Epilogue
A couple of days had passed since the funeral, which still didn’t feel real even after attending it. Since then I took the week off, mostly to grieve, but also to try and get back into normal routine again. My luck seemed to stabilize after ruining my car with the stupid amount of nitrous I sprayed, which to my misfortune, meant I no longer had a usable vehicle.
I stretched out one of my hooves, admiring the beautiful sunset as I did so. My conscience told me to turn around and head back the way I came once I saw an the old warehouse come into view, but I shoved that advice back where it came from. Had it not been for one of the drivers from Payout telling me someone wanted to meet me, I wouldn’t have shown up, but I’ll trust the word of any driver that Morning Mist invites to race.
“You couldn’t have picked some place closer,” I muttered crossly. The sun hit my eyes a moment later, but my hoodie sleeve shielded me from the light as I found my way to the warehouse door. Jiggling the knob, I hit the door a bit trying to budge it, but managed to knock the door knob off instead.
Moving my sleeve over the dust-tinted window, I peered inside to find the garage door on the other side was open in front of what I could only assume was a rusted car left to rot. I pushed off from the window, slowly trotting around to the garage door where I ate crow. Instead of finding a rusted piece of crap, I found a beautiful blood red Holden Monaro GTS resting peacefully near several tool crates.
“It’s a work in progress, but I think I did a good job thus far,” said a mare from behind me. Before I could turn to see who it was, the mare stepped in front of me, setting a tool box by her side. Her puffy mane stood out to me right away. “So,” Silver Shoe said grabbing a wrench, “Morning Mist told me about that filly you were driving for. I’m sorry for your loss, I’m sure she meant a lot to you.”
Silver Shoe was the last pony I expected to meet. My tolerance level for her wasn’t going to reach as far as it normally did. “Look,” I said with my hoof close to my climbing axe, “If you came to make fun of me, or give me some arrogant shit talk, I don’t want to hear it.”
Low cranks from the wrench echoed around the warehouse before Silver Shoe finally decided to say something. “Sky,” she said in what I assumed was her most calming tone, “I know I talk shit about you a lot during race nights, but that’s when we’re out trying to prove we’re the best drivers.” She paused, taking the brief moment to scratch her head before saying, “Runner Up told me that I had to offer this to you, because he wants to make sure I can play nice with you.”
“Did he tell the kitty to put her claws away,” I retorted with a smug smile.
She tried not to laugh, but Silver couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “Alright, I’ll let you have that one,” she said while packing up the toolbox into the car’s trunk, “But seriously, we figured you have a lot of bills to finish paying and we can help you out. So you want to come along, or what?”
Moments stretched into a few minutes while I thought this over. Silver Shoe didn’t seem to mind, she took the time to check the car, making sure it was in driving condition before starting it up. “If it helps,” she said with a smile, “Runner told me to tell you he owes you a hard cider shake.”
I laughed and shook my head, part me of couldn’t believe he actually remembered that bet. With a nod, I said to her, “Then fill me in on the way back into town.”
Her eyes lit up like a firecracker, she pulled me over to the driver's seat, slapping the keys into my hoof with enough force it hurt just a little. She slid over the hood saying, “You looked confused? What, you thought I was going to drive this piece of shit, Holden?”
A long sigh escaped me as I brought a hoof to my face responding with, “This is going to be a long drive, isn’t it?” I pulled my hoof away to see an evil smug smile stretched across her face. Something told me this was going to be some form of initiation. “Fine,” I said with a mental groan, “Tell me what’s up.”