Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen, upon hearing Kitasan Black's words, did not show the same surprise as the two new recruits, but instead both laughed.
"That's certainly her style."
"Don't you think this is a bit too outrageous? We haven't even debuted yet, and she's talking about winning the Triple Crown..."
"You have to believe that Trainer-san truly has that ability," Tokai Teio said with a smile.
The four of them chatted as they finally reached the starting position where Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen had begun their race.
Mejiro McQueen looked around and found the coin that had just been used as the starting signal.
She then picked it up and put it in her pocket.
"Um... I want to ask, Miss Teio, what is the goal you're fighting for?" Kitasan Black asked.
"Didn't I just say? It's the President! I want to become an undefeated Triple Crown Horse Girl like the President, and I've already achieved it!" Tokai Teio said with a smile.
"But Teio, you are no longer an undefeated Horse Girl," Mejiro McQueen corrected with a chuckle.
"Anyway, it's fine as long as I didn't lose before the Triple Crown! Speaking of which, McQueen, aren't you the same? I just beat you!"
"Sorry, so what if I won? It wasn't an official race anyway."
"McQueen, are you trying to go back on your word?"
"Of course not. A loss is a loss. It's just that this race won't be recorded. In the official records, I still maintain my winning streak," Mejiro McQueen said with a smile.
"Just you wait, your winning streak won't last much longer. My next goal is to beat McQueen in a long-distance race!"
"Hmph, big talk. Try it if you can do it."
Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond watched them, feeling a bit amused as they instantly went from good friends to rivals with sparks in their eyes.
Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen were just like the two of them.
"By the way… Miss McQueen, what was your goal back then?"
Satono Diamond spoke up in time, interrupting the intense stare-down between Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen, whose foreheads were almost touching.
"My goal was to win the Spring Tenno Sho. The Spring Tenno Sho holds extraordinary significance for the Mejiro Family."
"Oh, so McQueen's goal is that simple," Tokai Teio chuckled.
"Just winning once isn't enough! I want to achieve consecutive victories, a three-peat! And in the future, a four-peat, a five-peat."
"Miss McQueen, achieving a three-peat in the Spring Tenno Sho, and last year's Spring and Autumn consecutive victories, is truly an impressive accomplishment," Satono Diamond praised.
"It's no big deal."
Mejiro McQueen pretended not to care on the surface, but in reality, she was very happy to be praised by a junior.
The proof was the light purple tail behind her, wagging cheerfully a few times.
"Then, Miss McQueen, do you not have a goal to strive for or follow, like Miss Teio? Although Trainer-san said it's not good to follow someone else's path… actually, Miss McQueen, you are the goal I strive for."
Satono Diamond said, blushing, to Mejiro McQueen.
"How could she? McQueen acts like she looks down on everyone. How could anyone catch her eye?"
Tokai Teio habitually teased Mejiro McQueen.
But this time, Mejiro McQueen did not retort to Tokai Teio as she usually would.
"Actually, I do."
"Eh? McQueen, are you serious? Why have I never heard you mention it? Who is it?" Tokai Teio was surprised.
"It's the older sister I just mentioned, the one I often played with when I was little."
"Is that the one you said felt very similar to our Trainer-san?"
"Exactly," Mejiro McQueen nodded. "The two of them are quite similar, both so stunningly beautiful. The first time I saw Trainer-san, I was startled, wondering how two people could look so alike."
"But our Trainer-san looks human no matter how you look at her, and I don't see any tails or ears. Plus, my sister has short blue hair, and our Trainer has long black hair; their hair colors are completely different."
"Although I don't know my sister's exact age, she seemed very mature in my memory, so I think she should be much older than me. I've seen our Trainer-san's ID, and her age isn't much older than ours," Mejiro McQueen said.
"Is she strong?"
"Hmm… I don't know… I didn't really understand back then. She only participated in one G1 Race. But to me at the time, she was my idol."
"But only participating in one G1 Race is a bit too…" Tokai Teio felt a little awkward. "Horse Girl who participate in their first G1 Race usually don't get good results, right?"
Tokai Teio said that, but she had never tasted defeat until she lost to Mejiro McQueen in last year's Arima Kinen.
"No, although she only participated in one G1 Race, her first was the Spring Tenno Sho. And she almost took first place."
"That amazing?!"
Tokai Teio, along with the two junior Horse Girl, exclaimed in unison upon hearing this.
If it were just an ordinary G1 Race, that would be one thing, but to go straight into the Tenno Sho, the longest G1 Race, and almost get first place.
Such talent could only be described as terrifying.
