ZACK POV
HOFMANN RESIDENCE
The morning sun rose, with its rays of light beaming onto the bed, warming up Zack’s face.
“Unnnnnmmmmhhhhhh,” he muttered, fluttering his eyes as the sun rays’ warmth became too much to bear whilst asleep. Yet as his eyes fought to adjust to the light, a soft, warm feeling from above was making the awakening process even harder. Skystar’s tender, loving body was relaxed atop his firm, blocky abs. Her feather-topped head nuzzled gingerly against his broad, well-formed shoulders and neck.
After a good five-minute tussle, Zack finally won the battle and heaved himself upright, forcing Skystar to wriggle off him. Unfortunately, she still clung to him a little, her chest fur catching on his waist.
“Woah, easy there, girl,” Zack blushed, quickly gripping the waistband of his boxers. “I’m not sure we’re ready for you to make my rocket glow.”
“Um, what’s a rocket?” Skystar asked innocently.
Zack fought back a sheepish grin and shook his head. “Let’s just say you almost revealed all of me by sliding off. Just be careful next time.”
“I…can’t…Hahahaha!” Pinkie was rolling around, howling in laughter. Zack snickered, realizing that she fully understood his joke. “Well, let’s get going. We need to arrive at the park early so we have it all to ourselves for a reasonable amount of time. Why don’t you two wash up in the bathroom after I finish?”
“Ahaha…Ha…Okey dokie loki!” Pinkie replied, finally breaking free of her laughing fit.
Still in nothing but his boxers, Zack entered the bathroom and began his routine – washing his hands, face, and arms, before drying them and adding some cologne to his underarms and wiping on a little face cream. Finally, he combed his hair until it was fairly even, though still wavy and sexy like he loved it.
“Your turn,” he told Pinkie and Skystar, reentering his room to begin changing. His plan was to dress BMX style while keeping his ballet outfit underneath. Protecting his muscular, warm body with a sweat protection top, he slipped on a pair of lace-edged pink ballet panties before carefully sliding into the ballet outfit. It was a magenta top with super short puff sleeves and lace around the collar, complete with a cute little bow at the collar’s center. And of course, a poofy pink tutu skirt with some glitter sparkles. Next came the light pink tights, which had a thin line of lace around the ankle line. Finally, he slid on a pair of slightly loose jeans and tucked in the ballet skirt as best as possible, and threw on a long, baggy tie-dye sweatshirt.
“All ready, and are…” he announced casually, stepping out the door before his words died on his tongue. Standing before him were his two new best friends, all dressed up as well in matching outfits – pink CHEJI bike shorts (with a hole for their tails) and cute short-sleeve tops. Pinkie wore one with a birthday cake and party streamers design, and Skystar, of course, had a seashell design. They even had their helmets on.
“You two don’t need to wear these until we’re actually there, you know,” Zack chuckled, fighting back a squee as he gently finger-tapped their helmeted heads. “But it’s up to you. Now, let’s go get some breakfast.”
XAVIER POV
PARKDALE, TORONTO
“You got it?”
“Yes, just approaching the GTA now. Give me about an hour. The new owner wants to see the Integra in person.”
“An hour?!” I exclaimed, before catching myself. “Okay, I’ll wait. See you at the shop. Again, thanks so much.”
“Happy to help, son,” Maverick replied, hanging up.
There. He said it again. “Son.”
I smiled and scooped up a stick of wax from my dresser before heading out the door with my skateboard.
“Where you headed?” Twilight inquired, standing at the bottom of the stairs.
“To the shop. The new owner is coming soon to take a look at the Integra and he’s also bought his own car – the one I’ve requested Maverick to find.”
“But that means we’ll be late to the park!” Rarity pouted.
My face fell. “I know, Rarity. But how else can we get there? AshBridges Bay is on the other side of Toronto.”
