//------------------------------//
// Grounded 
// Story: The War on Sombra 
// by MaskedFlame073 
//------------------------------//

	"Commander?" Rainbow asked, walking into Spitfire's tent, leaving the entrance flap fluttering in the wind. "Doctor Booker told me to report to you."

Spitfire looked up from the forms she was signing. "Lieutenant Dash. Good to see you out of that tent for once. I take it the procedure was successful?" She asked, sliding the signed forms into a bin labeled "Out." Rainbow nodded, keeping her gaze forward. "Good. Now tell me," she slammed her hooves on the table, her expression suddenly filled with rage. "Why did you even think to put one FEATHER out of formation?!" She yelled, the forms on her desk scattering across the floor. "You could've been killed!"

Clearly shaken by her superior's sudden outburst, Rainbow explained. "Ma'am, I saw that I had the opportunity to kill Sombra. I removed myself from formation hoping to end the war, ma'am." Her expression and tone remained remarkably stoic as she kept her gaze straight. "I apologize for my actions and promise not to repeat them, ma'am."

Spirfire sat back, satisfied with Rainbow's explanation. "I follow your thought process, but Sombra is not a threat you can simply charge into head-first." She said, picking up the forms from the floor. "Your actions are sensible, but the Wonderbolts are about unity. There's a reason we have those formations. Your actions led to half of your formation getting seriously injured, or did you not notice how busy the medical tents were?" She asked, pointing outside. Rainbow looked out, and as Spitfire said, pegasi in uniform were being wheeled between tents covered in bandages. "I suggest you use the next week of your time wisely, lieutenant."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Week? I thought we were being deployed to another battle tomorrow!" She said, looking nervous.

Spitfire smiled knowingly. "The Wonderbolts are. You aren't. For your actions, I'm grounding you for a week." Rainbow's insides froze colder than ice. It felt as though Sombra's crystal wormed its way inside her chest and covered her heart.

"G-g-grounded? For a week?!" Rainbow said. "Why? I'm the best flier you've got! Without me, my entire squad would've died out there!"

Spitfire glared at Rainbow. "You're right in saying you're the best flier. But without you, your squad would've been led by somepony else, and in all likelihood none of them would be in stretchers right now." Her quiet fury unsettled Rainbow. When somepony burst out screaming in her face, Rainbow would look them right in the eye. But Spitfire was calm with her rage, and Rainbow could never stand up to that.

"Understood, ma'am." Rainbow said, defeated. She left the tent, head hung in shame. 'A whole week...What the hay am I gonna do?' She thought to herself as she headed for the mess hall to get a mug of coffee. For some reason, the caffeine seemed to calm her nerves and help her regain her bearings. As she opened the door, she saw two ponies who had saved her life many times before; the Pie sisters, or what everypony called them, the Digging Duo. Rainbow sighed, relieved to see a familiar and friendly face, even if the two rarely ever smiled. "The duo of diggers! What's goin' on?" She asked, walking over to them. 

"Hello Lieutenant. Good to see you out of Booker's tent." Maud said in her trademark monotone. 

Rainbow smiled. "Yeah, it was getting a bit stuffy in there. But I did get this!" She said, opening her robotic wing. 

Pinkamena looked over it with no trace of emotion on her face. "Hmm. Seems pretty useful. Could you use it to fly through rocks?" She asked, in a much higher pitched monotone than Maud. 

Rainbow laughed. "Do you two ever think of anything other than rocks? I mean, I know it's your job and all, but there's more to life than boulders and pebbles, isn't there?"

Maud nodded. "Yes. There's boulders, pebbles, crystals, dirt, igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary, metal, grey, light grey, dark gre-"

Rainbow interrupted, holding up a hoof. "Spare me the monologue, my ears can only take so much of a beating." She said, smiling. Alarms began to blare through the camp, causing Pinkamena  and Maud to put down their plates and leave the hall. "Curse my grounding..." Rainbow muttered, stirring her coffee.

Spitfire suddenly burst through the mess hall doors, nearly knocking down the exiting Pie sisters. "Dash! I'm suspending your grounding, the camp's under attack!" She ran out as quickly as she came in, leaving the doors swinging behind her.

Only momentarily stunned, Rainbow quickly put down her mug and flew out the door to defend the camp.