The next day brought out some changes that were surprisingly positive. Scootaloo’s wing had completely healed, and she was ready to leave. With her little wings flapping happily in joy, Scootaloo eagerly awaited her doctor’s approval.
“It is my pleasure to announce that your wing is healed and your body’s aches have vanished,” the doctor said proudly, entering the room and approaching Scootaloo’s bedside.
“Thanks, doctor!” Scootaloo replied, doing a little jump and dance of joy.
As soon as Scootaloo stepped outside she was greeted by all of her friends – Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
“—I’m better. It was only a few little bones that snapped, and I’m mended,” she stated before anypony could spill a ton of questions or concerns. “For now though, I need to get used to the Honda. How it handles through corners, tire wear, gear changing – gotta get a grip on all of that stuff.”
“As you wish,” Apple Bloom replied.
“I should inform you, there’s gonna be an time attack lap competition in Cloudsdale next week,” Rainbow Dash added. “It’s for pegasi following a certain course, but I can try to arrange for a ground-based run as well.”
“REALLY RAINBOW DASH! YOU MEAN IT?” Scootaloo’s eyes almost popped out of her little head with excitement.
“Yes I do!” Rainbow Dash replied confidently. “I want you to partake. ‘Cause if you can’t fly, you still can drive!”
“THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!” Scootaloo whooped, jumping for joy and glomping Dash in a huge hug that nearly sent the rainbow pony off her feet.
“But you gotta practice!” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “And I think the car could do with some new tires.”
Scootaloo’s face suddenly fell. “I…didn’t think of that. Tires do wear down, right?”
“Eeyup,” Applejack replied. “Granny Smith once said that after just a few months her ol’ wagon got shorter due to the wheels gettin’ smaller due to wear!”
Just then Twilight, who had been in the sky overhead and had overheard the conversation, flew down. “I’ll see if Sunset Shimmer can open the portal. Until then, good luck, Scootaloo!”
Everyone dispersed back to their daily routines. While the main ponies returned to their businesses and jobs, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, now all together, returned to the barn and flipped through the books and letters from Sunset Shimmer, researching up on new things about the Honda they had never bothered to investigate before.
From their research, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had learned quite a bit. Sweetie Belle noted that gear changes had to be quicker, launches had to be perfect, and tire wear had to be accounted for every 15,000 miles, or every 5,000 miles if you’re a burnout fan; Apple Bloom discovered that the engine oil had to be changed on a regular basis of a few months’ intervals; Scootaloo found out that front wheel launching is much more difficult than normal launches, and racing harnesses help prevent injuries at high speed.
“Let’s install the harness, then we’ll take a look at the tires,” Apple Bloom suggested.
The trio rummaged through the leftover parts and accessories at the back of the barn, and found the harness: a thick professional one, red with a thin high-visibility yellow stripe down the middle. Sweetie Belle read out the instructions while Apple Bloom and Scootaloo installed it: threading the straps through the slits in the driver seat headrest, securing it to a brace built into the car’s floor, and attaching the fastener tips to the seat.
Then they all looked at the tire tread with a ruler and compared it to a guide in one of the books.
“Looks the tires could do with a change in the next month or so,” Apple Bloom concluded. “You’ll be fine for now, but after the event driving is pretty much risky or off limits until we get some new tires.”
Scootaloo sighed. “All right.”
“Let’s practice then!” Sweetie Belle announced, leaping up onto a shelf and grabbing the key.
This time the Crusaders chose a plain flat area devoid of any ponies, traffic, or animals to practice. The race was between two trees, each about 400 meters apart. Sweetie Belle would time, Apple Boom would count, and Scootaloo, of course, would drive.
“All right, Scoots! This is it! You need to make sure you accelerate properly and go as fast as you can in a straight line for a certain distance. As soon as you pass the tree with the big broken branch, carefully slow down and gradually return to us for the next series of runs. Got it?”
