On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[Tonyloco]

The idea that Shirogane's intimidating aura and tactics are based on road rage and passive aggressive driving is really fun to consider.

But if one thinks about it she most likely has a lot of experience running trough heavy traffic, with drivers honking and trying to pass each other.

And as many of us know there's something really annoying at seeing a motorcyclist (in this case Uma) slip by and pass you at full speed while you're struck in the traffic with slower guys in front of you.

So having Shirogane learn Road Ragefrustration aura from passive aggressive drivers stuck in the traffic actually sounds like a legit skill to learn.

And I feel bad for the families trying to woo Shirogane to bear them strong Uma's to race she's probably going to race for years beyond most Uma's, probably making her legend on her own ability to keep going when others would have retired.

The Shiroganetor would just keep running for as many years as she can.

 

[bucketbot129]

Poor Hishi, she was having an anime flashback while Shiro just continued on oblivious just like with Fuji.

 

[Killdread]

Cute lesbian couple at the bar:

Evil and intimidating horse on the TV.

 

[xbox432]

"...Fiiine." The short, dark haired uma turned away with a pout, stumbling a few steps before giving up and settling for dragging her teammate behind her,

Click to shrink...

I find it amusing that neither of her seniors realized just how easily Shiro was "umahandling" little miss biter, while Stay Gold had to drag her.

I predict at least 1 news story or a piece on a podcast.

Click to shrink...

I was thinking the same. When it gets out that she turned down a spot in one of the biggest races in the year to race in a "lesser" one? People are going to get curious. So I can imagine someone shoving a camera in her face and asking for her reasoning, then she'll say that she promised to race her Sempai and that's far more important to her. Suddenly she'll shift from axe murderer in their eyes into a gooey kuudere.

I can't tell if Hishi Amazon and Stay Gold could tell that Shiro was blatantly lying about Shinko Windy running into her elbow and I'm not sure which interpretation is funnier lol.

Click to shrink...

I'm pretty sure Hishi believed her, but that Stay Gold figured out what really happened. What I'm more interested in is if someone checks those cameras that Shiro said were in the area. It'd be one heck of a training video to show some of the Umas, about why they should keep their "umaplay" below a certain level if they don't want to accidentally get their faces kicked in.

*edit* And I just realized that some of the schools security forces HAVE interacted with Shiro before, she actually freaked one of them out a bit. I kinda want to see their reaction to watching that footage...

Heh, and without her inner monologue showing showing that she was just checking to see if the other Uma was playing dead or not... That bit of her kicking dirt on the downed Uma will look like one hell of show of dominance.

I am pretty sure there aren't any futa Umas in this fic and since most Umas want kids they would marry a man.

Click to shrink...

There's technically one who fits that category, two if you count Shiro... There is one Uma, Fine Motion, who wears her hair accessories like Shiro, TWO of them rather than one. Her IRL counterpart was born intersex, but still registered as a mare. Though yeah, that's mostly "meta" lore, I doubt she's packing anything "extra" down there.

 

[Herofox]

And I feel bad for the families trying to woo Shirogane to bear them strong Uma's to race she's probably going to race for years beyond most Uma's, probably making her legend on her own ability to keep going when others would have retired.

Click to shrink...

It makes me wonder if Shirogane getting increasingly aggressive during thunderstorms will ever get brought up.

Especially given her usual composure.

 

[Numina]

Rudolf and Ramonu sure have mellowed out since their racing days. Even their ex-husband and wife energy is more akin to an old couple that remained friends.
There is no doubt however that Rudolf would come running whenever Ramonu calls for her though.

 

[WrandmWaffles]

and probably brand deals and likeness royalties, just like successful enough athletrs in the real world

Click to shrink...

For the runners who got really popular, either by winning big or being popular as an umadol, yeah they likely would have brand deals. Many of the less successful ones probably just have normal jobs, akin to high school or college athletes who can't make it professionally.

My mind keeps drifting to the idea that she'd be Drejos mom due to an earlier comment from Wrandm about horse!Shiro having an attempt at mixing with Stay Gold resulting in a horse that would plan out a murder with great intelligence.

