//------------------------------// // Faster Than a Truck // Story: Dashing Through Paranormalities // by gapty //------------------------------// Once the clock turned to one hour past midnight, Rainbow slowly crawled out of her bed and silently changed out of her pajamas into her normal outfit. It wasn’t the first time she had sneaked out of her house during the night; ever since Twilight figured out that overusing their magical powers would overpower them, Rainbow had had to find a different thing to do to still her need for speed. She loved being fast. She needed the adrenaline and, going out of her house, walking to a left building and starting the motor of the hidden motorcycle would give it to her like any other night. Of course, speeding through the city would only catch any unwanted attention, so she drove normally till she was outside the city, and only then increased her speed. She knew about the strange happenings around the city regarding vehicles, where any attempt at getting out of the city resulted in damaged motors or other accidents forcing anyone to return. However she wasn’t attempting to get out, only to use the streets outside of Canterlot City. There was one particular street named Everfree Street, which went around Canterlot City and the Everfree forest in a big circle; perfect for exactly what she was planning to do. Luckily for her, she hadn’t encountered any radar traps on that and with the current state of the city she had the whole street for herself without any worries of accidentally driving into someone. Once she was on Everfree Street, she immediately took off with a speed surpassing tempo limits on the roads. The wind blew around her, the noises from the engine drummed in her ears, the few street signs and the bushes next to the street were passing her one by one without enough time to make out their shapes. Only the light on her motorcycle and the moon brightened the street, but that was enough; she knew the way by heart now and there weren’t any sharp turns to look out for for a while. Of course the speed of her motorcycle couldn’t reach even near the speed her geode could make her run, but on foot she was in full control of her movements. On the vehicle she couldn’t stop abruptly or take sharp turns, but that’s what made her adrenaline go up when driving and gave her the kick she couldn’t get otherwise. If only her geode wouldn’t be connected to the other geodes on her friends, she would instead be running non stop, but for now the motorcycle and the night was the replacement. Since she started driving secretly during the night, the only encounters were here and there delivery trucks which had to cross the street to get in or out of the city (strangely enough, only these didn’t break down when leaving Canterlot); however none of these encounters were dangerous as she could see them on the crossings from miles away. Even as now a truck overtook her, she was in full control to not get into an accident… She shook her head and looked forward to the backlights of the truck that just passed her. Indeed, she didn’t make it up, it had just overtaken her and was driving father away from her. No, this couldn’t be true! She gave her full speed to catch up to the truck. She rode a motorcycle, she was faster than any truck! Come on, get faster! But the engine was already rattling and groaning, while the backlights were quickly fading away. Out of desperation she leaned forward to reduce the air friction, but that gave barely any additional speed. Once she didn’t see the backlights anymore, she went slower until she stopped in the middle of the road, wondering if what she just saw was a bad dream. “I’m sorry, but you say that a truck overtook you at 90 mph?” Flash asked in disbelief. “Yes!” “You know that that means it drove more than 40 metres per second?” “It overtook me on a motorcycle!” “And because of that you woke me up at three in the morning?” “You need to help me. Please!” Flash took a long yawn, before looking silently at the motorcycle behind her. “Can’t that wait till tomorrow?” “No!” Flash tried to close the door, but a foot between the doorway stopped him. Seeing as Rainbow would keep pushing, he took a long sigh. “I’ll open my garage, let me put on my clothes first.” Rainbow walked back and forth in the garage, waiting for Flash to appear. Her thoughts were only about that truck that overtook her so quickly and then vanished in the distance. How was it so fast? Weren’t they all slow and blocking the streets? However the truck was so fast, she was set to beat it no matter the cost! “Alright, I’m here now.” Flash entered the garage with only the most basic clothes to cover himself and his hair still unkempt. “What exactly do you need from me?” “Make my motorcycle faster!” He groaned in response. “Listen, Rainbow, I can’t just make a motorcycle faster without any parts. There are also the legal issues with tuning a motorcycle–” “I bought it from an autowreck station and Applejack helped me make it drive, it isn’t registered anywhere to begin with.” “That explains the lack of the license plate,” he muttered. “Just make it faster by any means! If you need anything I can get it instantly!” “I doubt you can find any parts at this time of the night.” “I will leave a note and the money.” “Wow, you really are desperate.” “Because a truck overtook me!” He didn’t respond and looked silently at each part of the vehicle, taking his time to test everything how fixed it was. “Yeah, it’s really a wreck. It works for what it’s supposed to do, but if you want the maximum speed, spare parts found in a carwreck station won’t do it. Unless you want to rebuild everything, I suggest that you buy a new one.” “Are you telling me that because you mean it or because you don’t want to do anything?” Rainbow asked. “The former of course. Changing the parts isn’t too hard once you get them for me. So?” “Hmph, fine. A new one it is.” She took the motorcycle and pushed it out of the garage. “You’re welcome by the way!” Flash called after her in an annoyed voice. “Thank you for your help… And sorry for waking you up at this time.” The next night Rainbow drove again at Everfree Street, this time with a different motorcycle. Of course she didn’t have enough savings for a new one, yet, but borrowing Sunset’s should be enough to show that truck driver who is the fastest around here. She only had to promise that she would return it whole without any damage and with a full tank. Hopefully this truck driver would be driving today too, otherwise her hours long driving would be a waste tonight. She already did a full circle on the street and still haven’t seen any other vehicle yet. Then finally it happened. She saw the same lights of the truck from yesterday brighten up and quickly come nearer. Immediately she increased her speed, but not too fast to let the truck come near her. Once it turned to the other lane to overtake her, she gave full speed, leaving the truck to get further behind. She did it! She had shown the driver who was the fastest! Her cheering didn’t last long as the truck suddenly accelerated quickly and was suddenly next to her, before overtaking her without any effort. In panic she gave even more gas, despite the motorcycle already being at its limit, and ducked to lessen the air resistance, but the only thing she saw were the backlights fading away in front of her. “What do you mean my motorcycle is too slow?” Sunset asked over the mobile phone. “What else could it mean? That truck easily overtook me again!” “Are you sure you’re seeing things correctly? Not getting enough sleep–” “Sunset, I drove 140 mph on your motorcycle and that truck took it like I was… some truck!” Rainbow heard Sunset sigh. “You have to believe me!” “I believe you, it’s just that you take it way too personally. Maybe it’s a tuned truck from a previous racer, who knows. If you really want to be faster, just use your magic.” “No, Sunset, you don’t understand! It’s about my reputation and using my magic would be cheating and admitting that I lost! We—” “Good night, Rainbow. We will continue in the morning once I wake up.” “But—” Without letting her get in another word, Sunset put her phone down and cut the line. Rainbow called her back, but this time she immediately got a voicemail, meaning Sunset turned off her phone completely. The doorbell rang. As soon as Sunset stood up from her chair, it rang again repeatedly. Annoyed by the impatience of the person behind the door, she took longer than needed to open the door. “Here’s your pizza!” Rainbow quickly entered the apartment, placed the pizza on a table and stood again before Sunset, stretching her hand towards her for the money. “Quick, I need to mow the grass in ten minutes and still have to deliver seven pizzas before that!” “Why?” Sunset slowly opened her purse and took a closer look at Rainbow. Her hair was fuzzy and dark rings around her eyes were visible. “What do you mean why?” Rainbow asked. “Why are you doing all this? Why are you suddenly barely talking to us? Why have you left your sport clubs and are now working at multiple jobs at once?” “Because of the truck! And I didn’t leave the clubs, only took a break for a few weeks.” Rainbow wiggled her fingers to signal her to give her the money faster. “The truck? What does the truck have to do with any of this?” “What what? To get a new, faster motorcycle of course! I will prove that I, Rainbow Dash, am the fastest rider in Canterlot City!” “Just run with your geode against it. That’s way more impressive if you ask me,” Sunset groaned. “No, Sunset, that’s admitting that I have lost! I need to have the faster vehicle!” “And I guess you won’t be able to come to our weekly sleepover? Pinkie Pie will be very sad if you won’t.” “Sorry, already got DoorDash, pizza and newspaper delivery this evening to do. She’ll get over it.” At this moment Sunset had the money in her hand, which Rainbow immediately grabbed out of her and took off, leaving a rainbow coloured trail behind her. With a sigh Sunset looked after her. This was the first longer conversation she was able to get with her. Rainbow’s look also bothered her. She was sure that soon enough the hard worker would give herself a burnout if she would continue like that. Of course, with her geode she could do the jobs much quicker, but she had to keep it down to not overpower those of her friends. At least Sunset hoped she did, over the last few days she could feel her own geode flickering up from having too much magic in it. This had to stop. Rainbow wouldn’t stop going the road of self destruction, so