When I opened my eyes, it was to find myself in a hospital room. I was laid on the hospital bed, garbed in a white gown. Sunlight draped into the room from the opened window to my right, the opened window blinds occasionally fluttering whenever a gust of wind passed by.
I breathed out slowly, and then noticed that I had a ventilator attached over my mouth. I blinked slowly, trying to fight the weakness that pulled against my limbs and bones. But no matter how hard I tried, my body refused to move. My fingers, my toes, even my ears and tail—I couldn't move anything.
…wait, my tail-?
I belatedly realized that the usual pressure on my back wasn't there, and it took another moment to notice that the top of my head felt emptier than I remembered. I subtly shook my head, and my eyes went wide when I finally realized that my umamusume ears were gone.
No-, it wasn't my ears that were gone.
It was the fact that I was human again.
The rhythmic beeping from the heart monitor by my bedside grew frantic as my heartbeat grew rapid, and my shallow breathing turned haggard as my eyes roamed across the hospital room I was in.
I hadn't noticed before, but now I couldn't stop noticing how familiar everything was; this hospital bed, the window to my right, the television hung on the wall right in front of the hospital bed, the sterile white walls—I'd seen all this before. I'd seen too much of it.
Me being human again, this hospital room, the weakness that pulled at my body–
This was my previous life.
"H-How…?" I managed to whisper through the ventilator, my eyes wide with terror. I knew that this was impossible; I'd died! I remembered that coldness piercing through my body as I breathed my last breath. And yet I was back? Was-, was that entire journey I went through a dream!?
…No. No it wasn't. I wasn't sure how, but I knew that the other life I'd lived had truly happened—that it was this current existence that was illusory.
"You caught on quick." Someone then said, their voice playful and fond. "Just like always."
I blinked slowly, and I forced my head to turn to the left to see who had spoken.
And my eyes went wide as I saw an umamusume standing just in front of the door, presumably having just entered the room without me noticing. Luscious brown hair draped down her back, with a soft tint of maroon scattered across it. Her eyes were a pale white, surrounded by a thin circumference of warm gold. Her outfit was reminiscent of a male French noble's attire, though slightly altered to better fit her figure.
I had never met her, much less seen her—and yet I couldn't deny the immense sense of familiarity I had as I saw her approach. "Cat got your tongue?"
I chuckled softly. "I-, can you-, blame me?" I said in between breaths. "An umamusume-, is standing in-, front of me."
She raised an eyebrow. "You're an umamusume too, y'know?"
I opened my mouth to argue, and then blinked when I suddenly found myself standing up. The weakness that plagued me had vanished, and instead of that white gown, I was dressed in my G1 outfit. I blinked at the sudden change, and blinked again when strands of white hair fell over my eyes.
"I'm…back?" I whispered, glancing back to see my tail gently swaying behind me. I turned back to her. "Who are you?"
She smiled. "Come on~! You know who I am!" She blinked. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about little ol' me~?"
Wait, that tone–
"████"? I asked, somehow able to pronounce her name despite the static that sounded in the back of my mind.
████ winced as she heard her name spoken aloud. "Ah, right. Forgot about that." She cleared her throat. "I'll explain in a bit, but for now, just call me Eclipse." She smiled knowingly. "That's the name I adopted when I transferred into that world, after all."
…
"What."
Eclipse smiled. "Hehe~, your expressions are always so funny~!"
I stared, jaw agape. Because while that name was practically lost to time, the horse-version of Eclipse was a horse that was so dominant that it would disqualify every other horse that it ran with. A horse so domineering that its terror was permanently etched into the history of horse racing.
And while no umamusume counterpart of Eclipse ever existed, Tracen Central's motto paid homage to it. "Eclipse first, the rest nowhere." As Symboli Rudolf had said when we first entered Tracen Central.
Or at least I assumed no umamusume counterpart of him ever existed.
It turned out I was wrong. And not only was I wrong, but Eclipse was actually my friend who'd also reincarnated into the world of umamusume! What kind of insane isekai plot was this!?
"Oh, it gets way weirder." She commented, before she waved her hand. "But that isn't important."
"I feel like it very much is." I said.
"Nope! Time to move on~" Eclipse sing-songed, and I sighed. Even as an umamusume, it seemed her personality hadn't changed in the slightest.
"So, what now?" I asked, glancing around at the room we were in. The hospital bed I was laying in was gone, but everything else remained the same. The opened window blinds still fluttered occasionally whenever the winds passed by. The scent of fresh pollen mixed with the bitter smell of antiseptics.
Eclipse hummed, pressing a hand into her cheek. "Hmm, what to do~? It's not like we have that much time together~"
I blinked. "What do you mean?"
Eclipse smiled as she walked towards me. "I mean, you just collapsed, didn't you? You completely burnt yourself out in the [Japan Cup]!" Her expression lowered with regret. "Uh-, sorry about that, by the way. I mean, your whole thing with Destiny was kinda planned from the start, but I wished it didn't have to hurt as much, y'know?"
My mouth opened for a moment, before I smiled. "It's fine." I said. And when Eclipse was about to speak, I held her hand and gently shook my head. "Really. It did hurt, but I would do it again if it means every umamusume can run without being shackled by the careers of their horse counterparts."
"Star…" Eclipse smiled fondly as she brought my hand up to her cheek. "Ahaha~, you're always so kind~" She whispered, nuzzling her cheek into my hand.
My eyes softened.
For a moment, it almost felt as if I was back in that previous life. I could still remember those simple days—when Eclipse would visit me and tell me all sorts of stories, and I would lay there on my bed and listen. I would lose myself in those stories, if only to stop myself from the pain.
And now here we were, two souls who'd been reincarnated as horse girls. One of us was brought into the world as a legendary umamusume whose name had been lost to time, and me who was currently at the peak of my career.
What a strange life both of us lived.
…
"Thank you."
"Hmm~? For what?" Eclipse asked, confused.
I smiled softly. "For letting me live again." I said, placing both my hands on her cheeks. "You were the one who brought me into that world, right?" I said, gently bringing our foreheads together. "No one's told me, but I can tell. There's no other reason why an ordinary girl like me would have the privilege."
"Thank you, Eclipse." I said softly, almost like a prayer. "Maybe you don't think much of it, maybe you think the pain I suffered wasn't worth it–"
"But it was you who gave me the chance to breathe again. To run again. To love again." I smiled. "So thank you, ████."
Eclipse was quiet for a moment, before she sniffled. "Oh geez, when did you get so sappy~?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.
I chuckled. "I had a lot of time to learn."
"Geez, you really became a theater kid, huh?"
I snorted. "Nah, that's T.M. Opera O."
Eclipse rolled her eyes, before both of us giggled. That short heartfelt moment we had was completely washed away, but that was fine. That was how it always was for us—even when I was days away from dying, we let ourselves be deluded into believing that our story could continue on forever.
And perhaps, now in a world populated by anthropomorphized horses, perhaps that delusion could become a reality.
But before I could ponder any further on that, my eyes widened in surprise when I noticed that my hands had gone translucent.
Except it wasn't just my hands. My whole body was slowly fading away, becoming more and more transparent as my body dissolved into sparks of glowing white. "This is…" I whispered, my voice now echoing.
Eclipse smiled as she stepped back. "Guess time's up, huh?" She whispered, her eyes soft with regret. "Well, you better listen to your doctors when you're back, okay? Remember that you practically almost died after pulling off that stunt!"
"Wait-!" I called out, my voice growing fainter as my body continued fading away. "Will we meet again!?"
"Well~, I am dead, y'know?" Eclipse said, her smirk entirely mismatched with her words. "Our lives are 200 years apart. Not even umamusume can live that long~" She paused for a moment, before she smiled. "But with Destiny down for good, maybe a miracle could finally bring us together."
Eclipse's words had answered nothing. She didn't even explain how they were here together at this very moment.
But if Eclipse believed that we could one day meet again, then–
I smiled softly, before I grinned. "Then I'll be waiting, Eclipse." I extended a fist towards her. "And when we meet again, let's have a race."
She giggled, before she raised her fist. "Yeah, let's."
And the moment our fists met, my body shattered into motes of light. Eclipse stared at the spot I'd been at for a while, before she finally let the tears she'd been holding fall. "See you soon, ████." She whispered, her voice fading as the illusory world crumbled in on itself.
.
.
.
When I opened my eyes, it was to find myself in a hospital room. I was laid on the hospital bed, garbed in a navy blue gown. Sunlight draped into the room from the opened window to my left, and the opened window gave a clear view of the Tokyo metropolitan.
I stared for a moment, before my eyes went wide as I recalled what just happened. I immediately tried wiggling my ears, and my shoulders collapsed back in relief when I felt a pair of fluffy ears on my head.
"I'm here." I whispered, and then winced as I felt the immense pain in my throat.
Yep. Lesson learned—no speaking anytime soon.
…
Which meant I had to wait here until a nurse visited.
Oh dear.