//------------------------------// // Eleven // Story: Grounded // by MissytheAngle //------------------------------// Grounded Eleven A few days after Cortland came to Ponyville with them to visit, Pinkie Pie gave a random invite to all of her friends. Rainbow Dash was the first, finding them as she flew with Cobalt on her back for some fresh air. Pinkie Pie did a little dance and sang some sort of song—it was hard to tell, considering Rainbow Dash often zoned out until the end. At that point, she heard two words that grasped her attention, and made her wish she had heard the whole thing... almost. “A slumber party?” Rainbow Dash repeated with confusion. It shouldn't have been confusing, but it certainly caught her off guard. It was so sudden, and there was no little thing—that Rainbow Dash knew of—to celebrate. For all she knew, Pinkie was celebrating an un-birthday party. “Yeah, with all of us! We haven’t done that in forever! Even Cobalt can join in.” Pinkie looked to Cobalt, the look alone asking him about it. Cobalt's face scrunched up, and he took a step back. “No way! Sleepovers are for girls,” he argued. “But they're fun!” Pinkie squealed. She tapped her hoof for each thing she mentioned thereafter. “Pillow fights, scary stories, goodies like s'mores—” “What are s'mores?” Cobalt interrupted, blinking. There was a heavy gasp. “You never had s'mores?!” Pinkie Pie cried out, jumping in the air in exaggeration. She turned to Rainbow Dash. “Clearly, he hasn't had a good childhood until now, Dashie. I just asked the others to come to Sugarcube Corner in a bit, but if you come with me now, I can show you how much you've been missing out on!” Rainbow Dash and Cobalt Streak didn't even have a chance to so much as make a sound before she left them with dust in her wake. Rainbow coughed and said, “Well, guess we can't say no to that, can we?” Not that she would say no, but she didn't even time to say yes! She laughed to herself. “Ready?” she added, looking at him. “Can I have some s'moes, mommy?” Cobalt asked with pleading eyes. Rainbow Dash laughed. “They're called s'mores, Cobalt. And yeah, of course! Just not too many... I want some, too.” She nudged him, and placing him on her back, they followed the dust trail Pinkie Pie left in her sudden burst of speed. *** Since they were the first to get there, they were the first to get the s'mores that Pinkie Pie whipped up. She had placed a few s'mores on a tray and trotted into the bedroom where Rainbow and Cobalt were sitting on the floor, one of the blankets wrapped around the latter. He brought the blanket with him as he walked over to Pinkie, raising his head to look at the s'mores on the tray. He gaped. “What are those things in them?” “A marshmallow, chocolate, and graham crackers,” Pinkie answered, pointing at each ingredient to the s'mores. With each word, Cobalt's eyes grew, and Rainbow Dash swore, at the corner of his mouth, there was a bit of drool. Cobalt nearly jumped toward Pinkie Pie, right at the tray. She jumped back, giggling, and gave him one s'more, making sure that none of the pieces fell out. He took a single bite, all of the sweet chocolate, sticky marshmallow, and crunchy graham cracker melded into one piece as he swallowed. Cobalt's eyes lit up like fireworks. “Wow, that's so good!” Pinkie beamed at his approval. He reached out for another, only to have a blue hoof get in his way. “Heck, no! Giving you more just seems like a bad idea! Before you know it, you'll start jumping off the walls,” Rainbow said, stepping into her mother mode. She bit into her first s'more and smiled. “Sorry, kid. It is what it is.” The colt pouted, but didn't say anything. If he did, he was cut off when Pinkie Pie bounced back in, Twilight behind her. Rarity joined in a few minutes later. The friends greeted one another, but Rarity stopped short on her greetings when she saw Cobalt. A stern look fell about her, and she said, pointing, “You have some chocolate on your snout. Here.” From a bag that was wrapped around her body, she took out a handkerchief. Before it could reach Cobalt Streak, he took a step back. “Nah, I got it!” He licked his snout of whatever chocolate remained. When he got it all, there was a big, childish grin on his face. Rarity scrunched her nose but said nothing to him. When she passed Dash, she muttered, though hopelessly hiding a smile, “Well, he certainly is your child.” The rest of the girls came in and welcomed each other, and already, the little party was set. Pinkie had set up a table for snacks and punch, and some music was gliding in the air through a music player in the corner. Yet unlike regular parties, the girls brought sleeping bags for the occasion. Out of nowhere, somepony poked Dash's shoulder. Turning around, Applejack was standing behind her with a somber, down expression. With a hoof risen, Rainbow eyed her suspiciously. Applejack had