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On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

The Trainers are going to hate Shirogane's run for all the G1 races +extras, this will set a precedent, the other Umas in her school might try to race them with her.

And a feat like that would have Younger Umas wanting to do the same years later, specially if she keeps running them each year.

Something like that could be called The Iron Uma's achievement, with the extra gold, silver, and bronze, versions if you not only manage to race them but also get the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in them.

I can already imagine the trainers this year telling them that they can run some races or the other but not all of them like Shirogane.

Of course this will most likely be the event that really gets a lot of attention for her, probably not winning them but still running in each of them and getting in the podium.

I loved the race, poor Mori Survival, might not even remember the whole race since she probably was in survival mode most of the race.

Getting to run against Shirogane in her last year is a nice touch, part passing the torch part making sure to race, what she probably knows will be considered a legendary Uma years later.

Its good to see that she's good at making other put more effort, but Im worried about some getting injuries because they try to hard, and lack Shirogane's insane Stamina and recovery.

And yeah Shirogane´s favorite surface is concrete, she's probably really used to run it, under any weather rain, snow, blizzard and typhoon, because the Pierogis must be delivered no matter what!! :V
 
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It's funny how Shirogane treats her racing as a side job/stepping stone when she's literally a once-in-a-generation talent with the work ethic to excel even further. Of course, she's surrounded by an entire generation of generational talents and freak-of-natures so it's difficult to tell how extraordinary she is.

She's like Krillin from DBZ. That guy could easily blow up planets and wipe out entire alien civilizations singlehandedly but people mock him as weak because he's always facing off against literal destruction gods, universe conquering aliens, and multidimensional abominations.
 
Hahaha... I don't know at what point the Uma's natural madness becomes Shiro's madness.

Hahaha, everyone screams and suffers to run at full speed until they're unconscious during the race, and Shiro is thinking about saving money while he runs.

Hahaha, and the eternal silver is here.
 
Demon of Distance is a great nickname. Alliteration for the win!
King Halo turned to her classmate in bewilderment, trying not to feel envy at how Shirogane looked barely winded while her own breath came with difficulty.
Seeing how Shirogane is barely winded at the end of her runs reminds me of this other Youjo Senki fic, a crossover with Pokemon. In that fic, Tanya is a chansey and at around 40 chapters and at least one gym in it is revealed that due to her war experience/trauma, while she's been wrecking her opposition in battles, she's been conserving her energy. Because you know, war being war she couldn't afford to use everything she has in one battle and had to pace herself for multiple engagements with uncertan recovery periods. So in her new life she had unintentionally kept up the trend, meaning in pokemon game terms she had minimized her pp usage for attacks to make sure she won't run out later. I believe something similar is happening here. Yes, Shirogane is giving it her best when running but she is still pacing herself so she's able to run again at the drop of a hat. The trick for her to break her limits in speed is to get her to actually give it her all, with nothing left in reserve afterwards. Kind of what Mori Survival did in this chapter.
 
She's like Krillin from DBZ. That guy could easily blow up planets and wipe out entire alien civilizations singlehandedly but people mock him as weak because he's always facing off against literal destruction gods, universe conquering aliens, and multidimensional abominations.
She's like Krillin if Krillin actually used Destructo Disk properly and pursued further development of that technique.
 
Hmm, when they do their summer camp I really hope that in addition to bringing her Tracen friends to her family's restaurant, that Shiro also introduces them to her hometown friends. I just think it would be cute. x3

"How kind of you to ask," Shirogane chuffed, tossing her knife in a quick spin, catching it by the tip between her fingers. "My family runs a small restaurant in Fujisawa, and I help out in making the food sometimes–"

"Oh thank God."
Heh, they were getting a bit worried there.

"As you well shouldn't." Shirogane smiled. Her schoolmates wavered for a moment, before their resolve hardened.
And they all even passed that final Will Save! Truly, spending so much time around Shiro-chan has improved their Guts.

a bay haired opponent from Kyoto, who almost looked like she was running for her life.
...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
I wonder who that is?


but if my cute kohai is gonna run at both Crowns, what kinda senpai would I be if I didn't go out swinging as hard as I can?"
Now THAT'S a memorable scene in any sports anime, the sempai wanting one last bout with their kohai. Steady is a good friend.

but she ended up being too preoccupied with carrying a sound asleep Steady Distance to really appreciate the view.
And so is Shiro. Heh, Steady trying to be a cool sempai while granny Shiro is just nodding along with her adorableness.