"Then how many lengths was she behind the first-place Horse Girl?" Satono Diamond asked curiously.
"None, she wasn't second place," Mejiro McQueen shook her head.
"Then was she third place? Third place is also very good," Tokai Teio smiled.
"No, out of ten competitors, she was tenth."
Tokai Teio & Satono Diamond & Kitasan Black: "…"
"That's not 'almost' at all!!!" The three shouted in unison.
"It's not like that, listen to me."
Mejiro McQueen also felt a bit awkward; her explanation had a slight problem.
"She should have been first. She clearly crossed the finish line in first place, but she was disqualified for a foul, so she was stripped of her victory."
"Foul?" The three were surprised.
"Yes. She was disqualified for veering in the final straight of the race."
"Did she obstruct other competitors then?" Tokai Teio asked, puzzled.
"No, she didn't."
"Huh? Then why? I remember there are rules for veering in Central horse racing, right? As long as it doesn't obstruct the path of other Horse Girl, veering is allowed."
Japanese Central horse racing has a rule: if an Horse Girl veers and obstructs the path of another Horse Girl, and the condition "if the offending Horse Girl had not veered, the victim Horse Girl would have overtaken the offending Horse Girl" is met, the offending Horse Girl's result will be moved behind the victim Horse Girl's. If veering causes significant harm to the progress of the race, then the result will be voided, meaning disqualification. More severe cases result in a suspension penalty. In other words, as long as it doesn't affect other Horse Girl, veering is allowed. Even if it does affect them, it will only result in an exchange of results with the affected Horse Girl, not a direct voiding.
"This rule was added after she was penalized for veering," Mejiro McQueen said. "Everyone says this rule was added because of her."
"I see, that's truly a shame," Tokai Teio sighed.
Winning the Spring Tenno Sho in her first G1 Race, only to be disqualified due to imperfect rules, was indeed a great pity.
"By the way, what's your sister's name?" Tokai Teio asked.
"Sakura, Mejiro Sakura," Mejiro McQueen said.
"Mejiro Sakura? Do we have someone by that name at Tracen Academy?" Tokai Teio asked, puzzled.
"She didn't join Tracen Academy. She was a local Horse Girl before, and she should have joined Central's Tracen Academy. But that race wasn't just about voiding her results; the Central Horse Racing Association directly suspended her for six years."
--
--
Note:
Regarding the six-year suspension, I hope readers won't find it strange.
The timeline in the Horse Girl worldview is very peculiar. McQueen participated in the Tenno Sho three times in the anime, and the following year (?) Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond enrolled.
This means that for one generation of Uma Musume, from enrollment and debut to advancing a grade and welcoming new Uma Musume, it takes four years.
Teio and McQueen are one grade below Special Week; they both belong to Tracen Academy's Middle School Division.
Oguri Cap and BNW belong to the High School Division.
However, at the beginning of the second season of the anime, when Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond came to visit the school, Oguri Cap, who should have retired, was studying basic Middle School Division content in class.
(The Heisei Three Strong were still learning what the Classic Triple Crown races were, holding basic textbooks, which was the content Special Week studied when she enrolled.)
Furthermore, the Horse Girl worldview also has the setting of "Honkakuka," which refers to an Uma Musume suddenly transforming from a loli form to a normal form.
For example, Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond, who were originally little lolis, directly became of enrollment age by the end of the anime.
Loli-era Teio, after meeting the president, also suddenly grew to an enrollable size.
Although they are all in the High School Division, the age gap among many Horse Girl seems to be quite large.
BNW, Rice Shower, and others are still competing with Middle School Division students, while Oguri Cap and the Heisei Three Strong have clearly stopped competing.
Maruzensky, also in the High School Division, who wanders around in her school uniform every day, is already old enough to drive. (Old aunt, crossed out)
From Teio and McQueen's enrollment and debut, at least four years passed in the anime before Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond enrolled.
If we equate the anime time with the real world.
If advancing one grade counts as one year in the real world, then a six-year suspension actually only amounts to a year and a half in the real world.
If possible, please do not dwell on the timeline issues in the anime and original works… The main worldview of this book is based on the anime, with some worldviews and settings from manga and games mixed in, and of course, many fan-made settings.
Please refer to this book for everything.
The anime timeline is inherently chaotic. If a novel were written strictly for accuracy, the reading experience would likely suffer significantly.
Therefore, dear readers, please ignore the descriptions of time in the book. If absolutely necessary, you can convert it to real-world time at a 4:1 ratio.
All the above descriptions are my personal opinions. If there are any errors, please feel free to point them out.