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This is the story of an umamusume named Anarchy.
Anarchy was a black haired umamusume with crimson eyes, and her dream was to win the classic's triple crown. A dream shared by many umamusumes and which very few are able to attain.
Unfortunately for Anarchy, she had been just one of many who failed at such goal. She never managed to race qualify for either the Satsuki Sho or the Japanese Derby, having gotten awful placements in both the races the would land her a spot for either of these races.
And just like that her dream had been broken before she even had a chance to try. It hurt, to not be able to compete, to always be stuck with this perpetual "what if" scenarios in her head. If she had been able to run in these races, whould she have been able to win them? Considering the fact she didn't manage to even land a spot to either it was fairly easy to just say "no" that she wouldn't, but the fact she would never know for sure was something that deeply troubled her. That had been a very dark time of her life, she felt like a failure and for the most part she wanted to just quit, to be done with this, but in these trying times, she had someone who despite it all stood by her side, giving her all the support she needed, that person was her trainer. A man by name of Kiriya Matsunaga.
"I understand how you feel Anarchy, i truly do. Watching your dream crumble right in front of you... Well it hurts, i know that very well" The man spoke to her, voice sounding soft and understanding as he placed a hand onto her shoulder "But failures don't define who we are, regardless if you had become a triple crown winner or not, you're still my beloved trainee. Even if you've never won a single race, i would still be proud of calling you my trainee, and that's because i see just how hard you have worked"
The man offered her a kind smile, gently squeezing at her shoulder as some small tears began falling from her eyes.
"Don't give up yet, you're still young and have a long future ahead of you. We are gonna move past this, and i'm gonna do my best to make sure you become the best racer that you can possible be"
Those were the words of her trainer, words which she would always carry deep into her heart. Through many trials and hard fought races, she started to win more and more, climbing higher and higher into the ranks until finally she had done it. Anarchy had managed to qualify for the last race of the classic triple crown: The Kikuka Sho, a 3.200 meters long race.
This was what she had been waiting for, her first ever G1 race, sure it sucked that she would never be able to attain the coveted title of triple crown but that didn't really matter; this was just the beginning of her journey after all, and now with the Kikuka Sho in line she would do her very best to take this win, both for herself and as a way to repay her trainer for everything he had done for her.
Now she waited at the starting gate, counting the seconds for the race to start. Nerves at a million, sweat dripping down her face, feeling the sound of her heart beating loudly in her ears. This was it, the race she had worked so hard to get to... And it would be the worst race of her entire career.
Everything that could’ve gone wrong, went wrong. Anarchy was an amazing front runner, yet she was cursed with a devastating late start, and as such she was forced to race in the back for most of the race, unable to break from the pack.
It looked like this would be yet another defeat to her racing career, but as they approached the final corner, something inside Anarchy had changed.
But two things had happened. She remembered her trainer and how despite her failures he never stopped believing in her. She remembered the promise she had made to him, a promise of never giving up, for no matter how bleak and hopeless a situation may feel, a race is only over once the finish line is crossed!!!
At that point everything around her had vanished, a deep darkness that began being emanated from her body, starting to swallow all the racers around her. Anarchy's crimson eyes flared up and with a roar she started to push forward, her feet started to dig deep into the turf, stomping with all of her might as she pushed her own body to its limit.
She goes from the back, passing the racers one by one. Her legs were screaming in pain from the sudden bust of energy, bones feeling as if they could break at any second, yet that hadn't slowed her down in the least, she just kept pushing forwards. Her goal was in sight, the first place runner still going strong, running with all her strenght to try and maintain the lead. But it wasn't enough, it would never be enough. After everything she had went through, after all the promises she had made, after all the work her trainer had done for her... Anarchy would rather die than lose this one race, consequences be dammed!!!
In that moment Anarchy's final spurt was nothing short than the stuff of legends, a snapshot in time.
Crossing the finish line, she slowly stopped to a halt, stunned at herself. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she slowly turned her attention towards the board where the names were displayed, part of herself still not sure if this was truly real or just her overwhelmed mind playing tricks on her.
But as soon as the words were displayed on the board, a wave of relief and joy washed over her body, for that board holded the proof, a name shining brightly on the display.
"First place: Anarchy"
"Distance: 1 1/2 lengths"
She had done it, she had finally won her first ever G1 race, the road had been a hard and harsh one, but she had done it.
The emotion, the sudden burst of happiness at achieving victory after such a hard fought battle was overwhelming; it almost made the pain from all the exertion fade from her body.
And yet... Something felt off, the race had finished yet once the sound of cleats stomping in the turf ceased, everything fell into silence.
Why was it so quiet?
Anarchy knew it was somewhat normal to not hear anything right after a race, all that adrenaline kinda makes you forget your surroundings, the same thing had happened to her when winning her debut race, yet something about this felt different, it made her feel uneasy.
A couple more seconds had passed, with the only sound that she heard being that of her own racing heart beating loudly against her chest, clearly something must've happened and so Anarchy had finally decided to turn around and look at the audience.
