//------------------------------// // Act 14: Practice // Story: The Eight-Six Duo // by Fujimi200SX //------------------------------// "He's just... practicing. Over and over. Run after run," Spitfire said, watching the Corolla travel back uphill from the air. "How is he still going?" Soarin asked. "Look at those speeds he's been running at. How in Equestria have his tires not blown out? And how is he maintaining that speed?" "I don't know..." Spitfire rubbed her chin. "I really don't know..." "Hm, I'm gonna see if I can talk to the guy," Fleetfoot said. "He's been doing back-to-back runs for a while now. Surely he's gotta be a little tired." Without another word, Fleetfoot flew down to the entrance of the Academy Parking Lot, landing next to her R32. As the sound of the Corolla's engine grew closer, Fleetfoot looked at her R32. Upgrading from a Galant VR-4 to you has been... awesome. She thought with a smirk. Even though I've only driven you for a day now, you are leagues better. Sorry Mistubishi. But a VR-4 just cannot compare to a GT-R. She put a hoof on the fender. "300 Horsepower, all wheel steering, all wheel drive, Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain system with the Electronic Torque System, when I let you loose on both the uphill and downhill, Spitfire is going to beg for mercy with how fast I'll be." squeee Fleetfoot turned to spot the Corolla coming to a stop in front of her Skyline. She watched the right door to allow a white unicorn with black hair and brown eyes to get out. "Do you know where a bathroom is?" The stallion asked, holding the door open. Fleetfoot just stared, blinking twice. "Hello? Bathroom?" Fleetfoot shook her head and pointed. "Uh, yeah! Th-That building over there." "Thanks." Without another word, the stallion turned off the Corolla's engine and shut the door, and unfurled a pair of wings, taking off and quickly flying to the building Fleetfoot had pointed to. The pegasus just stared wide-eyed as the Corolla's driver landed and walked inside. Her jaw slowly opened as Spitfire, Soarin, and Thunderlane landed behind her. "Fleetfoot, did you see the driver?" Spitfire quickly asked, seeing that the Corolla had nopony in it. "Fuck." Fleetfoot said. "What?" "FUCK! Fuck fuck fuck FUCK. We're fucked. We are actually fucked." "Woah, Fleetfoot, pull back on the F-Bombs. What's wrong?" Fleetfoot turned around to face her teammates. "It's a kid. He's a kid. He's a fucking kid." Spitfire's eyes widened. "Wait, the driver?" "YES! He couldn't be more than twenty!" "WHAT!?" The three yelled in surprise. "Not even kidding." "Ha... how can a KID keep up with me?" Spitfire stared at the Corolla. "Granted, my tires aren't the best. But he's only driven this course a few times now. Not to mention he's using a Corolla! Plus he drove Thunderlane's car!" "He drove what?" Thunderlane asked. "Please, I had a suspicion that it wasn't you last night driving your E30 downhill." "Then why did you bump my pay rate?" Spitfire ignored the question. "How did he even get his hooves on your car?" Thunderlane scowled. "Takumi." Everypony looked at him. "Takumi?" Spitfire asked. "Somepony named Takumi foalsitted my little brother yesterday." His eyes widened as he looked at the Corolla. "Wait, oh SHOOT! I'm an idiot. I'm an actual idiot. This is the exact car that Takumi got out of yesterday!" "You unobservant moron." Spitfire facehoofed before looking at the Corolla. How? How are you so fast? She wondered. You're just a Corolla. How can you be as fast as an S14 Autech? "Spitfire? You alright?" Fleetfoot asked. "It's just a Corolla. Obviously, it's been modified. The carbon hood and headlights bring out a totally different look." She walked to the side, peering at the interior. "Oh dang it's an import. Let's see. Bucket seats and harnesses, plus an aftermarket wheel. And... WAIT." "What?" Spitfire's eyes locked to the tachometer sitting just in front of the stock tachometer. Most tachometers went up to 9K RPM like her Silvia. If the engine were to rev higher, the needle would just stop at 9K or a little past it. So why did this car have a 12K RPM tachometer!? "It can't rev up that high, right?" She asked herself. "It's just a Corolla." "Hm?" "Look at the tachometer." Spitfire pointed. "It goes up to 12K!" The three were surprised. "Uh... maybe he has that to know where he is in the rev range at all times?" Fleetfoot suggested. "Even if he's overrevving? I head the