The Shy Driver

by Wiz Ahmad

Driving Lessons

Author's Note:

Approaching the turning point in the story... - enjoy this one and as always leave your comments!

Eventually the weekend arrived and finally the family could spend some happy, joyful time together. Fluttershy had made an exception and slept with Ashley that night – having informed Carter beforehand. She didn’t like unequal love. Jack gathered everyone in the family room for a meeting to discuss how the 48 hours they had together would be effectively spent. He started as usual, by collecting ideas.

“I wish we could visit Disneyland,” Ashley said dreamily.

Carter rolled his eyes. She said that every weekend, and Jack always responded with a firm no. However, he had wiser opinions. “I think a movie night with some cold soda and bubbling popcorn sounds good. Camping at Pike’s Peak would also be pretty awesome, although it would most definitely take up much more than two days.”

“Um…I’d like to know more about the metal carriage outside,” Fluttershy said, rather excitedly.

“You mean the blue Mazda 5?” Jack replied.

“Oh, is that what it’s called?” Fluttershy asked. “How does it function? How—”

“—Thanks for asking, Flutters,” Carter interjected. “I’ll scrape out some time and teach you all about it, okay?”

Fluttershy nodded happily.

“Well, I’m going with Carter’s idea, but on a lower scale,” Lorraine suggested. “Instead of going out camping, why don’t we visit the larger recreational park in the south of the city?”

“Sounds good to me,” Jack, Ashley, and Fluttershy all said excitedly at the same time.

That day was a bit of a rush. As everyone prepared and packed, Lorraine called Fluttershy over into her room.

“Can I measure you?” she asked excitedly.

“Sure, Mom,” Fluttershy replied.

Lorraine measured the little pony’s legs, head, neck, and body, taking precise measurements and documenting them down.

“Thank you,” she told Fluttershy, and set to work.

While Ashley finished packing, Carter (who was dressed in a running jersey and shorts) and Fluttershy headed down to the car.

“Ok, Fluttershy, here’s the first step,” Carter began, handing her the keys. “You have the remote start buttons. One is to alert in case of emergency, while the other two are to unlock and lock the doors. You identify them by the lock symbol. See?”

Fluttershy soon caught on, and used her nose to press the ‘unlock’ button, since it was too small for her hoof. Carter then introduced her to the doors themselves, how the doors opened, closed, and locked; basic car symbols for heating and cooling, entertainment system icons, how to move and reposition the seats, and also what the engine was and how it powered the car. Fluttershy learned fairly well, as Carter was patient and repeated anything that she had trouble understanding. From what Carter had explained, cars were very interesting and were very complicated pieces of machinery indeed.

Back in the house, Lorraine had finished up after more than two hours of hard work. She had made several items of clothing for Fluttershy: long-sleeved shirts, a sweater with a hood, a long skirt, a saddlebag, and a dress.

Carter’s mouth dropped open. “You gotta be kidding me. This is just too much.”

“Oh, I think it is just right,” Lorraine said happily. “Are you ready?”

Just then, Fluttershy walked in and when she saw the clothes she was super happy. Carter and Lorraine left to let her try them on. Fluttershy loved the clothes, especially the dress. The saddlebag was her favorite, as it reminded her of her friends in Equestria. She strapped on her saddlebag and Ashley filled it up with some snacks and the newest issue of modernCat magazine.

“Are you ready everybody?” Jack asked as he got into the Mazda’s driver seat.

“Yes, I’m ready,” Fluttershy said, hopping into the back seat, where she could be safe and relax during the long trip. Ashley showed her how to buckle the seat belt, and then Carter hopped in, sporting his new “swaggy” style. That was Carter – the goof who always liked to dress by his own accord, sporting a different style each time. At last everyone was ready, and they drove off.

---

“Why do you always touch that stick in the middle of the center console every so often?” Fluttershy asked as they proceeded towards the highway.

“That’s the gear stick,” Carter explained. “You can also call it the shifter. Cars have gears. Each gear produces a different amount of speed, strength, and torque.” He then went into details on what those three terms meant before returning to the topic of cars. “The gear stick allows you as the driver to increase or decrease those capabilities. To do so requires another pedal besides the brake and gas. Brake is to stop, and gas is to move forward. The third pedal is the clutch. That pedal is kind of like opening a door. When you press the clutch, the door opens. You can then shift into a gear, and then continue moving forward and release the clutch. However, to move effectively without stalling out, you need to do it smoothly and quickly.”

“What’s stalling?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’s when you end up pressing the clutch and the gas at the same time and in the wrong order. The car’s engine then cuts out, and you have to start all over again,” Carter explained. “Anything else you’d like to know about cars?”

Fluttershy was more than happy to request, and Carter explained as much as he could.

“Where did you learn all of this?” Ashley asked as they neared their destination.

