//------------------------------// // The Student // Story: Run That Race // by The Unseen //------------------------------// 17TH SEPTEMBER 2023 ------B-202, SUNNY HEIGHTS, CANTERLOT CITY------ It was almost 10:00am here in Canterlot City. Since it was a Sunday, most people were still lazing in their beds, having breakfast, or had gone outside to the mall for some shopping. However, on the 2nd floor of an apartment building named Sunny Heights, a certain bacon-haired girl was doing some unpacking. Sunset Shimmer was especially pleased to receive this delivery, since she had been waiting for it for three months now. Sunset happily began unboxing the new simracing setup she had ordered. She had saved up quite a bit to buy this setup, but she felt it would be worth, especially since her old setup wasn't so great. If there was one thing Sunset loved, it was cars. When she had first come to the human world after leaving Equestria, after living in the school dormitories for a while, her ex-boyfriend, Flash Sentry, had invited her to a car race at the local track for a date. At first, Sunset was confused about why someone would want to see cars going around in circles for an hour or two, but after the event, she realised what the excitement was all about. The speed, the adrenaline, the noise of those machines, that was what it was all about. And now, Sunset had turned 17, so now that she had gotten a license and her own car, she could see why people liked these machines. Their cars were like the extensions of their own body, something that they could control. The feeling couldn't be put into words. In fact, it was so much that Sunset hoped to become a racing driver. However, once she found that racing was a rich person's sport, she had to give up that dream, as she was relatively poor. Since Sunset was also a gamer, she had decided to also start playing car games. RaceWorld was one of the more recent releases, having come out just two months earlier. Despite that, it was still one of the top trending games on the planet. The game was still extremely popular among simracers and car people, and had more than 100 million players, including Sunset, who was pretty good. As Sunset continued unboxing, her excitement began skyrocketing. Her new setup included a direct-drive steering wheel, pedals, an H-shifter, and a handbrake. Her phone then rang. It was another player who she often played RaceWorld with. He went by the online alias of Thrustmaster. "Yo, Speed Queen. You got your new setup?" said Thrustmaster. They only knew each other by their online aliases. Sunset's online alias was Speed Queen. "Yup, Thrustmaster. It's finally here! I've been waiting a month for this! My old setup sucked! It's so nice to finally buy a new one!" replied Sunset. "So, you think you'll be able to beat some of the top players now?" asked Thrustmaster. "I don't just think, I know I will!" replied Sunset. "Anyways, gotta finish setting up this up, talk later!" said Sunset, hanging up, as she began removing the equipment from their boxes. Just as Sunset finished setting everything up, her phone rang. "Oh, shoot, must be the girls." said Sunset, doing a facepalm. They were supposed to be heading to the mall for a movie today. The movie would start in an hour, remembered Sunset, as she picked up the phone, having forgotten about it. "Sunset, where are you? We're all here, and doing some shopping before the movie!" came the voice of Rainbow Dash. "Sorry, Dash, I forgot, and I had to receive an important delivery. I'll be there soon." replied Sunset. "What? Come on, you never forget! Also, there's a lot of traffic, so the mall's pretty far from your place! How are you gonna get here in time? If you want, I can use my super speed to come get you!" said Rainbow. "No need, I'll be leaving in a minute, I'll be there before the movie starts. See you there." said Sunset, hanging up the phone, and running into the bathroom to change. It was 10:15am, as Sunset quickly left her house after changing, only stopping to grab her phone, wallet, geode, and car keys. It was hard to believe it had only been two months since their visit to Camp Everfree, and only two years since she had come to the human world. The movie would start at 11:00am, and Maps was showing that due to the traffic, it would take Sunset close to an hour to reach the mall. Well, Sunset thought she could bring that time down. Sunset ran down the stairs, as the elevator was under maintenance, to the basement, where her car was parked. As she reached the basement, only two cars were there. A neighbor's rather broken Chrysler Voyager, and Sunset's car, a red Toyota GT86 that she had bought used right after she had got her license a year earlier. She didn't drive it too much, since both school and her part-time job were within walking distance. Sunset liked this car as it was rather fun to drive, was cheap to buy, and was reliable, since it was Japanese. It had also had quite a bit of aftermarket customisation, which was something Sunset had liked. She had already done some minor modifications. She had replaced the stock rims with Konig Dekagrams, put on a cold air filter, and also put on a new exhaust, so that it sounded louder. Sunset climbed into her GT86, locked the doors, and switched on the engine. The car roared to life with a roar, thanks to the modified exhaust, so it sounded like a supercar, despite it having only 200 horsepower. Sunset drove out quickly, and drifted the sports coupe onto the main road, due to it being rear-wheel drive. Sunset vroomed the car, and began heading down the main road. The only thing was that the car took almost 8 seconds to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour, which was rather slow. But she wasn't surprised. It was a GT86, after all. Sunset continued driving with enthusiasm, her heart pounding in excitement as she pushed the pedal a little more. The sun shone brightly in the sky, casting a warm glow on the streets and the cars that whizzed past her. Sunset knew she had to be careful, but the adrenaline and the need for speed was too strong to resist. As she navigated through the city, Sunset's mind wandered to her new simracing setup. She couldn't wait to try it out and see how it would improve her gameplay in RaceWorld. She imagined herself zooming past