Twilight and Rarity nodded. With that, I shut the door and pushed off down the road. In spite of the morning rush, there wasn’t too many cars on the side roads, and so I was able to pull off a few flatground tricks – starting with a kickflip, then a 360 flip, and finally a fingerflip… which took me four tries. I’d try out some more extreme tricks at the park.
Scooting around a corner like a Z-Boy, I righted my posture and put out my foot. I pushed and pushed and pushed as hard as I could until my feet started shaking from the speed – probably 22 mph. Crouching a little to reduce drag, I carefully weaved around a car and kept speeding along, narrowly missing a few cars as I sped through a yellow light. The traffic had built up ahead, so I slowed down enough for me to stand up, then lane split like a biker. Finally I reached the shop in just…
“Fifteen minutes!” I exclaimed. “That ought to be an academy record! Now let’s see if Maverick can hold up to his own…”
ZACK POV
HOFMANN RESIDENCE
“Mmm, that oatmeal was good,” Skystar whispered adorably. “I could eat that every day.”
“Mostly it’s the honey,” Zack noted with a smile, holding a small drawstring sports bag. “And banana is the ‘icing on the cake’, as they say.”
“Ready?” Patricia asked, waiting at the door, all dressed up in a running gear – sweat tank top, leggings, running shoes, and a little purse.
“We are ready, Mom!” Zack, Pinkie, and Skystar all exclaimed simultaneously.
Opening the garage door, Zack stood off to the side like a real estate agent during a tenant’s viewing session. “And here are your new – and first ever – bikes!”
“Wow, Zackie, they look so… amazing. You assembled them all by yourself?” Pinkie asked, her eyes as wide as saucers.
“Yep! Been doing it for years now, so it wasn’t a big deal.”
“I love the colors, just like the underwater world of Seaquestria!” Skystar cooed, stroking the smooth, cold metal frame and the shiny chrome forks.
“I’m happy we got to work together to make our family happy,” Zack said softly to his mom, putting an arm around her.
“Glad to have you as my son, Zack,” Patricia replied, planting a little kiss on his forehead. “Now, let’s hit the road.”
Zack loaded up the bikes into the trunk while Pinkie and Skystar hopped into the back seats. Shutting the garage door, Zack slid into the front seat and buckled up, gingerly clutching the sports bag in his hands with a grin, knowing well what was inside – besides his helmet and some basic tools in case of a breakdown.
XAVIER POV
PARKDALE, TORONTO
HALF AN HOUR LATER
“Is he there yet?” Twilight asked eagerly for the jillionth time.
“Nope,” I replied. “Let’s… take it easy. If he doesn’t show up by 10 a.m., I’ll just call a cab and we’ll suck it up with the big bill.”
“Or take the subway,” Joyce suggested.
I gave a half-shrug. “That’s an option. But again, patience. I’ll call you guys back in about another half hour, alright?”
“Okay. Bye, son.”
“Bye, Mom.”
I sat back in the old rusty metal bench beside the office’s front entrance and sighed. Rodney had taken the weekend off to spend time with family and relatives – much like I’d planned. But Maverick wasn’t giving up on me, and had taken the whole of last night to meet up with the owner who’d come all the way to Manitoba to meet Maverick half-way and bring the Forester to the shop together.
To pass the time, I practiced some of my harder tricks – hardflip, caballerial kickflip, backside 540 shuvit, and the super-tricky one: the 540 gazelle. It really was a lot of work. I fell like twenty times and my arms and hands got half a dozen scrapes and cuts, some of which I had to wash off and bandage. Thankfully, I always carried a handkerchief and a bunch of Band-Aids. Added to which, I was sore. I’d taken a million slams and even bone snaps from my previous years of skating, but after such a long hiatus, I wasn’t able to shake them off so easily.
On the final hardflip attempt, I realigned my front foot… and barely missed focusing the board. Even so, I heard a little creak, as if one of the ply boards was bent by a considerable measure.
