Team AA (Double Ace)

MLP: FiM: Team AA

Intermission 2.5: Competition

The next day, still a holiday for Zero,

Zero’s eyes open in response to daylight. It was the day he promised Hayabusa that he went to meet the team. He glanced at his alarm clock. The absence of that annoying sound,

RING! RING!

Was by no means a surprise.

’11:45? That means I have 15 minutes to spend before having to go.’

Zero trudged downstairs from his bedroom, with eyes no less drowsier than last night, to see his father stand outside his home selling the onigiri made that same night.

Zero walked outside and spoke to his father from behind, opening his lips a bit.

“Any deliveries to be made, father?”

“Not at the moment. You better go meet Hayabusa now. Besides, today looks like it’s going to be quiet.”

Zero nodded and flew straight to Mt. Nakajima’s upper village. The valley that separates the mountains apart houses a Shinkansen railroad and a generated jet stream used only by pegasi. The latter has the power to push pegasi to speeds around Mach 6. This jet stream connects multiple points in Sadoruporo and Hashima.

Eventually Zero made contact with Mt. Nakajima’s upper village with his hooves – the place where the warehouse is located. The village is covered with greenery. Trees and bushes covered most of the empty space yet to be built on; much more greenery than that of his home village. The buildings are minimalistic and cleaner than his home village. The ambient sound of village could be heard – birds chirping, the faint sound of voices in the distance, and the mild breeze. The metal warehouse, on the right side of the road, had a similar look to a fighter hangar: Giant metal doors, a roof in the shape of an upside-down half pipe and nothing to light up the insides of it, except a few open windows.

But, added to those sounds, Zero heard someone call out his name from not so far away,

“Zero! Over here!”

It was Hayabusa in the distance standing nearby the warehouse. Zero could recognise that dark green fur anywhere.

Zero could do nothing but trot towards him, his head tilted down in respect, and spoke softly,

“Yes, Uncle?”

“Alright. I saw you in that downhill battle yesterday against Civic. Beating him in your first shot is a remarkable achievement. Civic is only one of the experienced flyers in this region, though, so when trying to battle against tougher opponents, like Ray Enigma, you will need to put special emphasis in improving your speed and acceleration,

“Which is why I want you to do Mt. Nakajima’s downhill. The straights here are long enough to provide good speed and acceleration training.”

“Shouldn’t there be someone to supervise me to see if I’m improving?”

Hayabusa pointed a hoof to the grey warehouse. Zero rotated his head a bit and stared at it.

“In there is something that can help me do better than simply supervise.”

Hayabusa and Zero walked into the dark semi-void of the warehouse to see some sort of machine. The machine was painted black and was the shape of a flat cylinder, and that’s that for the exterior. What was intriguing was the,

ZZZZZZZZZT. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT

The sound of a welder coming from the inside of the contraption.

Hayabusa approached the machine slowly.

“Spark, you finished?”

The cracking of the welder halted and gave way to the ambience again which was now dimmed by being indoors.

Then a crackly voice was heard from inside the contraption.

“Wait! Just this fiddly little piece to go…

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZT.

“There. Done.”

The pony stepped out of the machine, going through the cloth that veiled the inside of the contraption. He was orange with a white mane, and a welder for a cutie mark. His face was covered in small patches of oil. He was gripping a welder and his welding helmet was still tied to his head.

Spark shot a look at Zero. Then, turning his head to Hayabusa,

“So this is the downhill ace you’ve been talking about?”

“You guessed right. The plan is, I get in this flight simulator or whatever you want to call it, and Zero is to use the suit and that headset,”– Hayabusa pointed a hoof at a suit and headset that was folded on top of a box nearby. –“over there.”

Spark glanced at the suit, then looked at Zero.

“You know the drill, get to it!”

Spark sounded quite assertive, his loud voice nearly echoing around the warehouse, enough to spook Zero while he headed towards the suit and headset. While trying to find a way to wear the suit, Zero felt some odd, bulging, foil-like patches on the suit. It turned out that certain spots on the suit were made of a different material from the rest of it. Zero suspected, without showing a hint of curiosity, that behind these spots were sensors or some other device.

