~EARLY SUMMER~
The flight had taken just a few hours. Had I driven, it'd of taken four days. Four long ass, hot, sweaty days. Through the plains, through the mountains, through a damned desert. And oh my god, would it of been worth it.
It's just getting to be dusk, Tuesday evening. I could see the skyline in the distance, seven tall skyscrapers poking out of the skyline, all reaching toward a multicolor, cloudless sky. The coastal road I was being driven down was just lined by white sand on one side, a shear cliff on the other. This was technically within the bounds of the designated grounds. It'd make for some nice, tense racing.
Oh yeah, they insisted I leave my Nova home, locked up in a secure, hidden place. Said I may be here a few years. As much as it pained me to do so, it would prove to be worth it. What I was picked up in made it allll worth it. They decided to pick me up in another of my dream cars; a Porsche 918. What? Sure I'm not a huge fan of post-2010 cars, doesn't mean there aren't a few gems.
There was a sound... faint at first, but I recognized it. As if to confirm my suspisions, a bright purple Konigsegg Regera screams past us, likely going a solid 200Mph. This elicits a sigh from the driver, causing me to look over.
"What's wrong?" I inquire. They look to me for a split second before moving their amber eyes back to the coastal road.
"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just the current fan favorite." I look to the Regera's tailight speeding off toward the city as the driver continues speaking. "They were a real riot back in Braytin."
"I take it they're signing up this year?"
"Yep. It's their last year, retiring once Horizon moves on." After passing a civ driver, we come on to a long, empty stretch, through which the driver guns it. Pretty quickly, we speed up into the 190s.
"So who exactly are they?" I ask. Know your competition, after all.
"Her name's Sapphire Bolt. Used to be a wannabe from Detrot. Turned out they were really good."
As we sped along they kept speaking, narrowly avoiding the walls as they popped a few drifts out. "Beat our original champ, Vermillion. A rich prick who came to Horizon from the motorsport scene. Lots of drivers hated him."
I looked at them, tilting my head. "Why's that?"
"He drove dirty, took up a lot of time in our, at the time, limited garage space, treated the workers there like slaves... You name it, he did it. On top of that grating personality." He shook his head as we came back onto a straight, coming up towards a bridge that hugged the clifface. "Sapphire beat his ass. Twice. He retreated into an early, embarrassing retirement."
"Anyways, Sapphire participated in the road trips in southern Prance and northern Eeetaly. Not much of note that I can remember from then. She seemed to take it easy with the Austneighlia festival, treated it more as a vacation with the cars as an added bonus. She seemed to... change... about midway through the Braytin festival."
"Change how...?"
"She started getting consumed by her fame. Started to act like Vermillion. Always flexing her high end cars with flashy paint jobs, showing off... that kind of stuff. started to drive dirty toward the end too.." They pause. "Horizon needs a new champ. If what I've seen of your driving with just a C rank in videos is legit.. I sincerely hope it's you. You've got a fresh mindset compared to Sapphire. A different kind of drive. Horizon really needs that."
I didn't know quite what to say. That was... quite the situation. Hell, that was quite a change. I can only hope I've really got a chance.
-- -- -- --
We'd slowed down to a more relaxed 80Mph as we entered the city. Driving along the coastal street, the sunset was quite beautiful across the beach. Although... that's not what I focused on.
No way, I focused on that long line of neon in the short distance.
They'd set up on a pier, just a long, bright row of glowing pinks and blues and yellows and various other hues from LED panels. Somehow they even fit a huge ferris wheel in there! Riding in, it wasn't even narrow. It was a good 3 Caddy limos wide, plenty of room for two double laned 'roads.'
They drove me down to the end, where a circular structure of a mix of metal and a sort of nylon cloth or something which I assumed was the garage.
"Alright, miss Passion, this is your stop. Other racers are out and about, I'd reccommend getting to know a few. Might run across a couple organizers too."
Reluctantly, I'd exit the vehicle, vowing to get one of them once I'd enough funds. As I shut the door they began to cruise away toward a big, long building with a big white sign atop that read "AUTOSHOW". Welp, I know where to get cars now.
Soon after, I made my way to the sort of lounge area they'd set up toward the back of the circular structure. There were a good few people here, quite a few just sitting there watching the sunset. Seemed nice. But, that's not what I was here for. One of the people there, a tall, thin guy with long, wavy hair approached me. His skin was a sort of dull blue, his hair Navy blue.
"Hey, what's up? Name's Gridlock." He extended a hand to me.
"Paradise Passion." I extend my hand out to his, giving it a solid shake.
"Oh, I've heard of you. Paradise Maiden right?"
"Y..yeah, how..?"
"Oh, uh... I was at one of your races. Happened to be in Canterlot at the time and had nothing else to occupy me so I figured watch the race. Looking forward to seeing what you pull off out there." He looked me over. "Though, I feel the name 'Paradise Maiden fits you better than your car."
That caused a hot blush to spread across my cheeks. "Oh please..."
He chuckled. "C'mon, got some other drivers you should meet."