Running of the Leaves

by Lucid

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Alternate Universe
Length: 773

A cross-country race, with a twist. There are lives on the line.

Gear Ratio is your normal pony, living in this modern Equestria. Until one night of drinking starts him on the path to an adventure he will not soon forget.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-01-04 20:02:13 UTC

Introduction

0700 December 24th

Stalliongrad

Ever have one of those nights that you will never remember? I had one two nights ago, and somehow ended up getting myself into a situation that I can't get out of. But, before I fill you in on what happened, let me tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Gear Ratio, and I am a unicorn. My cutie mark is that of a set of three cogs, signifying my mechanical engineering special talent. That being said, my passion is cars. I'm not really a driver though, my profession is that of a mechanic. Ponies come in with a car and I fix it, whether it needs a simple oil change or a complete overhaul. That's pretty much all you need to know about me, now, on to my situation, or at least what I've been told. As I said, I can't really remember much.

That night I was in a bar in Stalliongrad called the Bannered Mare. I was in there to meet a friend, but then something happened. I'm not exactly sure what happened, all I know is that I woke up in a garage on the outskirts of the city the next morning. Now I'm freaking out at this point, thinking that I had angered the wrong group of ponies, such as the mob, and they were going to torture me. But after a while of nopony coming at me with a power drill or magic, I began to get curious. So I started to look around the garage when I got a big surprise. Sitting out front, gleaming in the sunlight was a 1971 EMC Javelin, painted a menecing shade of black. At least it would be menecing if it didn't have my ugly mug on the hood. Yeah, it had a picture of me on it, so I assumed it was mine. Stupid? Yes, but what other explanation was there? As I slid behind the wheel, I saw a note taped to the dashboard, it read:

Here's the car you requested. We made all the adjustments that you asked for. Now remember, we have your family, so if you don't win the Running of the Leaves, you   can say goodbye.

~Red Moon

It was at this point that I realized just how badly I had screwed up the previous night. Of course, I had no idea if he was telling the truth about my family, so I had to go along with it. I was wondering what this Running of the Leaves was when I saw a flyer in the passenger seat. Apparently it was a cross-country race from Stalliongrad to Ponyville, with the grand prize being one million bits and a one-off Ferrarity 458. I couldn't care less about the prize though, as I was racing for my family, and I just had to win. Though, I began to wonder if this car was the best for the job. After all, it wasn't made for the kind of racing that I thought was ahead of me. But, it was all I had. And the race was to begin the next morning.

And now, I find myself at the start line, with less then ten minutes to go. What will happen, I don't know. What I do know, is that it will be quite a wild ride.

Authors Note

This is my first ever MLP fanfiction, hopefully it will be enjoyable.

Now, before we begin, here are some notes on the setting and general information.

First of all, the race itself is going to be played out in a video game called Forza Motorsport. With each chapter, I am going to do a race around a certain track a certain number of times, and I shall be recording what happens. For instance, if I crash in the game, I will write about the crash, at least unless it's crippling. But, that's probably not going to be interesting enough, so I am also going to be writing about other things that happen as well. Like maybe he gets robbed, or his car is stolen. The ideas for that I shall leave up to whoever reads it, which probably won't be very many people.

Secondly, the story itself takes place in Equestria, just an alternate reality that is on par with modern Earth, just a little bit different. The cars will more then likely remain the same in terms of names.

Thirdly, if you see any spelling or grammar mistakes, feel free to point them out.

Lastly, comments and criticisms are more then welcome, as long as they are constructive.