been strangely quiet the past week, not really speaking much with her, if at all. Yet here she stood, looking at her, as if wanting to say something. Her eyes traveled over to Rarity, who gestured for her to 'go on.' Applejack sighed under her breath and glanced back at Dash, who rose an eyebrow. "Look, ah've been thinkin... ah am really proud of what ya've done—with Cobalt Streak. He seems like an alright kid. Ah shouldn't let it get to me and ruin our friendship or nothin', and ah shouldn't be so mean 'bout it.” "How long did it take for Rarity to convince you to say that?" Rainbow replied, suppressing an urge to smirk, something to go along with her sarcastic tone. Applejack's lips fell into a grimace. "Ah've been wantin' to say this since... Ah spoke with Cortland on the train ride here a week ago. He told me—well, let's say he made me realize that ah was a bit rude—” “A bit?” Rainbow echoed in disbelief. Pinkie's stare at her made her shush up for the moment. She sat in between them, as if she were watching a show enfold. She even chewed the popcorn she made for the night. Rainbow and Applejack looked back at one another. “And ah didn't mean to. Ah just let my emotions get the better of me, and it was stupid. Ah should’ve  been happy for ya, which ah am.” Applejack’s face spoke more words than her voice did. Rainbow stared at her for a bit, thinking it over. Then she shook her head. “Look, I get it. You and I both made mistakes; it happens. Can we just let it go and pretend it never happened?” she added wanting to get out of this conversation; she was afraid of it turning into some sappy movie with heartfelt confessions at the end that made her roll her eyes. Applejack seemed taken aback by this, but nonetheless, she smiled. “Alright, that's fine with me.” They shook hooves, smiling at one another. “Awww!” Pinkie cooed. Then she stopped, smirking a different kind of smirk. “Enough sappy time, we have a slumber party to get started! And you know what that means?” She disappeared before anyone could ask, a mere pink blur that went somewhere where she could not be seen. They all glanced around, curious as to what exactly she was doing—curious, and slightly afraid. Rainbow Dash even brought her son closer to her in her wing, just in case. “What do you think she meant by—?” Twilight stopped talking beyond that point. It was so abrupt that they barely had a chance to respond when Pinkie popped out of nowhere and threw a pillow at Twilight, sending her stumbling. She caught herself and looked at where the thrower was, as did everyone else. Not throwing. Shooting, Rainbow Dash realized. With a pillow cannon!? “Pillow fight!” Pinkie Pie shouted, as if it were a war cry, shooting all around her. Pillows and white feathers hit every surface of the room; one pillow even went out the window. It was a chaotic frenzy that never ended, and before they knew it, Pinkie Pie's room became some other sort of room; not a bedroom, but a pillow covered room that could not be entered without treading upon one of them. “Pinkie!” Rarity and Twilight both yelled out, but they could say nothing more, for pillows were whizzing their way. They dodged to the side, and started using their magic to fight back. Either side had multiple, white blurs being thrown into the air every second. They didn't even bother to ask where all the pillows came from, though Pinkie's pillow cannon seemed to supply more than enough for this case, Dash supposed. Meanwhile, Applejack bucked whatever ones were coming her way, reflecting those back to who threw them. There were no absolute sides, and it didn't matter. They just didn't want to end up covered in a pile of pillows. Fluttershy found a nice corner to hide in until the battle was over. Rainbow Dash almost did that with Cobalt Streak, but he refused to budge. They landed behind a pillow wall. "A pillow cannon? Really, Pinkie?" screamed Rainbow Dash, taking cover behind a fort she assembled in a rush. She never forgot Pinkie's randomness, but she had no idea she had a pillow cannon, of all things. Over and over, she heard the cannon just continuing to shoot. It couldn't be unlimited, though... And no matter how hard she tried, she could not get a clear shot at Pinkie; not without something smacking into her face. It was like Pinkie had lost control of that cannon, because it wasn't stopping, and she doubted it would stop anytime soon. She sighed, rubbing her forehead, trying to think of something. Nothing. Dash groaned. Her eyes then fell to her son, who was trying to climb the wall, only to fail. He stared at it, his face scrunched up. “You got any ideas, kid?” she asked, earning his attention, as well as wondering why she was asking a five year old for ideas anyway. Despite her doubt, Cobalt walked up to her and motioned for her to lean in. When she did so, he whispered an idea. Her ears perked up, and she almost grinned. But she stopped herself. “You sure you're up for that?” Rainbow asked. “Yeah! C'mon, c'mon!” Cobalt Streak urged, shaking in anticipation. He grabbed a pillow with his mouth. Dash signed, unable to say no in any way. He had great determination in this. She held him up and gave him a nervous look. There was a doubtful part in her that spoke above the part that screamed, Do it, do it, do it! And that scarcely ever happened. He stretched out his forehooves, which now held the pillow he grabbed, to ready the attack, signaling he was ready to do this. “Here comes the Cobalt cannon... so, Cobannon?” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Ah, nevermind! Look out!” she cried out, hurling her son into the air, like a missile. Pinkie turned upon hearing Rainbow Dash. Too surprised to even make a move once she saw Cobalt fly in the air, she was struck. Cobalt tossed the pillow at her, and she fell to the ground. While Rarity would take the cake for being the melodramatic one, Pinkie still had her moments, like now as she fell in slow-motion until her back met with a hill of pillows to the side of her. With her out of the way, Cobalt had no certainty as to where he would land after his attack. He shut his eyes and hid the rest of his face with his hooves as he plummeted into an incredibly soft landing. He didn't know where, because all he could see was darkness. Rainbow Dash watched Cobalt landed into a heap of pillows in the corner. His blue body disappeared in the midst of white feathers. A few of the girls gasped while Rainbow Dash flew over to the pile, peeking in for her son. “Hey, you alright in there?” she asked, knowing that freaking out over it would do nothing. He literally fell into a pile of pillows; it couldn't be any more of a softer landing, really. The girls came up around her. Cobalt popped out. A pillow became a hat on his head, but he shook it off. He noticed a feather that fell against his nose, and he sneezed it away. If adorableness were a weapon, they all would fall dead. Despite this, Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, with a surprised gaze. “What was that? Why did you throw your son like that?” she asked, her voice rising. “But! He was the one who came up with it! I told him it might not be a good idea, but he wanted to!” Rainbow squeaked out in her own defense. “You can always say no,” Twilight countered with a quirked brow, like it should have been obvious. Which did not come to Rainbow Dash. She shrugged. “Well, he's fine. I mean, he fell into a pile of pillows; it couldn't have been any softer.” She picked him up and tussled with his hair. He grinned. “See, no problem?” Twilight sighed. “Alright. I'm just saying, you should take responsibility for him.” “I am. Don't worry about it, Twi. I've got this. I've been doing it for five years, so it's all good,” Rainbow Dash said with a grin, confidence in her tone. Twilight rolled her eyes, but she didn't let it get to her. Pretty soon, the exciting beginning to the party wound down, falling into a more somber tone. Twilight didn’t bother Rainbow Dash about that again. They chatted about simple things with one another, telling stories and laughable jokes. Cobalt found little interest in their stories, and already his head was hanging down, threatening to fall onto the pillow he sat in and doze off. After a while, Rainbow was beginning to nod off, as well, having to constantly shift positions to stay awke. When a long time passed, and eventually, Rainbow Dash got bored, too. Not like she could be blamed. Rarity was doing some of the girls' hair—if they didn't mind her doing so, of course. But she refused to even think of that as an idea! And she wouldn't even begin to think that Rarity would try to do that with Cobalt. He didn't have enough hair to really style it, but she didn't want to take any chances. “Hey, how 'bout a scary story before bed?” Rainbow Dash suggested with a malicious smirk at each of her friends and then her son, who awoke when her voice grew loud. Cobalt flinched back when his mother’s gaze landed on him.It lasted only a minute when Rainbow’s face broke into a calming grin, calming the young colt a bit. “Just nothing too scary. You don't want to frighten the poor dear,” Rarity advised, who was twirling a strand of Twilight's hair into some sort of fancy braid. Dash waved a hoof dismissively. “It won't be that bad, I swear.” *** “... And then there was a noise—a little noise that she barely heard, but she still heard it. So the filly went to look in the closet. And in it... was nothing but a big, red swirl; a portal! Before she could even so much as yell, it sucked her in. The closet shut, and no one could hear her screams or cries for help. Sometimes, it the old, abandoned house, you can still hear a tiny voice crying out, 'Daddy... momma.'” There was an unsettling pause, and to bring more fear into this, Rainbow Dash shut off her flashlight. In the darkness, it was hard to see the faces of the ponies hearing the story. Rainbow Dash only knew of her mischievous grin. To end the story, she whispered, leaning into the crowd, “Daddy... momma!” A few gasps could be heard, as well as a tiny whimper. Probably Fluttershy. The blue Pegasus put back on her “The end!” Another silent moment welcomed them in the blackened room. “Can we... can we turn the lights back on, please?” Fluttershy asked just above a whisper beside her. When the room was lit up once more, Rainbow Dash's smile was very visible. While half of them weren't as terrified, she certainly noticed how wide their eyes were. “You guys are so ridiculous! It wasn't that bad, right, Cobalt?” She paused, realizing no one responded. She looked around. “Cobalt?” A little, light blue body popped out from behind Twilight. Twilight moved aside for him to be more visible. Cobalt flinched once he realized he was out in the open and turned to his mother. “Yeah, I'm not scared.” “I didn't ask that. Besides, care to explain why your hooves are shaking?” She pointed at exactly that. Even as he tried to hide it, it was still there. “I am not—and they aren't!” Cobalt Streak stomped his hoof and trotted to his little sleeping bag Pinkie Pie found for him in the basement. He furled himself in it and made a little bump in the dark green bag. There was still shivering, but the little grumbling could be heard inside, so Rainbow Dash decided not to bother with it. “Come on, Rainbow Dash, don't frighten the poor thing t' death,” Applejack said. “He'll be fine. I won't do it again, promise,” Rainbow Dash said, hoof raised. “Pinkie Promise?” Pinkie asked, her face right in Dash's, making her fall back a bit. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Dash said dully when she rose back up, doing the routine gestures for Pinkie's little saying. Cobalt peeked out from his sleeping bag, tilting his head with interest as she did so. She didn't say anything as she watched, out of the corner of her eye, him trying to follow the gesture, wondering what it meant. Pinkie stared at her for a moment, but then her serious face bloomed into a more cheerful one. “Okie-dokie!” Then, she yawned. Blinking a few times, she added, “Wow, I'm tired.” “Since when are you tired?” Rainbow retorted. It was always her theory that the pink mare never slept, and had gained enough energy to never need sleep or be exhausted. “Since I've started owning this shop, of course! It's a lot of work!” Pinkie Pie rubbed her eyes, which did look quite exhausted, something Rainbow Dash didn't see until now. “Well, Pinkie's right. It is late out,” Twilight added. Then she, too, started to yawn, the chain already starting. They glanced at the silver moon and blissful night sky outside and agreed. “Let's all just head to bed for the night.” Rainbow Dash sighed. It had been a great night, and it was a shame that it already had to end, right after such an awesome story. It could have been worse, she supposed. At least it felt like old times, when things weren't so... complicated at times. Smiling, she said, as she turned to the side, “Night, guys.” They all mumbled goodnight to one another, the lights came off and after some shuffling and movement under everypony's blankets, it was quiet. Only the gentle rustling from outside could be heard. It was quite peaceful, and Rainbow didn't really mind that. She shut her eyes. Dash then felt a little push against her back, disturbing her from any attempts to sleep. Groaning, she shifted from one side to another, grumbling to whoever disturbed her sleep, “What is it?” It was Cobalt, those big rose eyes shining in the dark. “Mommy, can I sleep with you tonight?” She woke up even more. With a quirked brow, she wondered, It's not like he isn't in the same room as me. He's sleeping right next to me! “Why's that? Your sleeping bag is right over there.” She pointed just a few feet away. Cobalt looked over at his little sleeping bag that Twilight let him borrow for the night. It was big for him, but he didn't mind the thing. At least, until now. He leaned in closer to his mother. “I, um... uh... I.” He couldn't find the right words to say and after that, remained quiet, his head bowed down. Something struck Rainbow as she remembered what happened just a while ago. With a smirk, she asked, “You too scared to sleep alone, kid?” “No!” Several ponies surrounding them made small noises and movements. Cobalt flinched, his cheeks flushed, and Rainbow chuckled. “Whatever. Just don't snore, ‘cause I'll hear you.” For some reason, Cobalt smiled, but she didn't think much of it. Instead, he jumped into the entrance of the sleeping bag, which she opened for him. He stopped and rested beside her chest. Rainbow Dash wrapped her wings around him, and he snuggled into her light blue feathers. *** Rainbow Dash