Well, I think this race could be a turning point for Tanya. Her friend, perhaps her best friend, is literally telling her that she wants Tanya to be her final rival; Tanya is a person of great honor, and I'm sure this will awaken a feeling in her that she was missing something needed to truly transcend in racing.
Not sure about that one tbh. I'm not sure I'd call her dishonorable per say, but she was willing to be fairly underhanded as Tanya; she was more motivated by pragmatism than honor.
Hmm, while I don't think Tanya necessarily cares too much about honor unless it benefits her... She does care about the order around cultural traditions and the respect due from one to another. She should recognize this trope, and how much this situation means to Steady. And one thing about Shiro in every one of her lives is that she gives her all for the people she cares about. Them racing one another might just be what Shiro needs to WANT to give her all. Rather than just "doing her duty".

I'm looking forward to seeing just who will win their race.

Of course this will most likely be the event that really gets a lot of attention for her, probably not winning them but still running in each of them and getting in the podium.
Damn right it will. Just from the sheer exposure of them seeing her name over and over again through the entire year. Like, even without really trying you eventually start noticing and memorizing the names of others in forums just from scrolling past them often enough. Seeing the same Uma in so many fucking races back to back? Shiro is gonna make a name for herself by doing this... Kinda the exact opposite of what Agnes Tachyon did honestly...
 
I like the explanation about why we don't see older Uma racing, although it's unfortunate that they have a shorter life expectancy. I suppose Umamusume either retire because their performance declines or because they lose their passion as they age. I truly hope Steady Distance inspires a stronger ambition in Shiro. I really want her to win both the Triple Crown and the Triple Tiara.
 
Thank you for the chapter!

Was she drunk? She was old enough for that, right?

How old is she? Cause japan's age of drinking is pretty high at 20.

Edit

I wonder how old shiro will be when she decides to retire from racing and start a family?

Edit

If shiro gets a medal at all six races (bronze and silver) would she be called the six fold princess?
 
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"Aw…don't be such a spoilsport! If you're feeling chicken just say so!"

"In your dreams."

"Pff! No need to get so defensive, Chibi."

"Have you asked your trainer out yet?"

You really do get a feel for Shiro's character in the way she likes to snipe back with her responses. What a ridiculously pointed non-sequitur, immediately cuts to the heart of Steady's playful accusation and turns it around on her. I'm not feeling chicken, by the way have you finally gathered the courage to confess to your trainer?

"You can't just say that crap, Shiro!" Steady whined, flopping back down on the bench. "You know there's rules about that kind of thing between trainers and trainees."

"And everyone knows there's a not insignificant number of relationships between trainers and former trainees."

It wasn't terribly surprising, given that trainers were screened carefully for a variety of skills and personality traits to ensure they would be appropriate managers for enthusiastic young runners, and some of those traits also made them rather desirable as mates.

"Are you saying I'm getting too old to be a runner?" Steady huffed, the pout on her face still evident despite the dim light from the lanterns.

How old is Steady Distance anyway? I'm assuming that umas start their junior year of competition at the same age they start their freshman year of senior high school, which is fifteen, and she's been racing for a little over four years at this point, so... she's what, nineteen going on twenty? Which means Steady is that older childhood friend who's in college that occasionally picks you up from school when your parents are busy. A senpai indeed.

"You want kids?" Shirogane could not keep the skepticism from creeping into her voice. "Isn't that a bit early?"

Yeah, I guess Shiro, formerly being a human from a first-world country in the 21st century, would have these reservations. Twenty is generally considered quite early to start having kids, at least in most developed countries. I think most people would be entering tertiary education at that age?

"Sounds like you have sufficient ammunition to make a proposal to your trainer, then."

I think I gushed over this before, but I really like this little speech affect that Shiro has of using military or combat related turns of phrase. She's totally the type of person to use 'campaign strategy' and 'boots on the ground' when describing a game of golf or something similarly mundane. It's probably worth mentioning that a lot of this military jargon does just tend to leak into normal everyday use and lose that militaristic connotation over time, but for Shiro, she really goes out of her way to do it.

