Last time on our journey, our hero Accelerator, formally known under the moniker of Carrot Cake, meet with three griffons; Will the lead griffon, challenged our lanky protagonist to a race for not only his title, but for his past rewards as well, the rewards being his collection of bandanas he procured from his racing days.

After declining his challenge, however, the three meet a mysterious pony, dawning a dark fuchsia cloak. While talking to the aforementioned pony about their scheme, the hooded individual teleports them inside the bakery, where they not only destroyed the building and stole racehorses memorabilia, but attacked said pony's employee Pinkie, and threatened to kill his family.

With an iniquitous threat such as that, and with a note left by the three perpetrators; challenging the stallion once more, he concedes and enters the world once more like his true self.

Now we come back to the story with our hero and his friends and continue on with this titillating adventure...

Flying above fifty-thousand feet, Accelerator and his friends were sitting on, what was revered as Equestria's best air travel system. You see, during the expansion of automotive technology, many equestrians were ecstatic about the idea of travel that would take less than five days, and in the air no less.
Though some pegasi were wary of this new innovation, some felt threatened by the idea that such a machine could take their jobs away from them. However, under the rule of the prime minister, many pegasi who worked in traveling, some of those who flew equestrian royalty, would be given the job of not only pilots but air traffic controllers as well.

And of course, they would be given extensive training.

This gladdened the pegasi population, and as such, allowed a broader demographic of equestrians and other species to join flight schools.

With such a new way of travel, this boosted ideals for the equestrian stock market, which brought much revenue to many countries with winged species.

With leather seats, faux leather mind you, as well as much needed security measures to ensure the safety of both the passengers and the pilot, the Equestrian Airlines accommodated for almost anything and were prepared for anything- "Are we there yet" -except for annoying passengers. While they were at the airport, the group were elated to find out that, mainly because of Twilight and Spike's royalty status, those who are relatives or friend-slash-co-workers of royalty would be suited for first class seating.

Entering the plane, the group's perception of what first class flying was like was completely different from what they saw.

For example, while the seats were made of the same material as the economy class, they were also patted with heating pads, as well as a vibration controller. Rather than sandwiches and chip snacks, first-class passengers are given a variety full cooked meals such as french toast, Belgian waffles, sausages, bacon, and eggs(for omnivorous passengers), vegetable lasagna, quiche, curry, etc, as well as a complimentary drink of sparkling wine, or Hot Chocolate. There were pillows and blankets in the back pockets on the seats.

With all those accommodations, you'd think first-class would be enjoyable, but to Accelerator's and Applejack's dismay, Pinkie, who soon recovered from her injuries, as well as returned to her old persona, puffy hair included, she annoyed the group with childish travel games, and an abundance of questions, the one most asked being...

"Are we there yet?" Pinkie groaned as she took another sip of her cola.

sighing heavily, the orange farm mare glared at her pink friend in annoyance, "For the last flippin' time," she grumbled, "we're not there yet! If you remember what that mare at the desk told us, 'we land at Silverstein airport at approximately six-fifty five-" she placed her right foreleg on Pinkie's shoulder "-now would you please shut up,"

"Sorry," Pinkie apologized, "It's that, I've never been much of a plane pony, so I'm not used to sitting in one area for so long." Hearing this, Rainbow, who was sitting in the window seat, one row to the right of the three, sided with the pink mare "Your telling me," complained the cyan pegasus as she turned to face them, "I'd rather be flying over the open sea than sitting here beside some fat, drooling, stallion for Celestia knows how many hours." Unknown to her said overweight stallion took an umbrage to her complaint, huffed, and went back to listening to his music, and reading his newspaper.

Rarity, who was sitting to the right of Fluttershy, and to the left of Spike, scoffed at Rainbow's criticism, "Oh come now Dashie," she said assuringly ", as a world-class designer, the world of air-travel, once you get used to it, can be quite enjoyable."

Both Spike and Twilight hummed in agreeance, "She's right Rainbow," Spike complied, swallowing what seemed to be the last bite of his ham sandwich with a melted tanzanite spread, "not to mention the food here is incredible, the drinks too, they have the best-imported wine from-" he stopped mid realizing that not only that what he was about to reveal was against the law, but that Twilight, his surrogate sister, was one row over.

