, and everyone began hugging and back-slapping.
When everyone went home, it turned out that Flash, and his friends were at the same hotel. Just before they all went to their rooms, Slipstream called out to Flash, "Hey! Buddy! Make sure you watch the other two races before Sunset's. Your tickets are for all three races."
The next morning, Sunset, Zipp and Hitch cycled to the track as usual. Two races passed by quickly, though there was an amusing scene when Hitch got taken out by another rider, and when he went to rejoin the race, he had to stop his fellow crasher from grabbing the wrong bike.
Finally though, it was time for Sunset to go racing. On the grid, she performed her usual ritual of saying a prayer before the race. The riders had one final sighting lap and then sat on the grid, waiting for the lights to turn green. At the race start, Sunset got the best launch from the middle of the front row and led for the first time in her career. Pole-sitter Velocity got barged out of the way by another rider and dropped to the tail of the Top 10.
Once she hit the front, Sunset knew that her job was to control the pace. However, Apex was hunting her down and breathing down her neck. She managed to fend him off for an entire lap, and when she rounded the last corner to end the first lap, the team were egging her on. Meanwhile in the garage, the boys were all jumping up and down, and the girls were cheering. On the second lap, Apex dive-bombed, but went too wide on the exit. Sunset wasn't about to decline an open invitation and retook the race lead. Apex made another attempt, but Sunset overtook him back again.
As the race continued, Apex made yet another overtake on Sunset, but she snatched the lead back on the cutback. Finally, at about the fifth time of asking, Apex finally made the move stick. In the garage, Flash clutched his head as Sunset lost the lead. Meanwhile, a nervous Fluttershy hugged a stuffed toy tighter and tighter. Back on the track, Sunset tried to get the place back, but went wide and dropped to 3rd.
A few corners later, she dropped to fourth. Slipstream raised his hands in despair and moaned, "Ayeyeyeye! Should have known that this was too good to last. Come on Sunset! Just try and regroup! You've got medium tires."
Almost as if she heard him, Sunset got herself under control and closed in on the podium places. Just then, the two leading riders collided, with one of them coming away worse than the other. Slick Shifter and Sunset, quickly moved up a spot to sit in 2nd and 3rd respectively. With 14 laps remaining Sunset divebombed down the inside of Slick Shifter at Turn 1 and took 2nd place. Elsewhere, Velocity was slowly coming back into contention, and had clawed his way up to 4th.
With 11 laps to go, Sunset took the lead with a robust move on Apex. However, a threat soon arrived in the form of a rider called Dynamo. He muscled Sunset out of the way at the first corner and took the lead. However, a few corners later, disaster struck, as Dynamo crashed out of the lead on his own, and Sunset re-inherited the lead. With nine laps left, Velocity had sneaked up into 2nd and the comeback was on.
By the next lap, Velocity overtook Sunset and relegated her to 2nd. From there, Sunset decided to just ease up and save her tires. Meanwhile, Apex was under attack from Bullet and the latter snatched the final podium position. Finally, Sunset figured that 2nd was the best that she could do. Soon, the chequered flag waved, and Velocity and Sunset popped a wheelie in a synchronised manner. The pair did their victory lap and soaked in the atmosphere from the cheering fans.
Once in parc ferme, Sunset charged at her team and tackled them in a big hug. Then she noticed Flash and the others standing to the side and grinning. She gestured for them to join the group hug, and they eagerly did so. Fluttershy was a little hesitant, but Sunset dragged her in, anyway. Before she headed to the cool down room and the podium, she brought herself nose-to-helmet with the girl. She whispered in her ear, "Listen Fluttershy, I'm going against my better judgement here. But you're getting a second chance with me, don't waste it."
Fluttershy nodded and let go, allowing Sunset to join Velocity and Bullet. Bullet raised an eyebrow in the cool down room, "So... What was that thing with the pink-haired girl? She your girlfriend?"
Sunset shook her head, "Nah, I don't swing that way. She's a former friend of mine. Long story short, I had a fight with her and some other friends. They accused me of spilling some secrets on MyStable and broke off our friendship. I was innocent, but they didn't believe me. Fluttershy was the first and only one who figured out that I was innocent and now I've patched things up with her. I was really pissed because they were my first friends."
The other two nodded in understanding. They all filed out to the podium, accepted their trophies and waiting for the ceremonies to end. Once again, only Velocity and Bullet received champagne bottles and they sprayed each other. Down below the podium, Fluttershy asked, "Why didn't Sunset get one?"
Wallflower replied, "She's underage. Champagne is alcoholic, and she'll need to be 18 or above to be allowed to spray champagne. Don't worry, the other two will compromise."
Sure enough, Bullet and Velocity resumed the celebration with soda, and this time Sunset also took part. After the celebrations, the Top 3 stuck around for the post-race press conference and then rejoined their respective teams. The next day, it was time for Flash and the others to leave for the airport. Before they left, Sunset approached Fluttershy. She spoke softly, "I need you to promise me one thing. Do not tell the other girls where I am. If or when I am proven innocent, I want them to find out on their own and apologise in person, without you prompting. I'm forgiving you, but I won't forget. Have a safe trip back home. I'll see you, most likely by November, or in the worst case scenario, I'll probably have to transfer schools."
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. "Wait... So you're telling me that you're from another world that is full of magical talking ponies? And you're a unicorn? The one with a horn?"
Sunset nervously smiled and nodded, "Uh... Yes..."
Slipstream stopped wheeling back and forth and massaged his temples. She gulped and asked, "You believe me... Don't you?"
He snorted, "Kid... I believe you, alright. Trust me when I say, no one can come up with THAT elaborate a lie. I've had people lie to me before, and your story is not even the most fantastical. The last person who lied was a prick called Sprout. Kid was talented and he was my former teammate, but we later found out that he was selling some of MY data to his old team, who happened to be our biggest rivals, and lied about it for six months. My boss found out and sacked him on the spot and got him a lifetime ban from racing. The cherry on top was me giving him a massive knuckle sandwich to the nose. I just have a couple of questions though... Firstly, if I existed in that world, what species would I be?"
Sunset tapped her chin thoughtfully, "I'd probably say that you'd be a pegasus. The pony with wings."
Slipstream grinned, "Cool! Anyway, thanks for the heads up. Better I find out now than for this to be exposed in a more awkward way, that would definitely end with me checking myself into a loony bin."
The teenager rolled her cyan eyes, "Jeez! Melodramatic much? What was the other question?"
"Oh yeah... If your world is a parallel world, then does a Sunset Shimmer exist in this world? If you do happen to bump into her, are you gonna have to explain it like a long lost twin theory?"
She shrugged, "When I first arrived in this world, I didn't find any records of her at all. Maybe she lives elsewhere, maybe she doesn't exist. I'll probably cross that bridge when I get there."
A few days later, Slipstream found her frowning at a circuit map. He wheeled up and raised an eyebrow, "You okay, amigo ?"
She continued frowning, "This map is really confusing. Track seems insanely long."
Something clicked in his head and he took a peek over her shoulder. The puzzle pieces fell in place in his mind and he let out a guffaw, "Y-you're looking at the wrong map, kid! One sec!"
He rushed to the computer, booted it up and began typing. Then he saved one image and printed it out before handing it to her. Sunset glanced at it, "Yeah this looks a lot different."
Slipstream grinned, "The one that you were looking at, is the Circuit de la Sarthe, where the endurance racers compete. We're running on the Bugatti Circuit, which is a shortened version of the same track."
She tilted her head curiously, "Endurance racing? What's that? And how long is the original circuit?"
He winced a little, "About 8.5 miles, or 13.6 kilometers."
Her eyes widened, "And the shorter track?"
"2.6 miles or 4.1 kilometers, approximately. Now for your other question, endurance races are a LOT longer. These races last between eight hours minimum, or 12 hours or 24 hours, maximum."
Sunset yelped, "Seriously! How the heck can only person ride or drive for 8 hours, let alone 12 or freaking 24!"
He retorted, "Don't be silly! You have three or four people sharing one bike or one car and they all take it in turns to race. And unlike what we do, there is mid-race refuelling. We normally top up the tank at the start and that tides you over for the rest of the race. I know for a fact, that Sunny, Hitch, Zipp, Izzy and Pipp's friend, Misty Brightdawn, is an endurance racer. She's part of my academy, and she's pretty good. Anyway, you don't have to worry about that, just focus on this track. But if you really want to, we can fly in early and cycle around the track, so that you can really get the scale."
Some days later, the group flew over to France for the race weekend. On Tuesday, they all drove to the track in a rental car, before bringing out their bicycles. As Slipstream hand-pedalled down the front straight, he explained, "So this start-finish straight is universal and the first turn is the fast Dunlop curve and feeds right into the Dunlop chicane."
They all followed him, as he took the optimal lines. He pointed to his right and continued, "Now normally, we take a right into the hairpin at Chapelle. However, we're going straight on to the next left-right sequence at the Forest Esses. Next up we have a right hand turn into Tetre Rouge. This feeds us onto the really long Mulsanne Straight."
After a while, there was a right-left-right sequence of corners, which Slipstream called the Daytona Chicane. According to him, "The Mulsanne Straight was normally a six km long straight, but underwent modifications because of some fatal high speed accidents."
Soon, he guided the group through the left-right-left Michelin chicane. By the time they reached the Mulsanne corner, Sunset was already puffing. They took a short break to munch on some sandwiches, before continuing. Everyone steadily pedalled until they braked for the left-handed Indianapolis corner, followed by the right-handed Arnage corner. After a short straight, they all gentle turned right, then a slight double left and then right again and then left before straightening out. The group continued cycling until the left-right Ford chicane sequence, and then the final left-right sequence that fed them onto the front stretch.
Sunset slowed down and wheezed, "Whoa! That was a long lap! How long does it take to complete a lap on a motorbike and in a car."
