The CMC's New Wagon

by Wiz Ahmad

Chapter 9 (The summer harvest parade…and the unexpected event)

Author's Note:

Nine chapters and still going! This one is incomplete because Monday has arrived...

But I'll be back over the course of the week and on Saturday to complete this chapter for you all!

What do you think? Is front wheel-drive actually good in a way after all? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

To those who wonder why the Honda did what it did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVDXLW3P7q8

What it would have sounded and looked like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dky9Uttz14M

After cleaning and repairing the Honda, Scootaloo made a Pinkie Promise never to race alone or at night, in addition to reading the books containing info about the Honda more often. The big day had come – the Summer Harvest Parade. It was time to showcase the Honda to all of Ponyville. Granny Smith had knitted a special cover for the car that had an apple design embroidered into it. Apple Bloom draped it over the car, while Scootaloo tied it down to stop it falling off. It was made to represent the Apple Family, its passion for farming, and its strong heritage.

“What do think, Crusaders?” Sweetie Belle said. “Will this really be able to blow everyone away?”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo huffed with confidence. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, hoofbump!”

Applejack and a few members of the Apple Family gathered together and headed out of Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all jumped into the Honda and drove down the road to Ponyville to join the parade.

Octavia had also been preparing a melody for the parade’s instrument players, which was a ponified version of ‘Scotland the Brave’.
As the parade started and the drums, bagpipes, and horns began playing, the Cutie Mark Crusaders prepped themselves to join the lineup. However, Scootaloo noticed something.

“Guys, all of the floats are shaped like food! Ours doesn’t fit in!”

“Yes it does,” Sweetie Belle replied. “It fits because it’s unique. Theirs are shaped like the fruits and veggies, but ours has a cover that symbolizes our top fruit. Just because it sticks out like a sore wingtip, doesn’t mean it’s not gonna be good. C’mon, let’s go and promote the Apple Family!”

But then the stinkers – Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon – showed up.

“What do you want?” Scootaloo demanded before they could even speak. “Where’s your float? Aren’t you gonna be in the parade too?”

“Nah, we’re just here to admire yours, since blank flanks shouldn’t be in parade for that matter,” Silver Spoon sneered. Diamond Tiara began to walk around to the back of the car, approaching Sweetie Belle in a threatening posture.

Scootaloo jumped into the Honda, turned the key in the ignition, and slammed her hoof on the gas.

VROOM-VROOOOBANG! The exhaust let out a ferociously loud scream and a backfire that sounded like a gun. Everyone jumped back, except for Diamond Tiara, who was literally knocked back by the blast.

“My ears are shaking!” Sweetie Belle cried.

“What was that?” Silver Spoon exclaimed.

“I haven’t heard anything like that before,” Scootaloo replied to them all. “But it has one—”

“C’mon, Silver Spoon, let’s leave these misers to be humiliated in the parade. They’re already late! Haha!” Diamond Tiara said with a cruel laugh, although she was still traumatized by the backfire and her legs were shaking a little.

Yeah! Owned you again! Scootaloo thought with a sneaky grin, before turning to her best friends. “We gotta go now, or we’ll be late! The floats are already making their way through the town!”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom jumped into the passenger seat and Scootaloo drove off to join the parade.

As they quietly drove through town, Scootaloo began to talk about the engine’s systems while Sweetie Belle waved to the cheering crowds.
“You see, there’s a little knob in the turbo kit that I installed. It allows more air into the turbo than normal, so you can control how much boost you want. Right now it’s fully open for maximum power.”

“Shouldn’t we be more focused on the crowd?” a reminder came from the back seat.

“Right. Sorry, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo replied, blushing. She then took her turn to wave to the crowd and blow them kisses and beam happy smiles.

After a while it became clear that the Honda Civic Type R EK9 was getting the most attention, with twice as many ponies surrounding it compared to the other floats.

“I told you it wasn’t bad,” Sweetie Belle teased. “This is great!”

At the end of the road there was a sharp bend, which was easy to turn on – if you had proper steering abilities.

As the first float turned the corner, ahead of the band players, its rear wheels moved sideways a little. Scootaloo passed it off as bad driving and continued forward with the rest of the floats. But as the float in front of them turned, its rear wheels slid sideways, the front wheels turned around…and it slipped over the steep edge and crashed.

By the time Scootaloo noticed as they turned, it was too late. The Honda’s rear wheels slid on the slippery road surface and slid sideways, getting ever closer to the edge.

Acting fast, Scootaloo gave it gas, spinning the front wheels, trying to straighten the car and keep it away from the curb. Then she yanked the handbrake and spun the car 180 degrees around, stopping just feet from the edge.

“Are you okay?” Scootaloo called out, leaping out of the car and running down the muddy cliff.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” the pony in the now wrecked float replied, rubbing the mud and dirt off herself. “Just gotta get out of this mess.”

Sweetie Belle grabbed some rope from the Honda’s trunk and threw it down to the unfortunate pony, and together the trio helped pull her out of the mud pit.

“Want a ride home?” Apple Bloom offered.

“No thanks, I’ve got some friends who’ll take me there. Besides, I got some shopping to do later.”

Sweetie Belle was secretly glad that the pony they’d helped didn’t come along for a ride, because she didn’t want Rarity’s fine fabric getting all dirty and muddy from the pony’s ordeal.

After the parade was finished, Scootaloo decided to take the Honda out for another run – this time on a smooth straight road heading out of Ponyville northward. She then would run a handling test by driving it up the winding mountain roads that led up to Canterlot.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle said. “We could get in serious trouble or end up hitting someone.”

Scootaloo sighed and turned back down the road to Sweet Apple Acres, the boost level still at 18 psi. Sweetie Belle was right though – it was dangerous to drive fast down a road that might be occupied with other ponies travelling between towns and cities in Equestria.

Even after putting the Honda away and cleaning the tires of the slippery damage that had occurred at the parade, Scootaloo would not cheer up. Not even when Apple Bloom offered her some of the best apple deserts known to Ponyville. So before bed, Apple Bloom brought along her older sister to talk with Scootaloo.

“What’s happened, Scoots?” Apple Bloom asked softly.

“You wouldn’t know, since you’re not a pegasus,” Scootaloo replied quietly, swiping at a tear.

“Are you sad that you can’t fly, sugarcube?” Applejack inquired.

“I…It’s not just that,” Scootaloo whimpered with a sniffle. “Even if I can’t fly fast, I still want to drive fast on the ground at least. And I can’t do that even when I’ve tried!”

Apple Bloom sighed. She knew how much Scootaloo wanted to fly and be able to drive since the moment she realized the power and potential the Honda held, in addition to idolizing Rainbow Dash.

“I’ll try to organize an event where you can just drive as you wish, without having to worry about the danger of hurting others,” Applejack stated. “I’ll try, I promise.”

“Just…just go, guys, I’ll be okay,” Scootaloo whimpered one last time.

Apple Bloom and Applejack quietly left while Scootaloo laid down under a tree at the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres and sobbed, too heartbroken to even think about sleeping. All she could ask herself was why? Why had Rainbow Dash been able to fly as a filly and she couldn’t? Why couldn’t she drive the Honda fast like she’d always wanted to since the day it was resurrected? Life just seemed so unfair. First she couldn’t fly and then she couldn’t drive.

With minor memories of the Sonic Rainboom gossip leaking into Scoots’ mind, her heart was crushed even more as the night went on.