Chapters I can still remember when I first got her. One of my dream cars. 1966 Chevrolet Nova. It was my fifteenth birthday, my uncle... he was a lot like me, thought car culture got boring after 2010. Everything began slipping down that steep slope towards looking the same, performing the same. What's the fun in a car that drives for you? No way, screw that shit.
My uncle had scoured the web for a listing... He never found one. Just nobody selling at the time. I was bummed, but... not for long. Granddad, who lived about twenty miles away, on an old farm, gave us a call. In an old, run down barn on the far edge of his property, he managed to find one.
Yeah, yeah, go ahead, say 'Oh well that's rather convenient' all you want. I didn't give a damn, it was one of my favorites, and all I had to do... was restore it. Oh you thought it was in working order? So did I, so I was pretty bummed to see it was a half rusted out, moss ridden hunk of metal with a half stripped engine and rotted out seats. Oh, and raccoons. A whole damn family of them.
We rolled that eyesore out best we could, hauled it onto a flatbed, and drove it over to my uncle's garage. It took us months, and we worked nigh every night. New bodywork, new seats, rebuilt engine, fresh coat of Tropical Shallows Blue paint, nice, slick, detarnished chrome bumpers. The parts were a bitch and a half to find, but we got it done, and we were left with my baby: Paradise Maiden. I'd gotten my licence two months after we finished, and I drove her up to Canterlot High every school day.
Oh yeah, my school years, that was a heyday. Freshman year there were a ton of magic things that went down, not to mention all that Anon-A-Miss bull. I dunno all the details, but it was safe to say that was a crazy year. Sophomore year though? Man that was when shit started gettin' good. I'd drive up to CHS and I swear, half the student body would charge up. Hell even the faculty loved it, Vice-Principal Luna even asked to have a few pictures with it, and a peek under the hood. Still shocks me to this day that she's a car gal.
Junior year is when things started really ramping up for me. Those seven girls involved in all that magic stuff went on to help out with Horizon. What's Horizon? Can't beleive there's anyone who hasn't at least heard of Horizon. It's Equestria's biggest, most balls-to-the-wall racing festival. Started over in Coltorado, then went to southern Prance and northern Eeetaly. Even hit up Austneighlia and Braytin. That festival is half of what inspired me to set up my Automotive Arts club at CHS.
The Automotive Arts club. With supervision, I introduced members to barn finds, restoration projects, gave them in depth history of various brands... None of that Liberty Walk or Rocket Bunny crap. Showed them to appreciate a car how it was visually designed, taught them to respect the original bodywork.
Senior year... a bittersweet time. Graduation, having my whole life ahead of me... leaving behind the Automotive Arts club. I'd been through a lot with them. Won a good few contests and such with project cars. Hell, even built our own from scrap. That was quite a sight for the haters, made 'em go ape shit. By then interest in my Nova fizzled out. It wasn't hot shit anymore. Not with one kid rolling in with an old R31 Skyline. That was the new 'Paradise Maiden'. I suppose it's for the best though, give someone else the spotlight. I had my life to live.
Once graduation had passed, however, I started looking into Horizon a little more. I'd loved cars and racing since I was a little girl, so what I found was... enticing, to say the least. I'd taken my baby to the track before, just to dick around... but now? Well... gotta get good if I want a chance at the roster. Whenever the chance came up, I ran time trials, I raced... I caught the attention of a talent scout. Introduced himself as Slipstream, gave me an offer I couldn't refuse.
Come to Horizon, race my dream cars. Horizon was in Equestria this year, in a city in lower North Coltifornia called Amber Bay. Long drive from Canterlot, but oh hell was this worth it!
Author's Note
Thank you for reading the prologue to my first fic! If you've got any ideas for Showcase Events, hit me up! I'm having 7 slots for this, so don't be shy!
~EARLY SUMMER~
The flight had taken just a few hours. Had I driven, it'd of taken four days. Four long ass, hot, sweaty days. Through the plains, through the mountains, through a damned desert. And oh my god, would it of been worth it.
It's just getting to be dusk, Tuesday evening. I could see the skyline in the distance, seven tall skyscrapers poking out of the skyline, all reaching toward a multicolor, cloudless sky. The coastal road I was being driven down was just lined by white sand on one side, a shear cliff on the other. This was technically within the bounds of the designated grounds. It'd make for some nice, tense racing.
Oh yeah, they insisted I leave my Nova home, locked up in a secure, hidden place. Said I may be here a few years. As much as it pained me to do so, it would prove to be worth it. What I was picked up in made it allll worth it. They decided to pick me up in another of my dream cars; a Porsche 918. What? Sure I'm not a huge fan of post-2010 cars, doesn't mean there aren't a few gems.
There was a sound... faint at first, but I recognized it. As if to confirm my suspisions, a bright purple Konigsegg Regera screams past us, likely going a solid 200Mph. This elicits a sigh from the driver, causing me to look over.
"What's wrong?" I inquire. They look to me for a split second before moving their amber eyes back to the coastal road.
