Run That Race

6TH NOVEMBER 2023

------THUNDERBOLT MOTORSPORTS HEADQUARTERS, CANTERLOT CITY------

It was 7:00pm in Canterlot City. Today was a big day for Thunderbolt Motorsports. It would be the day that Sunset would be revealed as their second driver, and the winner of RaceWorld Academy. It was probably going to shock the world, that both of Thunderbolt's drivers were women, since racing was mainly male-dominated, but that was the point of this team. It was to show that you didn't big money to race, and anyone, even women, could race if they just had the skills, no matter if it was in the virtual world or in real life. It was to take racing away from the rich guys.

Sunset was already at the Thunderbolt HQ, getting ready. She would walk up onto the stage in her racing suit, and then, take off the helmet, revealing her face and identity. This would be livestreamed on multiple social media sites, and multiple sites about motorsports would also be covering it as well. Sunset had also seen multiple discussions on online forums talking about whether someone with only video game experience should be allowed to compete, while streamers and influencers were talking about how this showed that video games weren't useless after all.

All in all, this was taking the Internet and the motorsports world by storm, and Sunset was going to reveal her face today, the person behind the controversy. She was going to break some of the gender, wealth, and experience barriers of motorsports. Apart from her and her teammate, Hot Rocket, of the 20 drivers on the grid, there was only one other female driver, who was driving for Nissan, if Sunset remembered correctly.

Sunset was in one of the backstage areas, getting ready to come out onto the stage of the indoor arena where the event had been set up. She was already in her racing suit, albeit without her helmet, and could hear the audience, waiting to be appeased. She was wondering how the crowd would react when they saw her face. As Sunset relaxed behind stage, a woman walked into her room. Sunset instantly knew her, although they hadn't met before. It was her new teammate, Hot Rocket. They hadn't met before, but Sunset had heard great things about her, as she had heard that she was a local champion in her home country of Brazil.

"Pleased to meet you, Sunset Shimmer." said Hot Rocket, in a thick Portuguese accent, as she held her hand out to Sunset for her to shake.

"Pleased to meet you, Hot Rocket. Guess we're teammates for this season, huh?" said Sunset, shaking Hot Rocket's hand.

"We are, companheiro de equipe. That means teammate in Portuguese, if you're wondering. I'll just let you know in advance, the others aren't going to be too kind to us out there. I'm being nice only because we're both girl drivers, but the others won't. We'll be on our own. The only people we can depend on are our team." said Hot Rocket.

"I know. It's a little better here in the US, but in other countries, its only now that women are getting into motorsports."

"Tell me about that. My família, back in Brasil, thought I was crazy to get into motorsports, and told me that as a girl, I would never succeed. Look at me now!"

"I know, right! Your family is probably happy and shocked at the same time!"

"Actually, they disowned me after I went into the world of racing. I haven't talked to them, oh, in five years now."

"Wait, what?! You haven't talked to your family in five years?"

"Yeah, but it's honestly been okay without them around. They would have purposely asked Surfer to kick me off the team, as I was putting myself in too much risk. What about your folks, huh? Did they approve of you being into motorsports?"

Sunset thankfully had a response to this question, one that she had used multiple times, as her own parents were ponies back in Equestria. "Well, I actually grew up in the foster system, since I never knew my own parents."

"Oh my! I'm so sorry! Did you ever find out who your family were?"

"No, and I never wanted to. Why would I want to find the people who abandoned me?" asked Sunset. "Currently, the closest I have to family are my friends from school."

"I see. Do they know you got selected to drive with us?"

"No. They just texted me telling me that they will join the livestream, so they will find out soon. They'll support me, no matter what."

"You know, I was talking with Comet Flash yesterday, about the impending delivery of our cars, and he mentioned that you seem to have quite the ability to read your vehicle. He told me about the glazed brake incident during training. I believe him. You really seem to be able to read your car better than even some World Champion racers, he says."