Sunny replied, "Well, according to Misty, the bikes don't run on the full track, only the cars do, and the lap record is three minutes and 17.297 seconds."
Sunset Shimmer could only utter, "Wow!"
They took the next couple of days to explore the city of Le Mans and sample the food. Then Friday arrived and practice began. Before the session, Sunset, Zipp and Hitch cycled around the shortened layout that she would be racing. Then Zipp dropped some news, "So in a couple of weeks' time at Mugello, I'll be making my debut as your teammate, my first of two wildcards I've chose Mugello and Austria. Hitch is going to have his wildcard races at Australia and Malaysia."
Just then Pipp exclaimed, "Guys! Did you hear the news? I believe India's been taken off the calendar for this season. There are plans to let that be the season-opener next season because the anticipated weather was not suitable."
Hitch moaned, "Shame... I liked that track. Was fun to ride on. But I can understand why. Last year it was held in late September and it was crazy hot! If I'm not mistaken, Apex nearly fainted after the race. I heard from a friend that the month of March should be a bit cooler in India."
After a while, it was time for the bikes to have a go on the Bugatti Circuit. Right off the bat, Sunset Shimmer was up among the leaders, eventually finishing the opening session in 2nd place. Practice 2 saw her struggle with different conditions and she ended the session in 11th place, but qualifying saw a slight improvement with 7th place.
Finally, it was time for the race and Sunset was raring to go. Back in Canterlot, Fluttershy had woken up, thanks to her alarm. She quickly glanced around her, because the girls were at her house for a sleepover and the five of them were all sprawled out in the living room. She turned the TV on and lowered the volume, to not disturb the girls. However, a sleepy voice drawled, "Flutters? What are you doing up do early? It's five in the morning?"
She squeaked and turned to see Rainbow Dash rubbing her eyes. She saw the TV as the starting grid was shown and smirked, "Didn't take you for a racing fan, Shy. Who are you taking up- Wait... WHAT THE F**K?"
Rainbow's startled exclamation woke the other girls and they were indignant. Rarity snapped, "Rainbow Dash! Watch your language! A girl needs her beauty sleep-"
Rainbow exclaimed, "We found Sunset!"
That had the other three girls fully alert. Applejack's eyes widened, "What the hay! What in tarnation is she doing, all the way in France? And is this live?"
Fluttershy's shoulders slumped, knowing that the jig was up, "Yes, its live... Round 5 in France. I found out about her during the second round in Portugal. Two weeks later, she was racing in Texas. I begged Flash Sentry to buy me a ticket, because he was also going to watch."
Pinkie perked up, "Wait... So he knew that she wasn't Anon-A-Miss? Why didn't he tell us?"
Applejack deadpanned, "Would we have believed him? Anywho, simmer down, I want to see how Sunset does."
As the lights turned green, Sunset got a decent start and maintained her position. In Fluttershy's house, the girls cheered as she slipped into 6th place. Two laps later, she was up to fifth and sniffing out a potential podium. However, at the double right-hander at Turn 6, it went horribly wrong. Sunset dove down the inside for fourth, but suddenly the front of the bike washed out from under her. A collective groan erupted from the Countess Racing Team, and back in Canterlot, the girls also exclaimed in dismay.
Sunset tried to pick up her bike and check for damage, and sure enough there was too much. Her first DNF of the season. She numbly allowed herself to be led away and given a ride back to the Countess Racing garage. Upon reaching, Slipstream was the first to hug her and comfort the girl.
Rarity pointed, "Who's that in the wheelchair."
Fluttershy answered, "Her boss. His name is Slipstream and he's a former world champion. Won the title at the age of 17, the youngest champion. However, he suffered a crash in the following year, that left him paralysed from waist down. Since then, he's been recruited as the team principal of Countess Racing."
Rarity's ears perked up at the name, "Countess? Any connection to Countess Coloratura?"
"Mhm! Countess Coloratura owns the team, and she hired Slipstream to be the team principal. I guess one thing led to another and Sunset was recruited."
Back at Le Mans, Sunset elected to stick around and watch the race, but she was miserable. Once it was over and everyone had cleared out, Countess Racing was among the last to leave, Slipstream rolled his wheelchair up, "Hey kiddo. Walk with me?"
They were soon driving out of the circuit and towards a large cathedral. After parking the rental car, Slipstream led her to a large graveyard, with a number of gravestones. He knelt next to a couple of tombstones and placed a few flowers on them. The 22-year-old spoke softly, "I wanted to show you this. Back in 1955, during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the worst accidents took place. Reports say that around 84 were killed, mostly spectators. My granddaddy was a spectator, along with my grandma. They were racing fanatics and it was their 25th anniversary present. Dad was so devastated that he quit racing. When I was young I kind of got bit by the racing bug. Dad tried to dissuade me for a couple of years before giving in. So he and mom decided to finance my career instead."
He turned to see Sunset nearly frozen in front of two tombstones. He wheeled over and she said, "Those are the names of my parents! I-I-it says here that she was pregnant with a girl and wanted to name her Sunset Shimmer..."
Her voice cracked and he hugged her tight. Slipstream gently rubbed her back, "There, there, amiga . You feel better?"
She took a deep sniff and wiped her nose, "Y-yeah... I'll be okay... I just realised that she would have been much older than me, if she was alive... Shall we go?"
The two of them shuffled away and left the cemetery after paying their respects.
Sunset Shimmer was suddenly awoken by some buzzing on her cell phone. She looked around bleary-eyed and then grabbed her phone by rubbing her eyes. Apparently, Fluttershy was texting her, and she replied back immediately.
SS: Shy, it's 8 in the morning! I was just having a lie in.
FS: Eep! I'm so sorry, Sunset. I wanted to know if you were okay with the girls contacting you again. I still haven't given them your new number, despite Pinkie constantly shooting me puppy-dog eyes.
Sunset sighed and texted back: Fine, you can tell them my new number. I've got to face them eventually. Can't keep running away from my problems.
FS: Also, I thought you should know, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo publicly confessed in front of the whole school. Of course, there was a massive outrage, but Principal Celestia and Luna warned everyone that they would be expelled if they resorted to violence. As it is, the girls have a six month suspension from school, will be strictly monitored at home and at school, and mandatory detention for the next two years.
SS: Tell Applejack that I'm sorry, but they are getting no sympathy from me. If they just talked to us, this whole crap could have easily been avoided. Heck! I would have been open to them hanging out with us. Now that they pulled this crap, I'm not ready to forgive them for a long time.
FS: I understand... Oh... Umm... Rainbow's just texted me. She and the girls want to see you and apologise face-to-face. So...
SS: I'll ask Slipstream to book five tickets for Catalunya this weekend. Just like last time, someone will be there to pick you up.
SS: Listen, I gotta go. The boss is here and he's taking me to his motorcross track.
With that, she set her phone aside and freshened up before letting Slipstream enter her room. They were all residing in Slipstream's cozy villa in Andorra la Vella. After a light breakfast of scrambled eggs, they headed out for some motorcross.
After a few days, they took a train to Catalunya, while their equipment was brought to the the track by freight truck. They reached on Wednesday and took time to rest up before going sight-seeing. Then on Friday, Slipstream left the hotel, early morning and headed to the airport to pick up the girls. As it turned out, they had booked a different hotel to the one that the team were staying in.
It only took half an hour of waiting, but he finally spotted Fluttershy. She was with a group of four other girls, a blonde wearing a Stetson hat, an athletic-looking girl with prismatic hair, a girl with wild curly pink hair, wearing the biggest smile he had ever seen, and posh-looking girl with purple hair. The last one was looking very grumpy and he observed that she had the most bags.
The blonde was the last one to enter his rented and modified minivan, because she had to stuff 16 suitcases inside the car. Safe to say, she was also looking pretty annoyed. Slipstream asked, "How long were you kids planning on staying here?"
The blonde replied with a Southern twang, "Just for these three days."
He pulled out of the driveway and gestured to the luggage, "You girls sure didn't pack like it."
She grumbled from the shotgun seat, "Consarn it Rarity! Ah told ya we were only gonna be here for three days. How many darn outfits did ya pack?"
The purple-haired girl, who he presumed was Rarity, sputtered, "Well I never! A girl always has to look her best! And I do need various choices of clothes!"
The lone male gaped, "Did you pack your entire wardrobe! How the hell did you manage to get through the check-in counter with all of them!"
Blondie massaged her temples, "She actually had to leave behind 30 more suitcases."
His eyes shrank, "Th-th- 30! Are you moving house?! Jeez kid! Either you've got issues or you're a serious hoarder!"
The girl with the prism hair sniggered, earning a glare from Rarity. Finally, he addressed his passenger, "So Blondie-"
"The name's Applejack.", she then pointed to the girls in turn, "You've met Fluttershy, ah assume. That one's Rainbow Dash, that's Pinkie Pie and that's Rarity. Pleasure ta meet ya."
He introduced himself, "Call me Slipstream. I'm the team principal of Sunset's team, so I'm basically her boss."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow, "You seem pretty young. I figured you'd be a lot older. Most coaches and team bosses I've seen in Soccer or American Football or Baseball are usually in their 50s or 60s."
He paused, "I... am going to take that as a compliment... To be frank, had things played out differently, I'd still be riding and competing for more championships. As you can tell by the wheelchair, I had an accident when I was in the prime of my career. Was competing to try and win my second title. Broke my spine and ended my career prematurely at the age of 18. Now, I'm 22 and thankful to still be involved in racing."
Rainbow asked, "So, how did the crash happen?"
Rarity snapped, "Rainbow Dash! That is rude and insensitive!"
He chuckled, "It's okay, kid. I'm not offended. Frankly, most of the crash was pretty fuzzy for me. I only saw videos of it afterwards. Golly! I was lucky to be alive!"
Fluttershy dug out her phone and surfed the Internet, "I found the video!"