"What was that Spike?" Twilight questioned suspiciously.

"Nothing!" he exclaimed, shielding himself behind his wings.

Glaring at the purple drake, Twilight turned her attention to Accelerator, "Anyway,' she began "we should be landing at Silverstein airport in just a few minutes." Accelerator replied with what seemed to be a bit of a forced smile. Seeing this, Applejack, asked the disheartened stallion, "What's wrong sugar-cube?"
He turned to his wife with worried eyes, "It's just-" he paused "-It's been so long, I'm worried I may not be as good as I used to be."

"Oh come on," Rainbow exclaimed, her back still turned to face the stallion "You didn't get the title of ultimate drag-racer for nothing. Where's your spirit?" Accelerator looked at the pegasus with dejected eyes, feeling slightly ashamed. Realizing this, Rainbow thought of something and stared at the stallion, "Who are you?" she asked incredulously.

"Accelerator," he mumbled continuing to look at the ground

"I said, who are you?" she asked once more in a more demanding and raised tone of voice.

He answered again, but this time, for whatever reason, he felt a bit more determined and lifted his head slightly "My name is Accelerator." he said in a more uplifted tone.

"Who are you!" she suddenly exclaimed

"My name is Accelerator damn it!" The patrons aboard the plane looked in confusion at the scene. Standing tall, the yellow gangly stallion regained his determined look of passion. The two bumped hooves, "Your right," he complied "I don't know why I was so worried, I'm definitely going to win!"

"That's what I like to hear!" Rainbow praised his declaration.

Before they could continue with their pep-talk, a griffon stewardess walked up to the two, "Excuse me, sir, could you please keep it down."

Accelerator looked around to see everyone on the plane glaring at the stallion in annoyance, his cheeks became pink with embarrassment, "Oh, um, sorry." after apologizing, he sat down back in his chair.

Just as he sat down, the intercom on the plane came to life with the voice of the pilot, "Attention every pony," he announced, "we are now arriving in Griffon Stone, please be sure to grab your luggage, and thank you for flying with Equestrian Airlines."

As the plane was beginning to decent, Rainbow looked back at the stallion once more, "You ready?" she asked determined

"As ready as I'll ever be!" he replied with the same gusto.

With the group out of the plane and out of the airport, Applejack called for a taxi, "Where to?" asked the driver, who seemed to have a bit of a Manehattanites accent,

"Just to the Goldonia Hotel, sugar-cube." As he was about to turn his meter box to the regular setting he noticed Twilight was sitting in the car, Princess Twilight to be exact; he raised the box to about ten notes more, and left for their hotel. But before they made it to their temporary sleeping quarters, Pinkie suggested they get something to eat, or maybe go sightseeing.
Although he was against it, his stomach grumbled from slight hunger, seeing as he didn't eat much on the way over.

He eventually complied and asked the driver to take them to the main city and, with the promise of Rarity, would pay extra. Nodding, he took a right turn into a tunnel; the tunnel was seemingly dark, but once out of the dark tunnel, the group's eyes widen.

As they exited the tunnel, the group was assaulted with bright lights and loud noises of the many griffons around them. Once their eyes had adjusted, the scene of Goldonia could be compared to that of Dragontown, or Akittybara, Nippone. The bright red lights of the district shone greatly, as did the giant billboards that used every instant of spotlights. The main area of the city was like a giant park, with the middle section showcasing a large water fountain-like statue of their past leader. Past that was the food district of the city; there was a large walkway that was illuminated by the various orb-like lanterns, where many could walk and either enjoy their leisure or eat at one of the many brightly-lit restaurants in their vicinity. And beyond the food district was the main city of Goldonia, the heart of the country of Griffonstone: A large metropolitan area consisting of tall buildings and small, yet very popular shops. Within the city, there were a variety of museums on the not only griffon history but the history and cultures of other species as well.

The mix of modern and traditional theme caused Applejack's heart to go a flutter, "Well I'll be..." her eyes wandered the various bright alleyways and small shops surrounding the district, " It's so beautiful." To her right, Applejack saw a group of young Griffonesses wearing traditional dresses, most of which were heavily inspired by traditional Chinese clothing. The mixtures of colors in their clothing were truly something to look at.

