Work Text:
"Look at her, Rob Roy. Look. At. Her."
"I'm looking at her, Sweep… Um, may I ask why you brought me along?"
"Because! She's been like this all day! Clearly this problem requires the work of two magical adepts."
The two Umamusume whispered at each other, peeking around from the corner of the vomitorium at Tracen Academy's training tracks, allowing them to see Kawakami Princess standing eerily still, staring down at the turf below her feet, an unmoving frown plastered on her face. She looked as if she was peering into another dimension, too focused on whatever was burdening her to notice the two whispering Umamusume peeking at her.
"Should we say something?" Zenno Rob Roy asked in a hushed tone.
"I'm gonna! Come on, Rob Roy," An unusually determined Sweep Tosho replied as she grasped Rob Roy's hand and marched out of the vomitorium, approaching Kawakami Princess. "Hey! Kawakami! Yoohoo!" Sweep exclaimed, waving her free hand in the air. This wasn't enough to snap Kawakami Princess out of whatever trance she was in, however, as she quickly began running once more without a word, her feet pounding as she dashed around the track.
"Grrrrrr… Wait right here, Rob Roy."
"Sweep? What are you…?"
Before Rob Roy could finish her question, Sweep Tosho let go of her hand and marched onto the track, waving both of her hands in the air and screaming even louder. Zenno Rob Roy stood there with her mouth wide open, stunned by Sweep's reckless attempt to get Kawakami's attention.
"Kawakamiiiii!" Sweep exclaimed, stamping her foot on the turf as Kawakami dashed, still in her trance. "I said your name! Pay attention to me!"
As Kawakami Princess rounded a corner, Sweep's tall, pointy hat entered her peripheral vision. This was enough to finally snap her out of her trance-like state, and an expression of great fear took over her face, replacing her frown from earlier. Thankfully, Kawakami had just enough time to slow down, skidding to a stop and ending up inches away from Sweep.
"What on earth are you doing? You could've gotten hurt just standing there like that!" Kawakami placed her hands on her hips as she questioned Sweep Tosho, looking down at her as she did so.
"Me?" Sweep Tosho loudly replied, standing up on her tip toes to get her face even closer to Kawakami's. "What on earth are YOU doing, moping around like that? What's gotten into you?" She continued, locking eyes with Kawakami.
"That is none of your business!"
"Well I'm making it my business!"
"That's not how this works!"
"Um, Sweep? Kawakami?" Zenno Rob Roy piped up, attempting to recover a smidge of decorum from the ruins of their argument, but the two umamusume were too focused on eachother to hear Rob Roy's meek voice. After a bit more back and forth, which could most aptly be described as Kawakami repeatedly going "Nuh-uh!" and Sweep repeatedly replying with "Yeah-huh!", Sweep Tosho began stamping her foot on the ground, her voice growing even louder.
"I'm not moving till you tell me what on earth is going on!" Sweep stubbornly proclaimed. Kawakami then finally realized that trying to win this argument was a monumental waste of time. Both her and Rob Roy sighed, the latter doing so out of relief, and the former doing so out of resignation.
"Fine! If you simply must know…" Kawakami Princess said, her hands still on her hips.
"I must!" Sweep interjected, stamping the ground one more time.
"I just… Lately I feel like I haven't been getting any faster no matter how hard I train…" Kawakami Princess rubbed the back of her head, her voice and face growing softer, her eyes drifting towards the turf below.
"There, was that really so hard?" Sweep smugly replied.
"I mean, yeah?" Kawakami said as if it were obvious, her expression growing agitated once more. "What sense does it make to be all 'Hey, I'm really weak right now! Now is your time to strike!'?"
"What, do you really think I'm THAT dishonest?" Sweep replied, leaning in as if another argument was about to start. That's when Rob Roy moved up closer to the two of them, the three girls forming a triangle of sorts.
"S-stop fighting!" Zenno Rob Roy meekly exclaimed. "Um, if Kawakami is feeling stagnant, why don't we help her instead of arguing?" She continued. The two other Umamusume nodded, finding that to be a sensible proposition.
"Heh, yeah, I got a spell that'll help you get plenty of gains in no time flat!" Sweep boldly proclaimed, a grin on her face. "Isn't that right, Rob Roy?" She asked, looking over at the glasses wearing Umamusume, who nodded up and down in reply. Kawakami's eyes narrowed as she pondered just what on earth Sweep had in mind, when she heard the sound of Sweep running off. "Let me go get my ingredients! Meet me in the courtyard, Kawakami!" She screamed as she ran off.
"Sweep! Wait up!" Rob Roy said, following Sweep Tosho from behind. Meanwhile, Kawakami Princess sighed in resignation, figuring that this was probably better than nothing, and waited in the courtyard for Sweep to return.
A few minutes later, Sweep and Rob Roy came back with small, purple pouches, presumably holding the "ingredients" for the "spell". Sweep then motioned for Kawakami to follow her to a large, flat section of the courtyard, before pointing at the ground.
"Kawakami!" she said. "Lay down right here! Rob Roy, I assume you know how to make the magic circle?"
"Yes Sweep!" She said, taking one of the pouches, which was filled with salt, and sprinkling it in a circle around Kawakami, who was laying on the floor. At 5 points along the circle, smaller circles were made: two at her feet, two at her hands, and one right above her head.
"Perfect!" Sweep exclaimed, before handing Rob Roy five other pouches. "Now place the rest of the ingredients!" she continued. With a nod, Rob Roy reached into the pouches and placed down the other ingredients, which seemed to be various bits and pieces of various flowers and weeds that grew around campus. Sweep then pulled out a book labled "SWEEP TOSHO'S GRIMOIRE, VOLUME 1", with various doodles of her's on the front cover, and flipped to a page midway through book. "I will now begin the encantation! Ahem… Taraxacum officinale! Kummerowia striata!"
As Sweep chanted her "incantation", A slight smile creeped onto Kawakami's face, which grew bigger and bigger, which caught the attention Rob Roy and Sweep Tosho, the latter of which stopping her incantation with a grin on her face.
"Oh?" Sweep asked. "What's got you all happy?"
"Ah, well…" Kawakami replied, pushing her body off the ground and into a sitting position. "This just reminded me of one of my favorite episodes of Princess Fighter! She's in a slump, fearing she'll eventually lose to the Dark Umamusume, so her friends try stuff like this to help her, and…"
As Kawakami rambled on and on about Princess Fighter, Sweep stood there, silently proud of herself as Rob Roy looked on with a curious expression. Once Kawakami finally finished her thought, Sweep smiled, placing her hands on her hips just as Kawakami did moments ago.
"It seems like my spell worked!" Sweep exclaimed.
"But… It didn't do anything?" Kawakami rhetorically asked, tilting her head to the side.
"It made you smile, didn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess?"
"And tell me," Sweep leaned in closer. "Can you truly preform at your best with a frown on your face?" she explained. And just like that, everything seemed to click for Kawakami, who's eyes went wide from realization. "And now that I have solved this problem with my wonderful magic… Bet you can't catch me!" Sweep yelled, completely changing the subject as she dashed away. As Kawakami stood up, prepared to run after her and prove Sweep wrong, she turned to Rob Roy, who was still standing there.
"So, did she tell you at all about that?" Kawakami asked.
"Um, no," Rob Roy replied. "I just went along for the ride, I suppose."
Kawakami chuckled a bit, before focusing on Sweep, who shrank as the distance between them grew. Kawakami then began her dash towards Sweep, and it seemed that already, she was just a tiny bit faster than before.