We all know that Apple Lauda is a uncompromising racing driver with a ruthless personality on the track... well unless he's racing with a friend... He has won another championship title in his racing class and is now soon to go into off season.
His mood during the season went from "come on, I will destroy you all" to "I just want this season to finally end" in matter of months. His teammates noticed his change in behavior before and after a race, like something is missing.
"Apple Lauda, are you okay?" Double Diamond asks.
"yeah, I am fine" Apple Lauda answers in a slightly depressed tone.
"you can't tell me that you are okay Apple Lauda, you say this like every 4th race.... something is clearly wrong with you, and no matter what... We'll go through this together" Sugar Belle says.
Apple Lauda hesitates, looking at Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, Party Favor and Night Glider.
"you know... I just miss somepony very much..." Apple Lauda admits.
"who is it? do we know him or her?" Night Glider says.
"you know her pretty well" Apple Lauda says, looking down sadly on the ground. Little does he know, Starlight is watching the interaction through her projector that she got after the Storm King was defeated.
"no, don't tell me..." Double Diamond says as he realizes who he means. "do you mean Starlight?!"
Apple Lauda could swear he's about to cry. He tries to hold the tears back, but he starts crying.
"hey, why don't you pay her an visit hm?" Night Glider softly says, putting an comforting hoof on Apple Lauda's back.
"I bet she will be happy about your visit" Party Favor says.
"but, the season is so long and I don't even know when she's available..." Apple Lauda says, crying more and more. He soon sits down as Twilight joins them.
"What's going on here?" Twilight asks curiously, seeing Apple Lauda crying.
"he misses Starlight" Double Diamond explains. "I know how close they are as friends and I also know that Silverstream is his girlfriend. Silverstream usually sits in the grandstands but the tickets for a race can be expensive and that's why she's here like every 7th race weekend."
"And we know Starlight has her duties as the principal of the school of friendship, we highly respect that, but in the long term..." Party Favor says, looking at Apple Lauda. "it's not healthy..."
guilt overcomes Apple Lauda. "I could have like I don't know... visit her during a break between classes, but it's not possible because of logistics and such"
"look, the season is now over and post season testing is done too, so you can go visit her, spend some time with her, etc." Twilight suggests.
"I... I'll visit her tomorrow..." Apple Lauda says.
The next day, Apple Lauda makes his way towards the Castle of Friendship in Ponyville. As he approaches the castle, he feels anxious, unsure and sort of depressed. Soon, he enters the castle and makes his way to Starlight's room.
Twilight and the rest of the mane 6 aren't around because they are going on a friendship mission, leaving Starlight alone in the castle.
Apple Lauda approaches Starlight's door and knocks on it. Hoofsteps can be heard as Starlight approaches the door to answer it.
Starlight opens the door and looks at Apple Lauda, who looks sort of depressed because of how long he hasn't seen her.
"Apple Lauda, oh my goodness how are you doing?" Starlight asks, excited to see her close friend.
"well... I have won a championship as you probably saw..." Apple Lauda responds in a depressed tone.
"well congratulations to that but... are you okay?" Starlight says, noticing the depressed expression on Apple Lauda's face.
"I am just fine" Apple Lauda says, but Starlight immediately knows he's lying to himself.
"please, come in" Starlight says happily, but concerned at the same time. She knows her friend so well like Apple Lauda knows the Nürburgring.
Apple Lauda gets into Starlight's room and sits down on her bed. Starlight sits down next to him.
Starlight looks at Apple Lauda, knowing he might cry in the next split second and puts a comforting hoof on his back.
"you missed me, did you?" Starlight asks, smiling softly. Apple Lauda fights his tears as if he would drive his cart stuck in 6th gear.
Apple Lauda nods. "I really missed you... GlimGlam"
Starlight smiles more. "I like that nickname, Magic"
Apple Lauda couldn't hold his tears back anymore and bursts into tears. Starlight quickly catches him and hugs him.
"hey, hey shhh... ssshhh.... it's okay, it's okay, I'm here... I'm not going anywhere magic" Starlight says, caressing Apple Lauda's back softly.
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I MISSED YOU GLIM GLAM!!!!" Apple Lauda shouts, crying at the top of his lungs. "I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN A YEAR!!! ALL BECAUSE OF MY CAREER!!! HONESTLY, I WANT TO QUIT RACING!!!" Apple Lauda screams. Starlight gasps
"why? only because of me? hey, it's your passion to race, you are designed to race, you are designed to win!!!" Starlight says, trying desperately to calm her friend down, but it's no use.