She handed the phone to Applejack, who placed it on the dashboard. In the video, they saw Slipstream riding, relatively alone on the track. Heading into a downhill right-hander, his bike bucked him off and he skidded to a stop on the track, where he lay winded.
Applejack winced, "Gosh! That looked nasty!"
He just spoke, "That's actually pretty tame for a rider. It gets worse from here on out."
They watched as he slowly picked himself up, then Fluttershy screamed as she saw another bike ram into Slipstream's body from the side. The impact, sent him flying in the air like a rag doll and he slammed into the catchfence, back first.
Rainbow Dash sucked in a breath, "Yeesh! You're lucky to be alive!"
He nodded, "Aye, and I thank whoever's my guardian angel, for that."
Pinkie spoke up for the first time, "So when can we go meet Sunset?"
"Whoa! Hang on there, kid. I got to take you to your hotel first. I'd suggest you sleep off the jet lag. It's 2:45 in the morning, and the practice sessions start by 8:30 with the junior categories. Sunset will be hitting the track at 10:45AM."
He eventually pulled up to a decent-looking hotel and the girls disembarked. He waved over a nearby bellhop and spoke to him in rapid Spanish. The bellhop's eyes widened when he saw the mountain of luggage. Slipstream slipped a 100 euro note in the bellhop's front pocket and murmured in Spanish, "My condolences. "
The next morning, he woke up after getting barely a few hours of sleep. As he he passed Sunset, who was eating cornflakes, he murmured, "That girl Rarity's going to be a nightmare for any vacation. She had around 12 suitcases, all full of clothes. She also had to leave another 30 suitcases back in Canterlot."
Sunset nearly snorted milk out of her nose, "Pfft! That sounds like Rarity, alright. Knowing her, all her clothes will be insanely expensive. Remind me to tell her to keep a close eye on her things, so that they don't get stolen."
On the way to the track at around 8AM, Sunset drove so that Slipstream could catch up on his sleep. At around 10 in the morning, Slipstream went to pick up the girls. As he drove, he handed a package to Fluttershy, who was riding shotgun, "You remember the drill, right? Got your tickets, VIP passes, ear plugs, everything."
Rainbow drawled, "Why would we need earplugs? The bikes sounded fine on TV."
He snorted, "Kid, on TV you have control of the volume. On the race track, these bikes are Loud, with a capital L. I'd prefer it if you five didn't rupture your eardrums. Now, first things first, I'll take you to our motorhome, so that Sunset can speak to you in private. Can't have your little teenage drama play out in front of the cameras, or it'll ruin her reputation."
Rarity hummed, "I do hope she forgives us. We hurt her really terribly, with little to no evidence."
After a half an hour drive, they pulled up to the track, and Slipstream guided them through the crowds. Eventually, he took them to their motorhome and asked them to wait there. Eventually, the door opened and Sunset Shimmer walked inside. She spotted the girls, and in an instant, her posture became guarded.
She neutrally spoke, "Girls..."
The atmosphere was very awkward. Then Applejack stepped forward, taking off her hat and holding it to her chest. She said, "Sunset... I'm mighty sorry for all that we put you through. Ah'll admit, it was our fault for blindly accusing ya, especially when we had no proof-"
Sunset suddenly snapped, "That day when you confronted me, I was so depressed and hurt that I was even feeling suicidal! If Slipstream and his team hadn't got to me..."
None of the girls had anything to say to that. Then Sunset spoke, "Tell me this, if you hadn't caught Apple Bloom red-handed, would you have continued believing that I was Anon-a-Miss? Fluttershy already told me that it took her a week after school started, to figure out that I was innocent."
Pinkie quipped in a small voice, "It took me two-three weeks to figure it out as well. I mean, how can you keep posting secrets when you're not even showing up to school. Sunset, I am so, so, so sorry for being a big meanie meanie-pants"
Rainbow gaped at the two girls, "Pinkie! Flutters! Why didn't you say anything!"
Applejack deadpanned, "Would you, me or Rarity have believed them?"
Rarity's eyes were also downcast, "She's right... We were downright cruel to Sunset. I know this may mean little to you, but for what its worth, I am truly, terribly sorry. I should have been a better friend."
Rainbow also looked ashamed, "Yeah, same. Sunset, I was probably the worst one. I was a total b*tch. I'll completely understand if you never forgive me or want to be friends ever again."
Sunset was quiet for a very long time, and then she finally spoke, "Girls? I've been doing a lot of thinking during our time apart. Six months ago, I would have probably cussed you out and slammed the door in your faces. But now, I understand why I was the primary suspect. I've got a lot of anger issues and I've been working on that with my psychiatrist. I will admit, our relationship is never going to be the same again, but I'm willing to give it a second chance."
She spread her arms out and looked at them expectantly. Pinkie was the first to react, leaping into the hug and bawling away. One by one, the girls made it one giant group hug. After a while, there was a knock on the door of the motorhome, "Hey kid! You finished making up with your friends? We've got 15 minutes until practice begins!"
Suddenly, as if a switch had been flipped, she adopted a different and more cheerful persona. She gave the girls a nice tour of the paddock before taking them to her garage. Sunset even introduced them to Sunny, Izzy, Zipp, Pipp and Hitch, and they all got along very well. Pipp and Rarity were exchanging fashion tips and gossip, Zipp and Rainbow were talking about general sports. Izzy and Pinkie were having a small prank war, while Fluttershy and Applejack were talking to Sunny and Hitch.
Right off the bat, Sunset Shimmer was in excellent form. Initially she made a few mistakes, accidentally going onto the closed off sections of the track. However, she soon recovered to deliver a strong ride, running 2nd with five minutes remaining. She came back in for a final setup adjustment, and was back on her way. However, faster times soon dropped her down the order and she ended the session in fourth.
Returning back to the garage, she had a big smile on her face, it was a good day in the office. In the second practice session though, she was able to finish 5th fastest, and that was still satisfactory. When she returned, the girls wrapped her in a group hug. Then, Saturday arrived, and it was time for qualifying. Sunset Shimmer was again looking in excellent form, sitting in 2nd place with five minutes to go. However, lap times began to tumble and she was eventually classified in 5th place.
Then came Sunday, race day and Sunset was looking pumped. Hitch managed to sneak onto the podium, but Zipp's race ended when her bike chain snapped. Just then, the girls spotted Sunny Starscout taking Sunset Shimmer to the rear of the garage. Out of curious interest, they followed the pair, noticing a pair of tennis balls. Applejack and Rainbow asked,"What's up with that?"
Fetlock, who was doing his bodyguard duty, answered, "This is a reflexes exercise. It's a bit of a tradition that we do here. Helps keep the skills sharp."
Rainbow mused as she watched Sunset catch a ball without even looking at it, "That looks awesome, but pretty tough!"
Fetlock smirked, "If you think that's tough, you should see Sunset's BATAK board?"
"What's that?"
"I'll explain later."
Soon afterwards, Sunset ventured out for her sighting lap and then settled on the grid. She went over her data and then uttered a short prayer on the grid. Finally, the riders all completed their formation lap and were waiting for the lights to go green. Sure enough, the red lights went out and Sunset got a great launch. In the garage, the girls all cheered as she went-five-wide for the lead, heading into the first corner.
Unfortunately, she did not brake late enough, and had to settle for 2nd, behind Slick Shifter. All through the lap, Sunset was all over Slick Shifter's tail, with the soft tyres really working wonders. They stayed like that for three laps, before Sunset finally struck. She dived down the inside at Turn 10, but was forced to sit up at the exit and was overtaken back. On the next lap though, she dropped to third place behind a charging Apex, to the dismay of her friends.
However, with 19 laps to go, they had a reason to cheer again, as Sunset had bagged 2nd place again. She then began harrowing Apex for the next few laps, but then disaster struck. At Turn 10, she suddenly lost the front end, with 14 laps remaining, and a big groan erupted from the stands and in the garage. Rainbow Dash moaned, "Gah! She was so close!"
Slipstream took a few deep breaths, "It's not over yet! Look! She's picking the bike up! Sunset can still salvage points!"
Sure enough, the redhead picked the bike up and checked it for damage, before rejoining the race. The girl was all the way down in 20th place when she got back on the tarmac. There were now 13 laps remaining, so there was plenty of time to salvage points. The laps ticked by as Sunset closed the gap to 19th place and eventually overtook her opponent. Then with six laps remaining, she found herself in 17th place, two places away from the points. Sure enough, she hopped up another place. Two laps later, she finally managed to sneak into 15th for a single point, and then followed that up with 14th. There was a cause for worry, when she got a track limits warning, but she eventually crossed the finish line in 13th place.
As she rode back to the garage, she was consoled by her friends and her team. Slipstream softly spoke, "You did good, kid. The soft tyre was a risk, but it was worth it. Accidents happen, but as least you managed to pick it up and salvage points. Like I told you before, we're still a young team, so there is no expectation to try and win. Don't force the issue. if we win, all well and good. If we don't, then maybe it wasn't meant to be. We're still learning and taking things a step at a time. Next weekend is going to be a fun one, because we're off to Mugello. Now, come on, let's go say goodbye to your friends and we'll pack it up and go home."
After the Catalan GP, there was just a week until the next race at Mugello in Italy. On Tuesday morning, Sunset was waiting for her daily lessons with Slipstream. Soon enough, he wheeled in, with a few books piled on his lap. He cheerfully called out, "Hey Sunset, have you been taught about aerodynamics, yet?"
She frowned a little, "After my last test, Miss Cheerilee confirmed that that lecture is going to be next week. Why do you ask?"
He grinned, "Want a head start? This topic's gonna be important for this weekend. Ever wonder why I was named Slipstream?"
Sunset nodded, "Yeah, the thought did cross my mind, once or twice."
