Grounded

Chapters

Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
One
Nine

Two

Grounded

Two

Beyond the shocked reactions and the few words muttered between them, silence reigned for a long several minutes after the truth was out. They simply stared at each other, though constantly, Twilight's eyes glanced over to Cobalt, who did not seem fazed by their new visitor, nor did he question the awkward silence.

“Cobalt, maybe you should go up to your room. I have to talk with my friend for a minute,” said Rainbow, unable to handle the insanity of the silence any longer. And she doubted she could talk to Twilight without him being the very topic, and she did not want him to hear it.

“'Kay,” he said as the earth colt walked up to his room upstairs. He smiled at Twilight kindly, who gave a sweet smile back, before going into his room.

But then it faded when she heard the door slam, and it turned to a look of absolute bemusement. “Rainbow... I.... what happened? I mean, what I mean is,” she sputtered, obviously unable to handle this situation calmly. “When did this happ—how old is he?” It took her a moment to stick with a single question, as no doubt many were racing through her mind.

“Just turned five a while ago.”

“Five? Then... then you had him just around the time you left!” she exclaimed, eyes wide. She trotted up to the prismatic maned mare with a questioning gaze. “Wh-I don't even know what to say.” She took a heavy breath and rubbed the sides of her forehead.

“What's there to say? It's no big deal.” Even Rainbow nearly winced at her words the second after they fell from her lips. They came out so much worse than she planned.

Sure enough, Twilight's eye twitched. “Y-it's just, you've been gone for years, and—” A flash glinted in her eyes as something dawned on her, a piece of this large puzzle beginning to be placed in. Rainbow frowned, knowing full well that Twilight, being the intelligent mare she was, would get the answer quickly. Glancing up the stairs as if she could see Cobalt, she hoped he was not listening in their conversation at this point.

“You left... and that has something to do with him.” It was not a question. And her sudden calmness was strange, almost disturbing.

“Hey, don't put any blame on him, alright?” Rainbow Dash said, arms crossed over her chest as she abruptly flew a few feet in the air, floating just over Twilight’s face. “He didn't do anything.”

“I know, I know he didn't. But still, it was because of him you left, right?” Twilight's brow quirked.

Shoulders sagging in defeat, Rainbow landed on the ground and said, “Yeah, kinda. B-but I didn't want to, at first. I just wasn't sure how to handle it, so I left to take things on by myself.”

“We could have helped!” Twilight suggested in a louder tone than necessary.

“I can handle things on my own, you know,” Rainbow Dash countered.

Twilight stood quiet. “You could at least have said good-bye,” she then said. There was a softness to her voice now, quickly switched from her interrogative state. How did she do that?

“It would have been complicated if I did that. Everypony would try to convince me out of it, or even ask why! I just didn't want to get in that kind of mess. If anything, I was too...”

Twilight waited, but Rainbow Dash did not respond immediately, her voice caught in her throat for some reason. She refused to make eye contact with Twilight, backing down as the tables turned; rather than wanting to be in her face, she wanted to be just about anywhere else. “Too what?” Twilight questioned.

In response, Rainbow grit her teeth. “Never mind. You have any other questions? 'Cause I don't have all day or anything. I have to set up dinner,” Dash said, already heading into the kitchen. Setting up dinner suddenly seemed far more compelling to do than have Twilight interrogate her. Granted, all that was to it was getting plates and the pizza out, but it was better than nothing.

Twilight peeked into the kitchen, which was mostly a cupboard and a round table with a couple chairs adorning a room smaller than the living room. She walked over to Rainbow Dash, who stood immobile at the counter.

“Rainbow... are you alright?”

The Pegasus let out an angry huff. Losing her temper and cool would just worsen the situation, so she needed to calm herself. Any stress that arrived alongside Twilight needed to leave. Turning around and leaning against a counter, she said, “Heh, yeah, I'm just awesome, thanks for asking!”

“I didn't mean to bother you, really. I'm just concerned.”

“Twilight, if you haven't noticed, I've been doing this for five whole years, so there's nothing to be concerned about. I can take care of him fine and everything. You don't need to worry about that.”

“But that's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about you,” Twilight corrected her. Breaking the gap between them, she pressed a hoof on her shoulder. “As soon as you saw me out there, you ran away. Why?”

Rainbow hissed under her breath, realizing she hurt Twilight long before they even started talking. The entire day had taken a turn for the worst, for both of them. If one of them wasn't looking miserable, it was the other. And Rainbow Dash certainly wasn't helping either of them with prolonging her little lies and secrets.

“I left 'cause I didn't want anypony to know. And now that you're here, now the secret's out!” She fell into the chair, wisps of her hair brushing into her vision. “I don't know what to do now.”

“You could come back to Ponyville,” Twilight suggested.

All that answered was a quiet Pegasus and her full attention of nothing but the floor. She brushed a hoof against the table in circles. Rainbow Dash being quiet was close to unsettling, unwonted. Twilight's ears sagged.

“We just really missed you, Rainbow,” Twilight stated.

“Yeah, I know. Look, can we just sit down and relax for a second? I really need a drink,” Rainbow Dash said abruptly, on the verge of begging for a change of subjects. She headed to the fridge for a container of water, followed by two cups. “Ya want some water?”

“Sure.”

Dash poured water into two cups and set them on the table, adding three plates surrounding the circle.

“Is it a minute yet? Can I go down?” a tiny voice called out from upstairs. Only a shadow of an earth colt could be seen.

Rainbow Dash chuckled, looking at the clock. It had been ten minutes since sending him up. Still, popping her head up the stairs to see a tiny, light blue figure at the edge above, she said, “Not yet. Just a bit more.”

All they heard after that was, “Aww!” before another door shut. Rainbow's grin fell when she turned back to the unicorn, who was biting her lip and had sat down at the dinner table. Clearly, many things still bugged her that were not yet answered.

And she knew that letting them go unanswered would only make things more suspicious. With a defeated sigh, she looked to Twilight. “I know you still have lots of question. Just hit me. Might as well get it over with.”

The unicorn nodded and almost instantly let out the first question. “Did you ever think of coming back?” Twilight began.

“Once, maybe twice, but obviously, I never thought much 'bout it. I was just... well, it was a lot to think about. Plus, I had a kid to take care of; the last thing on my mind was heading back home all of a sudden,” Rainbow stated clearly, though deep in her mind, she thought of other reasons as to why she hadn't gone back. Hopefully, none of this registered on her face as she pondered it.

It was gone unmentioned as Twilight tapped a hoof against her chin, thinking of her next question. “Umm... how is he doing?”

“Cobalt? What d'you mean by that?” A brow arched upward.

“I just mean, like, how is he? As in... is he a good kid?” Clearly, Twilight noticed her awkward addition to this conversation, yet no matter how hard she tried to cover it up, it only ended in babbling and blushing in her cheeks. “I don't know; I've never had to ask questions about something like this before.”

“He's fine, really. It’s not like you have to ask about him. I mean, I'm not asking for an interview for a job or whatever.”

“Oh, yeah, that reminds me. What do you do here to get money for you two? And this apartment?” Twilight asked. She looked over the generally decent home of the two, which had a few large rooms overall minus upstairs bedrooms and a bathroom, but for Rainbow, that was enough for the two of them.

“I just got a job at a restaurant—as a waitress. Not really as fun as working in the clouds, but better than, like, cleaning up their garbage, right?” she suggested with a light chuckle.

“What about the Wonderbolts?”

Rainbow Dash's face fell. “What 'bout them?”

“Do you still want to tryout for them? It was a huge dream of yours,” Twilight said, as if the reminded was required.

“I know. But I haven't thought about them much.”

Twilight looked taken aback. “Really?”

“Yeah.” She tried to keep her face straight and nonchalant as she took another sip of water. Inside, she thought, Although I wouldn’t kill for an extra reason to fly around a lot. She wiped her mouth of the drips of water that slipped away from her tongue and said, “Next.”

Twilight took a glance upstairs again and thought for a minute, eyes only staring to the top of the stairs.

