One
Grounded
One
There are certain kinds of horrors, not just scary images or jump scares in horror films, but rather a spine crawling horror where fear and realization envelope you as one. They don't necessarily haunt your nightmares or make you cry in the corner of your room like a foal.
Instead, these horrors were a smack of reality. Reality, being a cruel demon to all, was something many wanted to avoid, such as herself. She hid behind any chance to accepting the consequences of her decisions. Five years ago, she left to start her life over for what she was certain was for the better. She did not expect anything to happen beyond that, especially when nopony bothered her in the last few years.
Rainbow Dash had no idea how wrong she was, for reality would come to bite her in the butt.
Knees tired and aching to rest, she had just gone through the mundane customs of her everyday life in Manehattan. She walked through the street she went through each and every day. She could even count the number of steps it took - if she wanted to. Instead of doing boring things like that, though, she let her eyes travel up to the sky. The clouds dusted the skies with a soft, gentle white, and the sun rested halfway into the mountains to give a glow of blissful orange.
Checking the time on a clock not too far away, she realized it was just after six. She let out an overdue yawn, work having bested her once again. Who knew serving ponies could be so tiring, even when it was only a bit after six? She was getting old… and that really sucked.
Then again, she had done overtime recently for the sake of paying her bills alongside wanting extra cash on the side. Dealing with a variety of ponies - let it be kind faces that gave generous tips or ponies who will complain in a loud voice for all to hear if a pea was out of place - it was still hard to get used to, even after a few years of working there. At least she didn’t threaten to shove their food somewhere today.
She learned not to do that from personal experience.
Sighing, she was ready to take the rest of the day to do nothing but sit down and read - if he did not try to convince her (and succeed, at that) into doing something with him. Oh, well.
As she made her way through the rest of the city, she had no idea who was staring at her from a fair distance at one point.
That is, until her eyes drifted toward the sidewalk from where the pony watched her with probing eyes. The pony stood by a corner of the street, while she had stopped near the edge of a street that intersected the other one.
On the other side of the street, the pony just stood and stared; that was all. Ponies hardly ever gave her trouble here unless she asked for it. And they were never so rude as to just stare at her, especially looking for a long period of time. She was about to walk up to the mare, to tell her to quit staring else she wanted to get a face full of hoof.
However, she stopped in her tracks, heart pounding. She knew exactly who that was; it took an instant to figure that out. She had not forgotten them one bit, so one of their faces would trigger something.
She was dead still, barely breathing. Her knees buckled as she stared now, too. And the mare stared back. She even waved, as if they were friendly neighbors. It was almost surreal.
Putting completely simple puzzle pieces together, she put an all too familiar name to those purple eyes that belonged to matching coat and a flowing indigo mane with pinkish strands. It was impossible not to recognize her, even after several years.
In a single moment, a life can change. Never is it instantaneous, and hardly anypony can feel just how much a moment like this can bring a new fate about a pony. But one thing she did now was that what she left behind five years ago would gradually come back to her. Secrets revealed, lies spotlighted, nude to all; she imagined it all unfolding and wanted to head home and pretend this wasn’t happening.
Yet it was. This was a reality she feared would come true. And there was no turning back.
Twilight Sparkle stayed where she was, but her gaze remained.
The fact the mare stood still, though, confused her. While not the most jubilant in their group, she still expected the unicorn to run up to her and encase her in a warm hug, like good friends do. But, no, she did not; at least, not yet. It was as if she was waiting for her to do something. But what?
That much should have been obvious. She should have walked up to that pony, say hi as if it were nothing, as if they hadn't spoken in a long time. They could have enjoyed their reunion since several years, talk about their lives from that point on—
Only it wasn't that case, either, for she found no way to word her explanation for... well, everything. Leaving, never talking to them beyond those years; she didn’t like keeping them in the dark, but she had reasons, reasons she doubted they would understand. Stupid, overdramatic, crazy! Sweat dropped onto her forehead as she gulped. She, ever the strong and confident, felt no ounce of courage in her to talk to the mare as they played the game of who would move first.
