Hondo (本土) stage STAGE 2: Descent (Zero vs Divine Civics)

MLP: FiM: Team AA Hondo Stage

STAGE 2: Descent (Zero vs Divine Civics)

The downhill match lined up. The starter pony was standing there, already set to start the downhill. The informers kept their walkie-talkies up and running. A tense ambience covered the scene like a blanket. Zero and Civic stared at each other with their blank expressions.

Then, the starter shouted out and raised his hoof.

“Let’s begin!”

The crowd shouted out in a cheer, and the starter counted down from 10.

Among the crowd, Hien encouraged Zero without a sound, in her mind.

‘C’mon, Zero. You can do it. Beat him in the downhill! I know you can!’

“3!...2!...1!...GO!”

Civic and Zero took off from the ground. Civic pulled away quickly, with Zero slowly trailing him as he swinged to the first corner. Zero followed suit seconds after. It was as if he wasn’t even trying.

Back at the starting line, Nova barked at Zero’s slow pace, mocking him. “Wow your friend sure is slow. There is no way he can beat Civic like that!”

Hien didn’t respond. Her mouth was closed shut. She knew that Nova was right. Her mind was deprived of comebacks. Instead, she thought to herself, ‘What are you doing, Zero? Speed up! You’re losing him!’

Civic was already tackling the dreaded saw-jagged corners. He didn’t manage to nail the corners so well – something not even the legendary Kyuu Roku could master.

Civic turned his head back. Zero was absent in his sight. He began to get skeptical.

‘I don’t like this. He’s nowhere behind my tail. Maybe it’s some sort of technique?

‘…No. It can’t be. The saw-jagged corners of this quarter shouldn’t allow for any effective technique. Neither is there any strategy or tactic that can work here. But…, I can feel it in the air.

‘Something’s up and it’s not good.’

Zero slowly approached the dreaded corners. The informer, standing just ahead, watched him closely. The informer then raised his walkie-talkie, and spoke to it.

“This is informer of first quarter at the entrance of the saw-jagged corners. Zero is in sight, slowly about to tackle the corners. He is going so slowly, it’s like he knows that he is going to lose. All hope is failing!”

Zero easily ignored the concerned looks of the informer.

The corner was coming close.

The corner began.

He etched a weak smile on his face.

Then, without warning,

*GYAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!*

He stalled his wings, swinged his body to the right, keeping it fixed to that alignment, flapped his wings irregularly and constantly adjusted the alignment of his wings to keep him in a drift, while softly touching the road with his right hoof. It was a technique only a very few handful can perform, but even fewer can master it – free drift, with a hoof slide.

The informer, off guard, was caught in a flood of shock as he saw Zero fling through him.

“Wh…What’s with that stallion?! He tackled the corner at speed with his rear end free without braking, and exited the corner at incredible speed! I wouldn’t be surprised if he hit the guard rail back there. We’re having shivers in our spines!”

All the while, Zero’s face slowly and slightly became less blank, his eyebrows squinting, slightly showing determination. He remembered the time when he did the same downhill once with his father. He used to hate the pace. Now he was going faster than ever, albeit slightly.

While free drifting the consecutive corners, Zero reflected on his past experience on the downhill.

‘People say that this section is impossible to master. Not even my old man could do it perfectly and I perfectly remember how these corners felt when I was still on his back as a young colt the first time I went downhill here. It doesn’t seem so fast anymore. If nobody is able to nail it right…,

‘Then why is it so easy for me?’

Zero burned through the corners like it was a single, long straight, up until the final turn.

The informer on the final chain was taken aback by Zero’s “sudden change in pace”. There was a pegasus that watched Zero tackle the saw-jagged corners. His heart skipped a beat when he heard from the watcher that a pegasus had successfully taken on the dreaded chain, at speed, without a single mistake. The informer, still in shock, spoke through the walkie-talkie.

