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On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

Reader mode
Neo3932156 said:
Aside from this fic and Cinderella Grey, I have no other experience with the Ume Musume series. And the wiki doesn't have a personality description, so I mostly based it mostly on vibes and what people here are saying about her.
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Oh My Actual God 10/10 would read again
 
Filosofo29 said:
I suppose Shirogane and Twin Turbo travel the same path from different starting points; Turbo is pure enthusiasm and speed without stamina or ingenuity, and Shirogane is pure stamina, discipline, and intellect.
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Fun fact: Twin Turbo was frightened by other horses. The runaway style wasn't for the love of running, it was about trying as hard as possible to get away from the horde of other horses chasing him.
 
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Tiypo said:
Fun fact: Twins Turbo was frightened by other horses. The runaway style wasn't for the love of running, it was about trying as hard as possible to get away from the horde of other horses chasing him.
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>Twin Turbo's performance improves dramatically whenever racing against Shirogane.
>They use recordings of her races to teach highschoolers about the Doppler effect.
>Just one unbroken, continuous screech of fear shifting pitch as she moves past the stands at a breakneck pace.
 
Are there any umas who are particularly conspiracy-theory minded or journalism oriented, or is there any sort of canonical student publication? I had an idea for an omake but I need a good Uma to do it with. Gold Ship will work if I need to, but I was wondering if there were any other options I might not be aware of.
 
uioor1 said:
Are there any umas who are particularly conspiracy-theory minded or journalism oriented, or is there any sort of canonical student publication? I had an idea for an omake but I need a good Uma to do it with. Gold Ship will work if I need to, but I was wondering if there were any other options I might not be aware of.
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less conspiracy/journalism and more just extreme fangirling but Agnes Digital might work she's a fangirl to literally every racer there is
 
uioor1 said:
Are there any umas who are particularly conspiracy-theory minded or journalism oriented, or is there any sort of canonical student publication? I had an idea for an omake but I need a good Uma to do it with. Gold Ship will work if I need to, but I was wondering if there were any other options I might not be aware of.
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She's not an Uma but Etsuko Otonashi is a human journalist from the mobile game who passionately follows and reports on the careers of the Umas
 
uioor1 said:
Are there any umas who are particularly conspiracy-theory minded or journalism oriented, or is there any sort of canonical student publication? I had an idea for an omake but I need a good Uma to do it with. Gold Ship will work if I need to, but I was wondering if there were any other options I might not be aware of.
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If you want someone investigating Shirogane, they could probably find out she has a bunch of ancestor who were in the Polish military at one point or another.
 
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I kinda feel bad for Shiro, it's making me hope Akikawa announces more long distance races for girls like her.
Then again, I feel like she needs to lose a race that really matters to her, Shirogane has everything but the actual passion needed to be a good racer. I feel like once she has as a proper fire lit under her, then she'll really make strides to fixing her speed.

She doesn't even have to be the fastest, just being able to hold a sprint all race would be good enough to win against mostly anyone.
 
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Ya know I'm incredible curious to know what kind of fans shiro would draw in. I can't imagine she'd have many children fans, which may be a hit to the plush department, maybe she'd have any edgy kid or two. With how she is currently and her difficulty to emote she'd have a tough time with audience appeal. Of course winning races would attract people regardless, though until then eeeehh.
I guess she could have an ice breaker moment. Which the only thing coming to mind is a pun joke coming out of left field and absolutely destroying her.
 
Dial said:
less conspiracy/journalism and more just extreme fangirling but Agnes Digital might work she's a fangirl to literally every racer there is
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Seconding this. Digi-tan knows everything there is to know about the Uma at Tracen. In the game she even has events where she quizzes you about other Uma, and a fair few facts require either extreme attention to detail or outside game knowledge.

Once Shirogane goes up a year and Digital enrolls, she might be extremely shocked about how much she's been studied by this seemingly random fangirl Uma.
 
RadFoxUK said:
I get that most of the races are just regulation ones, around a circular track, but surely there's gotta be Uma doing Parkour, Rambling, hell, an Uma version of Rally B even... I'd find it really cool if there were like Scandinavian/Nordic Uma doing rally races!

I feel like Uma-Tanya would do really well on rally style races, over these traditional NASCAR style races...