"Wait, what?! He actually said that?" asked a shocked Sunset.

"Yeah, he did. He feels you can actually make some waves out on the track, enough to terrify Rich Racing, apparently."

"Huh. In training, he said that he was there to prove that we couldn't do what we had come to do, and that we couldn't make it out there. He was quite rude to most of us."

"He's like that at first, because you guys were trying to do something that had never been done before. He's actually a pretty nice person, once you get to know him. There are some things he'll probably never discuss with you, like why he quit racing. I've tried. Don't bother. Anyways, you have to go on stage soon. Soaring Surfer is busy speaking, you better get ready." said Hot Rocket, as Surfer was speaking.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have all been waiting for. Our new driver is coming onto the stage, and you will find our driver quite dashing. Please welcome her to the stage!" said Surfer, as Sunset put on her helmet, put the visor down, and came onto the stage, her face fully hidden by her helmet. The crowd went wild, as Sunset came onto the stage, welcoming everyone, hands in the air.

"All right, let's see her face, shall we?" said Surfer, and give Sunset a subtle cue to take off the helmet. Sunset instantly opened the visor, showing the audience her eyes, which were full of determination. As the audience ooh'd and aah'd, wondering what would the face on which those pretty eyes looked like, Sunset began removing her helmet, and the cameras began clicking. When Sunset fully took the helmet off, revealing her face, the crowd went wild.

As they began going crazy, Surfer began to speak again. "Meet Sunset Shimmer. She's a high-school student, only 17 years old, but she kicks ass out there on the track. Take a look at some of her driving during our training sessions, as a video began playing on the large projector screen that had been set up. Footage began playing on it, taken from outside and inside Sunset's car when she was racing at RaceWorld Academy. The footage was real, and it showed some of her best moments, such as her recovering from the spin that Sonata had bumped her into, and her drifting to make overtakes.

By the time the footage compilation ended, the audience was cheering and going crazy, and then, Surfer said, "Now, I'm going to allow Miss Shimmer to speak a few words to you all and answer some of your questions. Then, we'll sign the contract, and we also have a little teaser for you at the end." That last sentence made the crowd begin wondering what the teaser was.

Then, Surfer handed off the microphone to Sunset, who then began speaking. "Dear attendees, thanks for coming here today. I'm not the traditional definition of a racing driver, you know, being a girl, and someone who hasn't had any real on-track experience until I got selected into RaceWorld Academy, but that's what I'm here to do. I'm here to change the definition of who can be a racer. I'm here to prove the impossible is possible. In recent years, racing has become more corrupt, thanks to unskilled racers with lots of money, bribery and what not. I'm here to show that you don't need to be rich to enter racing, and also that video games can be useful after all."

Most of the audience chuckled at that, but all of the gamers, as well as those from gaming news sites, began cheering at that, happy that such it was finally being proved. As Sunset continued, "So, no matter what game you play, what cars you prefer, if you use wheel or keyboard or controller, if you play on PC or console, gamers, ASSEMBLE! We're all in this together!" shouted Sunset, making of all the gamers cheer once more, all at once, uniting to support one of their comrades.
"That's all I have to say. Thank you, and GOOD NIGHT!" shouted Sunset, ending off her talk, with much applause, as she headed off the stage.

As she left the stage, a new video began playing on the projector screen. The screen at first was completely dark, but then, the roar of an engine was heard, and two circular lights came on the screen. The lights of a Porsche 911. Then, some lettering came up on the screen. All it read was 'Coming Soon...' This made everyone cheer again, realising that the team would soon reveal their car.

"You heard it here, folks! We will be revealing our car next month! 14th December 2023, we will be unveiling our car! You heard it here first, folks! Thank you, and good night!" said Surfer, ending the event, as the crowd cheered one last time, filling the night with noise. It was now 9:00pm. Backstage, Sunset was happy. The crowd seemed to like her. Hopefully, she could beat Rich Racing this season.