“Informer on the final chain of the consecutive corners here. I must be hearing things! A watcher informed me that the challenger has just tackled the saw-jagged corners, without a single mistake at great speed! A feat like that gives no room for luck. At this rate, he’ll catch up to Civic well before the Third quarter!–“ Zero swooshes past the informer “–WHOA! He just flew past! He’ll definitely catch up to Civic at the Second quarter like this!”

Hayabusa and Kamikaze picked up the informer’s words. Kamikaze shivered, as if in a state of frostbite, to hear that someone had broken what he called “The curse of Mt. Mitsubishi”.

“I’m getting serious goosebumps, man. Who would be crazy enough to take on that section at speed? Crazier yet, that guy made it without a scratch! It’s like he is some sort of racing ghost or something.”

“I thought I felt it in him that he has certain greatness. But this is another level.

Hayabusa halted, his lips closed. He tilted his head down, and switched the topic.

"With the speed that Zero is using in the initial burst, Civic should be showing a bit of concern. Zero is the slowest pegasus he has faced in his life, and I know Zero well enough that he won't be going at full speed. Given the unusual circumstances, Civic should be taking that into account. Think about it – how would you react if a pegasus you’re racing against is going way slower than you expected?”

Kamikaze started to realise what Hayabusa meant. “Well, I’ll just think to myself, ‘something’s up’ if my rival looks fast.”

“Exactly. That is how Civic is feeling right now. The pace that Zero is going at is downright ominous. Any professional-minded pegasus will try and figure out what is going on."

Back at Zero’s side, Zero was struggling to ignore the fear that he was getting from the speed he was going at. He had never attempted to fly at high speeds – even though he was a grown-up pegasus, pieces of his childhood still lived in him, and in his childhood, he was afraid of speed.

‘I really feel that I just simply want to slow down. It’s as easy as slamming all four hooves to the ground and screech to a halt. But at the same time…, I feel a sense of something surging through my body. It’s as if it’s telling me to speed up. It’s nothing like the things I felt before.

‘But why? Why do I feel this way?’

Zero dug deeper and deeper into his mind as he soared past the twin hairpins. He was so deep in his own world he didn’t realise the shocked faces of the informers. Nor did he realise Civic’s tail poking out of a corner just up ahead.

The latter informer spoke through his walkie-talkie shortly after Zero zinged past him.

“This is informer on Second section hairpin 2! The challenger is closing in fast against Civic. The challenger is undoubtedly fast in the corners. His free-drifting is also pitch-perfect! It’s scary enough to think that the challenger could catch up to someone like Civic. It’s even scarier to think of the possibility of Civic being overtaken! We’re making wild guesses of what is to happen next!”

Hayabusa, again picking up the news, spoke as if he knew this was coming.

“It almost sounded as if Zero beat Civic in a downhill battle before.”

His words are met with almost exaggerated gasping.

“Zero beat Civic once before?! You’re kidding, right?!”

Kamikaze spoke so loud that the informers nearby turned their heads back to check on the commotion. Kamikaze, sensing that he may have been too loud and disrespectful, lowered his voice. The group, except the informers, huddled together.

“You’re joking, right? The same Zero? That spacey, absent-minded Zero? I don’t believe you. Only a well-focused, well-trained pegasus could pull off a free drift like a pro, you know.”

Civic prepared for the approach of the first hairpin of the third section. He looked back one more time to check if Zero was behind his tail. The sight of a pale yellow pegasus confirmed his fears.

‘I knew it.’

Civic tried to lose him by flapping his wings like a bee just at the hairpin's exit – an extended Throttle Burst. During the burst, however, he turned his head and looked back to see the shock of his life.

‘…! F…Free drift?!’

It wasn’t long before Civic got back to his senses. By the time that happened, Zero zoomed off the hairpin.

‘I admit. You’re surprisingly skilled. You may be a newbie, but that, and your shockingly impressive skills in your first try, can make everyone’s jaws open wide.

‘You’re amazing, you know that? Show me what you got!’

Civic burned what little boost is left in him, whizzing past the informer on one of the easier corners of the third quarter.