Hayabusa, then already inside the up-and-running simulator, spoke to Zero through the headset.

“Using this simulator I can make a full assessment of your flying, as well as see if you are improving. Now, I know that you haven’t practiced here yet, but this is part of the program. Neither will I speak to you until you finish the downhill. You’ll know why soon. Now do the downhill of Mt. Nakajima with all you have!”

“Roger, roger.”

Zero left the darkness of the warehouse, stepping on brightness once more and onto the route.

He breathed deeply and, after a brief moment of idle standing,

He charged for the downhill, his wings beating hard.

Seconds before the first corner, his hooves were no longer in contact with the mountain.

The first part of the course was patched with trees and bushes at the ends of the corners. The first corner was a left turn that led to a long straight, the exit hidden behind the mountain. Two tight hairpins followed, connected by a short straight, with the first hairpin abruptly narrowing for a few metres to allow only one pony to pass, in order to preserve a historical statue, and the other was, on the downhill side, narrower on the approach but wider on the exit.

Zero entered the first corner sideways. His wings are yanked to keep him flying forward. He beat them in irregular intervals – the free drift returned.

The long straight followed. Zero was frantically flapping his wings to get himself to speed. He didn’t realise the gimmick that was about to appear before his eyes.

Hayabusa, in the simulator, thought to himself,

‘After this straight Zero should be careful. The road abruptly tightens at the exit of the first hairpin. If he doesn’t see it coming, it could cost him a victory should he ever race here.’

Hayabusa was about to warn Zero of the statue. The words were about to slip right out of his mouth, until he swallowed it back in. He thought that it would be a better idea to let Zero try and adapt to unforeseen incidents than give him a heads-up.

Zero was at the approach of the twin hairpins. He yanked his body sideways again.

He kept drifting.

Then, just at the exit,

The statue flashed into Zero’s sight.

‘…!’

Zero, in the shock, quit the drift. He banked his body hard to the right. He was on the verge of flying upside-down.

It was barely enough.

He scratched the statue with his stomach. The near miss took its toll on Zero’s already small confidence. He thought to himself,

‘That statue might not be the only surprise Mt. Nakajima has to offer…’

Zero had very little time to stabilise himself as the second hairpin approached. Zero was taking the hairpin at the inner apex. He was still banking to the right.

The fear of hitting the guard rail instantly overwhelmed Zero. He skewed his wings to brake.

The edges of Hayabusa’s lips were pulled down, but he expected the fault to occur. He thought to himself,

‘Zero isn’t known for his bravery. Back when I was in the same school as he, he was still a young colt. He never took part in any sort of conflict, and instantly shut his mouth when scolded. It’s clear that he hasn’t manned up yet, apparently.’

Zero barely managed to stabilise himself by the time he entered the hairpin. He was going too slow to drift.

He attempted to grip through the hairpin, banking hard to the left. The hairpin’s wider exit saved him from hitting the guard rail.

After the hairpins was a long, gentle curve to the left. Zero went back to flapping his wings vigorously.

Hayabusa squinted his eyes.

‘That’s not the way you speed up. Sure, a Throttle Burst is useful to get yourself to speed, but overuse it and you’ll possibly tire yourself just after the first half.’

The curve became tighter. A piece of road then revealed itself in front of Zero’s eyes. It wasn’t joined to the curve.

‘This can’t be good. There could be a corner just up ahead…’

Zero shifted himself to the right side of the road.

The curve got even tighter.

Then, at the exit,

The curve made way to a sudden left turn. He banked left to take on the corner.

‘Understeer…!’

He exited the corner, yanking his body left, scratching against the guard rail.

The simultaneous hairpin caught him by surprise. Zero was at the inner apex.

However, seconds before the approach,

SWOOP

Zero swiped himself to the outer apex and entered the hairpin sideways. His wings were yanked again – another free drift.

The hairpin ended, with Zero clearing the exit, his body in line again.

Just after exiting the hairpin, Zero felt that surging feeling in him from his race against Civic. It was as if his spirit was about to emerge into vision.

‘There it is again, that surging feeling yesterday. What is this feeling? It feels like goose bumps, but it isn’t…’

Zero quickly disposed of the curiosity. He diverted all focus towards the route. It now boasted an assortment of hairpins and medium turns – the technique-intensive part of the downhill had begun, introduced by a left turn.

