Tracen Academy, Ritto Dormitory, inside Oguri Cap's room.
"What is this notebook?"
Oguri Cap rubbed her eyes. Currently eating a late-night snack, she was a bit dazed. Just a moment ago, there were only three grilled fish, seven donuts, four carrots, and a mountain of rice on her table. Now, a diary had suddenly appeared.
"Muu... Am I seeing things because I ate too much? Why did a diary appear here?"
Oguri Cap touched her head with a look of pure confusion. She had trained very hard today, so she wanted an extra meal. She wondered if she was hallucinating from overeating— but she was only 50% full.
She didn't plan on reading it. Instead, she intended to take it to the reliable Tamamo Cross to ask about it. But the moment she picked up the notebook, her heart jumped. The name "Mizuki" was written on it.
'Wasn't that the new Trainer?'
"Hmm? Could it be that Trainer Mizuki gave this to me specifically?"
Oguri thought that perhaps Mizuki had left it for her, as it was normal for Trainers to invite Uma Musume to their teams. She decided not to worry about it and opened it to take a look.
However, after opening it, she was a bit lost because she couldn't understand some of the content.
Transmigrator? System? Cheat? King Halo's Victory Laugh? What did these words mean?
Was it similar to T.M. Opera O's three-stage laugh?
However, as she reached the later parts, Oguri Cap nodded. She strongly agreed with Mizuki's words: Mejiro McQueen was indeed very likeable and a very polite person.
But what confused Oguri was— was McQueen actually on a diet?
"To be able to control your diet... how impressive!"
Oguri looked up at the mountain of food in front of her and couldn't help but feel that McQueen was too strong. If it were her, if she skipped even one meal, she'd be too hungry to walk.
"Eating appropriately is very important," Oguri said solemnly. Of course, her idea of "eating appropriately" was something no one else could understand— she could practically eat Tracen out of house and home.
As she continued reading, she couldn't keep a straight face.
"'Fat Pony'? Oh... so she means McQueen is a bit plump?"
Oguri suddenly realized. Being the straightforward type, she took it literally.
Truthfully, if Gold Ship had seen this, she would already be roaring with laughter.
But while Gold Ship would be happy, the person who was completely devastated was, naturally, McQueen herself.
At that moment, inside McQueen's dorm:
"H-How... How dare she! What does she mean by 'Fat Pony'?!"
The victim, Mejiro McQueen, was gnashing her teeth. She was dying of anger!
To be honest, when she first saw Mizuki praising her for being elegant and cute, she was very happy and incredibly shy. After all, who doesn't like being complimented?
But the more she read, the more she felt something was wrong. Why did she write down her entire mental journey of trying to lose weight? And she even wrote the words "Fat Pony."
Those two words were like two daggers stabbed into McQueen's heart. Seeing them, she felt the world spinning and her head throbbing.
"Slander! This is slander! I've already lost weight recently, honestly!"
McQueen felt she needed to clear her name. Furthermore, she wondered:
'...Can everyone see this diary?'
She gave a huff and continued reading intensely. She wanted to see if the Trainer had secretly said anything else bad about her.
It was one thing to call her fat once— the Trainer had called her beautiful and elegant, after all. But if there was a second time, Mizuki shouldn't blame her for calling Golshi to tie her up in a basement and torment her!
However, McQueen was also confused by the later parts of the diary.
"By the way, who is the 'General of Japan'? And what does 'Real Horse' mean? Could it be... the parallel worlds they talk about in movies? In another place, is there another Mejiro McQueen? No... that's impossible!!"
McQueen was astonished. But Trainer Mizuki didn't write much more; she was being an annoying "riddle-man." She decided to ask her first thing tomorrow morning.
Actually, she had her contact info, but she didn't want to call at night for fear of disturbing her rest.
Unlike Mejiro McQueen, the dashing and charming T.M. Opera O had a look of sudden enlightenment after reading this far.
"Oh? How marvelous! Trainer Mizuki's diary says that in another world, another Mejiro McQueen exists? I see! This must be a sci-fi setting! Like a counterpart in a parallel world!"
"But if this theory holds true, then in that other world, perhaps there is a T.M. Opera O as well! Ha~ Hahaha!"
Opera O was reading with great interest. She found the diary fascinating— not only did it contain anecdotes about McQueen, but it also offered new insights.
Meisho Doto, hearing this, was also shocked by the concept of parallel counterparts, but she asked timidly:
"Is... is it true? Do things like 'Real Horses' really exist? By the way, Opera O-san, how did you accept that setting so quickly?"
Opera O gave a handsome smile and declared spiritedly:
"What's there to worry about? Honestly, Doto, don't you find it exciting? Just thinking that in a parallel world, there exists a 'Real Horse' as brilliant and divine as I, T.M. Opera O... doesn't that make you happy?"