Zero saw Civic pull away once again, and spotted an obvious advantage Civic has against him.

‘While taking on corners, I’m definitely faster. But Civic keeps pulling away on the straights. It must have something to do with one of his techniques. The corners here may allow for somewhat high speeds, but the straights in this quarter aren’t long.

‘Overall, it works in my favour. In this quarter I’ll surely catch him, but the setup point, will be at Mt. Mitsubishi’s final hairpin!’

Zero was only centimetres behind Civic, tailing him like his own shadow as they entered the final quarter. Another informer spoke through the walkie-talkie.

“This is informer at the entrance to the final quarter! The challenger is literally centimetres behind Civic’s tail! They are about to tackle the final hairpin of the downhill!”

The match reached a long straight. Civic inched away from Zero. The hairpin could be seen up ahead. Hayabusa and Kamikaze watched them in the final seconds of an unintentionally intense downhill battle. The informer spoke through the walkie-talkie.

“This is informer of final hairpin! The match are spotted coming up fast!”

Civic reached the hairpin’s braking point.

Civic braked with his wings. Zero flew past him. He wasn’t slowing down.

“THE CHALLENGER’S SPEEDING UP! WHAT IS HE DOING?!”

‘Oi…! Slow down! It’s a darned hairpin! You can’t hope to take it at speed!’

Zero wasn’t giving a care. He continued to speed up.

Civic and the informer’s group watched with bated breath.

He banked for the hairpin.

Then,

*swoop*

*NEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!*

The witnesses held their breath longer.

“…” The sudden complete silence of the walkie-talkie was enough to make everyone understand – something miraculous happened.

Hayabusa was the only one unaffected by the spell of the son of the ‘Ghost of Mitsubishi downhill’. Even he was at a loss of words for a moment.

“…Impressive…”

Kamikaze snapped out of the trance.

“Hu, huh? Oh, of course he is impressive! He is the one and only Zero! Told you he won’t lose.”

Hayabusa burned half of his fuse in annoyance, his face struggling to keep its sense of anger locked in, then slapping himself to calm down. “Sometimes I wonder how I ever managed to still be friends with you for so long…”

Zero began to pull away from Civic. Civic felt the chill of defeat, as he took on the second to last corner. But, somehow, he still managed to smile.

‘I’ve never been so cleanly overtaken by someone like this before. That Gutter technique is proof enough that you’ve got an advantage over even some of the fastest Equestria has to offer. You deserved the win, boy.’

Civic eased his wings, letting Zero go.

Zero took on the final corner and crossed the line with everyone screaming for the win that came out of thin air. Civic, crossing the line moments afterward, walked towards Zero and spoke to him.

“Hey, hotshot. You sure you’re new to touge battles? What you did back there is nothing short of the skills of a legendary racer.”

“Well, thanks, but this is really my first time racing on the route, though I sometimes go down this route for fun, and sometimes I’m my father orders me to fly right on the route when doing deliveries.”

“It counts as practice,…er…, what’s your name?”

“Zero, sir.”

“If this your first race, then I can see you dominating the skies in the future, Zero.

“Of course, if that’s what you want to be, but it would be a shame to waste that special talent of yours.”

“Racing is…, my talent?”

“You’re not saying that there is something you can do better than racing, are you? You’re a blast to race against, you know.”

“I don’t know. Maybe you’re right.”

Hien and Nova flew down from the top of the mountain.

Nova, the first to try to speak, got cut off by Hien.

“Guess I didn’t make a mistake in choosing a volunteer, eh, Nova?”

Nova kept quiet, glaring at Hien. He had become tired of clashing words with the mare.

“I think you’ve learned your lesson, Nova. Once we get back, you’ll be undergoing intensive training, and maybe some living values.”

“Living values will definitely suit you, Nova. Now get out of here!” Hien barked.

Nova took a step back.

“Oh, scared of being scolded, are you?”

Civic cut in.

“That’s enough. Now if you excuse us, we must go back to our home mountain.”

