Saturday, 1:46 AM:
Equestria at night was truly goregous. A lush and vibrant green countryside illuminated by the moonlight. The wind gently blew through the tall grass, creating a soft, soothing sound. Stars blinked to life in the dark night sky, transforming the landscape into a twinkling, breathtaking tranquility of calmness. Autumn leaves formed a soft blanket on the edges of the narrow, worn-down country road. Crickets chirped away in the thousands. Barely audible above their chitter, a naturally aspirated V6 screamed in the distance. It's getting louder. Wait, huh? A-are those pop-up headlights!?
Over the crest, a White NA1 NSX jumped into view, catching a tad bit of air before landing right onto the dry leaves. The rear end began to slide out, but this was no issue for our driver. He knew this car inside and out. One split-second reaction and one swift jerk of the wheel to countersteer, and the Legendary Honda was perfectly pointed back down the straightaway.
That was close, Jackson thought to himself. He had gone down this road many times, having gotten far too familiar with it on his long daily commute. Despite living all the way in canterlot, he was estatic to have landed a job all the way on the east coast of equestria. The United States Military had established a small shipyard on each coast to ensure security of Celestia's Borders, and, well, somebody had to get paid to sweep seagull feathers off the drydocks. He had to admit it though, the work was pretty stress free. It definitely beat working at a run-down pizza joint with a bunch of lazy stoners, that was for sure. The oppertunity for change came, and Jack was glad as ever to have taken it. And besides, the commute wasnt that bad. Yes, Equestrian roads had gotten busier since humans arrived, but all it took was a little backroad knowledge to make it that much quicker. And that more entertaining.
Now right about now, One would probably be wondering how on God's (Or, Celestias?) Green Earth how someone like Jack, as well as thousands of other humans, wound up living and working among a bunch of talking pastel horsies. And thats alright because at this point, they didn't quite have their heads wrapped around it, either. You see, about 5 months ago, the Princesses were messing around with a new wormhole manifestation spell to teach in Celestia's School for gifted and talented unicorns. They instead ended up inadvertedly tearing a stable hole between the human dimension and theirs. Success...?
Long story short, man meets pony. Together, they decide it's better to get to know each other and adopt each other's technologies rather than shut the portal and forget this ever happened. We let each other into our worlds, and now, humans are hard at work learning what what the hell friendship has to do with magic, what bugbears are, and the history of why there's a statue of a Demon, bug horse, and kindergardener in the castle gardens. Ponies, on the other hand, were busy staring in awe at 3D printers, learning to operate AR-15's, and trying to see over the steering wheel during their drivers exams.
Either way though, Life had really popped off since Jack moved here 4 months ago. And it was now friday night (or saturday morning, rather) And all that mattered was his new whip and the seemingly endless road that lay in front of him. Second gear. He barreled as fast as he could down the long trail. Third Gear. The air rushed by and the wind rustled through the car. Fourth Gear. The headlights cast a narrow beam of light on the path ahead. Fifth Gear. The sound of the engine was deafening and the landscape around seemed to move in a blur. The moonlight illuminated the trees and brush along the road, creating a beautiful view. The NA1 Pushed Jack into his bucket seat as the car neared redline, coming close to it's limit, yet still no end of the road in sight. Just as Jack began to let off the gas, he noticed something bright in the distance... Headlights? Pop Up Headlights! They were coming closer, and-
*....nnnnnYYAAAMMM!*
Before he could even process the thought, the car had already darted well past him. Looking in the mirror, Jack noticed it was a smaller car but he couldnt recognize it just by it's tailights. Wait, he's braking? Jack noticed. It's a straightaway, though. Oh well. He must be new to the area. W-wait, he's turning around? The mystery car's headlights were now facing back his direction. Huh. Jack gently slowed down to a cruising speed. The lights were moving closer. Maybe he wants to race? He wondered. Soon enough, the car was right on his bumper. Jack was able to get a much better look at the car now. Behind him was a 1990's something Mazda Miata. It's pretty maroon color shined perfecty in the moon light. hmm, always wanted a miata,, Jack chuckled to himself, But that four banger is no match for my v6. The miata flicked it's high beams once. Then Twice. Jack smiled. He knew exactly what that meant. Oh It's on, dude.
And it was on, indeed.
Jack stomped the gas as fast as he could, andrenaline pumping. The miata's headlights became smaller and smaller in his mirror. Not a chance, little guy. He thought, cracking a smile. The miata wasn't as powerful as his NSX, but it was much lighter, making it a lot more agile in the corners than his honda could ever be. This was Jack's chance to get some distance on him. The gap grew bigger and bigger until he took notice of the road curving into a sharp right ahead. Finally, a corner. Here's where the real duel begins. He heel-toe shifted his way down the gears. Fourth. Third. He pondered second. Nah, third will do. He cut the wheel hard to the right, keeping a deep inside line, less than a couple feet from the guardrail. No way was he letting the Madza around. Oh, right, the Madza. Where is- huh?? Jack's eyes darted to the mirror, only to find the Miata right on his tail again.
