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Just Another Day1,085 words
Meeting Maverick1,037 words
The Trials: Cross Country1,324 words
The Trials: Dirt Racing2,363 words
The Trials: Street Racing2,454 words
The Trials: Road Racing3,842 words
Cross Country: The Titan4,883 words
Dirt Racing: The Gauntlet5,626 words
The Expedition: Road to Silverstone7,450 words
The Expedition: Silverstone Shakedown12,177 words
Road Racing: The Goliath Pt.112,404 words

Dirt Racing: The Gauntlet

10:15pm

"That was... A fun day," Sunset said.

"It sure was eventful, but it was nice," Rarity replied.

"I really enjoyed it!" Twilight chimed in, jumping into bed.

1:30am

"Ugh, come on." Twilight sighed, she had been up for the past fifteen minutes trying to sleep, it seemed to elude her.

3:45am

Twilight sat up straight, "Forget it."

She tip-toed out of the room and into the kitchen, grabbing a glass and some water.

As she was slowly sipping the cup down, Twilight couldn't help but wonder why she was having so much trouble staying asleep. The only reasonable answer her brain came up with was that the excitement of winning was enough to keep her up.

Noticing a flight of stairs from the corner of her eye, she put down the glass and walked towards it. She recalled a memory of seeing the balcony on the top level of the house in the game back home. She crept up the stairs to the second floor, taking decisive steps so no noise was heard, only to be met with a ladder.

Twilight opened a small hatch that revealed a rain-soaked landing and two Venetian chairs covered by an outdoor umbrella.

"This must be that balcony..."

She sat down on one of the chairs, overlooking the Derwent Water lake. If she looked hard enough, Glen Rannoch was visible in the distance. She snapped a photo of it with her phone, to look back on when she went home.

If she went home.

Breathing a slow sigh, Twilight listened for anything in the dead of night, when she heard the hatch behind her open again.

She turned around to see Luke climbing out of it.

He gave Twilight a puzzled look, "What are you doing up here?"

"Just taking in the view, not like I'm going to see it again," Twilight replied with another sigh.

Luke sat down on the other chair, "You okay?"

"I... Guess so."

"Are you sure?"

Twilight looked out to the lake and the mountains, then back at him, "I'm not entirely sure if me and the others are going to be able to leave this place, I'm not sure if I want to."

There was a few seconds of silence before Luke asked, "Want to?"

"I don't know if I want to actually leave, this has" — Twilight paused and looked away — "kind of been my own personal dream to come to this world for the past three years."

"You wanna go for a drive then?" Luke offered.

Twilight stood up and started to climb back down the hatch, "Sure, but I'm driving."

Luke chuckled a bit, "I've seen your driving and it is terrifying."

Turning the key in the ignition, Luke let his Porsche warm up while Twilight sat in the passenger seat this time.

"I still don't see why I can't drive, I'm good at it!"

Luke turned to face her, "The only thing you're good at while driving is nearly giving me a heart attack, so I'll drive this time."

Twilight crossed her arms in an attempt to pout, "Fine..."

Pulling out onto the asphalt roads, the car gradually sped up to 60mph (97kmh), light bouncing off of the snow white paintwork as they slipped through the trees and mountains.

"So... What was that part about you not wanting to leave?" Luke asked.

Twilight turned towards the window, "I'm certain the girls didn't want to be here, they all want to go back home, but I..."

"Want to stay?"

Twilight nodded.

The pair stopped talking, the only thing making any noise was the flat-six behind them.

"What do you think?" Twilight asked.

"I think... That's something that you should choose yourself. But if you do feel you'd want to stay here, you can crash at mine if you'd like, I wouldn't mind helping you find a job at the Festival."

A light blush spread across Twilight's face, "Thanks, I'll think about it."

The two continued their journey through Ambleside, past the South entrance of the Festival and through the desolate streets of Broadway, until they were gracefully met with the M 68 motorway. Luke gently eased the Porsche through the roundabout and into the fast lane, then accelerated to 120mph (193kmh).

The rear lights of other vehicles became mere blurs, blending in to the rest of the scenery.