“Aaaand that’s it,” I groaned, flopping down on the rock-hard bench. Just as I was about to pass out from the excess pain and stress, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Maverick:
comin in 5 min
I sighed – a shallow, exhausted sigh. At least it was a start. And sure enough, it ended well. Just as I was about to doze off a series of loud horn blasts jolted me out of a droopy trance. Sitting upright, I caught sight of a F250 pickup and a trailer rolling into the parking lot. And on that trailer – a car under a tarp.
“Yo, Breezy X!” Maverick hollered from the passenger’s seat. “Wakey wakey!”
I let out a brief chuckle and rose to my feet. “Howdy, Maverick! Glad you could make it in time.”
The truck stopped and a well-built guy in his thirties stepped out, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt – the new owner. “Hi. My name’s Logan. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Xavier. It’s a pleasure to have you,” I replied warmingly, shaking his hand confidently. “Welcome to Toronto.”
“Can I take a look at the Integra?”
“Absolutely.”
Maverick unlocked the garage door and we flipped a few light switches, before leading Logan down to the back of the shop.
“Quite the lavish place you’ve got here in the middle of an old, classical part of one of Canada’s biggest cities,” he remarked.
“Spared no expense,” Maverick boasted. “My brother and I started this shop in a different location decades ago and have worked hard ever since.”
Logan then turned to me as we neared the back of the shop. “You work here?”
“Yeah. Been a couple years, pays well enough.”
Logan nodded. “Alright.”
I was about to brag about the car but kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to tell him that I did most of the mods.
“Well, there she is.”
I pointed to the clean, black Integra with fat Toyo RX888R race tires and shiny grey rims, complete with an authentic Type R wing. “532 horsepower and all the grip you can get while still on street legal tires.”
Maverick scooted off to the office and returned with a key. Together we opened it up and started talking in detail. I explained the various components and the brand names, but Logan was an intelligent car guy himself, thus rendering most of my in-depth explanations completely useless.
“Looking at this whole setup with the race seats, the authentic Defi gauges, and the brand new turbo kit, added to that it’s an actual USDM Integra Type R chassis, I’d set this at about… $20,500 dollars. I’d originally planned to sell the Forester for $21,000, so that’s $500 extra on you, Xavier.”
“I’ll gladly take it. Need more room and better handling without sacrificing speed.”
Maverick hopped into the driver’s seat and started it up, but it started to sputter after a few minutes. “How odd.”
“I think there’s not much fuel. Don’t want to run it too lean,” I warned.
After two tries, Maverick got the Integra going again, and slowly drove it out of the shop, barely making it out before the fuel cut out. Logan must’ve sense my anxiousness because he interjected, “I can tell that’s a lack of fuel, not a fuel pump failure or anything like that. So you don’t need to worry about any shortcuts. You’ve worked hard to get this car to where it is now.”
I smiled confidently back at him as we unbuckled the tow straps and carefully pulled the cover off the car. My heart surged up into my throat as I took in the sight of the Forester. It had a smooth, pearl white paint job, chrome-style grey mirrors, a sporty STI front end, bulging fenders, and chrome Concept ONE rims, wrapped in Toyo tires. It was the most beautiful Forester I’d ever seen.
“Mav, you persistent oldie,” I muttered, still gazing in awe as Logan carefully drove it off the ramp. With the Integra out of fuel, the three of us had to push it up onto the trailer together. It took a lot of effort, but we managed to get it far up enough without any lower back damage. Finally, we strapped it down. Logan and I then headed to the bank to finalize the process, while Maverick washed down the Forester at his favorite car wash. While we waited in line at government services, I pulled out my phone and texted Mom.
ZACK POV
ASHBRIDGES SKATEPARK
“And here we are!” Patricia announced happily, pulling a U-turn and parking by the roadside. “Let’s rock-and-roll!”
You’re in a mood of higher positivity than even me, Zack thought, opening the door and racing around to the trunk, where he found Pinkie and Skystar already waiting, sitting tensely like puppies ready for a walk.