Jack put his eyes back on the road, still somewhat surprised. Damn, this guy's good. Takes a hell of a driver to make 120 Horsepower work. No matter. All I need is another relatively straight stretch of road and Im gone. They were now on the part of the pass that featured long, wide sweeping turns. Despite the Mazda's efforts to keep up, it slowly started to fall behind, only to gain a little back in each corner. It was an endless cycle. Only three more corners to the spot, Jack remembered. I gotta widen this gap before then! The 'spot' was a soft gravel parking lot where buddies would gather for car meets, and arrange races with each other. Nothing too fast, it was more for just the fun of it. Jack only recently started going there, but didn't know many people who went. But it would seem like he may have a new rival on his hands...
He took the next left corner hard, his tire almost dipping into the dirt on the inside of the road, miata still close behind. He switched sides of the road for the next right and took the corner, even deeper on the inside this time in attempts to ditch the miata, to no avail. Jack was starting to sweat. Who IS this guy!? he wondered. Welp, third times a charm. He took the last left corner harder than he ever had before. His front wheel dipped into the dirt, pulling him around the corner even quicker. Coming out of the corner, he immeadiately began to slow down for the lot. The friendly race was over. Dang, that's impressive that a little miata was able to keep up with...
Jack looked in his rear view mirror, only to see no headlights in sight. ...Meee?
Jack slammed the breaks to a halt. Nah, don't tell me he crashed, He began to worry. Turning the wheel full-lock to U-turn, heart pounding, he checked the mirror one last time. Suddenly, headlights came around the corner. The car slowed to a stop in the lot just ahead of him, lit up by Jack's headlights. It was the miata, in one piece. Thank God, he thought, pulling forward a bit right next to the miata. "Good Girl," he mumbled, patting the Honda's dash before shutting it off. "You've earned your rest." He climbed out, almost jumping with curiosity thinking about who was behind the wheel of this little car.
It's door opens. He's got to be a professional motorsports driver, or a crazy initial d fanboy or a.. A-
A-a Mare!?
Standing before him was a smaller Pegasus mare with a pink coat and blonde mane. Her mane had the occasional streak of white in it, all complimented by a giant baby blue bow nested on top. She was wearing an oversized hoodie that went so low, her shorts almost weren't visible, as well as purple striped socks that went up to her knees. Her cutie-mark was a black cloud with a lightning bolt coming out of the bottom. However, the first thing he noticed was her eyes. They started as a lilac purple at the top of the iris, but gradually shifted to a cyanish turquoise toward the bottom. They seemed so easy to get lost in. Who IS this girl? He pondered. He usually remembers the faces of people he runs into at meets, but he'd never seen this mare before. But there's one thing he knew for sure. This mare was drop-dead goregous.
It was dark, but Jack could see the big, bright smile radiating from the small pony's face. "Hi!"
"..Hey." Muttered Jack, still speechless and confused. Nice, dude.
"I gotta say, that car you got there is much better in the straights than mine is! But you didnt have to go so easy on me in the corners, y'know!"
Still taking in the situation, Jack spoke after a few moments. "I wasn't."
"You... Weren't? Then how was I able to keep up with you so easily?" Her ears drooped in curiosity. So Cute.
"Well, you're driving a miata. I'm driving an NSX-"
"This actually isn't a Miata". Jack Paused.
"I-It's not? No, I promise you this is a Miata."
"It's actually a special version of it!"
"Wait a second..."Jack said, putting the pieces together. He shuffled over to the front of the car and peered at the hood emblem. Sure enough, it was different from the normal Madza Logo. Of Course.
"Oohhhh, it's a Eunos Roadster, the Japanese version! I've never seen one before! Where did you find one in this good of a condition!?" If he wasn't excited before, he definitely was now.
"Hey, Im glad you noticed! I live in canterlot, and someone in my apartment brought it over all the way from Japan a couple months ago when he moved in. Shortly after that, he found some skyline or something he had his heart set on, so I bought this off him. Turns out he took pretty good care of it, and it's super fun!"
"I'll say. Anyways, yeah. You may only make like 140 horsepower-"
"Two hundered horsepower, It's tuned!"
"Oh." That explains it. "But yeah, you're better in the corners because you're much lighter than I am. Your car, I mean!" She giggled. Saved it.
"Yeah, I'm at about 2100 pounds I think, with me in it."
"Yeah."
Both are silent for a few moments.
"Oh yeah! I'm Bay Breeze! Thats probably an important detail," She beams, taking a step toward him and extending her hoof. "But you can call me Breeze." God, even her name is pretty!
"Jackson Smith. Jack. Pleasure." He firmly takes her hoof and shakes it. So soft.
