London, September 7th 1939
Outside of an ominously daunting building stood a small girl with long black hair streaked gold and two blue eyes that looked as vast as the ocean.
What was really interesting however was the two triangle shaped ears she had on her head along with the black tail she had to match.
She was an umamusume, a horse girl born to run. And like most umamusume fanfiction protagonists, she was a transmigrator.
Her name is Avalon, formerly Alice. And currently 15 years old and standing in front of Royal Alcott Umamusume Academy: Racing division.
A normal girl, well she WAS normal until she died and ended up here. It wasn't as if she had any particular goal in her current life, but being a racehorse wasn't something you could do twice.
Sadly she couldn't escape the protagonist's orphan fate and grew up in a slightly run down orphanage, meaning she couldn't exactly get the funds to go to an umamusume academy any time soon.
So what did she do as a child in her free time? One word,
Gambling.
She would sneak off to her local racecourse and bet on umamusme she thought would win with whatever pocket money she could get.
Over the course of a few years, she ended up securing a very sizable amount of money, or at least what would count as sizable in the 1900s…
About £30-£40. It didn't seem like a lot but if she could pay for one term. All she needed to do was win races and make enough for the next.
The only flaw in her plan was her own ability and that wasn't exactly a small problem.
Unlike the more privileged umamusume, Avalon had no formal training and although running in circles really fast seemed easy, that couldn't be farther from the truth.
While she was doing low intensity training at 7, all the Umamusume of the same age in the primary racing division at an academy learned all the important things, strategy, pacing, how to train your body properly, and a few other things that Avalon didn't know about.
But her confidence was unshaken, would you call it a transmigrator's pride? She was the fastest at her orphanage and had her own set of cheat abilities, as was the golden standard of a fanfiction protagonist.
More on that later however, the years passed by, and here we are, standing in front of England's most prestigious umamusume racing academies.
"Phew~ okay, finally here. Let's see…" she took out a small map from her pocket and was once again intimidated by how big this place was, "...Did they say the auditorium was where the orientation was being held?"
Walking into the building, Avalon followed the map like a lifeline; she wasn't particularly good with big places and gets lost relatively easily.
Thankfully, she managed to find the auditorium safely without any hiccups.
Stepping inside, the majority of the seats were already filled, all eyes turning to her at the sound of the door opening.
'What is it! Don't look at me like that, I'm just a socially awkward umamusume!!!' Avalon's head spun but her body automatically moved to the nearest seat before her brain melted from the stares.
All the umamusume that had bore holes through Avalon with their eyes went back to their own devices, as if she stopped existing.
'Oh thank god…' as you can see, another flaw Avalon had was her social ability. Don't expect a shut-in NEET to change completely even if they're reborn.
—
The orientation wasn't anything new, welcoming the new students, telling them the 'harsh reality' even though they say that every year and nothing changes, and other miscellaneous things like scheduling and dorm management.
Once it was over, Avalon headed to said dorms to unpack her things. According to the staff, her roommate, whom she hadn't met yet, had kindly taken her things to their room so she didn't have to carry it around with her as she explored the campus.
'How kind…' she thought to herself, seems she lucked out and got herself a 5-star roommate.
Apparently, this roommate happened to be in her classic year. Meaning she would be Avalon's senior, maybe she could get a few pointers from her. These thoughts crossed her mind as she approached the dorms.
The dorms were massive, if Avalon had to guess, it was about the size of a football pitch. It was also rather modern for a building in the 1930s.
'Umamusume really are surprisingly advanced, huh?' Avalon thought in awe. The building looked like something from at least 20 years from now.
The building was 3 stories tall and had around 20 rooms per floor. Of course, that meant this could only hold around 120 Umamusume. That was because there were multiple other dormitories like this one around the campus.
After walking in and receiving the dorm room key from the dorm leader, whose name was Blue Peter, Avalon made her way to her own room, 2D.
On the second floor, the fourth room to the right, Avalon approached. This was her room after all. Although she heard loud banging and shouting behind the door, surely it wasn't anything major right?
CRASH-!
"Waaah! Get back here…!"
BOOM-!
"Where are you!?"
"Is that my roommate?' Avalon was curious but at the same time, judging from the sounds coming from the room…
Reluctantly, Avalon approached her door, grabbed the handle… And opened the door.
What she saw was the entire room turned upside down. Clothes on the floor, sheets on the window and a bunch of other miscellaneous items all over the place.
And in the middle of it all stood an umamusume frantically searching for something,
"Boneless… where are you???" the girl sounded rather desperate. As if she would break down if she couldn't find this 'Boneless' she was talking about.
"Uh…" Avalon let out a sound of complete confusion, "Excuth-!"
…She bit her tongue.
The sudden noise made this panicking umamusme turn her head, "Ah…?" Then she looked around at the mess she had made as if she hadn't even remotely noticed, "Oh dear, I've done it now…"
Walking toward Avalon, she stopped and bowed her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave the room in this state. I was looking for my pet and it got a little out of hand."