“From various sources. I drove this Mazda a few times, as well as my old friend’s Honda Civic EM1, and also from books and videos sent from my Facebook friends.”

But as they all ran out of the car in excitement upon parking, Fluttershy asked Carter a question he wasn’t prepared to answer.

“Can you teach me? I wanna drive too!”

Jack laid down a colorful mat and started to set up a picnic with food that he had made and cooked himself. Lorraine decided to try her hand at a free drop-in track event that was about to take place, while Ashley was eager to swim in the large outdoor pool. Carter and Fluttershy also wanted to take their dip as well.

“Just be careful and don’t get too rowdy out there!” Jack called out as Ashley, Carter, and Fluttershy ran off to the change rooms. Ashley had a bright pink one-piece with yellow flowers all over it, Carter wore a sleek black/white/blue wetsuit, and Fluttershy just wore a fresh pair of panties.

“Want to try a dive?” Ashley said excitedly. “Watch me!” She ran up to the edge of the pool and did a flip and whirl, landing side first in the water with a large splash.

“Uh, um…” Fluttershy whimpered, clearly getting cold feet.

“How about we go together?” Carter said in his low, encouraging voice. “You and me. I’ll be with you. By the way, do you even know how to swim?”

“Yes, just haven’t done so in…so long,” Fluttershy replied. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

Together Carter and Fluttershy approached the side of the pool and slid in together. Carter practiced his freestyle strokes on the surface, while Fluttershy dogpaddled after him. Many other people in the pool began to notice the two. So Fluttershy did the impossible: she took a gulp of air and dove beneath the surface, propelling herself along the bottom with her hooves among the maze of human legs. The chlorinated water stung her eyes a little, but she didn’t mind –in fact, it actually felt calm and peaceful under the water. But her little lungs soon began to beg for oxygen.

Fluttershy swam up and surfaced in the middle of a crowd of people whose eyes widened and their mouths dropped open.

“Uh, I…um, hi,” Fluttershy said in her usual shy voice, spitting out a little water.

The little kids all gathered around her, feeling all excited and joyful to have a cute pony swim with them. At least they’re kind of like my animal friends back home, Fluttershy thought, as she helped the very young kids overcome their fear of diving and played water games with the older ones. Ashley also had quite some fun with her new kicks and stroke methods. It turned out that Fluttershy was the best when it came to breath-holding. While most of the kids could just about handle a minute and a half, Fluttershy could do three.

After a good energy-consuming swim, Fluttershy, Ashley, and Carter wiped themselves down thoroughly with a towel, changed into fresh dry clothing, and then ran over to Jack to join him with his picnic (which he was sharing with a workmate who also had come to the park for the weekend).
“Hi, kids,” Jack said as they sat down and grabbed paper plates. “This is one of my workmates, Lester.”

“Oh, hi Lester,” Fluttershy said softly with a smile. “I…I’m Fluttershy.”

“Name makes sense,” Lester replied, smiling warmly. “Nice to meet you.”

They all tucked into some sandwiches of their choice. Jack had made four different types – grilled cheese, tuna salad, jam, and egg salad. Fluttershy had two jam sandwiches and drank a tall glass of orange juice. Nothing tasted so good after a great swim.

Carter observed as Jack began to relax and chat with Lester. This was his chance.

“Uh, I need to get something from the car that I forgot, as well as put away the empty containers and stuff,” he asked. “Is that okay with you?”

“Yes,” Jack briefly replied and handed him the keys. Clearly he was too caught up in talk with Lester.

“Come on, Fluttershy,” Carter called, gathering up the empty containers and dropping them into a plastic bag. “Can you help me out?”

“Um, yes,” Fluttershy replied, picking up an empty basket.

---

Together they walked back to the car, where Carter revealed his hidden plan.

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy whispered, clearly having no idea that her possible chance of returning to Equestria and reuniting with her friends would be enlightened by this venture.

“You asked me, and here’s your chance,” Carter said, his voice deepening with seriousness. “Take it or leave it.”

Fluttershy sighed. “As you wish. But if we get in trouble, I take no blame.”

Carter shrugged. “All right, I think I do remember the basics,” he said unlocking the doors and opening the trunk. Fluttershy climbed into the driver’s seat while he put the picnic stuff in the trunk. The “thing” he needed to get from the car was just a trail map stowed away in the glove compartment.

“All right. First off is the pedals and the handbrake, which is that thick short rod you see right beside you on the right,” Carter said, hopping in the passenger seat beside her and handing her the keys. “Right now the handbrake is up. You push the button at the tip and then push it down when you’re ready to move. When you park, you pull it back up. More on that later.”

Fluttershy nodded.