Sunset, as her friend, had to intervene. She picked up her phone and wrote a message to the other members of their band. When Rainbow woke up, she noticed how her room was still dark. With a yawn she stood up and opened the curtains in front of her window, where she saw the sun already high in the sky. Wait, what time was it now? She quickly glanced at her clock, which showed her that it was already past midday. Loudly cursing, she quickly put on her clothes and, using her geode for quicker speed, she ran out of the house. How did she oversleep for several hours? She clearly remembered how she set the alarm clock. Maybe it was true what her friends said and she overworked herself? No, it couldn’t be, she never needed much sleep anyway to get enough rest. Suddenly she stopped. Where should she even run first? The twenty houses she had to mow their grasses in the morning? The restaurants waiting for her to deliver their food to their customers? The dog owners who needed her to walk their dogs? Overwhelmed by how many jobs she overslept, she just ran to the nearest restaurant. With a wind from behind following her into the building, she stopped in front of the manager and apologised sincerely for being too late. “What are you talking about, Rainbow?” he replied to her surprise. “I should have been here early in the morning already.” “I mean, yes, but Sunset took over you. Didn’t you know?” Rainbow raised her eyebrows. She wanted to continue asking questions, but realised that she should just take the luck and run to the next place she was supposed to work. “Awesome, see you later!” The following restaurants all said the same to her, that either Sunset or Applejack took over her job, and when she passed a house she was supposed to mow the grass, it had already been done. At last, she met a dog she was supposed to walk with, but on a leash held by Fluttershy. “Hi, Rainbow!” “Fluttershy! What is going on? Why are all of my jobs already done?” The animal lover looked at her dumbfounded, then pointed with her hand at the dog on the leash. “I mean, we, your friends, are doing them for you. You were so tired and overworked, you really needed that longer sleep. I thought you’d have figured that out.” “Ah… ehm, thank you? I can take it from here.” Rainbow stretched her hand to take the leash, but Fluttershy denied it. “She. Her name is Leila.” “Fine, then I will walk Leila. Give me that.” “No.” “What?” Rainbow stepped back, surprised by her firm stance. “You, Rainbow, will go to the Day Spa right now and will take every offer they have.” “But–” “No buts!” Fluttershy gave her a threatening stare, which made Rainbow flinch and run where her friend said she had to go. “Ah, I really needed it,” Rainbow said while Lotus was massaging her back. “See?” Twilight replied. “Even when you are the fittest of us, a break is always good to have.” “That’s right, darling,” Rarity added. “Allow yourself to be treated like a lady.” “But what about the others?” Rainbow asked. “Aren’t they currently working in my place?” “Yes, they do,” Twilight answered, “but we circle in pairs who will be at the spa with you to make up for the time we didn’t see you.” “Wow. Really, girls, thank you so much.” “Always happy to help a friend,” Rarity said. “But to catch up, you need that money for a motorcycle, right?” “Eeyup. I’m saving up for the one being able to drive 220 mph. This should do the work of beating that darn truck.” “Shesh, that’s fast,” Twilight responded. “How fast was Sunset’s motorcycle?” “Only 140 mph.” “Only?” “Yes, only.” “Aren’t you scared to drive those fast vehicles?” Rarity asked. “I mean, on foot with your magic you have much more control.” “Pshaw, Rarity, I live for speed! But don’t worry, I’ll get used to the new one before using the full capacity. I promise!” Once Rainbow sat on the new motorcycle, the first thing she noticed was how loud it is compared to the ones she used before. She didn’t even hear the exciting cheering of her friends watching her starting the motor and had to turn off the engine. “Wow, this one is so amazing!” “Glad to see your hard work finally pay off,” Sunset ran her hand over the vehicle. “I wouldn’t be able to do it without you. Thanks again for helping me out, friends!” “Well, you didn’t give us a big choice, but I’m glad to have helped you,” Applejack said. “Just be careful, okay? Those high speeds can be very dangerous.” Fluttershy emerged from the back of Twilight, where she had hidden when the engine started. Her knees were still shaking from the loud noise. “Also I built you a radio operator. All truck drivers use the same frequency to communicate with each other, so it’s likely that with that you’ll be able to speak to them.” Twilight gave her a full motorist protective costume. “And I took the honor of making the costume for you.” Rarity added. “I won’t allow you to get hurt.” “Wow, thank you, girls!” “And for the first night time ride,” Sunset grinned, “I will join you. My curiosity is at maximum when even my motorcycle is too… are you crying?” “I don’t deserve any of you.” Rainbow hid her face from them. It had so much power. Rainbow still had to get used to how quickly her new motorcycle could accelerate; even Sunset struggled to keep up after turns and curves. As soon as they got on the Everfree