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On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

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TheSmallSauce said:
Wonder if the Indy 500 is an uma race in the umaverse. It's the perfect race for Shirogane, a race that's more or less 200 laps on a 4 kilometre loop as fast as you can go with as few breaks as you need.
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I can see it now.
Shirogane is in last for the first 70 or so laps, but just keeps chugging along until around 110-120 then just jumps to top 3 from others having to slow down and/or take pit stops. Wins it and still acts like it was a light run at worst, while everyone else is dead tired.
 
TheSmallSauce said:
Wonder if the Indy 500 is an uma race in the umaverse. It's the perfect race for Shirogane, a race that's more or less 200 laps on a 4 kilometre loop as fast as you can go with as few breaks as you need.
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I've been wondering what Shirogane's ideal race would be. Boston Marathon? Tour de France on foot? Steel Ball Run? Nah, not enough concrete and urban maneuvering.
 
Murderthon.

It's a 'tri-half-marathon' of different course types and you have to shoot targets at the middle of each type of track. It's still a relatively 'short' race as far as marathon types are concerned, being 3 laps on a 6k track. But considering Uma race distances combined with not needing to stop to shoot the targets, she takes it easily.

Normally it favors acceleration, stamina, and wits, which are already Shirogane's best stats, but the extra strength of only needing to accelerate once makes her an easy victor.
 
Now imagine a collab outfit, Race Queen Shirogane, in which every uma aside from her is dressed in checkered clothing and dubiously cut racing leathers, and Shiro is in a driver's suit and helmet. You can't actually tell it's her, the only clue being how short she is.

"Eh, Shiro, why are you dressed so differently?"

"Yeah, no fair, I also want to wear a helmet!"

"But then no one would be able to see your mask, El."

"Oh yeah! Hmm..."

"To answer your question, it is because I will be participating in the race; I have a driver's license."

"Huh?!"

"What? Since when?"

"I'm also forklift certified. Please come and support me at the annual pallet stacking tournament happening later today."
 
Many sports were undergoing major changes in the early 2000s. If uma racing followed similar trends, the focus of the Golden era was on increasing efficiency/optimization somehow.

Shirogane has got that done. Hugging the rails, extreme training, that weirdly stable running style focused on limiting wasted energy, throwing herself down slopes instead of merely running down, etc. Everything she does is to squeeze a few extra milliseconds off the clock to optimize her warhorse build to compete against dedicated racehorses.

Unlike one-off, genetic freakshows like Goldship, everything she does is reproducible (to some extent) by a dedicated uma. There is a good chance that after a season or two, others will notice and start copying whatever she's doing. For better or for worse, Shirogane will change things.

Then decades later, you'd get videos like this glazing Shiro:

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6tD7AAMMwns
 
WrandmWaffles said:
Just realized that Shirogane could potentially still be running when Admire Groove races, perhaps even competing against her in the QEII Cup. She's an appropriate senpai for another anti-social uma lol.
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Immediately got the image of Air Groove bringing Admire Groove to Shirogane's apartment after school hours like it's some kind of parent-teachers meeting. The vibes are: I can't always be here for you, but here's another trusted adult you can rely on.
 
Mostly done with the next chapter. Gonna do some proofreading so hopefully it will be out tomorrow.

Here's a preview for those interested:
"Wooo! You can do this Steady!" Azuki and Matcha both cheered for their friend as she strode out onto the Kawasaki race track. Steady bowed to the crowd before straightening up and waving, a wide grin on her face, as typical of her before a race.

"Can you see alright, Shiro-chan?" Taro asked, glancing down at Shirogane, who stood between her and her energetic younger sisters.

"I can see fine," Shirogane reassured her friend. Taro was nearly twice as tall as her, and her siblings were not far behind. If she had been standing behind them she would not have been able to see, but the three large umas created a natural void in the crowd as people mostly were not too eager to stand near enough to feel the stand shake slightly from Matcha and Azuki's excited hops. "It's always quite easy to spot you three in the crowd."

"What do those things have to do with one another?" Taro muttered, but she was quickly distracted as Steady waved at them specifically, demonstrating just how easy it was to pick out the three tall uma out of a crowd.

Shirogane nodded as she and Steady made eye contact, and the latter laughed, throwing her a mock salute before turning and heading towards the gate, the motion drawing a few more cheers.

While the Kawasaki Kinen was not an internationally recognized G1 race, it was rated as grade 1 in Japan, so the runners were naturally dressed up in their preferred costumes, with Steady wearing a deep navy blue jacket marked by a bright yellow lightning pattern that circled both front and back from her right shoulder to her left hip, following the diagonal fastening of the asymmetrical jacket. The ear sock worn over her left ear was similarly yellow, and two yellow rings broke up her short sleeves, looking a bit like cuffs you would find on a uniform.

Actually, with the matching navy blue skirt, leggings and dark boots, Steady's outfit called to mind a postman's uniform (or postwoman, more specifically), and she even considered wearing a bright yellow cap before she was dissuaded due to preferring to feel the wind in her hair.

As much as Shirogane could admit that her talent for fashion was highly limited, she had trouble understanding how Steady could consider herself fashionable if this was her preference.

"Steady's outfit is so cool! It makes her look so fast!"

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't contribute to her speed that much, Azuki."

"Mmm….but Shiro is faster when she has her costume on, onee-san!"

"It is a uniform."

"Shiro is weird, Azuki."

"I resent this observation."
 
TheSmallSauce said:
Immediately got the image of Air Groove bringing Admire Groove to Shirogane's apartment after school hours like it's some kind of parent-teachers meeting. The vibes are: I can't always be here for you, but here's another trusted adult you can rely on.
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Man, I can't help but imagine that meme where it's a kindergarten teacher or something and the cameraman is holding a photo of her in a military uniform. Except it'll be like 20 years in the future, Shiro is running the Suzukiya restaurant chain or whatnot, and the photo will be of her in her racing (basically military) outfit and making a murderous expression with her sword out.
 
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