"Right! So, remember I told you my folks were all racers? Grandmother and grandfather were racers, so was my dad and mom. Mama in particular, was an absolute beast behind the wheel. She was well-known as the queen of draft battles, so when I was born, she named me Slipstream. Now, let me tell you what the slipstream effect is. Give me your hand for a sec."
Curious, she obeyed him and he instructed, "Now, join the tips of your little finger and thumb, that's it, kid. Now join your index and ring fingers as well. Make sure your hand is facing me."
When she did so, he gently blew on her hand. After he was done, he explained, "You felt the air right? Can you describe it?"
She screwed up her face in thought, "I felt it go over my middle finger, and a bit of air between the index and ring fingers. Also felt a small draft under my fingertips."
He smiled, "See, when you're riding, the wind is trying to push your body and the bike back, creating some resistance. Now, can you join your fingers again. This time, I want both hands to do it, then place one behind the other."
She obeyed and he blew on her fingers again, "You felt it again, right? Did the other hand also feel the air."
Sunset shook her head and he grinned, "That is the slipstream effect. The lead bike is effectively punching a hole in the air, so the bike behind has lesser wind resistance, allowing them to go faster. Now, Mugello has an extremely long straight that is 1.1 kilometers long. This is perfect for drafting battles, especially since the finish line is a bit further down the road. The bottom line is that, even if you exit the last corner in first place, there's no guarantee that you'll win, unless you have a giant gap to the leaders."
Now that he got her to understand the basics, they continued with their lesson.
Friday dawned and it was time for Sunset and Zipp to head out onto track for the first time. During the track walk, Sunset was marvelling at how long the straight was. In the opening practice session, the two teammates practiced giving each other a tow to set faster lap times. As the clock wound down to zero, Sunset's time was good enough for third, but on the next go around, she gave Zipp a tow, which was enough to see her in third and Sunset down to 4th.
Then came practice number two and she was fifth fastest, while Zipp was third. Both riders were pretty pleased with their performances and were gathering decent data. When qualifying arrived, Sunset was in sixth place with five minutes remaining, but Zipp Storm was right on her tail in 7th. Just then, yellow flags flew after Dynamo lost the front end of his bike at Turn 12. As the clock ticked down, Zipp nudged ahead in 6th, while Sunset had her latest lap time deleted for exceeding track limits. In the end, she wound up in seventh place, heading the third row.
The next morning, she and Zipp woke up and jogged to the race track. Along the way, the girl casually spoke, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention. In August, when we're at Silverstone, it's going to be a big weekend. That weekend marks our sport's 75th anniversary, so all teams are going to come out with special retro liveries."
Sunset puffed, "I'll talk to Rarity and ask her to look up retro liveries. She's our resident fashionista. So, you excited for today's race?"
Zipp grinned, "You bet! Hey! Tell you what, whoever finishes behind the other, buys dinner for the team. Deal?"
They shook on it, "Deal!"
The time ticked by like a blur, they did their media duties, warm up session, final adjustments to their setups. Finally, Sunset, Zipp and the other riders completed their final sighting lap before the start of the race. As always, Sunset eyed the lights carefully and got ready. When they went out, she gunned it straight away.
Sunset got a great launch and slotted into fifth place, while Zipp didn't get a good launch and dropped to 7th. Sunset began hounding Dynamo, while Zipp was attacking Velocity for the entire opening lap. Dynamo then lunged down the inside of Bullet, but went wide. Sunset sensed an opportunity and snuck down the inside, but Dynamo managed to muscle his way past again. Meanwhile, Zipp Storm eventually overtook Velocity and settled behind Sunset.
However, as the race dragged on, the Top 4 were already stretching away from her. Zipp's and her Aprilia bikes were clearly not as quick as the Top 4 Ducatis. As a result, the duo just settled on duelling each other and waiting for someone ahead to do something stupid.
Sadly, it never came, and Sunset ended the race in fifth place, ahead of Zipp Storm on her debut. They congratulated Slick Shifter for his win, with Bullet, Apex and Dynamo completing the Top 4.
When they rode back into their garages, they were pretty happy with their double points haul. Of course, as promised, Zipp Storm treated everyone in the team to some classic Italian pizzas. Sunset took a bite and her eyes nearly rolled out of her skull, "Oh my gosh! This is sooo Good! Miles better that the pizzas we get back home in Canterlot! So where are we off to, next?"
Slipstream scrolled through his phone, "We got nearly a month until the next race at Assen, in Netherlands. Originally we were supposed to head to Kazakhstan for its debut, but the country's been experiencing heavy floods. I dunno about you, but I'm gonna go and relax for a few days."
About a week after Mugello, Sunset Shimmer found herself outside Slipstream's office. She knocked and opened the door to find him poring over several sheets. He looked up, "Hey Sunset, what's up?"
She shuffled on her feet, "I... I wanted to ask a favour. Is it okay if I go back to Canterlot High and get some closure? I really didn't want to put it off any longer."
He put down his pen, "Kid, you do know that you're under contract, right? You read all the terms and conditions. You break the contract early, there'll be a financial penalty. I like you, kid and I really do NOT want to take you to court, but I will."
Sunset frantically waved her arms, "No! No! No! I'm not quitting the team! I was just thinking of making a short trip back to Canterlot and face my school mates. We have a month until the next race, right? I just want to get this thing out of the way. Plus, I'm starting to miss my friends. Don't worry, I will be back soon, I promise."
He nodded, "I can respect that, you can go. Just make sure to be back, no later than two weeks before the race weekend. Sorry about the questioning, but I had to be sure that you were coming back and honoring the contract. I know we've had a bit of a slump lately, but then the season is long."
She shook her head firmly, "I'm not afraid! I would never break such a contract! Heck, this is as bad as breaking one of Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Promises."
He smiled, "Good! Glad we're both on the same page. Do you need me to come with or you're okay on your own?"
"I'll be fine. See you in two weeks."
About a week after she left, Sunset called him up, "Hey Slipstream, my friends wanted to ask a favour."
"Hola! Fire away!"
"Right, so... Applejack's family run an apple farm called Sweet Apple Acres and they market all sorts of products-"
"So you want our team to take Sweet Apple Acres as a sponsor?"
"Yeah, Pinkie's work place, Sweet Shoppe and Rarity's Boutique as well."
He stroked his eyebrows, "Well... I'm gonna have to talk to Coloratura for that. Since she owns the team. I'll ask her to talk to Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. They'll have to sign a sponsorship contract up until the end of the season. Heh... You know something? In a way I'm glad you called up with this. We've been having some issues with funding, since Rara's been paying out of her own pocket. She's a nice girl and it doesn't sit right with me, to take advantage of her generosity so much."
"Sounds fair. I'll let the girls know. By the way, the school reunion thing went way better than I expected. Got a massive public apology from the school, AJ's grandmother, Granny Smith also told me that she had been considering disowning me as an honorary Apple, before the confession from Apple Bloom. Those three are still too ashamed to look at me."
Finally, with a week until the race at Assen, Sunset flew back and met with the team at Assen. However, she wasn't alone as she brought her friends with her to the Netherlands. Slipstream picked them up at around seven in the morning and grinned, "Hola! You're just in time! I wanted to introduce to some of the local cuisine!"
Pinkie leaned forward, her baby blue eyes glinting, "OOO! What've you got for us!"
Slipstream pulled his modified van into a fairly out-of-the-way breakfast joint. He spoke, "I've been to this place a few times. I like to call this a hidden gem, because not many visit this place, but the stroopwafel is to die for."
"What's that?"
He explained, "Well... it's just a thin, round cookie made from two layers of sweet baked dough held together by syrup filling. Everyone in the Netherlands loves this stuff, and I can see why!"
Pinkie's mouth began watering, and when the food finally arrived, she closed her eyes and took a bite. Immediately, her eyes popped open and she had an odd look on her face. She moaned, "Soooo! Gooood! Any chance that they can give me the recipe? This thing is gonna sell like crazy!"
The next moment, there was a Pinkie-shaped dust cloud, followed by said girl racing into the kitchen. Several minutes later, she tottered out, looking as if Christmas came early.
For the rest of the week, the girls went sight-seeing in Assen. Though there was one incident when Rainbow Dash wandered off and returned afterwards, a little traumatised. She just gasped, "I saw things that I can never unsee."
He took one look at her and had to guffaw, "Oh man! You accidentally wandered into a red light district, didn't you? Sorry, that was my fault. I hoped to never expose you lot to this kind of thing, but Netherlands is notorious for red light districts and narcotics hubs."
Finally, it was Friday and practice had begun. Sunset rode off for some exploratory laps while Slipstream and analyst Feedback had their faces glued to a laptop, looking at data. Just then, Slipstream spotted Rarity sitting in a corner and sketching. Occasionally, she would glance up at one of Sunset's spare suits, and go back to sketching. He wheeled over, "Hola, what are you up to niña?"
She replied, "To be honest, I was just going over some ideas to improve the look of Sunset's racing suit. The colour scheme is nice, but I'd love for it to stand out even more and make her look gorgeous!"
He raised an eyebrow, "What do you have in mind?"
She tilted the sketchpad and he had a look. His eyes widened and his pupils shrank, "OH HELL NO! Nuh-uh!"
Rarity recoiled, absolutely affronted. Her outraged voice gasped, "I do beg your pardon!?"
He snapped, "Jewels and gems adorning the suit is a HORRIBLE idea, and I'll give you three reasons. First of all, this isn't a fashion show! In any case, she's going to be riding and the suit's going to get dirty. Also, do you have any idea how goddamn expensive this is going to be?."