Click to shrink...

Shirogane is much smaller than Point Flag and a lot meaner than Oriental Art, but would be a strict, but good parent.

And if she skips the Japan Cup, winning the Champions Cup and Tokyo Daishōten together gives an extra big payout...

Click to shrink...

The Champion's Cup was not inaugurated until 2000, so Shirogane currently cannot participate in it.

I wonder how Shiro would do in America. They do dirt there and Hana says that shes just as fast on dirt as she is on turf.

Click to shrink...

She'd likely do fairly well, since she would struggle a lot less against the rougher racing style in comparison to most Japanese racers.

I can't tell if Hishi Amazon and Stay Gold could tell that Shiro was blatantly lying about Shinko Windy running into her elbow and I'm not sure which interpretation is funnier lol.

Click to shrink...

I'm pretty sure Hishi believed her, but that Stay Gold figured out what really happened.

Click to shrink...

Hishi wasn't fully sold, but she was too flabbergasted to think too much about it. Stay Gold 100% realized what happened and was just laughing her ass off over Windy getting taken out by another classmate.

I get the impression that Shinko Windy is such a pest with her jumpscare bites on other Umas that they're willing to look the other way on the elbow she took to the face and consider it "Deserved."

Click to shrink...

They are not going to be too harsh on someone who took Windy down a peg.

I remember reading something a while back about how Ramonu would regularly crush nine and a half buckets of feed daily while she was competing. For reference, Oguri Cap's portions were kept to six and a half...

Click to shrink...

She ate two plates of gyoza as a light snack, lol.

Psychopath Ramonu rears her head. I'm sure she'd get a kick out of watching umas race an axe murderer if that meant they'd run faster. Also the idea that Shiro's malicious and intimidating style of running developed as a response to idiot drivers is hilarious.

Click to shrink...

Ramonu would be very happy to have Shirogane as a daughter-in-law new family member, because she would have someone who could match her intensity. Shirogane would find her kind of annoying but would be a bit amused by the posturing.

Though it's honestly quite hilarious how Rudolf has seemingly aged out of her family's matchmaking concerns and is now being included as part of the group of elderly meddlers. I wonder if they think having your famous athlete relative be the one to introduce you to a potential partner has a positive effect on the result?

Click to shrink...

They figured out that as Rudolf has easy access to look over the new generation and her family keeps asking her about which umas might be good partners for some of her relatives.

Rufold.

Click to shrink...

Damn it. Fixed.

Nobody wants endurance monsters anymore, speed is premium now! Which doubly makes sense for Ramonu to comment on Shiro's eligibility, her family has been known for their long distance dominance after all, so she'd definitely know who's in the market for a runner with stayer traits.

Click to shrink...

Yeah there's kinda two ways you could go about pairing up Shiro, either with a speedy family that has weaker legs to balance things out, or with another stayer bloodline to heighten those traits even more, so Ramonu is pretty curious if Dober plans to introduce Shiro to one of her male cousins or something.

Minor lore correction - The 1998 Keisei Hai was still 1600 meters. It was changed to 2000 meters in 1999.

Click to shrink...

Dammit, forgot about that. Should be fixed.

I went back to Ch. 19. Meiner Love was blocked by Shirogane and made to stumble into Figaro at the 1997 Asahi Hai. She has obviously learned from that experience and used it to win here.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, she basically hung back a bit at the final corner like Grass did, letting the other runners bunch up around Shirogane, then swung wider out to pass at the end.

My theory is that Tanya will tell her friend she's passing on the big race to compete against her instead dismissing the major event as "just another race." This will infuriate the older Uma, who would have killed for the chance to run that G1 race

Click to shrink...

When it gets out that she turned down a spot in one of the biggest races in the year to race in a "lesser" one?

Click to shrink...

The Tokyo Daishoten is one of the biggest dirt races in Japan at the time, along with the February Stakes, so while the Arima Kinen is certainly the more prestigious race, and Shirogane choosing to run the Tokyo Daishoten would likely raise some eyebrows, it wouldn't be that absurd, and more just kinda weird since Shirogane would look primarily to be a Turf runner.

