Talking about the future.
Nights on the Highways of Equestria were times of thinking. Times of letting thoughts flow through one's mind, whatever they may be. The noise of the road, the engine, and maybe the radio were all one could hear, unless they were lucky enough to be driving near another car.
That is, until they are passed by one or several cars speeding down the highway at triple that speed limit.
On a rural highway, near the town of Ponyville, a lone car sped along at a brisk pace. It was a High-Tech Two-Tone 1980s hatchback with a black hood and retractable headlights. Gunmetal Grey wheels spun under its fenders while exhaust flew out of the exhaust pipe. On the starboard door, a set of strange symbols laid in the center. They were that of Japanese Kanji.
Fujiwara Tofu Shop (Private Use)
On the rear, a small TOYOTA badge sat in the center of a black fascia. To the left sat the word and number TWINCAM 16, while on the right sat two words.
SPRINTER TRUENO
Inside, three ponies sat. Two in front, one in the back. Each had a pair of wings and a horn. Alicorns. The one in the rear bench seat was a young mare. She had a pale pink coat with the slightest tinge of gray, a blush pink mane and tail, along with pink eyes. She wore golden regalia and had a Cutie Mark that was of a stylized sun.
In the portside passenger seat of the Right-Hand-Drive hatchback sat another young mare. Her coat was a light shade of violet, her mane and tail were a light shade of bluish-purple, and her eyes were that of sapphire blue. She, like the other mare, wore regalia, only made of dark-coated diamond. On her flank rested a cutie mark depicting a crescent moon within a black hole.
In the driver's seat sat a young stallion. He was of the exact same White and Black Two-Tone color of the Toyota, white taking his coat while black took his hair. His eyes were emerald in color, and he wore nothing more than a simple white sweater. On his flank was a mark of Japanese Kanji similar to one on the outside.
FUJIWARA
The violet mare looked over at the stallion, watching as he boredly stared at the road ahead, blinking once every few seconds. She sighed, looking ahead.
"Is something the matter, sister?" the mare in the back asked.
"No, no. It is nothing," the violet mare replied. "I was just hoping that a conversation would stir."
"What would you like to talk about?"
"That I do not know. Something that will not upset Takumi, preferably."
Both mares looked at the stallion, hoping for a response. The stallion looked in the rearview mirror at the white mare, then glanced over at the violet mare. He sighed.
"If you really want to talk about something, well..." He trailed off. "What's gonna happen in the future?"
Both mares' ears twitched. "The future?" the violet one asked.
"Yeah. The future. Like, the far future."
The mares looked at each other, then at the stallion. "Whatever do you mean, Takumi?" the violet one asked.
"I just mean, you know. What's gonna happen. What kind of world will we be living in? And will the world even need princesses?"
"Well, what do you think the world will look like?" the white mare asked.
Takumi thought for a few seconds, though one wouldn't know it judging by his unchanged face. "Well... I never had access to the internet like I do here. But the few times I did, maybe at Itsuki's house or just free time at school, sometimes I'd see pictures of the future. Er, interpretations I guess. Wild stuff. Laser weapons, cities stretching miles in the sky, flying ships, stuff you'd expect from the future."
"Then there were pictures of older stuff in the future," he continued. "Uh... Synthwave or Retrowave was the name. Heck, I think Cyberpunk was a name for it."
He stopped talking after that. Seeing this, the white mare began to speak. "Well Takumi, that isn't too far off from what the theories are here. And I must say, the ponies of Equestria have grown much more colorful in their futuristic beliefs."
The violet alicorn chuckled. "Indeed they have."
"Well, Takumi," the white mare began. "I'd say that the same thing that happened over my life will happen over your life. You too, Luna. Technology will advance, perhaps a few ponies will try to overthrow one of us, but we will do what we-, sorry, what I have done best. Adapt to the technology."
Takumi scoffed. "A few ponies will try to overthrow us?"
"Yes."
"You think we'll have to sacrifice ourselves and get turned into stone or something?"
"Uh... That is a possibility. I have seen numerous works of that happening to us."
Takumi scoffed again. "Ugh. Well, count me out of that."
The sisters were surprised. "Whatever do you mean?" Luna asked.
"I'm not sacrificing myself to some god or something. Plain and simple."
"Even if it was for the good of Equestria?" the white mare asked.
"Celestia, I don't care if it's for the good of the world. I'm not sacrificing myself or turning myself into stone. I'd rather be with my Eight-Six."
There was silence as Celestia and Luna looked at each other. Both shrugged before looking back at Takumi, who kept his forehooves level on the steering wheel.