Slipstream raised a second finger, "Second of all, the bike weighs around 157 kg or 346 pounds. We're talking about a 15-year-old kid lugging a near 350-pound bike, and the jewel-encrusted suit only adds extra weight. Third, the last time some idiot used jewellery, it ended really badly. A couple of decades ago in Formula One, the Jaguar Racing team was promoting a heist movie at the Monaco Grand Prix. They embedded a diamond worth $250,000 on the nose cone, to promote the movie. Sometime during the race, one of the cars crashed and the diamond got dislodged and got lost. Till date, no one knows what the hell happened to it, whether it got lost in a sewer or some lucky cabrón pinched it and got rich. Look, there is a high chance that Sunset could crash at some point, and the jewels could get lost. In the worst case scenario, bits of it can break off and possibly injure her. Do you want that on your conscience?"
The girl was rendered speechless for a minuted. She composed herself and stammered, "I-I never thought about it like that... I'm sorry, sometimes I let my creative muse just run wild at times. I need to remember to take in customer preferences. Thank you for knocking some sense into me, Slipstream."
He doffed his cap in her direction, "Any time, kiddo."
When practice one ended, Sunset was struggling to get to grips with the track and ended up 14th. Fortunately, they tweaked the set-up for second practice and she finished that session in 3rd, behind Slick Shifter and Velocity. Then came qualifying and Sunset was looking a little off the pace. With about five minutes to go, her best time was 1.7 seconds off of provisional pole, putting her in 12th place.
Feedback and Gearwrench made some final adjustments before sending her on her way. Unfortunately, she went out in a massive group, so there wasn't much space out on the track. It only only worse when Dynamo attempted to muscle his way through, only to crash out. Fortunately, Sunset's penultimate lap was able to see her move up to 11th before her final run. Finally, the girl moved up to 9th briefly, before a late improvement from another rider saw her drop to 10th, and that was her final starting position.
Sunday arrived and it was raceday. A late grid penalty for a rival promoted her up a spot, on the outside of the third row. As soon as the lights went out, Sunset got a great start and dove down the inside of several riders. The move worked a little, as she moved up to seventh. With 25 laps to go, she made a move for 6th place, despite a slight wobble. Two laps later, she broke into the Top 5. On the very next lap, she was re-overtaken but tried to fight back with little success, so Sunset settled for 6th for the moment. The laps ticked by and she was trailing P5 by 0.7 seconds. Fortunately, it just seemed like she was taking a breather and saving tires, because she steadily closed back up and was on the attack.
Try as she might, she was unable to make an impression on the riders ahead of her. What made things worse, was that the riders behind were beginning to catch up. Eventually, she was relegated to seventh place, but still in a massive battle for the final podium spot. At some point, Bullet and Dynamo got their elbows out and amped up the aggression, while Velocity was trying his hardest to escape.
With six laps to go, a recovering Dynamo barged past another rider called Drift, and Sunset wasn't about to decline an open invitation. Eventually, Drift managed to sail past her again, as his Ducati was much faster than her Aprilia. Eventually, her pace began dropping and Sunset lost touch with the group. In desperation, she accelerated and tried to push harder to catch up. However on the last lap, it cost her dearly. She leaned a little too far and lost the front end of the bike, crashing out of the race.
A big groan of disappointment erupted from the Countess Racing garage. Sunset Shimmer was on her hands and knees, as she gingerly tried to get up from the gravel. She checked the bike, but it was now unrideable, so her race was done. Sunset hitched a ride on a marshal's scooter, who dropped her off near her garage. Entering, she was surrounded by the girls in a group hug. Slipstream gently pat her on top of her helmet, "You did okay, kid. Mistakes happen. I guess the pressure got to you, eh?"
She nodded, "Sorry about the bike."
He waved her off, "It's okay, nothing we can't fix. As long as you're okay. Do you want to see the rest of the race, or should we pack up?"
She mumbled, "Let's pack it up. Where are we off to next?"
Slipstream checked his calendar and froze, "Oh crap! We're off to Germany next week."
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, "What's so bad about Germany."
He wearily said, "The Sachsenring track and I have some history. That's the same track that ended my career as a rider. This is going to be the first time I'm heading to that track, since my accident."
Going Through the SachsenRinger
As the days passed by, Coloratura managed to sign a deal with Sweet Apple Acres with Granny Smith. Meanwhile, she also spoke to Rarity and inked another sponsorship deal with Rarity's Boutique. She was more than happy to model a few outfits in exchange for promoting the boutique. Meanwhile, the girls themselves revealed that they were going to visit her at every track.
Upon hearing that, Sliptream was a bit hesitant. He warned, "Are you girls sure about this? I'm going to assume that these trips won't affect your schooling. However, my big concern is that tickets are not going to be cheap. Several tracks have different price ranges, not to mention that there is air fare, transport fare and the cost of hotels."
That was when Applejack informed him that her grandmother was more than happy to foot the bills for their travels. Apparently, the Apple family farm usually raked in a decent amount of income from their produce, and the matriarch assured him that it was no trouble.
As race weekend came closer, Sunset noticed that Slipstream was looking increasingly nervous. She looked up his accident and winced, as it was pretty grizzly. Eventually, she convinced him to join her in her sessions with their psychiatrist. On Thursday, Slipstream went to pick up the girls from Nuremberg Airport. As he drove in his modified car, he explained, "Sorry kids, Sunset really wanted to be there to pick you up, but she has a session with our mental health expert."
Rainbow Dash tilted her head in confusion, "Mental health? What's that got to do with racing?"
He explained, "A lot, actually. Do you chicas have any idea how mentally draining it is? Since all teams are travelling a lot, many of us don't get a lot of time to spend with our families. As it is, this sport is so dangerous that the riders don't even know if they will live long enough to see their families. Also, there is the stress of the championship, and that takes a toll on anyone. A bunch of friendships even got broken, and some rivalries turned ugly."
Pinkie piped up, "How bad was it?"
He smiled wryly, "Let's just say, in the worst case scenario, one team even erected a dividing wall between two teammates who were battling each other for the championship."
He dropped them off at their hotel before re-joining the team at the track. As Gearwrench toggled with the setups and prepped the #19 bike, Slipstream sat down with Sunset with a folder full of data. He opened it up to reveal the track map and pointed to certain sections, "Okay, so the first corner is pretty tricky, because it's going downhill. Very easy to lose grip at this section, so be careful. The next sequence can be challenging, so if you make a mistake in one corner, you're going to be off the racing line for the next set of corners, and you lose time. With me, so far?"
She nodded vigorously and he continued, "However, the real challenge begins from Turn 4 onwards. As you can see here, you're just going left, then left again and again. It gets pretty tight at Turns 5 and 6, before you open the throttle for Turns 7, 8, 9 and 10. Then you got to flick the bike right for Turn 11. Trust me, this corner catches a lot of riders out. Heck! That's the corner that ended my career. The fact that it's a steep downhill drop, only make things worse. The last two corners are also tight, and they are some of the best overtaking hotspots."
Few minutes later, Sunset was out on the track, and was setting a good pace. In the opening session, she finished fifth fastest and was 10th in the second session. Admittedly, one of her lap times got ruined by yellow flags, thanks to a crash from Bullet. That incident happened with five minutes on the clock, and she was 13th at the time. When the yellow flags were taken away, she was back on the pace and slotted into P7, but soon slipped down to 10th.
When they turned up for qualifying, there was a new face waiting for them in the garage. Slipstream had a big smile on his face when he spotted the newcomer, "Well... This is a surprise!"
He was cut off when a pale opal blur tackled him with a squeal. When Slipstream finally got his focus, he registered a pair of lips smashed against his own, and a pair of arms around him. He melted into the kiss for a few minutes, when the woman pulled away. He finally broke the kiss, brushed back her two-tone pink hair with one hand and spoke in a soft husky voice, "Hey Fuffie..."
The woman snuggled into him and he addressed Sunset and her friends, "Girls? I'd like you to meet Kerfuffle, my fianceé. We met about three years ago in physiotherapy."
He gestured down towards a prosthetic right leg, "Turns out, she was a rising footballer, but lost her leg when a jerk of a drunk driver crashed into her."
Kerfuffle spoke up in a cute raspy drawl, "Yeah, well Streamy and I met in therapy and hit it off straight away. We began dating after about 6 months, and we only just got engaged, last year."
Rarity swooned, "How romantic!"
Kerfuffle leaned against him, still curled up on his lap in the wheelchair, "I happened to be in town and thought I'd drop by to say hello. I also wanted to meet this Shimmer girl, you've been going nuts about. If she were any older, I'd probably start getting jealous,"
She winked playfully as she said those words. He rolled his eyes and then poked her in the back, "Fuffie, as much as I'd love to cuddle, we do need to get back to work."
Kerfuffle whined, "Do I have to.....? Your lap is too comfy!"
He shot her an exasperated look, and then she relented, "Okay fiiiiiine."
Sunset snorted as she got kitted up and mounted her bike. Gear Wrench made some adjustments to the Aprilia before she set off. When the session drew to a close, she ultimately lined up in 10th place. Finally, it was race day, and Sunset was pumped. Much like everyone else, she opted for hard front and medium rear tyres because she wasn't taking any chances.
The girl rode out for her warm-up lap and then watched the lights. When they went out, she got a decent launch, but went a bit too quick into the first corner. This resulted in her losing three places, and it only got worse when she lost another. IN the garage, Slipstream was clutching his dark brown hair, "Gah! She didn't get enough heat into those tyres!"
The laps ticked by and then the fight back began. Sunset Shimmer eventually swept past one girl called Snowstorm and slotted into 13th. A lap later, she was up to 12th and Slipstream clapped, "Yes! That's it! Full gas! Come on!"
Sure enough, she was up to 11th by the start-finish line to start the next lap. Things got even better when Velocity went wide and took a trip across the gravel, and Sunset was up into the Top 10. With 20 laps to go, Sunset crept up to P9, and began chipping away at the gap to the rider ahead. Soon enough, she was in eighth place and hunting down P7. Slipstream, Sunny and Izzy then got out a big pit board, put some letters and numbers on it, and handed the board to Applejack, "Hey, do me a solid? Go out to the pit wall and show it to Sunset as she's passing by. This is the gap to the rider ahead."