stock motors on these could go up to 8K." "That is pretty far under 12K." "I'm confused..." Soarin trailed, rubbing his forehead. "Yeah." Spitfire walked to the rear, leaning down towards the rear right wheel. "Live axle suspension. This car has live axle rear suspension. HOW. HOW is it staying straight? How does this car stay straight when It's moving like lightning through the turns!" Takumi finished washing his face in what had to be the cleanest public bathroom he'd ever been in. "Drive." He said to himself as he stared at his reflection, a few bits of water running down. "That's what I need to do." He continued. "Racing has become the most normal thing about my life. It calms me down. To practice a different course besides Akina, at 80%, it feels like I'm racing for the D again. Chances are, these people that have been watching me want an actual race." He turned and walked out of the bathroom, unfurling his wings and taking off. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited," he continued talking to himself, letting off a smile. "It's been a while since I went up against good racers. Like, actually good racers. Not ones that-" He scowled. "-use cheap and dirty tricks to screw over the team." He silently landed a dozen feet from the Skyline R32, noticing the four pegasi standing and talking between it and his 86. Really. He internally thought. The only real battle I had that actually pushed me in Saitama was with Sakamoto. Other than that, the races were easy. He eyed the pegasi. Maybe I can start having good battles here. In Equestria. Maybe I could... could I go and do what I did back on earth? Go from mountain to mountain, beating racers and course records? He sighed as he walked towards the pegasi, listening in on their conversation. Would Ryosuke want that? "Really. He's been running at ludicrous pace for the whole night." One of them said. "How in Equestria are his tires still this good?" The yellow pegasus wondered, rubbing the front right tire of the 86. Takumi sat a little behind the light blue pegasus, waiting for someone to notice him. "I'd like to remind you guys that he's a teenager." The pegasus he sat next to said. "Younger than any of the Wonderbolts." "Yeah. How. He's had like, what? Two years at most? He'd have to train nonstop to be as good as me. I have five years under my belt. There is no way he could be as good." Takumi rolled his eyes before clearing his throat. "Ahem." Everyone looked at him. "Oh! Hey! Uh, you're back!" Fleetfoot greeted. Takumi said nothing. "Ah. So, you're the driver of this Corolla?" Spitfire asked. "Yeah," Takumi replied. "It's mine." Spitfire stood still, examining Takumi. He was of average build for a stallion his age, with the exception of a mare-like muzzle. That's when she noticed his wings. "Wait..." Her eyes slowly widened. "Are you... an Alicorn?" "Yes." Everypony was understandably surprised. Not just at the fact that they were staring at an Alicorn, but how nonchalantly he had confirmed that he was. "You..." Fleetfoot shook her head as she processed words. "You wouldn't happen to know somepony named Itsuki, would you?" "Yeah. He's my best friend." The pegasi stared at him for a couple of moments. Takumi tilted his head. "So, do you want to... race or something?" Spitfire quickly shook her head. "Uh, yeah, about that. How. In Equestria. Are you able to keep up with me? In Corolla of all things?" Nearby, a dark blue shape landed and quietly eavesdropped. "It's not hard. I've been driving for a while." "Yet you can keep up with me?" "I just copy your driving is all," Takumi deadpanned. "You copy my driving. Great. How?" Takumi sighed. "You're in a car, I'm in a car. Both have four wheels, neither are going to fly. Since you can turn a corner, I can turn at the same speed." Everypony stared. "Um, alright. So..." Spitfire took a deep breath. "Do you... want to race?" "On new tires. Yeah." "Fair enough. When?" "Tomorrow maybe." "Why not tonight?" "Oh, so you have tires up here?" "Um... not really." "Exactly." Spitfire sighed. "Well, tomorrow then. How does ten sound?" "Fine by me." There was visible excitement on the pegasi's faces. Takumi walked around them and to the 86, opening the door. "I'm gonna keep practicing if that's alright with you." "Of course. Take as much time as you like. We won't stop you." "You won't try and spill oil on the road?" Takumi asked, shooting them all a look of hatred. Soarin took a step