A warm breeze brushed against her hair and tickled her cheeks. The gravel beneath her boots made noises of irritation as she walked across it. Even from here, she could smell burning rubber and the heavenly roar of engines carried down on the gentle wind.
Twilight Sparkle was standing beside a large metal barrier, overlooking the main four-way junction at the heart of the Horizon Festival, she felt at peace with the world and herself. She felt like she could stay here for eternity.
Twilight looked to the left of her and found her six friends, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Twilight reflected on how much they had done for her after the Friendship Games, they had brought her back from being a power-crazed she-demon and taught her the Magic of Friendship. She couldn't be more grateful for their understanding and kindness.
Sunset Shimmer pointed to her left, signalling to a McLaren Senna pulling into the main Festival Building, it was specced in the luxurious MSO Cerulean Blue and beared the SH12 MEE plate.
"Pretty nice, don't you think?" Sunset asked.
"Yeah, I've never seen anything like it," Twilight breathlessly responded.
"Hey, you ever think we'll get to see home again? I mean, this is nice, but I can't think of not returning back to the human world."
Twilight wanted to say "Yes," but before she was able to, the world morphed into something completely different.
She was at the wheel of a Porsche GT3 RS, slowly putting her foot on the brake as she realised where she was.
She pulled the car to the side of the road and got out, where she found herself on the outskirts of the Ambleside village.
"Ambleside? What am I doing he-" Twilight asked herself before she turned around to look at what was erected behind her.
The typical Horizon Festival Road Racing Series start and finish point was stretched out proudly over the road, eliciting a shriek of delight from six girls running up to congratulate Twilight on her 1st place victory on the Goliath.
She found herself in a sea of bodies, being hugged by all of her friends who were chanting, "We did it! We did it!"
"We can fiiiinally go home now!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
"Ah've been waitin' to see mah Granny for goodness knows how long!" Applejack said, a watery glimmer in her eyes.
After a few minutes of waiting to be transported back to the human world, the girls looked expectantly at Twilight.
Twilight sat up, drenched in a cold sweat. She pulled her sleeping bag down to her knees, making sure not to wake any of her friends.
She found herself in one of the unused rooms of the Festival site, Maverick had been kind in offering them seven sleeping bags so they didn't have to sleep on the floor.
The dream replayed itself in Twilight's head as she blinked the sleepiness from her eyes and put on her pair of glasses laying to her left.
We'll make it home, I know we will, she assured herself as the dimly lit room came into view.
Twilight shuffled out of the sleeping bag and carefully tip-toed over to the door, making sure not to wake up any of her friends. Her body locked up when Fluttershy started to move but realised that she was hugging Spike.
The door opened with a slight creak as Twilight slipped through it, the rest of the building was just as dark as the room, which wasn't all that surprising since the staff either stayed in hotels nearby or had homes in the local village.
A kitchen was situated at the end of the hallway, Twilight couldn't find a light switch so she walked over to the counter and poured herself a glass of water and drank it next to the sink, letting the moonlight illuminate the room.
The glass dropped from her hand, making a loud clattering noise. Twilight struck her hand out, but the damage had already been done.
Within a few seconds Sunset walked through the door, looking confused while slightly scared. She breathed a relieved sigh when she saw Twilight.
"I heard a noise and got up to check, was it you?"
"Yeah," Twilight said while looking away, rubbing her shoulder.
"Is everything okay?" Sunset asked with concern layering her voice.
"Everything's fine, go back to bed Sunset, I—"
"I've known you for a while now, Twilight, you can tell me. What's up?"
Twilight turned her head, seeing Sunset's eyes reflecting her kindness and acceptance. She could tell her this. Sunset could keep a secret.
"I'm not sure if we can go back."
Sunset's eyes widened and she stammered out "W... What? What do you mean you're not sure if we can go back?"
"Well, I had a dream that once we completed the three races we need to complete, we didn't go home. Part of me wants to leave but..."
"Part of you wants to stay?" Sunset finished, dreading the reality of the situation.
Twilight could only nod as a response.
"It's okay Twilight, I know that we'll get back to our world. You are the best Forza player after all."
Heat rose to her cheeks as Twilight looked towards the floor, she looked up and Sunset jerked her hand towards the door.
"Come on, let's get back to bed. We have a lot of racing to do tomorrow."
After a quick shower and some cereal, the girls travelled to the outskirts of Ambleside village, a start and finish point was being set up over a dirt trail.
"This should be so awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
Twilight's response was, "Yeah, I've been waiting to try the RS200 for a whi-"
Before she could finish her sentence, her gaze fixated behind Rainbow and locked onto the seven Mercedes-Benz that were coming their way.
First to arrive was a bright red G-Wagon, followed by purple, orange, white, pink, yellow and blue variants. The odd part about them was that they were significantly higher off the ground and had a longer chassis, which held not four, but six wheels.
They pulled up next to the girls and Maverick emerged from the lead 6x6, looking happy to see all of the girls, "Oh good, you're here early! These bad boys came in from Australia for one of our showcase events, I managed to let them run wild for a couple of hours. Brought them here to see if you'd like to have a go at them!"
Looks of amazement and awe were all he got in response.
Twilight was the first to speak, but she didn't have much to say.
"I... These aren't... Where did you..."
Maverick smiled at her disbelief, "Yep, these are what you think they are. You're not seeing things."
"These are MERCEDES AMG G 63 SIX BY SIXES!! They weigh over four tonnes and have nearly six hundred horsepower! But they're not supposed to be in the game! How do you have them yet my game doesn't?!" Twilight shouted.
"Your guess is as good as ours, egghead," Rainbow said.
While Twilight continued to gush over the new cars and take what the girls would later find out to be over one hundred and fifty pictures, Maverick filled them in on what they had to do.
