What Might Have Been

What Might Have Been

Chapter 5: The Best Day

By: SleeplessScribe

That wasn’t the last time Nova snuck into my room for some intimacy, and not once did we get caught. Two years later, we were still together, and we graduated from the academy at the top of the top. At the graduation ceremony, representatives of the Equestrian Association of Airborne Racing were all too eager to have us as part of the sport. Our careers as professional racers began immediately, and within a year, we had already acquired the necessary qualifications to move up from the Initial Circuit to the Professional Circuit.

Our timing couldn’t have been better, either. We entered the pro circuit right at the end of racing season, so we got to start right at the beginning. Not only that, but we learned that this year was a selection year, meaning that at the end of racing season, during the big Haytona 500, scouts from the Wonderbolts would be watching for potential members.

21 Years Old

The big race was still two days away, but almost all competitors had either booked hotels or owned homes near the racetrack. Ironically, the largest track in Equestria was not in Cloudsdale, but in a small little city south of Baltimare known as Haytona Beach. Coastal cities were amazing around this time of year, and the track was actually not that far from the ocean, so Nova and I decided to take full advantage of our time as lovers before the hour where we would set our feelings aside and devote everything we had to the race.

It was about ten in the morning when we finally got unpacked in our hotel room, so we took a look around to see what all this place had to offer. I was really surprised to find that the city wasn’t marked on most maps. Unfortunately, Haytona Beach didn’t have any smoothie places that were close by, but there were plenty of cafés.

No matter where I went, I always seemed to end up outside of a restaurant. We agreed on a place called The Roost, a café started by a pegasus that had outdoor tables. I mean, I’m not complaining, but it was just something I noticed. The place served coffees, teas, and various other drinks and sweets. The funny thing was that we had come for coffee, but ended up sharing a large milkshake instead.

We also got ourselves two small apple pies, and for once, one’s food wasn’t being teasingly poked into the other’s mouth. My coltfriend finally broke the silence with a yawn, followed by an actual attempt at conversation.

“So, Spitfire, you excited?”

I had to swallow a mouthful of pie before I could respond, but I’m pretty sure the answer was obvious. “Duh, of course I am! Not just because this is the biggest race of the year, but because the Wonderbolts are going to be watching. I think it’s safe to say both of us have a pretty good shot of getting in.”

He rolled his eyes and leaned forward to have a sip of the shake. “Well that’s a given. There’s no way they’d let us go! We’re the best in the biz, you know that.”

“No, I wouldn’t go that far. You’ve got to admit, there are quite a few good racers in our circuit. We’ve both lost our fair share of races, and it wasn’t for lack of effort or cockiness. The competition’s going to be intense.”

Nova stood up and puffed out his chest. “Bring it on, then! I’m ready!”

I couldn’t help but giggle as I pushed him back in his seat. “Calm down, hotshot. Don’t get in the competitive mindset just yet. As far as I’m concerned, you’re still my handsome hothead for two more days.”

With a giggle, I reached over, wrapped my forelegs around him, and pulled him close to me. “I trust you’ll still see me as your foxy firebrand until race day, right?”

He chuckled and kissed my forehead. “Of course I will, but… where do you get these names from?”

“I just make them up. Every time I do, I try to make them both sexy and cute. Sometimes it just falls flat on its face, I guess.”

I was treated to a soft nip on the ear before Nova returned to his pie. “It might. Sometimes. But other times, you pull it off pretty well.”

“Aww, how sweet.” With a smile, I leaned over and pressed my lips against his cheek.

“Hey, hey, hey! Look who I found, Overcast!”

That voice was unmistakable, and we both smiled as we looked up just in time to see Soarin fly overhead. Overcast touched down and seated herself beside me, pulling me into a big hug. “Hey there, Miss Superstar! Mister Hotshot! How’ve you two been?”

I returned her hug as Soarin touched down, doing his little hookfshake-brohoof… thing with Nova that they always did. “Things have been great! Our careers have skyrocketed in just a few years!”

Soarin chuckled and whipped around the table to sit beside Overcast. “Yeah, I noticed that. You two are doing very well, at least with the numbers. But you’ve got to remember that it takes more than just wins and points to be accepted by the Wonderbolts.”

Nova and I nodded as Overcast nudged Soarin’s elbow. “So, who’s telling them the good news?”

My coltfriend raised his brow and leaned forward. “What good news?”

The couple traded looks and turned to us. Wide, bright grins slowly began to spread across their faces as Overcast cleared her throat. “Well, Soarin and I have been doing a lot of work, and it finally paid off a week ago. Spitfire, Nova… I’m pregnant!”