He slid the car over to the left lane and flipped the indicator on, signalling to the off-ramp a few hundred metres ahead.

Twilight pulled out her aux cord and phone, "Hey can I put on some—"

Smash

She felt the entire weight of the car shift to one side, then the other, then back again until the car came to a screeching halt and her entire body was launched at the door.

"AAAAGH," Twilight yelled out, her shoulder taking the brunt of the impact.

She turned to see if Luke was okay, "Are you fine?" she asked.

"Y-yeah." he said through heavy breaths.

Just as she was about to call her friends, Twilight's brain lodged a theory at the center of her mind.

She felt time slow to a crawl as her vision became almost blurry and a sudden rush of adrenaline coursed through her veins, faster than the top speed of a dragster.

Twilight unbuckled the seatbelt pinning her down and jammed open the door, running out to see the rear lights of a BMW speeding off into the hazy sunrise.

"Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

"Wait what?" Luke said as he ran up behind her.

"THAT GUY, HE HIT THE CAR!"

Luke raised an eyebrow, "I..."

Twilight grabbed him by the shoulders, though her hands shook from both shock and anger, "The guy that I won a race to in Edinburgh, you nearly killed, and has now crashed your car into a tree!"

"Oh. That guy."

"Yes. That, guy." Twilight said through gritted teeth.

They both turned to look back at the Porsche. The entire right side of the car had dents and scratches stretching across its length. The rear light was hanging on by only wires, with the boot above it lifted open. Cracked carbon fibre ravaged the wing and body panels. The rear wheel was completely caved into the body from colliding with the tree, Twilight expected this meant major damage to the chassis and frame.

The tree however, seemed to be fine.

Luke picked up the fallen numberplate off of the road and let out a long sigh, "I wish it didn't have to end like this, I was going to sell the car to someone that would have taken care of it,"

"You're going to scrap it? Not even get it repaired?"

"It would cost too much to repair the damage, and whatever isn't can be used for spare parts at the Festival. Besides, I've been looking for an upgrade," he said.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "What kind of upgrade?"

"Oh, you'll see."

"Are... You... W.. Wha?"

Back at the Festival, Twilight stared in utter awe at the car beheld before her. She still wondered if she was on some mad drug trip from that party at Sunset's she went to and everything after it was some hallucination, or if this world could actually get any more crazier.

"Do we need to call someone?" Sunset asked.

Luke laughed, "Nah, give it a few minutes,"

"So let me get this straight, your GT3 RS gets wrecked by that... Loser. And your answer is, this? What is it exactly?" Twilight asked accusingly.

"It's the Koenigsegg Gemera! It's got four seats."

Something about that statement struck Twilight as suspicious. Wait... Koenigsegg, four seats?!

Seeing the puzzled expression on her face, Luke pressed a button on his key fob and the Gemera sprung to life. Both of it's dihedral synchro-helix doors lifted up to showcase the four seat layout of the interior. Twilight looked on in amazement.

"This is a Ge... mera?" Rarity asked.

Twilight twisted her around and forced her to look dead at the car, "Yes it's a Gemera! And if I'm correct, they haven't made this in our world yet! How does this even exist!"

"Noted," Rarity replied, not having a clue what Twilight was on about.

Luke pointed to the road just behind where they were parked, "If you think that's cool, just look at what's coming."

A second Koenigsegg Gemera rounded the bend and parked up next to the group. Twilight swore she could hear DJ Khaled saying another one somewhere in the distance. She looked over to the Festival Mainstage and saw him up there, she didn't even question it.

Maverick slid out of the driver seat and walked up to Luke, handing him the keys to the car, "There ya go boss, two Koenigsegg Gemeras. I'm still curious what you need them for?"

"Well, I'll be driving one, and so will Twilight of course!" Luke explained as he passed the second key over to Twilight.

"Fair enough. Speaking of you lot, The Gauntlet is in an hour, you miiiight want to get over there," Maverick said.

"Alright. Rainbow, AJ and Pinkie, you go with Luke. Sunset, Fluttershy and Rarity will be with me," Twilight said as she got comfy in her new Koenigsegg.

