It was a warm summer's day in the South of France. The kind of weather one would sort of expect at this time of year. Not a single cloud in the sky. A bright yellow sun bearing down on the gorgeous mountains of the French alps. Thin, twisting ribbons of tarmac snaking their way both through and around the landscape.

One such ribbon of tarmac was a road that had come to be known as the Col De Turini: a notably bendy piece of road that didn't really seem to go anywhere.

To the average person, whilst this road may have been breathtaking to both see and drive on, that would be just about it. However, to those well-versed in Motorsport, particularly in Rallying, this road meant a whole hell of a lot more. Every once a year, as part of the World Rally Championship, these roads would be closed off, allowing the fastest and (sometimes) the most insane drivers and teams to blast their cars along roads just like this one, all trying to get the fastest times. Heck, the Col De Turini itself was actually one of the many stages used on the rally. No small feat, considering that there would usually be a brick wall on one side and a steep drop on the other.

Asides from the Monaco Grand Prix, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500, no racing event carried quite the level of prestige that the Monte Carlo Rally carried. In fact, out of the four events previously listed, the Rally was actually the oldest of the four, the inaugural event taking place in January of 1911, with a Centenary being celebrated recently.

However, on this fine summer's day, there was no event taking place. This year's event had already come and gone. By this time, all the people involved with the WRC would be in Eastern Europe for Rally Poland, meaning that the road was peaceful once again.

This, however, didn't last long. Somewhere along the Turini, the peaceful silence was shattered by the buzzing revs of an engine, echoing through the mountains.

Now, this wouldn't be out of the ordinary if this was in January, when the Rally would usually be held. But alas, this was July.

The source of the sound would eventually reveal itself to any curious road users (of which there were very few today). Sat somewhere near where the Turini started, outside a rather conspicuous-looking ranch sat a Ford Fiesta S2000 Rally Car, its blue and black paintwork shining in the sun. Splattered all over the car where several different decals, showing different organisations that sponsored the team that ran this car.

Along the sides ran one huge decal, letting everyone know just what team this car belonged to.

Team McKraken

Right up on the rear passenger window, another decal displayed the car's number.

69 (Obviously)

Finally, right next to the number, a collection of name and flag stickers detailed both the Driver and Co-Driver of the car.

Alex McKraken (GBR)

Cameron McKraken (GBR)

However, whilst a rally car usually accommodates two people, there was only one person sat in the car at this very moment.

The person in question was a guy, no older than twenty six, draped in his blue and black racing suit. A mop of chestnut brown hair adorned his head. His emerald green eyes were shut tight as he tried to memorise the route he had planned to take.

This was the driver. The Prodigal son. The Dirt Prince.

Alex McKraken

Coming from a whole family of Rally drivers, Alex had been trained in the art of the sport from a young age until he was fourteen, when he competed in his first proper rally, with his mother - Eileen McKraken - as his Co-Driver. From there, Alex began to go international, entering and winning events all across Europe. As each event came and went, Alex began to build himself a reputation for being a little bit of a daredevil and a risk taker. One notable example of this came during an event in Wales. Alex, considerably faster than most of the other entrants had come up on another car and was looking to pass it. Unfortunately, there was barely any room to do so. Most drivers would have just waited for the other car to move over. Not Alex. Instead, he simply waited until the very next corner they came up to and simply slid right up the inside as the two cars drifted around the corner, leaving a hairs width between them.

In addition to this, Alex also picked up a reputation for being somewhat of a madman. During an event in Scandanavia, on the final stage, Alex was leading by a considerable margin. However, he accidentally ended up going into a corner way too fast and ended up hitting a bank. The car rolled over and the suspension was damaged and yet somehow, Alex still went on to win the event, albeit with his advantage significantly reduced. One onlooker described Alex’s driving post-crash “as if he had sat on a wasp”. Some would call this incredible talent. Alex would call it “sheer dumb luck”.

Of course, Alex, his parents and his cousins weren’t the only ones who indulged in Rallying. His uncle Vinnie was the first member of their family to take a car up the infamous Pikes Peak hillclimb in America. In turn, he and and Alex's dad - James McKraken - had both taken part in the Dakar Rally quite a while ago as well. Then, you also had Auntie Emily. If the family was ranked on who was the craziest, Emily would probably sit right at the top. When she was an active driver, she drove around in Group B cars, the most powerful and dangerous Rally Cars to have ever existed. Even his Granddad made a name for himself in Rallying.

