"Though he still hasn't reached the peak of his physical development, over the past six months he has already defeated every opponent he could beat. There's no longer any meaning in continuing to race. That's why I chose to retire him."
"I hoped he could become an outstanding sire, just like his half-brother."
Light Dyna watched like a bystander from beyond the rail, gazing at the pure chestnut horse standing on the muddy turf. The man in yellow on his back had one arm raised high in triumph, and around the horse's neck still hung the victory sash from the race.
This was not the first time she had seen this dream.
From the night the Arima Kinen ended until the final day of the year, for six straight days—six G1 races in total—she had appeared only as a spectator, watching every one of this racehorse's G1 victories unfold before her.
And in the final race, he broke through layer after layer of encirclement and won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe undefeated for the year.
"Sea the Stars…"
Dyna softly spoke his name.
Perhaps it was only a distortion within the dream, but she felt as though the horse had looked back at her.
In the next instant, her consciousness plunged into icy darkness. Dyna flailed twice and jolted awake from the dream, patting herself all over before realizing she had rolled off the bed. The air conditioner had switched off on its timer, and she had woken up from the cold.
"Hah… why do I keep dreaming about this?"
She crawled back beneath the covers, only to frown at the lingering chill in the sheets. She turned the heater back on, burrowed under the blanket with her phone, and used a search engine to look up reports on Sea the Stars.
Last year… no, not last year. It was already two in the morning on January 1st, so it should have been the year before last—the year after winning the Arc, she had retired immediately…
A wealthy family. An excellent environment. A brilliant trainer. Genius-level talent.
Sea the Stars really was the model racehorse girl, the absolute ideal.
And together with Urban Sea, she had completed a mother-daughter domination of the Arc. Without question, she had been the strongest horse girl in the world at the time. Honestly, it was probably a good thing Buena Vista had not gone to the Arc that year, or she would have been beaten so thoroughly by Sea the Stars she would not have known east from west.
Yet even after reading through every available detail of Sea the Stars' life, Dyna still could not find any connection between them. The sheer fact that Sea the Stars had a happy, complete family already put her worlds apart from Dyna.
"Could this… be my next card?"
After the Tanpa Cup, Triumphal Ballet's card had fully transformed into nourishment for Dyna's power. Right now, the only horse-girl card she still held was Nakayama Festa's, and most of the time it showed no reaction at all. Even when she wanted to use it, she still did not really understand how. So Dyna could not help linking this strange recurring dream to her own special ability.
Sea the Stars would be an extraordinarily powerful card, without question.
But Dyna also knew one thing:
If she used a power she could not control, it would absolutely turn back on her.
For a while she had been dreaming every night of being whipped; now those dreams had changed into watching races from the outside. Her精神—no, her nerves—had been worn thin by all of it.
Leaning against the headboard with her phone in hand, she asked quietly,
"Miss Cody's Wish… are you asleep?"
"The moment you wake up, I wake up too. Is the dream troubling you that much?"
Cody's Wish appeared at Dyna's side. The two of them lay beneath the same blanket, the thick book still resting on Cody's Wish's stomach.
"Yeah… Miss Cody's Wish could see it too? I feel like I've been sleeping worse and worse lately."
Dyna shrank a little deeper beneath the blanket. After spending so long together, she no longer treated Cody's Wish as an outsider at all.
Cody's Wish slipped an arm around Dyna's body and gently soothed the side of her head with her palm, holding her close.
"Sea the Stars was a great horse girl. But try thinking about the hopes and expectations she carried on her back."
"Your ability is very unusual. It only reveals itself when a wish reaches an extreme enough intensity to crystallize. And dreams are expressions of the subconscious. Think carefully about what it is you truly want to do. You may discover something unexpected."
There was almost a hypnotic quality to Cody's Wish's voice. Nestled against the warmth of her body, Dyna felt a wave of drowsiness rise that she could not resist.
"What I want to do… of course I want to win the Triple Crown, and then, and then…"
And then what?
Light Dyna did not know.
Because by then, her eyes had already closed, and in Cody's Wish's arms she drifted back into deep sleep.
Perhaps it would be retiring at the height of glory, covered in honors.
Or perhaps it would be stepping out onto the world stage.
Cody's Wish's fingers idly played with Dyna's messy hair and stayed with her until dawn.
When Dyna opened her eyes again, she found Cody's Wish sitting beside her, leafing through that densely written book.
"Good morning, Miss Cody's Wish… ngh."
Dyna's head felt heavy and foggy. She sniffed sharply a few times—her nose was blocked. It seemed she had caught a cold after falling out of bed and freezing during the night.
Cody's Wish pressed the back of her hand to Dyna's forehead.
"Morning. You're running a bit of a fever… can you take some medicine yourself?"
"I think so…"
Dyna climbed to her feet in her cotton slippers, swaying slightly. Her body might be sturdy, but even she was not invincible in the face of illness.
Even someone as strong as Kitasan Black had to stay in bed when she came down with a fever.
At least this time she had slept well. No dreams, no visions. Dyna opened the drawer where she always kept antipyretic medicine, tore open the packet, poured it straight into her mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed it.
The remaining grains in her mouth and throat slowly dissolved in the saliva she produced. She swallowed again and managed to force the rest down.
Fortunately, today was New Year's Day. No training, no work. Since the shop was closed for the holiday, Dyna decided she still wanted to go out for a walk—at the very least, she could visit Tracen's New Year festival.
She bundled herself in thick winter clothes, put on a heavy coat, and pulled a mask over her face. Each breath fogged her lenses white.
But when she was making the bed, she discovered something strange on the dark blue sheets:
a blank card.
Its texture was exactly the same as Nakayama Festa's and Triumphal Ballet's.
"When did this… appear?"
Dyna bent the card slightly. Even folded to a right angle, it sprang smoothly back into shape.
"Last night, after you fell asleep for the second time," Cody's Wish answered. "There was no image on it at all. Just a completely blank face."
She yawned tiredly as she spoke. Once Dyna left the room, Cody's Wish planned to rest. Honestly, Dyna's mental space really was a remarkably warm and comfortable place all year round.
And there were still plenty of empty spots.
Maybe more horse girls like her would come here in the future. If that happened, then during Dyna's sleep they could just drag her in and throw a full-on party. That did sound fun.
"It's still snowing outside," Cody's Wish added. "Be careful."
At that moment, she really did sound a little like a mother.
Dyna nodded, pulled on her knee-high boots, and stepped out of the bedroom.
Today there would be a New Year party at Tracen.
Maybe she would end up staying there with Wada's group to watch it together.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 80
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 74
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 48
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 50
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 47
Uma Musume: From Beginner 42
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin