Chapter Text
Usagi gripped her older sister's hand nervously as they walked down the hallways of Tracen Academy. Even though the halls of the school were the same size as other buildings, they felt so big to her right now. It was the same as the building she last saw her parents in— the quart-house, it was called, if she remembered right. Big sis promised this was a good thing, though, that Tracen could help her to be what she really wanted to be: an umamusume. She didn't know too much about Tracen because her parents had kept her from learning much about it after Usagi said she wanted to be an uma just like big sis.
They walked into a meeting room, one full of a lot of adults sitting around a table. One of them had a kitty on her hat, and Usagi got excited for a moment. Then the kitty yawned and Usagi realized the kitty was sleeping, and decided she shouldn't ask to hold the kitty. She hated being interrupted during her naps, so she figured the kitty probably wouldn't like it either.
The adults were talking, and when Usagi looked up, she saw one of the adults, an umamusume with grey hair, looking at her with a soft but searching gaze. She froze, because she wasn't supposed to call attention to herself— that's what her parents always told her— but now that someone was looking at her…this was confusing. Usagi decided it would be more rude to pretend they weren't looking at each other. She raised the hand that wasn't holding onto big sis and waved to the pretty uma. The uma's eyes widened as she startled slightly, like she didn't expect Usagi to see her.
Before the little girl could get worried about making the older lady upset, the uma waved back at her, and Usagi gave her a big smile. Then big sis Cactus helped her get into one of the seats. Several of the adults introduced themselves, and Usagi tried to remember all of their names as they went, but then—
"You're really Symboli Rudolf? Like the Emperor of Racing?" Usagi stood up in her seat excitedly, her new skirt bouncing as she did, and then big sis Cactus was tugging her down, and Usagi realized she'd interrupted and got very, very embarrassed.
"S-sorry, everyone. That was very rude of Usagi." She hung her head. Mother and Father would be so mad at her. Big sis said not to worry about Mother and Father anymore, but she just knew they'd be upset. She whimpered ever so slightly, and then the unthinkable happened. Symboli Rudolf chuckled.
"Aha! That I am, young Usagi. It's a pleasure to meet a young fan," and although she stayed seated this time, inside the little girl was bouncing up, down and all around. The Symboli Rudolf was talking to her. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, she couldn't even begin to think of words to say. Beside her, big sis Cactus chuckled.
"You're a handful, but a cute handful, to be sure." The little girl felt her cheeks getting warm at being called cute by her older sister. It was nice, not like when Mother and Father called her handsome. She looked up when Symboli Rudolf spoke again.
"Young lady, your sister tells us that you have a dream that we might be able to help with. Why don't you tell me about it?" Usagi could hardly believe it. Symboli Rudolf wanted to hear about her dream? It felt made up. She looked to her big sis to make sure it was ok, and when she received a nod, she tentatively started speaking, though she quickly gained confidence.
"Well, Ms. Symboli Rudolf, ma'am, I um…I wann—I want to be an umamusume. I love running so, so much, running is so cool. Also, umas are really, really, really cool, and pretty, and umazing, and awesome, and I want to be just like my big sister Cactus Cat, and be able to keep up with the umas my age, and right now I can't run with them the way I want to, and that makes me really sad and, and, and, um… I just think I want to run really, really, really badly all the time, and get to race, and go so so so fast." By the end of her explanation, Usagi was panting, and her legs swung back and forth energetically thinking about the running she'd be able to do as an umamusume.
A grunt came from one side of the table, and the pretty grey uma from earlier pushed herself off the wall, approaching the table and leaning against it ever so slightly. Usagi thought she looked very cool in her businessuma suit jacket and pants.
"I think I've heard enough, Rudolf, and I'm getting a nudge from up top, which is better I than I get majority of the time anyway." She looks up to the ceiling with a slightly peeved expression—Usagi doesn't see anything up there— before continuing. "Cactus Cat already filled out the necessary paperwork ahead of time, and she's the legal guardian. I'd like to get the boilers fired up, and get this babybird hooked up and ready for push." Symboli Rudolf nods at the grey uma's words, as does the adult with the kitty on her head, who speaks for the first time since coming in. Usagi noticed that she was holding a closed fan, right before it snapped open.