In fact, pretty much every living member of his family either was or had been involved in Rallying, even right down to his two sisters, who worked as mechanics for the team. The only exception to this (in his immediate family, anyway) was his brother Toby. Ever the odd one out in the family, he had decided to make a name for himself in circuit racing and single-seaters.

It was when this heritage was recognized when Alex earned his most well-known nickname: The Dirt Prince.

With the help of his family, Alex eventually reached the European Rally Championship and, piloting the very same Fiesta he was sat in, dominated the entire competition, eventually winning his first (and only) Championship in the category.

Alex had driven many cars prior to this, but the Fiesta was by far his favourite. He couldn’t really nail down why he liked it so much, though. Maybe it was just the way it felt when it slid round a corner, back end stepping out slightly, but not too much.

Now logically, the next step would be to get a new car and head right for the World Rally Championship. However, Alex decides against this. He believed that if he were to join the category, he would need as much preparation as possible. He therefore decided to take a sabbatical. He also decided to move to mainland Europe so that he could be closer to the overall action, purchasing a small ranch not too far from where he was currently. At the request of his family, he also took with him not just his Fiesta, but several other cars that they had also used, as their garage back at home was a bit crowded and they didn’t want to fork out for another. In the meantime, Cameron went over to America, deciding to take part in the X-Games.

(Yay! Backstory done)

So, dear readers, if you haven’t nodded off from reading all that backstory, this is now where Alex found himself: sat at the wheel of his beloved Fiesta, prepping himself for a drive along the Turini.

On the seat next to him were his helmet and a small rucksack, containing some snacks.

Of course, Alex wouldn't be going at 100% on this run. He had only been up the Col De Turini just once, so needed to get used to the route a bit more before this was possible. Plus, he didn't want to accidentally run into any regular motorists. Not that this was a major problem or anything.

What Alex was about to do wasn't totally illegal. Technically, the Fiesta (despite its upgrades) could still be driven on a regular road, as it was both taxed and insured to do so.

Besides, its not like there would be many police cars up in the alps anyway.

Finishing up with his visualisation, Alex opened his eyes, seeing the stretch of tarmac lying out before him.

He took a brief moment to reach into his pocket and pull out a silver iPod, turning it on and placing the heads of his earphones into...well, his ears. As he selected the playlist marked "Driving", his ears were soon filled with the soothing sounds of Matt Monro as he slid his helmet over his head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC_9MZl6dm8

"All I need now is a Miura and this moment would be complete" he thought to himself as he revved the engines, his right hand tightening around the steering wheel whilst his left gripped the handbrake, ready to release. As he continued to rev the engine, he could feel that tingly feeling he had whenever he was about to set off in cars just like this one.

Finally, he dropped the handbrake, pressing his foot hard on the throttle at the exact same moment.

Despite the Fiesta having only 280 Horsepower (the maximum limit for an S2000 car), the acceleration of the car felt as if you were being kicked in the gut.

Very soon, the Fiesta had accelerated past sixty miles an hour as it sped along the Turini, Alex quickly climbing through the gears. Each time the car approached a corner, Alex would back off slightly before pitching the car in, making it drift slightly but not too much, so that he could correct the steering if he made a mistake.

For mile after mile, Alex blasted by, he and his machine in perfect harmony with each other. No one and nothing seemed to come along and try to interrupt them.

Alex felt as if he could do this forever. But alas, as he felt his stomach rumbling, he was reminded that he couldn't.

Thankfully for him, however, he knew a good place to stop for a break.

About thirteen miles down the road from where he started, He pulled off the road and stopped at a small spot, looking out over the mountains. Looming above them was an old archway, built out of stone bricks.

Switching the car off and pulling off his helmet, Alex grabbed his bag and stepped out of the car before perching himself on the bonnet, producing a cheese roll and a bottle of water from his bag.

As he ate and drank, he stared out over the landscape below him.

This whole situation he was in made him feel grateful. Grateful to be was alive. Grateful to have been given the gifts that he had been given. Grateful for all the opportunities to succeed. But most of all, he was grateful for the opportunity to accomplish his dream of conquering the world of rallying.

As he finished his roll, he heard the hum of a sports car engine. Craning his neck, he watched as a silver Porsche 911 went by, disappearing under the archway.

However, as he watched the Porsche go by, he noticed something...odd.

Right across the road from him was the entrance to a tunnel, seemingly cut deep into the mountain.

This was caught his attention.