Zero made the hasty decision to use grip cornering to tackle the turn. He didn’t suspect the hairpin that came shortly after.

Zero was met with a surprise as he exited the turn. The initial part of the section was in the shape of a terrace. It was completely exposed to the naked eye, nearly completely deprived of trees. It was also more sloped than the rest of the course, exposing part of the section.

While Zero, on a short straight, had no time to analyse the slope. He did, however, get an idea of what was to come up next.

‘After this hairpin should be a long curve to the left, followed by a tight right turn, then two hairpins, a straight, and finally a medium left turn.’

Zero swung his body sideways to tackle the hairpin. He exited the hairpin with his body in line with the straight.

He began tackling the curve. It became much tighter as he kept banking left.

‘If I try to shoot this curve at full speed I might hit the guard rail. The right turn up ahead needs me to be at the left side of the road.

’If that’s the case, then I need to slow down…’

Zero eased his wings, allowing him to shift to the left side of the road – a perfect approach to the upcoming corner.

Zero skewed his wings. He tackled and slid through the tight turn, touching the inner guard rail.

Hayabusa, still on the simulator, remarked on Zero’s current status. His eyes squinted as he focused on the flying.

‘His cornering so far is excellent for a starter. His throttle control is also commendable in a free drift. But…,

‘When faced with unforeseen gimmicks, he doesn’t react on time to make it out without a scratch. I should look on that…’

Zero had already cleared the twin hairpins, and was on a good approach position for the left turn.

But, as he tackled the corner,

‘Eh…?’

A pegasus was sighted going the opposite direction. She was about to collide with Zero. She looked like someone he knew – Grey body, green, ponytailed mane.

‘…It can’t be…!’

Zero quickly barrel-rolled clockwise. The pegasus did the same, through her point-of-view.

They crossed paths. Zero turned his head down.

Zero felt time slow down for a moment.

‘Hien…’

Zero, caught in the sense of confusion, wedged his lips open a little.

‘Hien isn’t the kind of pony to practice when there is no need to. What kind of event pushed her to actually practice here?’

As Zero scavenged for answers to the question in his mind, Hien sped through the previous corner.

The other part of the section was like running while blind. Zero’s view was directed only to the route. A thick bristle of trees and bushes completely surrounded the outside of the road. While all the green was soothing,

This sudden blindfold took Zero by surprise.

‘Like this, I’ll be completely deprived of any warning of the next corner. There won’t be warnings of any upcoming gimmicks either.’

Miniscule cramps began to pound on Zero’s wings – a sign of fatigue. His frantic flapping of his wings took its toll on Zero’s energy.

Hayabusa was immediately informed of the fatigue through the simulator.

‘This might just be one of the errors most amateur flyers do in a race – misusing the Throttle Burst. It should only be used outside of a tight corner, and is recommended only to grip-style flyers, or those doing the hillclimb. Misusing the technique will gobble up one’s energy. Therefore, there will be less energy used for other techniques, and the user’s flying will become sloppy.

‘…Then again, this minor fatigue could just be a symptom of Zero’s inexperience. It’s just a matter of time until this no longer becomes a problem.’

It was exactly how Hayabusa predicted it – Zero was switching to an energy-conserving flying style, easing his wings and banking less wildly on the corners.

By the time Zero cleared the section, small drops of sweat began to form on Zero. All of them were hooked to the skin, as if resisting gravity.

The rope of corners led to a crooked straight – Mt. Nakajima’s ultimate challenge of speed. The green, peaceful plains of the Hondo area could be seen below the bright blue sky.

The cramps from the technique-intensive section were still anchored to Zero’s wings.

‘No. Doing any more hard flapping will only exhaust me more. There should be something here that could help.’

Zero’s mind suddenly clicked.

‘The slope here is quite steep. Maybe I could…’

Zero’s eased his wings, beating them much slower than usual. He still felt the same force of acceleration pull him.

But even so, back at the simulator, Hayabusa’s face was like a brick wall, showing absolute blankness.

Zero was, by that time, more or less gliding down the crooked arrow of a section.

‘These corners should allow for brake-less cornering. Agility and grip will prevail in times like this.’

Zero’s mind was then focusing on gripping the curve. The thought of drifting was absent.

Zero was trying hard to ignore the fear of hitting the guard rail. His last mistake, him scratching a guard rail, proved to have left a lasting pain on Zero’s body.

The crooked straights were about to be successfully cleared, when,

‘Wait, that’s…’

The sight of one final hairpin at the last minute caught Zero off-guard.

He slammed his hooves to the road – braking very hard in an attempt to sweeten the approach, in vain.

‘At this rate, I will definitely approach the hairpin too quickly. A free drift won’t work here, what do I do?’

And then he saw it.

The rain gutter.

‘There!’

Zero approached the hairpin from the inside. Not even this punched an emotion into Hayabusa’s face – he knew Zero was about to do ‘that’.

Then, it came.

SWOOP.

NEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee!

He slipped his wings into the rain gutter, acting as railroad tracks. In effect, linking Zero to the inner apex as he burned past the hairpin.

The sight of a village just ahead marked the conclusion of Mt. Nakajima’s downhill. He barged into the village before slamming his hooves to a full stop. The contraption way higher up then became idle.

“Okay, the downhill is finished. What next?”

“Wait for me. I’ll be down there in a bit.”

In an attempt to regain his strength back, Zero walked towards a bench and sat there looking at things as always when he has nothing to do. The lower village had old-fashioned, red, traditional houses that looked like they were built hundreds of years ago. The stalls were made to look like torii gates on maroon carts, and there was a cable car line connecting the upper and lower village together.

Moments passed and Hayabusa came flying down from above landing right next to Zero, still sitting down.

“Zero.”

“Uncle, how did I do?”

“This is more or less a practice session, but for someone who has never taken on the Mt. Nakajima downhill, not to mention inexperienced, you actually did very well.” – Hayabusa then shot a weak glare at Zero. – “However, your reaction time is going to need some work. Also, while you were able to clear the gimmicks that were coming your way, I could see your surprise when faced with one.

“Surprise lengthens your reaction time, and gives chances for fatal errors to occur. The ability to keep cool under pressure, and under sudden incidents, is a trait that isn’t only beneficial on racing.

“With that, I suggest you try and grab a hold of your fears, suppress your vulnerability to surprise, and then apply that to your racing style, so that you absolutely know what to do without wasting those precious microseconds in panicking. That’s a trait a true mountain pass flyer possesses.”

Zero’s mind was filling with invigoration; determined to improve his racing – improve a trait that he never thought was his talent.

Hayabusa suddenly cut in, and all that daydream came leaking out.

“I’m assuming that you’ve met Hien early on, yes?”

Zero widened his eyes in bewilderment, but after realising that Hayabusa watched his every move through the simulator, that bewilderment flashed away and his face became emotionless again.

“Yes.”

“She’s our hillclimb ace.”

Zero’s eyes were wide open once more.

‘Maybe that’s why she was practicing the hillclimb…’

Hayabusa’s relaxed his eyes and gave out a faint smile.

“When taking on a hillclimb, Hien shows the most potential of all the pegasi I’ve seen. She’s also your friend, so it could help boost her - not to mention your - performance even more.”

“Maybe so.”

Ruining the ambience, Hien flew down from above, landed and bowed to the two.

“Zero, Hayabusa, sorry if I’m interrupting.” – Hien turned her head to face Zero. – “It was a nice surprise to see you take on Mt. Nakajima’s downhill.”

Zero remained silent.

Hayabusa answered in Zero’s place.

“You didn’t interrupt us in any way. Nice to meet you, Hien. How is your training?”

“It worked just like you said. Renzan and Hayate kept my times, and after 10 runs I improved!”

“By how much?”

Hien blushed in embarrassment. Her improvement wasn’t too significant.

“…er…100 milliseconds…”

“That’s actually a good start. 100 milliseconds is actually a good improvement. Keep it up.”

“Thank you.”

Zero cut in, in a fit of asking a question.

“Hey, if we are going to be part of a new team, then what will the team be called?”

Hayabusa was struck dumb. He lowered his head in silence while scratching his hair.

This time, Hien cut in.

“How about: Team AA?”

“You’re naming us after batteries?”

“No, no. It’s shown as Team AA, but you call the group: Team Double Ace!”

“Sounds a little cheesy, don’t you think?”

“Well, how about your team? You know, you with Kyuu Roku. You remember what the name of that team is?”

“Project F.”

“Sounds a little off too, don’t you think? That F could be wrongly interpreted as ‘Fail’ or ‘Feeble’.”

Hayabusa was about to reply when he saw Zero leave the bench. Guessing that he may have comments on the team name, he kept his mouth shut.

“Shouldn’t it be called Team Triple Ace? Uncle Hayabusa is with us.”

Hayabusa replied in an instant. So instantly did he reply that words from Hien didn’t make it out.

“Actually I won’t be a very active participant. I would only be giving tips and tricks every now and then, according to which ones work best for which mountain pass against which team.”

“Ah. In that case…,”

“So we can stick to my idea?”

Hayabusa placed his chin on the bottom of a hoof and replied after a moment of silence.

“I don’t see why not. Team AA it is!”

“Woo! Brohoof, Zero!”

Zero lazily raised his hoof; but his smile made it clear that he wanted it.

Then,

TACK!

Hien punched Zero’s raised hoof.

Hayabusa suddenly remembered of something that he should have talked about.

“Do try to practice on either Mt. Nakajima or Mt. Mitsubishi when you have the time.”

Hien raised an eyebrow.

“Why? Our victory against Team Mugen not good enough?”

“You were racing on your own territory, and Nova isn’t the true hillclimb ace of Team Mugen.”

Hien started to act as if she just got spooked. Her mind was all over the range of ways that the true hillclimb ace could be better at over Nova.

“For now, we must assess your problems on performance. Zero, you know how I said that you work on speed and acceleration. Add reaction time and quick-thinking to that list.

“As for Hien, she should work on her timing when approaching a corner, and braking magnitude.”

Both the young flyers said together with enthusiasm,

“Yes, sir!”

“Alright. For now, you should take a rest. After all, your father might need you, Zero.”

“Maybe… I should get back there and check on him.”

“Later, Zero.”

With the closing remarks, Zero flapped his wings and lifted off, shooting himself back to Mt. Mitsubishi.

On the way home, Zero reflected deeply on the practice run. That sudden surging feeling, the excitement he got from the fear he was pitted against, it was all coming down to the ground.

‘Perhaps my true talent really IS touge racing. I never thought that I would follow my father’s footsteps this close before…

‘That feeling, I want to feel it again. That surging feeling, like my spirit has gone wild…

‘Looks like I have no choice but to get it again through practicing. I will be the fastest touge flyer in all of the Hakuba region!’

His soul started to shake in the excitement. The son of a legend was about to extend that legend for far farther than Kyuu Roku could ever imagine.

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

Back at Zero’s home village, Zero saw his father still standing there at the onigiri stall. Kyuu was right – very few ponies were buying the onigiri. Apart from a few onigiri missing from the table, it was as if no one touched them. Not a lot of ponies were walking near the vicinity either – strange because the village is often more crowded at that time of day.

Zero walked towards his father and asked,

“Not many ponies wanting onigiri today, correct?”

“I did say that today will be quiet.”

“You did, but why?”

“I’m not sure myself, but there is word that we have a competitor coming from the lower town. Another onigiri shop.”

Zero lowered his head and looked down. Until that time, Kyuu was the only onigiri producer on Mt. Mitsubishi. Rumours of another onigiri shop made Zero frown in concern.

Zero, turning to his father,

“Should I go down there and check on the shop, father?”

“If you wish.”

Zero then dived down towards the lower town, Koumashima. The town, from above, looked far bigger than Zero’s home village as it stretched into the horizon and covering it white. The concrete jungle was nearly completely made of buildings like shops, houses and what not, and that usual bustling of a busy city could be heard hundreds of metres away. A railroad connected the town to the rest of the region and a cable car line connected the town to the upper village. However, the new onigiri shop was nowhere to be found in the bird’s eye view.

Zero dived lower to get a closer look at the town. The onigiri shop was still nowhere in sight, but the sight of a waiting-line of ponies in front of some sort of tan-coloured shop caught Zero’s attention.

‘Ah, maybe that’s the shop.’

Zero dived down and landed just behind the waiting-line. Indeed, it was the new onigiri shop; and it was gaining customers. A pegasus in brown, with a dark brown mane and a shipment box for a cutie mark, kept calling out the same words:

“Onigiri, straight out fresh, made just today! One for only 10 En!” The Hakuba region, while integrated to Equestria, still uses its own currency – the En.

The waiting line shrank over time and eventually, Zero was the next customer.

The brown pegasus raised his eyebrow up and stared at Zero. It was as if he knew him.

“…eh? You look familiar.”

His words confused Zero as he too raised his eyebrow and stared at the pegasus.

“eh…, what do you mean?”

“You don’t remember me? I’m your pal from Primary school.”

“Wait, I think I do remember. T, To…,”

“Ah, forgetful as always. I’m Toryu, your best pal from Primary school! Remember now?”

Only then did Zero recognise him.

“Oh, of course! Toryu, it’s been a long time since we last met at Grade 4.”

“I know right? I missed you, old buddy.”

“Same here. But I came here to say that your onigiri shop is right now competing with my father’s, so sales have been going down for him, recently.”

“Really? Bummer. Man, I wish I could help, but I gotta get money for my own life, you know.

“Look. I care about you and your dad, especially if he happens to be Kyuu Roku, but this is pretty much my talent other than carrying very heavy things and, well, you don’t get paid much from carrying things from here to there. Sorry, bro.”

Then, outside the conversation, another customer complained,

“What’s taking so long? Buy something already!”

Zero didn’t hesitate to follow the complaint. He switched the topic of the conversation.

“Ah, well, I would like your specialty, please, Toryu.”

“You mean the one wrapped in fried tofu? That would be 10 En, Zero.”

“Ah? Er… ok.”

Zero handed over 10 En to Toryu, who simultaneously handed over his special onigiri to Zero.

“It’s been nice knowing that you’re still around, Zero. See you later!”

“Bye for now.”

Zero, holding the onigiri, flew off the waiting line and towards a bench nearby and landed bottom-first on top of it.

‘Is it really that popular? Only one way to find out.’

Zero ripped apart the paper envelope of the onigiri and took a bite. The taste was unique, a little sweet, taking into account that instead of seaweed, the rice is wrapped in fried tofu. Zero couldn’t help but smile at the sensation.

‘This actually tastes quite good. No wonder father’s shop is running behind.’

As Zero finished off the rest of the onigiri, he felt much more concern for his father. If this kept going his father’s shop would have to close down for good. Still concerned, he jumped off the ground and flapped his wings straight back up to his father’s shop, keeping in mind what his father’s shop was up against.

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

As Zero landed in front of the shop, Zero creaked his mouth open.

“This competitor happens to be my friend Toryu. I told him about the competition we’re in but I don’t think he has ideas of closing down his shop.

“…On another note, I was thinking of practicing on Mt. Mitsubishi’s downhill tomorrow after school. Do I have your permission, father?”

“Sure, given you deliver onigiri through that route whenever it must be done.”

“That I will surely do.”

“Speaking of deliveries, we’ve got deliveries coming up from the lower town. Now would be a good time to practice.”

“Alright. I’ll get my baskets and be set for getting loaded up.”

Zero went inside the shop, picked up his straw-woven baskets from a table and balanced it on his back with a stick. The stick had twigs on the edges that kept the basket from dropping. Then Kyuu Roku dumped the onigiri to be delivered into them. Names were written on all of them, and Zero was given addresses so that he knew where to go.

“Get going now, Zero.”

“Yes, father.”

Zero zoomed off towards the route to practice while delivering the onigiri. The delivering continued well into the evening as Zero returned back home with En replacing the onigiri in the baskets. By the time he returned, it was 6 o’ clock.

“Alright. Looks like today wasn’t as quiet as I thought.”

“That’s nice to hear, father. At least we still get some money from the business.”

“Yes, it’s quite a relief, really. Get in, Zero. Dinner’s ready.”

“Ok.”

Zero’s shift had ended. He had done his job and went in to have dinner and rest.