back. "Why would we do that?" Takumi sighed. "Sorry, I'm just a little paranoid is all. In the last race I had, these idiots in Lancer Evo's spilled oil on the road and made my friend crash." The pegasi were surprised. Spitfire was the first to speak. "Oh... well, as captain of the Wonderbolts I can assure you that we won't do that. And if anypony does, they'll be immediately discharged." Takumi smirked. "Discharged? What are you a military officer or something?" "Actually yes. The Wonderbolts double as both an Air Racing Team and the Air Force." Takumi was surprised. "You..." He shook his head. "What is it with people of authority street racing in this world?" "What? Hey, we do this because it helps our reflexes. Flying only does so much." Takumi rolled his eyes. "Of course. Anyways, see you." With that, the Alicorn closed the door and started the engine, waiting a moment before turning around and accelerating down the hill. The four Wonderbolt Members looked at each other. "Not gonna lie, he was a pretty nice kid," Spitfire remarked. "Yeah. He was." Fleetfoot agreed. "Didn't even care that we were Wonderbolts. Nice change from all the fancolts." Spitfire noticed Thunderlane's annoyed look. "Something wrong?" "I'm just annoyed that he stole my car is all," Thunderlane replied. "Hey, at least we know how fast your car can truly be." "I... guess...?" Spitfire looked at her S14 that was parked just across the road. "I honestly can't wait to race him. Having an actual challenge is gonna be awesome." The dark blue shape that had been eavesdropping nodded in agreement. "Indeed it will be, Spitfire Mariner." EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! After his tires finished screeching through the corner as the 86 finished its slide angle and exited the corner, Takumi shot out of the turn throttling heavily. He upshifted quickly with instant and clean use of the clutch and throttle. The 86's linear acceleration on the downhill was excellent, and he quickly cleared the straightaway to enter a sharp right and nearly let the rear slide out from how quickly he cornered. Takumi recovered his slip angle at the last second with a bit of countersteering on the exit to regain traction and instantly used the gas, slowly pressing the pedal down until he was flooring it. The 4A-GEU Silvertop revved louder as Takumi accelerated, shifting early at 9K RPM to clear the next straightaway. His speed decreased sharply as he entered a right hairpin, letting the 86 slide well before the hairpin even began to take the absolute best line through the inside. "I've never seen anypony let their car drift before a hairpin," Spitfire remarked as she, Fleetfoot, Soarin, and Thunderlane flew in the air, watching the 86 exit the hairpin. "Same here." Fleetfoot concurred. "Everypony I've seen in a car like that only drifts when they're in the corner. Or switchback. I've never seen somepony drift before a hairpin. At least, not that far before one." "Spitfire, he's running as fast as you," Thunderlane noted. "Sorry to be the naysayer of the group, but I don't think you're gonna win this." "Come on Thunderlane. I'll win. I can drive faster than that." "Think we should set up a strategy?" Fleetfoot asked. "Yeah. Might as well. I'm thinking a classic time attack. I'll go tune my S14 a little and think of something. You three can think of something too." "I'll come with you then." "Alright. Thunderlane, Soarin, you two watch him." "Copy that captain." With a salute, the four parted. Spitfire and Fleetfoot flew back up the mountain, while Soarin and Thunderlane continued to watch the 86. As Takumi slowed down and got ready to turn around, he noticed a certain somepony standing on the side of the road, waving at him. Luna. In her juvenile form. Takumi felt his face reddening as he cringed. What the actual hell is with her? He wondered. He rolled the window down as he stopped. "Luna I swe-hare to god why are you following me?" He laughed. Luna smiled. "After Twilight sent me a letter about what happened between you and her earlier, I had to come to check on you." Takumi's smile faded. He looked forward, remembering how he snapped at Twilight. Luna looked up and quickly noticed the two pegasi staring at her. "May I get in?" "Sure..." Without missing a beat, Luna trotted around the front and got in via the left door, quickly buckling her harness. She looks so cute... Takumi thought as he turned around. "So. About