"It's almost breathtaking," commented Spike, as he too was awestruck with the image of Goldonia as he stuck his head out the same window as Applejack, the large skyscrapers mixed with the traditional culture of the eateries and clothing boutiques. Rarity began thinking of opening a line of her store here in Goldonia.

As the driver continued to drive through the large town, and with most of the group looking around the sights, Pinkie finally found one familiar eatery that caught her eye, "Guys," she called to her friends "what about that place?" Looking out the window, everyone was what appeared to be an average restaurant, one which apparently sold ramen, scones, and equestrian imported hay. Intrigued by the shop, Twilight called for the taxi to stop, and as soon as it did Twilight caught a glimpse of the meter price, and gasped, "ninety-eight notes!" she exclaimed

"Well with you bein' royalty and what not, the price goes up a bit more than for normal griffons" the taxi driver explained. Disgruntled, Twilight was about to lecture the griffon, when Rarity stepped in "Here you go, sir," she handed out about one hundred notes to the greedy griffon, "and remember, just because we are of royalty does not mean you can simply overcharge us."

As he took the money, the driver seemed to have a sudden change of heart, as he turned to the group, "Hey I'm sorry about that," he apologized, averting from the group, "It's just a tough economy you know, how about I give you guys a ride back to the hotel free of charge."

Most of the group nodded with his proclamation.

Exiting the car, the driver told the group that if called him, he'd come back to get them, and then proceeded to give out his phone number to the white unicorn. After that, he drove off, "Wow Rarity," Twilight said in a surprised tone "nice save."

Rarity replied with a giggle "Well like I always say, generosity will get you everywhere."

"Really," AppleJack questioned suspiciously, "Because I've never heard you say that-"

"Well I am starving," Rarity interrupted, peeved by her friends criticizing,"let's go shall we."

As they entered the shop Rainbow began talking about the race, and as she kept talking she bumped into a griffon with white feathers and long feathers atop the griffon's head that reached to their neck, said feathers made it seem like the griffon had long hair. "Sorry about that," she apologized. Instead of apologizing, however, the griffon turned around to face the cyan pegasus, and soon, Rainbow was met with a familiar face...

"Gilda!"

"Dash!" The griffon shouted as she looked at her equine friend.

Rainbow stared back at her avian friend as well, elated to see her "I can't believe it's you, how are you-" she stopped mid-sentence as she took a double take on her friend's appearance, something was different, one very noticeable thing was different about Gilda; one very egg-shaped thing was different about her. Looking down, not only did she noticed Gilda wearing an apron, but a baby carrier that held an egg. "Wow," Rainbow gasped at the sudden news "Gilda, you-you're-"

Her friend interrupted her and completed the rest of her statement, "Yep," she replied "Not only do I own this joint-" she then pointed to her egg, "this little guy here is my son," she continued, "a.k.a my next of kin who's gonna take over the biz'."She said jokingly.

Pinkie and Rarity walked over to Gilda, admiring the vibrant color of the shell, as well as the softness of the shell as they carefully touched it. While the rest group was intrigued, and even excited by this news, Rainbow was somewhat taken aback; don't get her wrong, she was glad for her friend, but the fact that she hadn't told her about this soured the moment.

"Oh, my," Pinkie said, amazed, "what's his name?"

"Also," Rarity interjected, "Who's the lucky stallion?"

Just as she asked that the door to the kitchen opened, another familiar character entered the conversation, or rather, another familiar stallion. Entering now was a tan-coated stallion with a brunette mane, wearing an apron, as well as, sporting a chef's hat, "Hey babe did you get those new-" he stopped when he noticed the group; especially when he noticed Rarity, "Oh, hey guys." he greeted the group casually.

"Carmel?" Rarity said, shocked by the stallions appearance "My, I haven't seen you in ages."

"Me either," Spike commented, rubbing his chin in speculation. "What are you doing here?"

Caramel chuckled slightly before answering the two, "Well," he began "I think I met Gilda when she was in Ponyville a long while ago-" before he could finish, Gilda interjected, or rather, specified that events that lead to their courtship.
"And by that, he means when we had our falling out 'dash." she looked at them with slightly saddening eyes.

"Oh yeah," Rainbow begrudgingly confirmed, remembering how, explosive, their fight was...

