Episode One: They'll Remember Only Our Smiles
Canterlot's bright, shimmering light shone faintly in the distance. The expanded cityscape crawled over the edge of the mountain and down into parts of the soil below. The glimmer and gleam contrasting against the night sky was a truly beautiful sight to behold, especially from if viewed from the neighboring mountain. Atop this mountain, and all the way down it, lay a road, one typically adorned by isolated, self-driven carriages. One particular carriage on this particular night, a little less than halfway down the winding road, held two young ponies, looking away from each other from opposite sides of the carriage. The space inside was wider than the outside would lead one to believe; soft seats lined either side while a small, bright console sat at the front. The shutters over the windows were closed at the moment, though, they could be opened upon request. The stallion in the vehicle sighed and moved to the front of the vehicle.
"I'm not paying for whatever you take out of there."
Came almost unaudibly from the mare, though her head still faced away.
"I don't care if you do or not."
The stallion replied, taking a small bottle of a shimmering golden liquid and reaching one hoof to the cork.
"You can front the whole bill in that case."
The stallion sighed and reached a hoof up to his necktie as he sat down. The tie came loose with a small hoof movement, and the stallion popped the cork from the bottle with a grimace.
"I was going to anyways."
The mare sighed and continued her unbreaking stare at the floor. They remained silent, lost in their thoughts for a while. The car shuttering just slightly made them break from their trances, and likewise made the stallion take a small sip from the bottle. A very quiet sentence broke the silence.
"Nearly thirty bits for one of those."
"Is that all this is about?" The stallion snapped. "Is that all you got from tonight? I spend too much?"
The mare looked up, for the first time since they had entered the vehicle.
"What if I think you do?"
"I don't! And so what if I do? Tonight was supposed to be about more than that!"
"Oh, don't you start with what tonight was 'supposed' to be."
"What then? What do you want me to say?"
"I would prefer you say nothing!"
Ferocity grew into the mare's eyes, silencing the stallion as her voice escalated equally. The stallion took another sip from the bottle, a longer one, and frowned bitterly.
"I never should have asked."
He said, looking away. The mare returned her gaze to the floor, unsure of what to respond with. The car jolted again, which was startling to the passengers, as the vehicles had been made to ensure a very comfortable, smooth ride.
"I just can't help but think that..."
The mare looked up. The stallion had a tear running down his cheek as he took in a shaky breath.
"Maybe we were doomed from the start."
"Don't say that." The mare quietly returned. "I don't think you're in any place to say that. We were fine to start. You stopped trying."
The stallion turned his head to face the mare head on, the hurt truly apparent in his eyes alone.
"How...how could you say that?"
"It's the truth, that's how."
"The truth?" The stallion huffed, leaning forward. "The truth, that what you want? Alright. The truth is, I've been laying everything down for this relationship. I've been doing everything to make sure we have a good life together, and I'm met with a wall! A blank wall!"
"All you ever did was buy me something shiny and pretty thinking it would help, like it would just magically fix whatever was wrong! Then when it didn't, you walked away!"
"Well at least I came back!"
The stallion's words seemed to stun, almost horrify the mare.
"I came back every time, I never left for more than an hour. It was time to think, time we needed apart for the sake of not killing each other. You don't know what it is to just be left alone!"
Open-mouthed, the mare sat for a second before turning to her right and staring at the floor again. Finally, she stood, silently, and walked to the front of the vehicle.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm getting off at the next stop."
"The next stop isn't for another few miles."
"Well then I'll get off there, won't I?"
As bitterly spat out as they were, the words were true. These autonomous vehicles were meant to take passengers from the top or bottom of the mountain to the opposite destination. There were eight total stops along the way, at certain shops or observation platforms that had been set up. The car was soon approaching a turn, the last it would make for a while. It would finally reach Pegasus Paceway, a nickname given to the longest, straightest stretch of road the trip had to offer. Often times Pegasi would race the cars as they raced down the stretch, proving quite a challenge for some. The mare tapped the console and pressed one of the buttons requesting a stop, and the panel flashed red quickly. The mare looked puzzled for a second, then tapped the button again. When she muttered softly to herself, the stallions gaze shifted.
"Come again?"
"Nothing."
"Can't figure it out?"
"I know what to do, it isn't working."
The stallion stood up and walked over to the panel. He tried the button and was met with the same red flash.
"That's weird. Hold on."
"What, you think you can just fix it? Does the memory of the garbage disposal come to mind?"
The sentence, though obviously intended to be malicious, brought a smile to the stallion's face.
"I had forgotten about that."
The stallion's soft chuckle was enough to break the mare's stone gaze at the floor as she returned to her seat.
"I'm sure you would've wanted to."
"Yeah. I think maybe we both would've."
"Maybe," The mare started, a tear running down her cheek. "Maybe it's good that we haven't."
"Maybe."
Accompanied by a long blink, the stallion swiped his hoof across the panel, and watched as the shutters lifted, revealing the dark sky littered by stars and city lights. He marveled at the sight for a second, his smile widening slightly. The vehicle made the turn, and a very bumpy upshift caused the stallion to wobble where he stood. He looked out the front windshield. Pegasus Paceway lay ahead of them. The car bumped as it shifted up again. The engine roared as the vehicle sped up, concerning the two occupants.
"This is as fast as these things go on here, right?"
"I, I don't remember."
"Hold on."
The stallion pressed a few more buttons on the panel, but was met with the same red flash each time. Suddenly, a message appeared as the car shifted up once more. Every light in the car lights shut off as quickly as they had come on, and the message dissapeared, leaving nothing but the dim glow provided by the stars and moon.
"What just happened?"
The stallion stood silently for a second before turning to the mare, his face barely lit by the bright moonlight.
"Autonomy control lost."
The words came slow and hard, like hit after hit from a sledgehammer. The mare's pupils dialated, and she slid further into a laying position on the seat, resting her head down.
"Does...does that mean-"
"Once we hit the end of the road-"
"We..."
The mare began to break into a small sobbing fit, and the stallion made his way over after grabbing two more bottles from the fridge.
"Listen, listen."
The stallion set the bottles down and knelt in front of the mare, lifting her head with a hoof.
"It's alright. We're gonna be fine."
"Fine? We're gonna be fine? What do you-"
"Shh, shh. Just, take one of these."
The stallion gave one of the bottles to the mare, who took it in shaky hooves and removed the cork with her mouth.
"Hey. To the memories we had."
The stallion raised his bottle close to the mare's face, and she smiled just slightly as she made hers connect. Only a few minutes passed, and many bottles drained. The car continued to race along the strip of road, creating a blur of black and white across all windows around the two ponies. On the seat they sat, together, holding each other closely. There were tears fallen, and thoughts finally spoken, as they sat embraced in what they felt were the most important moments they had.
"I'm sorry this didn't all work out the way you wanted."
"Hey, hey, don't worry about that. Right now, we, we have to think about the good stuff. Everything we had that, maybe we took for granted."
"If, if you asked again..."
The mare sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes, moving her head to meet the stallion's equally teary gaze. Her words came almost inaudibly, through tears of heartbreak.
"It wouldn't go the way it did. I promise."
The stallion smiled slightly and pulled the mare into a warm hug. Her tears fell with such frequency that the stallion felt them drip down his back.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
A few faint laughs were whole-heartedly emitted as the embrace continued. As if to backdrop the moment, the sparkling city loomed in the distance as the vehicle launched itself from atop the mountain.