Actually, if we're talking about character voices, which is a pet peeve of mine, I'm really happy with how clearly the character voices come out in this story. I would say that a lot of it has to do with how much dialogue is already written and available from the game and anime, but if that was all it took, then most fanfic for popular franchises wouldn't have terrible characterization be a problem. It kinda struck me at this point in the chapter:

There was a beat of silence, leaving Shirogane standing there awkwardly as she watched her schoolmates' eyes widen in shock, first King Halo, then Grass Wonder, and Seiun Sky.

"S-Shirogane-san–?"

"Waaiiiit a minute–"

"You plan on running both the Triple Crown and the Triple Tiara Circuit?!"

Where even though King is listed first, then Grass, then Sei but the dialogue goes King, Sei, Grass, I had no trouble knowing who was speaking, even if you remove the latter portion attached to Grass's dialogue. I already knew by the time that I had read up to "Waaiiiit a minute–" that it was Seiun Sky saying that. To be fair, she's the only one who's got that lazy slacker vibe to her, it might be harder to tell if it was Dober instead. I guess all I'm saying is the characters feel like the characters and have their distinct voices. It's nice.

Unrelated note, it sure is annoying how UmaViewer only exports the character models as .pmx and not .fbx, especially considering I've never come across that file format before. Also did you know that it seems that Cygames just makes the textures for the characters bodies unique to each outfit they wear; it's just one solid piece, clothes, skin and all.

image.png

edit:

Agnes Digital doesn't have a big belly model in the game files, what the heck? She's the only one like this it seems. If you try and view it, UmaViewer returns an error that there is no model and it can't load what isn't there.
Also it seems like among the umas currently in Global servers, Digi-tan is the closest to Shiro in terms of body proportions: 145cm, B74 / W51 / H75 / 21.5cm. The next closest uma is Narita Taishin with the same height, just more petite at B71 / W50 / H73 / 20.5cm.

double edit:

image.png

It's at times like these when I question my sanity. Animating this has got to be some kind of special torture, where do you even start. Where did the textures go...?

triple edit:

I found the textures.

image.png
 
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Mori Survival... She gonna be Legend here in her own right. I must say what That ruuning away is similar to what i put in comments about Shiro and Haru pressuring someone into first place together.
Mori has Experienced transuma Dread (a call to transhuman Dread described in wh40k). But she won. Did she got Impostor Syndrome as additional prize?
Does Shiro now plays with her prop saber before every race now when she can run in her costume?

The scene WITH steady Distance shall be one of the game scenes Personal for Shiro in her game campaign. A call back to the scene in prologue where we see childhood of Shiro.

Their (Battle) DUEL SHALL BE LEGENDARY! even if it is some modest G3.
 
I like the visual of one of her winning animations being a sword salute, with the camera pushing in so that it looks a bit like the Guiding Moonlight cutscene from Bloodborne, maybe there can even be something in the reflection of the blade. Then the camera pulls back and out as she brings the sword down in a flourish, sheathes it and walks off.

A WIP of how Shiro's win screen might look, hat included!

08AUG2026_sword_salute_WIP.png

I'm undecided on the position of the sword, and what it'll end up covering.
 
It seems we've learned so much about the physiology and psychology of the Umas.

1: It appears they go through a very pronounced period of physical decline—similar to real-life horses.

It doesn't surprise me that they have a shorter lifespan than humans. It seems that, in exchange for a period of accelerated growth and superior physical capabilities, they also age faster and live shorter lives. I don't think they live quite as briefly as real-world horses, but they likely live to around 60 years of age, whereas the human average is 70 or more.

2: Once again, running seems to be a fundamental part of their psychology. It is only when they begin their period of physical decline that they truly start to take an interest in romance and raising a family.

It's not that they are completely asexual beings—as we saw with Swift Yujo, and with Steady Distance's desire to be popular with the boys, not to mention the stories from the video games; Umas can feel romantic attraction toward others, but it simply isn't their priority or main interest until the right moment arrives.

P.S. Please let our poor Shirogane win something. She's been finishing second for quite a while now.
 
