Famous in Paradise

"Drop the gun!"

"You first!"

Viral was now in her second life or death scenario for the day, two more than she asked for. As soon as she parked her GT Concept next to the group of cars on top of White Mountain she found herself in a standoff with a changeling that was wielding a 1911. It was definitely up there on the weirdest things she had become stuck in. She had caught the changeling off guard with her retort.

"I recognize your voice, have I held you at gunpoint before?"

Wait, now that he mentioned it. His voice sounded like a stallion she knew from Wing City, one that drove a Ford Fiesta ST. She squinted her eyes, not giving the changeling any weakness.

"You sound familiar too. Do you know any pony by the name of Zephyr?"

The changeling in front of her reeled in shock once again. Silence was the only thing between the pair for several seconds.

"Promise me you won't freak out when you see this."

Viral simply nodded. What could he do at this point to freak her out. She had already been through enough that day. Well apparently not, as the changeling became enveloped in red flames as he transformed into a familiar looking stallion. One she recognized all too well. He looked at her with a blank expression as her whole world was flipped on its head.

"Z-Zephyr?" Was all that managed to escape her muzzle.

"Hi there V."

She ran up to the stallion, changeling, and hugged him relentlessly which he returned graciously. This moment of silence was interrupted by a baby dragon.

"You two... know each other?"

The pair broke the hug as Zephyr returned to the gathering of ponies. A pegasus stallion, an earth pony mare, the baby dragon in question and... was that Princess Twilight Sparkle?

"Yeah I know her. Every pony this is Viral Velocity, but you can call her V. She's a good friend of mine, and she hails from Wing City, not too far from here. Although she isn't from here, she knows her way around this place like the back of her hoof, because..."

"I recently just earned my Criterion Elite License, meaning that I have mastered Paradise City I know where everything is. Every Billboard, Super Jump, Parking Lot, Auto-Repair, Paint Shop, the whole lot! If you ever need to know where something is, just ask me." She finished proudly.

"So do I sweet!"

Oh no he didn't, did he just call her sweet?

Viral shot the nearby pegasus a hostile look.

"What did you just call me?"

Her retort seemed to work, but only for a second.

"Wow, you are feisty! I like that."

Now it was Viral's turn to be surprised. She had been called "Sweet" before, but every time it happened a well placed glare shot down the attempt. Yes, she hadn't seen Sapphire Rose is some time but she still considered her the one. Even if Viral was bisexual she would not cheat on her mare. It seemed this stallion was no average pony.

"Has any pony ever told you you look beautiful? Because you are the most beautiful mare I have ever seen."

That made Viral blush. Against every emotion in her body her cheeks became a brighter crimson than her coat was. He was flirting with her, and why in Celestia's name was he enjoying it? Thankfully Zephyr, who was now a changeling again, stopped the stallion before he could go any further.

"Ok that's enough you two. Viral, this is DangerDean. Dean, meet Viral Velocity."

As he was finishing another engine could be heard coming from the direction of the observatory. Viral was not taking chances for a third scenario and raised her MP7. Zephyr put his hoof down on her, forcing her to lower the weapon.

"Wait, V. I bet you that driver isn't under control."

Under control, by who? Is that why Lightning had been chasing her earlier? Was she under the control of something else?

Another pony stepped out of the car that arrived to the ever growing group. Another pegasus stallion, Thunderlane. Yet another pony Viral was familiar with thanks to her mother whom which she hadn't seen in years. Come to think about it wasn't her mothers name Lightning Dust? She completely zoned out for several seconds, realizing that she had now seen three different incarnations of her own mother. And one just tried to kill her. When she regained her composure she got the answer to her silent question.

"King Sombra did this." Twilight had said.

Oh, great. The former ruler of the Crystal Empire. Well that was something new. Twilight began to explain how it could have happened. All the details seemed to fit together, and explained why the group she was with was not under control. If she hadn't been driving the GT Concept at the time she would have been lost as well.

"Ok, we've got our gameplan! But what's our first move?"

"We can use the Junkyard over by Lone Stallion Ranch. I've been there multiple times, and it has a nice building next to it where we can sleep."

Oh look, Danger being useful and not flirting with her. That was a nice change of pace. Zephyr confirmed this move, and every pony began racing back to their cars. Viral immediately starting her Concept up once again.

The group began traveling south. Viral gave them a head start, she had the fastest car there by a strong margin. She figured now was a time to show off. She cut into the access road on the left and blazed along the dirt trail. She launched off the jump as the other five cars stayed on the road, the Tempesta Danger was driving leading the group. She launched off the first jump, hitting a billboard she had already cleared. Another jump, this one giving every pony beneath her a clear view of her underside. Next up, the Super Jump. This one was tricky but she had practiced it several times. She soared through the air over the lead Tempesta, landing on the other side. She jumped off the cliff, nearly dropping on top of the Tempesta. It was good to know that the Tempesta didn't look any better from a vertical view. Danger was lucky, she could have easily turned his car into a pile of scrap if she landed on it. She was now leader of the pack. She knew where she was going and she wasn't going to let Danger beat her after his flirting.