earlier, what happened?" Takumi sighed. "I just... I don't know. I guess I was just thinking about some stuff that put me in a bad mood. How did you find me?" "Twilight said you were going to a place you and Rumble went to before. It had to be a mountain pass, and I knew you couldn't have gone to the Turnpike. Twilight proceeded to tell me about this road, and, well, here I am." "Hm. Fair enough." Luna watched Takumi intently as he shifted into second gear, looking for any sign of that... thing she had seen the other night. That nightmarish form of Takumi. Seeing nothing, she looked ahead. "What have you been thinking about?" "Nothing." "Takumi, please." "...I wanna go home." Luna felt her heart deflate a little. She didn't know why. She knew Takumi wanted to go home, and she had dealt with this a few times before, so why she felt extra sad about Takumi saying it, she didn't know. Maybe it was because he was from an entirely different world and that she was powerless to do anything about it. She let out a sigh. "I know you do. And I truly wish to help in that regard, but nopony knows a single spell to transfer between dimensions." "I know, but I just... I... why me? Why me and Itsuki? We don't deserve to be Alicorns. Itsuki especially. We don't deserve to live a thousand years or to be princes. We don't deserve this world. This world doesn't-... need us..." Luna quickly reached over and rubbed Takumi's shoulder. "Takumi, how could you say that?" "I mean, we're Alicorns. This world doesn't need any more Alicorns. This world is amazing and all, but I just..." Luna noticed that the ride had changed. It was smooth, and Takumi did keep them in the correct lane, but it also felt uncertain. It was like the ride changed depending on his mood. Not like how it would with some, like somepony driving aggressively because they were in a bad mood, it truly felt like the ride would reflect his emotion. "Takumi, I do not know if you or Itsuki deserve to be Alicorns, but you are both here now. We cannot change that. Or at least, we do not know any spells that could send you back to your world." Silence. "What are the odds that even if we did find a way back to your world, we would know how to turn you back into your human self?" Takumi looked at her with a look of disgust. "Says the one that can change into a younger version of herself." "This is different. I can only perform this on myself, and I have an extremely limited number of forms I could change to." Takumi scoffed and looked ahead. "Of freaking course." A moment passed. Seeing as Takumi wasn't saying anything, she decided to try something. Try and answer a question that had been on her mind since she first sat in this car. Why could she not use magic? First, she tried a basic levitation spell on one of her harness straps. Nothing. She couldn't feel a single bit of magic going through her head or horn. She tried a more powerful spell. Same result. She rolled down her window and pointed outward, testing multiple spells of different types. Teleportation spells, Magic Bolts, Blasting spells, etcetera. All of them yielded the same results. Absolutely zero feeling. Takumi watched Luna as she tried doing... whatever she was doing. It sucked. No, not what she was doing, but the fact that Celestia and Luna were both a thousand years old, yet they had never found an interdimensional spell, just sucked. If freaking TIME TRAVEL existed, how does interdimensional travel not exist? "So..." Takumi trailed as he tried to find the words. Luna looked at him. "Just a thought. Are Alicorns... immortal?" "Hm..." Luna tapped her chin. "In a sense, maybe. Though only in age. We do feel pain, and we can die to physical harm." "So we can live forever?" "As of now, that is true. There are no recordings of an Alicorn dying of age, or even showing signs of old age." "Oh, so where did the other Alicorns go? Besides you and Celestia?" "We... do not know. We do not know if there were ever any other Alicorns." Takumi just stared ahead as he rounded a corner. "Are there any other questions you have?" Takumi had several questions. "Why do you keep following me?" Luna was a bit surprised considering he had already asked that. "Why?" "It's just..." He sighed. "I don't know. I've just never had someone follow me like you do. Well, I have actually, but you're a princess. Not a highschooler." "I am a highschooler." Takumi looked at her, eyes wide and jaw nearly dropping. Luna