"Which... makes me wonder what will happen to my Eight-Six," he slowly continued. "I mean, if I'm gonna live forever, my Eight-Six is just gonna... well... I don't even know." He smiled. "Heh, I just realized, it's probably gonna be surreal as heck to ponies of the future when they see my car. A relic like it would probably look really interesting with all the futuristic stuff."
Celestia chuckled. "I believe your car would fit right in, actually."
Takumi was surprised. "How?"
"Your car has that subtly futuristic look. It would look right at home among the realistic futuristic cars that would populate the streets."
"What do you mean by realistic?" Luna asked.
"As in, they wouldn't have neon lights plastered on them like many seem to think. There would be outliers I'm sure, but most would not have neons. Now. Back to what would happen in the future."
Takumi sighed as he steered off the highway and onto a rural road. "Yeah... So, the thing is... ugh. It sucks. I'm gonna be here, living an infinite life, knowing Japan, no. Knowing Earth is going to be advancing right alongside this one. My friends back there will live out their lives while I'm stuck here, not even able to kill myself."
He felt a hoof land on his shoulder.
"Takumi, please don't say that," Luna pleaded. "It frightens me."
Takumi sighed. "Sorry, but still. It just sucks. Knowing in a thousand years, anyone you ever knew back then would be forgotten. You wouldn't even remember how they sound."
"I experienced the same thing too, Takumi," Luna said. "I-"
"You were banished a thousand years as a different pony," Takumi snapped. "It isn't the same thing. Time probably flew by when you were Nightmare Moon."
Luna opened her mouth to speak but sadly closed it, knowing the teenager was right. At that moment, the AE86 slowly traveled over a railroad crossing. After that, it began driving up a windy mountain road.
"I swear, sometimes that crossing is there, sometimes it isn't," Takumi said.
"It's always there," Celestia replied.
"Not to me, it isn't."
"Hm."
The three sat in silence as they went around five consecutive hairpin turns, listening to the engine rumble as it helped them up the mountain.
"I wonder..." Luna mumbled.
"You wonder?" Celestia asked.
"If a car enthusiast were to become an Alicorn, how many cars would they want to buy and keep preserved?"
Celestia was surprised. "Why would they do something that is already being done around the world?"
"Sister, you should note the amazing advantages that come with having a single pony watch over a collection of cars for their entire preservation, rather than multiple generations of ponies doing so. A single pony would be less subject to changes than multiple."
"Valid point. However, what happens when the pony decides that he doesn't like cars anymore?"
"Then they will simply leave the cars alone for a time, or sell them to museums."
"Okay. What cars would they buy?"
"Sister, you know that is a question based around the pony's interests. Chances are they would buy whatever cars happen to suit their fancy. Isn't that right, Takumi?" She looked over at Takumi, but was surprised to spot tears forming in his eyes. "Wait... Takumi? What is wrong?"
Takumi took in a breath as he used a hoof to wipe away the tears. "Nothing. Just... thinking about my Eight-Six."
Luna's ears flattened. "Is this about the thought that you will grow a disliking to both it and racing over time?"
"Yeah, that's it."
She rubbed Takumi's shoulder. "Remember, if you grow a disliking to it, you will come back to it eventually. No matter what."
"I know, I know. Still."
Luna looked back at Celestia. "Do you have anything to say, sister? You look a little pensive."
"No, I don't," Celestia replied as she stared out the window.
"Hm." Luna looked back at Takumi. "Takumi, what do you want to do in the future? What do you want to do with your life?"
"Luna that is not the type of question you ask an Alicorn," Celestia snapped.
Takumi merely shook his head. "Right now, I want to become the fastest racer ever. That's what I want. After that... I don't know."
"What was your original plan?" Luna asked as the AE86 sped down a straightaway at a brisk pace.
"See that's the thing, I didn't ever have a plan. I was too focused on racing for Project D that I didn't think about it much. Maybe I would go onto Professional Racing for a decade, then I'd go run the Tofu Shop for my dad. Now I could be in Professional Racing for... well... ever."
Celestia bit her lip. "Takumi, not to be a damper, but... actually, nevermind."
"At some point, they'd just ban me from the races?" Takumi finished. "That's another thing that terrifies me. Straight up not being able to race because I'm too good."
"Then you could get into something else that is car-related, such as tuning," Luna suggested.
Celestia arched a brow.
"Tuning?" Takumi asked. "I mean... it would be worth a shot down the line. I haven't needed to tune my car myself. Ever. It was always either done by my dad or Project D."
"Project D is a racing team, right?" Celestia asked.
"Yeah."
"Mm."