"I don't remember that being there last time". He thought to himself.

Intrigued, he walked across the tarmac and right up to the entrance. It didn't really seem to come out anywhere, as Alex could see nothing but pitch-black darkness.

Initially, Alex felt a bit uncomfortable. Something about this tunnel seemed off. There was no way that this thing could have been constructed without him knowing about it beforehand. However, this feeling of discomfort was soon replaced with intrigue.

He wanted to know where this tunnel led.

Loading up and turning on his car, he turned it around and slowly entered the dirt-tracked tunnel, switching on the headlights. Despite this, however, inky-blackness still filled the tunnel, with only the walls and the pathway being visible (albeit barely), so Alex didn't dare go any faster than twenty miles per hour, in case he encountered...something. He did have a plan for this, however. In the event that something unfriendly did appear, he would simply hit the reverse and get out of there as fast as possible.

This plan seemed less and less safe as Alex watched the light from the entrance get further and further away in his rear view mirror. He pressed on regardless, however.

Further into the tunnel, he decided for this brief moment to stop, poking his head out of the window.

"Hello?" He called into the darkness, his voice reverberating throughout the tunnel.

Asides from his light breathing and the steady humming of the car's engine, nothing but silence greeted him.

He was starting to feel a teensy bit more wigged out. This, however, failed to stop him from pressing forwards.

Eventually, he began to get quite bored. He had discovered absolutely nothing and the light from the entrance was now just a speck in his mirrors.

"I'll carry on for a little further" He thought to himself. "If I don't find anything, I'll just sod off back home".

However, just as he thought this, his heart skipped a beat as he noticed the headlights of his car flickering. This was something they had never done before, no matter how much damage it had attained during an event.

"Come on, don't do that" He said softly to his car as he tapped the dashboard, hoping that this would do something. "What's all that about, eh?"

However, in this brief moment that Alex took his eyes off the path ahead, the path seemed to just disappear altogether.

The next thing he knew, Alex began to fall into a pitch black void, managing to get out a loud yell of "WOAH!" as the car began to plummet.

As the Fiesta began to fall faster and faster, Alex's heart began to race, beating harder and faster. It felt as if it was about to break out of his chest.

He was so scared he didn't even have the power to scream.

As he sat in the driver's seat, wide-eyed and breathing rapidly, his initial reaction was to slam the brakes on as hard as possible in some vain attempt to slow the falling Fiesta down. Unfortunately, the car only continued rapidly picking up speed, now seeming to point straight down.

Fearing the worst, Alex braced himself, placing his head as far back as possible in the seat and crossing his arms in front of his face, his eyes tightly shut and both of his feet still jammed on the brake pedal.

He waited for the inevitable crunching sound of his car hitting the ground.

It never came.

Instead, for the first few moments, he still continued to fall. Then, eventually, he heard a sound that he was familiar with: a moderately loud thud, as his car seemingly came touched down on dirt, as if it had completed a jump. Then, at about the same time that this happened, the car rapidly began to level itself out before, finally, it came to a stop.

Slowly, Alex moved his hands away from his face, placing them back on the steering wheel and opening his eyes. His heart was in his throat. His hands were shaking. But he was alive.

He shut his eyes again and lowered his head, trying to calm himself down. His mind was racing, so he didn't 100% know just what had happened, but all he could really guess what that his car had hit some sort of ramp at the bottom of the pit and (miraculously) did it on all four wheels.

Eventually, both his heartbeat and breathing seemed to return to normal, thus allowing him to lift his head back up and proclaim just how he was feeling at this very moment.

"WHAT THE SODDING HELL WAS THAT?!"

However, before anyone or anything could answer his question, Alex noticed something far ahead of him.

A speck of light was shining into the tunnel. It was small, seemingly a long distance away, but it was shining brightly.

He instantly knew what to do.

"Screw it" He muttered to himself, lifting his feet off the brake and slamming them both back down on the accelerator, causing the car to launch away from a standstill, roaring towards the light. Alex wanted no more of this madness. This time, he just wanted to get the hell out of whatever crazy pitch-black hell hole he had fallen into. Any abominable creatures that happened to step out of the darkness would end up squashed against the path, the unevenness of it failing to slow the Fiesta down.

Finally, mercifully, the Fiesta roared out of the dark tunnel and into the light of day...right towards a massive wall of rock. Thankfully, Alex's quick reactions allowed him to slam both the regular brakes and the handbrake on. This caused the Fiesta to spin considerably but regardless, the car came to a halt just in time, now facing towards the tunnel they had just exited.