could only contain herself for two seconds before bursting out laughing. Takumi thought he was staring at a filly with the way she acted. It was honestly pretty cute. But that didn't change the fact that she had just said she was a highschooler. "Whaaa?" "I'm kidding! That fa-hace... oh... your face was priceless." Takumi felt heat rush to his face as he looked forward. "Great." "Hehe, oh that was... mmmm." Takumi found himself smiling a little. Hearing Luna laugh like that was, as with many things in this world, CUUUUTE. Why were ponies so freaking cute? Fluttershy was of course the physical embodiment of the word, Starlight was nice, Luna is now being cute, everyone- EVERYONE (except Pinkie) IS CUTE! "What are you thinking about?" Luna asked, stopping his cutesy train of thought. "I see you grinning over there." "Uht... shush. Nothing." Ohhhh I love messing with ponies like Takumi. Luna thought. "Anyways," She began as the WTA parking lot came into view. "How many times are we going to drive downhill?" "Until my tires are shot I guess. You know where a good place for tires my size are? I've been wanting to run at 80% but I've had to cut my speed to preserve the tires for as long as possible." "Hmm... I think I know a place. But I think we should keep going for as long as possible on this set. I want to see if those forums saying you MUST have good tires to be fast is true." Takumi rolled his eyes. "Alright then." Twenty minutes later. "Wait, he's leaving. Wow! He's actually leaving!" Soarin exclaimed as the Corolla zipped away from the mountain. "Finally! Hey, wanna see how Spitfire and Fleetfoot are doing?" Thunderlane asked. "Sure. Let's go." The two shot up the mountain, quickly making their way to the Academy. As they flew, Soarin had a thought. "Any idea who that other mare was that got in a couple runs ago?" Thunderlane shook his head. "Nope. No idea. All I got was that she was purple and that was it." "Mm. Too light of a shade to be Twilight." "Why in Equestria would TWILIGHT hang out with a street racer? I've seen the mare a few times. Sure she owns a freaking Bolide but she wouldn't street race." Soarin shrugged. "Fair. Except Takumi or, whatever his name was, is an Alicorn." "Yeah. Also Itsuki. What's up with that? Two new Alicorns, both of them stallions, who street race." "Mm. Still. I wonder who that pony was that got in with him." "I wanna know how the fuck he went four full runs without changing his tires ONCE." Soarin wholeheartedly agreed with Thunderlane on that. Sure, the road was just repaved last week, but how could someone drive at that pace for so long without shredding their tires? Sure, Stock Cars use tires that last up to 100 miles at a constant 200MPH, but those were used on prepped tarmac and mostly sustained forward friction. If that made sense. The way Takumi was driving included sideways friction. PLUS, while Stock Car Tires were legal for road use, they were stupidly expensive. Soon, they landed in front of a half open garage door of a mechanic shop. The lights were on inside, and they could hear Spitfire and Fleetfoot talking. Soarin and Thunderlane agreed to stand around the corner to see what they were talking about. "A Sprinter Trueno," Spitfire slowly said. "That's what it is. 124HP for the Ponyland models, the best model weighs- oh dang only a bit over 2000 pounds." "Holy crap check this out. The Black Limited weighs only 1700 pounds!" Fleetfoot exclaimed. "The Black Limited?" "Yeah. Hm... the first and only car ever to be made of Chitin." There was a pause. "Chitin?" Spitfire asked. "Changeling skin." "Wait what the fu-" Soarin walked in without hesitation. "Who in their right mind would make a car out of CHANGELING SKIN?" "Oh. Hello Soarin." Fleetfoot greeted as Thunderlane followed. "You too Thunderlane. And I don't know why somepony would make a car out of Chitin. Not much is known about the Black Limited's origins other than specs and such." Spitfire tapped at her laptop. "Says here that the Black Limited was rumored to be an attempt to see the viability of Chitin. I guess it was a success since 400 models were made. Along with one hundred... prototypes?" "One Hundred Prototypes?" The other three asked. "It says it in quotation marks. I dunno." "Damn. The Black Limited must... really be something." Thunderlane could only imagine how fast a Black Limited must be, if Takumi was able to bring a normal AE86 to Spitfire's speeds, the thought