I am pretty sure there aren't any futa Umas in this fic and since most Umas want kids they would marry a man.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, which is my Rudolf and Ramonu are referring to their male cousins, who their families are hoping can attract high performing umas.

That's why Tanya can run so much and practically touch other runners while doing so.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, Shirogane's heritage is quite different than most racers, and it also comes with a much greater fight instinct.

But if one thinks about it she most likely has a lot of experience running trough heavy traffic, with drivers honking and trying to pass each other.

Click to shrink...

This is part of why she is good at positioning, and also part of why she is normally so unperturbed by loud noises or distractions.

Poor Hishi, she was having an anime flashback while Shiro just continued on oblivious just like with Fuji.

Click to shrink...

Hishi Amazon thinking about her old roommate Hokuto Vega and how Shirogane kinda looks a bit like her sometimes.

I find it amusing that neither of her seniors realized just how easily Shiro was "umahandling" little miss biter, while Stay Gold had to drag her.

Click to shrink...

They did, it's part of why Hishi was taken aback. Shirogane is quite short for an uma, but she is quite a bit stronger than her size suggests. Though Shinko Windy isn't super tall either, at 152cm, which is a good bit taller than Shirogane, but she was limp and unconscious as well.

It makes me wonder if Shirogane getting increasingly aggressive during thunderstorms will ever get brought up.

Especially given her usual composure.

Click to shrink...

There isn't that much chance for them to observe this since she lives in her own apartment, but if there is a strong at school or during a race they'd notice it.

 

[Jonah Tenjo]

Unique skill: Memento Mori
Unnerve nearby runners with an ominous whistle, causing them to become rushed and moderately decrease their stamina.

Spoiler: What they see

 

[Artful Lounger]

And I feel bad for the families trying to woo Shirogane to bear them strong Uma's to race she's probably going to race for years beyond most Uma's, probably making her legend on her own ability to keep going when others would have retired.

The Shiroganetor would just keep running for as many years as she can.

Click to shrink...

Symboli Rudolf felt bad as she signed off on the match of her cousin to Shirogane Orzel. It took a lot of conditions to get the polish half breed to accept the marriage but she did. And her legendary stamina would be added to the Symboli line.

Her cousin was excited at the prospect, good for him. He didn't realize he was signing his death warrant. With Orzel's stamina, Rudolf knew the next time she saw the cousin he would be reduced to a dehydrated husk. But his sacrifice would be remembered as he gave rise to the next generation of Symboli racer

 

[Miriallia]

I'm honestly wondering if Shiro might consider not marrying, but having the kids they want. I have a feeling racing families are somewhat traditionalist, and Japan, well, yeah. She'd much rather have an actual career, and becoming a live-in broodmare is in strong opposition to that. Then again, hormones might kick in hard and push her in new and unexpected directions.

That would also open the door to having more potential matches in terms of offspring. Though in a sense that makes it seem like she's selling her kids but, the difference would be she isn't selling herself and is technically setting her kids up for success since they're born into major racing families, idk it's messy either way.

Anyway, that's all still in the far future, and a bit premature to speculate on. For now at least, Run Shiro Run! And she's so going to make Steady upset, but at the same time, there's just too many limited options for them to compete, if not that graded race, it would be another.

 

[saltyweed]

She'd likely do fairly well, since she would struggle a lot less against the rougher racing style in comparison to most Japanese racers.

Click to shrink...

Now I want to see how well Shiro would do in the American triple crown because the schedule for that is two weeks rest per race and she would have the stamina to be fine while other umas would struggle. Maybe in senior year she could go to America and compete in the Breeders Cup Classic. It's basically dirt Arc and if Shiro won she would remembered forever and get paid tons between the prize money and the sponsorship's she would get.

 

[IbnAurum]

Pretty much all Uma are retired by 20 or so right?

What do they do for the next 50-60 years of their life? Get a regular job?
I mean if they are part of some big racing family they probably are expected to start popping out the next generation.

Click to shrink...