"And don't let me see your ugly mug around Ponyvile again!" Gilda walked out of the bakery with a few bruises on her beak.
Gilda flew above Ponyvile in an infuriated mood; She was planning on staying in the city for at least two days, which is why she paid for a hotel thinking that with her in town, she and Rainbow Dash would get to hang out again, and reminisce about the days at the academy.

But after what happened in the bakery, after she almost punched that stupid pink pony and how dash had to take the fall, how they ended up screaming at each other and got into that fight, she might as well cancel the trip altogether. All that planning, she thought to her herself, grimacing at the idea of what was supposed to be a fun weekend. I canceled plans with my old man for the opening of our restaurant, took off work, all that just to come home this early- tears were beginning to swell in her eyes -to go back to my empty apartment, alone. Unaware of her surroundings, she was about to crash into that local pub, luckily she stopped just in time before she could hit the wall. "A drink," she mumbled to herself "after the day I've, I don't deserve one-" she paused "but I need one."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she entered the bar and quickly found a seat at the bar table and seated herself on the stool. She contemplated asking the bartender for a drink, but with what little bits she had in her purse, that she and Dash would just share in paying whoever was serving them, and that fact that her voice was a little hoarse from the fight, and from crying, she decided against us and just sat there. Lucky for her there were many ponies in the bar at the time, so the bartender hadn't noticed her, yet.

Gilda sat there, and continued to sulk; it was unlike her to act like this, she wasn't the type to just feel sorry for herself, but what could she do? Her best friend, or someone whom she thought was her best friend, just dumped her for someone she barely knew, or at least that's how the griffon-hen speculated the friendship she had with the other ponies.

Not only that, she yelled at her; and it wasn't just like the joke kind of yelling when they would impersonate, the coach, or yelling whenever they got into a heated debate, her yells was almost hate-filled; she yelled at her like she was some punk kid or some pervy, drunk stallion, but that hate was directed at her. She rested her head on her arms and attempted on to think about that donnybrook that occurred earlier.

To her, it seemed like minutes had gone by, unknown to her, though, the bar began to clear out, and soon, only her, the bartender, and a few other patrons, most of whom were elderly stallions, remained. She was a bit confused by the fact that no one seemed to jostle her or anything, I guess they thought I was already drunk or something, She thought to herself.

As she was about to flip open her phone and check the time, the bartender, a brunette, and the caramel coated stallion placed a glass of whiskey in front of the griffon. Confused, she looked up to see that looking back was the stallion in question.

He hummed a bit before asking the depressed griffon, "You looked a little down," he began "what's a broad like you gotta be sad about?"

She would have called him out for giving her such a chauvinistic name, but she didn't even have the energy to yell, "Look, buddy-" she pushed back the shot glass "- I'm not in the friggin' mood." She waited for some sort of insult, or objection from the stallion, but instead, he stared at her intensely, as if he was looking into the eyes of her soul. Confused, by his action, she backed up, what's this weirdo doing-

"You got into a fight with your friend didn't you?" he asked inquisitively. Gilda was slightly taken aback by his words; how was he able to guess that quickly?
Was this guy some kind of mind reader?, she pondered, he doesn't have a horn, so...whatever, even if he is right- "No," that doesn't mean he has to know the truth. "I just came back from a funeral."

Caramel gave the griffon an inquisitive look before asking her "Really?"

"Yeah," she said confidently.

"Then how'd you get that shiner?" She probably should have noticed the large black eye that her former friend had given her. Handing over a very convenient mirror, Gilda got a good look at herself; not only did she have a black eye, but her eyes were red from crying as well. "So," he began, a smirk on his face "Am I on the money or-"

"What do you want?" Gilda asked bluntly "If you lookin' for a cheap lay you've got the wrong girl." she stared at the bartender in anger, weirdly hoping she would get a chance to start a bar fight, or at the very least kick some ass.

Instead of badgering the griffon for lewd acts, however, he poured a glass for himself, and looked back at the griffon, "You know," he began, his smile faltering a bit, "I've seen a lot of mares through my life as a bartender, but none as blunt or passionate as you are."

