//------------------------------// // Driving Miss Shimmer // Story: Flash Sentry One-Shots // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Flash Sentry was walking down the corridors of Canterlot High. He arrived at his locker and opened it up, looking for the books he needed for his next class. As he did this he could not help overhearing a conversation happening only a few lockers down. "What do you mean you failed?" He looked over and saw Fluttershy standing behind him with Sunset, Applejack and Rarity besides her. He watched as Sunset handed her a sheet of paper before sighing and leaning on a locker, which she then slid down. "Mr Cranky Doodle said I didn't have enough experience to pass the driving test. I have a retest on Monday, but...it's my last chance and he wants me to practise with someone more experienced." Flash could not help feeling sorry for Sunset. He knew from experience how nervous Mr Cranky Doodle could make someone on the driving test, having failed three times himself due to nervous mistakes. He then heard Rarity make her standard brush the matter off sound. "Oh darling, is that all? I can take you anytime you like." "Don't threat ya'h fritters," he then heard Applejack step in. "I can borrow Granny's truck." "We could use my car," Fluttershy finished. Closing his locker, Flash watched as Sunset stared at her friends while trying to decide which one to go with. Of course she did not seem to be able to pick one, making Flash smile as he stepped forwards. "Hey," he said getting the four girls attention. "Sorry, couldn't help overhearing. If you want, I can take you. I know how Mr Cranky Doodle can be with the test, so I can show you exactly how to drive the way he wants you." Sunset did not look convinced at this, but the other three girls smiled. "Oh that'd be brilliant," Rarity said. Applejack nodded. "Ya'h definitely the best driver outta the four of us." Fluttershy smiled happily. "Thank you Flash." They then all looked at Sunset. "Well," she said, "I guess I don't mind. Sure let's do it." She picked herself up off the ground. "Great," Flash said before turning to head to his next class. "Meet me outside school tomorrow at ten AM." He saw Sunset node before he turned around. "Thanks Flash," he heard her say. The Next Morning. Sunset arrived at the agreed upon location fifteen minutes before Flash was meant to arrive, giving her time to look over her theoretical questions and try to memorise them. Fifteen minutes later, she heard the familiar sound of Flash's custom painted sports car and looked up to see it move down the road before coming to a stop infront of her. The engine cut before the driver door opened, revealing Sunset's teacher as he stepped onto the curb. "Morning," he said. "Morning," she walked over to him and the car. She looked it over and could not help getting excited at the prospect of driving such an amazing car. "Alright," she jumped into the drivers seat, "let's do this thing. What's the first lesson." Flash smirked at her enthusiasm as he sat in the passenger seat. "The first thing to do is prepare the controls, including the mirrors and seat." Sunset nodded and started adjusting everything the way she liked it when driving but when she went to position her rear view mirror, Flash stopped her. "Okay, first tip. When driving, you usually want to position the mirror so you can see it with a quick glance. But during the test, move so you can't do that." Sunset gave him and confused look. "Why?" Flash smiled. "A quick glance is easy to miss, so the teacher might think your neglecting the mirrors. But if you position it so you have to move your head to check, he'll see it." Sunset realised what he was getting at and smirked. She then moved the mirror so it was showing the top of his back seats, meaning she would have to look down to see it. Flash nodded at this before looking ahead. "Okay, let's get going. First I want to see how you drive, so for now I'll direct you and see how you do things." Sunset nodded and went to switch on the engine, only to get a jarring sound instead of the rumble. "What the?" "Clutch." Sunset blushed at that. Not even off the start block and already she had goofed. She put her foot on the clutch and tried again, this time getting the sound she was expecting before moving off. Thirty minutes later, the two found themselves at a busy junction and trying to turn left. Flash watched as Sunset constantly looked from right to left, looking for an opening to allow her to make the turn. "Relax," he told her, "and just look right for now." Sunset did as he was told, looking to the right and watching as the cars drove passed. Finally the flow died down and no cars came that way. "Now look to the left and see if there's an opening you can get through." Sunset did so and saw some cars coming passed, but then saw a gap three cars back that she could drive through. "Take one last look to the right before you move." She did as she was told and saw no cars coming from that way, so when the opening came up she hit the gas and drove through it before turning left and heading down the road. "Nice," Flash said. "Just remember, whenever you're turning you need to pay attention to the opposite direction. Make sure you can match the speed of the person driving behind you before they get close." Sunset nodded with a smile as they continued down the road. A little while later, they had moved off the main road onto a housing estate where they could practice some maneuvers. Currently they were doing parallel parking. "The trick with this one is to imagine you're the hands of a clock," Flash explained. "Right now you're at twelve, so you'll want to position yourself at ten o'clock." Sunset nodded and slowly started to positioned herself the way Flash explained, eventually reaching the perfect angle. "Good, now slowly reverse until you think you're close enough." Sunset slowly started moving the car back, until finally they got close enough to the curb that she started turning until she found herself right behind the car she was parking behind. "Great. Now reverse back until you can see where the cars tyres touch the road." And she did, coming to a perfect stop. "Perfect." "Thanks Flash." As the sun began to set, Flash's car came to a rolling stop infront of Canterlot High. The engine came to a stop and two doors opened, with Flash and Sunset stepping out. After almost a full day of driving, Sunset's skill and confidence had slowly begun to grow. Now she was just as good a driver as anyone else she had seen. Flash turned to his pupil with a smirk. "All in all, not bad. As long as you stay calm and don't panic, I don't see why Mr Cranky Doodle will fail you." Sunset smiled hearing this. "Thanks Flash, and thanks for all your help today." "No problem," Flash replied. "Like I said, I know how tough it can be when it comes to your driving test. I should know, he failed me three times." Sunset chuckled at this. "He did?" "First time I was so nervous I messed up the hill start. Then on my second try, I went to fast and almost crashed into vice principle Luna's car." This got Sunset to laugh out loud. "Yeah yeah. Anyway, if there's one thing you need to remember it's this. Your test isn't about showing you can drive, it's about showing you can drive safely. So whenever you get nervous and feel like you're about to fail, take a deep breath and ask yourself what the safest course of action would be." Sunset smiled hearing this and nodded. "I will. Thanks." Monday Afternoon. Flash had just finished his last class of the day and was heading out, when suddenly he felt someone tackle him from behind and wrap their arms around him. Seeing a strand of yellow and red hair, he realised who it was. "So I'm guessing you passed?" "With flying colours," Sunset replied before letting him go and stepping around him. "That's great." He took out his car keys and tossed them to her. "What's say we head to Sugarcube Corner and I treat you to a milkshake." Sunset smiled at this before rushing off towards the parking lot, followed by Flash.