Finally, Twilight lost her patience Her expression was hard to distinguish. Confusion? Relief of seeing her old friend? It didn't matter. What would she do? Accept fate and stay where she was, talk with the pony like the latter wanted to? Well, that was not significant, either, for she did what she does best… and flew.
Rainbow Dash flew home as fast as her legs could muster. She only slowed when bystanders got in her way, and she barely bothered with apologies, doing everything she could but the obvious to head back home; there, she was certain she would feel safer. Her hooves clicked against the ground in hurried, scattered noises, and she refused to look back.
If Twilight followed suit, she made no notice of it, and found the small building she happily called home. She shut the door behind her in an inappropriately loud manner and had an urge to lock the doors, but just shrugged it off.
After a few seconds of silence, she released an overdue sigh. Her head gently banged onto the top of her head, wisps of her prismatic mane dangling over her eyes. Huffing them away, she headed deeper into the living room. Occupied only with a couch, a wide table and a bookshelf, it was otherwise empty. Being alone made her feel uncomfortable, yet she felt thankful a little. Time to... think.
Only a single one touched her mind, though, throwing away any other attempts of thinking of what to do now.
Why?
Why, why, why? She couldn't understand. It had been five years; five long years since she had spoken to any of them. And she was certain that once they hadn't talked to her in the course of those couple years, then they had decided to let her go on with her life, the very reason she left.
Or that was at least a small part of it. She checked the clock lying on the wall. With it being twenty-five minutes after six, she expected somepony to arrive anytime soon. Would the Twilight find her and try to talk to her in that time? She shuddered at dealing with what she tried to hide all these years...
A knock at the door interrupted her train of thought. If it wasn't him, then no doubt it was Twilight. She nearly panicked but told herself to calm down. To be afraid of talking to an old friend was like being afraid of small animals. Quit being stupid!
Still… why? It had been several years since they even spoke, let alone seen each other. What made today special?
Sighing, Rainbow knew that she could not leave the visitor gone unnoticed. She knew she was here, and not talking to her would only draw up more suspicion. Walking up to the door, she anticipated what would happen once they began talking, knowing questions would pop up. Especially the one she had been asking herself just a few minutes ago: why?
That’s a word she’d been thinking a lot for the last couple minutes, after all.
She opened the door to reveal the gently smiling purple pony. Her smile widened at the sight of the mare who had moved to Manehattan years ago.
“Rainbow Dash, it's so good to see you again!” The purple coated mare wrapped her in a warm embrace.
She backtracked but caught herself, accepting the hug by tapping her hooves against Twilight Sparkle’s back. She said, as casually as she could, “Yeah, good to see you, too, Twi'.”
They separated, and Rainbow brought Twilight inside with a hint of hesitance that Twilight did not catch. Even while holding no grudges against her, having her here brought unwanted nervousness about Rainbow Dash.
“I have to say, Rainbow, I had no idea I'd find you here. Honestly, I thought you had run off to Las Pegasus or something,” Twilight chuckled a little. “I mean, you wrote to us in your letters that you were here, but when we tried to visit, we couldn't find you.”
Rainbow Dash could only shrug, afraid any other action would involve wincing. She knew exactly what Twilight was talking about. “Well, those were just days where I was busy and stuff. Or I was out of town. Just bad timing, I guess.”
“So, how's it going in Ponyville? I must've missed a lot.” She sat in the chair opposite to Twilight, grinning in what she hoped was a casual way. She also really wanted to drop the previous subject.
Twilight took a moment to respond, her face indistinguishable. “Actually, there is, um, something, but I'll get to that later.” Rainbow suddenly had a word she hated: later. And still, Twilight remained oblivious to Rainbow's reactions; maybe not as much as changed as she believed. “I mean, not much really has happened that's newsworthy. … Although Pinkie's now in charge of Sugarcube Corner all by herself.”