Gilda scoffed at his words, seeing them as nothing more than meaningless things just to bed her.
"I'm serious," he affirmed boldly, "A lot of the girls I see come in here say the same stuff after a fight: about how they were right, and what their friend 'said' was wrong-" he paused to take a sip of his whiskey, "and like freakin' clockwork, I say the same bullshit about how they're right and her friend's wrong, and how they should make up and blah blah blah," suddenly, his smile grew back, "but you," he continued "Your different."

"How so?" Gilda asked inquisitively

"You're violent, you emotional," he went up closer to the griffon and took her talon "and most importantly-" he began rubbing her talon "You're not just here to talk about yourself."
Gilda didn't want to admit it, but something about the way this stallion massaged her talons, and the way he talked and leveled with her, caused the griffon's mood to brighten a little."I thought you ponies were against violence." she said jokingly

"Well," he began "You might be inclined to believe that, but," he hopped over the bar table, which took Gilda by surprise, "I think that, in terms of emotion, Violence can sometimes show how close you are to somepony, or how much you care for somepony." After he finished his statement, Gilda took a quick sip of her whiskey, got up from her stool, and walked towards the entryway.

Feeling as though his words were unheard towards the griffon, disheartened, the brunette-maned stallion went back behind the desk to continue his work, when suddenly, Gilda turned back to face the stallion, "You know I was planning on canceling my trip out here because of the fight," she explained "I'm not one for vacationing by myself, and I really don't wanna go home alone again," she paused as her cheek grew a brighter red "Maybe you want to hang-out sometime?"

Caramel placed a chin on his hoof as he thought about the offer. "Well," he began "this place opens around twelve o' clock;" he looked back as the griffon with eyes not of concern, but with joy, "but I think I can get one of my friends to hold down my shift."

Gilda looked at the stallion happily, and after exchanging phone numbers, Gilda left the bar somewhat lovestruck. "Maybe this trip went better than I thought," she said brightly. She spread her wings open and flew off into the night with a brightened mood.

"And that's basically how we met," Caramel finished as Gilda got back to the group's food, and joined back in the conversation. "After that,' he continued "I ended up moving in with, then one thing leads to another, then-"

Gilda interjected "Then, after my pop said he was passing the business down to me, we went out to celebrate, had a few too many to drink; we went back home, got a little excited, and then-" she said as she proceeded to point at her egg. "a few months later I ended up 'eggnant' with this little guy."

"Eggnant?" Twilight asked inquisitively, stifling back a chuckle over the silliness of the name.

"It basically the term griffons used, then we've had the egg inside of us for three weeks," she explained "and after it comes out, the egg acts as an incubator like it normally would, but instead of just leaving it at home we take it with us, because it feeds off of our energy, which is why we came up with the term 'eggnant"

Almost out of nowhere, Twilight took out a notepad and began to take some notes "fascinating" she commented.

Not wasting another minute the group began to eat.
Many of the group was happily eating, well, except for Rainbow, who was merely picking at her food. Noticing this, Gilda asked her friend, "Yo dash," she called concerned "what's wrong?"

Her friend looked back at her with saddened eyes, "It's just," she began, "I didn't realize that our fight cut you that deep. I didn't know that you lived alone, so..." Rainbow suddenly stopped when, almost out of nowhere, Gilda hugged the dejected pegasus. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, taken aback by her sudden gesture. "Gilda what are you-"

"Don't beat yourself up Dash," she assured her, in an oddly soft voice "you didn't know, what's in the past is in the past-" she released the pegasus and placed her talon on her shoulder "Sure, we had a bad fall out, but," she looked back at her lover, "but because of that, me and Caramel were able to get together, and more importantly, for once, I didn't feel so alone. I had many friends back in Griffon Stone, so just being with someone like Caramel made me feel not so isolated."

Rainbow was slightly baffled by Gilda's words; to believe that such a violent event, would create a positive outcome as this, not only that surprise Rainbow Dash but her friend's sudden change in tone as well. Her usual gruff demeanor was replaced by a softer, almost motherly tone. She sighed and later thanked her friend for her words of encouragement, "Thanks, Gilda," she said appreciatively, "I guess just seeing you again, our history together, and how much you've changed just, kinda got me all emotional and whatnot."

