open 'Nightdrive'

[~Rogue~ 193]

Welcome to Nightdrive, the RP where the canon doesn't matter and the physics aren't real.

 

Nightdrive takes place in a futuristic equestria where many 'Golden Age' inventions such as vehicles, weapons, and communications have become more and more commonplace, to the point where it seems almost impossible to live without them. Remember how happy equestria was? You won't get much of that here.

 

Although I'd love for you guys to hop in right away, it would be highly preferred that you post in the OOC here before you join. Even if you have already joined, don't just go posting wily-nily. Check the OOC, because there will probably be important updates every once in a while.

 

With the important stuff out of the way, let's begin!

 

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Part I: Prelude

 

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There was a bright glare of sunset that managed to make its way through the glass and curtains, right onto Cassette's face. Although it was only 10 minutes until the alarm went off on his receiver to wake him up, it annoyed him just enough to get him out of bed and in front of his televisor. Although Tuesday shows were always boring, he never realized the Televisor Schedule would be so bland and unscheduled.

 

"Calendar, what day is it today?"

"Tuesday, February the 22nd" the voice hummed in his Reciever

 

'Of course, how couldn't have I remembered', he thought in his head. 'Today is the beginning of the Nightride'

 

Forces all across Equestria had been on the chase of the famous 'Queen Chrysalis', who had reached #1 on the most dangerous list. The final raid had begun on February the 12th, and when no word had come back from the Forces, Princess Celestia herself called out to the people of Equestria. On February the 22nd, what had been dubbed the "Equestrian Nightdrive" began, and ponies all and everywhere started in Canterlot, and ended at the location of Chrysalis in hopes to gain the 'Reward, which Celestia stated as one wish, that is actually possible to grant. Eventually, Chrysalis was found, captured, and banished to Tartarus. As her minions had no queen to follow, they blended in with regular ponies and lived normal lives. The people of Equestria returned to their previous lives, and the winner received fame, glory, and money, only to be assassinated by a cybernetic Pegasus by the name of 'Lightning Dust'. She went unnoticed for awhile, but eventually Celestia called to Equestrian Citizens again, on the same date of February 22nd. 10 years later, the Annual "Equestrian Nightdrive" had become a tradition. Some would play competitively, even killing others to get their 'Prize' knowing it would give them judicial immunity. Some did it for wealth and fame, while some did it to save others living in slums and filth, or to save their terminal siblings or friends.

 

Me? I don't want any of these. Although money would be nice, I have a nice apartment, and pretty much everything I need. I retired years ago, being a professional driver had its perks, but I've enough to get around, and I don't want ro risk harm on myself again. I don't do it to save anybody. My pops passed away a year ago, and I was a lonely sibling. 

 

I am a part of the Nightdrive simply for the 'Ride'. The thrill is my favorite thing about it, and I think that thrill is the only reason I live.

 

The 'Ride' is my life.

 

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I caught train to the event, which had always started in Canterlot. When I arrived there was a bustling crowd and it took awhile of squeezing through to get to the participants area. Most of the crowds were just onlookers, pedestrians simply watching in excitement rooting for their favorite driver. I doubt I was one.There was a pre-event party for the purpose of getting to know one another before you brutally slaughter each other. I was never one for these petty social attempts to make it seem like a party and not a bloodbath. Although I saw a mostly people from the last year, I noticed a familiar face approaching me.

 

"Cassette, how have you been? It's great to see you!"

 

It was Wildfire. A cream colored mare with an oak brown mane. She was a pro racer like you, fast speed and aggressive bumping. She had everything going for her, until she was severely injured in a pile-up. She had her left leg amputated, and replaced with an augmented one. You felt guilty after the crash because you were the front liner. You caused the chain of events which created her injury. Her family spent the money to buy the leg, which was expensive at the time. Later though, her parents would become deathly ill, and with no money to spend on them, her only hope was to ride.                

 

"I've been holding up, glad to see you're okay though"

"Well, these days my driving is only for the hell of it"

"Yeah, mine too"

"Are you racing?" Wildfire asked.

"Yeah, only just for traditions sake."

 

Wildfire's ears perked up and she smirked.  