Rainbow smirked. “No way; what happened?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Cake just got too busy, especially since they had another kid, Cream Cake. They gave Pinkie the business, and… I think they moved to Fillydelphia.”
“Pinkie Pie with her own business,” she said, laughing. “That’s something I
There was an awkward pause for a minute after Twilight just nodded in agreement. Rainbow cleared her throat, and Twilight kicked her hooves gently against the floor. Finally, Rainbow just stood up and asked, “Want something to eat or something?” as if that didn't make things any less awkward.
Twilight shook her head but thanked her. Silence followed for about the next few minutes, though it felt like decades had passed before Rainbow's patience waned. She groaned and decided to not beat around the bush. “So what did you want to tell me before, anyway?”
Twilight's hesitance to answer bothered her. She should have known this would happen. Friends just didn’t pop in just for a cup of tea and a talk, especially with the way she left. “Why did you leave?”
The Pegasus sighed. If she could make a book of what happened, she very well could—except she'd need someone with writing skills, but that was besides the point. Thoughts of those past years flashed into her mind, but she forced them away, needing to answer before Twilight became concerned and/or suspicious.
“It's, uh, kinda hard to explain.”
“Please, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. “We were all really confused a-and worried when you left out of nowhere! You just left us a note, and that was that. I know it might be hard, but like the others, I really want to know.”
“Maybe it's personal. How 'bout that?” she challenged with a sort of snarl starting to fall from the corners of her lips.
Thankfully, Twilight calmed a bit. “Then I understand, but as your friends, we just didn't expect this to happen. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary before you left.”
Really? That was debatable. Before the time she left, were the signs that oblivious, or was it just Twilight being, well, Twilight? Did the others think this, though?
Despite Rainbow Dash spacing out with her thoughts, Twilight went on. “You just left a note for us and said to not bother getting you. We tried to once, but you weren’t here at all! We were actually really worried, but you kept sending letters. The only reason we didn't do anything was because... well, we thought you wanted to have a life of your own. Perhaps we should’ve tried harder, but we respected whatever decisions you wanted to make. But... we felt like we had done something to make you leave.” Twilight blinked up at Rainbow. “Did we?”
With a flicker of her tail, she groaned. That was taken so wrong, and now Twilight was giving her those sad doe eyes! “No, no, that's not why I left at all! I don't hate you guys or anything, seriously; you didn't do a thing. It's... something else. And I don't need anypony shoving it in my face, that's all.”
Twilight's face fell. “I wouldn't want to do that. Rainbow, what—?”
There were a number of knocks against the door that disrupted their conversation and, once again, her thinking.
Rainbow's face paled under her coat, but she had to get the door, of course; who was behind there could not be waited on. Twilight waited on the couch with a blank expression. No turning back, the truth literally awaiting beyond that door.
Shakily, her hoof reached the doorknob, and she gave Twilight a nervous glance, and in response, the unicorn just tilted her head to the side.
Rainbow opened the door and struggled to keep a smile that could be described at least as nice.
“Hi, Rainbow Dash,” said the mare standing beside the colt that barely stood up to her chest level. Her smile was welcoming, and Rainbow Dash was grateful she could say somepony in this town was nice enough to be her friend. She was sure her name was something involving a flower of sort. “How's your day been goin'?”
“Eh, fine. Uh, actually, I have somepony over.”
The mare peeked into the room, and noticing Twilight, blinked. “Okay, I'll leave you two with Cobalt, then. See you tomorrow, you two,” she said, her Manehattan accent noticeable but not as severely thick as several ponies here.
“Cool. See ya' then.” With that, Rainbow Dash shut the door with her hind hoof as she let the colt in.
At the sight of his bright, wide eyes, her whole mood just changed. It was just something about young colts and fillies; while not necessarily a newborn foal anymore, his cherubic features remained. They gave him a kind of look that worked a different kind of magic that can just bring joy to anyone who stares.
“Hey, buddy,” greeted Rainbow with a wide smile, ignoring the fact her company would question this, the inevitable. She hugged his light blue body with one arm, getting in reaction a burst of laughter. “How was school?”