"Hey no problem, besides-" Gilda stretched her arm around the mare "What are friends for." after a few laughs, most of the gang finished eating, it almost seemed like they had forgotten the challenge that Will placed on Accelerator. As Rainbow was about to pay, Gilda told the pegasus, "It's on the house."

After a hug-filled good-bye, they finally left the restaurant, and as soon as they did, Accelerator pulled out his phone and flipped it open. his eyes slightly widened, as the time reads: eight-fifteen, "Oh crap," Accelerator exclaimed, "it's almost eight thirty, we need to get to the race pronto."

"Not to worry," Rarity assured the stallion "I'll simply call our taxi-stallion, and he should be here in a jiffy." Accelerator sighed in relief hearing that. However, as soon as the phone's receiver picked up, his worry intensified, "Hello, welcome to Mama John's how may we help you," on the other line was not that of their gruff taxi driver, but instead, it was a squeaky sounding teenager, who had repeated the same line he's told other customers in an apathetic tone.

Rarity looked at her phone in a mix of befuddlement and anger, "That-" she began, her voice slightly quivering "That piece o' shit, feather-brained, taxi driver fuckin' gipped me!" her friends, although shocked by her sudden outburst, quickly shushed the white unicorn for the use of that derogatory term, The one shushing her being Applejack.

"Look here, sugar cube," she whispered to the fashionista "You can't be sayin' that kinda stuff," she looked around in case anyone heard her outburst, "especially in Griffon Stone!"

It took a while for her to calm down, but finally, Rarity's anger simmered, she coughed and then apologized for her outburst, "Sorry about that darling's, that was utterly unladylike of me."

"We can talk about your hidden racist tendencies later," Rainbow dismayed which caused the fashionista to look down at the ground with dejected eyes, "we need to get to the race and fast."

"But how?" Spike asked. Looking around, the purple drake's eyes widened with excitement, "Hey look!"

Looking over the group found another taxi, an empty taxi to be exact. Concerned, Twilight asked her surrogate brother, "Spike what are you suggesting?"

"I'm just saying," he began, his eyes looking away from Twilight "Maybe we can 'commandeer this vehicle' -" he brought up his and started doing air quotes, "for an 'emergency reconnaissance mission' if you catch my, Tokyo Drift."

Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack were shocked by Spike's speculation, while the rest of the group cringed at his pun, "Are you suggesting we steal this taxi!?" Twilight exclaimed.

"Hey, if there's anything I've learned from Grand Theft Chariot," he explained, "It's that in order to get anywhere, it's that you gotta think fast, and be quick."
I should have never bought him those games. Twilight chastised herself. She was about to scold her assistant, when all of a sudden, they hear a revving noise behind them. In front of the groups, the backlights of the aforementioned taxi illuminated, and in the front seat of the car was a certain pink mare, "Are you guys coming or not?"

Elsewhere

In a random alleyway, with loud music blaring the street, a long line of cars could be seen, as well as a large community, of griffons most of whom were either lounging around, playing dice or drinking. Sitting on the hood of a black, Ford Mustang, modified with a few boosters and hydraulics, was Will, who was tapping on his chin at a rapid rate as his patience running thin, "Where the hell is that bastard!" he growled, looking back at his phone, " it's almost nine!"

"Maybe he wussed out," Maria commented, taking another drag of her cigarette, "knowing what he is now, its possible he probably just called the cops."

"Wait," he objected "didn't that guy say-" Before he could finish his rebuttal, the sounds of screaming, and screeching tires could be heard in the distance; soon the noise grew closer, and soon a grundy yellow taxi pulled into the alley-way and made a full stop just before it could hit any of the other cars. "Who that hell was that!?" Will shouted in anger.
As he was about to walk towards the car and throw out who entered the alley, the car doors opened up, and a familiar figure stepped out.
"So you finally decided to show your face." the griffon mocked, walking closer to the car

"For the sake of my family," Accelerator began, "I will defeat you." both he and Will glared at each other intensely.

The two stood in silence for what felt like a minute, that was until the announcer of the competition broke the silence via megaphone-speaker. "Alright racers," the young announcer shouted, "Rev your engines!"

Author's Note

I decided to add in the Gilda and Carmel part into the story because of a bonus chapter I have a plan for them.

But with that out of the way, now the big race between young and old is about to commence!