                                 

"Well,  I'm off. Good luck in the race, winner"

 

'Winner...'

 

That compliment was half-sarcastic and half-playful, but it rang in the back of my head like a Parasprite. I knew what it had meant. I almost passed out, my head spun, and I ran to the bathroom to puke in the toilet. I half-missed and got some on the actual seat, but I cleaned it with toilet paper later.

 

Wildfire must have watched the tapes over and over again, she knew I had caused it. She wanted revenge, and she wanted it against me and me only. She was going to get that prize and nothing was going to get in her way.

 

This year's Nightdrive had suddenly become much more dangerous than the others.

 

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After an hour of sitting around pondering in the bathroom stall, I decided to take up some security. It was becoming more common to hire security for a Nightdrive for a split reward price. If you won, you'd split some cash, if you lost, you'd take them out for lunch and tell them they did a good job anyway. 'Passengers' they called themselves. Some signed up on a payroll, while others were ex-convicts. Either way, it would be good for an emergency, in case Wildfire tries to kill me. There was once an incident where a passenger killed a driver during his power-nap and stole the car he drove. He wasn't seen again after that, but rumor had it that he sold the car and built a hotel in Dubai. Ever since then, the industry for it has become very secluded. If you knew who to ask, however, you could get what you needed. I didn't need much, just an extra set of eyes and hooves. I supposed it was necessary, since it was way too late to back out of.

 

You were a part of the Nightdrive, whether you wanted to be, or not.

 

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I approached the retina scanner and the machine threw lasers at my eye. It confirmed my identity and took me up to the 84th floor, where my car was stored.

 

It was a Ferrari Testarossa, with a 49000cc capacity, available supercharge, and a 24 tesseract engine, it was the supercar of 30 years ago. With some engine replacements and a bit of magic, the car had become quite driveable in today's racing . I unlocked the car with the button and hopped in. The black leather was warm and relaxing, it felt like home, even if it was a car in a crowded city. I opened the glove box, and found a compact cassette with the writing.

 

'Nu style mix 1'  

 

I opened the cassette player and popped the tape in. When the song began to play, I reached pure bliss. It was the only chance I would get to relax before that road would turn into chaos.

 

It was almost time to ride.

 

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Edited July 17, 2015 by Rogue

[deletedaccount2 203]

@,

 

The morning sunlight shone brightly onto the Passenger waiting facility's flooring, allowing Soprano to see his book clearly, without straining his eyes more than they are already. He already made his sign saying "CASSETTE" on it, so that his Driver could see him, to pick him up.

 

The pay for the role of a Passenger wasn't great, but it does count as work experience. Besides, Soprano has always had a knack for first-aid and medical procedures. This is a great opportunity for him.

 

He grabbed a sheet of paper from his saddlebag. It looked very strange.