"Promise me t-that you won't go fast, please," Fluttershy added.

Twilight only smiled.

The pair of Hyper GTs found themselves parked up opposite to Bamburgh Castle in an empty car park. It had long since been abandoned, making it the perfect place for Horizon Staff to set up.

Luke lead the convoy in his grey Gemera, gaining access for him and the girls as they drove through the entrance.

"Hey... Haven't we been here before?" Pinkie asked, stepping out from one of the back seats.

"Yes, but we're going to go the other way this time," Twilight explained.

The girls wasted no time in adorning their racing suits and meeting up at the starting line, what they were met with was very surprising.

Twilight ran up to a DeBerti Design Ford F-150 Prerunner in second place, she eagerly jumped in, ready to throw it around some dirt trails.

Sunset's vehicle, a Toyota #1 T100 Baja Trophy Truck, occupied third place in the startling line. Noticing the lack of windows, she walked up to Twilight, sat in her Ford.

"Why's it got no windows?"

"To quote Top Gear... Because Windows in a trophy truck would have the life expectancy of a depressed mayfly," Twilight replied.

Applejack's vehicle was the RJ Anderson Pro 2 Truck that held fourth place, packing 850bhp from a 7.2L V8. She felt a strange similarity to Big Mac's truck.

Close enough, she thought.

Rarity circled a red and white Honda Ridgeline Trophy Truck scrutinising every aspect of it. She noted the absence of windows like Sunset's Toyota. However, she felt a lot less worried about that when she remembered the racing suit she was wearing.

Fluttershy sat inside a black and yellow Mini X-Raid Countryman, she turned on the AC and let the insides warm up. The addition of windows making her more confident about the race.

Rainbow admired the Ford Rockstar F-150 Trophy Truck in seventh place. She noticed the Rockstar energy logo on the side, and remembered her Rainbooms stage name, Rockin' Rainbow.

Pinkie Pie stood next to a peculiar vehicle, a Quartz Regalia Type-D. She took a second to take in the absolute insanity of the car, before pulling a cupcake from the depths of her hair, eating it, and climbing inside.

Twilight noticed the Regalia in her side mirror. She contemplated getting out and asking Pinkie Pie to check if she had the right car, but Maverick was checking up on all the drivers before the race. He reached Twilight after a minute and handed her the key.

"Enjoying the Ford?" Maverick asked.

Twilight eagerly nodded, "How much horsepower has it got?"

Maverick put on a small grin, "Nineteen hundred."

Twilight chuckled at the ludicrous potential of the truck with that amount of power, "Wow, thats a lot!"

"Yeah, Brad DeBerti has been working on this one for a while, enjoy it!" Maverick said before going on to the other drivers.

Luke once again stood with a microphone on the overhead platform. He signalled to a staff member who activated concert sized speakers and addressed the racers.

"To some, this may seem like just another race. To some, this may seem like just another dirt trail...
But be warned, the Gauntlet is a cold, unforgiving route, where only those who have what it takes... Will make it to the finish line."

He lifted an arm up into the air, and spoke into the mic, "Now, are you ready!"

The crowd cheered and hollered, eager for the race to begin.

Luke nodded to another staff member, who turned on the overhead screen.

Twilight watched as it displayed a bright READY! before changing to SET! and finally GO!

She shoved her foot down onto the gas, making use of the horsepower. Pulling to the right onto a dirt trail, Twilight really felt the weight shift to one side.

Remembering the trail as The Orchards Speed Zone, she pushed through it with force, breaking past 95mph. Definitely a three star run.

Twilight pulled the truck up a zig-zagging hill climb, feeling the weight trying to push her back into her seat. She noticed a right turn with a long road ahead.

Nice to see some asphalt in this race! She thought.

Before Twilight knew what was happening, she swung left back onto another dirt trail, weaving through Sunset and another racer into the Mudkickers Adventure Park claiming the lead position.

Where is she going? Sunset asked herself, seeing the Ford to her left.