"I-it's fine!" Avalon had said but her thoughts betrayed her, 'Just a little, huh?' But she didn't let it get to her and tried to change the subject, "A-are you my new roommate?"
The uma looked up at Avalon and responded, "Right! Where are my manners, my name is Violet Eclipse. I'm in my classic year soon, and also starting today, your roommate."
She had long, very dark grey hair, almost black. Standing slightly taller than Avalon with two gleamingly beautiful purple eyes. She exuded a noble elegance, it was evident in her smile, "I brought your luggage up here for you, don't worry, I'm sure it's relatively intact… if not ill compensate you for it, i'll stake my name on it."
"Okay… then, it's nice to meet you, Miss Eclipse." Avalon sheepishly responded. While a little odd, she could tell this umamusume was a good person.
"No need to be so formal, call me as you wish, we'll be seeing each other for a while after all, and please, the pleasure is mine miss…?" She stopped short, Avalon had forgotten to introduce herself.
"Oh! Sorry… My name is Avalon, Junior year starting soon. And if you don't mind me being informal, I'll take you up on that offer. Feel free to call me Ava, it's what all my friends at the orphanage called me at least."
"Avalon… A lovely name. I hope we get along well from now on then, Ava." Violet's lips curled into a warm smile.
"Likewise, Violet." Avalon reciprocated with an equally warm smile, "By the way, who's this 'Boneless' I heard you searching for?" Avalon tilted her head slightly.
Suddenly, she felt a light weight on her left shoulder. Turning to her left she saw a small snake, only about the length of her forearm, happily sitting on her shoulder.
"???"
"sssss~"
'?!' Avalon was evidently scared stiff, although it was more so from the small shock rather than the actual snake.
"Ah! There you are, boneless!" Violet's face, which was already rather warm, lit up at the sight of the small snake.
Carefully snatching it up, the snake coiled around Violet's arm and rested on her shoulder.
Avalon recovered and stammered, "S-So this Boneless is…"
"Mhm! My pet snake. And he seems to like you quite a bit" Violet said with pride.
"sss~"
"Uhh… It's a pleasure, Boneless?" Avalon wasn't afraid of snakes, but the sudden appearance shocked her nerves.
"Also," Violet chimed in, "Feel free to call me Vi. I quite like the nickname and it's much more convenient than Violet or Eclipse, my family name, for that matter." She stated rather matter-of-factly.
Avalon's eyes widened slightly, realisation struck, "I see, I wasn't going to pry earlier since it felt rude but it seems like you are related to that legend."
Violet puffed her chest with pride, "Indeed, I am the only descendant of the legendary Eclipse. Hence the name." She had a rather smug smile on her face, the type that screamed 'Im amazing'. "Oh, but that doesn't mean I have no family, I just meant I'm an only child."
"I see. Well that's cool. Now do you mind cleaning the mess you made, Vi?"
"Oh! You're right! I apologise again."
And then she went to clean the chaos she made, slithery companion in tow.
Then Avalon thought, 'Her stats must be insane if she's related to THE Eclipse.' And all of a sudden a small holographic screen appeared in front of Avalon.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
[INSIGHT]
Name: Violet Eclipse
Title: Serpent Sovereign
Condition: Good
Running style: Pace Chaser
Speed: C (500)
Stamina: C (500)
Power: B+ (750)
Guts: D (300)
Wit: B+ (750)
Unique Skill:
★ Venom strike (Lv. 2)
→ any opposition near the user gets drained of stamina slowly on the 3rd corner
Domain: Locked
Injuries: None
Year: Classic
Description: A friendly face until she touches the gates. I wouldnt wanna be her enemy.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
As stated earlier, Avalon had a couple cheat abilities she was granted when she crossed over here. One of them being this,
Insight.
Avalon can look into her own and others' physical status at any time. To put it simply, an appraisal skill.
Along with Insight, there were 5 other unique abilities she had neatly packed into a single skill called [Merlin's Gift].
More on those later.
Avalon shuddered at the screen in front of her, 'I know she's in her classic year but these stats are monstrous… umamusume from the late 30s are built different.'
In comparison to Violet's overbearing stats, Avalon barely made the cut into 'slightly stands out'.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
[INSIGHT]
Name: Avalon
Title: King of kings
Condition: Normal
Running style: None
Speed: D (300)
Stamina: D (300)
Power: D (300)
Guts: D (300)
Wit: D (300)
Unique Skill:
★ Sword in stone (Lv. 1)
→Draw the sword from the stone and be recognised as a king of kings
Domain:
★ Userper (locked)
→Currently usurped domains: None
Injuries: None
Year: Junior
Description: Abysmally unoptimized, are you even trying?
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Avalon could only sigh, this was all she was capable of without any proper training or equipment, but even then, to start a career like this is quite above the average.
This was all with basic exercises for the past however long she's been in this world, she could run, but her form was terrible as far as she knew. It was self taught from all the races she bet on when she was younger.
Well, it wasn't something she had the luxury to worry about at the moment, she needed a trainer to even start her career.
"Haah~" Avalon sighed, then saw Violet trying her best to clean her mess, a helpless smile forming on her face, "Vi, lemme help."