of him using a black limited was terrifying. "Wait, you think Takumi uses a Black Limited?" "No." Spitfire quickly replied. "His car is a GT-APEX. A 16 Valve." Thunderlane grew angry. "Buh- there is no fucking way that was a 16 Valve engine I saw accelerating up and down the mountain." "Yeah. I'm pissed too." Spitfire resisted the urge to slam her hoof on the floor. "That thing is modified. Extremely modified. It ain't a regular Sprinter. I've been around my fair share of professionally tuned cars. That Sprinter is one of them." "Wait really? Professionally tuned?" Spitfire nodded. "Well... damn. What are we gonna do about that?" "I'm gonna tune my car for more power. Octane rating is gonna go through the roof but whatever. I can pay for it." "Why's that?" "Turbo boost. Duh. More boost equals way more compression." Fleetfoot rolled her eyes and looked at the engine bay of Spitifre's S14, the hood currently supported by a bar. "Say, what horsepower ratings do you think you're gonna try for?" "Well right now I'm running the bone stock 316. I think I'll shoot for 350." Spitfire replied. "I'll have to spend the whole morning testing and making sure the engine can take the extra boost. I know these SR20's are almost bulletproof but I gotta make sure." "Wait how much boost are you running?" "About uh... 8? 9 PSI?" "Oh." Fleetfoot looked back at the engine bay and smirked. Who am I kidding? This is Spitfire. She's never lost a race on this mountain. No way she can lose to a Sprinter. "Should we let the team know?" Soarin asked. "This'll be one heck of a race." "Absolutely," Spitfire replied with a smile. "To be honest, I've been itching for a good race for a while now. It's been getting stale with the recruits." "Mm. It'll be fun." Fleetfoot nearly rolled her eyes. If Takumi didn't show up, I'd have given you the race of a lifetime. "Anyways." Spitfire stood up and used a wing to place her laptop on a table. "Time to get to work. Gonna need to replace the progressive springs if I want the car to be responsive. When I'm done, she'll be as nimble as a training jet." "Wait, you use progressive springs too?" Thunderlane asked. Spitfire nodded. "It's my daily. You think I'd drive around in a car with rock-hard suspension?" Thunderlane glanced at Soarin before looking back. "Yeah?" "Well, I use progressive springs for the same reason you do on your E30." She picked up a wrench. "Now enough chit-chat. Time to get to work." Ponyville. TSSSSS! Takumi and Luna aired up the last of the four tires before lowering the 86 back on the ground. "There. Now we can continue practicing." Luna said, still in her juvenile form. "Yeah, we can," Takumi replied. He looked at the dirt road. "Seriously, what is with these haybales?" Lining the dirt road and several other roads throughout Ponyville were haybales. Ones that marked out a circuit that crossed in the middle. Luna rubbed her chin. "Hmm... I do not know. They must have a purpose. Perhaps an event is taking place in the day. Rural towns always have their own odd events. It is hard to keep track of them all." "So, events tied to just the town?" Luna nodded. "Hm." Soon, the two were back on the highway, driving towards the WTA's mountain. Or 'Mount Bolt', as Luna said it was called. Luna watched Takumi again. After seeing that form of him, she made a habit out of watching for it. She wanted to see it again, spot the fine details. Then she could tell Celestia about it. She didn't want to tell Celestia now. The reason was she wanted to get a better idea about the form, and she wanted more then one sighting of it. If that made sense. Sadly, nothing. Takumi was in his default state. AKA the dazed and inattentive posture and expression. Why did it feel both normal and abnormal to call that his default state? Soon, the 86 tilted upwards. Luna looked forward at the twists and turns, watching them go by. The ride felt smooth and controlled as always. Far different than the four times she had tried riding in a limousine. Even with the most luxurious of fabrics under her and most comfortable of suspension supporting the limo, the way the driver would drive was abysmal. 86. 