Uma on the Mongolian Steppe, or up in the mountains of the Alps, doing long range S&R, or in the Aussie outback, culling troublesome animals, like the wild cats...

There has GOT to be Uma out there running the valley and mountain roads like drifters, a horsegirl adaptation of Initial D... Just Tanya out there trying to deliver food on time, beating out the 'pro' rally racers... We've already seen her do essentially that in an urban environment, but like getting a husky and expecting it to do well in California, Tanya was meant for the twisting turns and sharp descents of country lane racing.
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G9YDJq5aYAA31xp.jpg:orig
 
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Granet said:
Ya know I'm incredible curious to know what kind of fans shiro would draw in. I can't imagine she'd have many children fans, which may be a hit to the plush department, maybe she'd have any edgy kid or two. With how she is currently and her difficulty to emote she'd have a tough time with audience appeal. Of course winning races would attract people regardless, though until then eeeehh.
I guess she could have an ice breaker moment. Which the only thing coming to mind is a pun joke coming out of left field and absolutely destroying her.
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I'm not well-versed in horse racing, but Arima Kinen's entry is based on fan votes right? I guess Shiro isn't ever going to the uma allstar, if they vote on spectacle instead of craft, but that aside I think she'll do just well with prize winnings and maybe an underrated sponsor
 
IbnAurum said:
I'm not well-versed in horse racing, but Arima Kinen's entry is based on fan votes right? I guess Shiro isn't ever going to the uma allstar, if they vote on spectacle instead of craft, but that aside I think she'll do just well with prize winnings and maybe an underrated sponsor
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If we're going by game logic, even if she loses all her G1s, she'd still potentially meet the fan count requirement. Besides, she'll be memorable enough for the fans even if she doesn't take first place regularly as long as she places second or higher repeatedly. Being 'First' is a resounding promotion, whereas being close second gives you recognition in the audience, and being consistent leaves you with a lasting legacy. There are epithets in the game, so there's also value in feats of accomplishment(even if those (edit: don't) translate in the game to fan-count[iirc]).

Unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with the variety of epithets, so someone else will have to speculate what sorta ones Tanya might nab.
 
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DeathFrown said:
Unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with the variety of epithets, so someone else will have to speculate what sorta ones Tanya might nab.
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It would be cruel but very funny if people started calling her 'eternal silver' because she consistently places high in races but never wins first place.
 
Hextroyer413 said:
It would be cruel but very funny if people started calling her 'eternal silver' because she consistently places high in races but never wins first place.
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'Place 2nd place in at least 7 G1 races in your career.' Maybe? Well, Nice Nature, who's known to be a 'bronze collector', had quite high earnings, so hopefully that helps Tanya Shirogane feel better!
 
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Hextroyer413 said:
It would be cruel but very funny if people started calling her 'eternal silver' because she consistently places high in races but never wins first place.
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DeathFrown said:
'Place 2nd place in at least 7 G1 races in your career.' Maybe? Well, Nice Nature, who's known to be a 'bronze collector', had quite high earnings, so hopefully that helps Tanya Shirogane feel better!
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Hell, even Haru Urara made a 'decent-ish' career earnings just be being an 'also-ran'. (well, if >Y1,000,000 is 'decent-ish')
 
mauveine said:
Hell, even Haru Urara made a 'decent-ish' career earnings just be being an 'also-ran'. (well, if >Y1,000,000 is 'decent-ish')
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For those that don't have inscribed the exchange rate for yen in their mind, 1,000,000 yen is worth 5468 euro at the moment.

Which uh, isn't a lot. Though do keep in mind the yen has recently dolphin dived and lost a fuckton of value so her career was probably not as bad as this implies.
 
heralding_bubble said:
I think it was during the time 1,000,000 yen was roughly about 10,000 USD? could be wrong.
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That's really not a whole lot, considering how expensive keeping horses is. Is that only from the race organizers and they get more from sponsors? Because otherwise I don't see how the math could math.
 
