"Thinking about it now, those times feel pretty nostalgic..." Tamamo Cross showed an expression of genuine longing for those competitive days, for when they were young and hungry and chasing the title of number one in Japan, when everything felt possible.
"Right, Oguri?"
But that particular race had definitely determined once and for all who deserved the title of strongest gray uma musume between them, had settled the question people had been asking for years, arguing about in training facilities and locker rooms.
So Tamamo Cross had always wanted to race Oguri Cap one more time, settle things again on equal footing now that they were both older and wiser and stronger, now that both had evolved beyond what they'd been, beyond those young versions of themselves.
Now circumstances were finally perfect.
Oguri Cap had retired from regular competition. They could settle their rivalry for the title of strongest gray uma musume one final time at the upcoming Dream Cup.
Oguri Cap lifted her face fully to meet Tamamo's gaze, tears still glistening on her cheeks but her eyes blazing with that old competitive fire, that hunger that never really died.
"Tama, I've told you before, and I'll say it again."
She held that gaze, unflinching, unashamed.
"You're my lifelong rival. That will never change. Never! Not until one of us can't run anymore!"
Tamamo Cross opened her mouth to respond, but whatever she was about to say was drowned out by a sudden roar from the crowd below. The sound rolled through the stadium like thunder, making both of them turn sharply toward the track, conversation forgotten.
Something had shifted in the race.
The atmosphere had changed in an instant, electric and dangerous, like the air before a lightning strike.
On the track, Biwa Hayahide felt it in her bones, in every fiber of her being. That electric current running up her spine, making every nerve ending sing. That familiar surge of competitive fire told her with absolute certainty, with the kind of knowing that came from deep instinct.
Now!
She'd been conserving strength, holding back, watching Biwa Heidi and Galeon tear each other apart ahead like gladiators in an arena. Watching them burn their reserves, spending everything in that desperate duel just to take the front position.
Without warning, Biwa Hayahide exploded forward like a bomb detonating.
Her acceleration was violent, shocking in its suddenness and intensity. One second she was running comfortably in fourth place, breathing controlled, form perfect. The next she was tearing through the wind like a missile launched from hell itself.
Her hooves struck ground with pile-driver force, each impact sending shockwaves up her legs that she could feel in her teeth. Dirt exploded outward in sprays with every stride, creating small craters in the track surface. The power in her legs was monstrous, inhuman, each muscle fiber firing in perfect synchronization.
"Time to move!" The word burst from her lips, primal and fierce.
The uma musume around her barely registered what happened before she blew past. One second they were running alongside her, the next she was gone, leaving only displaced air and the echo of her hoofbeats.
"BIWA HAYAHIDE'S MOVING! SHE'S GOING NOW! LOOK AT THAT ACCELERATION!"
The announcer's voice cracked with pure excitement, barely keeping up with what was happening.
"SHE'S EXPLODING THROUGH THE FIELD!"
Biwa Hayahide's face was set in fierce determination, eyes blazing with competitive fire that could melt steel. Her expression was almost scary in its intensity, every muscle in her face tight with focus. She carved through the field like a hot knife through butter, an unstoppable force.
An uma musume to her right saw her coming, tried to close the gap, started shifting position.
Too slow...
Biwa Hayahide was already past her, already hunting the next target, already looking ahead. Her breathing came hard and fast, controlled aggression channeled into pure speed, every breath timed perfectly with her stride.
"She's passing them like they're standing still!"
Fourth became third just a few seconds. Positions fell like dominoes in an earthquake, and suddenly she was bearing down on Galeon's position with the inevitability of an avalanche, unstoppable and terrifying.
Galeon saw her coming in her peripheral vision, felt the pressure wave of her approach like wind before a storm. Her eyes went wide.
"What the!"
But Hayahide wasn't interested in Galeon, didn't even spare her a glance, didn't acknowledge her existence. She rocketed past like Galeon was a statue, like she wasn't even moving, sights locked on one target and one target only: The front-runner who'd dominated the entire race.
The gap to Biwa Heidi collapsed like a house of cards. Six lengths became four in two seconds. Four became two. The distance evaporates like water on hot asphalt.
Biwa Heidi glanced back, and her blood ran cold.
Her eyes went wide with shock and something close to fear. "Already?!"
She'd known Biwa Hayahide would come eventually. Had prepared for it, trained for it, run scenarios in her head. But why this early? Before even entering the late stage? Before the final corner?
This wasn't the plan. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
In just moments that felt like heartbeats, the gap shrank to nothing. Two lengths, one length, half a length. And within ten seconds that felt like an eternity, Biwa Hayahide finally reeled in Biwa Heidi, as if the great escape she had been building all this time, all that suffering and pain, was effortlessly erased by sheer leg power alone.
"She's caught her! Biwa Hayahide has caught Biwa Heidi!"
"Biwa Hayahide pulled alongside as they approached the late stage, running shoulder to shoulder, so close their elbows nearly touched!"
Biwa Heidi's face showed strain from her brutal pace, sweat streaming down in rivers, soaking her outfit. Biwa Hayahide showed pure ice-cold focus, like she was made of steel.
"Sorry, Heidi," Biwa Hayahide called between breaths, voice steady despite exertion, almost apologetic. "I'm taking your number one position!"
She surged forward, finding another gear.
"Unbelievable! Biwa Hayahide has passed Biwa Heidi, who'd been escaping at the front! What a move!"
The crowd erupted, fifty thousand voices screaming as one, the sound rolling across the venue like a physical force.
Behind them, chaos erupted like a bomb going off.
"Hayahide's going!" Winning Ticket's eyes lit up with pure delight, joy blazing across her face like sunrise. "That means..."
Her smile grew impossibly wide, radiant, and almost manic.
"It's my time to shine!"
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illustration