//------------------------------// // Twelve // Story: Grounded // by MissytheAngle //------------------------------// Grounded Twelve Cortland stood in the late morning, yawning to himself as he waited for the train. It was fairly early in the day, and the skies looked so cool, blue, and peaceful. He enjoyed staring at the skies when he had time to do anything. That, and thinking. A full week had passed when he decided to head back home; a whole week of only doing work when Applejack asked him to help in any way. Poor Peachy, he thought with a grimace. Hopefully, she wasn't too badly covered in work. Or worse, she'll force it all onto me and complain for several hours. She better understand. He chuckled as he thought back to when he first showed Cobalt what he did for work, the first time he really got time with Cobalt to himself. At first, he knew she was watching them, but she left after his little talk with her. He shook his head as he wondered what had gone through that mare's mind. Rainbow Dash was a strange mare; he gave her that much. She was certainly protective and loyal towards her son—their son. Yeah, that would take some time to get used to. It sounded foreign to him. Quite frankly, he never exactly wanted a kid, but when he heard of this one, he found himself very angry about not knowing. Now, Cortland was a very calm pony. It took a lot to blow his fuse, especially if you were his sister. Peachy Sweet was the only one to really get on his nerves anymore. Even then, it was because of her that any and most anger problems he might have ever had disappeared over the course of years. This got him boiling, but by the end of the day, he had simmered to being just confused and lost. Cortland was having a simple work day, trying to ignore Peachy's begs for him to get a girlfriend so she could have the house to herself. Then, as if irony loved messing with him, a rainbow maned pony popped out of nowhere with a colt riding on her back, followed by her giving him the worst way to tell him the news. To him, it was pretty much like saying, I have a son! By the way, he's yours, too. Surprise! Why didn't she say anything? There had to be some reason. It was beyond rude and selfish, but something about Rainbow Dash told him there was more to it than just to be mean and not share the child with him. She did not seem like a bad pony, so there had to be something that she never quite explained or showed. But what? He began pacing a bit as he wondered as to why. His time was cut short, however, as a line of rainbow appeared before him, having arrived without any sort of warning. Cortland took a step back, his train of thought slowing. He quirked a brow at her, taking a step back in shock at her presence. “What're you doing here? Didn't expect to see ya here.” “Thought I'd just see you go before ya left. I can leave, if you want,” Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. She even began to turn, her wings furled out. Cortland rolled his eyes with a huff. “No, you're fine.” Then he noticed a key thing missing in this scene. "Hey, where's Cobalt?" he asked, having trouble imagining a time she did not have him beside her or on her back when he wasn't keeping an eye on him. "Scoots is babysitting him. You said goodbye to him before, right?" she asked, turning back to him. "Yeah, I did,” he said, recalling the early morning when the little colt and he said their goodbyes. “So you're going?” Cobalt Streak asked in realization of the words. There was a hint of sadness to his voice, which Cortland didn't know what to feel about. He hated just telling the child he was going so soon, and he hated making him feel sad. And yet it meant that Cobalt thought more of the stallion than just a simple pony in his life. It meant he was doing something right. If only he had that chance to prove it to Rainbow Dash around five years ago... He smiled down at the colt. “Yes, I am, Cobalt. But don'cha worry. I ain't leavin' forever. We’ll see each other again. Promise.” “Can't you stay here? I'm sure mommy wouldn't mind it,” Cobalt said with big, pleading eyes. Cortland shrugged, not quite sure. She didn't seem to hate him as much as he thought she did. If anything, she was just protective of her son. “Well, I have work, anyways, so living here ain't an option. But you're always welcome to visit, you know.” Cobalt nodded slowly, like he was trying to understand. “And you can come visit, too. You seem like a nice pony. I wish I got to know you sooner.” The innocence and kindness shown in the pony's eyes only made it harder to leave. And to think, he only knew him for barely a week. There was something about the kid, his immediate connection to Cortland. Perhaps because Cortland was his father, Cobalt understood the stallion was more than a mere stallion to him. And with his respect for Cortland, the colt simply wanted to have a father at his side. Cortland nodded, thinking about this before leaving. If only it was that easy, but he told himself it wasn't so. “Thank you.” And he left. Cortland turned back to Rainbow Dash, returning to reality quick enough to ask, “So why are you here? Even my cousin couldn't come, cause she's busy." "I just wanted to... to say something, that's all." Cortland's ears perked with interest, especially at how hesitant she was acting in the course of a second. He tilted his head to tell her to go on. Rainbow licked her lips. There was an edginess to her now, which unsettled Cortland. Did something happen? "I...I'm s-sorry." He calmed a bit, but then the words processed into his head. There was a long list as to what exactly she could have been sorry for, but he didn't care. They were sweet, sweet words to his ears. He even leaned in, asking while trying to hide the laughter escaping his voice, "Little louder?" "I'm not saying it again." She stared at him with her brows furrowed. He gave out a loud laugh. "Fine, ah heard you the first time. But... 