Applejack tipped her hat, "You got it!"
She did so and Sunset pushed her bike harder. However, with about five laps to go, she was back down to 9th place. Then, disaster struck for Apex, as he crashed out from the lead. This promoted Sunset Shimmer back up to 8th. Then on the final lap, she dived down the inside of Powerslide and snatched 7th place, and that was where she ultimately finished.
As she rode in, she explained to him, "Sorry about that. Something got a bit screwed up at the start. That's why I got a bit bogged down."
Gear Wrench was already inspecting the #19 bike. He called out, "Ahh! So that's what happened! There was an issue with the ride height device!"
A bewildered Applejack exclaimed, "A who-in-the-what now?"
Slipstream waved the girls over, "Right... How do I put this, as simply as possible? So this device lowers the bike's centre of gravity, so that they can accelerate faster without popping a wheelie. Sure, the wheelie looks cool for the cameras, but the rider has to go slower so that they don't lose control of the bike and crash."
Fluttershy nodded, "I see... That makes sense. So because of the problem with the device, she could not accelerate fast enough?"
He grinned, "Got it in one! Anywho! I'm excited for Silverstone! Rarity, how goes the planned livery?"
"It's coming along. I'll email it to Sunset when we go home. I just need to put some finishing touches. And don't worry, no jewels have been used."
Slipstream shot her a thumbs up as they all began packing up. Meanwhile, the girls also decided to start making their leave.
After Germany, there was a two-week gap to the next race at Silverstone in England. The Monday before the race weekend, Sunset and the girls flew with the team to Silverstone. On the plane, Slipstream deliberately chose to sit between Sunset and Rarity to discuss their paint scheme for the anniversary weekend.
He sighed, "Okay... So the problem is, that most of the teams have a rich motorsport history. So there will be a lot of retro schemes. Unfortunately for us, Countess Racing Team does not boast of a rich racing pedigree. So we could go one of two ways. Either get REALLY creative with the livery, or you look up some of my old bikes."
Rarity frowned thoughtfully, "Hmm... I like the idea of putting one of your old bikes' paintjobs."
Sunset then had an idea, "Hey! Why don't we paint it red and gold like my hair. On the side fairing, I could have a phoenix painted on it."
Slipstream grinned, "Actually, I think that would work better as your racing suit. For the bike itself, I was thinking something along the lines of this."
Rarity's eyes gleamed, "OOO! This looks gorgeous!"
A day later, the group were all taking a walk around the track. Sunset asked, "So, what can you tell me about this track?"
He explained as he wheeled, "So this track was built on the site of a former airforce base. It was a bomber station that was active between 1943 and 1946. You can even see the old runways from here, see?"
He continued, "As for the circuit itself, We're currently on the Hamilton Straight. We take a right into Abbey, followed by a slight left kink at the Farm corner. Hard right into the Village Corner that spits you onto the left-handed Loop. Open the throttle into the left-handed Aintree corner and down the Wellington Straight. Hard on the brakes for the left-handed Brooklands, then to flick it right onto Luffield. Open the throttle for the right-handed Woodcote and you're onto the old start-finish straight. You got to brake for the right-handed Copse corner. If you're in a car, you can take Copse flat out, but I really would not recommend for bikes. Bit of a short burst until you get to the left-right sequence of corners, Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel. Then you're onto the Hangar Straight before you brake hard for the right-handed Stowe corner. A short straight before you reach the left-right at Vale and then another right at the Club corner, which leads to the main straight, and that's a lap of the track."
In the following days, Sunset and the girls went sight-seeing, and then Friday arrived and it was time for practice. Sunset went out and did her business as usual. WIth five minutes to go, she found herself on the edge of the Top 10, but eventually slipped down to 13th. However, she had a scary moment while heading into Stowe. Sunset braked as normal and began turning in, when suddenly, another rider came tanking down the inside at top speed. They flashed past her and she sat her bike up, barely avoiding a collision.
The idiot ended up taking a trip through the gravel while Sunset trundled down to the pits, trying to calm her pounding heart. As she shakily got off the bike, Applejack and Sunny helped her inside and took off her helmet. The country girl gently asked, "You okay, sugarcube?"
Sunset breathed heavily for a few seconds, "I need a minute. Who was that idiot? He could have killed me. The way he was coming, either his brakes had failed or he hadn't bothered to brake at all and was trying to use my bike as one."
Rainbow Dash looked at the monitor, "Says here that his name is Garble. Rider number #92. This guy's known for crashing out a lot and being aggressive. Sunset? Just be careful around him."
Meanwhile, second practice saw Sunset move up to 10th in the pack. Very soon, Saturday arrived and it was time for qualifying. As usual, Sunset went out and did some decently competitive timed laps. However, Garble was sticking annoyingly close to her, catching her tow. With five minutes left on the clock, Sunset Shimmer found herself in 7th place. She and several other bikes rolled out of the pit lane in one massive cluster. Sadly, all she could do was slip down to ninth place as her times did not improve.
Race day arrived and every team gathered outside their garages for the grand unveiling of their liveries. Sunset Shimmer was already clad in her gold suit with red arms and legs, with the symbol of a phoenix in the middle of her chest. On her back was the symbol of a red and yellow sun. Slipstream had to admit to himself that Rarity had done an excellent job, and even Sunset noted that the fashionista had some self-restraint. As for the bike itself, it was largely white and black, with pale gold fairings.
As expected, she completed the warm-up session, sat on the grid and performed her usual rituals. Finally, the bikes took off for a final sighting lap before settling onto their grid slots, Sunset in 9th. At the race start, she had to swerve to avoid another rider who had a terrible start. By the end of the first lap, she moved up to eighth position. She dove down the inside of P7, but they held their position and she had to gather herself up again. Luckily on the next corner, they went wide and Sunset gleefully snatched 7th place.
It was status quo for a few laps, until Sunset dropped down to 8th on the track. Things got worse when the #19 rider began to lose touch with the Top 7. Fortunately, the two in front of her began to squabble among themselves and she slowly began to make some inroads. Sadly, the duo were able to settle down and build up the gap to her bike. Elsewhere, there were groans from a fellow Aprilia team, as both riders had taken each other out. Garble was also seen kicking his bike in frustration after his engine gave up on him.
All the while, Sunset was slowly dropping her pace and falling back into the clutches of 9th place. Then with 3 laps to go, Sunset finally got shuffled back to 9th place. Up in the pit wall, Slipstream shook his head. Their Aprilia was no match for the power of the Ducatis. He murmured, "It's okay kid... Just bring it home. Points are better than nothing."
At long last, the chequered flag finally flew and she ended the race in ninth place. Riding back into the garage, she stopped and dismounted before walking inside. Sunset Shimmer sat down as Fluttershy got behind her and wiped away her sweat with a towel. Slipstream wheeled in and she spoke, "Sorry guys... That was the best that I could do."
The man simply smiled at her, "It's okay kid... You win some and you lose some. It happens, and it's all part of racing. On the bright side, next weekend's race will be at my second favorite track, the Red Bull Ring in Austria."
Pinkie grinned, "What do you like about it?"
He smirked back, "Oh nothing... It's just one of the prettiest race tracks in my opinion."
As she hosed down her dirt bike, Sunset asked, "So why are we racing in Spain for a third time? We already went to Jerez and Barcelona, and now we're going to Aragon next weekend? And the season finale is in Valencia?"
Slipstream laughed a little, "Well, the championship is owned by a sports management company, whose headquarters are in Madrid. So it's kind of a given that Spanish races have more representation."
He fished out his laptop and turned it on. From there, he pulled up a circuit map and pointed, "So the track is the third anti-clock-wise race on the calendar. There are only four of them, if memory serves, the others are Circuit of the Americas, Germany and Australia. No wait! I forgot about Valencia. Anyway, the start-finish is over there. Turns 8 and 9 will be pretty tricky, because they're the slowest points. Turn 16 will also be tricky because it's at the end of a long straight and it's easy to outbrake yourself."
She nodded and went back to cleaning her bike. When she was done, she did a few last minute setup tweaks before heading out. As he watched her do a few jumps, he felt his phone vibrate. He picked it up and scrolled through it, before a frown plastered itself on his face.
Half an hour later, she was back in the garage and ready to pack up. As he drove though, she picked up on his mood, "You okay, boss?"
"We need to talk, urgently. But this needs to be done with the whole team. I wouldn't mind your amigas also being a part of it."
Worried, she asked, "Did I do something wrong?"
He shook his head, "Na. I'll explain when we get back."
The drive was silent until they pulled into his villa. She helped him onto his wheelchair and pushed him inside the house. Pipp was lounging and doing her nails, Zipp and Izzy were playing ping pong, Hitch was at the BATAK board, and Sunny had just exited the kitchen with a sandwich. Slipstream whistled, "Everyone! Team meeting!"
Moments later, everyone gathered around him at the dining table. He glanced at their faces and spoke, "I got a text for Coloratura. According to her, a lot of other teams have begun looking ahead to next season. In short, they've begun nailing down rider contracts for the upcoming campaign."
He turned to Sunset, "Listen kid... This is hugely important. We've only got you with us until the end of the season. Do you want to continue racing and make this into a full-time career?"
Her forehead creased, "I've been thinking... I enjoy racing. I really do. But I want to finish my schooling before I think about pursuing a serious career in racing. I just have a couple more years of school left. Then when I turn 18, I'll probably come back. However, I want to do it the right way. As in, I want to start of in the 250cc category, where Hitch and Zipp are, now. Then i steadily work my way up."