Street, Rainbow took off, but not too fast to let Sunset catch up. “Rainbow, slow down. It’s not here yet. Over,” Sunset said over the radio. “You better keep up, we haven’t even started yet. Over.” “What about radars or other cars? Over.” “Don’t worry. Literally no one is here and no one controls anything here. Over.” With that they continued wordlessly driving way over the speed limit, but Rainbow could feel how her vehicle was still only cruising casually and wanted more. Just wait, my baby. Your time to shine will soon come. Occasionally she slowed down and let Sunset drive away, only to accelerate and overtake her easily, while still not using the full power her vehicle could be using. And yet, her heart was already beating fast and her breath was short through the excitement and the acceleration forces pushing her back. She couldn’t wait to use its full speed. At last, familiar headlights appeared behind them, which quickly approached them. “Here it is, Sunset. Over.” “Good luck and be careful. Over.” Sunset accelerated to the highest speed her motorcycle could offer, while Rainbow was keeping up behind her, waiting for the truck to overtake them. It didn’t take long, as the truck soon changed lanes and overtook them easily, making them look like they were driving on small mopeds. “What even…” Sunset spoke in surprise. “Here. We. Go!” Rainbow changed lanes and accelerated quickly. The forces were immense and she had to grab tightly to not fly away. Sunset was way behind her in seconds, as her motorcycle still was getting more speed. To her pleasure she saw the backlights of the trucks coming nearer to her. Finally, she would prove to it that she was the fastest here! Once she was behind it, she used her operator to try to speak to the driver. “Hello, here is Rainbow Dash. Can you hear me? Over.” “I can hear you clearly! I’m the Night Hauler and I’m comin’ in hot! Do you also have the need for speed?” A manly voice responded. “I do! You were always faster than me, but this time I will show you that I, Rainbow Dash, am the fastest rider in Canterlot City!” “Hahaha, I already love you! Let’s roll in the night, let the asphalt burn from our tires! We’re showin’ them what livin’ on the road means!” Rainbow changed lanes and slowly overtook it. A quick glance at the tacho showed that she was driving at about 190 mph. Being next to the truck, she could feel why those speeds were indeed dangerous: every bump on the road was shaking her up and making her almost lose control over her vehicle, and the side winds from the truck took all her strength pushing the handlebars to continue driving on a straight line. “Are y’all feeling it? That’s the spirit of the road, baby! Can you feel the rumble? Can you smell the smoke? I know you feel it! Your heart is racing and you want more! Fly with me! No barrier will stop us on our way!” His words gave her even more adrenaline, as she now put on her full speed her motorcycle could do. She could really feel it, everything was passing her quickly, all she could concentrate on was the road ahead of her and trying to steer forward, while the engine was hammering into her ear with its loud bumping. And she loved it. It was way better than running with her geode. This was the road calling for her; this was freedom! “Here you go, pal! Be like the wind! Let your veins be filled with speed! Live to be free!” At that moment she forgot why she even was here to begin with. All she cared for was feeling the speed, the kick, the rattle of the motor, the rushing of objects from the corners of her eyes. The adrenaline was at an all time high and her heart was beating faster than ever before. This was the best feeling she ever had! Then suddenly the truck accelerated and left her behind. “Sorry, pal, the road is calling me!” was the last message she received from him. Perplexed by the speed of the truck, Rainbow had to stop and climbed out of her motorcycle next to the road, where she sat down and watched dumbfounded on the street. It was faster. This truck driver just let her new motorcycle, which was able to drive 220 mph, look like all the other motorcycles she drove against him before. Just how fast was his truck? How was it able to get those speeds? And yet, she didn’t feel as disturbed by it as before. When he talked to her, when she was driving next to him, she felt the same as he did. The excitement, the freedom, the action. He didn’t drive to be the fastest, he drove because he loved it. Maybe that’s what she had to learn? That speed was not about being the fastest, but the freedom? Freedom… It was something Canterlot City lacked, considering anything beyond Everfree Street was impassable. Maybe… Suddenly a single light appeared from the side of the street she came from, which turned out to be Sunset’s motorcycle. Once Sunset noticed Rainbow next to the road, she braked and stopped next to her. “Hey, how was it? Did you overtake it?” Rainbow looked bluntly at her, giving her the answer. “Seriously? Even this bike?” Sunset scratched her head. “Wow... To be honest, I had to see the truck myself to believe that it was truly this fast. Do you still want to beat it?” A smile formed on Rainbow’s lips and she shook her head. No, she didn’t want to anymore. All she knew was that the road was calling for her.