“Got it!” Scootaloo replied.
“Now let’s see if you can run this! The average time should be about 14 seconds, and we’ll try to bring that down bit by bit. Later we’ll focus on cornering and shifting.”
Scootaloo revved the engine a bit, yanked the handbrake, revved the engine hard, and readied for the off.
“Three, two, one…”
Scootaloo prepped her right hoof and her right hand, trying not to feel tense or worried.
“GO!” Apple Bloom yelled at the top of her lungs.
Scootaloo pushed the handbrake down and stomped on the gas. The Honda jumped forward with a pretty quick start, and reached the rev limiter within seconds.
“Second gear,” Scootaloo told herself, pushing the shift knob and hitting the gas again…a little too late. “Keep going! 90, 110, third, 130, come on!”
The broken-branch tree was nearing in sight. With her foot hard down Scootaloo pushed the Honda to its limit and dangerously powershifted into fourth gear.
“Across the finish line…in 13.82 seconds,” Sweetie Belle announced with a sandy sneeze.
“How was that?” she asked Scootaloo.
“Pretty fast, but the start has so much wheelspin. I think I need to turn up the boost.”
“All right, back to the start,” Sweetie Belle declared. “You gotta keep practising that launch and getting the revs right for maximum boost.”
Scootaloo drove back to the start, opened up the turbo valve a little bit more, and readied for the off once again; first pulling the handbrake, bulding up the revs, then pushing down the handbrake and hitting the gas as quickly as possible.
“Yes! Good start, there’s VTEC and the turbo! 80 km/h already!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she shifted into second gear. “Spool, spool, spool, third! There’s the turbo boost! Yes!”
“And across the line!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, accidentally inhaling a cloud of dust.
“What was my time?” Scootaloo asked anxiously.
“12.74 seconds,” Sweetie Belle replied. “You could still shave a second or two off.”
Scootaloo returned to the starting line for her third and final attempt to get the best run possible.
“And…GO!” Apple Bloom yelled at the top of her lungs.
Scootaloo pushed down the handbrake and hit the gas, sending the turbo spooling and the front wheels spinning, fighting desperately for grip on the sandy, rocky desert surface.
“Into second gear, still plenty of wheelspin, third! Come on Honda!” Scootaloo pleaded, pressing the gas as hard as her little right hind hoof could. With the boost at its full potential of 18 psi, the B16B engine released everything it contained, and became even faster in fourth gear, gaining speed all the while.
“140, 180, still accelerating!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
In another two seconds she was across the finish line.
Sweetie Belle’s eyes glowed with joy and she did a little dance, stopping as Scootaloo approached after slowing down.
“How was it?” she asked.
“Pretty fast.” Scootaloo replied. “The gear changes felt a lot smoother and I felt less traction loss.”
“Your time was…10.29!” Sweetie Belle announced.
“YES! WE DID IT!” she and Scootaloo yelled with joy, jumping up and down.
The three fillies returned to Applejack’s barn, filled with energy and high hopes after their desert run. But just half a mile from Sweet Apple Acres, Scootaloo slowed down to just 15 km/h.
“Why so slow, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“We’re very low on fuel,” Scootaloo replied anxiously. “The fuel warning light is even on.”
“I think we can make it,” Apple Bloom said hopefully. “Just gotta take our time and drive slowly and smoothly.”
It took nearly half an hour longer than originally planned, but Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle made it back to the barn at Sweet Apple Acres just as the fuel gauge touched the top of the red “E” line. Apple Bloom hopped out and immediately checked the gas tank that they had filled up from Baltimare. Thankfully it was still a little less than half full.
“This is all the fuel we have left, crusaders,” she stated, pointing to the level on the red gas tank.
“I think that should be enough for tomorrow’s event,” Scootaloo replied. “Let’s fill up the Honda.”