Dean still had not stopped flirting, even after they stopped to eat. Well only Viral and Dean were eating at the moment, every pony else was just kind of there. Twilight, Spike, and Applejack were present as were Zephyr, who Viral now knew was really a changeling named Akula, and Thunderlane the lone Wonderbolt not to be under control from Sombra. Danger kept on talking, how could one pony talk for so long. He must really have been desperate.

"You Know" He commented while eating pizza. "I've always wondered what the underside of a GT Concept looks like. Now I finally found out."

"Strange, because at the same time, because at the same time I was wondering if the Tempesta could look any better than it does from above. I found out, that at any angle, you can't make the Tempesta look any better than it already is."

That was the one thing Danger had that Viral did like. The Tempesta was among her favorite five cars along with her GT Concept, Hawker, Spur, and X12. If he knew where he had a common interest he wouldn't sound so annoying.

"Very funny. Your just trapped inside your tough little shell, but underneath that shell is a sweet, little mare that I know has the hots for me." He commented, chuckling. He just didn't learn.

Viral threw the spoon she was using to eat Mac & Cheese at the stallions' face. It hit him square on the nose.

"Oww! Don't hit me on the nose! That's my sensitive spot!"

Oh, so he has a sensitive spot. I'll shelve that in my mental filing cabinet for reference. Viral thought to herself as she responded.

"Next time, I'm throwing something bigger unless you stop running your piehole!" She snapped. Was she losing her patience? She likely already lost it back at the Wind Farm.

"Ok, calm down. The both of you! Danger i'm going to need you shut your trap and stop testing Viral's patience. Viral, I'll need you to tolerate him a little. Sure, he may be annoying you, but that doesn't mean you should start hurting him! If there's anything you do instead of hurting others to relieve stress, do that instead!"

Viral reeled back from your friend telling her off. Yeah, she did go overboard herself. If only Danger knew when to quit. Something to relieve stress? She began to mentally sing a song from her own band. It always soothed her, even though it was hard rock. Sadly, she barely got ten seconds in before spike asked her a question.

"Hey, Viral. I've actually heard from Akula that you have an incredible singing voice. Is that true?"

Oh little dragon, you don't know the half of it. I have sung at least fifty covers of my favorite songs and have 7 of my own.

"Yes, I have a voice like an angel." Viral smiled. She could have said more but there was no need. She was here to race and have fun, not to put on a concert for a group of 6.

"Would you care to show us?"

She would have ignored the request if the rest of the ponies in the group didn't agree with it. Even Akula urged her on. Eventually she relented. Her bands songs wouldn't sit well since they were hard rock and so were most of the covers she did. There was however a song that could work. She extended her wings as they began to glow a bright orange. She began to do a cover of 7 years, it was a soft song and one she could replay fairly easily.

When she was done she found Applejack nearly in tears, voicing her approval. Twilight however came rushing up to her with questions. It was at that moment she realized she had used her magic in front of the Element of Magic. A mistake that was given a punishment of a barrage of questions.

Viral explained to Twilight in the shortest way possible. She had learned about her one of a kind ability when she was a teen, and had begun practicing with it as she grew older. Once she mastered her ability to play music she combined this ability with her special talent of singing to create her own music. Being a good racer was a bonus that she kept for safe keeping.

"...Although I did practice with it away from my mother, so I could spend time with her."

"Wait, you never told us about your mother. What is she like? Is she nice?" Thunderlane asked.

There was no way to answer that question directly. Even though she had seen three different incarnations of Lightning Dust, one which recently attempted to kill her, she was certain that she still disliked the Wonderbolts. Thunderlane was a Wonderbolt and that would have been an awkward conversation. Viral swallowed while attempting a cover up.

"Well, let's just say she down't like you kind."

"Pegasi?"

"No, Wonderbolts"

Well, that didn't help at all, and now she was even more tense than before. Thankfully Akula could sense her fear. He probably didn't even need to sense it, it was all over her face. She opted out.

"Hey can we move onto some pony else? I'm getting uncomfortable with all these questions." Every pony in attendance respected her wish. She turned to Akula. "Ok, I'll start with you. Akula, you've told me your fake 'Zephyr' backstory, but I want to hear your actual backstory. What was your life in the hive? Was it nice?"

Akula did so, giving his story as a member of the changeling hive and his loyalty to Chrysalis as an unreformed member of the hive. Twilight and Applejack, despite their history with Chrysalis, gave him words of encouragement. After all, he was helping them get their friends back. But being on opposite ends of a game of life and death? That had to be rough. In a way, Viral felt it too. She had been separated from her mother, dropped out on a meeting with a twin in Wing City, and now a third was on the other side of this war.

"We'll get her, and I'll be at your side all the way." It was then Viral noticed Danger had scooted next to her.

"And i'll be right here, Next. To. You."

He brought her face towards his.

"Kiss me, you know you want to."

