Starlight lay on the grass, staring up at the sky.
She slowly reached out to touch her chest, feeling the clear, rhythmic thumping within.
The answer was obvious— it was because of love.
All Uma Musume love to run, and she was no exception.
It was because of love that she persisted, it was because of love that she wanted to persevere, and it was because of love that she refused to give up.
Scrambling back to her feet, Starlight began practicing her starts again... and again, she fell.
The midday sun gradually sank behind the mountains as time flowed by, casting a crimson glow across the meadow.
Crunch, crunch...
Tokai Teio, leaning on her crutches with her head hung low, wandered aimlessly.
She had originally come out just to clear her head.
Hearing a commotion in the distance, curiosity got the better of her, and she headed toward the sound.
Emerging from a cluster of trees, she saw it— a silver silhouette practicing how to run.
The figure was clumsy, like an infant just learning to walk.
The sound of the falls was heavy, even from this distance, Teio could hear the impact.
One could only imagine how much it must hurt.
"Starlight-senpai..."
Hearing the voice, Starlight, who was just about to move her legs, paused and turned to look at Teio.
Her smooth silver hair was a mess, her face was covered in dust, and her clothes were filthy, yet the smile on her lips was pure.
"Teio... Hello there..."
With a complicated look in her eyes, Tokai Teio took in Starlight's disheveled appearance.
She didn't know what to say for a long moment.
"Starlight-senpai, you're working so hard... even though you're in this state..."
"The feeling of being able to run is wonderful~"
"Eh!?"
"The feeling of sprinting is so good. You think so too, don't you, Teio?"
The words seemed to carry a touch of magic.
A cool breeze swept past, fluttering Tokai Teio's hair and carrying away the gloom that had surrounded her.
'What do I have left? I lost the Triple Crown. I lost the "undefeated" title. What am I still?'
After pondering for so long, hearing Starlight's words caused two words to instantly pop into Teio's mind:
Uma Musume.
'I am an Uma Musume... I can still run...'
"Senpai... yeah. The feeling of being able to run is wonderful."
Tap... tap... tap...
Staggering slightly, Starlight began to run step by step.
Her strides were tiny and her speed was incredibly slow, but she was running.
"Teio! Look, I'm running!"
The light of the setting sun caught Starlight's smiling face as she looked back.
Seeing such a pure, radiant smile, Tokai Teio froze for a moment.
The next second...
Splat!
The silver figure fell yet again.
Feeling the stinging pain in her legs, Starlight knew she couldn't train anymore today.
She simply lay there, calming her breathing.
"Senpai! Are... are you okay...?"
Tokai Teio hobbled over on her crutches.
Reaching Starlight's side, she asked with concern.
"It's nothing major. If anything, I'm actually pretty hilarious... getting this happy just because I can run a little bit..."
"Senpai isn't hilarious at all. You're actually... quite great."
"Is that so? Well, thank you. You've given me another reason to keep going."
"Eh? What does that mean? Am I really that important?"
"How could you not be important, Teio? Because you think I'm 'great,' I can't just give up carelessly. Otherwise, I'd make you sad, wouldn't I?"
Looking at that exquisite face, Tokai Teio felt a slight stir in her heart.
"It's getting late. Senpai, shall I help you back?"
"Ah? Maybe I should be the one helping you back, Teio."
Slowly sitting up, Starlight looked at Teio leaning on her crutches and let out a soft giggle behind her hand.
"How can you say that! Is Starlight-senpai looking down on me like this?"
"Never. In that case... I'll count on you, Teio-chan~"
Slowly reaching out to take Teio's arm, Starlight spoke with a playful grin.
"Mmh!"
That evening, after washing up, Starlight applied medicinal patches to her legs and lay down in bed.
Perhaps it was due to the strenuous exercise, for the exhausted girl soon drifted into a deep sleep.
The Dream.
On a modern rubber track, Starlight looked around curiously.
This was the kind of track used for human athletic events, quite different from the ones used by Uma Musume.
"You're here. Welcome—"
That familiar voice rang out again.
Starlight recognized it as the same one she had heard by the river that morning.
Turning around, she saw a pink-and-white haired Uma Musume sitting astride the fence.
A friendly smile played on her lips, and the cherry blossom patterns in her eyes were beautiful.
"Are... Are you an Uma Musume?"
The pink-and-white Uma Musume hopped down lightly and quickly approached Starlight, giving her a gentle flick on the forehead.
"Of course I am. Didn't you see these cute horse ears and tail...?"
"Oh! Thank you, lovely Uma Musume, for helping me rediscover my original passion."
"...I didn't really do much. I just wanted to invite you to a race."
"Eh? Here?"
"Hmm... let's change to a more familiar place~"
The scenery slowly shifted to the Tracen Academy training grounds, complete with the Hishi Amazon sign at the finish line.
"How about here? Let's have a race. Let me see the strength of a Triple Crown Filly!"
"I want to, but the injury on my leg hasn't healed yet—"
"You silly little silver-haired Uma Musume. This is a dream, your leg is perfectly fine."
Starlight lowered her head blankly and tried lifting her foot.
It felt light, brimming with power.
She took a tentative hop and found, to her surprise, that it really didn't hurt.
"Ready? Divine Starlight?"
With her arms crossed over her chest, the pink-and-white Uma Musume tilted her head and asked.
"Yes, of course! I've wanted to run with everything I've got for a long, long time."
The two Uma Musume lined up at the starting line.
"Ready? Go!"
As the pink-and-white Uma Musume's words fell, both girls rocketed forward instantly.
Whoosh—
Clop-clop-clop—
A perfect start. The pink-and-white Uma Musume's getaway speed was incredible.
Even with Starlight using her unique stride, a gap of two horse-lengths opened between them.
'So fast!'
Closely trailing her opponent, Starlight shook off her shock and activated her Front Runner mode.
Just as she was about to close in on the pink-and-white Uma Musume, the next second—
Bang!
The first burst of "jet-stream" acceleration appeared, pulling her away from Starlight.
Bang!
A second burst followed immediately, pushing the pink-and-white Uma Musume to even greater speeds.
Bang!
The third burst concluded the sequence, successfully opening a Distance between her and Divine Starlight.
Watching this unfold, Divine Starlight was stunned.
'How is it possible to trigger three consecutive bursts of acceleration in such a short time? How is she doing it!?'
The two were running a 1600m sprint. The pink-and-white Uma Musume had only one corner and one straight left before the finish line.
Starlight had to make her move.
Her Red skills couldn't lock onto the opponent, and after recovering a bit of stamina with two Blue skills, she directly triggered her Unique Skill.
A golden light flashed, and the surrounding scenery gradually grew dim.
The pink-and-white figure ahead began to slow down, eventually coming to a halt.
"I can do it! I'll pass her—!"
"Hehe, what a nice Unique Skill~"
The pink-and-white Uma Musume slowly turned her head.
In the darkened space, those glowing blue cherry-blossom pupils were exceptionally striking.
Pitter-patter.
At some point, the sky had become thick with dark clouds. Rain began to fall uncontrollably, easily penetrating the domain of Starlight's Unique Skill.
Starlight's hexagram-shaped pupils trembled.
Roar—!
From behind, a sound like a monstrous flood erupted.
A massive shadow swallowed the entire training ground.
Starlight turned to look, a tsunami dozens of meters high had risen into the sky, surging forward with absolute destructive force to consume everything in its path.
"This... this is..."