Nova threw his hooves in the air and leaned back as if he was being blown by a strong wind. “Whooooooooooaaaaa! Are you serious? Well congratulations, you two!”

Soarin put one wing around Overcast and pulled her close to him. “With that being said, do you two have any big news about your relationship to tell us?”

I felt my face heat up just a little bit. Nova and I had been together for years now, but it was still a little embarrassing to hear the subject brought up out loud. I looked over to him, but he had his head turned away from me.

“Eh, nothing too special. Things are going great, and we’re really happy together, though.” Nova then leaned back until his head was in my lap. “Though, now that we’re on the subject, she is pretty great in bed.”

He winked at me and stuck his tongue out, but jumped up the minute I conked him on the head. “Sorry, babe, I can’t help it. I’m just too sexy not to be good.”

Now I had my tongue out, and all three of them started laughing. After a few moments, I was right there with them. Seeing those two again was the perfect thing to help me relax before the big day. Not to mention the fact that I was treated to some… “tender love” both that night and the following one. Both days flew by faster than I imagined, and before I knew it Nova and I were approaching Haytona Speedway.

All racers were required to have a company that sponsored them, and their uniforms had to reflect that. Nova was clad in black with a big white number three on both of his wings; the Goodwrench Repair Company logo on his back and sides was a steel color that glimmered in the sun. I was fortunate enough to get a sponsor from Sapphire Sounds, so I wore blue and white, with white number fives in front of black vinyl records. We looked ridiculous when we walked together like this, but we both wanted to take advantage of every second we had together before the race would separate us for that long hour.

Nova nudged me as we approached the competitor’s entrance. “This is it, princess. I expect nothing less than your best, you hear me?”

I couldn’t help but smile as we shared a quick kiss. “I better not see you slacking, either. It’s like Soarin said: winning isn’t everything.”

He chuckled and put his wing around me as we entered. “I guess that’s true. Besides, we’re living together, so the trophy will belong to both of us regardless of who comes in first.”

“Assuming one of us does win.”

Nova chuckled again and nudged me with his muzzle. “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

I rolled my eyes, gently pushing him aside. “Whatever. Just don’t hold back. As far as I’m concerned, for the next hour, you’re just another competitor.”

He smiled as we parted ways and headed to our respective places on the track. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

It took a few more minutes for all the racers to find their places. Once all were present, we went through the normal routine of reciting the Equestrian Pledge of Allegiance, and Sapphire Shores herself sang the National Anthem. After she was through, everyone began to cheer and scream when it was announced that Princess Celestia would be issuing the starting command. The screaming only got louder as the princess approached the microphone. With a proud smile and a strong voice, she looked out at all of us, and then to the audience before giving us our order.

“Racers! Spread! Your! Wings!”

The sounds of ruffling feathers drowned out everything around me until all wings were open and spread out wide. I spotted Nova in seventh place from where I was in ninth, and I couldn’t help but shiver a little from the excitement. Once the flag above us was lowered, a sound like thunder echoed through the air as we all took off.

“The competition’s going to be intense.” My own words looped over and over in my head when I realized all the pegasi around me were managing to either keep up with me or get ahead.

A problem I soon ran into was the turns: the track was much more elliptic than it was circular, and the turns were rather sharp. They weren’t exactly one-eighties or anything, but I had to adjust myself quite a bit to avoid slamming right into the wall. I managed to narrowly avoid it, but one poor soul couldn’t quite pull it off. A part of me wanted to look back just to see who got hurt, but I knew better than that and concentrated on bobbing and weaving through the other racers. I spotted Nova as we approached the second turn and grinned. He was being smart and inching his way closer to the inner wall of the track, which gave him much more time to compensate for the turn. A lot of the other racers were doing this as well, which prompted me to make getting closer to the center my priority as well.

Another great thing about these tracks was the space. Competitors had plenty of room to roll and flip should the need arise, and I found myself doing that many times to avoid slamming into someone else. I also loved the fans of this sport; there was never a moment where the cheering and excited shouts died down, and I even heard a few names being called out. In fact, I heard mine once or twice, which really boosted my confidence. Both Nova and I had entered first place and lost it a few times. Right now I was in third, and he was in fourth with two colts in front of us battling it out for first. My adrenaline was rushing and my heart was beating faster than it ever had before… unless the time Nova first kissed me counts. I was closing the gap between them and me, but as I soon found myself thanking Celestia I wasn’t right on their tails.