“Ok, so now let’s get to those pedals. As I had aforementioned, the clutch is the one furthest to the left. Can you reach it?”
“Yes,” Fluttershy replied, stretching her hind legs and sitting upright like a human. “I can reach the other pedals too.”

“Good,” Carter said. “Now press the clutch all the way down.”

Fluttershy stretched her left hind leg all the way down as far as she could reach. The clutch pedal was fully pressed halfway through her stretch.

“Not bad,” Carter replied with a grin. “Rock the gear stick from side to side. Can you do it?”

Fluttershy used her right hoof to grasp the gear stick, and wiggled it. “Yes, I can.”

“All right, let me explain something important here,” Carter began. “Before you start the car, always make sure you can wiggle the stick. If it’s in a gear when you start it, the car will jump forward and cause harm and damage – and it’s not good for the engine. So always make sure it’s in neutral – that’s the ‘wiggle position’ and then start it. Now, with your hoof still on the clutch, put the key in the ignition and turn it.”

Fluttershy took the keys in her mouth, gently pushed them into the ignition slot and turned it. The car’s engine hummed and purred.

“All right!” Carter said happily. “You’ve success fully started the car. Now, let’s get on with movement. A gear stick has what’s called an H-pattern. You see that?”

“Yeah,” Fluttershy replied, noticing the numbers and letters on the top of the gear stick.

“Good. Now, those are the gears,” Carter explained. “You always start from the ‘1’, which obviously is first gear. It’s the one to start off with and get going, with maximum torque. Then as you build speed, you can shift into the next gear. So move it into the ‘R’, which is reverse, since we want to go backwards…nicely done! Now, gently on the gas, the pedal furthest to your right.”

Gulping in fear, Fluttershy gently lay her right hind hoof on the gas, and the car smoothly moved backwards. Carter smiled at her like a father.

“Now, grip the steering wheel and turn it to the right so we don’t hit anything.”

Amazingly, Fluttershy could grip the steering wheel quite well, and caught on to turning it almost by instinct.

“Now, let off the gas, and shift into first,” Carter instructed. “Any time you want to move that gear stick, let off the gas and hit that clutch. Then you can shift, and then return to moving forward or backward again. While you’re moving forward, you just have to put the shifter in the ‘wiggle position’ and press the brake. So let’s go through those steps.”

Fluttershy shifted into first gear and slowly drove down the length of the parking lot, practicing her reversing, steering, braking, and reverse/first gear shifting routines several times over the course of half an hour, all the while guided by the patient and caring Carter.

“You ready for the open road, Flutters?” he asked, as she reversed into the same parking spot where they started. “Or would you like to do it tomorrow?”

Fluttershy’s face fell. “Um…driving seems scary. I’ll need some time to get used to doing it, and even then, I don’t know if I’ll be able to.”

Carter took hold of her chin and turned her head to face him. “Hey. I was scared too, the first time Jack put me in your shoes two and a half years ago. I was shaking, stuttering, and crying. Damaged his precious Honda back then. Took me many months before I could even get to go out on the open road alone. I do agree with you that it can be a bit scary, but it’s not. You need to get used to paying attention to many things occurring simultaneously around you, and stay focused all the time. That’s what driving is all about, practically.”

“But, I can do this, right?” Fluttershy replied with a sad face.

“Yes, you can do it, Flutters,” Carter replied with a warm smile. “Learn at your own pace. And I’ll always be there with you every stage of the way.”

---

When they returned to the picnic site, Fluttershy and Carter noticed that everyone was gone. However, it didn’t take long to notice Jack and Ashley standing near the track field, along with Lester. It looked like a competition was in session.

“Come on, Flutters! We don’t wanna miss this!” Carter declared, running through the grass towards the track field. Fluttershy flapped her wings hard and flew after him.

However, upon settling down to watch the competition, the two were met with rather disappointed faces.

“Where on earth have you two been?” Jack demanded.

Carter gulped. “It took an awful long time to organize those containers in the trunk, and also had to look over the map. Observed some nice trails and cool spots.”

Fluttershy nodded with the cutest, most convincing face she could. It wasn’t technically a lie, as Carter had found the map and read it.

“So, where’s Mom?” Carter then casually asked.

“She’s finished her training rounds, and is taking a break. For now though, we’re watching the real runners compete in the oval track race!” Ashley announced excitedly.

Fluttershy covered her ears and whirled her mane across her face, as she wasn’t fond of loud, noisy, intense events.

“Can I wait by the trail for you?” she asked.

“Yes you may, but try not to attract too much attention,” Jack replied loudly over the cheering crowd.

Fluttershy gave her thanks and flew over the crowd and towards a large tree, where she could blend in and hopefully enjoy the company of some friendly birds.

After the running competition was over, Fluttershy spent the rest of the afternoon walking the trails with her family, but the prospect of driving still nagged her mind. It was fascinating yet somewhat difficult.