Wait what? Damn i didnt know, like i thought the usual would be around 30s, i dont think uve seen much of any sport, esp proffessionally if u only do it till your 20s

 

[Mythantor]

Wait what? Damn i didnt know, like i thought the usual would be around 30s, i dont think uve seen much of any sport, esp proffessionally if u only do it till your 20s

Click to shrink...

Well think about it. Uma start in their mid teens and only have a "career" of 3-4 years mostly. In the game it's to mimic the racing career of an actual horse and make for quick turnover for game mechanics.

But when applied to a person expected to live until they are 70-80 it really gets a bit wonky. So you must have Uma entering the workforce post racing career.

The worry is that after attending a racing academy their general education might be lacking and most Uma don't seem suited for higher education. (It's even mentioned in chapter that Uma struggle with jobs like trainers with rigorous academic requirements)

This means I would assume that the average Uma either gets married and becomes a housewife. Or they get lower paid more menial jobs with less academic entry requirements. So imagine coming out of living the life of a racing Uma only to find that the only job you can get as an adult is stacking shelves or delivering parcels.

 

[Solconbur]

Wait what? Damn i didnt know, like i thought the usual would be around 30s, i dont think uve seen much of any sport, esp proffessionally if u only do it till your 20s

Click to shrink...

Uma tend to burn out at about the same speed as tires do. This does lead to a fic phenomenon, called the Dream League, which basically gives lore to the mobile game's multiplayer, in giving Umas who made careers out of racing, and have the ability to choose to continue, the chance to keep racing until they finally choose to retire.

 

[Crispy Taco Shell]

So imagine coming out of living the life of a racing Uma only to find that the only job you can get as an adult is stacking shelves or delivering parcels.

Click to shrink...

A job as a delivery mare would be fairly common, i think. Unlike human delivery drivers, an uma wouldn't need a car or motorcycle. Shiro did that for years and the family restaurant has hired several new fillies after she left for Tracen.

Military, forestry, and construction work would be other options for careers too. The larger draft horses would do well with heavy lifting and pulling in mountainous forest worksites where machines are not economical.

Shiro would be the oddball for actually wanting an office job instead.

 

[Solconbur]

Uma tend to burn out at about the same speed as tires do. This does lead to a fic phenomenon, called the Dream League, which basically gives lore to the mobile game's multiplayer, in giving Umas who made careers out of racing, and have the ability to choose to continue, the chance to keep racing until they finally choose to retire.

Click to shrink...

My dumb ass just also realized: retiring at about 20 also matches up with Idol Culture, and how their graduations work. So the Uma Racing industry is probably also built around this career loop of aging out once the products would begin to drop off in sales and the Uma was no longer considered marketable.

The dream league in this scenario would almost definitely be a Director Akikawa inplementation, in spite of the old traditionalists of the URA.

 

[Mythantor]

My dumb ass just also realized: retiring at about 20 also matches up with Idol Culture, and how their graduations work. So the Uma Racing industry is probably also built around this career loop of aging out once the products would begin to drop off in sales and the Uma was no longer considered marketable.

The dream league in this scenario would almost definitely be a Director Akikawa inplementation, in spite of the old traditionalists of the URA.

Click to shrink...

Unlike idol culture though. Profession racing gradually wrecks Uma bodies as they pick up injuries and strain. Much like the career of an athlete just compressed into 3-4 years.

So not only do they lack higher education, Uma will be going into the workforce with potentially life long injuries. They really do get used up.

 

[Hammerheadcruiser]

Not only that but I bet she'll have been one of the nominated/voted for Uma to participate.

Click to shrink...

That would probably make her more popular.
"No thanks, I'd rather race my friend."
Fans: "Waaa! Kudere! Cuto!"

 

[PinkShadowReader]

Noo Shiro! Don't succumb to the peer pressure! Think of your placing! Think of your retirement fund!

I'm actually a bit sad that she succumbed to peer pressure. especially when it was one of her more favored races.

 

[Solconbur]

Unlike idol culture though. Profession racing gradually wrecks Uma bodies as they pick up injuries and strain. Much like the career of an athlete just compressed into 3-4 years.

So not only do they lack higher education, Uma will be going into the workforce with potentially life long injuries. They really do get used up.