Slipstream smiled, "I can respect that. So, here's what I was thinking. I'll draft up a contract for Hitch and Zipp for next season. Didn't you guys tell me that your current team are pulling out at the end of the year? Next season, Canterlot Racing Team moves down to the 250cc and ropes in both of you. You both will get two-year contracts with an option to extend. Then when Sunset is ready to come back when she's 18, we expand to three bikes. From there, we can gradually move up the ladder together. That cool with everyone?"
They all nodded and he wheeled backwards, "Right! I'm off to talk to Rara. If she approves the plan, I want Sunny to type up an official team statement."
The days building up to Aragon were hectic to say the least. The Canterlot Racing team statement sent a massive ripple through the media, and they were hounded for a while. Fortunately, the girls were great at fending off crowds, especially Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The two of them flanked her on either side and glared at anyone who tried to get close or stick a microphone in front of her.
Practice began and Sunset was off the mark, straight away. With five minutes left in the opening session, she was lying in 5th place as she went out for her final run. Unfortunately, her time did tumble to 10th briefly, before she set another lap to move up to 7th. Then, she pulled off a mega lap to finish in 3rd place. Second practice saw her in 4th place and in fine form.
Then came qualifying on Saturday. The last five minutes saw the girl up in 2nd place, but she was on a run. Unfortunately, she got blocked by Garble and had to try again. By then, she had slipped down to 4th, but she got her head down, and her final lap put her in 2nd place and back on the front row.
Race day arrived and Sunset got her early warm-up done and dusted. On the grid, she and Slipstream did their tennis ball reflexes test and said a short prayer. As she settled on her bike and put her helmet on, he reached forward and pulled her close. He put both hands on either side of her helmet and spoke, "Listen... We're P2, but don't get cocky. It's a long race. Anything can happen. Just focus on your starts and stay out of trouble. You're right in between Dynamo and Slick Shifter, and they're strong riders. Also watch out for Apex behind you, he's pretty quick and is known for good starts."
They were off for a final sighting lap, and then settled in for the race start. As the lights went out, Dynamo and Sunset took off, but Slick Shifter got some wheelspin off the line. For nearly two laps, she held station behind Dynamo, but Apex was steadily closing in. On the second lap, Sunset made a mistake upon exiting Turn 7, and Apex pounced immediately. She tried to close the door in his face, but they made slight contact.
By the pit wall, Slipstream clenched his fist and then breathed a sigh of relief when Sunset defended robustly. However, Apex managed to get a tow down the back straight and slotted into 2nd. Behind her, Powerslide tried to sneak past, but she fended him off. Then two laps later, Powerslide and a rider called Kerb Hopper drafted past her, but Sunset managed to outbrake the latter.
With 18 laps left, Sunset was 4th trailing Powerslide by 1.1 seconds. On the bright side, she was slowly pulling away from Kerb Hopper, who had her hands full with Slick Shifter hounding her tail. Then, Kerb Hopper had a big wobble, allowing Slick Shifter to sail past and begin pursuing Sunset. A few laps later, it was Sunset's turn to go wide, and that brought Slick Shifter right up behind her. He tried to draft past her on the back straight, but she was once again the last of the late brakers.
Unfortunately, that only resulted in her going wide and Slick Shifter slipping through. She did hang on to fifth place for a long time and slowly pulled the gap to Kerb Hopper. Meanwhile, Slick Shifter was hunting down Powerslide for the podium. Then it happened... With six laps remaining, Powerslide went wide and Slick Shifter pounced. The former tried to defend the two two ended up colliding and taking each other out of the race.
As Sunset rode past, she saw the giant dust cloud. When passing the start-finish straight, she spotted Slipstream leaning over the pit wall and making calming gestures. Meanwhile, there were shouts of dismay from Powerslide's and Slick Shifter's garages.
Sunset then got her head down and charged, especially when she saw the pit board on the next lap, showing that Kerb Hopper was more than a second behind. Finally, Dynamo roared to his first victory of the season, with a delighted Apex finishing in 2nd place, and an equally jubilant Sunset Shimmer took the final podium spot. In the garage, the girls cheered and began hugging each other.
Slipstream led everyone out to parc ferme to receive Sunset, and she was very happy. As Slipstream wrapped his arms around her, she murmured, "I got lucky, boss."
He broke the hug and smiled at her, "That's racing, kiddo. Things might not work out initially, but all it takes is one wrong move to go from hero to zero. You could have the best bike in the world, but that means nothing if you crash out on the final lap, in the final corner. Guess what! This is your third career podium! The sky is the limit for you! This is a sign that you're going to do great things in the future. I can feel it!"
After the highs of Aragon, Sunset and the whole team were in pretty good spirits. The next race was in Misano in Italy and she was excited. The group drove in their motorhome from Aragon to Misano, since it was cheaper than flying there. On the way, Slipstream spread out the track map on the table in front of Sunset and Zipp. He spoke, "Hey Zipp! I know you were supposed to have your wildcard run in Austria, but we didn't expect your injury. You're okay now, right? Good! You're getting your chance this weekend in Misano."
She pumped her fist, "Alright! I love that track! And the best part is that it's a double-header, so we're back again a week later!"
Sunset Shimmer leaned forward, "So, what's special about it?"
He pointed, "Right... So this is the main straight, and it's important to get your braking correct. You have the right-handed Turn 1, leading into a left-hander at Turn 2, and straight into another right-hander at Turn 3. The double-rights at Turns 4 and 5 can catch you out, and that leads to the left at Turn 6. You got a long straight with a slight left curve which makes up Turn 7. Now, this is the part where you have to get your braking just right, because it is easy to run wide at Turn 8. Then you got Turns 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, which are all right handers. Those first five are very fast, and then hard braking for Turn 14 hairpin. Finally, there's Turns 15 and 16, both left-handers, and that last corner is a good overtaking spot. I've seen a lot of last corner lunges for the win, back in my day."
The days flew by and it was time for the first practice session. When the session began, Sunset Shimmer and Zipp Storm went out in tandem, familiarising themselves with the track. Sometime during the hour, Garble tried to mess with Sunset, but Zipp was able to squeeze in and get him to back off.
With about five minutes to go, Sunset was in the pit lane getting some setup changes, as she sat 4th on the timing screens. Zipp was further behind in 10th place, but soon moved up to 7th on her next lap. By the time the chequered flag dropped, she had slipped down to 10th, with Zipp in an impressive 5th place. In the second practice session, Sunset Shimmer was 8th fastest, with Zipp down in 11th.
Saturday arrived and Sunset Shimmer was a girl on a mission. During the closing minutes of Qualifying, she was as high as 3rd place, with Zipp in 7th. Then, she slipped down to 4th as Dynamo crashed out and Apex made a massive mistake. Then, she slipped down to 5th, but was on a decent lap. She briefly went down to 6th, but improved back up to 5th, where she would remain for the rest of the session. As for Zipp Storm, she slipped down to 10th, which was her final starting position.
Finally, race day dawned and Slipstream looked out of his hotel room window before exiting. Wheeling towards Sunset and Zipp's room, he knocked twice. He faintly heard Zipp's muffled holler, "We just got out of the shower! Give us five minutes!"
He wheeled back and waited, while Hitch Trailblazer, Sunny Starscout, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy joined them. Applejack grumbled, "Rarity's going to take a while. Said something about some exfoliating mask or some hooey like that. I swear to Faust, if she makes us late like last time, we're leaving without her!"
Soon, Zipp and Sunset joined them, but they were still waiting on Rarity and Pipp Petals. Slipstream grunted, "Sorry, but I can't wait for them. This is important. Did you all look outside? I got a feeling that it might rain today. It's going to be tricky."
Sunset gulped, "Shoot! I hope we do well! I'm not that experienced in the wet. Come to think of it, we haven't had a wet race so far. So, what's the strategy here?"
He shrugged, "Honestly, we'll get a better idea, when we're closer to the race start. It might start out wet or it could be a lights to flag race. That's basically a race that starts out dry, and then when it rains, people switch to a second bike with a wet weather setup."
She munched on a panini and swallowed her bite, "So when will you call me in?"
Slipstream replied, "That's up to you. All teams keep the second bike prepped, just in case, and the riders choose when to come in. Listen, if you think you can't handle how slippery it is, you take a call when to come in to pit."
Sunset nodded firmly, "Got it!"
The race grew closer and closer, and the sky grew dimmer and dimmer. As she settled on the grid, she saw a marshal walk out at the head of the field and hold up a sign board. It read, 'Dry Race', and she was already setup for dry weather. As Sunny Starscout prepared to leave, she whispered, "The boss said that the wet weather bike is ready. When you feel like it, you can come in. It's all on you."
The formation lap came and went and she focused on the lights. When they went out, Sunset got a great start and tailed Apex, following him to 4th and 3rd respectively. She made a move for 3rd, but went wide at Turn 8, dropping back to 4th. Meanwhile on the pit wall, Slipstream leaned back and stretch his arm out behind him while looking up at the sky. Sure enough, he felt a few sparse raindrops on his arm. He straightened back and focused on his TV monitor. He muttered, "Come on kid... Just stay calm and stay on the bike."
Then, it happened, Apex attempted a move on Slick Shifter, but was forced to sit up. That brought him into the clutches of a rider called Speed Demon, and Sunset herself. She tried to sneak through, but ended up colliding with Speed Demon, and losing a small piece of bodywork. On the pit wall, Slipstream threw up his hands in dismay.
A few laps flew by, and Sunset looked like she was settling in. She had built up a nice gap to Powerslide, though Zipp was struggling in 11th place. Then with 25 laps to go, Sunset threw her bike down the inside of Speed Demon again at Turn 8, and made the move stick at last. The girls cheered in the garage, while Slipstream pumped his fist. However she was overtaken again, two corners later.
On the next lap, disaster struck as Sunset Shimmer lost the front end of her bike. She had already run wide a little bit at Turn 13, and then dropped the bike at the hairpin. Luckily, she was able to pick up her bike and continue the race, but a lap later, the white flag was waved.
