//------------------------------// // Five // Story: Grounded // by MissytheAngle //------------------------------// Grounded Five She made no hesitance to laugh aloud at what she was watching unfold. Rainbow Dash watched as Cobalt sniffed Spike repeatedly, to a point where Spike grew rather uncomfortable, enough to jump onto the ladder to get away from the nosy stallion that had a curious mind about this unknown creature. Spike hung on the ladder rings, glancing down as Cobalt's rosy eyes reached up to him and looked at him with a prolonged gaze. Cobalt blinked at the strange creature that was fixated before him. “Rainbow Dash, what's up with your son? He's...” “It's not like he's ever seen a dragon before, and he's not exactly the most subtle kid,” Rainbow said, clearly not bothering to pull him away from this scene. It was as if a small rodent inched into the room and brought Spike onto the ladder, but instead, it was an innocent colt with high curiosity. Spike hadn't said anything about Cobalt, even when she gave him the details—like who he belonged to. And this didn't phase him or the likes. Granted, shock overcame him for a bit, but soon after, he came to terms with it (“At least you're back. I know it means a lot to Twilight,” he had said with a knowing smile.), much to her gratitude; finally, somepony—or somedragon, in this case—who didn't judge her for what she did or tried to hide their feelings with feigned hope. She knew that most, if not all, of her friends were either way, even Fluttershy. Something about their reactions made her feel like they weren't so happy about it as they wanted her to believe. But she would rather them put away their feelings for now, especially when she'd rather enjoy being with her friends than having silly little arguments involving her, especially ones involving Cobalt Streak. And if it was honest happiness, well, that was cool. Spike was the last to know about it, but that didn't seem to bother him. Rather, he was more daunted by the fact that the colt did not seem to understand the phrase 'A little space, please?' It was close to six, and after heading to the library with Fluttershy, all the other girls were already there. They were chatting amongst one another, but when the two Pegasi entered, they all put their conversations away for a later time and walked to them. But rather than focus on the others in the room, Cobalt's attention was grasped upon the dragon, much to everypony's merriment. It was as if, even if he committed murder, they found everything he did adorable. Most of them tried to hide it, though, and Spike was more annoyed than anything. “He's not gonna bite you, Spike, I promise,” Rainbow Dash teased, flying beside Spike with a smirk. She nudged him playfully. “I know that,” said the young dragon with an irritated look. “It's not his teeth; it's his nose.” She chuckled. But still remained the elephant in the room, and she found her standing between Twilight and Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie spoke to her while Fluttershy gave her the smallest of scoldings, all whilst they spoke under their breaths. Finally, Rainbow Dash sucked in a breath and walked over to the group. Three pairs of eyes went up and blinked, two of them looking toward Applejack. Applejack, shuffling her hooves on the ground, pouted her lips, surrounded by an air of stubbornness. Before Rainbow could make any remark, Applejack put up a hoof to silence her. “Look, ah don't wanna upset Twilight while we're out to eat, so let's not argue tonight, alright?” Applejack stated clearly. Her tone was not at all showing any sign of any type of argument—quite the opposite, she remained patient and somber. However, her careful tone did not meet her eyes. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, though, did not seem too bothered by this, and accepted this agreement. Rainbow Dash hesitated; she knew Applejack still had some sort of grudge over what she had done. And yet, she was completely right. “Eh, sure. Let's pretend nothing happened for now,” she said, sticking out a blue hoof. It was Applejack's turn to be reluctant, but she then took Rainbow's hoof and shook it curtly. She nodded and turned over to Twilight, who was speaking with Spike. “We're all ready when you are, Twi'? Where we goin'?” she asked, immediately putting away the subject they planned on avoiding to discuss. “Rarity wanted to take us all out—like a bridesmaids' dinner,” Twilight said delightedly. She gave Rarity a sideways glance with a smile. Rarity fluffed her glowing purple mane as if she were taking compliment of sorts. “We'll be going to Allino's. It's this gorgeous little place that opened up just a few months ago, but has already received high praise all over Ponyville,” she detailed. “It's not exactly like anything from where I've been in Canterlot, but it certainly has its own sort of beauty.” “You wouldn't mind watching over Cobalt, would you, Spike?” asked the unicorn with a smile directed at her assistant. “We'd bring you with us, of course, but I doubt you’d want to be a bridesmaid in the first place.” “I'm pretty thankful for that, actually,” Spike began under his breath. “But I'm not a babysitter, Twilight,” he said defiantly, with his arms crossed over his purple and green chest. “Oh, c'mon, Spike,” Rainbow Dash tried, “he's easy to watch over. He's not too much of a troublemaker... For the most part.” Spike did not respond. While that wasn't entirely true, she just like messing with Spike, knowing she'd get her way in the end. Besides, she had a little trick up her sleeve, if this didn't work. Having seen this coming before they left, Rainbow slipped out a luscious, topaz gem. With a flash of a victorious beam, she tossed the gem in his direction. His eyes glazed over the gem, and all his defiance was whisked away, replaced by an elated glow on his face. He caught it, his tongue slipping from his mouth. “Glad to see you haven't forgotten what I like, Rainbow!” Spike said, practically hugging the small gem. “You can count on me!” With that settled, they decided to head out. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie joined Twilight going outside, but Rainbow Dash slowed down as she looked over at Spike and Cobalt. This caught Applejack's attention and fell back as well, wondering what Rainbow was up to. “Just... keep an eye on him, alright? He likes to just mess around but he usually ends up in bigger trouble than I’d like to handle,” Rainbow Dash advised him, keeping her eyes on Cobalt, who wandered the library and pulled one book out behind Spike. He wasn't much of a reader, just listened to her, but she had an idea he might enjoy them someday. “He better not be too much trouble, but still...” Spike nodded, though his absolute attention on only the gem was anything but settling. The Pegasus was going to make a remark, but Applejack smirked. Rainbow Dash turned and, seeing her grin, felt her cheeks burn crimson. “But—yeah, whatever. Let's go!” she exclaimed, out the door before she completed her own sentence. Applejack closed the door behind her with a shake of her head. “They'll be fine,” Applejack reassured her. “I know,” Rainbow said slowly, unsure, though she peeked over her shoulder as she glided away with her friends at the library door. It took more guiding away by Applejack, but still, she eventually got out, and they caught up with the girls. “Hurry up, slowpokes!” called out Pinkie Pie, bouncing in place as she stopped for the two ponies. They did as Pinkie asked, though not to her command, and were walking—or flying—alongside their friends. With the restaurant not too far a distance from Twilight's house, apparently, it didn't take long for Rarity to stop in her tracks and smile. They all stopped as she turned around, as if she were making a grand announcement of sorts. “Here we are, girls!” she announced. As Rainbow thought dryly, Yeah, wouldn't have known that by the name on the top of the door, Rarity waving a hoof at the brown painted building with lots of the inside revealed through wide glass panes. Inside was a classy look—the waiters even tried to professionally pull off looking formal—and while it wasn't Rainbow's style, it didn't look so bad. They entered and were welcomed by a stallion younger than any of the girls. He smiled toothily, even revealing braces. When he introduced them to Allino’s, he sounded slow automatic, as if he were reading cue cards behind them. Rarity mentioned their reservations, and the stallion gestured out a hoof to take them to their reserved table. They sat down at a booth table. The braces stallion told them their waiter would arrive soon, tossing out menus in a somewhat scattered manner. He blushed it off and walked away. Clearly, Rainbow observed, he was a complete newbie here. Soon after, in hardly a minute, a curly haired, unicorn worker, whose name-tag said her name was Day Light, announced herself as their waiter for the night and asked what drinks they wanted to start off with. After they all told her what they wanted, the waiter beamed a bit too enthusiastically and trotting off with an air of enthusiasm. A bit too much, Dash believed. She was familiar with trying to be as cheerful and kind when one was a waiter; she avoided doing that and made fun of any of her co-workers who did that. Her attention from Day Light when Fluttershy's voice entered her ears. “So what are you doing with Cobalt once you get settled in?” Fluttershy asked. “I mean... I found you at your house, but, uh, you weren't planning to stay there, were you?” “I'm not really sure,” was Rainbow's vague answer. “But non-Pegasi can't walk on clouds. You haven't had trouble with that, have you, dearie?” Rarity questioned. Rainbow Dash tried not to show any reactions about that. There was no way she could tell them about what happened before Fluttershy got there. Gasps of appall, chiding, and the likes. She couldn't take that. “No, not yet. Though I'll think of something soon.” She shrugged it off. Fluttershy nodded, looked like she was about to say something, but Day Light came toward them, using her magic to levitate the tray of drinks. She placed it on their table and sorted them out before whoever ordered which drink. Rainbow Dash downed her Cola in seconds, not realizing how thirsty she was until now. Any more of that conversation fell apart as they began to drink. There was a gentle harmony for a fair twenty minutes, after they ordered their food and received it in at a faster pace than they expected. Between their chewing, conversations drifted between the six best friends, from their everyday lives to the wedding. “So how did your family take Ink Blot? I'm sure they love him, but you know how parents can be,” Fluttershy asked softly with a sided smile. “Well, my mother is excited, obviously, but my father and Shining Armor took a while to accept it. They all like Ink Blot, once we all sat down for dinner at my house, but yeah, my dad and Shining can be very protective,” Twilight said with a smile. They all laughed about that, but then Rainbow's ears led her into a conversation that wasn't pleasant to them. Diagonal to her, Rarity and Applejack, who sat next to