'bout what, exactly?" "Duh! Y'know, never telling you about him and all that crap." "Well, good,” replied Cortland, nodding. “Just as long as that's clear." "You don't even seem to mind leaving him or anything. I mean, you were pretty mad about me not telling you, so what's up?” she demanded, though it wasn't as threatening as she wanted since her voice cracked at the end. Cortland grinned genuinely at her. At least she acknowledged that alongside her not telling him. He gave her points for making amends of her mistakes that effected him. Still, he wasn't quite sure how to explain his predicament. After all, he was leaving on his own accord, and did not feel completely disdained by leaving someone who he now knew was his son. "Well, I'm going to pop in—sometimes when I'm not busy with work, but that's the thing. Me and Peach do a lot of work; it's hard caring of a farm just by ourselves. So adding "take care of kid" don't sound easy." "But you would like to care for him, wouldn't you?" she asked with her arms crossed. "... Yeah, but I'm leaving that to you." He pointed to her, ready for any response she gave him after that. "Huh?" Rainbow's eyes shot open wider, surprise spread across her face. "You really seem to care about him. Me? I'm just a stranger to you... for the most part. You want to protect him. Just... try to think of others, whatever you do,” he said with a solemn dim in his eyes. He stared hard at Rainbow, hoping she understood how much he meant that. Cortland smiled to himself, proud of what he said. Thinking back, he barely remembered Rainbow as it was. All he knew was she was a mare he met at the Apple Family Reunion, and he didn't remember much of what exactly happened. To him, she was just a simple mare he met. To her, someone who got pregnant because of what they did? He didn't know what she thought in detail, but he must have been a stranger, someone who just brought their son into the world. That was it. He even left before she could tell him! Perhaps if he stayed, maybe something could have changed... maybe. Either way, bringing himself into her nonexistent shoes, there was no one at fault for what happened. Everyone made mistakes, and albeit the hugeness of hers, there was nothing to do about it. That was then, and here they were now. She was apologizing, admitting her mistakes, though through gritted teeth, and for that, he gave her credit. And from what he could tell, she was hoping to make amends for her faults. He just didn't want her to make the same mistakes again. "Yeah, yeah, I get enough spiels like that from Twilight. Want me to write about it in a letter, too?" "No?” It was more of a confused question than an answer, and he looked at her nervously. "... Good,” she said with a nod. Chuckling awkwardly, she looked up over his shoulder. Curious as to what she was looking at, he turned around, too. A colorful train was approaching them less than a mile away. He let out a cool sigh; finally, he could head home. At home, there was not so much drama going on, and he couldn't wait to return to simplicity and, for the most part, dullness. The relief was clear on his face. "There's my ride. Have a good day." He waved his hoof at her before turning around and starting towards the train. He had a hoof ready to touch the platform of it when a voice cut him off. "Hey!” He looked around to see Rainbow Dash, midair yet still looking at him, not ready to go yet. He decided to do the same, stopping and keeping his head tilted towards her. “You know, there's a wedding—Twilight’s—and, uh, you can come, if you want." Cortland tipped his head down with a smile as his answer. The train whistle howled again, and he headed into the train. The doors shut a few moments after he entered and took a seat in a car half packed with ponies. He sat down and looked over at Ponyville one more time. He watched Rainbow Dash fly away through the glass pane until he could no longer see her or Ponyville. He lay back and sighed, happy to leave this place and return to the serenity of hard work and simplicity in Appleloosa. *** Rainbow Dash opened the door to her new house. Yes, new house. She finally got it a few days into Cortland’s visit. With that one problem bothering her mind gone, she decided to get another over with fast. She counted her bits and found a nice apartment to stay in. Honestly, she had plenty of money beforehand, but just never had the patience to search for a place, not to mention the time, given all that had happened to her recently It was