Jaertin said:
That's really not a whole lot, considering how expensive keeping horses is. Is that only from the race organizers and they get more from sponsors? Because otherwise I don't see how the math could math.
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That might be post costs? I don't actually know horse math, but that is another way to account for it being pretty dang low.
 
mauveine said:
Hell, even Haru Urara made a 'decent-ish' career earnings just be being an 'also-ran'. (well, if >Y1,000,000 is 'decent-ish')
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Hmm, according to JBIS, 'Japan's largest horse racing information database'(hopefully accurate), Nice Nature made a total of Y623,585,600- just 2 million yen short of Tokai Teio's Y625,633,500. The difference is that Nice Nature ran 41(won 7) races, whereas Tokai Teio ran just 12(won 9). The difference between making the podium seems to be quite intense, with Nice Nature earning 93M Yen in 1992 from 4 races, while only placing 3rd thrice, and 6M Yen in 1996, where she ran 5 races and placing none.

However, Haru Urara's story, her legend-changer, I might say, brings a new dimension to her. Providing her with an unforgettable weight of existence that resonates in people's hearts more so than other horses that raced/earned better. Also, she's our adorable little daughter who deserves all the grass.

Edit: Important note to make is that Nice Nature's 1992 earnings involved placing 3rd in Races such as the Arima Kinen(G1), 4th in Tenno Sho(G1), 3rd in Mile Championship(G1), and 3rd in Mainichi Okan(G2).
 
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Jubjub3000 said:
I wonder if shiro will try and petition for more non standard racing? 10km Obstacle course? Maybe she could try organise some street racing? All start and end at the same areas but the racer decides the route. Know the place and you can cut the distance and avoid delays.
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She'd probably enjoy hunt courses, also known as steeplechase, which on top of obstacles, tend to run significantly longer than flat courses as well. (F.ex. the Nakayama Grand Jump runs 4250m, while the King George VI Chase runs over 3 miles, or 4,828 meters.)

(Coincidentally, Oju Chosan, one of the best jumpers of all time, was a Sundayling by Stay Gold. 9 G1 wins[1], 9 straight years of competition, record for the oldest horse to ever win a G1 in Japan, at 11 years old. He was so popular that he was even voted into the Arima Kinen in 2018, and despite already being over twice the age of many other competitors at 7 years old at the time and not training for flat courses was only a second behind the winner in pace [Blast Onepiece].)

[1] Keep in mind, besides the Grand Jump, the Nakayama Daishogai is also the only other G1 steeplechase in Japan; meaning he was practically winning everything every year for nearly a decade straight.
 
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11. But That Doesn't Mean They Can Swim
But That Doesn't Mean They Can Swim​

The day of tryouts dawned suspiciously clear and sunny, with nary a cloud in the sky, which was good news for the spectators, but Shirogane had applied some sunscreen to her arms, legs and face as protection from the sun. Summer wasn't quite here, but the temperature was increasing enough for it to be a potential concern. She had also packed extra gel bags and water into an insulated pouch.

Somewhat inconveniently for her, with how the runs were scheduled, she had one in the morning and one in the afternoon, so she would have to stay out there for most of the day. At least she could probably get some schoolwork done in the interim. The cafeteria would probably be incredibly crowded, given the additional people coming to view the tryouts, so she had also packed some food for herself. It might be harder to find a good place to work in peace, but she would probably manage.

"Uhhh…why did it have to be so early?" And there was Seiun Sky complaining with a yawn, though looking more alert than a sleep deprived person would.

"Sky, this is later that our classes usually start," Grass Wonder pointed out, shooting the lackadaisical uma a longsuffering look.

"But we'll have to wait most of the day for our medium runs!"

The three of them had formed a cluster in the locker room as they prepared themselves for the long distance tryouts.

"That means we'll have some time to rest between the races."

Since the majority of runners were interested in medium distances, with longer distances and sprints having fewer takers, the less popular distances were scheduled in the morning, while some medium and mile races were set throughout the whole duration of tryouts, with more of them clustered towards the end, both to given those who wanted to run in different tryouts more time to recover, and likely to encourage trainers to observe more of the duration, as they would likely also be aiming to recruit runners who might excel at the more prestigious races, transferring some of the prestige onto them.

"Yeah, but by the time for my second run I'll be sleepy."

"Then eat a light lunch," Shirogane suggested as she stretched her limbs, feeling her joints and tendons tense and loosen. "Or have some caffeine before the run."

"Gaaah…you have way too much energy for how little you eat, Shiro-chan…"

"I eat quite a lot, for something my size."