Alex let out a sigh of relief, putting the car into neutral. He was out. He had escaped the tunnel with in one piece. He had no idea what had just happened, but he didn't care. What he had just gone through may have been the single scariest experience of his entire life.

However, right there and then, things got even stranger. To Alex's surprise, the mouth of the tunnel suddenly phased away, as if it had never existed, leaving just a large wall of rock in its place.

Alex didn't say a word. He just stared at the rock in confusion, deciding not to question what he had just seen. His day was already weird enough. His thoughts returning to the task at hand, he got out of the car, walking around it and checking for damage. Despite some minor bodywork damage, presumably from the landing after that fall, nothing major had happened to the car.

"Alright, that's good." He said to himself. "I guess the next step is to find a way from here to home...wherever here is".

He quickly pulled out his mobile phone from his bag to check if he had signal in the event that he needed assistance, turning it on.

No signal

"Damn. Guess if I have a problem, I'm stuffed".

Alex looked up at the sky. Almost immediately, he discovered that the two walls of rock either side of him made up a ravine. It was deep, but not deep enough to make it look inescapable.

"First thing's first. Find a way out of here"

Alex clambered back into his Fiesta before heading off in search of an exit out of the ravine. He wanted to get home as soon as possible. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something seemed...off about this place.

After half an hour of driving, The Dirt Prince had found a way out of the ravine and had begun travelling along yet another dirt pathway at a steady fifteen miles per hour. As he drove, he found himself seemingly lost in the luscious nature that surrounded him. Thick, dark green trees seemed to almost obscure the daylight, whilst bushes and undergrowth littered the sides of the path.

In any typical situation, this would actually be quite pleasant. But for Alex, his drive through the forest only confirmed his suspicion that something was off about his location, not least by the rather strange looking plants that he spotted when he drove past. He was no expert on nature, but he could just tell that these plants were not the kind of plants one would find in France....or anywhere for that matter.

As Alex continued to drive, he eventually came across a small, swamp-like habitat. The water ran as a muddy brown/green colour and the stench was almost overpowering. In any regular case, Alex wouldn't have paid much attention to it. However, just as he was about to continue on, something caught his eye.

On the opposite side of a swamp, is a small, dark cave, Alex spotted something moving. He couldn't quite make out what it was, but he could tell that something was there. On the off chance that it may have been friendly, Alex decided to check it out, rolling around to the opposite side of the swamp before stepping out of his car, carefully peering in.

Even in the position he was in, he still couldn't make out the shape of the what was hiding in the cave. He couldn't tell how big it was, what it looked like, what gender it was. He couldn't even make out what species it was and yet he still persisted on the off chance that whatever was in the cave was intelligent.

He then went and made the second worse decision he had made that day.

"Hello?" He asked the shape.

The shape growled back.

Alex could tell right there and then that whatever this creature was, it didn't seem friendly.

This point was confirmed when suddenly, the shape leaped out of the darkness, almost ready to devour Alex. It would have done just that as well, if he hadn't managed to leap out of the way.

As McKraken rose back to his feet, he could now properly see the ravenous beast that he tried to eat him. At first glance, the creature carried the most resemblance to the shape of a lion, albeit with a few small differences (like the much larger ears). Then came the much more notable differences, like the bat wings and the scorpion tail.

Whatever this creature was, it opened its jaws, baring its long, sharp fangs before rearing its head and letting out a long, loud roar.

When it ended, there was a small moment of silence before the roar was replied by several other similar roars, echoing from elsewhere within the forest.

As the creature's gaze returned to Alex, he instantly understood what was happening. Whatever this creature was, there were more just like it in the area.

And they were hungry.

Without thinking twice, he bolted back to his car, clambered in and shut the door just before the creature got to it, leaving it furiously scratching at the paintwork.

“Stop scratching my bloody car!” He yelled at the beast as he scrabbled into the driver’s seat and stamped on the accelerator, the car rocketing away from its attacker.

This time, Alex decided to throw caution to the wind, sending the Fiesta hailing along the dirt pathway as he desperately tried to pull his safety harness, giving up when he managed to get four of the six buckles in. This distraction, however, allowed the creature to catch up, something which Alex realised when the creature went and thrust it's tail at the car’s roof, leaving a massive hole behind.