small, but it worked wonders for her in comparison to her cloud house. If anything, Cobalt seemed to love it. “So this is where we're living forever?” he had asked with a huge smile across his face. “Hmm, for the most part, sure,” Rainbow had answered, looking into the rooms to check what was in store for them. It had a total of five rooms; the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom, and two bedrooms. It was simple and just perfect. She doubted the bed here would ever beat her fluffy, soft cloudbed at her old home, but she would do what she could. Rainbow Dash shut the door behind her as she stepped in, unaware of what was behind her. “Man, I'm beat. How's it going with you... guys?" There were still things that needed to be refurnished and added to make it feel less barren. Living in a cloud house, where most of the stuff was made of, well, clouds, didn't help either. There was the living room, which now only had a couch, a small television, something that was invented not too long ago and was something Rainbow really wanted to try out, and a large desk with drawers to store books and toys. But refurnishing would probably have to be done later, for there was another problem at hand that needed a lot of work on. Scootaloo stood in the center of the room. Beside her was Cobalt Streak, who looked fine if it weren't for the pink goop on the left side of his mane and face. He was trying to lick it all off while SCootaloo desperately scrubbed the kitchen, which hadn’t been spared. The blender was the main source, from what she could tell, given how much was still in it. Though it seemed impossible that so much could possibly spill from the small blender, she didn't doubt Scootaloo's tendencies to be incredibly klutzy like that. Not only that, but even the living room was a mess, though not as bad as the kitchen. Still, several things had fallen over, like a bunch of books, toys that lie everywhere, and even the television looked like it was ready to flop over onto the floor and take out its life. This was not something Rainbow Dash wanted to come home to. "What the heck!?" she exclaimed, her voice rising and breaking in exaggeration. Scootaloo was completely frozen for a second. Slowly, her body turned to face Rainbow Dash, who had an interrogating look about her, brow quirked up and eyebrows narrowed. Her eyes were large, though her pupils were so small, it was hard to tell what color they were. “Uh, this isn't what it looks like!" Rainbow remained unfazed, and she even looked at Cobalt. He simply pointed at Scootaloo, who stared at him in horror for giving up on her so quickly. Scootaloo's eyes fell back to Dash as she tried to come up with something to explain as to what happened. "You... didn't see anything?" She waved her hooves around in the air, like she was trying to hypnotize Rainbow Dash into believing nothing happened. "Good thing you didn't get a Cutie Mark in babysitting,” Dash finally said, gliding in and thinking about how the hell she was going to clean this all up. She flashed a frown at Scootaloo, thinking, Well, I'm NOT doing this alone! Scootaloo frown became a sheepish smile, chuckling very weakly. Then a tiny smile reached Rainbow's mouth. Several Months Later... There were long months of simple events going on that Rainbow didn't think much of. She finally got that house cleaned up—well, she got Scootaloo to do it, as punishment for most likely causing it; unless Cobalt Streak suddenly decided to be a sneaky and bad colt. Other than that, she didn't find herself doing much in her past time, aside from hanging with her friends or doing stuff with her son. On occasion, Cortland wrote to her, to which she had trouble writing, but did so anyway. They were simple letters that asked about her and Cobalt, something to pass the time out of pure boredom, at least. Then one day, she found herself among all of her friends. They all stood around the center of the room they were in, except Twilight Sparkle, who was nonetheless in the building, but not in the room with them. And for a big reason, too—according to Rarity, that is. All five of them were wearing gorgeous dresses, each with different designs and styles, as always, Rarity had done their dresses. They never looked alike, nor did they seem plain or lifeless in any way. Rather, they breathed and blended in synch with the wearer, showing their true colors and personality. Aside from the places exposed for her wings to spread out and be free, the gown flowed just to her hooves. A rainbow pattern was lined at the chest while it slowly turned into a pearl white color. And thankfully, the dress fit perfectly, letting her feel comfortable. Rainbow Dash trusted only one pony to put her in a dress like this, and that was Rarity. Rarity observed them all and giggled to herself, going into a fangirl frenzy. Applejack laughed at her. “Ah'm guessin' ya like the dresses, Rare?” “OH, absolutely, darling! They look magnificent! I had my doubts, but really, they never could have turned out better. We're all going to look just gorgeous,” Rarity answered breathlessly, grabbing both of Applejack's hooves and twirling her to the side in the midst of her dreamy phase. “They're amazing dresses, Rarity. You