//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Highway 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//


Highway


There was a sudden flash of light, revealing eight forms that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
The pavement in the parking lot was wet, a remnant of a sudden thunderstorm over the city.  The storm had moved on, but something new had been left behind.
A tall woman dressed in deep blue looked at a small device in her hand.  It indicated something that only she appeared to understand.  She turned to three other people who were picking themselves up off the pavement.  “Everything is nomal.  The High Energy Matter Integrator worked as expected.  There seems to be a little extra power expended, but that is minor.”
“Oh my,” murmured a woman with expertly coiffed indigo tresses and a pale dress.  She stared at her hands and the clothing on her body.
“This is completely strange,” commented a blonde, her voice accented with country undertones.
“So cool!” giggled the last, who brushed back her mint-and-white hair and looked around with excitement.
“I’m glad you’re feeling so adventurous, Lyra.”  The first woman stowed the gadget in the purse that hung around her shoulder.  It was quite convenient that the High Energy Matter Integrator had been programmed to outfit them all so they could pass unnoticed.  Some more than others, however.
In addition to the four women, four vehicles sat quietly nearby.  The first few trips to this planet had accidentally misidentified them as the dominant species, but instead of correcting the problem it had been decided that transportation could be useful.  All the better to study these mysterious humans.
Lyra walked over, touching the fender of a brightly colored car.  The others followed, knowing what—or rather, who—the vehicles were.
“Princess Luna, shall we start them?” asked Lyra.
The Princess nodded.  “You seem to be the expert.”
Lyra opened the door of the car she was closest to, reaching in to turn the ignition key.  Lights flashed on the dashboard.
A voice spoke from the radio.  “Hey, it’s me, Rainbow Dash!”
“Anything with that many colors has to be you,” commented one of the women.
“Ha ha, Applejack.”
Lyra carefully inspected the car, searching her memory.  “Rainbow, you turned into a Toyota Prius.”
“Is that good?”
“It’s a really popular car, and I’m sure that none of them are painted quite like you.”
“Awesome!”
Lyra closed the door and turned to a large pink van with painted advertising on the sides.  As she started the smallblock V-8, a bubbly voice came blasting out of the speakers.  “Hi everypony!  Oh my gosh, this is so exciting!  Hey, do you smell cupcakes?”
Now that Pinkie Pie mentioned it, there was a faint scent of baked goods on the air.  Lyra smiled.  “Pinkie, you’re a Ford E-Series converted into a mobile cupcake bakery.”
“This is so totally the best thing ever!  I’ve always worked in a cupcake bakery, but I’ve never been a—”
Deciding to ignore Pinkie in order to quench her own excitement, Lyra quickly moved on to a purple sedan that looked rather modest and unassuming.  Turning the key produced a puttering noise from under the hood, with the faint whistle of a turbocharger.
“Hello everypony!  It looks like everything worked out.”
“It certainly did, Twilight,” said the woman in white.
“Hey Rarity.  Wow, we all look so different.  This is going to be an interesting experiment.”
“That’s true,” confirmed Lyra.  “You’re the only diesel in the group, Twilight; a Volkswagen Jetta TDI.”
The last car in line was painted pale yellow with a pair of pink stripes that traced over the hood, roof, and tail.  It was so low to the ground that Lyra had to bend over and contort herself to reach the key.  The ten cylinder engine rumbled to life, sounding angry, a sharp contrast to the soft female voice.  “H-hello?”
“Hello Fluttershy,” said Princess Luna.
The electronic voice dropped volume, becoming difficult to hear.  “I’m so sorry about the noise.”
“It’s okay,” said Lyra comfortingly.  “You’re an SRT Viper.  It’s just how you are.”
“Oh,” said Fluttershy.  “I suppose that’s all right.  I do like animals.”
“Hey!” called Rainbow.  “How come my engine isn’t running?”
“You have a hybrid electric drive,” said Lyra.  “It shuts off when you don’t need it.”
“Sounds really awesome,” laughed Rainbow.
“Your fuel economy should be really good,” said Lyra.  “The last magazine test I read said it was one of the highest.”
“Am I sensing a ‘but’?” asked Rainbow, the tone of her voice changing.
“Um…even with the electric motors you have the lowest horsepower of the group.”
“I’m…not fast?” shrieked Rainbow.
Rarity rolled her eyes and went to console the wailing Prius.  Twilight spoke up.  “Lyra, I’ve been meaning to ask you; how do you know so much about this?”
“Funny story.  I started getting this magazine in the mail called Motor Trend.  It wasn’t addressed to me, but since it was coming from another planet I couldn’t really contact them to fix the subscription, so I just started reading it.”
“Guess that explains why you were always sittin' weird on that park bench,” commented Applejack.  “You were pretending to drive.”
“I’m glad to have her along,” said Luna.  “Ms. Heartstrings has proven to be a valuable resource for this project.”
Remembering that they were there to conduct research, Twilight said, “Sure!  Let’s get going.”
Rainbow still had not recovered, and Luna thought she would try her hoof—er, hand—at calming her.  Twilight invited Rarity to ride along.  Lyra quickly slipped into Fluttershy’s snug interior.  Applejack sighed and climbed into Pinkie’s driver seat.
“So Applejack, isn’t this awesome?  It’s totally awesome!  You and me, the open road, our friends in a little convoy—”
This would be a long drive, Applejack thought.
One by one, the four cars and their passengers disappeared into the night.
Across the parking lot, hidden in the shadows, sat a black ZR-1 Corvette.  The woman behind the wheel smiled evilly as she watched the departing taillights.
“Queen Chrysalis, are we going to pursue them?” asked a reedy, insectoid voice from the radio.  It was accompanied by a rumble from the supercharged engine.
“Yes, my minion.”  The woman reached for the gearshift.  “But first we have someone to visit.”
“Willie Nelson?” guessed the transformed Changeling.
“Correct.  He will pay for what his music did to my ears.”  Chrysalis glared through the windshield, remembering the oppressive sound that had been beamed through space to be used as a weapon against her.  Never again, she vowed.  Not if she had something to say about it.