"There's seven of you, so everyone gets a Mercedes to themselves. You'll be on the Ambleside Scramble Dirt Racing Test Course for today, it's a simple lap circuit really. You'll each do a lap and then I'll match up your times. Got it?"
Six voices responded, "Got it!" while Twilight quietly whispered, "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh" repeatedly.
Sunset volunteered to go first, saying it would be better to, "—get it over and done with."
She lined up at the start, once the overhead screen lit up saying go Sunset put the pedal to the metal.
Death defying speeds, the thrill of driving such a beast! That was what she was hoping for l, but she checked the speedo and saw she was only doing 25mph.
Guess it's not like riding my motorcycle, although Twi did say they weigh over four tonnes, she thought as the first corner approached.
Sunset had to turn the wheel fully to the right before the 6x6 started to turn, it hit a dirt hill as she came out of the corner but cleared it with ease.
The second corner appeared and Sunset had little time to react, she jerked the wheel right again and missed a barrier by mere inches.
Definitely not like riding my motorcycle!
After a left turn, a right turn and another right turn Sunset found a sharp U-bend that proved challenging.
"Aiiiiiieee!!" Sunset slammed her foot on the brake, decelerating from 90mph and pushed the wheel to the left with all her might, the Mercedes complied and pulled through the turn with Sunset intact.
Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. I'm going slow for the rest of this.
A red giant came into Twilight's view as she rested against the metal barrier, admiring the other six in front of her. Sunset pulled up next to the girls and opened the door, falling straight out and onto the gravel.
Twilight immediately got up and rushed to her side, "Sunset!"
Applejack helped her to her feet and gave her a hug. "You okay sugarcube?"
"No, no I am not fine. Far from it. That, was, terrifying," Sunset said as she teetered back and forth on her feet. "I probably got the worst lap time..."
The girls sat down on some nearby chairs and listened to Sunset recount her 'horrific' experience.
Twilight got up and walked towards the purple 6x6, opening the door and climbing in, she looked towards the girls as she put the key in, "I'm going next, these six-by-sixes can't be that hard to drive," she looked at Sunset. "Besides, you're used to riding your motorcycle."
"You're not wrong there," Sunset replied. "But I still hated it."
Twilight maneuvered the Benz to the starting line, she revved the engine, relishing every note that the 7.2 litre racing V8 gave her.
The overhead screen flashed green and Twilight pushed her foot down so hard, the pedal might have fallen through the chassis if it wasn't for the first corner.
Her persistence was admirable, turning right and pulling the truck out of the corner with ease.
The second corner came into sight, another right turn. Twilight repeated her actions and came out unscathed.
She cleared the next three turns before coming upon the sharp U-shaped bend that rattled Sunset.
Twilight aggressively attacked it, swinging the wheel left and jerking the Mercedes sideways as it glided through the turn, the four rear wheels leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.
"This, is, amazing! And to think Sunset said this was bad, I'm having way too much fun right now!" Twilight exclaimed as she narrowly missed a stone wall.
Just got to make sure not to crash, obviously, she thought.
Two more turns ahead was a surprise that made Twilight squee with excitement, a large hill that she had to make her way down.
She decided to forego safety and accelerate even harder. She hit 70mph as all six wheels lost contact with the earth.
"Woooooooo!!!" Twilight squealed with elation as she and the Mercedes came back to the ground with a high energy bump.
Around the last corner opened up a small section of straight path before the finish line. Twilight could already see her friends on the left side cheering and waving.
Screw it, I'm going for it.
Twilight pushed the Benz to its absolute limits, in the short distance she managed to reach 101mph as she crossed the line.
Her hand shot to the e-brake and she sent the 6x6 into a spin, it did a full 720 degree rotation before coming to a stop.
Twilight opened up the door and jumped out with a victorious grin that would make the version of Midnight Sparkle that conquered Equestria in an alternate reality proud.
She raised her arms in triumph, almost certain that was a new record.
"I did it!" Twilight exclaimed as her friends rushed over to her. "I did it!"
"You sure did, you sure RUINED MY DRESS!!" Rarity bellowed as she pointed to the mud that Twilight splattered over her when she pulled off her spin. If looks could kill, Rarity would have committed first degree murder.
Twilight looked down at the dirt and said with true guilt layering her voice, "I'm so sorry Rarity, there's got to be some dry cleaners back at the Festival, I just couldn't resist."
"I guess it's alright darling and I can't blame you," Rarity replied. "It looked like you were having fun, lots of it."
Twilight looked up and put on a lop-sided smile, "Yeah, thanks Rarity."
The girls once again crowded around Maverick's computer after everyone had driven a full lap of the circuit. Seven times appeared on the screen, Twilight looking satisfied at the golden star next to hers.
Her time came in as a new record for Off-road class vehicles, to no one's surprise.
"Yes! I knew it!" she exclaimed as her time appeared.
Applejack came in second place after Twilight.
Applejack explained to the girls, "Only because Ah drive the farm truck almost ev'ry day."
Pinkie came third, to almost everyone's surprise.
"What? I'm a good driver," she responded to everyone's looks of astonishment.
Sunset came fourth, which she found very surprising.
She shuddered and looked away from the group, "I did go slow after that U-turn, never doing it again."
Rainbow Dash came fifth, which she said was because she was going, "20% slower than usual."
Rarity came sixth. She was used to driving her Fiat 500 back home and not a four tonne monster.
Fluttershy came in seventh and almost three minutes behind Rarity.
She squeaked out, "I really, really don't like to go fast."
Rarity decided that they had had enough for one day, the girls handed the keys back to Maverick and hopped in their cars to drive to the festival so that Rarity could clean her dress.