On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[purplefox1013]

Well she'll be back as your assistant come hell or high water, so that's probably fine.


...Shiro is gonna pass on the Arima Kinen to race her friend, isn't she?

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it honestly wouldn't surprise me

 

[Dopplerdee]

it honestly wouldn't surprise me

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

 

[jvfg9]

I can't wait for some of the others to put the idea that she was a war horse out and see if anyone else comes to the realization

 

[Skywolf99]

Get a regular job?

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

 

[RandomNew]

Ah Ramonu my favorite adult cosplaying as high schooler.

Heh Steady's Trainer is quite dense it seems.

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.

Thank you for the new chapter. I've been really looking forward to this one.

 

[zecorezecron]

What do they do for the next 50-60 years of their life? Get a regular job?

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Given how they are rather athletic and do a lot of singing and dancing, I imagine that a lot go into performance arts of some kind. I imagine that the corporate music industry is dominated by retired racers.

 

[d s]

I wish I was a good writer, I'd right an omake of Shirogane and Dream Journey meeting. But how would it go? Friction, friendly, two predators passing each other by, one professional tipping their hat to another?

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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.

 

[Dr.Degenerate]

I could imagine Shiro accepting a marriage proposal from a racing family if it included an investment into her family's restaurant, and perhaps some stipulation on how many children she'll be expected to have, and how often she'll be pregnant.

 

[DYNAMO]

At this point Hana might just try running Shirogane is every kind of race possible just in case she unexpectedly has a talent at something else (like Sprints).

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Unfortunately, japanese horse racing doesn't have a "flying under mortar fire" category, so Tanya won't be able to demonstrate her true speciality.

 

[Mythantor]

Unfortunately, japanese horse racing doesn't have a "flying under mortar fire" category, so Tanya won't be able to demonstrate her true speciality.

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Assuming they are standard mortars and the people flying are roughly human sized. That is actually quite doable, mortars are not air burst and have a quite predictable arc. So unless you got unlucky you should be fine. (I am not condoning trying to dodge mortar shells while flying)

 

[PatUrgotten]

Nooo Windy had the misfortune to encounter a real demon king!

Are JPN1 considered G1 like in game? If so even if the classics go poorly Shirogane has a good chance of getting at least one G1 victory her classic year. And if she skips the Japan Cup, winning the Champions Cup and Tokyo Daishōten together gives an extra big payout...

 

[Herofox]

...Shiro is gonna pass on the Arima Kinen to race her friend, isn't she?

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Honestly, I could see a story beat where it's the one time Shiro pushes her limit.

Which would be hilarious if she successfully runs in all 6 Crowned races without incident.

She wouldn't even have to place in them to make it a record if she's still perfectly fine afterward.

 

[saltyweed]

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.

 

[Kentcas]

Man I was so looking forward to Shiro running in the Arima Kinen, it's a shame but the dirt race with her senior would probably be more emotionally fulfilling.

 

[Herofox]

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.

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She would be unique enough to have double A aptitude for track with a 0% speed growth lol

 

[LuridThrone]

It was going to be strange not having her around.

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You fool.

One ear twitched at the sound of incoming footsteps.

"Raar–gakh!"

Something jumped at her from behind and Shirogane slammed her elbow backwards into something bony and fleshy–

Thump!

Shirogane looked down at the prone form of the messy haired uma that had just tried to bite her, taking a moment to restrain the instinct of stomping on her head to make sure she stayed down–

No, make sure they were not playing dead first.

She kicked some dirt into the weird uma's face and saw no reaction, though the downed uma was still breathing.

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Fish meet bigger fish. Tanya's the real deal.

 

[Dopplerdee]

Man I was so looking forward to Shiro running in the Arima Kinen, it's a shame but the dirt race with her senior would probably be more emotionally fulfilling.

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Yeah, but unless she does one after another she has to choose... that said if they are more than a few hours apart she could go plus ultra.

 

[Sky3Fall]

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.

 

[Lyrista]

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."

 

[guisniperman]

...Shiro is gonna pass on the Arima Kinen to race her friend, isn't she?

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

 

[Kazumaa23]

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."

