//------------------------------// // It's just a minor obsession // Story: ECRL: The Wonderhawks // by WildFire15 //------------------------------// Concorde flopped onto his comfortable bed as soon as he returned to his bedroom in Ponyville, taking a moment to drop his suitcase at the foot of his bed. Returning to what was your own bed was a simple pleasure after being away and after living in Ponyville for a few months the silence of the night they’d returned in was somewhat more welcoming. It didn’t distract him from his concern, though; How in Equestria could he make himself faster? His ultimate top speed hadn’t been much of an issue in club racing or when performing with the Red Hawks, but now it was a critical flaw in his racing. He was quick enough in corners to get away from most of his rivals, but being unable to hold them off down a straight rendered his advantage moot. He contemplated some options as he gazed up at the dark ceiling, hearing the others shifting around in their own rooms as they unpacked or continued whatever training they did. He’d observed how Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash flapped their wings to try and figure out how they were so much faster than him in a straight line, but mimicking them hadn’t made much difference. Perhaps it was down to raw strength? Both his teammates were physically stronger than he was, but he didn’t think the added muscle bulk would help in the long run, not when he was already a good, aerodynamic shape. He looked at his clock as he thought, remembering that the race re-run would be on TV shortly. Maybe he could get some more ideas from watching those he was losing out to so he rolled off the bed, threw his suitcase open and rummaged around for his note book before heading downstairs, taking a moment to grab his mug along the way. It was probably more appropriate to call the habit he’d gotten into, of re-watching the full race the once he’d gotten home, a ritual as he turned the living room lights back on. Everyone else was getting ready for bed now they’d returned but Concorde didn’t feel particularly sleepy with his desire for improvement. Once he’d prepared a cup of tea and settled down in a beanbag he grabbed the remote and turned the TV on in time for the warm up lap. The race was being recorded as well so he could rewind it to his heart’s content but he always enjoyed watching races either live or as live. The coverage mostly followed the lead group Concorde was shadowing, the occasional flash of scarlet appearing at the back of many shots as he followed and tried to figure out how to get through. He spent at least an hour without realising he could reverse footage so he could get a better look at the wing techniques of those ahead of him to try and figure out how they were so much faster, but besides slight differences he couldn’t really make much out. He sighed loudly in thought as the coverage played, the commentators occasionally complimented him but he felt there wasn’t much to compliment considering he was mainly just shadowing. As he clambered out of the beanbag to get another cup of tea Zip Line and Rossi had their run in at turn twelve and he paused to watch. The commentators were going mad as moves each flyer in the group had clearly been planning were thrown out of the window and improvisation took over. Even the camera ponies didn’t seem to realise Concorde had sneaked past Power Drive and Blitzen in the first few corners of the lap, but embarrassment wasn’t far away as he watched the action reach turn eight, he bobbled and drifted wide, the commentators stated as such in wild excitement. As the now close knit pack reached turn twelve Concorde grit his teeth, his brow lowering in anger as he watched Hest dive towards the inside of Blitzen and then himself. He could tell Hest wasn’t even attempted to slow down from the angle of his wings and the speed he took into the corner before hitting Concorde in the side, launching him off the track in the process. The commentators voiced their disappointment at the move as Concorde scrabbled back into the air and onto the track, now further down the order. He was even more annoyed that Hest wasn’t going to be penalised in anyway as he claimed Blitzen had slowed early and he had to take avoiding action. Sadly the claim held weight as Blitzen had backed out of his attempt to overtake Concorde and as such was slowing earlier, but it was still clear Hest made no effort to slow down outside of ramming another racers and that sort of dishonest tactic made his blood boil. Concorde closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths to calm his anger before watching the rest of the race. Mercedes and Power Drive were long gone while Dawn Wisp and Hest fought over the last podium position, the Danish pony slipping past into turn one on the penultimate lap to snatch the position. While still angry at losing a possible podium position in only his third race, he now felt slightly more vindicated after having time to calm down on his sixth place finish. If he could do something about his main weakness he could potentially challenge and avoid situations such as that, but he had to figure out how to deal with it first. *** The next morning brought the usual routine as Fleetfoot assembled Flitter and Cloudchaser, rebuilt the test track yet again and sent Concorde out to figure out the racing line. The next race at Dodge Junction, an entirely new track to everyone, was going to be a rollercoaster with twin interlocking loops and a lot of climbing and descending, to which Fleetfoot, Flitter and Cloudchaser built a track that looked like a heavily slopped oval with a loop on one straight. Judging from the crazy pictures of the so called Dodge Challenge track their test track was nothing like it, which all three racers and their spotters pointed out, but it would at least be useful to work out speed and endurance while descending and ascending. After the first hour Concorde landed on the observation platform and grabbed a note pad after he’d removed his helmet and towelled down his mane. He then sat down and intently watched Dash and Dust to see exactly what they were doing. Dust hadn’t failed to notice him pull off the track as she hurtled down the decline into the loop, which seemed to go on for longer than it seemed it would when she looked at the track initially. It was hugely annoying as she had to time her wing beats just right to climb to the top of the loop and then let gravity take control on her way back down and out of it, where she started beating her wings again to speed towards the next corner. She was actually looking forwards to the next race as the track looked to be far more interesting than the flat strips of cloud and tarmac they’d raced on so far. Why racing ponies restricted themselves to mostly flat plane tracks eluded Dust when it was far more fun to loop and roll, but it didn’t really matter to her. What did matter was winning and, as much as she hated to admit it, she had to take a few ideas off the lead ponies ahead of Concorde. Seeing him sat on the observation platform made her suspicious, as if he was hiding some tricks form her. Maybe he was going to actually start doing what Fleetfoot hired him for, which was to improve her’s and Dash’s flying. In which case he could get stuffed. She didn’t need advice from someone like him. She’d watched his performance flying with the Red Hawks and he was terrible, only seemingly there to pull off one stunt in the form of the Sonic Blossom which wasn’t even that impressive. It seemed like the sort of maneuverer that was thrown together at the last minute, rather than worked on for any length of time. Dash wasn’t much better as she just relied on the flashy colours she was fortunate enough to be born with. She could take all of Concorde’s bogus advise she wanted, which was likely to prevent her from challenging him, but Dust was going to take her ‘advise’ from someone was actual credentials instead. After another hour’s racing around the short track, Fleetfoot held out the chequered flag to summon Dash and Dust back to the platform. Concorde had written a couple pages of notes already, which Dash looked at as she passed. “You’re trying to learn off us?” She asked, slightly surprised as she took her helmet off. “Aye. You two are much faster than me in a straight line and that’s my main weakness at the moment.” “You need to build up some muscles, Concorde.” Spanner commented as he offered Dust now helmetless Dust a towel which she ignored. “You’re not going to get much faster through technique alone.” Ratchett added, his towel offered to Dash being accepted. “I’m perfectly streamlined and I’d rather not lose that.” Concorde retorted. “You know you can build muscle without losing that, you dolt.” Maffett added. Dash watched the exchange with curiosity as she towel dried her mane. It seemed strange to her that after learning a lot of him that he was now trying to learn off her. She’d come on in leaps and bounds after the embarrassment that was Cloudsdale after following his advice and a few examples, but now he seemed to be getting wrapped up in his own weakness. She wasn’t entirely sure if it was amusing or not to watch him argue with the three spotters while Dust ignored the whole thing as an annoyance, but she at least knew when she finally catches him that she could exploit that weakness.