The look on their faces was one of pure shock.
Not really that surprising, that had been quite the race after all, but this felt different, they almost looked... Sad? Well that was odd...
Why are they sad? She won the race, shouldn't they be cheering for her? That's usually how this goes right?
Anarchy was lost in her own confusion for a while, but suddenly she hears a familiar sound that startles her out of her own mind, the sound of... crying...? Her eyes quickly dart towards the source of that sound, and while looking at her side, the black haired uma sees a fellow racer down on her knees and crying.
It hurts...
She doesn't like seeing other people cry.
"But... this is how all the races are... For there to be a winner, someone else needs to lose" Anarchy thought to herself, feeling a tight squeeze in her chest.
And then... That agonizing silence was finally broken, but not by cheers of adoring fans, nor by chants of "congratulations". No, far from it.
The audience was booing and insulting her.
B-But why?!
Was... Was this not what she was supposed to do? Is this not what umas are born to do?! To run for their dreams, in search of glory?!
She... I... I worked so hard for this... Why are you all doing this to me?!?
"CROWN THIEF" "CROWN THIEF" "CROWN THIEF" "CROWN THIEF"
The audience chanted, while throwing their trash towards the race track, all of it aimed at Anarchy.
Anarchy was feeling completely overwhelmed at the moment, her emotions mixing together into a whirlpool of despair.
First came the sadness.
"I-I didn't mean to... p-please... I-I'm sorry, i'm so sorry...!!!"
Then came the confusion.
"I don't get it... I did everything right... Was this not what i trained for...?"
And then... The rage.
"What about my own dreams huh?!? I also wanted to be a triple crown winner, does that not matter to you?!"
"I've worked just as hard as her to get here!!! WHY DOES SHE DESERVE THIS VICTORY MORE THAN I DO?!?"
Until finally... It all turned to bliss.
She smiled.
Amidst all of that Anarchy smiled, she smiled because... What else was there to do?
Her crimson eyes had dulled, their previous spark nowhere to be seen. And yet she still held her smile, the bangs of her hair falling down to cover her eyes, and she walked.
Unbeknownst to her, another racer was there observing as the lonely black haired uma walked away, towards her changing room and away from the cries of the audience.
The name of that umamusume was Hoshino Prince, and this would not be the last time that their paths would end up crossing with each other.
At the present moment, Anarchy had quickly arrived at her changing room, where upon entering said room she saw her sitting down on one of the chairs, upon seeing her arrival he quickly got up and walked over towarsd her with a worried look in his eyes.
"Anarchy... Oh Thank the goddesses you are here..." The man slowly approached her, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, like he had done plenty of times before "I'm so so sorry... You... You didn't deserve that..."
"It's alright... Kiriya..." She replied, while giving him a smile, but her voice was devoid of energy. "This race... It actually gave me an amazing idea"
Her trainer looked confused for a second, the look in the girl's eyes doing nothing to alleviate his worries, but still replied "What idea did you have dear...?"
Anarchy then went to pick some paper and a pen from her trainer and started to draw in a piece of paper "I want to make a small change to my race wear"
That was an odd request... While it was certainly not uncommon for a racer to make changes to their race wear from time to time, the timing for such a request was way too odd.
Why do that now?
Seeing her trainer's lack of response the girl quietly asked "Would that be a problem?" Before once again focusing on her drawing.
"Not at all Anarchy..." Kiriya responded, deciding to indulge her for a moment, it seemed like she needed it "What change would you like to do?"
The black haired uma then showed her drawing to him, a cape, one with a big crown etched into it, but also with a broken one.
"This one would be on the outside, for everyone to see, but the other one stays hidden in the inside of the cape." Anarchy had a bright smile on her face, while pointing at her drawing, explaining her design with a gleeful smile on her lips.
It felt unnerving...
"I-I see... But why would you want that...?" The trainer asked, trying to hide the uneasiness on his voice
"Isn't it obvious? I want to show this broken crown in every G1 race that i win" Anarchy said with unusual glee, before continuing "It will be a message for all of the audience, i want them to know that i've broken another one of their precious champion's crown. Toppled beneath my feet"
"This is my true calling Trainer-san, i will become the villain of the race track" She turned to her trainer and handed him the paper with her drawing "Will you do that to me trainer? Will you give me my cape?"
"... Of course..." The trainer quietly said "I will have it made right away Anarchy"
"Just watch me trainer, i'm gonna become the villain of the race track!" Anarchy smiled, and then... she laughed. She had finally found it, the thing she was truly meant to strive f-... No this was more than that, this was her fate, the destiny bestowed to her by the goddesses themselves.
If this was what the audience had decided to see her then so be it. They wanted her to be a villain? Then that's what she is going to be; every good story needs a good villain after all.
Anarchy had never felt happier, to think she had finally found her true calling in the racing world... It felt so so good, she couldn't help but laugh; she didn't know when her trainer had started hugging her, nor could she figure out when her cheeks had become so wet...