86... "Takumi?" "Hm?" Luna chose her words. "I... I do not know much about your world, but since you have the same cars as us, I must ask you something." "Shoot." "Well, it may not be my place to ask, but what is somepony your age doing with an-..." She looked at Takumi. "86?" Takumi glanced at her for a split second before refocusing on the road. "What do you mean?" "I mean, most teenagers your age would rather have a car of a higher spec than yours. Something newer and well-known. Why did you choose an 86?" "Well, It wasn't my decision in the first place. It was my father's." This perked Luna's interest. "He bought it new, and it's been our only car so it ended up being the one I drove. We never needed a new one. I've been driving her for so long, I guess I've grown attached to her." "Hm. How interesting." "I mean, why get a new car when the one you already have works fine?" "Heh, very true. I have noticed that you referred to your car as she." "Yeah. What about that?" Luna sighed. "It has always intrigued me why ponies treat their vehicles like living beings. To my knowledge, cars do not have souls. They never have." "Well... when you spend enough time with someone, or something, you develop a connection with them." "Hmm, yes. I do know of this. Even if you were to force sworn enemies into a room together, and keep them there, they will subconsciously grow towards each other as time passes. Sometimes I wonder if that is a good way to reform villains. To force them into a room with somepony and see what happens." "This 86..." Takumi rubbed the steering wheel. "...has been more then just a car. I don't mean that as it's more than a contraption that gets me from A to B or anything. It's... it's my companion." Initial D Fourth Stage Sound Files vol.2 - Natsuki's Theme starts playing. "Your companion?" Images of the 86 driving flowed through as Takumi spoke. "Throughout the time I've driven it, this 86 has never let me down. I know that's probably due to my dad maintaining it, but on the mountain pass? I get to spend a lot of time with it. Feeling it out, getting to know it better, I even talk to it and share my feelings with it if you can believe it." Luna smiled. "I do believe it." Takumi returned the smile as he thought about his early days of street racing. "Throughout my racing career, it's always there with me. It loves me as much as I love it. FD, R32, SilEighty, S14, FC, It's always fighting alongside me, and I'm always fighting alongside it. When you drive a car for as long as I have, you feel a real connection. People who treat their cars as living beings and listen to what they want are the ones that succeed the most." His ears drooped. "That's why when I blew the engine, I... I let it down." Luna gasped. "You... blew the engine?" Takumi nodded, remembering a black Lancer Evo III. "I was racing a black CE9A. Akagi Pass. That night, I found out that the only person I had felt feelings for was a prostitute. She was being paid for sexual favors by an older man. When I saw it, I got angry. I went out to Akagi and fought a losing battle." Her ears dropped. "Oh no..." "I pushed it too hard. I... The moment that engine blew, I knew I had let the 86 down. I failed her. It wasn't her fault the engine blew. It was mine. I let my anger get the best of me with a dying engine." "Did you... overrev it?" "No. It was old. 200000 kilometers. I know it had it coming but... I feel responsible. I caused the 86's death..." A tear slowly formed in his eye. Had they been outside, Luna would have wrapped her hooves and wings around Takumi to comfort him. She hated seeing him this sad. She hated seeing anypony this sad. "But, you got a new engine?" She didn't know if it was a question or not. "Yeah." Takumi wiped the tear from his eye. "Even after that, the 86... the 86 forgave me. After blowing that engine, I realized just how important it is to me. How important racing is to me." He paused. "It never gives up. No matter the situation, it fights to the last drop of fuel and tread. I'll never hurt my 86 again. I don't care what happens to me. If I can never go back to my world, then the 86 is my world. And I will protect it." Luna smiled as she wiped a tear. "Street racing is your life." Takumi nodded. "Nobody can take it from me." "Hm. You are a great pony, Takumi Fujiwara." She rubbed the dashboard. "I am sure you will make an amazing ruler given the time. Even if you never make it back to your world, you will always have the 86." "Not only that, I'll always have you." Luna was surprised. She looked over at Takumi who just stared ahead, feeling heat rush to her face. Takumi remained in his default state, but with a warm smile. She smiled and looked back forward. No further words were said.