Nick and Tom took their position, the other horses and horse riders did the same and after waiting for a few minutes, a bang sounded and the race started.
Riley was the only spectator on the stands besides the grumpy manager. He was cheering up his friend intensely after realizing that if Nick loses he would have to deal with an useless adult as his best friend. He saw Big and he knew that didn't end very well...
Nick was running as a champion and Tom was guiding him with excellent grace. For a moment, it feels like if Nick has born to do that. The other horses were trying their best but they weren't as connected to their equine forms nor their riders. The victory was clear!
However, while they're running, Tom was still thinking about how good horse was Nick and all the possibilities he could get with him. He wasn't a selfish guy and he had made a promise to the kid, but that moment of doubt was critical because he started to lose balance and Nick had to reduce his speed in order to prevent him to fall down.
The other horses took this opportunity to push Nick and although he tried to recover his position, he ended last.
"Nooo!!" Riley yelled when he saw the inevitable result. His friend had lost and he won't return to normal. The manager stood up and went to congrats the winner. A big bag of candies was bouncing in his hands.
"I'm so sorry, Nick." Tom said as patted Nick's mane. "I tried my best."
The manager had already changed the other contestants when he approached to Nick and Tom.
"And finally, the third place!" The man said as he put his hand in his bag of candies and took out one. "This is your price."
Nick reluctantly ate the candy. His equine body was slowly turning back to human. His bigger size reduced and he got his hands and feet back. The muzzle and the tail retreated until they disappeared inside him. The horse fur and the mane vanished and finally, his long horse shaft got smaller but not small enough..
Nick stared at his body and sighed. He was still a grown-up man as tall as Tom and towering his best friend by over a foot. He was naked but he was too disappointed to even care about it.
"Nick, you're naked." Riley told him. "Where's your clothing?"
"It burst out when I turned into a horse." Nick replied in his rich manly voice. He slowly used his hands to cover his privates.
"I think some of my clothes will fit you." Tom told him. "Come with me. My apartment is near."
Riley, Tom and Nick were walking through the streets when Riley started to talk again.
"There's a good thing about this. You won't have to go to school anymore! You can work here and then you'll have all the rest of the day for yourself!!"
"And my parents and my friends? I can't see them looking like this. My mother would freak out if she knows that I'm as old as my uncle." Some tears were dripping through Nick's face.
Tom was quiet all the way, until an idea came to his head. "I think there's a way to solve this." Tom grinned.