At Central Tracen Academy's training grounds, there was one horse girl on the field dressed in a very unusual shade of pink.
"That's it, that's it! Keep that rhythm! You need to get used to the feeling of the tips touching down!"
T.M. Opera O stood off to the side with a megaphone, cheering her on. But out on the track, Dyna could barely manage a hundred meters before grinding to a halt.
Opera O lowered the megaphone and set it across her folded legs. She could tell Dyna was genuinely trying to adapt to the shoes, but under normal circumstances, once a race outfit had received the Three Goddesses' blessing, no matter how hard the wearer ran, the shoes should not cause injury.
Which meant the real problem was still mental.
Dyna had simply convinced herself that high heels were not meant for running, that running in them would definitely get her hurt. And because that belief had already taken root, she had ended up in exactly this state.
"Ugh… this is so hard. Miss Opera O, how do other horse girls even manage this?" Dyna asked weakly from a bench, rubbing at the ache beneath her white stockings. She had already kicked off the heels and set them to one side. Not even half a day had passed, and her ankles already felt sore.
Opera O thought back to her own race outfit, which had only used heeled boots rather than actual pumps, and tried to explain from experience.
"Really, all you need to do is give yourself a command: push off only with your toes. If you do that, your whole body's balance will naturally shift onto the balls of your feet, just like it does during a race. Run however you please. The heel is only there for when you stop after the race."
"But it's really hard…"
"That's because you keep telling yourself you're wearing high heels!"
Opera O pressed at her temple in frustration. Some horse girls struggled with getting into the gate. Some lost their minds mid-race and charged recklessly—or even tried to bite another girl's tail. And then there was another common type altogether: girls like Dyna, who instinctively recoiled from unfamiliar things.
Thinking back over every detail she could remember from Dyna's past races, Opera O began listing problems.
"And speaking of that, there are still a lot of things you can fix in your running. For one, your center of gravity is too high in the gate. Though, for a closer, your break speed doesn't matter quite as much…"
She went on.
"Your center of gravity stays too high through the whole race, too. You know that? It looks very strange. Less like a horse girl running, more like a human. And have you ever noticed that out of everyone on the track, every time you step down, your feet make the broadest contact with the ground?"
She had pointed out the biggest issues. The smaller details could wait.
Dyna pinched the fabric of her white stockings and pulled, letting it snap back against her skin with a cool little slap.
She had already made peace with the most embarrassing parts of her race outfit—the boob window, the short skirt, the white stockings. Yet somehow, she still could not get past the part that mattered most: the running itself.
"All right, that's enough for today." Opera O understood that forcing it would not help. As long as Dyna could fully adapt before the Satsuki Sho, there was still time. And if she could not…
Well, then it would be up to fate.
Dyna had half a mind to argue out of stubbornness, but after glancing at the shoes again, she gave up.
Sometimes disaster really did begin with one careless sentence. Better to admit honestly when there was something you just could not do.
"Whew…"
Happily, Dyna pulled out the flat shoes she had brought in her bag. The moment her toes slipped into that familiar, comfortable shape, the solid sensation beneath her feet made her feel safe all over again.
Fatigue from the earthquake, the Spring Stakes, and all the training that had piled up since then might have been eased a little each night in sleep, but over time it had still accumulated.
These days, Dyna constantly felt half-asleep, as though her body was warning her that it desperately needed a proper break.
"Miss Opera O?"
"What is it?"
Opera O was in the middle of messaging Wada. She looked up in confusion.
"Does the academy have… some kind of activity that helps relax your body?"
"Oh… of course it does! Just wait."
Opera O abruptly realized she had been so focused on preparing Dyna for the Satsuki Sho that she had completely overlooked her physical state.
With the girls in her stable before, fatigue always showed up clearly on their faces. Dyna, however, never looked tired. And unlike most horse girls, she was not just training—she was also pouring enormous amounts of energy into running her shop. The strain on her body and mind had to be far worse than average.
Opera O sent Wada a message.