She followed suit and pushed her Toyota through the jumps of Mudkickers, kicking up mud as the name suggested.

Sunset took on the dirt hills furiously, she leaped over one, next to Twilight's Ford. They shared a quick glance and a smile before looking ahead.

It was only as she was coming back to Earth that she saw the large puddle of water ahead and the distinct lack of windows her vehicle had.

"Oh shi-"

Water invaded the cabin as she landed with a thunderous splash, the only thing protecting her was the racing suit she wore.

More eager than ever to just finish this race, Sunset pushed on the gas and left Mudkickers, blazing onto Oldweir road and into Derwent Reservoir.

Rainbow Dash was five places behind Sunset and Twilight as they crossed over to the other side of Derwent Reservoir, she pulled her #11 Ford Rockstar F-150 up a hill and onto the Woodland Walk trail that cut through thick trees and lead past the quarry.

She caught a glimpse of it through the metal fence to her left as she traversed the trail that was exceptionally slippery.

She neared a turn, slowing down to 60mph and hitting the apex before pulling through, foot planted on the gas.

As Rainbow went to straighten the wheel, she felt the truck turning further right than she wanted, the rear tires slipping on the mud.

"Nononononono!" Rainbow panicked and tried to counter-steer, but it was no use and she braced for impact with what she guessed would be a tree.

The Ford slammed into an oak tree and her body was thrown forward. Her head hit the roll cage and was saved by the helmet for this very occasion, though she started to feel nauseated and couldn't think straight.

Rainbow flung open the door and backed up against away from the vehicle, ripping off the helmet to nurse her developing headache.

Applejack looked into her rear mirror, curious on where the other girls were. Her heart filled with fear when she saw Rainbow's vehicle swerving off course and into a tree.

Her big sisterly instinct kicked in, after all the trouble she and Rainbow went through in past years, it only felt natural.

She spun the her RJ Anderson in the opposite direction and jumped out, running up to the blue girl.

"Ya alright?" Applejack asked, her voice calm but frantic.

Rainbow just let out a groan of pain, Applejack still wasn't sure if she heard it.

"Dash, are ya okay?" she asked again.

Looking up, she replied rubbing her forehead, "Uhmhm, y-yea?" She sounded unsure and almost slurred.

"No broken bones or anythin'?"

"Just a little bit of a crash," Rainbow retorted, she tried standing up, and fell forward. Applejack caught her, feeling like now would be a good time to count herself out of the race.

Helping the girl into her truck she said, "You might not be in the worst shape, but ya need to get checked. I'll help take ya to Maverick or somethin'."

Rainbow just smiled and clutched one of her ribs.

Rarity shifted into fifth gear and left Slate Quarry, shattering the peace and serenity of the area. She felt rather confident about this race, unlike the previous one with the Beetle.

She learned two lessons from that day. One was that putting on her usual makeup and nails is utterly useless, the other being that everyone who enjoyed high-speed battles like this were crazy.

A bumpy and muddy dirt trail carried the race through it's route. The force of the trucks barrelling through sent spats of earth flying up and in every direction.

Keeping a slow pace through the corners, Rarity dared to inch past a fellow opponent in a Jeep Trailcat. She pushed her luck and looked to see who it was, recognising the same blonde hair from the driver of the Beetle.

She panicked. Not wanting to chance being struck, she put the pedal to the metal and shot ahead into fourth position, swinging right towards the dried up riverbed of Derwent Lake. She noted the picturesque atmosphere as she crossed a small bridge.

I suppose there are some nice parts, I'll have to ask Twilight to take me here before we leave, it's simply divine! She thought.

Driving back onto an asphalt road, Rarity took a brief moment to breathe a sigh of relief. She found it much easier than driving through trees. She began to hum the recent Sapphire Shores song she listened to as she drove through more trees and shrubs, the sun glistening through the leaves making it a beautiful sight to behold.

Ripping through a particularly tight hairpin, not far from the Express Railyard, she could almost see why Twilight had been so excited when they ended up here.

Fluttershy sat comfortably in her X-Raid Mini Countryman, just behind Rarity. She didn't feel that terrified about racing this time.