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all of them or most of them find her antics quite adorable. She is quite young.

 

[TheSmallSauce]

If Shirogane had not known how dangerous silly people could be from the Soldier's memories, losing to these clowns would have been rather tilting.

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...And her competitive side finally shows itself... Kinda? Golden Generation girls really are too goofy, losing to basically a group of shonen protagonists has gotta be tilting. Get beaten handily then have your ear talked off about friendship and breaking barriers when you ask how they did it.

Still, it made her feel old seeing the youngsters running about, even if keeping active helped her look younger than her age.

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Rudolf firmly in her dad era, "Ah these young whippersnappers have too much energy and not enough focus, back in my day..."

"Maybe, maybe not." Rudolf smiled back, remembering the Mejiro lady's voracious appetite when they were competing. The only other uma she'd seen who came close had been Oguri Cap. "Are you sure you don't want to order something?"

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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...

"Grass Wonder is quite a strong contestant as well." Rudolf took another sip of her drink. "I've heard some compare her to old lady Maruzensky."

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Old Lady... Rudolf's life expectancy is rapidly decreasing as we speak. Though I do wonder how that particular nickname managed to take root considering Maruzensky silences all dissenters via vehicular delivery of blunt force trauma.

A short snort of laughter escaped from the dark haired uma next to her. "Is that where she picked this up?" Ramonu tittered, "I suppose that explains why she appears so ready to spill blood. It seems to also scare off her competition too. That is always fun to watch."

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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. It'd certainly be a valid idea in my country, a crash happens on this particular stretch of road I take to work every time it rains, and it rains a lot.

Rudolf groaned, dropping her head into her hands. "Worse, they have been sending me profiles for my cousins and asking me to play matchmaker."

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This whole conversation is great. That they know each other's childhood nicknames is really cute, doubly so considering their IRL counterparts had a kid together. These two sound like old childhood friends turned drinking buddies, which is what they are. 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?

"Well, how interesting…" By the look on her face, Ramonu had come up with a dangerous thought. Likely the same one Rufold had herself.

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Rufold.

"Almost, he's distantly related to the Hokutos, but no umas at all in his close relatives."

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Oh hey, the omake made it into canon!

"Of course not!" Ramonu chuffed, "to break a foe's spirit you have to tailor your approach, and make an actual active effort instead of just looking angry–oh where did she go?"

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To be able to fool even an experienced racer's eye, how impressive. I wonder if any of Shiro's seniors have any remarks on how often she manages to disappear and reappear within their field of view. Feels like in-game she'd completely immune to vision based debuffs.

"Ohoh, that's the one with the murderer's visage, isn't it?" Ramonu leaned in, temporarily distracted from her snack. "Little Dober told me about her. It seems she has legs tough enough that any serious family would want them. And she can't be that slow if she can match the Old Lady's record."

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It must be quite sobering for two old timers to realize how quickly the sport is evolving, even legendary records of the past are slowly being ground away as the nutrition and training improves. Maruzensky's times were monstrous for her time, but compared to modern times... well, that's why measuring athletes against anyone but their contemporaries is pointless, unless you're talking about a real genetic freak. I think Secretariat's times for the American Triple Crown are still unbeaten after, what, 53 years?

Behind all the talk of matchmaking, it's interesting to see Rudolf and Ramonu's perspectives on the Sunday Silence and generally American takeover of the Japanese racing scene. I think 1992 was the year when Sunday Silence's first crop started competing, so it would have been 6 years of this already, not hard to see which way the wind's blowing. That they still have so many unmarried cousins is probably indicative of the change in priority for desirable traits matchmakers are looking for... 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.

"I was doing some running practice and then she jumped up behind me right into my elbow." Shirogane answered with a straight face, doing her best not to so much as twitch her tail errantly.

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"Yes officer, this varmint leapt at me attempting to disarm me and accidentally impaled herself on this bayonet I was carrying, then she fell, hit her head several times on that one stone on this very smooth tarmac road and then a flock of migratory African swallows performed a fly-by shooting."

edit:

"Hmph, she is holding herself back," Ramonu observed with a disappointed 'tsk'. "With how she runs, as if she wanted to kill someone, I'd expected more passion for her."

