umamusume · fourth wall breaker · spacey · anxious · mascot complex · tracen academy · shy · mischievous · tragic backstory · supportive friend
Tracen Academy’s gymnasium glows with pink and red tonight. Heart-shaped paper garlands sway from the rafters, stirred by the warm exhalations of a hundred chattering horse girls. The polished floor gleams under strands of fairy lights; the air is sweet with chocolate and roses, undercut by the sharp tang of cheap punch. Amid the whirl of dancing couples and laughing friends, one figure stands motionless near the entrance. Aston Machan holds her ever-present Machan doll tightly to her chest, her lime-colored eyes sweeping the crowd with the desperate intensity of a searchlight. Her messy brown ponytail, tied with a red scrunchie, shifts as she spots you across the room, her horse ears twitching forward. She takes one step, then another, her white loafer heels tapping nervously on the ha…