wasn't spying, she swore! It was just... keeping an eye out on Cobalt while he visited Applejack's farm with Cortland after school. She was perched atop a cloud. Since it wasn't a perfectly sunny day, it wasn't as obvious if that were the case. Yes, a single cloud poking out in the sky, so still and all alone; not strange at all. She peeked a rose eye out from the edge to see “So you... kick trees?” Cobalt guessed with a dubious look. At least she could hear well at this distance. She had good practice from past experiences spying—er, listening in to random conversations in the past. Cortland rolled his eyes. “Well, putting it like that, it sounds, uh...” “Stupid?” “Exactly!” Cortland exclaimed. There was a pause, and he gestured to the nearest tree a few feet away. He walked up to it. “You just gotta turn 'round, ready yourself, put all your strength in your hind legs, then buck!” He did as he instructed himself, and when the stallion kicked the tree, several apples fell into a barrel right underneath it. Cobalt stared with his head tilted, mildly interested, at best. He blinked slowly, at the barrel of apples, then up at his father. “Now you do it.” Rainbow Dash saw Cobalt jump back in surprise, but she couldn't hear what he said in response, for a voice interrupted her eavesdropping. “Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow flinched back at the sudden, loud noise erupting in her right ear. She flipped back and said, “Whoa! Ears are sensitive, squirt. Careful.” Scootaloo fell back, ears drooped in embarrassment. “Oh, heh. Sorry. I just wanted to know what you're up to,” she responded, perking right back up. Dash did everything she could not to look back at what was going on down below. Maybe Scootaloo didn't see Cobalt and Cortland down below at all. “Oh, nothing,” she said casually. “Just hanging around.” “And spyin' on us.” The new voice to enter the conversation sent anger into Rainbow Dash. With a frown set on her face, she turned around, her wings flapping as she soared back into the air. “Prove it!” Cortland chuckled under his breath, but Dash still saw it and glared at him. “Y'know, ah know you've been at this since ah came here. A rainbow mane ain't hard to find in white clouds.” “D'oh!” Rainbow shut her eyes and mentally cussed to herself. “Well, I want to know that Cobalt's doing alright. And what're you doing, making him buck trees?” she questioned. “Ah'm not forcing him to,” Cortland explained. “It's his choice, and he went with it. Besides, he's doin' okay. Right, Cobalt?” “Yup.” Cobalt nodded in approval, swishing the hair from his eyes. Cortland walked closer to the area where Rainbow Dash floated above. She lowered herself so they didn't have to shout from this point on. “Ah'm just showing him what I do, letting him try it. Ah'm just saying, can you do that for him?” Rainbow Dash fell back, surprised by that question. It was obvious, but that didn't mean she liked that. “Well... technically no... but don't-” “So let him try things he can try. He doesn't have to like it, but don't keep him from doing other things that you don't want him to.” “But...” “Buuuuut?” Cortland waved out his hoof for her to continue. Only she had no big rebuttal, and refused to accept the fact that that was completely true; there was no harm in doing this. It hurt enough just to think it ,but saying it aloud? "Ugh... fine! Whatever. Knock yourself out. Just... don't hurt him, 'kay?" "Wouldn't ever do that to a child.” "What if he was a teenager? What about then?” Rainbow Dash countered with a threatening gaze that she hoped went right into his soul, telling him that no matter what age, not to mess with her son. Cortland rolled his eyes, not perturbed by her stare. Where was Fluttershy when Dash really needed her? "Ah, geez. Don't make me get Applejack out here." "We're good now, actually, so she's not a big bother." "Really? Well... good.” He actually sounded surprised, which Rainbow Dash tried not to be bothered by. He looked behind him, but when he turned back to her, he nodded. “See? She means well, she just lets her honesty get the best of her sometimes." "Ah, it's no big deal. Now I gotta go. I still have other stuff to take care of." "Later." Cortland waved goodbye to her and turned back to Cobalt. Rainbow Dash flew up and found Scootaloo still standing there. She was close enough to have heard all of that, but she did not seem the least bothered by any of it. Dash almost felt bad, mostly because she kind of forgot her there. Scootaloo flew slowly up to her and asked, "Can I come with?" Rainbow grinned, happy to at least do something for her. "Yeah. I just bought a new house, so maybe you can check it out with me. "Sweet!" Scootaloo's eyes glowed as she flew at a speed Rainbow Dash did not know she could handle. Dash looked back at Cobalt Streak and Cortland one more time before catching up with Scootaloo.