“I’m not even going to ask,” Zack muttered, pulling the hatch open and reaching in for the bikes.
Holding their bikes, Pinkie and Skystar walked over the grass and onto the sidewalk, then down the pathway to the park.
“Have fun, and don’t forget to take drinking breaks!” Patricia called out, waving as she shut the trunk, before hitting the sidewalk jogging.
“Before we begin,” Zack warned, “I should teach you the basics.” He gripped the pedal with his hand. “You turn it so the side opposite you is downward, like so. Next, one foot on the ground, and then lift the other over the frame, and gently rest it on the pedal.”
“Like so?” Pinkie inquired, reaching over with her front hooves.
“No,” Zack chuckled, finding Pinkie hunched over her bike so amusing. “Your back hoof, here,” he explained, tapping her rear leg. “That goes over. Keep your hands on the handlebar grips.”
“Got it!” Skystar crowed excitedly, looking eagerly into Zack’s eyes, wondering where the fun would lead to next.
“Right…” Zack said slowly, trying to ignore the bright beautiful eyes staring into his soul. “Now’s the tricky part. Are you good at internal balance while your mind independently focuses on the task of pedaling?”
“I think…so,” Skystar said worriedly.
Zack stared at Pinkie for a moment before a little bright light went off in his head. “Have you ever performed at events before? Like, entertained with acts… ah yes, circus! Have you partaken in circus acts?”
“Have I?” Pinkie exclaimed, leaning forward teasingly. “Of course I have! I love making others laugh and feel happy!”
“Well, today’s the day I show you how to take it to the next level with nothing but your bike and your creative mind!” Zack declared loudly. “Now keep your hands firm on the handlebars and pull up your other foot and onto the other pedal, like so.”
Skystar wobbled a little, but soon had herself stable. Pinkie on the other hand, was up and moving in minutes. Before Zack could even begin the next leg of his instructional routine, she was already pedaling down to the other side of the skatepark. Skystar’s face fell with a pout.
“It’s okay,” Zack consoled her with soft caresses and a little ear scratch. “Let’s ride to the other side together. Just push forward and down on the pedals with one foot, and the other will follow smoothly with the same amount of force. Keep your bars straight and balance as best you can.”
Zack then hopped on his bike and began to pedal slowly, with his hippogriff friend by his side. Less than halfway across Skystar suddenly began to wobble and suddenly lean sideways. Zack’s arm shot out and grabbed her handlebar grip. “Don’t worry, I gotcha sweetie. Lean a little the other way to counter that sideways force – just a little. And keep pedaling – you need to have continuous movement.”
Skystar felt a little odd, but soon understood what her crush was trying to say. Soon the far side became the near side, and they caught up to Pinkie. The park was mostly empty, with just one skateboarder and a little kid on a scooter.
Where are your parents? Zack wondered, before turning his attention to Pinkie, who, despite falling twice, got back up and kept riding until she was practically racing in big circles. I had to smile at Skystar.
“See, you can do this if you try hard enough. Now let’s continue riding. This has to become second nature to you – or should I say, instinctual.”
For the next hour, Zack and Skystar kept riding around the park, until it started to become more crowded.
“Let’s pause for a moment,” Pinkie suggested, already getting the hang of gently squeezing the brake lever to slow down. “Let’s get some water from the car.”
“I’m thirsty, too!” Skystar piped up. In spite of her tired state, she spread her wings and flapped them – no, she pumped them hard as she took off. Suddenly everyone started falling into each other because they became so starstruck at what they were actually seeing, they forgot to pay attention to where they were going.
“HOLY-“
“IS THAT A HIPPOGRIFF?”
“OH MY GOD!”
Zack just powered through the park and let out a loud, hearty laugh as he went. “Sorry guys! You all are too funny.”
Reaching the Prius, Skystar touched down gracefully and gazed back at the skatepark, only to realize all the chaos she just caused.
“Um… oops?”