Click to shrink...

It's a bit of a congruent evolution in Uma-earth. Hell, it's probably why someone decided the Uma could become Idols in the first place. Could even consider it a chicken-egg scenario.

 

[macdjord]

Tracen didn't just pick people off the street, after all,

Click to shrink...

Hana Toujou: *shifty-eyes* "Of course not! ... technically I waited until she got back to her family restaurant before I recruited her."

Windy is here! My favorite Uma. Love her, I want to pull her when she available. Also poor Windy, she doesn't deserve to be unconscious like that, very biased opinion here.

Click to shrink...

Hey, she's now a member of a very exclusive club! The 'I attacked Tanya and didn't die' club! What's a little unconsciousness compared to that, huh?


@WrandmWaffles: Will Hana's cousin Tensei be showing up again soon? I quite liked his 'mutually oblivious autistic flirting' thing with Shiro.

 

[JKD_666]

So imagine coming out of living the life of a racing Uma only to find that the only job you can get as an adult is stacking shelves or delivering parcels.

Click to shrink...

So basically the Uma take of post-shounen story MC becoming a salaryman, huh?

 

[Crispy Taco Shell]

That would probably make her more popular.
"No thanks, I'd rather race my friend."
Fans: "Waaa! Kudere! Cuto!"

Click to shrink...

It'll likely infuriate whoever actually wins the Arima Kinen while Shiro is away. She overshadows a race even when she's not even there.

Envious uma: I don't get it! Shirogane goes off to play grab-ass in some podunk dirt race with her gate-filler redneck friend and that's all everyone talks about!
I'm the one who won! Me! Talk about me!

 

[Naphtali]

Pretty much all Uma are retired by 20 or so right?

What do they do for the next 50-60 years of their life? Get a regular job?
I mean if they are part of some big racing family they probably are expected to start popping out the next generation.

Click to shrink...

There is actually another league for adult Uma, called the dream league. I don't think too many details have been released about it because Uma Musume pretty derby is mostly about re-enactments of specific IRL horses careers- with some what-if's thrown in.

Not that all racers go to the dream league.

 

[Melsa Hvarei]

Shiro quickly achieving good times on dirt and Ramonu saying she's holding back really makes me think Shiro can 100% go faster.

 

[Silver W. King]

Honestly I wish that when the Tokyo Daishoten race comes, and Shiro sees her friend trying her best while looking frustrated that Shiro isn't giving it her all, Shiro finally goes "Alright, just this once" and shows what Shirogane 100% looks like, and then having to take a mini-break because she never actually had to push herself before.

 

[Mythantor]

Honestly I wish that when the Tokyo Daishoten race comes, and Shiro sees her friend trying her best while looking frustrated that Shiro isn't giving it her all, Shiro finally goes "Alright, just this once" and shows what Shirogane 100% looks like, and then having to take a mini-break because she never actually had to push herself before.

Click to shrink...

Shirogane does give it her all. Just unlike other Uma she draws the line at potentially injuring herself. She wants a decent life after her racing career after all.

 

[Hexygramatical]

"The same is similar on the Tiara circuit," Shirogane continued, "with the Oka Sho having three notable trial races, starting with the Tulip Sho, a G3 sixteen-hundred meter race at Hanshin on March seventh, with the top three getting a spot–" this would likely be her best shot, given it was longest of the three, but she had caved to peer pressure– "followed on March fifteenth by the Hochi Hai Yonsai Himba Tokubetsu, a fourteen-hundred G2 race also at Hanshin and giving the top three a spot, with the final being the Anemone Stakes on March twenty-first, an open fourteen-hundred meter race yet again at Hanshin, though only the top two get a spot in that case."

It was going to be quite annoying, since all of the trial races were on the shorter side, particularly the Triple Tiara side, but it was a bit too late to back out now.

Click to shrink...

I'm not quite sure I'm parsing what she was peer pressured into correctly. Is it that she'll have to skip the most favorable Tiara qualifier (the Tulip Sho) to run the Yayoi Sho as her Crown qualifier? So her original plan was to run the Tulip Sho and then either the Spring or Wakaba Stakes?