“It was awesome!” His words were inspired by an obvious figure. His smile stretched almost entirely across his face.
Twilight’s ears perked up, and the gears in her head could probably be heard shifting and moving around. Her pupils shrunk to pea size. “Rainbow Dash?” Her mouth dangled, any words beyond those two, should she have any, gone.
Rainbow didn't know quite what to say at this moment. It was the moment of truth set free into the air. No going back. It was better to just get to the point. She took in a heavy breath.
“Twilight... this is Cobalt, my... kid.”
If jaws could drop beyond the capacity bones could move healthily, Twilight's would have cascaded to the floor—no, not just that, but through the floor and into the center of the earth. No words could form, though her reaction was enough of a response.
Rainbow Dash stood with her young son in her arms. He blinked at the mare who was beyond dumbfounded at this point, and turned back to Rainbow Dash. Unable to think of any way to explain this to him, she instead focused back on Twilight, though what else could Rainbow Dash say in this situation, this sudden burst of the verity coming out?
With a weak grin, she said, “Surprise.”
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What's this? A multi-chaptered story by moi? That's new!
Yes, this is going to be long. I don't know how far I'll actually go, but with everything outlined and me having a good motivation to get this done, hopefully I'll stick around for this until the end.
We need a drama tag. I feel like the tags are lacking here. Slice of life? Maybe. But it's also a crap load of drama, too. I guess SoL will do, though. Enough complaining from me, though. Comment, rate, let me know what you think!
You now have my full attention. Have even more Pinkies!
We also need a mystery tag and a few others. Maybe a grading based on how dark/ sad a story should get, heh. Anyway I WANT MOAR!
Wow, now this has my attention, I'm confused on what the buck happened and who the father is but I'm impressed about how Rainbow Dash has a kid though but I'm suprised she can't fly, how odd...and you always need to add Derpy
Even if it's minor she's Derpy Hooves, I find it very hard to not see in her in a story
I'm down for this, you done real, real well....let's see how this turns out
Well that was unexpected
Wow, after heading back from a party, I come back with quite a lot of notifications. It's not so many compared to the hundreds people may get, but quite frankly, the fact I just started gives me faith this will go well, so I don't care. So thanks to all those who favorited, liked, etc, because this really made my day, even though it wasn't going so well halfway through.
1981942 So many Pinkie's...
1981944 With such positive reception this story has gotten, I'm very excited to get through the next chapter soon--maybe even by this weekend!
1982099 Well, I might as well make one thing clear. Rainbow Dash can still fly; she just decided not to at the time. However, I understand where you may get that, and that will be cleared up hopefully in future chapters. The next chapter may even help a bit.
1982180 I'm taking that as a compliment, so thank you!
1982521
Are you psychic or something? Hehe, I'm going to say you enjoyed in nonetheless, so thanks.
Luna this was good
Luna: but I didn't write it
Me: it's an expression Luna
Luna: Oh ok... You wanna go prank Tia?
Me: uhhh no thanks last time I ended up being turned bright pink for a week *shudders* now I get cold cuddlers asking me out on a date
Luna: well you did put hot sauce in Tia's cake and place it in the castles water supply
Me: crap this thing is still on....
1986066 Thank you. And hot sauce? I would have gone with rainbows.
But you didn't hear that from me.
Not just ordinary hot sauce
priceless
Pinkie Pies hot sauce
You should have seen the look on her face
*Rainbow Dash walks into the room her mane and tail dyed white*
Luna: what happened to you?
Dash: Tia caught me trying to sneak itching powder into her uhh.. What do yah call it? Reguli? Regio? Regalia! That it regalia yeah it didn't end well.... Hey do you think this dye is permanent?
Me:course it isn't
(I'm secretly feeling sorry for her becuase it is in fact permanent
)
First chapter and I'm hooked already. I was actually expecting an abusive spouse, not an innocent young colt.
Well written!
Oh boy......