Drops fall from the cloud-filled sky and pound the tin roof, and Little Cinnamon huddles under the blanket in the cold.
Even though the alarm clock rings and she knows she has to wake up, she doesn't want to get out from under the warm blanket.
The ringing of the alarm clock is carried between a few houses after it flew out of the car window.
"I've had enough of this shit!" She exclaims angrily as she sits in the front seat and starts the engine.
With the thought that she might never get used to getting up early, which she absolutely hates, she sits in the front seat under the blanket while she slowly eats the last sandwich she got from Smouky.
Looking at the last chocolate bar she has for lunch, she smirks, she doesn't like the idea of being hungry again.
It was supposed to be a shortcut, but instead it's just fight for survival.
"To hell with this place" She says to herself while the huge drops pound on the hood.
It is true that for a long time she wished for rain and in some moments she would give anything for cool down.
But this is insane, first the crazy heat almost boils the blood in her veins and now it's cold as in a freezer, she doesn't even have the courage to get out of the car and feel the cold on her own skin, when her hoof almost froze just after opening the window.
It didn't take long and warm air is coming from the heater, cinnamon switches the heater to maximum and blows warm air under the blanket in which she is wrapped like a baby and shivering with cold.
<Atmosphere 1. >
With her head resting on the dashboard, she enjoys the wind blowing on her chest where her fur flutters, even though she is well aware that she should have been on her way a long time ago.
After a short argument, she gets behind the wheel and drives out of town, still wrapped in a blanket.
Due to the heavy rain and black clouds that never end, it is very difficult to see and so she has to drive slowly, slower than she can afford.
This route was supposed to be a shortcut, if it had only been made with the necessary stops, it would have saved at least four days of travel.
But because of the insane conditions of this area, which is called the Dead Land, it had exactly the opposite effect.
It's hard to tell if it was because of the heavy rain or because she was deep in thought that she didn't notice someone walking down the road.
Because the car almost has no tread on the tires, does not react as it should, and instead of avoiding a stranger in the middle of the road, the car turns over as if on ice and stops on the side of the road in the grass.
"Fucking bitch! She gets angry behind the wheel, staring into the black darkness without moving.
"Hello, are you alright?" She steps out, calling into the heavy rain.
When no one answers, she runs out to see if anyone is there, while the car lights illuminate the road.
"Thank you," Says the stranger, whom Cinnamon helps to his feet and leads him to the car.
As soon as they are both completely soaked in the car, Cinnamon makes sure that the stranger is not hurt.
"What were you doing in the middle of the road? She asks the stranger, who appears to be unharmed and fully sane.
"I'm sorry, but I wanted to make sure you'd see me and stop me" He replies with a trembling voice.
Cinnamon covers him with a blanket and turns up the heat.
After a short conversation, when the stranger introduces himself as wood, he explains that he is on his way home, but due to the rain, he accidentally went off the road and broke his means of transport, so he has to walk.
She didn't refuse when Wood asked if she would take him home because she still feels bad about almost killing him, even though it was his own fault.
Fortunately, Wood lives in the direction she needed to go.
Moments later they turned off the main road onto a narrow broken road that leads to his house.
After a few minutes of wild slalom due to deep holes in the road that were almost invisible, they reached the wooden fence of a four-meter gate at the height of the fence, but the house was nowhere to be found.
"Thank you very much for the ride, I'll go further" Says Wood as he prepares to step out into the crazy weather.
"You're welcome, have a nice day" Cinnamon waits to be able to leave.
"I couldn't repay you for taking me this far, how about stopping for something to eat?
The thought of hot food on a plate made her mouth salivate, but she knows it's already too late to waste any more time, especially after the thought of getting stuck on the muddy dirt road that leads behind the fence.
She explains her situation as she is pressed for time and immediately turns back to the main road.
With a desperate look at the clock and the kilometers traveled, Cinnamon accelerates even more on the way back, avoiding potholes only reflexively.
As soon as she gets back on the main road, she steps on the gas and speeds up with the rain drumming against the windshield fighting the wipers.
There is no time, so she drives all day with only a few breaks to go to the bathroom.
It's night time again, Cinnamon only knew it when the clouds cleared and the starry sky appeared, making her think of the soft seat in the back, where she'd prefer to lay down and let herself be carried away by the realm of dreams.
She is not sleepy, she is pumped with adrenaline from the fast ride and the fear that she will be late, because the bad weather did not allow her to go fast and thus she is far behind.
more and more trees and bushes pass along the road, as well as a turn and a signpost.
"Looks like we're getting back to civilization" Cinnamon says while stroking the steering wheel.
The pleasant rustling of the air driven by the car, the purring of the engine and the darkness cut through by the lights, this is the life that Cinnamon fell in love with.