“I wanted to say that!” Sweetie Belle pouted, wearing a sad expression as she unscrewed the cap on the fuel tank and the Honda’s gas cap, and Apple Bloom pushed the tube into the Honda’s gas inlet. Scootaloo worked the pump, and soon the fuel tank was empty, making the Honda’s tank 2/3 full.
“What about school?” Sweetie Belle suddenly said as they walked out of the barn.
“I didn’t think of that,” Apple Bloom replied sadly.
Scootaloo’s face fell. “What are we gonna do?”
The next day at school brought a solution that no one expected. After the first class, Cheerilee gave an announcement.
“All students, today we will be attending the Cloudsdale Time Attack Competition. It has come to my notice that a few of you have already entered, and good luck to you. The rest of us will be spectators who will cheer on our fellow students and the other best young fliers of Ponyville. We shall now depart together to the competition grounds.”
“Yay!” many of the students cheered, including Diamond Tiara and her best friend, Silver Spoon.
“Alright Scootaloo, it’s time to show Ponyville what you’re really made of!” Sweetie Belle declared, a little too loudly. “Go and fetch that machine! Meet us at the event!”
“I will!” Scootaloo replied with a salute and ran back off to the barn.
Meanwhile, Diamond Tiara had overheard Sweetie Belle’s ‘announcement’. “You gotta be kidding me! How can Scootaloo be in the competition if she can’t fly? Ha ha ha!”
“Ha ha yourself!” Apple Bloom retorted. “That’s because she doesn’t have to! Our friend Rainbow Dash has arranged for an exception this time, because everyone in Equestria appreciates the Honda. Even you.”
Lost for words, Diamond Tiara shut her lips and grunted in anger. “Well, if she can’t fly, then let’s see if a blank flank can drive!”
“You bet!” Sweetie Belle huffed. “Just you wait.”
Cheerilee, a few other teachers, and the students filed into position, splitting up into four groups to watch the time attack competition from different seating angles. The seating was placed on the ground, but high up enough so that the pegasi could still fly fast in view of the earth ponies. A roughly-formed route, closely matching the flying path, was visible on the ground.
“This just doesn’t make any sense!” Silver Spoon huffed. “The pegasi have no obstacles, while the ground-dwellers have rough ground to deal with!”
“It’ll be smoothened out,” one of the other ponies reassured her. “Just wait and see.”
While the competition was forming, Scootaloo had finally reached Sweet Apple Acres. She grabbed the key from a hook on the barn wall, jumped into the Honda, started it up, and drove out towards the competition grounds, being careful not to use up too much fuel.
Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts watched the competition event, monitoring everything and ensuring that everyone had arrived. The course consisted of an oval with three bends in it and a long back straight towards the finish. It was hard yet simple.
“Where’s—”
“—I’m here!” Scootaloo called out. “Just gotta set up a little something.” As the filly pegasi readied for the off at the start line and the announcer called out a warm welcome and bits of info, Scootaloo opened the hood and opened the turbocharger’s valve all the way. Then she closed the hood and jumped back into the driver’s seat, fastened her racing harness, and prepped herself for the off – the first of five races.
“Are you ready?” the announcer pony called out.
The filly pegasi flapped their wings. Scootaloo revved the Honda’s engine hard so the spectators could clearly hear it.
“And…GO!”
The filly pegasi flapped their little wings hard and shot off like a team of rockets. Scootaloo stomped on the gas, flinging earth everywhere as the front wheels fought for grip. But the mighty Honda finally got its claws out and clung onto the ground. The little fillies zoomed over Scootaloo, but she began to catch up.
“And across the line!”
The first race was over in less than 15 seconds. Many of them were well below the target time – called the “Rainbow Record” – of 9.85 seconds.
Eight out of fifteen fillies got a time of 15 seconds, while a few scored a time of 10 seconds. Scootaloo came in at 12.15 due to the loose dirt, but still kept her rank.
“Let’s see if our little fillies can make up some time and beat the Rainbow Record!” the announcer pony declared.
