Tempest Shadow pulled into a Honda Dealership with her silver First Generation Mercury Topaz Sedan, parking in front of the building and putting the car into neutral before killing the engine and getting out.
Wearing her black armor, she made her way into the surprisingly vacant building. She only spotted one other pony in the building. A stallion sitting behind the desk typing away at a computer.
Taking a moment to look around the dealership, she found that it was unlike most dealerships she had seen. It didn't have five coats of polish anywhere and had a nice smell. It felt cozy. Fitting for the small town she was in.
"Hello. Can I help you?"
Tempest looked back at the stallion who was now sitting up straight with a welcoming smile. She sighed as she walked over.
Might as well get it over with. She thought. "I'm here for a car."
The stallion nodded. "Of course. Any preferences?"
Tempest knew exactly what sort of car she wanted. "I want something sporty but practical for a single mare. Preferably with a manual transmission."
"What sort of practicality?"
"Practical for a single mare." She repeated. "I've also heard of this technology called VTEC. It sounds interesting, so I would like to get something that has it."
"Hm. Mhm... alright. Feel free to look around while I finish this up."
Tempest said nothing as the stallion typed away at the computer. Her eyes wandered over at two cars parked in the building. One was... very odd to be parked in a Honda dealership. It looked like a Ferrari. It was red, had Retractable Headlights, a low-slung design, was clearly mid-engined judging by the front, and had a very good looking rear spoiler.
"Interested in the NSX?" The stallion asked.
Tempest remained neutral as she continued to stare at the NSX. "No. I'm not looking for something like that. I'm just surprised to find this kind of a car in a Honda dealership."
"Hm. Well, we have it."
Tempest continued to say nothing as she walked over to the other two cars parked within the building. The first was a white Acura Integra Type R. Nothing special. A coupe model with minimal options. She momentarily wondered why an Acura was in a Honda dealership before remembering that Acura was a subsidiary of Honda.
She remembered the specs of an Integra R from the research she had done on the high-performance Honda's.
It made just under 200HP with around 130 lb-ft of torque coming from a 1.8 Liter, DOHC VTEC Inline 4. It weighed a little under 1200kg and had a front-engined, front-wheel-drive layout.
She examined it thoroughly, taking in every detail. Every imperfection in the paint. The Integra seemed to almost shudder under her intense gaze as she went to open the driverside door.
"Oh- hey, you can't do that." The stallion warned as she opened the door.
"Why?" she asked, looking at him.
"Because it's not meant to be touched. It's a showcase car."
Tempest glanced back at the interior before shutting the door with a hoof, creating a loud thunk. The Integra seemed nice and all. Great gas mileage and, again, VTEC, but there was another car in the room. A Berry Purple coupe with a boxy design.
She slowly walked over to the car, examining its features. It has a two-tone metallic paintjob. Berry Purple took over most of the car, while the lower third was a nice dark shade of gunmetal grey. The wiremesh wheels matched the grey and created a satisfying two-tone look.
Looking at the front, she saw a pair of retractable headlights. She had always wanted something with retractable headlights. Something about them was just so enticing to her. The way they flipped up and down, created the best look for 98% of cars.
As she began walking around the car, she clocked that it was a Third Generation Prelude. A very modest but peppy little car. Not like the ever-popular Civic of course. It looked very nice in purple.
Despite her intent gaze and her shark-like circling, the car showed no fear. She could feel it. She knew it. It had not a single bit of scratched paint or unfinished panels. It was in perfect condition.
"You..." a male voice slowly said.
Tempest stopped and looked over at the stallion who had walked over.
The stallion gulped as he noticed Tempest's broken horn. "You wouldn't be part of the military... would you?" he asked, noting Tempest's outfit.
The mare stared at him, silently saying what do you think?. She noted the nametag on his chest which said 'Pine'.
Pine took an involuntary step back. "Spec Ops?"
"..."
"..."
"Um..." He cleared his throat. "I uh, see that you are interested in the SiStates."
Tempest didn't move. "SiStates?"
"Uh, yeah. The uh, Prelude that you're looking at. I-It's a special model. The SiStates."
Tempest looked back at the Prelude. "Elaborate."
"On... w-what?"
"Specifications. Power, Weight, Engine, Suspension."
Pine took a breath. "Well..." he slowly began. "He has 220 horsepower with 150 hoof pounds of torque coming from a G25 2.5 Liter Inline Five."
Tempest raised a brow, continuing to stare at the Prelude. "He?"
"My boss told us to refer to the Prelude as a male. He likes giving genders to cars. So... yeah. Don't ask me, ask him."
Tempest pushed the thought to the side. "Continue. Specifications."
Pine took another breath.
"The G25 is specially tuned for the SiStates. It's of Dual OverHead Camshaft 4 Valve per cylinder design, with the extra addition of VTEC. It is mated to a five-speed manual transmission."
"Naturally Aspirated?"
"Y-Yes."
"Hm. Suspension?"
"Um... it has front MacPherson Struts with rear Multilink suspension with rear steering."
That caught Tempest by surprise. "Rear Steering?" She asked, looking back to see Pine holding a clipboard.
"The rear wheels steer." He looked down at the clipboard. "When the steering wheel is turned less than 246 degrees, the rear wheels steer the same as the front wheels via a steering gearbox in the back connected to the front steering linkage. If it is more than that, the rear steering goes the opposite way."
Tempest looked back at the car. Everything about it seemed so enticing. 220 Horsepower was a huge step up from the pitiful 76HP the piece of scrap known as the Topaz had. And the rear steering sounded good to have. Not to mention those ever-enticing retractable headlights...
"Hm..." She rubbed her chin, pondering whether or not she should go through with it. "Do you offer test drives?"
"Um- O-Of course! Of c-course we do. I'll get another SiStates from storage."
"No." Tempest quietly snapped as Pine turned to walk away.
Pine looked back. "No?"
Tempest pointed at the Prelude. "I want to drive this one."
"Uhh..." Pine looked unsure of himself. "I don't think my boss will like that. It's supposed to be a show car."
The stallion was met with a cold and deathly stare.
"B-But I'm sure he'll make an exception for somepony in..." He gulped. "Special Operations..."
Tempest watched Pine as he ran through a STAFF ONLY door. She patiently waited for a few moments before Pine ran back out, stopping in front of her and holding out a car key. "H-Here."
She silently nodded and took the keys with a hoof, turning around and easily unlocking and opening the left door. She slowly sat down in the driver's seat, settling in and looking straight ahead.
Hm... The sightline is perfect, she thought.
Before Pine could say anything, she turned the keys and started the Inline 5. It smoothly revved up to 2000RPM before slowly dropping to idle. The tone felt nice. It was a tone unattainable by any four-banger.
"Um, you're not supposed to start a car in here," Pine said, earning a glare from Tempest that said 'Well how about you tell me how to get out of here then?'.
Tempest flicked the left blinker on, waiting for a few cars to pass before pulling out onto the road. She smiled, noting how little she had to press the pedal to attain the acceleration she wanted. The 2.5 Liter Straight-Five was a massive step-up from the 2.3 Liter Inline 4 in terms of power and efficiency. She liked it.
The suspension felt amazing. It was firm, responsive, once again a huge step-up from the Topaz's worn-down softly sprung suspension. And that smell... that new car smell... it was something you cannot put into words. There was simply nothing quite like driving a brand new car.
She decided to head into a congested part of downtown. Going through traffic, she didn't need to look to know ponies were looking at and admiring her car. The tinted windows hid the interior, but that didn't stop ponies from trying to get a look inside.
The clutch felt great as she stopped and started. Again, better than the Topaz's clutch. It felt firm, though also a bit lighter. The lighter weight required her to feather the clutch and engage the throttle sooner, or else risk stalling.
Feeling satisfied with how the clutch felt, she exited downtown and turned onto the nearby highway, much more eager than she'd like to admit to see how fast the car accelerated.
vrrooooOOOOOOOm- vrooooooooooOOOOOOOOm- vrooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOm-
Tempest felt her heart flutter like a turbo as she floored it, hearing the VTEC kick in. The acceleration pushed the unprepared mare back in her seat, causing her to lose grip of the steering wheel for a second. The speedometer climbed quickly as she rolled through the gears as fast as she could.
40,50,60,70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120,
126 Miles Per Hour was about where she backed off. She rocketed past Cars and Trucks, earning angry honks from two or three of them. The horns sounded more funny than annoying. One second they were high pitched, while the next they were low pitched.
She lightly pressed on the brakes and gushed over how responsive and strong they were. In the Topaz, she would have had to press long and hard to slow down from this speed. Of course, that waste of metal could never hope to reach 126MPH unless it was on a steep downhill grade, but theoretically speaking, the single-piston front disk brakes and rear drum brakes would suck for slowing down quickly.
"Going that fast felt... good." Tempest slowly admitted as she slowed to a brisk 65MPH.
Not wanting to travel too far from the town, she pulled off and quickly used an underpass to turn around and head back. She once again cherished the newfound power and acceleration, already deciding to get the car. But there was one thing she had not yet tested about the car.
Handling.
