Only One Year Left—I'll Become a Legendary Uma Musume!

Twilight Song's performance at the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes once again ignited the media, drawing even greater attention than before. No surprise—her name had now become something special. Every fan could proudly declare:

Heaven cannot hold two suns—there's only one Twilight Song in our Uma Musume world!

As for her not crushing her opponents as outrageously as usual?

Come on—consider her petite stature. She was at an obvious disadvantage on a heavy track, and besides, how often do heavy tracks even happen?

And honestly... those questioning this victory must seriously misunderstand what a four-second lead actually means.

According to European racing standards, one second roughly equals six and a half horse-lengths.

Four seconds?

That's twenty-six lengths!

It just didn't seem as impressive compared to Twilight Song's previous, absurd margins, but objectively speaking, this gap was still massive, almost twice what you'd typically call overwhelming.

In short, anyone knowledgeable about racing would instantly recognize Twilight Song's absolute dominance—and her future competitors would feel that reality even more keenly.

Of course, not in September's St. Leger Stakes—Twilight Song was unstoppable. The true battlefield awaited them afterward…

The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Another critical point: as part of the Triple Crown series, each Uma Musume could only participate in the St. Leger Stakes once.

And that applied to Dancing Brave as well.

Inside a luxurious hotel suite, a young Uma Musume fresh from the bath sat in her pajamas, carefully jotting notes and diagrams in a notebook.

She'd observed Twilight Song closely during her warm-up and had scrutinized every detail of her performance at the King George VI. Dancing Brave hadn't relaxed even for a second, etching every moment of the white blur on the track into her memory.

Incredible—the flawless start, explosive acceleration, and overwhelming aura made Twilight Song appear nearly invincible.

As a past winner of the Arc herself, Dancing Brave was already a true legend among legends. Yet even she recognized Twilight Song as a formidable rival.

But fortunately, after extensive study, she'd uncovered a formula that guaranteed victory.

Twilight Song belonged to a similar category as Frankel, making her races effectively a strategic rock-paper-scissors match:

If you could keep pace with her breakaway sprint, you had a chance; if you disrupted her at the gate, victory became possible. If you failed to do either, you'd end up trailing hopelessly behind.

In other words, disturbing her at the start and matching her stride throughout was the key to victory.

Easy to say, of course—extremely challenging to execute in practice.

But!

Dancing Brave firmly believed she could manage exactly those two things. Or rather, she could cover a major part of it—the rest depended on one other crucial factor:

Track condition.

Reviewing Twilight Song's past victories and the time gaps, the four-second lead at the King George VI clearly stood out.

And what caused such a significant reduction in margin?

The state of the track.

Firm versus heavy!

Twilight Song obviously struggled on heavy ground—her lack of physical power was clearly her Achilles' heel.

Generally speaking, track conditions shouldn't factor into pre-race strategy since they're beyond control. But if you mentioned the next race's location to any racing enthusiast, they'd know immediately that a heavy track was practically guaranteed.

What would Longchamp Racecourse in October look like? The answer was obvious—most Arcs took place on extremely heavy ground.

The battlefield favors me. Sorry, junior, but I'll be claiming your first defeat.

You can try again for your Arc victory next year.

Dancing Brave hummed cheerfully, climbing into bed to rest.

Tomorrow, her training intensity would drastically increase—after all, her opponent was this monstrous new-generation Uma Musume.

Meanwhile, Twilight Song sneezed loudly. The little filly rubbed her nose, tightly gripping Mejiro Ramonu's sleeve while scampering around the streets.

It wasn't that she'd regressed to childlike behavior—rather, she feared losing sight of Ramonu in the bustling nighttime streets of London.

Currently, the two wandered together through London's evening, crossing the Thames Bridge and passing iconic landmarks.

This was actually their first time out alone together. Since they'd finally come to London, Twilight Song felt compelled to explore.

Back in her previous life, she'd preferred staying indoors. But now, with little time remaining, it felt unexpectedly precious to step out and enjoy the company of someone close.

Maybe she could even live forever in these warm memories.

Ramonu didn't object. Seeing Twilight Song this excited for once, she was perfectly content to let her little sister drag her through the crowd.

From twilight into full night, from quieter outskirts to bustling central streets, Ramonu found herself gradually enchanted by the lights, crowds, and sounds of the flowing river.

Maybe she'd never forget tonight—this London night, and the little filly at her side.

At this moment, Ramonu realized something important: while caring for Twilight Song was her duty as an older sister, somewhere along the way, genuine affection had quietly taken root and blossomed in her heart.

But that feeling wasn't bad, was it?

"Alright, Ruka, it's getting late—past dinner time, even," Ramonu gently reminded her, silently adding:

If you want to explore, there'll be plenty more opportunities in the future.

As Mejiro's heir, Ramonu valued both family health and glory. She didn't see that as wrong—in fact, she'd always stand by that ideal.

Twilight Song stopped in her tracks, considering Ramonu's words carefully before nodding in agreement.

Dinner was indeed overdue. They could eat first, then decide where else to wander. But before that, she had something important to do.

"Then, Ramonu-nee, won't you take a photo of me?"

"Hmm...? Can't it wait until later?"

But Twilight Song ignored the gentle suggestion. Instead, she hurried under a streetlamp, struck a pose, and silently insisted with her actions.

Sighing in mild resignation, Ramonu opened her camera app and pressed the shutter.

Why was Twilight Song so eager for a photo right now? Because she was afraid she'd forget otherwise.

One day, after she was gone, Ramonu might want to see her face again—and wouldn't it be tragic if there wasn't even a single photo left behind?

She wanted to lock herself, right here, right now, in the lens.

But when she glanced at the result…

"What the heck, the photo's awful! There's way too much noise!"

She should have insisted Ramonu bring a better camera lens. This was definitely a miscalculation!