Alex instantly responded by putting his foot down, his hands tightly gripping both the gear level and the steering wheel. As the car continued to build up speed, Alex continued to check in his rear view mirror. Luckily for him, the creature could only fly so far, allowing the Fiesta to gradually pull away. This didn’t stop him from keeping his foot pressed flat on the throttle, not happy until the creature had disappeared from his view.

“This would be so much easier if I had dirt tyres” Alex muttered to himself as his car rocketed past eighty miles and hour.

However, as the car continued to get faster and faster, Alex noticed something.

The forest suddenly...stopped. The low hanging, dark trees that had surrounded him on every side were now replaced with beautiful fields of lush green grass, with the trees now being much fewer in number.

He looked back up in his mirror, breathing a sigh of relief when he noticed that the creature had disappeared, perhaps giving up when it realised that it couldn’t outrun its prey.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’m in France anymore...or Kansas, for that ma-”

He got no further. As his attention returned to the path in front of him, to his horror, he found himself rocketing towards a rather sharp turn at nearly one hundred miles an hour. On the inside of the turn was a rather large bank, whilst on the outside were a row of trees, standing in front of a small river.

Alex lifted his feet off the throttle and braked hard, trying as hard as possible to get as tight a turning angle as possible.

Much to his misfortune, however, he ended up getting too tight an angle, the left side of his car going a bit too high up the banking. This, combined with the tightness of the bend ended up causing the car to lean on both it's right wheels.

Inside the cockpit, Alex desperately wrenched the wheel to the left, trying as hard as he could to correct his error. This effort would prove to be in vain, however, as the Fiesta continued to lean over before finally falling with a “thud” onto its side, scraping rather quickly along the ground...towards the trees.

Realising that there was now no way out of a crash, Alex once again closed his eyes and braced for impact.

It happened this time.

A loud smashing sound and a sudden pain to the head were the last things he felt before blacking out.

(A few minutes earlier)

Today had been a rather busy day so far for Fluttershy.

Since the very moment she had woken up, she had been busy tending to and feeding the various animals that lived with her at her cottage, just outside the Everfree forest.

For the first couple of hours, the soft-spoken pegasus pony had headed into Ponyville to get some shopping. She had then come home and spent the next couple of hours creating dishes for the animals.

Thankfully for her, she was now almost finished and all the animals had enjoyed their meals, leaving just one animal left to feed: her beloved pet bunny Angel.

Fluttershy had already planned ahead for this, making the bunny a dish of carrot soup. Angel (naturally) loved carrots, so logically, he would be able to down this without much fuss.

She eventually found the bunny waiting in the living room, tapping its foot impatiently.

"Here you are, Angel" She said in an almost motherly tone. "One warm bowl of carrot soup"

As she placed the bowl down! Angel leaned over the rim, inspecting the creation with a keen eye. Every once in a while, he would nod, as if to say "not bad"

Finally, Angel slowly took hold of the bowl with both paws before slowly lifting it up to his mouth and slurping up a little bit of soup, swallowing it.

He grimaced slightly.

“What’s wrong, Angel?” Fluttershy asked, concerned. “Does it not taste right?”

She wouldn’t be surprised if this was the answer. It had actually been a while since the last time she had made carrot soup.

Putting the bowl down, Angel made a gesture to Fluttershy, appearing as if he was shaking an imaginary salt/pepper shaker into the soup.

“Oh, do you want more seasoning?”

The bunny nodded.

The Pegasus produced salt and pepper shakers, giving them to the rabbit, who then proceeded to vigorously shake the pepper into the dish before taking another slurp.

One small shake of salt would do it.

Angel gently shook a little pinch of salt into the bowl, before taking another slurp.

He smiled happily, tucking into his meal.

Fluttershy smiled happily.

“There you go. Enjoy your meal”

Her work done, the yellow Pegasus trotted over to her comfy armchair, ready to have a little rest.

It always made Fluttershy feel good inside whenever she made someone feel happy. The sight of a friend enjoying their day was always something she enjoyed.

As much as she enjoyed this, however, one thing she certainly did enjoy was a little bit of peace and quiet.

Settling into the chair, she laid her head back and closed her eyes. Right now, it felt as if she could fall asleep right there and then.

However, just before it felt like this was about to happen, Fluttershy heard the faint sound of a Manticore’s roar echoing out of the Everfree Forest.

The Pegasus was no stranger to this sound. The first time she had ever ventured into the Everfree forest, she had encountered a Manticore.

However, what did concern her was the group of similar roars that followed.

