Chapter Text
Aston Machan tried to breath.
The lights flashed around her like fireflies.
Her body begged for air, yet every time she tries to inhale, it felt like countless needles stabbing through her lungs.
Her chest tightens, a pain unbearable, worse than any kind of injury she’d ever experience in her whole career.
Her vision slowly darkens, and her mind starts drifting away.
With the final bit of consciousness, she force opens her eyes.
Beside her is her friend, Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet, looking at her in horror.
It sounds like Scarlet is yelling to call someone for help, while Vodka is trying to call an ambulance.
But it’s too late, Machan knew it.
With her final breath, she tries to tell something to her friends. But the words choked right before her vocal chords. Death is coming.
Darkness slowly filled her mind, as Machan slowly lose consciousness, she heard Vodka yelling. “Scarlet, she needs CPR, QUICK, WE DON’T HAVE MUCH TIME” as the ambulance siren drives close.
Scarlet rushed towards her side, quickly, they start removing her tracksuit.
“But it’s too late… I’m going….” Machan thought, as the last light of conscious left her mind.
Before darkness invades her mind, she looks at her friends, who’s trying desperately to hold her back to life, tears falling from their face, the EMTs is coming, but all of it will be in vain.
“Please…live the rest of your life for me… don’t forget me…” Machan thought, before finally, the only thing she can see is darkness.
On XX/YY/2008, 4-graded winner, including the G1 2007 Sprinter Stakes – Aston Machan, suddenly passed away during training with her friends. Her cause of death is a heart attack, from complications by a disease she caught before the Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Her friends, family and trainer refused to engage more with the press, saying they want to dedicate their time to mourn her death. The URA confirmed there is no abuse or neglecting in her passing, and it’s all an unfortunate, sudden death. Her death leaves fans devastated, as a talented racer with potential passed away too soon and sudden.
“She is a runner who always strives to be the best, her dream is to be known and be remember with everyone, her death feels like someone has stabbed a sword through my heart, if only we cared more about her health after the Sprinter Stakes, she wouldn’t go that early” – her trainer speaks about Aston Machan sudden passing.
“To start being friends with Machan is hard, as she’s very quiet, yet, when you are close to her, you will always feel relaxed and safe. Machan always helps me in relationship advice, and to set things even with my rival Daiwa Scarlet when things gets too heated. I will miss her so much, I will never forget her” – Vodka, a close friend with Aston Machan, regarding her relationship with Machan and her feelings after the passing of her.
Aston Machan was born in 5/4/1991, at 15, she became a rising star, after winning 3 races in a row, including the Grade 3 Kokura Nisai Stakes and Fantasy Stakes, before coming in 2nd at the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, in 2007, she won the Grade 2 Fillies Revue, participated in the Oka Sho, before winning the G1 Sprinter Stakes as a 2nd year student, something only one racer (Nishino Flower) has achieved before.
Aston Machan’s funeral will be held in ZZ/YY/2008 privately with her friends, family and trainer to mourn the passing of a talented racer.
“Hello?”
“Is anybody there?”
“Hello?”
Machan wondered around a field of infinite darkness.
“So this is what death feels like”
The place is weird, it’s dark… it’s cold… yet it feels… calm, soothing.
Maybe it’s for the fact she’s all alone, a scary feeling sure, but also, a bit relaxing…
So how did it all happened? Machan asked herself
She remembers its just a typical joint training session, with her best friends Scarlet and Vodka.
Since she’s ill, she can’t join their training and can only sit at a nearby bench to watch
Looking at Scarlet and Vodka battling for every inch on the track, Machan felt jealous, her sickness prevents her from enjoying running with her best friends.
After a while, Vodka and Scarlet finished their training, and the two went to Machan’s bench to relax.
Then, they start arguing, as always
“I feel wonderful today, I mean I won the race, after all”
“Hey, don’t be cocky Miss Perfect, it’s a photo finish, and I only lose to you by a nose”
“A win is a win for me”
“In fact, is it even a win? I doubt that we look at the finishing footage correctly, Machan, can I borrow your camera?”
“Revising the footage will only show you being blown away, cool girl”
“Are you afraid of your “Perfect run” ended up being a devastating loss to the Coolest Umamusume in the World?”
…
Quietly, Machan gave them the camera, and while Scarlet and Vodka starts arguing on who actually won the race, her breathing slowly fastened.
She remembered being scratched from the Takamatsunomiya Kinen because of her health declining.
During a recent appointment with the doctors, she was diagnosed with a rare disease, causing her to comepletely stop training to focus on treatment. Today is a rare day she’s allowed to go outside and meet up with her friends, and most of the time, she just stands beside the line, holding a camera, recording Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka’s racing footage.
“See, I told ya, I clearly won”
“Shut up you peanut head, I won, maybe you covering your eye with a hair patch makes you blind”
“Who are you calling blind”
“Must have been the wind then”
“I’m going to beat you”
“Try to beat me in a G1 first”
…
Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet voices starts to raise, it seems like they will go on a full blown argument, not just some tomfoolery.
However, as their noise raised, none of them recognizes Machan is suffocating.
Her heart beats faster, the pain in her chest gets sharper, her breathing quickens, every breath, Machan felt like there is less air rushing into her chest, and seconds after seconds, while Scarlet and Vodka is still arguing on who’s winning the race, her lungs tightens, a sharp pain kicks in her chest.
“You are always acting like you are the coolest in this school, “cool”, so cool in your opinion is wearing that oily jacket that seems like it comes from WW2?”
“And you, always act Perfect, being a teacher’s pet and snitching everyone in class, perfect, eh?”
“You broke the rules for sleeping in class, th-“
“And you always wear that perfume, thinking that it-“
“WAIT, LOOK AT MACHAN, SOMETHING IS WRONG”
“NO!”
*THUMP*, she drops on the ground, losing consciousness…
And now she’s here.
“Damn, I died quite fast”. Machan thought. She isn’t mad or sad…. Well she is sad, of course, sad because there is still a lot to do in her life.
“Aww, I’m just 16, I’m too young to leave this world!” Machan thought, “If only there is a way for me to return to the world now, I have a lot of things to prove…. And I miss my friends, Vodka and Scarlet is nice, they always invite me to their training and study sessions… if only they argue less…” she sighed.
“So, guess I have to spend the rest of eternity in this black box”. Machan thought, before sitting down.
Machan sat down, the ground is soft, felt like a cushion.
“It feels comfortable here…”
“But I don’t want to be contained in a void for the rest of my time”
“I want to go back to my family…”
“What will Scarlet and Vodka do when I am gone, will they start fighting again? Oh god… I wish they could argue less… and pay more attention to me…”
“And my trainer too, what will he do after I’m gone? He always cared about me and never pushed me too hard … Poor him… he thought it’s his fault I died…”
“And my fans… they are always supporting me, they will be devastated…”
Those thoughts starts crowding Machan’s mind like thousands of mosquitos, it constantly stirred up her mind.
“ARGH! I can’t rest with all those thoughts running inside my head like this, I can’t die this early, I’m just 16, I got so much things to prove. I can win the Sprinter Stakes, the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, even the Hong Kong Sprint, maybe even the Everest if I try hard enough! I don’t want to end this early!”.
Machan yelled into the void, but the only thing replies to her is the constant echo of her voice.
“Dear the three goddesses, if you can listen to me, please, bring me back, I still have so much to do, I can’t end like this…” Machan thought, her hands held tight, praying for a miracle to happen…
But nothing ever happens.
“Ugh…. So I guess this is the end”. Frustrated, Machan lied down the ground, defeated, knowing this is truly the end…
(Or is it? Hey VSAUCE, Michael here)
Then, Machan saw a speck white light from afar, the light glimmers, at one moment, it flash like a strong flashlight, then at another moment, it feels like the light from a glimmering star.
Machan stand up, and starts walking towards the light.
“Dear the three goddeses, if that’s the light of sending me to heaven, hell, or returning, please, let me reach there, I don’t want to end like this – trapped in a vacuum, dark filled with nothing but echoes of my sound. Please, lead me there, and whatever awaits me at the end of this path, please make it painless and calm.” She prayed, while walking towards the light.
However, the more Machan walk, the more she felt like the light is further.
“Is the light there to fool me? Or…”
She looked at her leg, it’s fully functional, in fact, she had never felt better in her legs before…
“Alright, here we go again…” Machan thought, before setting her stance into the preparing positing, her minds drifting towards the Sprinter Stakes…
“Three, two, one… GO!”
Machan burst out of her imaginary gate like a shooting star, her legs pumped with energy she never felt before. And immediately, she felt the light slowly moving towards her
“C’mon…” Machan continues to accelerate, her body soars through the void like a lightning bolt, she felt like the time she runs in the Sprinter Stakes, where she blows away everybody with her sheer speed.
The light rapidly gets closer, the finish line is near, and as Machan touched the light, it turns into a rainbow color, and then, without her command, her body continues to run.
“Dear the three goddesses, lead me to your liking, just please, give me something peaceful to end…” Machan prayed, as the rainbow light slowly engulfs her body, she slowly gets slower and slower, before finally, she stopped, being completely exhausted.
The rainbow light wraps her body in a sphere, and inside, Machan felt warm, familiarity and calm, something told her she should take a nap…
“Please, dear the three goddesses…after I wake up…. Please…give me something….suitable for me…” She prayed as finally, she fell into a slumber.
When she finally regains consciousness, she realized she can’t open her eyes, but she can breathe. Air flushes into her lungs, unlike the feeling of suffocation before her death, Machan felt like the air is flooding into her, expanding her lungs, every breath feels fresh, cool, refreshing , yet, the pain is unbearable, it’s like someone uses her lungs like a balloon and stretch it to the highest point a balloon can get, like its going to explode, she can’t see at all , her eyes are shut, no matter how hard she tries to open it, it remained still, she tried to scream for help, but all she could make is a crying sound.
“It’s an Umamusume!” is the first sound she heard.
“You made it, my dear, you made it.” Which follows with a sob, a voice too familiar she cannot be mistaken with: Vodka.
“Dummy, don’t cry, you’re suppose to be smiling now”, a weaker voice follows, a voice also too familiar for Machan to mistake: Daiwa Scarlet.
The sob didn’t stop, it became louder.
“So they actually did something when I’m gone… well now I’m back… I guess? Wait, how does two Umamusume have kids?” Machan thought to herself, but then, she then felt someone putting her on top of bare skin, a warm feeling rushes through her body, a feeling so new, yet so familiar, then, her mind slowly blanks, she’s falling asleep.
“Welcome to this world, my daughter”, Daiwa Scarlet said, the voice is as light as a feather
The voice melts Machan’s heart and mind, making her forget to question anything.
Besides her, she can still hear Vodka’s sobbing, it’s apparently loud enough for the doctor to ask her
to leave the room.
“I hope you will grow up to be a beautiful girl…” Daiwa Scarlet said again, the voice still soft and soothing, felt like someone is feeding her ice cream, and the sensation comes down from her mouth all the way to her guts.
That’s the final sound she heard before finally, she drop into a slumber
“This isn’t bad… but I have a lot of questions, maybe I will find the answer when I….wa…ke…u…p.” Machan thought before her mind wend blank, and she fell into deep sleep.