Zero replied, “It’s been nice knowing you, Civic. Let’s go to our homes, Hien.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

They everyone said altogether, “Goodbye.”

==================================================================================================================

Zero returned home shortly afterwards, seeing his father wait for him outside the shop, looking towards the sky.

“Hi, father.”

“Hello, Zero. I heard that you won against Civic.”

“That’s right, father. But…,

“I don’t understand. Everytime I try to go down the route before, I always felt so slow. The victory I had over Civic just didn’t feel right. It’s as if he let me win.”

A moment of silence followed. Then Kyuu broke it.

“You should go inside, Zero. I’ve made dinner and it might get cold the longer we wait here.”

Inside, Zero was eating his dinner – plain onigiri with tofu. He saw his father once again working on the onigiri for tomorrow. Zero knew of the state his family is in, and takes care not to get caught in the temptation of his wants.

Zero was about to finish dinner, when the phone went ringing.

Kyuu picked it up. “Sentouki Onigiri shop. How may I help you?”

“Kyuu. It’s Hayabusa. May I speak to Zero?”

“Sure.”– Kyuu then turned his head to Zero and spoke to him. –“Zero. It’s Hayabusa. He wants to call you.”

Zero stood up and picked up the phone from his father.

“Yes, Uncle Hayabusa?”

“Zero. I saw you take on Civic back at that last downhill battle. I can see a lot of potential in you as a professional racer. You already know that I refuse to race under normal conditions ever since your father’s accident at Mt. Matsuda, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t help other pegasi become racing legends.

“Look. I’ll make it brief for you. I’m about to make the Twin Mountains’ first ever racing team, whose goal is to beat all the time attack times on all the mountains of the Hakuba region, as well as ‘defend’ both mountains from ‘attacking’ racing teams, should they do just that.”

“That’s good to know, but I don’t think I’m the one you should call if you want someone to race for the team. There are many other talented pegasi out there that could outperform me.”

“I’m not looking for the fastest pegasi out there. I’m looking for pegasi with the potential to be the fastest. There is a huge skill difference between raw skills and skills that reach their potential, and of all the pegasi of the Hakuba region, you show the biggest potential of all the pegasi I’ve seen.”

“Ok, but I know for one thing that touge racing teams must include a pegasus for the downhill and another for the hillclimb.”

“Obviously you’ll be the downhill ace. I will keep the identity of the hillclimb ace a secret, however, to surprise you. I’m not going to force you into the team if you’re not interested, so do you want to join the team?”

Zero’s mind reached a stalemate. He looked to his father, worried about his family’s wellbeing.

“But what about father? I don’t want him to get too tired working all the time.”

“Zero, I’m pretty sure that your father won’t even try to keep you working as a deliveryboy. He sees great potential in you as a racer. Surely he won’t allow you to waste it delivering onigiri all your life.

“…If you’re still unsure, you can change your mind tomorrow once you get to see the team.”

Zero kept quiet in concern for his father. He shows deep care for him, especially with his wings broken. Eventually, he decided,

“Alright. Where do we meet?”

“At the warehouse next to the convenience store at the top of Mt. Nakajima, at tomorrow noon. I’m looking forward to see you there... You should rest, Zero. It’s dark out.”

“Alright, Uncle. I’ll see you later.”

Zero hung up the phone, yawning shortly after.

Kyuu emitted a small giggle. “Tired already, Zero?”

“Yeah. That battle against Civic really took its toll.”

“I expected that. Go to sleep now, Zero. No one wants to be caught off-guard, after all, especially if Hayabusa wants you to come to him.”

“Wha…? How did you know I am to meet him tomorrow?”

“He’s been talking of making a racing team ever since I got injured. He also won’t make calls out of the blue like this often. When he does, it’s probably something important to him, or something he would absolutely want to do.”

“Oh…, ok.–“ Zero yawned again. ”–Wow, I’m really that tired. Well, I’ll be sleeping. Night, father.”

“Night, Zero.”