A beam of sunlight cast itself through the Glen Rannoch mountains, so she pulled down a small sun visor. It didn't do much to stop the glistening rays of Derwent Water reaching her though.

Blazing over a small bridge, Fluttershy took in the British countryside while she could, the thought of never seeing Angel again was starting to worry her, but if Twilight's theory of time differences was true, she needn't worry as much.

A quick glance in her rearview mirror made Fluttershy double take. She couldn't see two of the trucks with big "TRAXXAS" logos on the bumpers, she knew these were the ones that Applejack and Rainbow were in. Did they crash, did they quit, did another portal magically appear and take them to another dimension?-

Before her brain could go into overdrive, she took measured breaths and looked down at her hands. They're fiiine, nothing to worry about at all! Absolutely nothing.

A quick glance up at the sharp right ahead made Fluttershy yank her handbrake back and slide the wheel in the opposite direction. The back end of her truck slipped out and she slammed her foot on the gas, letting out an "Eeeeeeeep!" as her truck slid through the corner, throwing tire smoke and burnt rubber up into the air.

The sudden rush of adrenaline brought on from such a stunt pumped through the shy girl's veins. The feeling was like one she had rarely felt before, pure exhilaration.

Fluttershy let out a laugh as she righted her steering and continued down the stretch of asphalt.

"That was unbelievable!" she exclaimed with glee before turning back onto more dirt roads, this time cutting through a chicken farm. She noticed a couple of chickens scrambling to get out of the way of the race in progress, her fear crept back again but was unwarranted as she looked back to see they weren't hurt.

Pinkie sat in the sixth position, she took comfort in the fact that the car she was driving was peculiar, to say the least. A running prototype vehicle based off of one from a fantasy game, it just spoke to her inner madness and she loved it.

It was also bright pink.

Way off in the distance she could see the finish line laid out over the dirt track, she knew she was in the middle of the pack but wanted to catch up to Twilight and the others. Unfortunately, she had ran out of her magical red candies.

The only solution Pinkie came up with was to press random buttons in the cabin.

TCR, ABS, Sport, Sport+, none seemed to help, until she looked at a switch marked 'Air'. Without hesitation, she flipped it up.

The steering wheel folded flat and became more of a big joystick, she felt rumbling in the back of the car and looked over to see the rear wheels had lifted up and sideways to showcase two big jet engines giving her enough force to lift off of the ground. The rear fenders had slid up and out to resemble the wings of a plane, fully complete with functional flaps to provide moment.

"Oh yeah, Pinkie Pie time!"

Pinkie shot up and found herself above the trees and racers. None of them had a chance now. She glided and weaved effortlessly to secure the third position behind Twilight and another driver. She flicked the 'Air' switch down and the car reverted back to a regular automobile within a matter of seconds.

She felt the bump as the Regalia hit the dirt again and continued pushing forward, breezing through the finish line in third place. Crowds looked on in pure shock but were cheering nonetheless.

"Heehee, I love this car!"

The girls stood in a group, backs to their cars as they huddled together.

Pinkie was first to speak, "Did you see that! My car was flying! It was so absodutelylutely amazing!"

"Yeah, I want to know what exactly that was, you almost crushed me!" Rarity exclaimed fanning her face with her glove, Pinkie just gave her a sheepish grin.

Sunset just stayed silent as she held her dripping wet racing suit.

Fluttershy was jumping on the spot and grabbed a tablet from a nearby table, "Did any of you girls see my drift?"

She showed the girls a replay clip of her Mini X-Raid pulling a very sharp angle through a turn, almost cutting up two other drivers and smashing into multiple fences.

The group just stared at Fluttershy in awe as she beamed with delight, Twilight managed to blurt out, "How in the heck..."

Fluttershy had already made plans to talk to Festival staff about getting her into some cars with better sliding potential.

"Hold on a minute darlings... Wheres AJ and Rainbow?" Rarity asked.

The girls looked around and frantically came to the realisation the two trucks and girls weren't at the finish line.