I'm taking Dyna to the pool. Let her focus on swimming for a couple of days and loosen up. As for training, we'll adjust as we go. If necessary, changing shoes for the Satsuki Sho isn't impossible.
Wada replied at once.
There's no point forcing this. Let her rest for a week. Dyna heals quickly, so that should still buy us a few extra days to work out the problem.
Even from outside Tokyo, Wada was still able to offer practical advice over the network.
But when the two of them arrived at the pool, they immediately discovered a major problem:
Dyna did not own a swimsuit.
Or rather, the academy's standard school-issued one-piece simply did not suit her.
So the pair ended up sitting on a cold metal bench inside the pool facility, watching the horse girls splashing in the water.
"…Maybe next time I should bring my own swimsuit?"
"Wait, I might still have an idea… hm."
Opera O let her gaze travel over Dyna's body, confirmed that her guess was more or less correct, then stood up and called Meisho Doto.
At that very moment, Doto was at a cat café with Taiki Shuttle, buried beneath a mountain of cats.
"Wahh~ Doto, the cats really love you," Taiki said miserably.
She was sitting right next to her, yet not a single cat had chosen her. The contrast was so sharp her ears drooped. Every time she tried to pick one up, it dodged her and dove straight back into Doto's lap.
"I don't know why…" Doto mumbled, while several kittens climbed over the twin peaks of her chest like mountaineers. Thankfully, none of them had extended their claws, or she would have ended up with the same kind of "window" Dyna had.
Just as the two of them were luxuriating in cat heaven, Doto's ringtone went off. The cats did not flee in fright. If anything, they crowded her even more tightly.
"Hello? Miss Opera O…?"
"Doto, do you have time right now?"
"Umm, not really. Is something wrong?"
Doto shifted awkwardly under the weight of the cats.
Opera O quickly explained the situation at the pool. Doto immediately looked down at her own chest with deep suspicion and absolutely no confidence.
Could there really be another horse girl built like this?
In all of Tracen Academy, only someone about the same size as her—someone like Biwa Hayahide—might compare…
"Um, Miss Opera O. Really? A girl with the same bust as me…?"
For once, Doto sounded openly doubtful.
Taiki was even more shocked.
"What?! There's another horse girl at the academy who can rival Doto?! That's incredible!"
"Taiki—! We don't even know if it's true yet… and the girl Miss Opera O is talking about is Miss Light Dyna, the bakery owner…"
Doto thought back to the last time she had gone to the shop with Opera O. The boss lady she had seen there had not looked nearly as outrageous as Opera O was making her sound.
Taiki was even more stunned, because she had been to that bakery too.
"What?! The boss lady?! No way! Every time I saw her in the gate, it looked like she had as much room to spare as Suzuka!"
Opera O gave Dyna's chest one more confirming glance and replied flatly, "I can guarantee it. Which is exactly why I need your help."
"Umm… then give me a little while, okay?"
Doto still found it hard to believe that another horse girl might need a swimsuit based on her measurements, but since the cat café happened to be close to a shopping center, she could at least pick something up on the way back.
"Thanks."
Once the call ended, Opera O finally relaxed a little. Doto had gone through enough summer camps that she should at least know what size to buy. Now all they had to do was wait for her to return to the academy.
Doto arrived at the pool later carrying a clothing bag. She handed it to Dyna, who immediately took it into the changing room.
Only then did Opera O ask, "What you bought was a normal swimsuit, right?"
"About that… it's a normal bikini."
Doto sounded troubled. All the school-style one-pieces in the regular shops were sized for much smaller frames, and since this was not a mare-girl specialty supplier, she had had no choice but to pick the simplest bikini she could find from the adult section.
"…What?"
Opera O froze.
She wanted to say something, but no words came out.
There was no way a girl like Dyna could just casually accept a bikini.
Inside the changing room, Dyna stared at the swimsuit in her hands and tilted her head back toward the ceiling.
At least it was not the academy one-piece. Compared to that, this was still acceptable to her. In her mind, swimsuits were meant to expose the body anyway, so she did not actually hesitate very long before starting to change.
"Miss Cody's Wish and Miss Sea the Stars aren't peeking, right?"