Then the two, and Boneless, got to cleaning up their chaotic dorm room. It wasn't remotely how Avalon thought her first day would go, but she also wasn't exactly opposed.
'I thought making friends here would be much harder than the orphanage, since they were all just kids, but this isn't bad. First day and I'm already friends with the descendant of a legendary umamusume. Way to go, me!'
—
Thankfully, it seemed like Avalon's luggage remained intact. Not like she had brought much with her, just the basics.
""Phew~"" the two let out a relieved sigh. It took about an hour or so to clean up the mess.
"Ah, right. Ava, a friend of mine works in the student council, because you're my roommate I was told to pass along a message." Violet spoke as if remembering something important.
"Hm? What is it? I'm not in trouble on the first day, am I?" Avalon suddenly felt a sense of impending doom.
"Well they never told me they just said to tell you to go to the student council room tomorrow morning, along with a few others, but I haven't run into them today because of the mess… hopefully their roommates will tell them the same." Violet said a little disappointed in herself.
"Okay then…"
The two clean themselves up and then Violet offered a tour of the campus, which Avalon agreed to without complaint.
Starting from the dorm they were in, they maneuvered through the campus, from storage rooms to pools, every facility was covered. Avalon couldn't help but be impressed by Violet's competence.
Eventually they arrived at the racecourse at around noon, not many people were around but a small group of umamusume could be seen gawking at a trainee running the course.
Avalon stood in awe at the same uma, she could see why they were so mesmerized by her.
She was fast, but not just fast, she ran with confidence, her body radiated in sunlight, as if blessed by the sun itself.
She had short blonde hair and two impressively amber eyes, the type that screamed 'im above you but im nice about it.'
What was most noticeable was the smile on her face, it looked like something people gravitated toward without even thinking. If Violet's smile was warm, these girls would be overkill.
As she passed the checkpoint at the end of the track and finished her run, a wave of praise washed over the crowd,
"Don Quixote!!!"
"Shes so cool!"
"That triple crown is hers this year for sure!"
They were fangirling, and from what Avalon saw, it was deserved. But when she looked to her side to see Violet's reaction, she saw a rare sight.
Violet's lips were pursed in frustration, subtle annoyance clung to her face and her arms were crossed. It was as if she'd just encountered a mortal enemy.
'???'
"A-are you okay?" Avalon asked her, confused.
"Hm? Oh, it's nothing… that is Don Quixote, a prodigy umamusume who came to England from Spain after saying she had 'come to revere the noble order of knights.', whatever that means… Along with that, she also just so happens to be my rival."
"She must be rather strong then." Avalon commented.
Violet scoffed at that, "More than annoyingly strong, she's frustratingly talented, so much so she puts almost everyone in the classics division to shame…"
'I see…'
Avalon turned to look over at this Spanish prodigy once more to see she was already on her way over with a cheesy smile on her face.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA- Behold, 'tis I—thy most magnificent rival, Don Quixote! What folly is this? Speak not as though mine legend hath slipped thy memory so soon, O Violet!"
"?!" Avalon hadn't expected her to be so chunni, or loud for that matter.
"Quiet. This is my roommate, Avalon, the one you wanted me to push your message to, Don." As Violet said that, the two looked at Avalon.
"!!!" Avalon jumped a little, "H-hello… I'm Avalon, it's nice to meet you, Miss Quixote."
Don stared at this shy girl, "Hmm…"
'What? What? What? What is it??? Did I say something wrong? Was I too quiet? Am I that insignificant? I'm sorry, I'm sorry for existing… I'm probably better off left in a hole to rot…' Avalon's brain spiralled into an existential crisis, dealing with new people absolutely sucked.
Then Don smiled, "So thy name is Avalon, then? A splendid name indeed! 'Tis a great pleasure to make thine acquaintance. And prithee, cast aside such needless formality—for 'Don' alone shall suffice!"
"Uhh…" Avalon was even more shook, what was this girl saying? Was that even English?
"What she means to say…" Violet chimed in to save the day, "Is that it's nice to meet you too and you can just call her Don, isn't that right?" She glared at Don.
"Indeed!"
"Ah, thank you very much, Don." Avalon felt a great relief in her chest.
"Now then tell me this, good fellow—how dost thou fare in a race? Art thou swift as a gallant steed upon the battlefield, or shall mine own triumphant stride leave thee in the dust?!"
"How do I fare in a race? Is that what you're asking me?" Avalon tilted her head.
Don nodded, "Mhm!"
"Uhm…" Avalon put her finger to her chin and contemplated for a second, "Well… I'm not on either of your levels if we were to compare, however…"
Then Avalon's face changed, as if a completely different person took over her body, a manic smile graced her delicate lips.
"If I tried, I could probably crush everyone in the junior division?" She said casually, as if she was talking about the weather.
While Violet was slightly shocked at the change in demeanor, Don's grin only got bigger,
"Ho! Care to prove that claim, then? Let us settle it with a proper contest!"
—
END OF CHAPTER