"It's nice to meet you!" She said, trotting over to the NA1. "This thing is so pretty in white! It looks like... some kind of Ferrari?" Jack Laughed.
"Nope! It's actually a Honda!" She chuckled.
"Wait, really? What kind?"
"It's the NSX. This is a 1991 model."
"Oh! What does NSX stand for?"
"New Sport Experience, I believe?"
"Wouldnt It be an NSE, then?" Jack chuckled. Silly Horses.
"Just dont question it, NSX just sounds cooler, I guess."
"Fair. How much horsepower is it?"
"Three hundered and ten. It's a 6-cylinder."
"That's why I couldn't keep up with you on the straight."
"Right- Oh, Yeah! What happened on the last corner? One second you were right on my ass and next thing I know you were nowhere to be seen!" Breeze let out a chuckle.
"Oh, that! Yeah yeah, I may or may not have spun out. I'm newer to this course, and I forget how quickly that corner comes after the one before it. I didn't anticipate you braking so soon, so I slammed on mine in a panic, they locked and I oversteered. Car's fine though, but the seat may not be!" They both burst out laughing at that.
A few more silent moments. Breeze began walking over to her car. "Well, I'm pretty tired, and I don't think anything else I do tonight is gonna top the race we just had. I'm gonna head home." She opened her door. "It was really nice meeting you, Jack! I hope we see each other around? "
"Wait a second, you said you lived in Canterlot?"
"Yeah!"
"I do too, what if we cruised home together?" She smiled, seemingly surprised.
"I-I'd love to. Follow you?" Jack smiled.
"Yeah, lets do it." He climbed into his 'NSE' and fired it up.
2:17 AM:
Equestria's Highway was completely empty. It's newly paved 2 lanes each way were as smooth as they probably ever would be as Jack and Breeze cruised side by side down them toward Canterlot. Streetlights placed in the concrete divider at 100 foot increments lit up their Maroon and White Sports cars as they passed underneath. As the minutes sped on by, Jack's mind was racing. Man, this Girl is something else. Too bad I never got the chance to ask for her number or something. He looked over his shoulder to the Roadster to his left, only to see her briefly look and smile back before redirecting her attention to the road. Oh, who am I kidding? She's way too good looking for me. At least I've got a new racing buddy, I suppose.
Breeze's NA was usually a rougher ride, but this new pavement was a nice chance of pace. The car stayed at about 3 thousand RPM at cruising speed, almost making the inside of the car too loud for her to even think. What thoughts she did have though, were mainly about him. He's so nice... I can't believe I didn't ask for a number or anything. I'm so stupid. Breeze looked to her right at his NA1. She couldn't lie, it looked much cooler than her car. The lines were much more sharp and agressive, in contrast to the bubbly nature of her Roadster. She looked in the window, only to see Jack looking right back at her. She gasped. H-He's looking at me! she froze, but quickly smiled and looked back to the road. Knowing Jack may still be looking at her, she had to look calm, even if she was screaming on the inside. C'mon girl, that's it? An awkward smile? You could've done better than that, and now it's not gonna be easy to find better than him... Oh well.
3:04 AM:
They had taken the offramp right into the heart of Canterlot. The roads were pretty empty and the sidewalks were barren, save for the occasional alcoholic hobbling to and fro, drink of choice in hand (or hoof). The city lights at night created an atmosphere unlike anything on Earth, it was truly magical. Literaly.
Breeze was in front of Jack now, coming up to a light and pulling into the left turn lane. Damn. Jack thought. He still had to go straight a few blocks to get home, so this is where they'll be parting ways. C'mon man, are you really gonna let this Angel slip away from you so easily?
He pulled up next to her, light still red. He looked over at her, only to see her smiling back. It's now or never, bro!
He rolled his window down. She quickly rolled hers down, too.
"Well, I guess I'll hopefully see you around?"
The light turns green.
"Breeze, wait."
Her car doesnt move. She almost looks excited.
"Yeah, Jack?"
Don't fumble this!!
"Look. I'm sure you're a super busy pony and all, but I was wondering - if you had the time of course - to, I dunno, maybe grab some food sometime? As in like you and me - um - like - I take you out. If you want!" He squeezed his eyes shut in self resentment, awaiting rejection. Yup. You totally fumbled.
"Yes." Or... not?
"Wait, what?"
"Yes."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously, I'd love to! You know where the Plaza's at?"
"Umm... y-yeah."
"Meet me out front at six tomorow night? Hang out? Grab dinner?" Her eyes became half lidded. "Go for another late night drive?"
"Yes... yes, yeah! For sure! Plaza. Tomorow. Six. Cool. Cool." She giggled.
"Goodnight, Jack." And off she went. Down the road until she rounded a corner and was gone from Jack's sight. He remained in the intersection by himself, unmoving.
Did that just happen?