Traveling at night is like a dream, everything around is so peaceful and magical.
It's like being in the center of a busy city full of fun, noise and ponies, you put on your headphones and close your eyes, suddenly you're immersed in nothingness while everything around you is still alive, while you're in your own little world.
With a good mood, she rushes through the night with the desire to be at the destination and to have this terrible journey behind her, to finally rest for a while and get a good night's sleep.
Even though she knows that it won't happen anyway, there is a lot that needs to be done and before she finishes it, she will have to go on another journey.
She drives through a small village with a pleasant feeling, passing illuminated houses in which there is life.
More and more villages are passed by a lonely car on the road until after a long time it arrives in a city that shines like a Christmas tree.
Cinnamon would cry with joy if she saw some residents, but the only thing she passes are the lamps that illuminate the road and some buildings.
It's been a few hours since Cinnamon left the city and with an exhausted expression she tries not to fall asleep behind the wheel, if she could, she immediately lies down and sleeps, but if she doesn't want the whole trip to be in vain, she has to hold on for a while longer.
<END>
The first rays of sunlight hit her face and illuminated the surroundings, she sped up looking at the clock, she no longer has to worry about crashing into something because of the darkness.
Stomach growling echoes in the car as the clock shows lunch time, Cinnamon has nothing left to eat and so has to drive to the destination, where she eats her fill.
"It's over there! Can you see it too?! She shouts when she sees in the distance the entrance gate with flags where cars are parked.
<EVENT 1>
It doesn't take long before a black dusty sedan pulls into a small town playing music.
Cinnamon walks through an empty square full of stalls, but there's no one there, just music and decorations all around.
She doesn't even have time to look at what is in the stalls for sale and the music is drowned out by the roar of the engine, which is followed by the loud roar of many ponies.
"It's here! You've all been waiting impatiently for it and finally we can officially launch it!! The pony calls out to the cheering crowd.
Cinnamon happy that she's really here, that she didn't miss it and that she won't be alone today.
"Hello, I just arrived, I came to register." Cinnamon walks up to the table in front of all the fun.
"Hello, you arrived quite late" The white pony looks at the clock.
“But you'll write me down, won't you? Cinnamon's blood runs cold.
"You're lucky that many of the participants were very late, so we made an exception this time and the time limit was extended" She smiles at cinnamon, whose legs stop shaking.
"Thank you! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it" Cinnamon leans on the table with relief.
"Name?
"Cinnamon"
"Okay, be ready with your car in two hours" She writes in a large book on the table.
"So soon? But I have so much work to do on the car, I haven't slept since yesterday"
"I'm sorry, I can't make an exception in this case, either you'll be at the starting line when we call you, or you can go home" She recites like a robot.
"Where's the service?!
"Around the corn......" She points with her hoof.
Only the swirling dust remains in front of the table as Cinnamon sprints determinedly in the direction the pony behind the table was pointing.
She runs into the large three-car garage, which is full.
“HEY! Is anyone here?! Cinnamon is calling in the garage.
“Here, what do you need? A head appears under the car.
"I need parts immediately for a vehicle on name Cinnamon, six spare wheels, transmission oil and filter, air filter, air intake hose, upper radiator hose, thermostat, water temperature sensor, coolant, spark plugs, ignition cables" She recites quickly to the Pony lying under the car.
"I'll bring it as soon as I can" He wants to go back under the car, but Cinnamon grabs him.
"IMMEDIATELY!
A black bubbling car pulls up in front of the garage, Cinnamon opens the hood and immediately starts preparing the car for maintenance.
She can't rely on a mechanic who is used to working as he wants, she has to do everything herself, that's why she knows that it's a lot of work and very little time for one pony alone.
"Here you have the tires, I'll go right away for the rest of the things" He leaves the tires on the wheelbarrow in front of the car.
"What is this?! She calls out to the mechanic who immediately turns around.
"Where is the problem?
"These are just tires, and even winter ones, where are my wheels that I ordered?
"This was in the warehouse under your name" As if he didn't care, he turns to leave again.
Cinnamon fumes, this is out of the question, she doesn't deserve this after what she had to go through to get here.
She catches up with the mechanic and angrily goes to the warehouse with him.
"See, there's nothing else here" The slightly frightened mechanic points.
"HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!! Look at the other shelves, they're full of wheels, why is mine empty?! She's looking around.
"Because I took your tires out" He says as if Cinnamon is completely stupid.
This is a little too much for her, she tries to stay calm and not shove a tire down his neck as she goes through more racks looking for wheels or tires the same size as hers, but it seems impossible.
Full of desperation, she starts rummaging through the old used tires if she can't find at least something among them.
"Don't say you can't use those tires? The mechanic suggests that she leave it and put the one he brought her.