"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just the current fan favorite." I look to the Regera's tailight speeding off toward the city as the driver continues speaking. "They were a real riot back in Braytin."
"I take it they're signing up this year?"
"Yep. It's their last year, retiring once Horizon moves on." After passing a civ driver, we come on to a long, empty stretch, through which the driver guns it. Pretty quickly, we speed up into the 190s.
"So who exactly are they?" I ask. Know your competition, after all.
"Her name's Sapphire Bolt. Used to be a wannabe from Detrot. Turned out they were really good."
As we sped along they kept speaking, narrowly avoiding the walls as they popped a few drifts out. "Beat our original champ, Vermillion. A rich prick who came to Horizon from the motorsport scene. Lots of drivers hated him."
I looked at them, tilting my head. "Why's that?"
"He drove dirty, took up a lot of time in our, at the time, limited garage space, treated the workers there like slaves... You name it, he did it. On top of that grating personality." He shook his head as we came back onto a straight, coming up towards a bridge that hugged the clifface. "Sapphire beat his ass. Twice. He retreated into an early, embarrassing retirement."
"Anyways, Sapphire participated in the road trips in southern Prance and northern Eeetaly. Not much of note that I can remember from then. She seemed to take it easy with the Austneighlia festival, treated it more as a vacation with the cars as an added bonus. She seemed to... change... about midway through the Braytin festival."
"Change how...?"
"She started getting consumed by her fame. Started to act like Vermillion. Always flexing her high end cars with flashy paint jobs, showing off... that kind of stuff. started to drive dirty toward the end too.." They pause. "Horizon needs a new champ. If what I've seen of your driving with just a C rank in videos is legit.. I sincerely hope it's you. You've got a fresh mindset compared to Sapphire. A different kind of drive. Horizon really needs that."
I didn't know quite what to say. That was... quite the situation. Hell, that was quite a change. I can only hope I've really got a chance.
We'd slowed down to a more relaxed 80Mph as we entered the city. Driving along the coastal street, the sunset was quite beautiful across the beach. Although... that's not what I focused on.
No way, I focused on that long line of neon in the short distance.
They'd set up on a pier, just a long, bright row of glowing pinks and blues and yellows and various other hues from LED panels. Somehow they even fit a huge ferris wheel in there! Riding in, it wasn't even narrow. It was a good 3 Caddy limos wide, plenty of room for two double laned 'roads.'
They drove me down to the end, where a circular structure of a mix of metal and a sort of nylon cloth or something which I assumed was the garage.
"Alright, miss Passion, this is your stop. Other racers are out and about, I'd reccommend getting to know a few. Might run across a couple organizers too."
Reluctantly, I'd exit the vehicle, vowing to get one of them once I'd enough funds. As I shut the door they began to cruise away toward a big, long building with a big white sign atop that read "AUTOSHOW". Welp, I know where to get cars now.
Soon after, I made my way to the sort of lounge area they'd set up toward the back of the circular structure. There were a good few people here, quite a few just sitting there watching the sunset. Seemed nice. But, that's not what I was here for. One of the people there, a tall, thin guy with long, wavy hair approached me. His skin was a sort of dull blue, his hair Navy blue.
"Hey, what's up? Name's Gridlock." He extended a hand to me.
"Paradise Passion." I extend my hand out to his, giving it a solid shake.
"Oh, I've heard of you. Paradise Maiden right?"
"Y..yeah, how..?"
"Oh, uh... I was at one of your races. Happened to be in Canterlot at the time and had nothing else to occupy me so I figured watch the race. Looking forward to seeing what you pull off out there." He looked me over. "Though, I feel the name 'Paradise Maiden fits you better than your car."
That caused a hot blush to spread across my cheeks. "Oh please..."
He chuckled. "C'mon, got some other drivers you should meet."
Author's Note
I feel I must apologize for my dismal chapter length and poor quality writing. But, if you're willing to stick through it to see where I take this, then thank you! It's much appreciated.
A quick note, progress on this story is going to be quite slow. ideas don't come to me very well.
Gridlock led me over to the group he was hanging out with back here. Just four others, although one of them was quite familiar. I wasn't too sure wether it was a bad or a good thing, but I now had my guard up. She was a blue skinned gal, with blue and... kinda teal striped hair. Sort of early 2000s pop outfit. I knew this look.
This was one of those Dazzlings. Sonata, I think her name was.
I was somewhat shocked when she was the first of them to very cheerfully wave to me. "Hey there~!"
I stayed silent for a second. This was completely unexpected... This was one of the girls who tried to take over Canterlot high... I should be on edge... but....
But...
"Uh, hey. You seem familiar." I said, quite calmly. Yeah, let's go with staying calm. No need to start drama this early. I'm here to enjoy myself, and cars. "Have we met?"
The girl tilts her head up a tad, putting a finger to her chin. "Hmmm... Oh, yeah, we have! Where was it... Class 3A? Chemistry? Eh, anyways.. Name's Sonata." She stuck a hand out to me, smiling.
I took her hand in in mine, giving it a good shake. "Paradise Passion."