"Are you calling us gluttons?" Grass Wonder's usually soft voice edged into dangerous territory.

"I said nothing of the sort." That would remain to be seen. If they continued eating the same amount after no longer being active athletes, then she would revisit the label. For now, it seemed to not be affecting their physical abilities.

"As I thought." Grass Wonder's ears twitched playfully as she covered her mouth.

"Ugh…save the posturing for when we get out on the track," Sky grumbled. "Though at least you two are the quieter ones."

"I'll be sure to let El know what you think of her, Sky."

"Sheesh, gonna throw me under the bus like that?"

She was probably joking, but it didn't matter too much to Shirogane. "She isn't wrong about parts of our class being quite noisy most of the time."

"You help balance it out by being too quiet, Shiro-chan."

"Someone has to, for our instructors' sake."

"I think you sneaking up on them makes them more anxious, Shirogane-san."

"I don't sneak up on them, they are just too distracted by the rest of your antics."

"Hey now, don't blame it on me! I'm not the one being loud."

"Even if you're not trying to sneak, Shirogane-san, you are pretty quiet most of the time."

"Yes." Maybe her classmates didn't like silence, so always tried to fill it with noise, but Shirogane didn't have the same urge, and if being quiet kept her from getting the attention of others, that wasn't really a problem either. Dealing with some of the noisier umas could be tiring.

As the time for their tryouts grew closer, the friendly ribbing petered out as their thoughts turned more to the track and prepping their bodies for the exertion.

In the relative silence, Shirogane could hear other students entering or milling about the locker room, likewise preparing for their tryouts. From what she'd seen of the schedule, the long distance heats were rather full, despite there being fewer runners overall. Each race didn't take very long itself, but there was a fair bit of lag time for loading into the gates as well as interim periods for the staff to check over the track and make sure it was suitable for another run.

"Are those…?"

One of her ears rotated towards the loudly whispered conversation among another row of lockers.

"Yeah…they're the class A runners."

Shirogane flicked her gaze briefly over towards the whispering pair, noting a wine haired uma with a leaf wreath around her right ear conversing with a pink haired one wearing green rimmed glasses, of all things.

"I hear Seiun Sky's really strong," the wine uma whispered, the hand covering her mouth failing to block out her voice entirely. "She dominated her middle school races."

"Yeah, I heard that too," green glasses sighed. "We're so toast."

"Hey, it won't be too bad if you get second."

"Do you really think we can beat umas from class A? I don't know anything about the other two."

"I'm pretty sure they're foreigners."

"Oh. Yeah, we're definitely toast."

It was about time for her and Sky's run, so Shirogane stepped out into the lane in between the lockers.

"Hey, don't give up so easily!"

"Why did we have to be in the same heat as class A?!"

"Fear not," Shirogane offered to the two nervous umas. "We aren't all in the same heat." Grass was in the following heat, so they wouldn't all be running together.

"Ahh!"

"Where did you come from?!"

This did not seem to assuage their fears at all, almost leaping out of their skin from Shirogane moving a few meters unnoticed.

"Yah!"

"What was that?!"

Their startled reactions in turn startled a few other runners in the locker room. It seemed that Shirogane had underestimated the amount of anxiety her fellows had in regards to the tryouts.

Wine hair and green glasses looked at her with an odd degree of terror, so Shirogane decided it was better to cut her losses and leave before the skittish umas did something seriously damaging to something, or themselves.

"See, I told you you were quite sneaky," Grass Wonder chuckled as the three of them left the locker room. "You gave those girls quite a fright."

"I literally walked over in plain view," Shirogane grumbled. "This was not a case of me being sneaky and more a case of them having the awareness of an elderly driver suffering from sleep deprivation."

"That's…uh…a kinda very specific complaint there, Shiro-chan," Sky muttered, folding her hands behind her head. "But hey, if the other runners are so easily spooked I think Grass has got her heat in the bag, since she's on her own while we'll have to fight each other for first place."

"You're getting ahead of yourself," Shirogane cautioned, rolling her neck to keep it from stiffening. "The other students might surprise us." From what she understood, their class was a group of promising runners with either impressive performances, notable pedigrees, or recommendations from reputable trainers. In general, that should theoretically mean that they were likely to win their tryout races against those judged to have lesser capacity, but that did not apply as neatly to herself, given her hitherto limited racing experience.