Hop To It!
That was funny, why did the small lady have a fan with that written on it?
"Acceptable! Sea Raptor, I concur. Please proceed to take Miss Usagi over to the infirmary! Cactus Cat, Sea Raptor is one of my trusted employees. May I entrust your precious sister to her while we settle the rest of the matters at hand?" Big sis Cactus looked to Usagi, and they had a conversation with their eyes, before Cactus leaned down and pressed a kiss to her hair, then gave her a big hug.
"You're already umazing, 'Sagi, but I'm sure you're gonna be even more umazing once it's all done. Mrs. Sea Raptor's gonna get you all set up, and next time we see each other, we'll both be umamusume, ok?" Usagi hugged big sis Cactus back, humming happily.
"Just wait sissy, next time you see me, I'll be just as fast as you, I bet! I'm gonna run so fast and you're gonna be so proud of me!" Cactus chuckled softly at Usagi's excited declaration.
"Oh, you silly, silly filly. I'm already so, so proud of you, everyday." She sniffed once, and then Usagi was being released from the hug, and lifted from the chair and placed in front of Mrs. Sea Raptor. "Behave for Mrs. Sea Raptor and her friends, alright?" Usagi nodded, already thinking about how to say what she wanted to say to Mrs. Sea Raptor politely. She held out her hand for the older woman to take, who blinked at it for a second before taking it and lightly tugging her along and out of the room.
They walked silently for a moment as Usagi figured out her next words.
"Mrs. Raptor, do you always talk in a way that's hard to understand? Also, just so you know, I'm not a baby, or a bird." Sea Raptor's lips quirked upwards as she looked down at Usagi, seemingly amused with the impertinent yet polite young girl's question and statement.
"Oh, my apologies, Lieutenant Lepus, I didn't realize you were all grown up." Usagi blushed at that, since, as an eight year old, she still had quite a bit of growing up to do. "'N as f'r t'lkin' 'n a way th't's hard t' unnerstan', I c'n t'lk much, much trickier 'f th't's t' yer likin'?"
Usagi squinted up at Sea Raptor, trying to look very serious. Then after a moment, she started giggling, a high pitched, squeaky thing. Raptor herself lasted only a few seconds longer before she too started to laugh.
Usagi—no, that wasn't right, she wasn't Usagi anymore…that name definitely didn't fit. Well, whatever her name was, she woke up with an itch in her legs and a cacophony of scents in her nose. She began to wriggle and writhe, as was her wont as an eight-year-old umamusume. And she definitely was an umamusume now—she could tell from the feeling of the ears on top of her head twitching, and the sheer power that was now waiting coiled tight in her legs. It was coiled so tightly, in fact, that when she acted to scratch her itch, the itch that told her to move, it was in a way pretty much no one in the room expected, the new uma herself included.
She leapt, and there was no other word for it. She catapulted herself out of the infirmary bed, and directly over the head of…yeah, that was definitely Sea Raptor, who had quite a bit to say about the whole situation.
"Th' fuck w's th't?!? She w'nt and flew ov'r me like a d'mn bat outta hell. Girl's 'n uma n't a damn rab—aw wh't th' hell d'ya mean by th't G'dolphin!" By this point, Raptor was in hot pursuit of the newly minted uma, who was…well…running wasn't really what she was doing, more like…more like bunny-hopping. Her—orange, she found, after looking down—her orange tail whipped back and forth behind her with joy. She made it all the way to the door of the infirmary, vaguely remembering the route from when they'd first arrived, before a pair of strong arms were scooping her up, lifting her still-little body into the air.
Sea Raptor turned her around and held her out like a misbehaving cat, gripping her under the armpits.
"Alright, Rabbit, that's enough of that. Byerly above, hopper, you were supposed to be asleep for another few days, at least. You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Rabbit, since that seemed like a good name, though maybe slightly incomplete, giggled, even squeakier than it was before she became an uma.
"Hi, Mrs. Raptor! I'm an uma now, did you see?" Her voice was just as squeaky as her laugh now.
Raptor let out a long, long sigh, and placed Rabbit down, running a hand through her now- windswept hair.
"Yeah, sprout, I certainly did."