In the end, Western Woodland decided to go to Myogi. Bango Bongo drove the two of them there - Atlas Spirit stayed at home, busy taking care of her adoptive family.

  “Your car is, uh…”

  “Don’t say anything.” Bongo glared at Woodland as they stopped in the parking lot at the bottom of the mountain. The vehicle was covered in stickers of a brown-haired horse girl. “My mom was a big fan. She never took them off, and now it’s my car.”

  “Right. Your mother, not you, is the fangirl.”

  “My mom likes cars.”

  Woodland rolled her eyes as the two of them walked over to the crowd gathered nearby. A large horse girl with dark blue hair tied in a long braid - Woodland recognized her as the one who held the phone last weekend - faced off with a horse girl who appeared to be her opposite - short, light blue hair and a slim build.

  “Oh, it looks like they’re doing a three on three match.” Bongo said.

  Woodland frowned. “How does that work?”

  “These two are reservists. Instead of the winners racing if the score is split, these two will race. Light blue is Varnish, from Myogi. Dark is Akagi’s Moonlight Mission.”

  “Why didn’t Mission race against Bongo?”

  Spirit sighed. “Because big lug over there has no competitive spirit. She runs for fun only. Sucks because she could be great at it, but it is what it is.”

  “Really?” Woodland asked, looking at her friend. Bongo tilted her head and gave a wide smile.

  “I don’t like losing and I don’t like making anyone else lose.”

  “Except she wouldn’t even go as far as to be a training partner because she only wants to run when she feels like it, and can’t stick to a schedule. Let’s find a good spot to watch this. See how Myogi fares against the Akagi girls.”

  “There was only one place that stood out.”

  “Look at that.” Bongo squeaked, ignoring Spirit and pointing at the small parking lot at the top of the mountain course.

  Minus On Hit and Natsume Striker stood isolated in the center of the lot, the crowd standing back from them. Hit looked annoyed, while Striker nervously shifted from foot to foot, her tail swishing side to side to balance her out.

  “Where’s the home team?” Bongo said loudly.

  “That’s what I want to know! Haruna showed up before the people who are supposed to live here! If you two are hiding, come on out!” Hit shouted, looking at the crowd.

  The assembled humans and horse girls started chattering, until a light lit up on top of the souvenir store. A short, pink-haired horse girl stood on top of the building, arms crossed, the lights revealing a smug grin on her face.

  “The master only reveals herself at the final hour!” She yelled dramatically, jumping down and landing in a crouch before confidently striding over to the Akagi pair. Stopping in front of them, she raised her left hand, and a second horse girl jumped off the roof, landing and running over. Tall and slender, the second girl had bottle-blond hair. “I’m Cloud Miracle, and this is Green Green Gold. We will be your opponents, and add a second defeat to your record! My only regret is that I couldn’t be the one to end your victory streak.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “They’re so cool!” Bongo said.

  “She’s a total nerd.” Spirit concluded. They both looked at Woodland.

  “What?”

  “Is Miracle cool, or a nerd? We need a tiebreaker.”

  “You will all be here to witness my victory!” Miracle was still going, now pointing at the crowd. The arc of her hand stopped abruptly, her finger pointing directly at the three of them. “Haruna! Were you lurking there all along, looking to scope us out?”

  Hit stomped over to the shorter horse girl. “I already said they were here, dumbass. You deaf or something?”

  Cloud Miracle ignored her, striding over to the trio from Haruna. “Forget those Akagi losers. I challenge you, here and now! I want to see your legendary speed for myself!”

  Practically bouncing, Bango Bongo responded before the others could. “We accept!”

  “No!” Atlas Spirit cried out, stepping forward. “We didn’t have last night to practice the course. We only saw it on the way up just now. You don’t challenge unprepared opponents to run a mountain blind. It’s unsportsmanlike and dangerous.”

  “Ha! All I hear is cowardice from you. That’s only to be expected, since you’re just a loser.” She turned to Woodland, extending her arm again, shoving her hand directly in the taller runner’s face. “You’re the one I want to challenge. What do you say?”

  Spirit looked at her, ears flat, eyebrows down. “Westy, do not do this.”

  “Spirit is in charge of our team.” Woodland answered.

  Letting out an overly dramatic sigh, Miracle spread her hands out. “If that is the case, so be it. A lesser horse girl would give up at this point, but you stand before the great Cloud Miracle, Terror of Myogi Pass. I will simply have to play dirty to convince you. Gold, fetch my bag.”

  The other girl nodded before running off to the cars in the parking lot, leaving the other four to continue their stare down.

  “Whatever you are planning, it won’t work.”

  Bongo leaned on her long-time friend, pouting. “Come on Spirit, don’t kill the moment.”

  Gold quickly returned with a leather handbag, holding it out to Miracle. Not bothering to take it, she simply unzipped the top and thrust both hands in, a moment later pulling out a stack of bills. “I’ll give you twenty thousand just to race. Win and I’ll double it. I will have my race.”

  Atlas Spirit growled, and Woodland leaned away from her. “You think you can buy me? You think I’m that easy? Why do you think I race?”

  Bongo grabbed her hand. “You race because you were born to run, Spirit. Calm down.” Then she turned to look at Miracle. “You put that away. It’s insulting. We don’t run for money.”

  “I know she’s broke. It’s not a secret. I’m trying to help her out. She’s going to run eventually, I just want her to do it now.”

  Letting go of Spirit, Bongo stepped forward, towering over the pink-haired horse girl. “So you flaunt your money in front of my friend? Taunting and insulting her?”

  Cloud Miracle didn’t flinch, didn’t budge, staring up at Bongo with the same smug expression on her face. “I want my race.”

  “You-“

  “I’ll do it.”

  Woodland blinked. Miracle and Bongo both turned to look at Spirit, the three of them silent, waiting. “I’ll do it,” She repeated, “Under one condition. It has to be a three on three race.”

  “Don’t race this idiot. We don’t even have a third anyway.” Bongo said, exasperated.

  “We do.” Woodland smiled.

  “What do you mean?” Bongo asked, looking back and forth between her two friends.

  “It’s you, you airhead.” Spirit grinned. “We’re born to run. All of us. That includes you. I’ll run if you’ll run. You wanted a moment, right? Forget the money. I-“

  “That’s enough.” A new voice cut in. Minus On Hit stepped into the group. “I’ve listened to enough of your drama. Akagi against Myogi, that was the agreement. I didn’t think she’d be stupid enough to accept. You run against me, not Westy.”

  Laughing, Miracle turned to her. “I agreed to that before you lost. I don’t care about you now. Just her. I’ll give you another chance some other time. It’s my mountain. What are you going to do about it?”

  Grinding her teeth, Hit motioned to Natsume Striker. “We’re done here. This clown isn’t worth our time anyway.” The two started walking away, pushing through the silently watching crowd.

  “Stay and watch!” Bongo suddenly yelled. “You want to see Westy run again, don’t you? She and Spirit will win, and I won’t even need to run. We’ll have the match.”

  The crowd broke out into low murmurs, splitting to reveal Hit and Striker, the former’s lips drawn back in a tight line, the other standing completely still, her ears straight up.

  “That’s what I like to hear! This will be a night to remember, a battle for the ages!” Miracle held her hand up, grasping at the air above her. “Cloud Miracle will triumph over the mysterious horse girl of Haruna.”