Starlight just holds Apple Lauda tightly in her embrace whilst Apple Lauda clings onto her for dear life. If it was Silverstream, he would have totally broken down and eventually collapsed under the sheer emotions he's experiencing right now.
"please keep racing" Starlight softly says.
"NO!!!!!" Apple Lauda yells.
"for me" Starlight responds. This makes Apple Lauda go silent, knowing he still wants to race, but he wants to see Starlight more often again.
Soon, Twilight and the rest of the mane 6 return and they hear Apple Lauda's painful sobs.
"oh my..." Fluttershy says
"why is Apple Lauda crying?" Rainbow Dash asks.
"did something bad happen? like a fatal accident or so?" Applejack asks.
"but the last time we saw him, he was joyful, full of energy" Pinkie says.
"hearing him cry hurts a lot" Rarity says.
"that's because he missed Starlight so much" Twilight explains. "His racing schedule is so tight that he has not even the slightest amount of time to visit Starlight."
"Ooooohhh..." everypony says in realization, except for Twilight, Starlight and Apple Lauda.
"but for the best, I think we leave them their space... they need to catch up some bit you know" Twilight says, smiling.
Eventually, the crying subsides and turn into shaky sobs.
"There you go Apple Lauda, nice and easy.... deep breaths..." Starlight says.
"GlimGlam?" Apple Lauda asks.
"yes Magic?" Starlight says.
"I missed you so much..." Apple Lauda says, sobbing a bit.
"I missed you too" Starlight responds.
BONUS CHAPTER: San Mareino GP
After the events of reuniting with Starlight Glimmer, Apple Lauda has made his way to San Mareino for a race in the Cart 1 category. The circuit contains a long left hander that can be taken flat out.
Starlight is on the grid with Apple Lauda standing next to his cart. Silverstream joins Starlight and talk to Apple Lauda for a while.
As the 1 minute call is made, Silverstream gives Apple Lauda a good luck kiss and then heads to the pits.
"Apple Lauda, good luck for this one" Starlight Glimmer says, Apple Lauda nods and responds saying "thanks Starlight, I will need it"
But something is wrong... Haven't something similar happen in an alternate universe before?
The race starts and Apple Lauda gets away well, leading the race with Senna in P2, Schumacher in P3.
Apple Lauda looks in his mirror, seeing the other Williams and the Benetton in his mirror. Something isn't right...
After a moment, a crash has occurred at the back of the grid. A safety cart phase has been triggered.
"oh gosh... I hope they are okay..." Apple Lauda says worried.
"they're okay, don't worry" Night Glider says.
But Apple Lauda knows what will happen in lap 7 of the race... Like his instincts tell him to retire for good.
"COME ON HURRY UP!!!!" Apple Lauda yells. "MY TYRES ARE GETTING COLD"
"we know Apple Lauda, it's ridiculous that it's going this slow" Party Favor says.
After a while, the safety cart phase ends and Apple Lauda accelerates back to racing speeds. It's lap 5 in the race.
The race progresses normally with Apple Lauda, Speeding Schumacher and Ailton Senna in the top 3, however the most critical lap is about to approach.
In lap 6, the battle for the lead intensifies. Apple Lauda pushes his cart to it's limits through the technical section of the track.
But then... They approach the infamous lap 7. Apple Lauda keeps the throttle pinned to the floor, and approaches the Tamburello corner.
Suddenly, his cart goes straight and hits the concrete wall at 220 km/h in an 45° angle. Starlight, her friends and Silverstream are in utterly shock.
"Apple Lauda who has won the championship last year has good chance to defend his title if he is successful again as always" the commentator says.
"well now, you can see the onboard of Speeding..." says the commentator as the pictures show Apple Lauda's cart go straight.
"AND THAT'S A SEVERE ACCIDENT FOR LAUDA!!!! FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE!!! LAUDA CRASH IN THE TAMBURELLO CORNER!!!!" the commentator yells in shock.
Everything goes silent as Apple Lauda got knocked unconscious. But after a moment, the medical team arrives, and help Apple Lauda out of his cart after he regained consciousness.
Apple Lauda got brought to the hospital were minor injuries were diagnosed.
After a few weeks in hospital, Apple Lauda is back on the track, chasing the next title.
Author's Note
Chapter inspired by the 1994 San Marino GP
Rest in Peace Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger
