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On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

Really shows how freakish Shiro's stamina is that she can talk at all when most Uma's would be laser focused on just breathing at that point. As for special moves, that is obviously one of them, but I imagine another is gonna be her tapping into the soldier and doing one of her trademark evil grins. Imagine an uma in the lead looking behind her and seeing the Tanya grin right behind her.
 
I mean that has always been the case with Tanya previously, even the people on her own side of the war were genuinely convinced she was a jingoistic battle hungry psychopath.

I dont know why this was recommended to me but I wonder if shiro and goldship working together will result in them selling needlessly complicated food? But instead of a gun its edible mini figures of horse girls.
Combine the two and you get in-universe(and nega-verse where Shirogane is an uma in the game) memes and art of Shirogane serving food being like insert evil person here manning a takoyaki stall.
 
I love the dark grimm thought from the usual wholesome and heartwarming story that is Umamusume
It's a nice touch LOL
"I win! Now everyone will acknowledge me!"
"You've massacred everyone hope and dream and leave them with no choice but to dissipate like dust"
 
I love the dark grimm thought from the usual wholesome and heartwarming story that is Umamusume
It's a nice touch LOL
"I win! Now everyone will acknowledge me!"
"You've massacred everyone hope and dream and leave them with no choice but to dissipate like dust"
I mean, that's kinda every sport in general.
 
I see your point, but I think we should let the author cook first, it's not like they need to stick to umamusume canon with only the NASCAR ahh races, afaik some irl horse races are more complicated than that with hurdles and whatnot. You mentioning cross country, hell yeah I think she'll excel in uma triathlon, Iron Uma or Norse Uma shenanigans
We also haven't dived into the mystical side of things yet. If Zone represents a way to turn willpower into speed, then how fast is an Uma that already spent an entire lifetime in a clash of wills with the gods going to get when she taps in?
 
I don't know shit about Umamusume, other than that it's a Gacha game featuring Horsegirls. I know about Youjo Senki, though. You, author, have done a very good job of attracting my attention in your chapters. I really like reading about Tanya having a good, retirement life she always dreamed of, all the while accidentally terrifying a few (read: a lot) people.

I am still not that interested in Uma musume, but, I will watch this fic with interest. Any good Youjo Senki fic is welcomed, and this one is, indeed, good. Keep Cooking, my dude.

And Remember to Stay Hydrated.
 
I found it funny the race commentator kept mangling Shiros choice of race name the entire time due to not knowing how to pronounce it.
It isn't just the commenters. Most of her Japanese call her Shirogane so they don't have to try saying Orzel. Shiro is fine with it since Orzel isn't her real name anyways.

Pale uma? Talking head? Jane umamusume?
Probably some bad luck omen. Bird of Calamity, maybe?

Ah she's going to get second a few more times, and as a white haired Uma the name White Silver is going to stick, no matter how much she hates it. *nods smugly*
Shirogane the Silver Collector would be a pretty funny nickname, but unlike Nice Nature she would be completely unbothered by this.

She's going to rob someone of a triple crown at the Kikuka Sho isn't she.
I can imagine her really stealing the Kikuka Sho from someone from literally keeping pace with the people in front and forcing them to drain their stamina early. Same with the other long races.
Shirogane is probably not going to win the Kikuka Sho, but it is one of the races she has a better chance at. Though that doesn't mean she can't block a favorite from winning the race.

Not knocking your writing or anything the overall story and interactions are great, but you've written her to be a slower uma with absurd stamina in a setting where speed matters the most for the majority of races, so I can't really see her actually winning anything that matters without it not making sense
Technically speaking, if Shirogane ran full speed for the whole race, she would be fairly competitive, judging by the list of winning times for the Arima Kinen and Autumn Tenno Sho. Once she figures out a running style more suited to her talents, and with the right weather conditions, she could mathematically pull it off if her opponents are a few seconds slower, or if her top speed increases by a few kph.

Sky was just surprised that Shirogane was able to hold a conversation while sprinting. Just imagine, there you are, trying as hard as you can... Then the person neck and neck with you throws you a random compliment without breaking stride or sounding out of breath. That'd throw most people off their game...
It's also a bit weird to compliment your opponent in this kind of competition. It's not like football or martial arts, where there is some down time during matches. Doubly so when you're the one getting passed up.

I dont know why it took until this chapter for me to realize that shiro can very much become the "villain/heel" of her career. Not in the sense she would steal victory from those who deserve it, like it was with rice shower, but just in how she acts and behaves from an outside perspective. That's gonna be fun.
Shirogane "I'm just here for the money" Orzel could be a pretty effective rage bait for some runners.

What with a lack of murders, war, and cursing Being X for her misfortune. This is probably the most peaceful life I've ever read involving Tanya.
It is worth noting that Tanya/Salaryman does not really take much active enjoyment in doing the kill maim burn things. They're nominal goal was to provide enough value to society so they can have a comfortable retirement, which in 21st century Japan meant salaryman, and in pre-war Empire, Tanya would probably not have joined the military if she hadn't been given the impression that mages were all conscripted into the military. They are a character who will do some very uncomfortable or questionable things to get what they want without any real remorse, but they don't really actively seek out those things for their own sake.

So thus, in this life, Shirogane is basically doing what she needs to maintain her cushy retirement life.

Is it bad that I can see this making sed Uma faster as a failed effect
To some degree, that's actually the intended effect, as that will wear them out faster. Shirogane loses to most of her competitors in a burst at the end, speed wise, so getting them to use up that energy earlier is advantageous for her.

I love the dark grimm thought from the usual wholesome and heartwarming story that is Umamusume
It's a nice touch LOL
"I win! Now everyone will acknowledge me!"
"You've massacred everyone hope and dream and leave them with no choice but to dissipate like dust"
It's mostly a matter of perspective, since Shiro is looking at things more from a clinical perspective as opposed to someone whose dream it is to make it big on the track.
 
Or just the plain dangerous ones, like Ojou-sama's grandpa, Halo.


"I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die."

"Grandmother, please, just because the statute of limitations ran out doesn't mean you should needlessly incriminate yourself."

"Oh don't you fret so girl, there are no secrets between family, and if he's to be one of us, he needs to show he can handle it."

"Hahah, there's no need to worry for my account, I know how to take a joke in good humor."

"...yes, knowing how to handle Grandmother's sense of humor is very important."
 
Shiro is fine with it since Orzel isn't her real name anyways.
I'm wondering, do racing umas tend to empathize with their race names? I get the feeling they do, especially since they tend to match the names from their past lives. If so, Shiro's disconnect from her racing name might be another source of dissonance between her and other umas. Like momentary confusion when people call her Orzel outside races, or increasing annoyance if peers continually call her that instead of her birth name.
 
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I'm wondering, do racing umas tend to empathize with their race names? I get the feeling they do, especially since they tend to match the names from their past lives. If so, Shiro's disconnect from her racing name might be another source of dissonance between her and other umas. Like momentary confusion when people call her Orzel outside races, or increasing annoyance if peers continually call her that instead of her birth name.
IIRC, for the Uma with Uma parents those are their real legal names. Shirogane is the outlier since she has two human parents and got given a normal human name. She was advised to pick a racing name to fit in with what is normal for the other Uma.
 
Maybe get the announcer to quote revelations 6:8 when announcing her. "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and [her] name ... was Death, and Hell followed with [her]."
Someone is going to dress as the grim reaper in order to cheer her on from the stands.
We also haven't dived into the mystical side of things yet. If Zone represents a way to turn willpower into speed, then how fast is an Uma that already spent an entire lifetime in a clash of wills with the gods going to get when she taps in?
She gains access to a certain stand.

View: https://youtu.be/NRBqnKjJ8AE?si=p7pS_YmIKD1tsx0r
Shirogane the Silver Collector would be a pretty funny nickname, but unlike Nice Nature she would be completely unbothered by this.
How else is she supposed to get enough silver in order to make enough silver bullets in order to fight off all the communist werewolves?
 
I wonder if she hung a CPU around her neck, if she could use it to cast actual spells? Even if it worked, I doubt she would use it in a race, as that's just sportsman like, but it would be funny if it did.

Just imagine if she could use a 16 core CPU to run 16 spells at the same time.
Thats for her Halloween outfit. Everyone is trying to figure out what LN she got this idea from.
 
12. High Noon Nightmare New
High Noon Nightmare


As suspected, the cafeteria had been crowded, packed with the addition of trainers, media, and other external entities not normally present, so Shirogane went in search of a quieter place.

To her mild surprise, it did not take long, and she found some solace in the area around a hollow stump that had been left there for some reason. It seemed like a potential hazard if someone fell into and got stuck, but Shirogane wasn't in charge of the grounds, so she shrugged it off for now.

She had previously passed by the stump occasionally, but it was out of the way so she hadn't put much thought into it. On closer inspection it seemed a fine enough place to sit, though it would have been more convenient if the stump wasn't hollow so she could use it as a table, but it made for a functional backrest.

Shirogane glanced at her watch. There was about two hours until her next tryout was set to begin, so she could eat and read over the textbooks for next week's lessons (as the teachers had opted not to assign homework over tryouts).

But first, she ate her lunch, choosing to eat at a more sedate pace this time to avoid risking an upset stomach on her run.

Now that she had tried it, perhaps she should eat here more often. It was much quieter than the cafeteria, though the lack of seating or cover against inclement weather were several knocks against it.

The day was unusually hot for this time of year, as far as she was told, but that did come with the benefit of providing a good amount of natural light to read, and with the drinks and hydration gels she had packed, there was no real risk of dehydration.

She did have to get up and pace around the stump occasionally, lest her legs start going to sleep.

Eventually she ended up sitting on the lip of the hollow stump, stretching her legs as she went over more of her sports history textbook. It was remarkable just how much politicking and bureaucracy could arise for such a conceptually simple competition. Part of her had expected there to be less of it in this world since the runners were sapient, as opposed to being expensive animals used for prestige as well as labor, but as it turns out, having the runners be sapient added another level of personnel that needed to be managed, and from what she had read, there had been points in history where umamusume were property.

One of the so called Founders of racing was a Turkish uma who had been taken prisoner during wartime and apparently became infatuated with her captor, or something of the sort, to the point where she even abandoned her previous name.

It was a good survival strategy, but Shirogane found a part of herself sneering at that idea. On the other hand, a Turk who so readily abandoned being a Turk couldn't have been all bad.

Some shuffling footsteps snapped her ears to attention, which she mentally ignored for a moment, before realizing they weren't just passing through. Even with how quiet this area was, there had been a few people coming and going, including a set that seemed to have gotten lost and turned and gone the way they came shortly after.

She looked up to see a small dark haired uma dressed in a way where they could rather convincingly pass as a homeless bum.

"Is there something you want with me, Stay Gold-senpai?"

Stay Gold twitched a bit, apparently surprised that she had been noticed, before shrugging her shoulders and meandering over to where Shirogane was seated on the stump.

"I heard someone was hanging around the Stump on tryout day, so I felt like checking it out."

"Is…there some school rule against being near this stump?" It would be a strange rule, but Shirogane had learned at this point not to count anything as too farfetched for Tracen. "I did not see anything of the sort in the student handbook, nor was it referenced by any instructors or student council members."

"No…" the perpetually sleepy looking uma answered after a momentary pause. "Just most people don't like being around the screaming stump."

Shirogane looked down at the stump, cocking an ear attentively. "It has been silent since I was here. This whole area was pretty quiet." It was why she had picked it out to begin with.

"Ha!" Stay Gold let out a bark of laughter. "No, not a stump that screams, but a stump that people scream into."

Looking down in the stump's hollow, Shirogane let out a skeptical grunt, observing how the sound bounced around the interior of the trunk. "I fail to see the appeal. If you scream into it all you'll get is your voice echoed back at you."

Stay Gold stared at her, a quizzical look on her face. "You don't see the dark cloud around the stump?" She tilted her head to the side. "And it doesn't seem to affect you."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Generations of students have screamed their frustrations out into this stump," the smaller uma explained, her ears wiggling in exaggerated motions as her voice took on what was probably supposed to be a spooky tone, before changing back to her normal relaxed manner of speaking, "Or something like that. When one of them reaches the ends of their rope, they come to the stump."

Shirogane re-examined the stump, not seeing any easy method. "Surely there are less painful ways to kill yourself on this campus?" The main building was tall enough that jumping off the roof would probably do it. You would have to…bash your own head in on this stump? That was actually difficult to do on purpose.

"Guh…." That was evidently not the reaction Stay Gold was expecting. "That…really wasn't what I was talking about." Her gray eyes looked Shirogane up and down with an oddly intense curiosity despite the small uma's lackadaisical attitude. "Why would you jump straight to that?"

"You said 'end of their rope', I take it you meant something else?"

"Guess I was being a little dramatic, huh?" Stay Gold chuffed. "Really it's just a place umas come to vent their frustrations when they lose."

"Then how come it is so quiet here today? There are many dreams of glory shattering on the track, probably some right now as we speak."

"Tryouts aren't over yet," Stay Gold shrugged. "And most losers probably don't want other people to see them lose it again. Though yeah…I had kinda expected there to be more people coming here."

"This whole thing seems kind of worthless." Screaming just directed energy away from maintaining irrational emotions and into largely pointless physical exertion. A similar thing could be done on something more productive.

"Heh, I can't say much either way," the short uma admitted, scratching her cheek idly. "I have enough fun running that I don't really care too much about being a silver collector."

That was a fairly reasonable position. "Second place gives you a decent portion of the prize money. Not the biggest part, of course, but enough to make it worthwhile."

"Yeah, that too." So that wasn't as important to Stay Gold, did she come from a prestigious family? She didn't carry herself like the Mejiros or like Symboli Rudolf, but that didn't necessarily mean much with how erratic umamusume behavior could be. Not to mention that there was a certain level of wealth where standards conformed to you rather than the other way around.

"You don't care about the prize money?"

"It's nice, but it's not the big thing for me," Stay Gold shrugged, her ears flicking once in thought before her gaze focused back onto Shirogane. "That the big thing for you?"

How curious. None of the others here had ever asked this. In fact, it seemed as if none of them had ever considered this.

"You could say that."

"Huh, that explains a lot," the shorter uma hummed, holding her chin in thought. "I was wondering why you worked so hard when you don't seem to care too much about winning."

"Is that why you spent so much time staring at me in class?"

"Caught in the act, eh?" Stay Gold rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Can't blame me for being curious about a talented kohai, right? And you keep disappearing after class too. Couldn't even find you in the dorms."

"Did you really think you were being subtle?"

"Eh, guess not…" she looked embarrassed, but whether that was because of her actions or getting caught…Shirogane was leaning more towards the latter.

"Was this also part of your investigation into my whereabouts?" Shirogane asked pointedly after the other uma was silent for a moment.

"Nah…like I said, I thought someone was freaking out at the stump, but you seem fine." Stay Gold shrugged again. "Though others are gonna need it soon, I think."

This stump being a dedicated venting location did not inspire confidence in her classmates' ability to emotionally regulate.

"Are they going to line up and wait their turn to scream?" With the number of failures that would occur today, it would likely be high in demand.

"I think that's happened before."

Shirogane found herself shaking her head at the ridiculousness. "It would be better channeling that energy into something productive." She checked her watch. It was about time to prepare for her next run. "Venting does nothing to change your circumstances, and ritualizing it just promotes further failure."

"Maah, no sympathy for the poor stressed umas?"

"What good is my sympathy?" Shirogane snorted as she walked away. "It would not help them."

"So she really isn't affected by the stump at all, huh?" Stay Gold murmured, ears flicking in curiosity. "What an interesting junior."


"So that's the one you found on the road?"

Narita Brian's tone was dismissive, but Hana knew her well enough to know she was at least somewhat interested.

"That's one way to put it," Hana replied, watching as Shirogane Orzel entered the starting gate in preparation for her medium distance tryout. "She did quite well in her first run."

"Still lost to the other one," Brian pointed out. "And fell for that fake fatigue trick."

"Not quite," Rudolf countered, her arms crossed in a resting position as she likewise inspected their newest team member. "It seemed that Shirogane-san knew exactly what Sky-san was planning, and they both worked together to sell the trick."

"And it's not really falling for the trick when you've got enough juice to sprint all the way to the end," Fuji Kiseki chimed in. "This pony-chan's got some hardy legs."

Hana wondered if acclimating to running on concrete and asphalt had contributed to Shirogane's endurance. While she knew many umamusume who frequently went for runs on the street, there weren't any that did so to the same degree. They had to spend at least some time training on the racetrack, after all.

"Hopefully losing by a head won't get to her too much," Air Groove murmured worriedly, adding her own commentary to the Team Rigil gathering. "It's already impressive she did that well with this little race training."

"She's not the one you need to be worried about," Brian scoffed. "Some of the gate fillers look like they're about to pass out."

While that was a bit of an exaggeration, a few of the other runners in the gate did indeed look very nervous. This was not all that unusual for try outs, but…

"Man, a couple of them are sweating something fierce and the race hasn't even started yet!"

"It's quite hot out today, Kiseki-san," Air Groove observed with a frown of her own. "I hope they kept themselves hydrated enough."

"This group looks the most nervous out of the ones we've seen," Rudolf hummed, fingers drumming on her elbow. "Except Shirogane-san, but she's quite steady. What's gotten into the rest of them?"

"It's a loser bracket," Brian grunted, her ears twitching in annoyance. "They already got beaten once and now they've got no more leeway. Guess the little murder pony doesn't care that much about that though, since she's got a trainer lined up already."

"Murder pony?"

"She runs like she wants to fight the uma in front of them."

"Shirogane is a very calm and collected person," Hana countered, "she's clearly listening behind her when she has her ears pulled back."

"You may think that but the other runners aren't."

The murmuring in the stands paused as the race was about to begin.

BZZZT!

"And they're off–!"

BANG!

"Oh no!"


One runner jumped early, crashing into the gates before they could open, the sudden, unexpected noise causing a few nearby runners to flinch and start late.

"Olivier O'Dran has crashed into the gate!"

Of this heat, only about half of the runners started on time, and among them was Shirogane, who hardly twitched an ear at the commotion and followed right on the heel of the pace setter, just as she had in her previous tryout, trailing close enough she could have grabbed their tail without reaching out if she had the inclination.

"Number eight Sunset Groom has taken the lead position, but number four Shirogane Oruzeru is following close behind!"

"Once is coincidence, twice looks more like a pattern," Brian muttered, narrowing her eyes as she chewed on a grass stalk.

"You mean to say that the bad starts have something to do with Shirogane?" Hana asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "She did nothing to interfere with the other runners. From what I could see she didn't even look at them."

"It looks like number three Olivier O'Dran is out of the race, and the rest of the pack is way behind because of their late start. What a disastrous start!"

"She does have an intense presence," Air Groove added, looking like she would rather not admit it. "And she is almost unnaturally still much of the time. I think the best comparison is that she's like a human who doesn't blink."

Huh, Hana had noticed that Shirogane didn't fidget much, but she hadn't considered that it would be unnerving for other umas. The pale haired girl's ability to be nearly silent likely did not help.

It seemed to apply even if she wasn't in direct sight, as the runner she was chasing kept glancing over her shoulder, her movements becoming more and more erratic as she tried to make distance while Shirogane gamely stuck to her tail.

"Sunset Groom and Shirogane Oruzeru are racing ahead of the rest! Can they both keep this up the whole way?"

"Oh, that's no good," Rudolf sighed, "Sunset Groom is getting rushed trying to shake Shirogane. At this rate she will tire herself out too soon."

"Do you guys think that was her plan?" Fuji Kiseki wondered, glancing between Air Groove and Rudolf, the other two who had interacted with their new teammate the most. "Shiro-chan's got a lot of stamina, so getting the others to burn out faster means she's got a better shot."

"Shirogane Oruzeru is trying to pass, but Sunset Groom is fighting her off!"

"Did you pick her to be a suicide runner?" Brian asked, eyeing Hana accusingly. "They just got to the first turn and the race is already over."

The thought had crossed her mind when she'd seen Shirogane's impressive stamina.

"Shirogane Oruzeru is hugging the rail through the first turn, but Sunset Groom isn't giving up just yet, she's still ahead!"

"I believe she has potential to be more than that, but she would be quite effective in that role."

"She has poor Groom frightened out of her mind." Kiseki-san let out an awkward chuff of laughter. "That pony looks like she's running for her life."

"To some degree that's the attitude you need to win," Rudolf mused, looking torn between amusement and concern, "but you're right. Sunset Groom has let her nerves get the better of her."

"The two leaders are on the long straight, and what's this?! Shirogane Oruzeru is pushing forwards faster!"

"She could have started earlier, she has the stamina for it," Air Groove murmured, cupping her chin in concentration. "Why did she wait until now?"

"Sunset Groom pushes a little further ahead, but she's flagging! Did she run out of gas?!"

"Well, if she knew everything, she wouldn't really need a trainer, would she?" Even Rudolf had benefited from some advice during her heyday, and Hana was honest enough with herself to admit that she had contributed less to the Emperor's success in comparison to some of her other trainees.

"Shirogane Oruzeru has pulled even with Sunset Groom! Shirogane Oruzueru is pulling ahead!"

"Looks like she's got this in the bag."

"She might be the slowest in her class, but she's fast enough to beat some gate fillers."

Air Groove frowned. "I don't think she will take this as much of a victory, not when half the runners lost right out of the gate."

"I've never seen a start this bad, true, but," Brian shrugged. "A win is still a win."

"The leaders are rounding the turn onto the final stretch, and Shirogane Oruzeru is still in the lead and the late starters are still too far back. Can Sunset Groom retake her position?!"

In some eyes, this set of tryouts should be scrubbed from the record, but Hana thought differently. The runners that managed to avoid flinching at the crash showed greater discipline, and even if she hadn't recruited Shirogane herself, this display of composure would have made her interested in recruiting the pale haired uma nonetheless.

"They're on the final straight and Shirogane Oruzeru is not looking back!"

"So, who else are you going to recruit?" Brian grunted at her, apparently having lost interest in the current race. "Gonna pull another trainee from the Golden class?"

"Is that what they're calling it this year?"

"Something like that. That doesn't answer the question."

"I do have an idea of who else to recruit." She wasn't going to say more at the moment. "In all likelihood that class is going to get snapped up in an instant."

"How much do you think they'll complain about you getting two of them?"

"Not enough to remember to fill their paperwork in on time."

"She's done it! Shirogane Oruzeru takes first place in her second tryout!"

Down on the track, Shirogane passed the finish line a full length ahead of her opponent, raising a fist victoriously to the cheers from the stands, though it was somewhat muted. Those who were there for the spectacle seemed miffed that the race had really ended up being between two runners, though Shirogane's classmates were cheering her on.

For her own part, Hana clapped politely at her trainee's success, rather impressed at how quickly she had acclimated to the race format.

Air Groove did similar, but by the wiggling of her ears and the excited swishing of her tail, she was quite excited by this result.

The rest of Team Rigil present did not react too differently than their usual, with Fuji Kiseki cheering as she did for every winner, Rudolf politely applauding, and Narita Brian acting like she didn't care, but it was also clear to Hana that they could see potential there.

As for Shirogane herself, she hardly seemed to slow down as she left the track, not bothering to bask in her achievements, as if winning her tryout was like just another delivery and she had more important places to be.

"Tch. She pushed too hard."

At the same time, Sunset Groom collapsed on the turf, to the dismay of the crowd.

"Looks like she didn't hydrate enough."

"Man, I hope she's alright," Kiseki-san sighed, furrowing her brow as the fallen uma was hauled off on a stretcher. "At this rate, people are gonna think Shiro-chan is a bad luck charm."

Hana hoped that it wouldn't come to that, but found herself frowning all the same. Racing fans were very passionate, but they could be superstitious and quite cruel too.

"Well, if you want her to be this year's suicide runner, trainer-san, you've got your villain."

"Behold, a pale horse," Rudolf murmured, speaking in English, "and the name given to her was Death, and Hell followed with her."

"Don't tell me you're calling her a murder pony too, President!" Air Groove snapped, rounding on Rudolf furiously. "That is totally inappropriate!"

The Emperor's ears drooped sheepishly. "I thought it sounded cool."

Hana suppressed a smile. While some of her colleagues envied her for having relatively calm and responsible trainees, they were still young, and could be just as silly as the most rambunctious ones from time to time.


"Is this the right room?" Grass Wonder paused in front of the door, checking the number on it.

"Looks to be," Shirogane replied after referencing the information Toujou-san had given them. She hadn't seen her classmate's tryouts, but it hadn't come as a surprise to hear that she had won both of hers. And that meant it wasn't surprising to her to learn that Toujou-san had also recruited Grass Wonder to Team Rigil.

"To be on the same team as Symboli Rudolf and Narita Brian," Grass murmured, trying to school her expression, but the agitated swishing of her tail belied her excitement. "I hadn't even realized that was possible."

"From what it looks like, those two are not really running competitively anymore," Shirogane mused, "though they are certainly mentors we can learn much from." Symboli Rudolf was a bit overdramatic, but she was a triple crown winner. Narita Brian as well, though Shirogane had not met her, so could not say anything about her personality.

"I thought even you would be excited," her classmate huffed. "Isn't Symboli Rudolf a big deal here in Japan?"

"Yes, in the racing world, but I wasn't too dialed into it until it turned out I had a bit of talent for it."

"Hmph, nothing really fazes you, does it, Shirogane-san?"

"I would not go so far, there are things I am rightly cautious of, but this is not one of them." Since her classmate had paused, she stepped forward and grabbed the door handle. "Shall we go inside and meet our team? Or would you prefer to wait out here?"

"I–"

Shirogane did not give her a chance to answer and opened the door–

"Welcome!"

–entering to a round of greetings from the various members inside.

There was Symboli Rudolf and Air Groove, both looking as collected as she remembered, though the latter shot her a proud smile.

"Welcome aboard, ponies!" Ah, there was Fuji Kiseki, who bumped Shirogane on the shoulder in a friendly greeting. "Looks like your training paid off, huh?"

"It did help, though it wasn't a particularly clean win.

"Eh, don't sweat it too much, pony-chan," her senior's face became more solemn for a moment. "Stuff like that is sadly all too common, though this was the first time I've seen someone crash inside the gate."

Meanwhile Grass had practically been jumped by the sandy haired Taiki Shuttle, who appeared to be excited to have another American on the team.

"Hey, don't get all over the newbies, Kiseki!" And that must be Hishi Amazon, a very tan umamusume, who was the dorm leader for the Miho dorm (Team Rigil was certainly well positioned). She pulled Fuji Kiseki back from Shirogane, before nodding to her. "Sorry about that, this oaf can come on a bit strong."

"There is no issue, Hishi Amazon-senpai. We are already acquainted."

"Hey don't make it sound like a bad thing!"

Shirogane extricated herself from the conversation as the two dorm leaders began to bicker. She spotted Silence Suzuka in a corner, standing next to surly looking uma who had to be Narita Brian by process of elimination. Suzuka-san smiled at her, offering a muted if friendly wave, but before Shirogane could move to greet her running companion, someone else caught her attention.

"Welcome to Team Rigil, officially," Symboli Rudolf called as she approached, opening her arms theatrically. "How does your first win with real stakes feel?"

"Satisfactory, I suppose."

In truth, Shirogane did not feel particularly accomplished. About half the runners had gotten hung up in the gate after one of them crashed into a supporting beam and shifted the whole gate at a slight angle, and the one runner she was competing with most of the way had not been as impressive as her classmates.

"There's still very far to go. It would be foolish to become complacent after just this." That, and it wasn't like she had won any money on this tryout, it was just a necessary feat to secure her place on the team.

"Heh, that's a bit more like it." The President smiled at her. "If you keep up that spirit we can make sure you get quite far."

"Your advice would be appreciated."

Now that Shirogane thought about it, she should probably tell her family that she was on the same team as Symboli Rudolf. She was pretty sure her father and grandfather would get a kick out of it.

AN. And here Shirogane is starting on her accidental villain arc. Her past experiences make her rather inured to a lot of things that would stress normal umas, but that same tolerance for bad things also means she can come off as a lot harsher or callous than she really is. Also I don't think Shirogane being unimpressed with all these famous runners will stop being funny anytime soon.
 
Thanks for the chapter!


"Behold, a pale horse," Rudolf murmured, speaking in English, "and the name given to her was Death, and Hell followed with her."

She did The Thing!!! Yes! Now, I only hope that Shiro's villain arc progresses far. Enough that other umas will have NightMares of her, hehe. (Oh, god, that was a bad pun).

I hope that the murder pony theory spreads a lot, before it seems to click in someone that 'Oh, Maybe she is a War Horse?', and others have the realization and go through all of their previous interactions with Shiro.

Tanya has gone through literal Hell (Rhine battlefront) and was called the Devil of it. Some mere stump would be like trying to ask someone to notice a dust particle. Only visible in the right light, and if you squint a lot.

What's a suicide runner, BTW?

Amazing chapter, author. Remember to Stay Hydrated.
 
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What's a suicide runner, BTW?

IIRC in competitive racing with multiple contestants from each team, a suicide runner is someone who uses up their stamina early to goad or force other racers to tire themselves by setting a punishing pace while their teammate keeps a more normal pace and eeks out a win.
 
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So your going to have all the other teams thinking she is the devil incarnate but her own team is like "Nah, she's just really chill about everything."

Her ideals should actually make her seem remarkably generous and kind to those who get to know her. She really hates wasted potential and her soldier training makes her prioritise teamwork.
 
now that Shiro is the villain, who is the hero? Mary sioux?
Ugh I hope not, the amount of 'divine' intervention I've seen her get makes her incredibly obnoxious in stories, that and Umamusume has plenty of actual characters to make a Rival out of. Although MaryxTanya ships are a guilty pleasure of mine
 

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