“Do you know how much I'll be at a disadvantage to the others? Without looking back, she searches through the pile of tires.
"Then drive it with the ones you have on the car, it will last one race"
"Sure!! And don't I have to put ice skates on my hooves like that? Cinnamon is furious.
"That would make you pretty stupid" He laughs "Why would you do that?
"Because when I step on the gas, the car slides like it's on ice, I'm almost driving on wires, dude" She angrily throws the last tire that was left in the trash.
Cinnamon has no choice but to use winter tires, but the other problem is that the tires are not on the wheels, so the old tires have to be taken off and new ones put on, which is time consuming and with all that needs to be done, she can never do it.
Cinnamon oscillates like a bullet, changing one wheel after another, sweaty up to her back, while the mechanic carries the parts she asked him for in the beginning.
An hour passed like water and the wheels are finally replaced, a desperate Cinnamon rushes to the engine and starts disconnecting the air filter which is in such a terrible condition that it would be better to drive without it, but because of the environment in which she was driving she could not afford it.
"I'm missing a few of the things you wanted" The mechanic carries a list of things in the warehouse to a tense Cinnamon.
"What?! WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN??!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!!! I checked everything over and over, there's no way something was missing!! Cinnamon's nerves snapped.
"I'm not responsible for what they bring me, it's possible that it's at another station" He tries to defend himself against the raging bristling light brown fur.
"WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?!!
"Racers Journey and Cinnamon get to the starting positions" It's played over the speakers for a moment instead of the music.
The injustice, the despair, the pressure and the bad luck that accompanies her brought tears to her eyes, which were soon lost in the rage that has been growing in her for some time.
"They said in two hours, they can't be serious! She angrily slams the hood and drives away from all the parts that were on the ground with the car.
Cinnamon doesn't even have time to complain or get out of the car, the waving ponies immediately show her where to stop and get ready for the race.
The rumble of the engine is accompanied by a low angry whisper from Cinnamon, who is on edge.
A small round car with a laughing pony pulls up next to a black square sedan.
“What a piece of junk is that? He calls out to Cinnamon, who is nervously watching the temperature gauge slowly rising.
"I understand, you're scared, that's normal, everyone is afraid to compete with me, but don't worry, I'll be good to you and I won't beat you by embarrassing you" His monologue continues.
Cinnamon pulls on the string on the deck and the hood rises all the way around.
"Don't be angry that I'm going to torture you like this, but there's no other option, please hold on" Cinnamon rests her forehead on the steering wheel.
<END>
"RACERS GET READY" Calls from the megaphones.
Cinnamon takes one last look at the switch (sport/trave/work) with a shaking hoof, wanting to switch it to (sport)
Her hoof rests on the black low lever, but in the end she leaves it where it is, she wants to win, but this would be too high a price she doesn't want to pay.
She pushes the other lever next to it and puts it in the second gear position.
The blue and white sports car revs the engine to the limiter in neutral to show that it is ready.
Cinnamon repeats it, and both racers look at the pony in the white vest standing in front of the cars ready to wave the red flag.
With the engines and tires roaring, the two cars drive forward, the little sports car in the lead and firmly holding the lead.
Cinnamon holds the pedal only halfway, she knows it's no use trying to catch him on the first straight, so she keeps the same distance behind him.
The white car begins to brake sharply before the approaching corner, but Cinnamon does not brake, she uses it to deprive her opponent of a lead.
The turn is approaching and with both hooves on the brakes and squealing tires, Cinnamon pulls the steering wheel to the left with a quick gas pedal, turns the steering wheel to the right and drifts through the ninety degree turn,
Because of the winter tires, she doesn't have the control over the car that she needs, so she goes through the corner clumsily and slowly, but first, because the second competitor went through the corner much slower.
The temp gauge licks the red field when Cinnamon finally lets the transmission shift into a higher gear, but the engine is still revving too high to handle the cooldown.
The opponent is closing in on the sedan and it's already clear that if she doesn't speed up, Cinnamon will lose and she can't let that happen, she won't give up so close to the finish line.
"I have to do it, I have to! She puts her hoof on the lever to shift (sport)
Cinnamon slows down the world, thoughts swirling in her head, and slowly lets go of the lever, leans firmly into the seat, and with a determined expression, press gas pedals.
The gearbox downshifts with a deafening roar and screeching of the tires, the sedan starts to accelerate and reduces the speed difference of the opponent in overtaking, and now they are driving side by side.
PSSSSSSSCHHHHHHH
White smoke billows from under the hood so nothing can be seen, the vehicle begins to brake hard with screeching tires while the entire car tilts forward.
The car goes out of control after a few donuts, crashes through a fence and ends up in a parking lot full of cars.