"In your dreams, you pervert!"

Viral pulled away and stormed off.

"I'd rather sit on a storm cloud than kiss you!"

"Sure you may storm off now, but I know you love me!"

Viral responded in kind as she flew outside by grabbing a rock and lobbing it at Danger, right on his nose, while in mid flight. After striking her target she did a full mid air flip over the hood of her GT Concept and landed perfectly upright on the drivers side.

She still had the flying talent of a former Wonderbolt trainee. It helped that she was taught by one of the greatest to never put on the uniform.

"Danger, Viral, Twilight with me. We're going to back Fluttershy."

She needed no further instruction, Fluttershy was driving an SI-7. It was very likely she was somewhere in Downtown. She and Danger raced off, Twilight and Akula following shortly after while AJ and Thunderlane held down the fort.

Now Viral was just pissed off. She had stopped in front of The Crash FM Radio building at Franke and Fry to scout for Fluttershy and her SI-7. What did Danger do? Pull alongside her and get in her car, without even asking. The sun was beginning to set now. Time flew by much faster here than at home or Wing City.

That was not on Viral's mind, as Danger was now in the passenger seat of her car and wouldn't stop talking.

"C'mon Viral, don't tell me you don't find me even a little bit attractive." He attempted to flirt with her again."

"Actually no, I find you 100% annoying! So stop trying to win me! I'm not a prize!"

"Ok then, believe what you want. And I believe that you're just begging me to take you to bed."

Nope, that's it. Enough of that!

"Please open your door."

Danger complied.

"Now unbuckle yourself."

Once again he complied. It was his mistake. As he turned to face Viral she punched him on his snoot, right from his seat. She promptly closed the door and locked it for good measure. She was completely losing it to the fact he was trying to bed her.

What the hell is wrong with that stallion?! He should know by now that I'm unavailable, yet he keeps trying. That guy doesn't know how to take 'no' as an answer!

She promptly plugged in a pair of ear phones into her stereo and began to turn Crash FM back on. It was always soothing to hear the great tunes played in Paradise City. She had her own tracks just in case but most songs on the radio did just fine. Coincidentally, the song that played when she turned on the radio was Block Out The World. It was literally a song about blocking out the world with music played through headphones, which was what she was doing at the current moment.

Just as coincidentally, a yellow and red SI-7 blazed past down Fry Avenue just as the beat kicked in.

Alright, chase music. Let's get this done.

Danger did the duty of letting Akula know that they were tailing Fluttershy, not that Viral could hear them. She was too busy driving and listening to good music.

"Block out the world with headphones on. It's the only thing that works, when I don't want to talk to no one!"

She also wasn't paying attention to how close she was to Fluttershy, and the SI-7 that they were supposed to tail began to speed away. Now it was a chase, and Viral wasn't going to let chase music got to waste. She only went fast enough to keep up with the car in front of her. Akula soon joined in as they took a left as did Twilight who jumped through a billboard to join the road. Akula gave Twilight the clear to take point. Viral silently acknowledged and let the Mesquite past as they traveled east up Harbor Street.

"Block out the Radio, block out the TV show, block out these visions that trouble me so..."

The chase roared past the Wildcats' Baseball stadium. Viral got cut off by cross traffic and had to dodge into oncoming at 2nd. If Twilight had an opportunity to strike now was the time. She did, as cross traffic caught the SI-7 off guard at Anderson and stopped its momentum. Twilight's Mesquite gave it a good slam, a successful takedown. Viral, noticing the chase was over, pulled her GT Concept into a 180. She spun her tires to avoid the pillar that closed quickly as she and the others came to a stop. Just as she stopped, so to did the song end. She turned off the radio and put her headphones away.

"What a rush!"

Lightning was having to constantly idle rev her XS12 to keep it running while she waited at the Country Club. She, along with a few others including Rolling Thunder and Short Fuze were setting up an ambush as Fluttershy began to race for their location.

Finally it seemed like the time was right as an engine began to be heard over the horizon. Only, it wasn't the engine of an SI-7. Rather the engine belonged to a Cyan and Gold trimed Jansen P12. Rainbow Dash's car. She stopped at the edge of the lot and stepped out of her pocket rocket.

"Fluttershy is lost, gigs up. Return to your duties."

As she gave the order a multitude of vehicles began to leave the area along the two access roads of Newton Drive. Lightning was the exception. She left the confines of her XS12 to stick it to her former rival.

"So, you're so willing to give up on your friend like that huh. You weren't so keen when you got me kicked out."

"Back off Dust, were on the same side for once. I was put in a postion of leadership because.."

"Because you are a friend of some pony that Grogar and the others are trying to eliminate. You're being used, but you're ok with that. You've always been ok being used."

Lightning offered no chances for Rainbow to respond as she returned to her supercar and dipped. She wanted no part of being a lap dog to her former wing pony. She had some pony more important to worry about. Viral had shown her up one too many times now. She was going to find that pegasus and pull her wings off like paper when she got the chance.