"Awa-wa-wa-wa..."
Meisho Doto was stunned, but it did seem to make sense. As expected of Opera O, she was just too... too confident! Doto stood by her side, feeling the radiance.
Though Doto wasn't nearly as narcissistic as Opera O, she began to daydream. Is there a person named Meisho Doto in another parallel world too?
To be honest, while she didn't quite understand the setting of parallel worlds, she was now more willing to believe that the "Real Horses" actually existed.
She even wondered: if it were true, what would the Meisho Doto of that world be like? What would she like to do?
However, what Meisho Doto didn't know was that while she was timid in the world of Uma Musume, her real-life counterpart was known for being a powerhouse.
Furthermore, her real-life counterpart had already become a bit of a "bro-loving horse." After retiring from breeding, he lived happily and affectionately with Taiki Shuttle.
Really affectionately...
By now, even Meisho Doto's curiosity had been piqued by Mizuki's diary. She began reading more seriously, hoping to see if there was more content about the "Real Horses."
She also wanted to know: if the Real Horse really existed, what kind of racing record did she have? How would she compare to T.M. Opera O?
Opera O felt the same. She couldn't help but want to go and ask Trainer Mizuki.
Her Real Horse version must be incredibly, incredibly powerful!
Meanwhile, as time ticked on, countless Uma Musume had reached the latter half of the diary.
Mejiro McQueen was the same. She had reached the part where Mizuki talked about preparing for the Tenno Sho. Seeing this, she was stunned.
"Trainer... I didn't expect her to consider so much for me..."
McQueen was momentarily moved. She had been worried about Mizuki bad-mouthing her, but she didn't expect her to care so deeply. For a moment, she felt quite guilty.
Mizuki had voiced exactly what was in Mejiro McQueen's heart. For years, she had viewed the Spring Tenno Sho as her most important life goal; she wanted to secure that G1 victory for the Mejiro family and live up to their expectations.
However, this brought immense pressure. No matter how mentally resilient an Uma Musume might be, under such a heavy burden, negative and anxious emotions were bound to surface.
Fortunately, Gold Ship, Vodka, Daiwa Scarlet, and the others were by her side, constantly encouraging her. Yet, the other girls couldn't fully empathize with her specific burden.
But her Trainer— she had only just taken over Team Spica, yet she already saw the confusion and struggle within her and wanted to help her through it.
McQueen's heart fluttered with emotion. As she recalled the various small ways Trainer Mizuki had cared for her daily, she felt like she was about to drop tears from her eyes.
However, what she didn't expect was that when she read the next paragraph, the tone shifted completely once again.
[There are three months left until the Tenno Sho. As the Trainer for Spica, I need to help McQueen improve her performance while also easing the pressure in her heart.]
Seeing this, McQueen was still very moved.
[But how should I relieve the girls' stress? Should I get Tokai Teio to come over and do a little dance with McQueen? Ahem... of course, it's not that I want to see cute Uma Musume dancing; it's mainly to boost McQueen's mood.]
At this point, McQueen could only let out a huff of annoyance. The Trainer's mind was in the gutter! She claimed to be thinking of her, but she definitely just wanted to see Teio dance!
McQueen turned her head away, her feeling of touched sentiment decreasing slightly.
Meanwhile, at Tracen Academy:
Gold Ship had already burst out laughing upon reading Mizuki's diary. First off was that nickname, "Fat Pony"— Goldie didn't care about anything else; she just had to laugh at that first.
However, as Gold Ship read on, Mizuki's understanding of McQueen's state of mind made her look at her in a new light.
At the same time, Goldie was curious: Do "Real Horses" really exist? If they do, did the Gold Ship of that parallel world have any glorious racing records?
She continued reading.
The final section of Mizuki's diary was about the "General of Japan," Special Week.
At that moment:
Special Week was munching on a carrot with great relish while holding Mizuki's diary.
"It's so complicated... I feel like there are characters I don't even recognize. And it mentions me at the end."
"Agemasen?"
"I... I don't remember ever saying that. Eh?!!! Could it be that I say it in my sleep?"
Special Week's face flushed red immediately. She didn't dwell on it, however, and kept reading.
"But Trainer Mizuki says she wants to invite me to join Spica. If I join, will she tell me who that 'General of Japan' is?"
"My goal is to become the number one Uma Musume in Japan. So, if I want to achieve that, I'll have to defeat that super, super amazing 'General of Japan' too."
Special Week took a big bite of her carrot. Because she was so focused on the diary, she had unknowingly eaten quite a lot, and her stomach was already bulging.
But she didn't care; she was fired up.
She would definitely stand on that throne— the throne of Japan's number one Uma Musume!
Because that was her promise to her Mother.
She wouldn't just hand that position over to anyone!
That's right.
No matter who comes, she won't give it to them!
Agemasen...
AGEMASEN!!!