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I'm going to go out on a limb and wager that this line was meant to be:

"With how she runs, as if she wanted to kill someone, I'd expected more passion from her."

"An uma who really only cares about the money has this kind of killer instinct? Look at this!"

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Well, money does make the mare go. Go what? Well in this case, probably go crazy.

Turning towards the two searching umas, Shirogane waved to get their attention, before picking up the probably Shinko-san by her collar and hoisting her unconscious form up for them to see. "Is this who you are looking for?"

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It didn't quite occur to me on the first read through just how ridiculous this situation must look. Shiro just elbowed Shinko in the sternum, kicked dirt in her face then lifted her up by her collar for two of her upperclassmen to see. It must look like a fatality out of Mortal Kombat...

 

[arky4444]

She still had a turf race coming up anyways in the Keisei Hai, a 2000 meter race at Nakayama, which happened to be on the same day as the race Pasa-san would be participating in.

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

Rudolf looked up to see her pale-haired junior position herself in a way that notably disrupted the movement of the runners behind her, forcing them to slow down to avoid collisions.

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"I suppose that explains why she appears so ready to spill blood. It seems to also scare off her competition too. That is always fun to watch."

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the two of them watched as Shirogane finished second behind Meiner Love, another respectable performance, and another respectable paycheck.

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Meiner Love went from IRL 5th place to 1st. Shirogane terrified the front-runners, and blocked Mandarin Star and Build Up River when they tried to surge, but I'm guessing that she was out of options against Meiner Love? Rudolf did note that Meiner Love already had experience with running against Shirogane (1997 Asahi Hai).

Edit: 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.

 

[cappo]

I believe the race between Steady and Tanya will be a turning point for the latter. 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; feeling that way, she might decide she'd rather not race against Tanya at all.

Moving on, I wonder if we'll see a future conflict between Tanya and Tsuyoshi specifically one driven by Tsuyoshi's jealousy and frustration over being unable to race due to her health, while her companion races week after week without truly appreciating that gift from the heavens.

 

[Neo3932156]

Moving on, I wonder if we'll see a future conflict between Tanya and Tsuyoshi specifically one driven by Tsuyoshi's jealousy and frustration over being unable to race due to her health, while her companion races week after week without truly appreciating that gift from the heavens.

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From an Uma point of view, Shiro is thankful for her gifts by running all the races she can qualify and can fit into her schedule. As far as the rest of the Uma's is concerned, aside from her speed, she's living the dream by racing all over the nation and eventually the rest of the world as well.

 

[Acerer]

"Ah, yes…" Ramonu nodded, catching her meaning. "I have a few unmarried cousins that the family is pressuring to get married." She shrugged her shoulders. "I cannot say how much hope there is for them, but a few of them have some promise."

"Things are quite similar for us," Rudolf returned, considering if she should order another drink. "Some of the old geezers are getting more agitated about the lack of G1 wins. Some are saying we need some new blood, others don't agree. The usual, really."

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It's funny since in a way, the Mejiro's were succeeded by the Golds. I wonder how the Mejiros feel about serial wanderer Stay Gold sweeping in and charming the pants off some the McQueen's 'juniors'.

 

[Kazumaa23]

It's funny since in a way, the Mejiro's were succeeded by the Golds. I wonder how the Mejiros feel about serial wanderer Stay Gold sweeping in and charming the pants off some the McQueen's 'juniors'.

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

 

[Dopplerdee]

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

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Heck, they'll probs do something crazy boy going all out for the first time and putting everything into the last race and make it even more crazy looking.
Girl skips the big race to do something insane in one that people don't care about as much.

 

[Kazumaa23]

Something that has been bothering me a lot during this fic is how some umas talk about humans, sounds almost specist or racist. I don't think i have ever seen a single uma talk about humans like that in the game.

It's not exactly pronounced by slightly odd.

 

[rooster]

I just realized Tanyagane having Polish ancestry may not be a cosmetic detail as Polish Hussar horses were bred for extreme endurance in battlefield conditions with a specialty of charge-retreat-charge and during said charge horses would close ranks. That's why Tanya can run so much and practically touch other runners while doing so.