"We would never do that when it comes to privacy," Cody's Wish answered at once. "Just change. Though I have to say, I didn't expect you to like a swimsuit like this."
She really had thought Dyna would prefer something with a skirt, something that hid more of her body. She had not expected this surprising bold streak.
Sea the Stars, on the other hand, sounded perfectly matter-of-fact.
"It's normal enough. Once you're in the water, every swimsuit more or less ends up the same. If anything, wearing too much can become even more…"
She trailed off, unable to find the perfect word, but both Dyna and Cody's Wish understood anyway. Some things did not need spelling out.
At which point Cody's Wish's eyes slid toward Sea the Stars' waistline.
Sea the Stars instantly tensed.
"You know," Cody's Wish said slowly, "wouldn't it be nice if Dyna were a little more open, like you?"
"Huh?"
"Tell me honestly—you wouldn't want to see what Dyna looks like in your race outfit? She's lost all her sharp edges and turned into this soft little bun who blushes if anyone so much as looks at her. Don't tell me you wouldn't want to see it."
Cody's Wish tore the hypocritical mask clean off.
Any mare girl who ended up in this place had to have a few thoughts of her own.
Sea the Stars turned away, inhaled deeply, and put on the dignified face of a leading lady before saying, without hesitation:
"I do."
The two dead girls instantly reached an agreement and began plotting in earnest.
After all, Cody's Wish knew perfectly well that with the power of the cards, Dyna could pull off a surprisingly complete cosplay. Maybe—just maybe—they could use that trait to make a Japanese version of "Sea the Stars" appear one day.
As for Dyna herself, she remained blissfully unaware.
Once she changed, she stepped out in front of Opera O and Doto.
The bikini was pale pink. On Dyna, it somehow still gave off a simple impression. But perhaps because Doto had erred too far on the conservative side, the size was still a little too tight, making the cleavage at Dyna's chest stand out all the more starkly.
"Well? I think it looks pretty good, actually."
For once, Dyna's ears did not flatten in embarrassment. She stood there and displayed herself with a surprising lack of shame, becoming the single most eye-catching horse girl in the entire pool.
Opera O and Doto both answered with complete honesty.
"It looks great."
But what Doto found even more baffling was something else.
How on earth did Dyna manage to look slender in clothes and then suddenly reveal mountain ranges once she took them off?
Doto truly could not understand. It was a problem she herself had been tormented by forever.
"Miss Light Dyna… why can't anyone normally tell you have such an amazing figure?"
In the warmth of Dyna's presence, Doto had finally blurted out the dangerously direct question.
After thinking for a moment, Dyna answered seriously, "Probably because the clothes I wear are just a bit bigger than my actual size? And I usually choose loose cuts to begin with. That way they don't look baggy, but they still hide things really well. You could try that too, Miss Doto."
"So that's how it is…"
Doto's eyes lit up.
"Thank you so much, Miss Light Dyna! I'll definitely try it!"
She had always only thought in terms of tighter fits. It had genuinely never occurred to her to loosen the silhouette instead.
Opera O still wanted to warn Dyna about a few things, but Dyna had already launched herself into the pool in a perfect dive.
Just from that alone, it was obvious she was a strong swimmer.
To an ordinary human, swimming might be exhausting.
To a horse girl, though, it was one of the best ways to relax after training. It eased fatigue and built stamina, second only to soaking in a hot spring.
Once underwater, Dyna moved like a swordfish. In no time at all she had reached the far side, popping her head up and exhaling a long, satisfied breath.
Dyna's clean, effortless motion stood in hilarious contrast to the gray-haired horse girl on the other side of the pool.
That poor piglet had just been kicked into the water by her trainer.
Even retired, she still had to keep her figure under control.
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 132)
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 (Chapter140)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter95)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter165)
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 145
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 135
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 95
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 155
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 125
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 105
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 62
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 80
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 80
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 62
Uma Musume: I Want All 65
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
Summoning an Evil God, but the 41
Supernatural Multiverse 45
My Harem Is Indescribable 35
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 46
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 26
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 36
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