one another, were leaning into one another, attempting to whisper. Both had frowns, a clear sign it wasn't a happy conversation, unlike the talking going on beside Dash. So, naturally, Rainbow Dash perked her ears and eavesdropped while eating her salad. “... I don't very much like the attitude you've been having since Rainbow Dash came back,” Rarity chided under her breath. “Ah don't mean t'. It's just that she made a mistake, and she thinks everythin'll be fine and dandy when she came back after that,” Applejack muttered, grimacing. Rarity sniffed. “Well, the least you can do is support her—” “Fer what? For runnin' away when we could have tried to support her? Nu-uh. Let's face it, Rar, surely ah'm not the only that feels this way. Doesn't it bother you 'least a little?” Her face falling, her anger depleted by a faltering moment, Rarity answered, “Well, yes, I admit, it was surprising, and she could have made better decisions... But we all make mistakes, Applejack, so we shouldn't let them be bothered with so much. Not when we're trying to have a good time.” Anger rose into her chest. Were they really talking about this... now, of all times? Looking at Twilight, either she was not paying attention or was hearing them but simply ignoring it, eating her salad as Pinkie Pie gushed about a party at the bakery that afternoon. She clearly had more intent to listen to Pinkie giggle about some kids who'd rather throw their food like weapons than listen to mares argue so pointlessly—at least, that was how Rainbow Dash saw it. “... Mah point is,” Applejack was saying, “she didn't hafta leave. Runnin' away from your problems ain't gonna solve anythin'.” Rarity's glare had returned. “Well, that doesn't mean you should be rude about it. She's here for Twilight, because that's what friends do, and that's all that matters.” “But...” Rainbow pulled away from the conversation, not wanting to hear anymore. She loved when poinies talked about her, but not like this! Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. Her brow twitched, and she nearly rose from her seat, the only thing holding her down being the fact it would have brought way too much unwanted attention. “Would you two quit it?” Rainbow Dash growled, glaring daggers at Rarity and Applejack, both of whom faltered from their argument to glance over at the angered mare. “I'm not here to talk about me, alright? None of us are. We're all supposed to be here for Twilight's wedding! So quit fighting like stupid old married couple!” She sat down in a huff. Having her anger released, she lay back in her seat. Her eyes traveled to Twilight, who looked too shocked by the sudden shout to make a retort. “I-just needed to get that off my chest. Sorry,” she added an apology so fast and quietly, it was hard to hear. She straightened up and said, “Just sayin'.” No one was angry at her for it—or if they were, nothing was said about it. Rather, Applejack and Rarity, for the rest of dinner, couldn't stare at each other for a second, and more often than not, Rainbow Dash caught one or the other blushing. She wasn't sure for what reason, though. Perhaps her yelling at them was over the top and brought them to feel embarrassed... Ah, they deserved it. Not my fault I was just sticking up for her, she told herself to ease any problems lingering on her shoulders. Sure enough, she slouched and felt a sudden relaxation about her. Turning away from those two, she directed herself into a conversation with Fluttershy, talking about rejoining the weather team. It would do her good to get a job while here, and even better if she could get that job in the clouds. Fluttershy did not show any expression about her outburst and happily drifted into the simple conversation. And finally, dinner finished. Rarity dug into her velvet, purple purse for a lot of bits. Rainbow did not bother checking the price, knowing some sort of guilt might slip from her if she saw all that money escape Rarity's purse. They all exited the building and bid good-night. The moon had risen to give Equestria a soft, white glow against the navy blue sky, signaling the time to head home and drift to sleep. Rainbow Dash, having gone through a lot in just one day, felt the most exhausted, yawning to herself as they all went in different directions to their houses. Rainbow Dash floated alongside Twilight to pick up Cobalt when she decided to just ask about something she had considered for a bit. There was a slight pause before she said anything. “Hey, Twilight, can I ask ya something?” Twilight slowed her pace for that and faced the Pegasus with a smile. “Yes, Rainbow?” “Well, since I don't have a house or anything yet... y'know, on the ground, do ya think you can toss out that cloud walking spell for Cobalt—until I figure things out,” she added a bit hurriedly. In all honesty, she had no clue if she was going to find a house anytime soon, though Cobalt's safety was something to consider. A house, though, wasn't exactly a high complication at the top of her list. Twilight blinked. “Really? I mean, sure, but don't you just want to get someplace, you know, on the ground? It would make things much easier for your son, that's all." “Yeah, yeah, I know that. I'm just trying to get settled in, you know that. I just got here, after all,” Rainbow retorted. Twilight grinned weakly. “You're right. Yes, I can certainly do that for you. If you ever need a place to stay, though, Rainbow, just ask. I'm sure I can find someplace in the library for you and your son.” “I'll keep that in mind. Thanks Twi,” she said with a nod in compromise. And she meant it.