All the fillies lined up again, and so did Scootaloo.
“GO!”
Scootaloo eased into speed, rather than trying to hit the gas hard from the beginning. While the fillies had the takeoff advantage, Scootaloo had the upper hand when it came to power, thanks to the VTEC and the turbocharger. However, the loose ground was a challenge. Thankfully, some grass helped with traction, and the little Honda driver suddenly began to take up places.
The second race was over, with Scootaloo coming in fourth place, with a time of 11.12. The lead pony barely managed a 10.5, which was pretty close to the mark.
In the third race, Scootaloo got distracted, and somehow caught a glance of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle amongst the crowd, and Rainbow Dash overlooking everypony. That’s when she realized who she was really racing for: her idol and her best friends.
Resuming her concentration, she pushed the Honda harder around a bend and did a tiny drift, almost causing her to lose control as she re-aligned and eased out of the slide. The lead pony just managed a 10.1, while, shockingly, Scootaloo came in fifth place, with a lousy time of 12.37.
The fourth race came and Scootaloo began to understand her weaknesses and strengths of being on the ground. She lost when it came to takeoff, but she had just about the same maneuverability. After reaching a new speed of 130 km/h on the main straight, Scootaloo got another second, at a great time of 10.21.
As the fifth and final race began, Scootaloo mapped out her procedure in her mind. It all came down to the bends, where she had to keep her high position, then unleash the Honda’s 520+ horsepower down the straight.
“This is your chance to shine and show Ponyville what you’re made of! Do it, Scoots!”
Scootaloo could just about hear her friends amongst the crowd, and that enlightened her heart and boosted her courage as she lined up for her last attempt to show Ponyville what she really could do with the amazing machine she had found and restored and modified.
“GO FILLIES GO!” the announcer yelled.
Scootaloo smoothly brought her speed up and turned into the first bend, kicking up a wave of dust and dirt behind her.
“Through the bends, Scootaloo,” she told herself. “Stay ahead, you’ll get there.” Throughout the main part of the race through the bends, she fought for third place, as the fillies’ wingpower and smooth air gave them the advantage.
As Scootaloo came around a bend, the clutch slipped a little, causing the revs to drop down to 4,500. Worse still the turbo lost most of its boost.
“No!” she yelled, downshifting and pressing the gas hard, causing the VTEC to kick in again, and thus her speed increasing. As the higher revs let the turbo spool up once more ready to deliver the boost Scootaloo desperately needed, she had now fallen to fifth place due to the failed clutch plate.
By the final bend, Scootaloo was in fourth place, with the lead pony almost halfway down the straight. However, she now had the advantage: the turbo had finished spooling up and her speed was at just over 100 km/h.
“Go, Honda! Come on!” Scootaloo pleaded, banging through the gears as the Honda’s turbo unleashed all of its 18 psi boost and 520+ horsepower. The crowd watched in awe as the white hatchback seemed to just glide past the competition above it.
The finish line was in close sight, and Scootaloo’s right hind hoof was hard down. The lead pony was half a length ahead. “140, 160, 180, 185! Come on Honda!”
The fillies and the Honda Civic EK9 Type R crossed the finish line at tremendous speed. All contestants gathered at a high-rise podium for their announcements by the speaker.
“Our top three fillies are, number 3: SwiftWing, with a time of 10.02; number 2: BlazeCut, with a time of 9.90, and the winner of this year’s Rainbow Record Time Attack Competition is…Scootaloo! With a record time of 9.73! She may not fly, but she can drive! Cheers to the Honda driver, everypony!”
“Scootaloo! Scootaloo! Scootaloo! Scootaloo the Honda driver!” The crowd went wild with joy, and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were bulging with liquid pride. So was Cheerilee. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were lost for words, as they could not deny the fact that the Honda had made the Cutie Mark Crusaders higher hoof ponies than they had ever been.