I'm interested that Shiro basically admitted to King that she doesn't come close to going all out. I know there's some uma magic, but no matter your stamina there has to be a pace you can reach that leaves you somewhat breathless. Can't wait for her to finally have that breakthrough.

Considering how new some of the information she was sharing seemed, her class is going to be very shocked when they learn why exactly Shiro's family named her normally.
 
"Wow! Where did Shiro-chan learn to use a knife like that?" Haru Urara cried, hopping up in front of Shirogane, tail wagging curiously. A few others looked similarly curious, but hadn't voiced it aloud.
"How kind of you to ask," Shirogane chuffed, tossing her knife in a quick spin, catching it by the tip between her fingers. "My family runs a small restaurant in Fujisawa, and I help out in making the food sometimes–"
"Oh thank God."
Lol, wonder what that Uma was thinking about where Shiro got skilled with a butcher's knife. x3
Even now, the pale haired uma was not the one setting the pace, instead she was chasing the fourth favorite, Mori Survival, a bay haired opponent from Kyoto, who almost looked like she was running for her life.
"Number three Mori Survival has done it! She's held the lead for the whole–oh no! Mori Survival has collapsed right past the finish line!"
Shiro 'encouraging' her fellow Umas to be their very best racers is alays a heart-warming sight. xD
 
Ya know looking through all the shiro artwork, how have I missed most of these, it never really occurred to me how massive her ears are to be sticking out of a hat that size. Girl has satellite dishes on that head of hers. I'm surprised there isn't that one meme. Ya know the one. "Get your big ass ears out the way. I cant see the captions". Rice evidently has compition in the big ears department.

Great art of course.
 
Shiro's greatest skill is Memento Mori: if she spends a significant portion of a race trailing one Uma, they don't show up in future races

...as an aside, I have a very ultra super important question
"It was Dragonball Z."
...do Saiyans in this version of the anime also have monkey ears to go with the tail?
 
A WIP of how Shiro's win screen might look, hat included!

08AUG2026_sword_salute_WIP.png

I'm undecided on the position of the sword, and what it'll end up covering.

Saber to the chest, it looks like a knight salute.

Calm collected and not winded at all... well maybe a little since this most likely was a long race.

The fans would think that Shirogane probably takes herself a little too seriously, or likes to play the racing soldier a little too much.

Of course if she does a full sprint for each of the G1 races, doing what others call suicide run in each of them (Charge for her since War Horses charge) and ends with a proper and respectful knights salute with the saber.

And still looks like she has gas for another race at the end of each of those, the salute might be more impressive for the fans too.

And does she wears a cap in this one??

Someone stole her big hat again? Are they trying to mess around with the smol death?
 
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A WIP of how Shiro's win screen might look, hat included!

08AUG2026_sword_salute_WIP.png

I'm undecided on the position of the sword, and what it'll end up covering.
Leave the handle there and tilt it so it goes to the right of her head? Kind of brandishing it menacingly but with her classic RBF undercutting the aggression. Bonus points for an alt version of her smiling horrifyingly in triumph!

Edit: I was a little too slow
 
You know what, with how long we have watched Steady Distance, I want her to have at least a pseudo zone at her last race against Shiro. A last send-off against her adorable kouhai.
Why not a proper Zone? A Zone that is only possible because Shirogane is in the race. As Cingray puts it, the Zone can only be accessed by those who define their generation...

Or, as Obey Your Master proves, if the conditions are right.

Becoming known as the Umamusume who managed to light Shirogane's competitive fire for the first time will be notable, as everyone around her will notice if Shirogane takes a month off after said race afterwards and if Steady goes on to win a G1 because of that experience.
 
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Kinda felt a bit bittersweet at the end there. Do umas last longer or shorter in the sports scene? It does sound like at least they don't match human life spans.
 
To be fair its not like you many human athletes last once they reach 30, so an uma retiring at 25 or lower shouldn't be unexpected, they are running extremely fast and putting their joints through alot more stress.
 
Googling athlete career length and looking at sources both seemingly reliable and dubious it seems that even if there are some who have 20+ years even in demanding fields, that's the extreme minority. Most will have washed out in the first four to six years.

This isn't really an uma issue, it's an athelete issue. Steady Distance has already been running for four years and was never at the level where it was worth pushing harder or further.
 

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