Once one of the stallions finally got ahead of the other one, and he did a barrel roll at the turn. As he did that, his hoof smacked the guy behind him in the face and sent him tumbling backwards. He was headed straight towards the inner wall, but before I could do anything, Nova was already behind him. He put all of his strength into trying to redirect them both, but still ended up hitting his back against the wall. I was half tempted to go help, but I reminded myself that Nova would probably be furious with me if I had done that.

One of the emergency responders flew over to see if they were alright, and I assumed the blow to the head had knocked out the pony whose name I later found out was Thunderlane. Nova, however, was far too stubborn to let himself recover and jumped back into the race. At this point he was already three laps behind, and even though he managed to catch up with me after I had taken first place, we completed the final lap before he could make up the laps he had lost. Of course, I was still screaming and hollering when I heard my name called out for first place, and I heard not only Nova’s, but Soarin’s as well.

We all had to go one more lap around the track in order to slow down, and I made my way to victory lane where a bottle of champagne and a large trophy cup was waiting for me. Not only that, but my father also waiting for me, dressed in his Wonderbolts uniform. My eyes lit up and widened when I saw him, and I completely ignored both the champagne and trophy as I ran up to him with open wings. He let out a hardy laugh as I threw my wings and forelegs around him.

“That’s my girl! I told the suits you’d take this track just like all the others!”

I looked at him and took a deep breath, chills running up and down my spine. “Wait, are you saying what I think you—”

“No, no, not yet. Our scouts were keeping an eye on you, though, and your coltfriend too. It was pretty admirable of Nova to give up his place to keep that kid from crashing. He takes after his dad.”

I wanted to say more, but we were interrupted by incredibly loud chatter as dozens and dozens of ponies with microphones, cameras, and notepads approached me. Dad nudged me towards the trophy with a smile. “Go on, this is your time right now.”

There were way too many questions being thrown at me all at once, so I decided to go for the bottle as quickly as I could. Once I was sure it was ready, I popped the cork and let it rain. Everyone started cheering for me and screamed even louder as Princess Celestia approached me. I don’t think that bright smile on her face ever went away. In fact, she seemed even more joyful than she was at the start of the race.

“Congratulations, Spitfire! This trophy is yours, as is the title of this year’s Sprint Cup Champion!”

Those who were standing on all fours began stomping, and those in the audience clapped nonstop. However, all fell silent when a voice rang out through the air.

“That’s not all!”

I let out a small gasp when I saw Nova worming his way through the crowd. All those with cameras began snapping pictures as he approached the stage, but I was most focused on his curled up left wing.

“Nova! Are you alright? W-what’s wrong with your wing? Let me see—”

He pressed his hoof against my lips to quiet me. “I’m really glad one of us won this race, because I don’t know how I would have done this if we hadn’t. Spitfire, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and now that you’ve won the Haytona 500 and are sure to be accepted into the Wonderbolts, I’d like to add one more thing to the list of things that made this the best day of your life.”

Now everyone, even the princess, let out a small gasp as Nova kneeled down and unfolded his wing, revealing a wide, black box he then opened before me. Inside was a golden chain with a turquoise pendant, and it took all the strength I had to hold back my tears when I heard those words.

“Spitfire, will you marry me?”

To be honest, I really wanted to turn around and see the look on my father’s face, but I couldn’t resist jumping on Nova and giving him as many kisses in as many places on his face as I could. “Yes! Yes! Yes, Nova, I will!”

The crowd let out a loud “Aww” and immediately began snapping pictures of the two of us. My father came over and waved them all off before bringing us both into his embrace.

“I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t see this coming. Since I’m being honest, I’ll also say that I don’t think there’s any stallion I’d rather see my daughter with.”

My eyes lit up as I turned back to him. “Daddy… you really mean that? No words of wisdom, no warning, no nothing?”

He chuckled and helped us both to our hooves. “No, not this time. I know Nova’s mother and father quite well, and if he’s anything like his father, I know you’re in good care. Besides, you got a good raising, I’m sure you know better than to let him push you around. Not that he will, right?”

Dad winked at both of us, receiving a nod from my new fiancé. “I’d never dream of it, sir. And… thanks for not giving me a hard time.”

“Nova, my daughter is happy. I could never give you a hard time about that. Now, I hate to just up and leave, but I am still rather busy, so I need to get back to HQ as soon as I can. Congratulations on both of your wins, sweetheart.”

I waved at him as he took off, still cuddled up against Nova. “Bye daddy! Thank you!” Once he was out of sight, I turned back to Nova and pressed my lips against his, holding them there for as long as I could. “This really is the best day of my life, Nova. Thank you so much.”