Maverick ran up to them and got their attention, "Don't worry, don't worry, they're both fine. Rainbow Dash had a bit of an accident and Applejack turned back to help her."

"Then what are we sitting around for? Where's Rainbow?!" Sunset asked with an edge to her voice.

Maverick gestured to the two Gemeras he had brought, "Come on, you can go and see her."

Five girls jumped out of their rides and made their way to the Medical section of the Festival. It was on the far left side of the main Festival building and was comprised of a white hallway with a white waiting room. Twilight couldn't tell if it was meant to be modern or resemble an actual hospital.

Everyone filed into a small room on the left of the hallway, in the corner lay Rainbow Dash on a raised bed. She had a large ice pack to her head and her racing helmet was placed on the floor beside her. Applejack got up and greeted them.

"How is she?" Fluttershy asked.

Applejack waved her hand and said, "Shes fine, just a mighty headache and a bit of bruising. Nothing major, but she's gonna feel it for the next few days."

All of the girls let out a big sigh and the tense atmosphere died down. Rainbow lifted an arm in the air and said, "Hey guys, what's up."

"You're what's up, you feeling okay?" Twilight asked her.

Rainbow took a sip of a glass of water and looked at her friends, "Yeah, I'm fine, just had a head on collision with a tree. That's all."

"You're lucky you aren't badly injured! It could've been so much worse," Rarity pondered.

Rainbow nodded and said, "I'm very thankful it wasn't, it was out of my control, for the most part."

"If you don't mind my asking, what actually caused it? Just curious," Twilight sheepishly asked.

"Well, it was when I was going through a corner, fast. Like, really fast. And then, I'm coming out of it and I'm trying to go straight, but it wouldn't! And I was going right even though I was steering left and I ended up smashing into a tree."

"Too much power and a big loss of traction. You were essentially sliding with no way to control it and ended up off course. Unfortunately something that is unstoppable once you've lost grip," Twilight explained.

One of the Festival nurses walked in with a clipboard and announced, "Yep, that pretty much sums it up. By all metrics, a crash like that directly into a tree at over 50mph should've been near enough fatal. You could've been in a lot worse shape had your friend here not noticed and helped you back to the Festival."

Applejack and Rainbow shared a hug and a quick fistbump.

"The next question is... How long will it be before she can safely race again?" Twilight asked to the nurse.

The nurse turned to Rainbow, "Seeing as you miraculously escaped serious injury and have, at most, a strong migraine... I'd say two or three days."

All of the girls sighed in relief again. Twilight broke the short silence that followed after, "Well The Goliath isn't until the end of next week, plenty of time for Rainbow to get back up to speed, and we can just have a nice relaxing weekend. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded in agreement. A couple of seconds later, Luke walked into the room.

"I'm so glad to hear you're all fine and nothing serious happened. We had enough of that with the last race," he said.

Twilight again had a question, "Oh yeah, what ever did happen to that Ford Focus from last time?"

"Pretty bad bruising and a sprained wrist, that driver was also incredibly lucky considering he decided to brake check one of you." Luke explained as he pointed to Sunset.

"Yeeeaaahhhh... Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it, the main thing is Rainbow Dash is okay. Give it a few days and you can start practicing for The Goliath."

Fluttershy interjected and said, "I'd like to see about learning how to drift, i-if that's alright of course."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked rather surprised at that. "You, drifting? That's so unlike you Flutters," Rainbow said.

Fluttershy quickly showed her the clip of her sliding the X-Raid. Rainbow had a bewildered look on her face by the end of it, but smiled and said, "That would be awesome! Go for it."

The nurse got the attention of everyone and said, "I think we better give Miss Dash here a chance to rest, you can see her all again tomorrow."

As they all said their well wishes and goodbyes, everyone was excitedly eager for the final Goliath race. It would get everyone into the Roster and then they'd be able to go home... Right?

Twilight took a chance to go and explore the world some more. The race had started at noon and finished around half past one in the afternoon. She had a few hours to kill before needing to head back to Luke's place.

She decided to take her Apollo Intensa Emozione instead of the Gemera. No distractions, no assistance from the car's computer systems, just her and the road.