"Maah, some of the runners got in on schoolwork and just have tryouts as an attendance requirement. Those girls don't stand a chance."

"Need I remind you that my academics were a significant part of how I got in myself?"

"Yeah, but you train, and you've got guts." As if the other students didn't train. The crowded facilities in the last week proved otherwise.

"I will be rather disappointed if I don't get the opportunity to face you in a proper race, Shirogane-san," Grass Wonder chimed in with a gentle smile brimming with controlled anticipation. "It's a shame we are in different heats for our tryouts."

"Well, we can't have a disappointed Grass." Shirogane did not personally find it a shame, as Grass was among the three members of their class who won the most often in their practices. "Though I'm happy to run against you once you've been tired out a bit."

"Stacking the deck in your favor, Shirogane-san." Grass covered her mouth with one hand, her ears and tails wiggling playfully. "How devious of you."

"Blame Nakashima-sensei for giving me ideas."

"Yeah, she really should push us a bit harder, that way Shiro-chan gets to win a bit more."

"My, my, did I just hear Sky say she wants to work harder?"

"Must have been the wind."

"The sky is certainly noisy today, despite it being clear."

"Oi!"

It was a bit strange. In some ways interacting with her class was not too dissimilar with what the Soldier remembered of her comrades in arms. Many of her fellow soldiers were quite silly, not terribly surprising since most were young adults, with some who barely qualified, and a few, like the Soldier, who had still very much been children. But once they had experienced the crucible of battle, they turned into something very dangerous. And then they still turned back into silly people on leave.

Her fellow race students acted similarly in regards to running, being rather spastic children in class, but resembling something of a focused professional when actively running on the race track.

"Well, best of luck, Sky-san, Shirogane-san," Grass Wonder offered, breaking off from the group and heading towards a waiting area. "I'll be watching the outcome with great interest."

"I wonder which one of us you're wishing luck?" Seiun Sky wondered, tilting her head back in a faux-lackadaisical manner.

"Oh, I would not want to pick favorites."

"Strictly speaking, you have, since you expect one of us to win."

"Do you not think the same?"

"I mean…yeah, but Shiro's got a point."

"Truth can be stranger than fiction."

Grass Wonder laughed, covering her mouth again like she usually did, an affectation she seemed to have picked up from viewing Japanese media while she had been back in America. "Best of luck, both of you"

"Okay…now I'm a bit worried…"

"Our other opposition appear to be more so." Shirogane flicked her tail, pointing to where several other competitors were hesitating, seemingly afraid of approaching the group, even if they were blocking the route to the track, and thus their hope for their future. "Whatever the outcome, dreams will be crushed today."

"It's way too nice of a day to be so grim, Shiro-chan."

"This isn't an anime, the weather doesn't change to fit the mood." A small frown pulled at her lips. "And more murders happen in good weather compared to bad."

"Alright, that's enough out of you!" Sky huffed, hurrying her steps forward towards the track, Shirogane following in her wake.

"Ah…" Only to stop short when she saw the starting gate.

A bugle sound played over the PA system, signalling that it was time to get ready.

"You are getting in the cage." Unsympathetic to her classmate's weird hangup, Shirogane grabbed Sky by the collar and hauled her to her designated gate, shoving her in before she could react. "You are about to crush some dreams, don't drag it out."

She got into her own gate with no fanfare, glaring momentarily at the sound speakers.

These were not guns.

Shirogane closed her eyes, breathing deep and exhaling slowly, letting the world mostly fall away, though she kept an ear out as the rest of her competition got into the starting gate with suddenly hesitant steps.

Odd…she had thought they would be more excited, but perhaps the nerves were getting to them now that the task was right in front of them.

For herself, this would be the first time she ran a race with something tangible on the line, and even then failing to achieve first place would only somewhat jeopardize her place with a trainer.

Still, she felt some excitement, though she couldn't quite pin down why.

She let the mostly meaningless prattle of the announcers wash past her like so much wind, ears peeled for the starting blast.

The noise vanished for a split second, and she knew it was time.