She smiled. "I see you've already met Gridlock. Don't let the nice cars he drives fool ya, he lives to his name!"
"What th- 'Nata what the heck!" He exclaims jovially, causing Sonata to giggle.
One of the others, a short, silver skinned girl with sholder length black and slate blue hair chuckled a bit her self before giving a short, Neighponese esque bow. "H-hello. I'm um.. Quicksilver." She pushes her round specks up off the tip of her nose.
The last one was a tall elegant looking lily white skinned girl, with long, flowing pink hair reaching just below her bustline. She was wearing some... pretty expensive clothes... ohh boy... this is one of those snobby rich girls isn't it?
She casts a glance my way, gently pushing a wad of her hair behind an ear. "Wildfire Lily." She says in an... actually really not-snobby way. Looking at her slender build, this girl's got Mercedes written allll over her. Or maybe Rolls Royce...
"Anyways, yeah. We're all a little group. Some of us drive better than others... And better than others will admit." He casts a glance to Sonata, who just giggles a bit. "She's not wrong though. I'm a disaster in big races. Better at those one on ones. Preferably drag. Don't have to worry about cornering too much..."
I smiled a bit. These guys were all right.
A roar of cheering fans erupted back around the front of the garage. "What in the...?"
Gridlock looked at me, then to the group. "Well, c'mon, let's go check it out!"
Up on the viewscreen, perched over the Autoshow, there was some nice driving going down. In... was that a CCXR?! Holy hell it was! For an older-ish super... hyper (?) car, that thing can go! As it speeds along it passes numerous other cars... Ferrari FXX-K, Bugatti Chiron, Lamborghini Aventador J... And ended up pulling neck & neck with a gold painted Agera. The view changed to be, somehow, behind the CCXR as it speed on, approaching the city. As it sped down the opposite end of the coastal street I'd ridden down, it hooked a left, deeper into the city. It pushed its way through a series of turns, even pulling offf some rather impressive drifting. Then, visual switched to what looked like GoPro footage, a cam probably strapped to the driver's helmet, as it sped straight toward the festival.
Pretty quickly, the vehicle sped down to where we are at the far end of the pier, skidding to a stop. That thing looked nice in person. A nice two-tone paintjob... well if you could call half carbon fibre paint. The rest was a sort of blueish silver color, a black stripe going down the middle. Then, the door opened, a pair of booted legs swinging out as a face I kinda recognized stepped out. Purple skin, indigo hair with a majenta stripe through... Twilight Sparkle, the one in charge of the organization at the Horizon Festival.
A flurry of staff came up to her, one handing her a clipboard as she strode towards us. It was then that I got the feeling it wasn't just us anymore, which caused me to look ba- WOAH that's a lot of other people!
"Okay.. Do we have a.. Passion here? Paradise Passion?"
My head snapped towards the voice. I stepped forward, raising my hand slightly. "Um.. Present?"
Twilight smiled, strolling over and extending her hand. I extended my own to meet hers, giving it a firm shake.
"Pleasure to meet you, Passion. I'm the organizer here. Our scouts have told me promising things about you. One scout in particular, really. We're looking forward to seeing what you can do here at Horizon." Rather suddenly, a red and gold haired woman jogged up behind her.
"Hah.. H-hey, sorry I took so long! I was at the other end, didn't get the memo you were starting."
Twilight turned to look at her. "Don't worry about it. Oh-" She turned to face me. "Passion, this is Sunset. She was one of the top winners a couple years ago, she managed the road racing series here." I extended my hand out to the amber girl, which she firmly grasped. "Now, I've gotta get others accounted for. Sunset, show her around a bit, get her some races, alright?"
"Sure thing, Boss." That caused Twilight to roll her eyes playfully.
"I told you, just call me Twi, we're friends, business or not!" She chuckles before turning and walking over to the rest of the potential drivers.
I looked to Sunset as she raked her fingers through her hair, straightening it out, somewhat. "So, Paradise Maiden, huh?" she asks. I blinked a bit, causing her to chuckle. "It's pretty impressive, what you do with a stock Nova, girl. The video spread like wildfire among the staff. You should have seen Dash." She chuckled before clearing her throat. "Ahem.. ah... I'm getting ahead of myself. Dash is the Cross country series organizer. You'll probably meet her in a few days. For now... Well, I'm going to help you learn your way around the Festival... Al though... I suppose you're wanting to get driving, aren't you?" she asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. After sitting in that 918 for a couple hours my feet are itching to punch the gas." She chuckled.
"Come on. Let's get you behind the wheel. Got five choices for you.."
"Five? Hopefully not all the same championship." I chuckle, half joking. I really didn't mind, but it'd be nice if there were variety. She chuckled herself.
"Don't worry, you'll see. C'mon." She waved for me to follow her as she led onward down the pier.
Author's Note
Are the chapters too short? Hopefully not... This one took a bit longer to really think of stuff for than I expected...
Anyways, reguardless, Hope you're enjoying. Next chapter will be car selection, the first race, and a little bit of drama.
Hopefully I do the drama right...