Twilight had a pretty good grasp of the game map she had played on, but she didn't know about specific little locations like the shelters in Mortimer Gardens which made for some perfect photographs.

If it wasn't admiring the beautiful landscape, she was tearing up the tarmac and making it all a blur. Most of the roads, especially in and around the Wind Farm, were empty. People had been eager to see The Gauntlet and had made sure to get there early.

That left her with a vast expanse of open roads to blaze down. Twisting, straight, sharp, smooth. It didn't matter.

Twilight took in every little rattle and bump the Apollo Intensa Emozione made, feeling the connection made between rubber and asphalt. It was a joy she would struggle to put into words. It really did make her second guess leaving or staying at the Festival, but she concluded that leaving would still be the best option once the time came.

Thankfully it was the peak of summer, so it was all she did until around eight o'clock in the evening. The sun was starting to dip into the mountains and let the last of its rays be replaced by the blanket of darkness. Twilight decided it would be a good time to head back to Luke's place for the night.

She parked up in the driveway and locked the Apollo as she noticed Luke sitting on a bench down by the boat docks on the edge of Derwent Water.

The benefits of having a house right next to a lake, I guess. Twilight thought.

She sneakily made her way towards the bench and planned on giving him a massive fright, but before she could do anything Luke turned himself around and said, "BOO!"

Twilight jumped back and let out a loud, "Aiiiiiiieeeee!!!!" before lowering her arms and glaring at him.

Luke just chuckled, "You were gonna do it to me, I knew you were behind me."

"Okay, fine, you win. But I did want to ask you a couple of things," Twilight said.

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

"Well... Firstly, if a driver comes first in a race they get twenty points. Overall for three races, they get sixty. If AJ and Rainbow got zero on this one, it won't impact their place in the Roster leaderboard too much, right?"

Luke gave it a bit of thought and replied, "No, because they scored so high in The Titan it shouldn't make much of a difference overall. If they mess up on The Goliath though, it very well might. I'm assuming you're hoping you all win positions one to seven, right?"

Twilight nodded, "Yes. If we're all as high in the rankings as we can be, it'll give us the best chance of going home. If one of us is all the way in twelfth place, it might cause a problem."

"I can see why you'd think that, I know it'll be a challenge to keep positions one to seven throughout the race though... And what was the other thing?"

"Oh, yeah! When Rainbow gets better, we'll have around a week and a half before The Goliath. What about... We go on a little expedition?" Twilight asked.

"To where, exactly?" Luke asked, giving her a dubious look.

Twilight grinned and said, "Silverstone! It's a bit down south from here, but it would be really fun and it's a genuine race track!"

"Well, it's definitely far but it's possible, I was expecting you to say the Nurburgring or something," Luke replied.

Twilight looked away and gave a very sheepish smile, "Well I was actually thinking about that... But Silverstone is closer."

Luke looked at her and Twilight looked back, "I won't lie to you, after all the things that have happened since you've got here, I need a bit of a break. The Festival almost runs itself anyway, so I don't see much of a problem. It all depends on if your friends are up for even more racing or if we could take some star drivers with us. Even just an expedition for fun needs a fair amount of planning."

"Yeah, I get that. Still, it'd be pretty fun to have a go at one of the best circuits in the country before I end up leaving. You've also just proven another one of my theories," Twilight said.

Luke stood up, noticing how the sky had faded to black, "Then we can do it. Also, what theories?"

"In the game, in my world, the map doesn't extend below Broadway. The fact you actually know the land beyond that proves this world isn't confined to the game map, very fascinating," Twilight exclaimed.

"Huh... If you say so," Luke replied, not having a clue what Twilight was really on about.

With that, they both went back inside. Twilight was overjoyed at possibly getting to travel outside of the main map. She couldn't wait for it!

Author's Note:

Map

Fun fact about the replacement for the GT3 RS, at first it was a MK5 Supra, then it was a Zenvo TSR-S, then it was a C8 Corvette, and now it's a Koenigsegg Gemera. Just shows how long I've had this chapter in the works