What Might Have Been

What Might Have Been

Chapter 1: Friendly Rivals

By: SleeplessScribe

A lot can change in a few years. To be honest, most wouldn’t believe that the captain of the Wonderbolts used to lead a life not too dissimilar from their own. However, something that everypony will believe is that I was never alone. Neither of us really let on how long we’d known each other, and the guessing games that ensued were hilarious.

I would talk about all that he is to me, but that would kinda ruin the purpose of the story. So please, join me by the fireplace, and I’ll blow away the clouds of confusion.

Four Years Old

Cloudsdale was a big city, but it was also busy, especially for my parents. My mother was in charge of cloud production at the city’s biggest factory, and my father was the head recruiter for the Wonderbolts. Unfortunately, this led to many days where I would only get to see them early in the morning and late at night. But there was a bright side:

Sunbeam Daycare.

There never seemed to be any shortage of snacks and fun in that wonderful place. The best part was that it wasn’t too far from home either, so my parents actually managed to make time to take me there. I had only been going there for about a week, but I already loved it.

I tried to exercise. My goal was to be as great of a flyer as my dad, but that wasn’t going to happen when I couldn’t even lift myself off the ground. Once I got the hang of it, I made a habit out of using building blocks to make little obstacle courses for myself.

One particular day, I decided to make the walls higher than normal. I couldn't make them as wide as normal, but it didn't matter; as long as I could get over them, it would be a success.

However, as I was setting up the last wall, I heard pair of wings furiously flapping behind me. I turned to find a colt that was strikingly similar to me in appearance, save for the fact that his mane was spiked and his coat was orange. Actually, the only similarity was our two tone manes and tails that looked like fire, and even then there were still differences, like how his “flames” were red and yellow, while mine were just two varying shades of orange. I kind of just sat there and watched him flutter over each wall with relative ease, and once he was done, I couldn’t help but clap a little.

He grinned and turned to me, bowing like a stage performer. “Thank you! Thank you! That was kinda hard!”

I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him. “Really? That was hard? I’ll show you how it’s done!”

You know, I really wish I hadn’t said that. I was now obligated to do better than he did or risk making a huge fool of myself. Gulping down a lump in my throat, I made my way in front of the first wall and flapped my wings as hard as I could. As soon as I was airborne, I fluttered my way over each wall, barely landing behind the last one.

“Eh… eight out of ten.”

I raised a brow at him, though I couldn’t help but grin as well. “Oh yeah? And what was your score?”

He stood up proudly and held one hoof to his chest. “A ten out of ten, of course!” He then paused and stared at me for a moment. “Uh… maybe a nine and a half.”

It only took a moment before both of us were laughing. When we had finally calmed down, he gave a big smile and reached his hoof out to me. “My name’s Nova Dash. What’s yours?”

With a smile of my own, I took his hoof and gave it a small shake, just like my parents taught me. “Spitfire.”

“I have a feeling we’re going to be really good friends.”

Well, that didn’t take any time at all. I soon found not only a friend, but a rival in Nova. Every day we would get together and do things, most of them involving us getting better at flying. We hung out for two years and had a lot of fun. I remember one day that pretty much sealed our fates.

Six Years Old

Nova and I had been friends for two years now, and we kind of made a tradition of sitting together at snack time and trading what we had. On this particular day, all the kids, including us, were excited about a surprise field trip that the caretakers had planned.

As we munched on crackers and sipped from juice boxes, Auntie Sunbeam came through the doors with the biggest smile anyone could imagine. She was always beaming, but something about the greying mare seemed a little different today.

“I have wonderful news, sweeties! After a long talk and some payment, all of us are going to see today’s Wonderbolt race!”

Everyone shouted for joy, but there was no doubt in my mind that Nova and I drowned out all the others. “Oh man, how awesome is that? We get to see the Wonderbolts!” Nova looked out the nearby window, rubbing the back of his neck. “I wonder if my dad will be there….”

My ears perked up and my gaze snapped to him. “Wait, did you just say your dad?”

He slowly nodded as he turned back. “Yeah. My dad’s a pretty well-known racer.”

I thought about it for a moment. His name rang a faint bell when I first met him, but even now I couldn’t actually place it. “What’s your dad’s name?”

“Thunder Dash.”

“No way! Thunder Dash is your dad?”

Again, he nodded, but this time he was wearing a much prouder expression. “Yep!”

A sly grin crossed my muzzle as I poked Nova’s chest. “Did you know my dad is the head recruiter? He basically runs the whole Wonderbolt Training Academy.”

His eyes widened as he formed his own grin. “No!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“That’s awesome!”

I opened my mouth to respond, but Auntie Sunbeam was somepony I didn’t want to speak over. “Alright, little ones, remember our buddy system. Find your buddy, then find a chaperone. We’ll be leaving in fifteen minutes!”

Immediately, Nova put one foreleg around my shoulders and pulled me to him. “I got my buddy!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I pushed him away before he could get any closer. “I don’t do hugs with colts. That’s something only grown-ups do.”

He rolled his eyes and started to laugh. “What? We’re friends, right? All friends hug!”

“No thanks. It’s just… weird to hug a colt.”

Nova furrowed his brows, his mouth becoming a thin, straight line across his muzzle. “What’s wrong with that? I hug my little sister all the time.”

In an attempt to get away from the subject, I stood up and started looking around for an adult. I guess Nova caught on, and he took a hold of my hoof and nudged his head towards the door. “Why don’t we go with Auntie Sunbeam? That’s sure to be fun.”

My ears perked up as I nodded, trotting over towards the door she had gone through. “That does sound fun! Auntie Sunbeam’s always a lot of fun, so let’s go!”

We trotted down the hall and towards the front door, where the others were already loading into the large cart that we had. The four caretakers—Auntie Sunbeam excluded— had strapped themselves to the front so they could fly us there. Nova and I approached the old mare and tugged at her apron until she turned to us.

“Well, hello there Spitfire! Let me guess; you and Nova want me to be your guide?”

He nodded before I could get the words out. “Yes, please! Is that okay with you?”

She closed her eyes and flashed a bright grin, opening the door of the cart for us. “Of course! Now hop in, we don’t want to be late!”

We both hopped in quickly, and it wasn’t long before we were off. I didn’t know why Auntie Sunbeam was so worried about being late. The Cloudiseum wasn’t actually that far away, and pretty much all of the ladies who worked here were decently fast flyers. Once we found a decent place to leave the carts, our caretakers escorted us to our seats just in time for the opening ceremony.

You should have seen all the neat tricks the Wonderbolts were pulling off just to warm up! Barrel rolls, knife edges, and some were doing really big tricks I didn’t even know the name of! Nova and I were cheering and screaming the whole way through, and we only got louder when the race got ready to start. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like Nova’s dad was there this time, but it was still amazing regardless. Watching them zoom around was getting my own adrenaline pumping, and I didn’t even care who won.

At the speed they were going, the race would be over in no time, and I found myself wishing that the Cloudiseum was bigger so it would take them longer to finish laps. Unfortunately, they were too fast for the race to last longer than… I’d say thirty minutes. It was still great to be there and watch, but of course, I was sad that it ended so soon.

I was still hyped, even as we got back in the cart. “Woo! Man, that was so cool! I can’t wait to watch another one!”

Nova nudged my shoulder, a sly grin on his face. “Cool? No, that was totally awesome! One day, I’m gonna be a Wonderbolt, too. No! I’m gonna be the captain of the Wonderbolts.”

I blew a raspberry. “Ha! There’s no way you could get in the Wonderbolts! You probably couldn’t even be a weather pony! Sure, your dad may be a Wonderbolt, but that’s not gonna help. Besides, I’m gonna be the captain!”

His sly grin remained on his face, but his brows angled down as he got up in my face. “Well then, it looks like we’re going to be competing.”

I matched his expression. To be honest, I was actually looking forward to having someone to compete with. “Friendly rivals?”

“Friendly rivals.”