 GEHEIM!                              QKVA                               SEPTEMBER 2150

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 |Tag |   Walzenlage   |Ringstellung|      Steckerverbindungen      |   Kenngruppen   |
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 | 30 | III  II   IV   |  23 15 02  | CY DZ ER FN GS IL KQ OT UW VX | EBK RSX QZZ VVT |
 | 29 | V    II   I    |  15 15 18  | AV CL DH FY GX IT JP KS OZ QU | RKF JXG LRK YHT |
 | 28 | III  IV   I    |  15 02 10  | AV CI DR EU FT HN KL MW OS PQ | CYL MSB FAV VDY |
 | 27 | I    III  V    |  04 04 24  | AL BC DZ EI FK HQ JW NU OV PS | BLR NCI DXC DTJ |
 | 26 | I    V    IV   |  20 03 11  | AZ BP CS DN EG FK IL JR QW TX | FBD IGZ MPA HAQ |
 | 25 | IV   III  V    |  20 26 16  | AQ DN EU FS GV IP JR KW OX YZ | OTJ OSH BXR OTL |
 | 24 | IV   II   I    |  01 01 17  | AJ BQ CX DU FK GH LP MV NO SY | IFD DOY WHK XAE |
 | 23 | V    I    II   |  09 26 08  | AF BX CI DP GU JV KW LO MQ YZ | FNT XJV ROC RMN |
 | 22 | II   III  IV   |  23 20 13  | AY BK CH FW GX IL NU PZ QV RT | OXO RRM PXK FUI |
 | 21 | II   V    IV   |  02 18 21  | AG BT DY EN HI KR LP QZ UX VW | MMR YHR LBE WTQ |
 | 20 | I    III  II   |  12 11 09  | AX BK CY DE FV HU IO LS MP NW | MLH EGY UGV JGO |
 | 19 | IV   II   V    |  22 15 10  | AO BT CQ DZ EY FL HV IX JP MS | RWB BKT IWQ SXZ |
 | 18 | I    III  II   |  23 12 04  | BR CK DO EG FX HZ IS JL MY NP | CIT JKO OQY FDP |
 | 17 | II   IV   III  |  05 07 26  | CK DU EN FJ GV HQ LS MZ OP TY | UJA NKR NXB VCF |
 | 16 | II   I    IV   |  23 22 24  | AS BV CP DH FG KZ LX MN QR WY | UCC PYC ENZ XDM |
 | 15 | V    II   III  |  05 10 12  | AP BR CN DM FJ GX IV KW OU SZ | VBJ YKO TRB HXO |
 | 14 | IV   III  V    |  16 24 15  | BE DW FK GZ HY IJ LM RV SU TX | BLS TIY VXP EWL |
 | 13 | I    IV   II   |  09 01 06  | AU BO CX DZ FQ GM JW KV NP ST | TGC NUA DMV NIH |
 | 12 | III  V    II   |  01 19 22  | AB CU DP EG FJ HV LN MY OZ RW | OSE DOB IKB CAH |
 | 11 | IV   I    III  |  05 09 25  | BK ER FO GL HW JT MQ NY PZ SX | SIM GTY QDL CKH |
 | 10 | V    IV   I    |  19 26 03  | AX BR CI DM GS JV KN LP QU WY | RRO CGA LYM JUA |
 | 09 | I    II   V    |  21 05 21  | AQ BV DJ EZ HK IY LT NU OP SX | KGP KXL ZJT ZLC |
 | 08 | IV   II   III  |  24 06 14  | AM BN CO DF GJ HX IQ LV PU TW | OMX HQV NYS ZKQ |
 | 07 | IV   II   I    |  06 17 18  | AE DW FH GN IX JV LR MT PZ UY | XOI FRB RVC XWG |
 | 06 | I    V    III  |  05 01 03  | BT DV FS GL HO IZ JK NW PY QR | NRO WGO UPB MIJ |
 | 05 | IV   I    III  |  16 25 10  | AW BP CG DF EL HT IX MN SZ UV | XUH VBZ XTF CJK |
 | 04 | III  II   V    |  15 04 25  | CO DM GY HL IU JP NW QX RV SZ | OIE DAJ XOA VOB |
 | 03 | III  I    IV   |  16 05 24  | AR BN CU GI JK LX MO PT QW YZ | WBR MQY WTL FFI |
 | 02 | I    IV   III  |  17 13 05  | AO BC DG EH IJ KU LN MP SZ TY | CXX XJG MIP CQD |
 | 01 | V    III  II   |  16 20 11  | BD CZ EQ GI HS JX LT MP NW UY | WMC JSA JZX PLT |
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He had received it a while ago from some shady debt-collector's bag. He was about to look into it further, before Cassette's car came speeding through, stopping next to Soprano.

[~Rogue~ 193]

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I had barely seen the Pegasus in front of me, and if it weren't for the end of the fact that his colors stuck out in the cool colored buildings behind him, I probably wouldn't have noticed to him. He only seemed to notice me when I came screeching to a halt in front of him. I opened the door.

 

"Hey"

 

He stepped into the car slightly awkwardly, and closed the door.

 

"You can scoot the seat back if you want, but you may want to keep it forward when we actually race"

 

He was carrying a small green book with a grey piece of paper slipped inside. 

 

"So... I'm Soprano, I already sort of know who you are"

"Yeah, well nice to meet you too"

 

I'm pretty sure small talk was just another distraction, but I guess it was really the only thing that would keep me sane.

 

"Whats in it for you?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you going for the prize?"