other players, winning races, and becoming the ultimate champion. The thought fueled her determination, and she pushed her car a little harder, knowing she had to reach the mall soon. As she continued speeding down the streets of Canterlot City, she noticed a cop car coming from the side, and quickly hit the brakes, so that she didn't get pulled over. Thankfully, she slowed down enough so that the cop didn't pull her over, and he didn't notice her car either, currently interrogating a man in an Altima. Of course it was an Altima driver. As Sunset continued speeding through the city, she reached the main road, which was choked with traffic. The radio told her that there had apparently been an accident here, due to which there was now a traffic jam. Sunset noticed a large multi-level car park a couple of cars ahead, and realised she could cut through it, since it would save her some time and help her avoid the traffic jam. She quickly took the turn towards the car park and began drifting through it, recreating a scene from one of her favorite racing movies. Just as she was heading towards the exit, she realised someone was looking at her car and dialing numbers on a phone. Sunset realised that the man was going to call the police on her, thinking she was a street racer. Sunset quickly began driving towards the parking lot exit, which was on another road. She began driving towards the exit of the parking lot, and peeled out, hoping that the man hadn't taken caught her license plates. She drove out of the parking lot, and realised there was an alleyway that she could drive through to save time. As Sunset sped through the alleyway, her heart raced with excitement and a hint of fear. She knew she was taking risks, but the thought of reaching the mall in time to catch the movie with her friends kept her going. The narrow alleyway seemed to stretch on forever, with tall buildings on either side, casting deep shadows that danced along the walls. That was when she looked at her watch, and realised that the movie would be starting in just half an hour, as it was now 10:30am. She needed to get there faster. She pressed the gas pedal, and drifted the GT86 onto the main road. She continued speeding, and just hoped dearly that a cop didn't pull her over. The boxer engine roared, and just as Sunset's car passed 70 miles per hour, she realised that there was traffic ahead, and quickly drifted onto one of the side roads, in a move she had used in RaceWorld plenty of times. She continued speeding through Canterlot City, and as she continued doing so, she also started using moves from RaceWorld. Sunset wondered how well she could do on a real track. She thought about taking her GT86 to the local racetrack for a track day when it was possible. Sunset continued racing through the streets, enjoying the fun of driving, and the adrenaline coursing through her veins, as she neared the mall. She drove through a residential layout, hoping that no one was out for a walk at this time. She continued giving it the beans, hitting more than 90 miles per hour on one stretch before slowing down. The cost to fill up the car after this would be worth it. As she pulled up into the mall parking lot entrance, she noticed quite a few cars queued up, and just hoped spots were still available. Thankfully, despite the queue, there were still spots available, and Sunset drove into one lot, and noticed some familiar cars there. One of them was Rarity's dark purple 2010 Maserati GranCabrio. Rarity had bought the GT convertible for $30,000 on an impulse, thinking she had gotten a good deal by buying an Italian luxury car such as the GranCabrio for a cheap price. Well, Rarity was starting to suffer buyers' regret, after finding out first-hand how unreliable Maseratis were known for being. Sunset wondered how the car had even been able to get Rarity to the mall. Then there was Twilight's recently acquired bright red 2015 Ford Escape. Twilight had bought it as she had read a lot about cars before buying, and she had calculated that a small SUV such as an Escape or CR-V was the best first car, due to their fuel economy and safety. It was a rather boring looking car, though, and Sunset would not have noticed the Escape had it not been parked next to Rarity's Maserati. Next to that was parked a forest green Ford F-150, which was Granny Smith's truck, that Applejack had borrowed for the day. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy had probably taken a bus or taxi, due to the traffic today, and she couldn't blame them at all. Sunset went into the mall's lobby, and took the escalators to the floor where the movie theater was located. The girls were already waiting there. "Hey, Sunset! We thought you'd never show up!" said Rainbow. "Well, I did. Drove down here, a little recklessly, but I'm here. Don't worry, I didn't cause any accidents." said Sunset. "Oh, you brought down your GT86? Did you try any moves from that game?" asked Rainbow. "A few, yes, but nothing went wrong. Anyways, let's go and get the popcorn." said Sunset, as the girls all began walking into the movie theater. Soon, they were waiting outside the theater, with popcorn and snacks in head. As they waited, Twilight asked the girls a question. "So... what do you plan to do once we graduate?" asked Twilight. "Well, I'll probably just try and become a professional athlete, probably. If not, maybe a coach for a professional sports team." said Rainbow Dash. "Ah, probably move back to Sweet Apple Acres, and maybe run the place eventually." said Applejack. "Well, I'll probably go to college, get a degree, and a high-paying job." said Twilight. "What about you, Sunset?" "Well, I wanted to become a racing driver, but, racing is really a rich person's game. The cars are expensive, and the cost to compete is also expensive. I mean, it costs a hundred thousand dollars to compete in an entry-level touring car series." sighed Sunset. "Well, you could also go to college like me, and then, probably get a job at a car company or something, to develop and test new cars." said Twilight. "That's probably what I might do." said Sunset, as the girls all went into the theater, as the movie would start in ten minutes. As they went in, Sunset couldn't imagine the opportunity that would come her way soon to accomplish her dream.