And not just any sort of handling. Handling in the harshest of conditions, the hardest of turns, she wanted to test how good it was in a place of sharp, narrow corners and straightaways. A place where she could test how well it could switch from hard acceleration to hard braking, to hard steering, back to hard acceleration in a single corner and straightaway, over and over.
Now what kind of a road could fill that role?
High up on a mountain, Tempest steered around a corner, sticking to the right side. Again, the suspension felt great. Great. She could feel the rear steering working, allowing a sharper turn with less effort. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't having fun with the corners. Feeling the G-Forces swaying her from side to side, forcing her to use her left hind leg to brace herself against the door, it felt nice.
A minivan drove in the opposite direction, momentarily taking her eyes off the straight road ahead. This caused her eyes to fall on the rearview mirror, where she saw another car catching up to her. Fast.
Remaining silent, she steered around another corner and eyed the rearview again, trying to figure out what car was currently drifting around the corner in opposite lanes. Well, not drifting. Powersliding was the better term considering the car was banging off the rev limiter throughout the whole thing.
Moron. She thought.
From what she gathered as the silver car straightened out, swaying heavily from side to side, it was a late iteration of a Notchback Foxbody Mustang. The sound of a 3.8 Liter V6 roared from the engine bay.
Where is a cop when you need them? Tempest wondered as the Mustang accelerated past her, braking and powersliding into a left corner ahead of her. She steered around the corner in time to see the Mustang drifting into another corner just ahead.
She growled. "Alright if nopony else is going to put this idiot in his place, then I will."
vrrooOOOOOOOM!- VROOOOO
The G25 roared with fury from the engine bay as VTEC kicked in again. Tempest properly braced herself as the acceleration pushed her into her seat. She let off the throttle to regain front traction, quickly steering around a corner and seeing the Mustang accelerate ahead.
She braced her leg against the door as the Prelude rocketed around a corner, turning like it was on rails. Exiting the corner, she quickly caught up to and tailed the Mustang through a left corner. The Mustang powerslid while she gripped directly behind it like a shadow.
The moment the corner ended, she shifted gears and pinned the throttle open, swerving and immediately overtaking the Mustang despite its attempts to outpace her.
Tires squealed as she went into a corner, letting off the gas to induce oversteer and drift the Prelude, a FWD by the way, through the inside and accelerate out. She eyed the rearview mirror to spot the Mustang quickly disappearing from view.
Looking forward, she smirked.
That was fun.
Tempest walked into the dealership, a large bag of bits on her back. She eyed Pine, who was talking to another, older stallion.
"Well excuse me she- OH! Hey! There she is right there!" Pine pointed at Tempest, who remained silent. "Talk to her about it!"
The older stallion glared. "Are you the mare that took the Prelude out on an unauthorized test drive?"
"Authorized." Tempest corrected. "Your employee here gave me the keys."
"Yes, he did. But you didn't sign any contract or allow us to put a tracker on the Prelude. And look at the tires..." He noticed the thrashing the tires seemed to have received. "Oh sweet Celestia the tires..."
"Nopony told me I had to do that."
The stallion, which she assumed was the manager of the place, stood dumbfounded. "Nopony told you?"
Tempest nodded. "Anyways. How much do you want for it?"
"Beg pardon?"
"I tested it, and It suits my needs quite well even in... 'harsh' conditions. How much do you want for it?" She gestured to the Prelude parked outside.
"Uh- he isn't for sale."
Tempest remained calm. "Why?"
"Because he is a show car."
Tempest's patience was dwindling. "How much do you want for-... him?" She felt like she was about to buy a slave. Though in a way, she sort of was.
"Not for sale. You can buy one of the others."
"I would like to buy that one, thank you."
The manager growled and walked towards her. "No. Now you are going to hand me the keys. Now." He stopped inches from Tempest, glaring.
That glare vanished faster than a Top Fuel Dragster accelerating to 100MPH when he realized that Tempest was taller than most mares. In fact, she was a few centimeters taller than him.
It took everything in Tempest to remain calm. Her eyes glanced at a security camera scanning the room before looking back, thinking abou how lucky this stallion was.
"I will say this one more time." Her demeanor grew increasingly more deadly. "How. Much. Do. You. Want. For. Him."
The manager cowered as she stared daggers into his very soul. "Uh, R-R-Right this way, ma'am. I-I'll get t-the paperwork and get you a d-discount."
Soon a neutral Tempest walked out of the Dealership, Registration Paper hovering in front of her. Stopping in front of the Prelude, she lowered the paper to look at the car.
"That manager won't be causing any more trouble to anypony," she said to the Prelude. "Hm... I think I'll name you... Florence."
Author's Note
You know, I could have spent the forty minutes it took to write this writing another thing, but no. I wrote this. No clue why. I guess it's better than playing it in my head over and over.