"Oh, I kinda got into some money issues and I've got some dangerous people after me"

"Are you a teacher?"

"Quite the opposite, studying Cryptology and foreign languages"

 

He seemed like he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A dangerous race like this shouldn't be for a young university student of his age. It seemed off, but no matter, he'd be enough.

 

---Transmission Received---

 

The awkward silence of nothing but an engine humming was halted by an incoming transmission. The face that it didn't ask me if I wished to accept told me it was from Celestia.

 

"Welcome all participants and spectators to the Annual 'Nightdrive' hunt." 

 

There was a pause, obviously for the audience. We couldn't hear them yet, we hadn't reached the start line.

 

"This is the 10th time I have called upon my people to defend their rightful homelands from those who have strayed into anarchy and heresy. This tradition has evolved from a simple marehunt to a world-wide recognized event, and as we fast approach the 22nd century since creation, we should remember the old, yet welcome the new. Now, for the formalities"

 

"A simple reminder, your target, Equestria's #1 most wanted pony, is extremely dangerous, and although the winner usually has one prize for bringing back the rebel, if the wanted pony is brought back alive, the winner shall receive double the rewards, and full protection under the equestrian guard. As always, you have the right to use all means possible."

 

A black and white sketch of a pony made of small 1's and 0's appeared on screen. She had an over-do, and she looked like she hadn't slept in days.

 

"Hmph, she doesn't look like much harm"

"For a criminal, the best disguise is innocence"

 

The Pegasus pulled out what seemed to be a notepad and began scribbling, occasionally looking closely at the picture for something else...

 

"You will begin here, in the most northern point of canterlot. You will ride your way through the electric streets of Cloudsdale and over the Galloping Gorge. You'll head south through the Smokey Mountains and eventually you will hit a straight through Los Pegasus. There, through the treacherous badlands in the south, you will reach the Endzone, where she is estimated to be camped near. If she moves into the Endzone, do not fret. Faith and courage shall guide you through."

 

"I hope you all will achieve as always. Just remember, any means necessary."

 

---Transmission End---

 

I scooted my seat to sit upright, ready for the action. It was only a few minutes 

 

before the race started.

 

---Transmission Recieved---

--Recieving Call: ID 072--

 

I'm pretty sure that was the ID Wildfire had on her card

 

"-Look, I just want you to know that I have no hard feelings, and even if I did I-"

"Hey, I understand. If I find it, some of the reward will be yours"

"...thanks..."

"No problem"

 

---Transmission End---

 

Something seemed quite odd about that conversation. Even so, I fell back on to my chair and the tension in my shoulders and knees had faded. It was time to get going anyway. Now I had a lot less worries about this race then I thought.

 

As we began approaching the starting line, we began to hear the cheers and screams of the audience, all mixed and blurred together into one sound.

 

I had no idea what was in store for me.

 

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"So exactly what is your strength?"

"Strength? What do you mean?"

"Well, I was never one for sports, but last year I began to notice more and more people with vehicle modifications. Some had spiked wheels, attached weapons..."

"Ah, yes, modifications. Celestia allowed for only one modification per vehicle. They're basically mandatory now."

"So what is yours?"

"Nah"

"Y-You don't have one? I thought you said they were mandatory"

"Mods just slow me down. The only thing I need is speed."

 

'Gravitational Engines' were originally produced around 30 years ago, not only were they scarcely produced, but they had a quite a bad performance compared to regular engines. They could convert gravitational force into usable energy, which was quite expensive to make. Although this was a major problem back then, certain mechanics still talk about ways to make them smaller and lighter, and having them as an extra addition to a car, rather then replacing the engine. Not only were they wrong, but they were too late.

 

Much like how one can run two operating systems in one computer, one car can handle two engines if it can be fitted correctly. Since I had no plans to travel to Europe, I don't need any storage compartments, hence why I had a Gravitational Engine installed into the front. Running two engines at once gave me a much greater speed.

 

He continued scribbling in his notebook. He seemed embezzled into his studies, or whatever he was doing.

 

It didn't matter, the race was starting in 5 minutes.

 

5 minutes wasn't enough to prepare me for this race.

 

But it'll do.

 

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