did a great job,” Fluttershy complimented. She looked around after a light pause. “By the way, where is Twilight? She has been gone for a while, hasn't she?” Rarity blinked a moment, taken out of her phase. Clearing her throat, she said, “Well, I had to keep her out of the room from you girls. The bride's dress is only the top of the icing for this!” “I thought that was when you gave Cobalt his little tux to try on,” Pinkie giggled at the memory, earning small laughter in exchange. The thought of Cobalt in that little, even perhaps a bit tight, tux, made Rainbow Dash laugh, too. He didn't seem too fond of it, but it was certainly entertaining to see him struggle, in vain, to get it somehow to be more comfortable. “Well, I suppose that, too, but wait till you see her, girls. Just wait... Twilight, dear! You can come out when you're ready!” Rarity shouted into the room behind her. All eyes were where Rarity turned to, and they waited. For a moment, Twilight was a mere shadow as a purple glow opened the door to the room. Then she stepped closer into the room, revealing herself in the dress. Everypony's reaction was different, but they all said the same thing. Even Rainbow Dash stared at her and knew she looked beautiful. Twilight's dress was pure white, almost similar to that of a blanket of soft, gentle snow. It was straight and thin against her body, showing her figure, while the bottom ruffled. Parts of her hair were pulled back while it all cascaded down her neck and on the sides of her head. Suddenly, Twilight was welcomed with plenty of awes and gasps towards her, as well as compliments that she was not ready for. She was already blushing at the attention spotlighted on her. “Wow, Twilight! Ya look great!” Applejack said. Rarity looked at her, as if offended. “Great? Darling, she's gorgeous.” “Thank you, girls.” “Ink Blot is going to love it, I just know it,” said Fluttershy. “We're so happy for you, Twilight.” “No tears yet, girls. We're nowhere near done. We still have two weeks left, and you know what that means? … And no random guesses from Pinkie,” Rarity added, knowing Pinkie's tendency to spew random words. Pinkie's face fell into a pout. “Aww, why? We all know about the bachelorette party, right?” Rarity's eyes widened and went over to her. She blinked twice. “Oh, yes. Sorry, Pinkie, I just... never mind.” She shook her hoof and head, trying to get back on track. “I already have reservations in a couple days, pause for dramtic effect.” In the silence, most of the girls rolled their eyes. “... For a restaurant at the Crystal Empire!” The girls all gasped and grinned, immediately erupting into conversation about going. Dash wondered how long it had been since they last visited. It felt like decades since she had last gone, and while they hadn't really been there much, it wasn't too bad of a place. She never did figure out how those ponies could look all shiny and crystalline, but they looked really cool, and she hadn't been there too many times. A party there? It sounded like a great idea. Then she thought of something. Hesitating, she asked, “Hey, how long are we staying there?” “I'm thinking just two days, not even. We'll probably leave a bit late after the first day,” Rarity explained. She blinked and added, “Why do you ask?” “I was just thinking that, well, Cobalt hadn't really seen it yet, and I think he'd like it there. Plus, I just don't wanna leave him for two days,” she added in hopes that maybe they'd respect that reason enough to let him go. Pinkie was the first to say anything, while the others stayed silent or mulled it over. “But Dashie, it's a bachelorette party, not a bachelorette and kid party,” she argued, though with a smile still plastered on her face. “Oh, c'mon, since when has he ever caused trouble?” Rainbow asked with a smirk, knowing her victory was almost positive with this, given his clean streak. The day he got in trouble for doing something was the day Rainbow Dash would punch a Wonderbolt in the face. Twilight, whose opinion was the one Rainbow needed the most in this case, pursed her lips and continued thinking it over, but Applejack didn't think long on it. “Ah don't see why not,” she said to Twilight, who started to smile. Twilight nodded. “I guess I have no problem with it. But who will he stay with while we're at the party?” “Ah, we'll think of something,” Rainbow said with a toss of her hoof in the air. “I'll handle that stuff. But that's the least of our worries right now. When is it and when can we start partying?” “Hey, that's my line! When can we start partying?” Pinkie started to jump onto her hindhooves, most likely trying to toss confetti everywhere or whatever else she had stashed in thin air. “Once you get out of that delicate outfit before you start jumping around,” Rarity said with a slight scold that brought Pinkie Pie down back on all four hooves, blushing and giggling. The rest of them went back to talking amongst one another, until Rarity advised them all to change out and pack for the trip. In two days, they were going, and Rainbow Dash was fairly excited, especially with Cobalt Streak coming along. After changing out of the dress, she bid them all good-bye and left to tell him the good news.