Moments later, Fluttershy crossed over to the pit wall and spoke in Slipstream's ear. She asked, "What's the white flag for?"
He gestured around him, "It's starting to rain a little bit, so the white flag means that the track is a little moist."
"So, should Sunset come in?"
He shrugged, "At this point, it's out of my hands."
Moments later, there was a chorus of groans as Speed Demon also crashed out. Minutes later, Slipstream gasped, "What the hell!?"
Sure enough, Apex was diving into the pits, followed by a handful of riders. Slipstream peered at his monitor and murmured, "Looks heavy."
Suddenly, Feedback tugged on his T-shirt sleeve. Slipstream turned to see Sunset Shimmer also trundling down the pitlane. She swapped bikes at went back out immediately. The tactic worked for a bit, but a few laps later, the rain stopped. Slipstream clutched his head in despair, "Ayeyeyeyeye! This is a disaster!"
Sunset Shimmer was down in 20th place and struggling on her wet tyres. On the bright side, Zipp Storm was up to 8th and looking competitive. She was among the riders who did not swap bikes, and Slick Shifter was one of them as well. A few laps later, Sunset, Apex and the other riders who swapped bikes, ended up swapping back. On the pit wall, Slipstream was losing his mind, "No! No! No! No!"
Then he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Okay, okay... It's still a long race. We can salvage this. Come on kid! Don't give up!"
Sure enough, with 16 laps to go, she had clawed her way up to 18th place. Zipp was also hanging on in 8th place, but was in the leading group. Three laps later, Sunset was up to 17th and still fighting to recover. Finally, the race ended with Dynamo winning from Slick Shifter and Bullet. Zipp Storm was delighted with 7th place, but 10 places behind her was a forlorn Sunset Shimmer.
After crossing the finish line, she stopped to congratulate Dynamo and get a comforting hug from Zipp. The pair trundled back to the pits and stopped in their garage. As soon as she was off the bike, the girls swarmed her and wrapped her in hugs.
She trudged to the back of the garage and took off her helmet, her red and gold hair matted and messy, and her cheeks had tear stains. Slipstream rolled up in his wheelchair, a sympathetic look on his face. He reached over and cupped her cheeks, bringing her face close, "Talk to me, kid... What happened out there? Listen, I'm not mad at you. The conditions were tricky out there, and you couldn't have predicted that the rain would stop so soon."
She blubbered, "I-I'm sorry! I p-p-panicked! The bike wasn't the same after the collision, and then when the rain came, I just panicked!"
He stared at her briefly and sighed, "Well... I guess it's so easy. As in, you've been performing so well in these last few races, that it's easy to forget that you're still a rookie. God! I'm so stupid! You haven't had much experience in the wet, so it was easy for you to panic a little."
A new voice sounded behind him, "He's right, you know... About you just being a rookie."
They all turned to see Apex standing there. He walked over and crouched next to her, "How are you holding up, chica? Look, it's okay. I made the same screw up too. Only thing is, my screw up has bigger consequences. I've lost a chunk of points in the championship. I'm more experienced, so I should know better, but I made a bad judgement call. It's okay to make mistakes, Shimmer. That's how we learn from them, and do better next time. Besides, there's always next weekend."
He left, with a swarm of reporters flocking around him. A few hung back to get a word from Sunset, but Slipstream intercepted them. He said, "Look... We had a bad day today. Sunset has been so impressive this year, that its easy to forget that she's still a rookie. I'll be honest... This was her first race in wet weather conditions, so she understandably panicked. On the bright side, she at least stayed on the bike and brought it home, and Zipp Storm also got a nice points haul."
One reporter asked, "Suppose we get more wet races, does that mean that Sunset Shimmer will struggle again?"
He smiled, "We'll work on it. Now we know what went wrong, we'll work on that. No further questions, thank you!"
After the reporters left, Sunset had calmed down a little, and they all gathered to pack up the bikes and leave the track.
Author's Note
Right... So this chapter has come out quicker than usual, because I'm fully focusing on this story. I'm aiming to finish this story by March, so I'm going as quick as I can
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The Hills are Alive With the Sound of Revving
A week later, they were all on a flight to Austria for the next race. As she looked down from the airplane window, Rarity gave a soft squeal, "Heavens above! This place is gorgeous!". Fluttershy also nodded, "Indeed! I love those lush forests, the hills, and the scenery in general!"
Slipstream grinned, "That's why I called it the prettiest race track in the world. Nothing beats this track when it comes to scenery. Another reason why I love it, is because it is the shortest and fastest laps around the track. You'll see it tomorrow. For now, we'll head to the hotel and rest up after we land."
The next few days were full of sight-seeing and sampling of local cuisine. On Thursday, they headed to the Red Bull Ring for a small walk around the track. After the first corner, Slipstream pointed out, "Hey Sunset! You see that left-right kink? That wasn't there a few years ago."
Rainbow piped up, "How come?"
Slipstream exhaled as he wheeled himself, "Man! I remember it like it was yesterday. Turns out, this used to be one long straight, that ended in a tight right hander. Around that time, there was an almighty accident. I was leading the race on the opening lap, and a big crash unfolded behind me. Two riders, Tumbleweed and Redline collided at nearly 200 mph. Their bikes rushed straight on through the gravel and grass, without the riders on them, and began wrecking. One of them flashed right in front of my nose, just as I was entering Turn 3. The other bike also barely missed my teammate. He damn nearly had a Code Brown, and I actually did!"
Pinkie cocked her head, "Code Brown?... Oh... Ew..."
He snorted, "Stewards red-flagged the race immediately to make sure the riders were okay, and to clean up the debris. All of us riders went back to the pits, and I had to rush in and change my underwear. Anyway, since then, they added this corner to slow the bikes down a little."
Then he turned to Sunset, "Kid, I need to warn you about this. On this track, you need to watch out for the track limits. It's enforced on every track, but it's a lot stricter around here."
Applejack put her hands to her hips, "Whatcha mean by that?"
"To put it simply, Going off the track can be seen as gaining an unfair advantage. So the officials have to monitor everyone carefully. Most times, you'll have that lap time deleted or get a grid drop. During a race scenario, you will drop positions if you go over those white lines. So no matter what happens, Stay. On. The. Tarmac."
Finally, it was Friday and time for practice. The opening session was fantastic, as Sunset posted the sixth-fastest time. However in session two, she lot the front end in the opening minutes. The girl lost around 10 minutes while Gear Wrench and his crew repaired the bike. Finally, she was back out on track, but disaster soon struck again. Exiting the first corner ahead of Garble, he suddenly kicked out at her bike and she was sent crashing at high speed.
Rainbow Dash had to be restrained from storming to Garble's garage and starting a brawl. Slipstream himself, was a face of utter calm, and when Garble returned to his garage, Slipstream briskly wheeled there. Izzy whistled slowly, "Wow! Boss man is REALLY mad!"
Next to her, Kerfuffle nodded, "Yep! He rarely loses his temper. But the last time I saw him that angry, some crazy fan stalked his best friend, Pocket Rocket and got way too handsy with her. Slipstream cornered that creep and beat the everliving daylights out of him. His rival/friend, Blitzkrieg also joined in. Both of them got fined 50 grand each, but they said that it was worth it. Since then, Rocket never travelled anywhere without pepper spray and a taser. She and Blitzkrieg got married last year, Slipstream was best man."
As a shaken Sunset trudged in, fortunately unhurt, there were raised voices to their left. Hitch and Applejack hurried out, in case the situation escalated. They were just in time to hear him yell, "Hijo de puta! Podrías haberla matado. ¡Que te jodan! ¡Con mucho gusto aceptaré la multa! Pinchazo "
Hitch winced and whispered to Applejack, "He said, 'Son of a b*tch! You could have killed her! F**k you! I'll gladly accept the fine! Prick.'"
Inside the Canterlot Racing Team garage, Sunset was given a once-over. She was fine, aside from a few bruises. The bike was a bit banged up, but the crew got to work right away. Even Rainbow Dash and Applejack jumped in, after borrowing spare team uniforms.
Sunset was back out with five minute to go, and she had slipped down to 9th place by then. She did improve to 8th, and remained there until the chequered flag. In the media pen, Slipstream wasn't holding back. He bluntly said, "Personally, what he did was unacceptable. I'm not sorry for going there looking for a fight. He could have killed her with that stupid stunt. If I were his team principal, I would have taken him to the back of the garage and kicked him out of the team. There's no place for those kinds of stunts in racing. These riders are already risking their lives, without some idiot acting like it's a game of Road Rash."
The next day, qualifying did not go her way as Sunset Shimmer was all the way down in 14th. Just like always, she did her usual pre-race rituals. Before leaving the grid, Slipstream leaned in, so that his forehead was touching her helmet, "Listen kiddo. We're a little further down that we would have liked. The mid pack is usually dangerous because there is a chance to be caught up in a crash. Just, stay clean, stay on the bike. No heroics into the first corner. At least get some points."
Soon, she was off for her final sighting lap with the other riders. As the lights went green, Sunset Shimmer got a decent start. She was already up to 12th by the third corner. When the opening lap ended, she was up to 11th. Moments later, Dynamo barged past her to put her back down to 12th. It got worse a few laps later, as Sunset slipped down to 13th. The tumble continued as Sunset went down to 15th with 18 laps to go.
Luckily, Snowstorm ahead of her crashed, and she was promoted up to 14th. Things were a little quiet for a while, until Sunset crept up to 13th with five laps remaining. For the remainder of the race, she did her best to hunt down 12th placed Powerslide. At long last, the chequered flag waved, and Sunset Shimmer had to settle for 13th place, her second-worst position till date.
After the cool-down lap, she rode in and parked up. Slipstream wheeled over and side-hugged her, "It's okay. The hot streak had to end sometime. We'll get them next time. We're back in Spain next weekend, Aragon circuit, this time."