She opened her eyes, concerned as to what was happening.

“I don’t know what multiple roars like that mean, but I’m sure it can’t be anything good” She said to herself as she got leaped out of her chair. “Oh. I hope that’s not the case”

She briskly trotted to the door, ready to go out and see what was going on. However, just before she did so, her ears were greeted by what sounded like some sort of faint buzzing.

Initially, she passed it off as a swarm of bees. But as the noise continued, she noticed that the way it buzzed sounded nothing like bees. The noise seemed to slowly rise in pitch before suddenly dropping back down again, where it would then repeat in a cycle.

“Bees don’t buzz like that”

She then noticed that the noise was gradually getting louder and louder. Whatever was making the buzzing noise was getting closer to the cottage.

Tentatively, she opened the door and looked out, hoping to get a glimpse of whatever strange beast was making that noise.

What she eventually saw was no creature.

In total shock, Fluttershy watched on as what appeared to be a metal box on wheels came roaring along the pathway, faster than any creature she had ever seen (asides from a few other Pegasus she knew).

The box itself had windows looking into it, allowing Fluttershy to see what was inside.

Her jaw dropped as she noticed a strange, ape-like creature gripping on what appeared to be some kind of wheel, positioned within the box. The helmet on the creature’s head obscured most of its features, but the one thing Fluttershy could see was the look of utter terror in its green eyes as the box went flying around the bend outside her cottage.

Unfortunately for the creature, it appeared that it was travelling too fast to make the turn properly, resorting to it having to take to the steep banking on the inside.

Fluttershy’s shock turned to horror as the box ended up leaning on two wheels before landing with a loud crunch on its right side as it skidded along the pathway.

The Pegasus didn’t dare look at the accident that she knew was about to happen.

CRUNCH!

SMASH!

As she shielded her eyes, all she heard was the sound of metal hitting a hard chestnut tree, accompanied by the sound of glass shattering.

She slowly un-shielded her eyes to find that the box had finally come to a stop, with the only sound coming from the crash a low humming sound.

Fluttershy had no idea what kind of creature that was in the box. She didn’t know where it came from or what kind of food it ate. She didn’t even know whether or not it was hostile.

All that she knew was that whatever that creature was, it may have been hurt or worse.

She bolted out of the cottage and over to the wreckage as fast as her legs could carry her. Quickly assessing the situation, she discovered that the tree had completely missed the front end of the box, impacting with exactly where the creature had been within it and shattering one of the windows. This meant that she had to get it out and get it some help as quickly as possible.

Carefully climbing up on top of the box, she discovered that one of the windows was actually part of a door, allowing her to gain access to the creature. As she threw the door open, she found it strapped into what appeared to be a seat of some kind.

It wasn’t moving.

Fearing the worst, the Pegasus gently dropped into the box, placing her ear close to the creature’s mouth.

She breathed a small sigh of relief when she felt warm breath.

Then, placing a hoof against the side of its neck, she found the creature’s pulse. It was beating quite rapidly, but it was present.

At best, the creature was just unconscious. At worst, it may have been comatose.

“Um...hello?” She asked the creature. “Can you hear me? I’m going to get you out of here. You’re going to be okay.”

Slipping her head underneath one of the creature’s forearms, she proceeded to lift it out of the wreck, careful not to make any sudden movements that may upset it and injure it further. No small task, considering how heavy it was.

Finally, when the creature was out, Fluttershy gently lifted it onto her back and carried it back towards the house, straining as she went. However, despite its weight, this failed to stop Fluttershy from carrying it inside before gently placing it down on the floor. Noticing the buckle on the helmet, she quickly released by pulling it with her teeth, allowing it to fall away, revealing a mop of chestnut brown hair on its head.

It was at this moment, as Fluttershy caught her breath, when what had happened dawned on her. She had never seen anything like this in Equestria in before, not even in the Everfree Forest.

This couldn’t have been a regular animal. Was this an alien?

This sounded alarmingly plausible, considering the box she found it in. What that it’s vehicle? It did make a little bit of sense, but still left the Pegasus asking dozens of questions.

She knew right there and then what she needed to do.

“I need to find Twilight. She has to see this”

Author's Notes:

To prevent any confusion, this story takes place halfway through Season 5 (between “Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?” and “Canterlot Boutique”), as this is about roughly how far I have gotten into the season.

Also, for those who don't know, here is an idea of what Rally driving is like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QPMGKhmBIs