Red eyes snapped open, just in time to see the mechanisms on the gate begin to move, and the next moment Shirogane was running, springing out of the gate with hardly any delay.

"And we're off! But it's a bit rough with several runners starting late! Have the tryout nerves already gotten to them?!"

Shirogane glanced backwards, mildly surprised that she had become part of the leading pack to start with. It seemed that a few of the other runners had hesitated momentarily at the gate.

Still, as expected, Sky quickly made her way to the front, and Shirogane followed in her wake, the two of them pulling away from the rest of the runners by a few lengths. They were not completely alone, with the wine haired uma from earlier trying her best to catch up.

"Leading the pack is number ten, Seiun Sky! And right behind her is number four, Shirogane Or…Olrzel? Is that how you say it? With number seven Tocotoco not too far back."

The runners settled into a rhythm, those that started late mostly making their way to a position they seemed comfortable with, though the effort required to overcome their delay appeared to have strained them somewhat, which wasn't a great sign, given this tryout set was two-point-five kilometers, not terribly long, in Shirogane's view, but that was the length of the Arima Kinen, probably the most prestigious race on the longer side.

Sky kept near the rail, but not so close that Shirogane wouldn't have room to pass her on the inside, either trying to leave that opportunity open as a trap, or just to give herself more room to maneuver.

"Coming up to the first bend, Seiun Sky is still in the lead, with Shirogane Orlzer still following right on her tail! Number seven Tocotoco is still trying to keep up but she's still several lengths behind!"

They ducked into the first turn, and Sky cut closer to the rail, blocking off a passing lane, but Shirogane wasn't planning on passing her just yet.

Behind her the wine haired uma continued to close with them, but did not appear to be able to pass them, and her wider turn arc on the bend did not help. Further behind her, the green glasses uma led the second pack, starting to shorten the dividing distance by turning more sharply.

Shirogane's face pinched in concentration as she tracked them with her ears. They didn't seem winded yet, and if they were in the long tryouts they should have enough stamina at this point, so why weren't they closing? By running towards the front of the pack, that suggested they did not have as strong of a burst later in the race, so they should be trying to position themselves well, but they weren't.

Their positions did not really change going down the next straight, at least at the front. From the announcer's affected excitement, there was some shifting towards the rear of the pack, but that wasn't so relevant at the moment.

Now that she's had experience running on turf for a couple months, the springiness didn't bother her as much, and Shirogane figured she could keep this pace for a couple races, theoretically.

She kept a close eye on Sky's movements, watching her gait. From her experience running against her classmate, Shirogane knew the pale haired uma had quite a bit of stamina, and was canny enough to use that for some tricks.

And sure enough, as they reached the second turn, about two-thirds of the way through the race, Sky began to slow down, but from this close Shirogane could see that her apparent fatigue was feigned. It was a trick she'd pulled before, but the other runners wouldn't know that.

It also served Shirogane's purposes, so she accelerated.

"What's this?! Seiun Sky is slowing down and Shirogane Orzler surges ahead!"

As she passed Sky, their gazes met for a moment, the pale haired uma smirking conspiratorily. Shirogane did not return the look, but internally she had to applaud her classmate's plan.

Having run against each other, Sky knew Shirogane had to sprint earlier to stay relevant, while likewise Shirogane was aware of Sky's fakeout trick. Combined together, some other runners were sure to fall for it.

"Tocotoco and Jewel Tourmaline also pass Seiun Sky! There's still a lot of race to go, are they getting ahead of themselves?"

And sure enough, seeing the leader slow down and be overtaken, the following runners sped up as well, far earlier than most runners would be advised to. There was still about half a circuit left.

Shirogane sprinted down the straight, throwing herself forwards and ducking low to reduce wind resistance, her tail straight back to help keep balance.

"Number four Shirogane Orlzel is flying ahead down the straight, can she keep this up the rest of the way?!"

The wind pulled at her face and her hair, the sounds of her competitors' footfalls fading somewhat as her acceleration created a gap in the lines, though wine hair and green glasses were closing the distance slowly.

"Number Seven Tocotoco and Number Three Jewel Tourmaline are giving it their all, but Orlzle is still ahead! Number One Ribbon March is also hot on their heels!"

Coming to the end of the straight, Shirogane grit her teeth and banked sharply, hugging the inner rail as she turned, muscles straining to keep her forward speed as fast as she could along with her horizontal acceleration.

"Shirogane Orlzel turns the corner ahead of the pack and is showing no signs of slowing down! She might be able to keep this up all the way–! What's this?! Seiun Sky is speeding up! Seems like she's hit her second wind!"

Now on the final straight, with nothing ahead, Shirogane closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on the sound behind her, blocking out the strain in her flesh as she pushed forwards. The others seemed to be flagging, unable to keep up their pace through the turn, but as expected, her classmate had faked her faltering, and now was taking advantage of their opponents' fatigue to make up lost ground.

"Seiun Sky is pushing back towards the front! She's passed Ribbon March! She's passed Jewel Tourmaline!"

Despite the lead she had opened up, judging by Sky's closing speed, Shirogane would be overtaken.

"Seiun Sky has blown past Tocotoco and is charging down the final straight after Shirogane! Can she do it?!"

A step or two outside, and Shirogane edged into Sky's direct path, which might force her to lose speed in the adjustment.

"She's closed to three lengths! Two lengths! But Shirogane Orlzle is not making it easy!"

Sky was undeterred, pulling alongside Shirogane as the end loomed in front of them/

"Seiun Sky has pulled all the way back to the front! They're neck and neck!"

"An impressive trick," Shirogane complimented her classmate as they approached the finish line.

To her surprise, Sky stumbled a step.

"Oh no! Did Seiun Sky trip?!"

That was rather uncharacteristic, but it likely would not matter, as even with the misstep, Sky's much greater top speed meant she pulled even with Shirogane seconds later.

"Seiun Sky marches Shirogane Orzel!"

And then they were past the finish line, Sky leading by a half step.

"Seiun Sky pulls it off by a head! What an incredible run!"

Second place against one of the more consistent winners in her class, on a fresh run where they were not fatigued, was a better result than Shirogane had managed in practice so far.

The crowd burst into applause, mostly from other students, and the runners came to a halt one by one, while the watching trainers looked on with analytical eyes.

"Almost…had me there…Shiro-chan," Sky gasped, hands on her knees as she caught her breath. "Nasty trick there…almost made me fall over."

"I don't know what you mean. Your false fatigue worked quite well," Shirogane returned, briefly glancing back at the distraught looking runners who had finished in their wake. "Behold, the dreams you have crushed."

Sky's mood soured as she noticed the signs of despair on the defeated runners, though some had enough spirit in them to glare petulantly at the winner.

"Hey…you were part of that too…and it's not like I crushed your dreams. I'm sure there's…gonna be a trainer willing to pick you up."

Shirogane's dream was not contingent on racing, and she did have a trainer lined up, with this performance likely enough to justify retaining her, but she wasn't going to let that information slip, especially not now.

"Few people remember second place," she shrugged. "And these are tryouts. Once you get established enough, losing a race means you get to try again another time. Here, it might be the end of the road."

"Ugh…can't the…guilt trip wait…until later?" Sky glowered at her, still somewhat short of breath. "You really don't have to spoil my win, you know?"

"Fair point," Shirogane acknowledged, tipping her head apologetically. "Just something that struck me as interesting."

It wasn't a race with monetary stakes, but it could very well snuff out some careers before they even began. To some degree it was even intended to.

"If you came to this school with hopes of glory, it must be painful to find yourself relegated to gate fodder." Her voice came out more bitter than she expected.

While the consequences of failure weren't that severe, and she wasn't too bothered by it herself, being reminded of the War in her memories always worsened her mood.

"Don't think you'll end up like that," Sky posted in encouragement, seeming to take her grin reminiscing as disappointment. "There's still the other tryout you're running."

Shirogane nodded, schooling her expression into neutrality once more. "True enough." With nothing more to say, she walked away, heading to the locker room to retrieve her things. She would need to rehydrate after this run, and hopefully she could find a quiet place to do some schoolwork while she waited for her next run.
AN. A shorter chapter this time, but I felt like this was a decent break point. Shirogane gets quite close to beating Sky (I sort of rolled for it) while the two of them combine to completely mess up the rest of the competitors. Not sure if I should write more races like this, since it might get a bit tedious, though I will probably write out the other tryout she runs in.
 
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