Luna perked up. "Yes. I think that would be a perfect path to explore. Whenever you are bored and have nothing to do, you should do that. Learn how to tune."
Takumi stayed silent as he shifted the AE86's gears. He pressed on the throttle as they exited a corner. Up ahead was the magnificent city of Canterlot.
vroooOOOOOM! VROOOOO-
Ahead, headlights approached with the roar of engines. Two cars raced by, braking and steering hard into a corner. Celestia scoffed.
"They're going to kill themselves driving like that."
"I am sure they know what they are doing," Luna replied. "They had the proper cars."
"How do you know?"
"The car in front was a red Mazda RX-7 with a time attack kit. The one behind was a..."
"Nissan Skyline R32," Takumi finished.
Luna smiled. "Thank you."
"And those are?" Celestia annoyingly asked as the AE86 passed under a white archway into the city.
Luna groaned. "Fast cars specifically built for tight and technical corners. There."
"Sister, the more we talk about cars, the more I think you are incredibly into them. You have an awful lot of knowledge about them."
"First, I have the free time to look into them. Second, many colts these days are incredibly into cars. If you had my job, you would pick up on many of the popular ones. And a few lesser known ones."
"Hmph."
They drove through the desolate streets of Canterlot, staying silent as they waited at stop lights and signs. As he turned left onto the street leading towards the castle, Takumi had a thought.
"What about cyborgs?"
The sisters looks at him. "Cyborgs?" they asked in unison.
"You know. People- er, ponies with robotic parts connected to them. Limbs and things like that."
Celestia smiled. "Ah. Those. What about them?"
"Well, what happens when everyone has robotic parts and we don't?"
"If you are thinking ponies will think we're outdated and inferior to them, that would be the case anyway. Them having robotic parts while we don't is a factor but they'd think of us as outdated anyway."
"What if we decided to give ourselves robotic parts?"
"No," Celestia firmly replied. "We will not replace body parts that are already forever-lasting. I will never allow it."
"Great..."
Takumi flicked the turn signal on and pressed on the brakes, smoothly slowing the AE86 down and steering under an archway. He stopped and waited for a gate to open before proceeding into a sparsely populated parking lot. As the gate closed again, he pulled into a spot and pulled the AE86 out of gear, then pulled the parking brake.
"You know... I just had a thought," he said. "How much would my car be worth in the far future?"
...
"Without the Alicorn Tax? Millions," Luna stated.
Takumi looked at her. "Alicorn Tax?"
"Anything owned by an Alicorn usually pentuples in value. I have dubbed it Alicorn Tax. It actually irks me that it happens. I am reluctant to sell my current car for fear that it would become yet another victim of becoming a status symbol. The thought of it rotting in a heated garage for the rest of its life terrifies me."
"That's why I warned you about picking your car three years ago," Celestia said.
"Do not even, sister."
Takumi sighed. "So, Celestia, do you want me to help you get out through the tailgate or...?"
"No no, I'm fine. No need to trouble yourself," Celestia replied as he unbuckled herself and climbed over the backseat and into the trunk. She unlocked the liftgate and pushed it up, climbed out and stepped onto the tarmac. Before closing it, she spoke. "What are you two going to be doing?"
Takumi opened his mouth the speak, but was interrupted by Luna.
"I was thinking me and Takumi could go for a drive on the northern side of the mountain."
Takumi looked at Luna. "What?"
Luna looked at Takumi. "If you want to, of course."
"I mean... I guess we could. Not like I was gonna do anything here."
Celestia sighed. "Even though we just came from Ponyville, you still want to drive?"
Takumi looked at Celestia. "Hey, you two asked me to drive you back here because I happened to be there. And Luna asked. Not me."
"You're just agreeing because you have nothing better to do, like you said."
They stared for a few seconds before Celestia averted her gaze. "Well, you two can do that. If you need anything, I'll be sleeping in my room."
"Got it."
Celestia shut the liftgate and, with a quick flash of magic, turned into her taller, matured self. Her multi-colored main and tail flowed in the night as she slowly walked up some steps and into the castle. Takumi disengaged the parking brake and reversed out of the spot. He shifted into first gear and accelerated up to the gate, exiting the parking lot once it opened.
"We're not going north, are we?" Takumi deadpanned. as he accelerated down the street.
Luna giggled. "No, we are not."
Takumi smiled. "Alright fine. What do you want me to teach you tonight?"
Luna tapped her chin. "Hmmm..." She smiled. "How about an Intertia Drift?"
Takumi was surprised. "Inertia Drift?"
"Yes, Takumi. Kansei Dorifuto~"
Takumi's smile broadened. "Alright, sure. I can teach you that."