Twilight glanced back, snapped from her daze. She shook her head lightly and said, “Oh, sorry. Who's, uh, who's the husband? Is it someone we know or--”

Rainbow froze, only placing her cup onto the table. That question she should have seen coming a mile away, yet she had no way to answer it. And Twilight said it so easily... because it should have been, at least a little. Only this was an entirely different story.

She glared down, right into her cup. Her mouth opened to come up with something, but in the end, she had nothing. Not a single lie or anything. As for the truth, she barely considered it.

And she refused to do so in any way. “Okay, enough asking me questions. My turn: what's up with suddenly coming here? It's been five years, Twilight. What exactly brought you here?”

Twilight's mouth slacked a moment, and Dash thought for a slight second that Twilight would be too determined to get answers from her about Cobalt's father. She waited with an anxious twitch to her tail.

However, Twilight's stare suddenly fell to the floor, which only drew Rainbow's suspicion (and confusion) more. Though it was nothing necessarily to get angry about, something just made her furious and she could not hold it in. She glared at the wall.

Twilight's bag glowed with soft pink as she opened it with her magic, catching Rainbow's attention again. There were several items in there, from the few seconds Rainbow got to see into it, but Twilight only took out one thing. She handed it to Rainbow Dash, who asked her friend to land it on the table.

Rainbow read the parchment aloud; not all of it, but enough:

You are graciously invited to the wedding of Ink Blot and Twilight Spar—

Rainbow cut herself off from reading the fancy writing and glanced at Twilight. Her heart leaped and then sank in nearly the same few moments this news sunk in. In four years, she clearly had missed so much...

Any chance to speak up were gone when Twilight interrupted her train of thought. “The wedding isn't for a few months, but I had these prepared beforehoof by Rarity. And... I had to find you to ask you to be one of my bridesmaids,” she said, the movement of her hooves now catching her attention far more than Rainbow's reaction.

While speechless for what Twilight had accomplished in the time Rainbow missed in Ponyville, the idea of going to the wedding instantly spelled disaster across her mind. Of course it would be in Ponyville, and of course her other friends would be a part of the scholar's bridesmaids.

“I can't go back,” Rainbow stated in a quieter tone, an overwhelming shyness invading her.

“Why not?” The disappointment in Twilight's face hurt her, but when Rainbow's eyes glanced up to the ceiling for just a moment, more ideas clicked into Twilight's head. The unicorn's ears fell back. “It's about your son.”

She sure can figure things out quick. Someone ought to get her a medal. “Cobalt—well, Cobalt Streak—but, anyway. I can't just leave him, but if I do bring him with me, of course the others will see him! They'll never look at me at the same way again; they'll hate me!”

“Why would they think that? Everyone missed you so much when you left. No matter what happened to you, we'd still love you.” Twilight paused, chuckling. “When I saw him, I didn't know what to think. But then I accepted it, because it's what you do with your life. Actually... I'm really happy for you.”

But Rainbow Dash just couldn't feel quite as elated as her friend, the hidden lies haunting her the longer she stared at her friend. “You don't know what happened, though,” she grumbled under her breath.

“No, I don't. But still, I can see it in your eyes that he's changed you a little, that... he means so much to you. I don't care who the father is at all; all I care about is the mother... Rainbow Dash, you seem to be doing really well with him,” complimented the scholar, eyes glowing with tears begging to fall. “And it makes me so proud of you.”

Damn these nampy-pamby moments—she's going to get to me! The Pegasus gritted her teeth, but soon released a smile. Twilight's words were close to breaking her, they were so generous. “Thanks, Twi'. I mean, I didn't exactly end up like this to get your approval or anything, but it means a lot to me.”

Twilight laughed slightly. “I know that. But you have no idea how much I want you at that wedding—everyone will love to see you again.”

“Even if I have my son with me?”

“They'll love him.”

Rainbow shook her head. “No, that's not it! I wasn't sure about that, but I doubt they'd hate him or anything, but... that's not what I'm worried about. They'll—for all I know, they'll think of me differently! They'll think I'm-I'm soft or something,” she told her, earning a sigh from Twilight.

Twilight's eyes shined with concern, a genuine feeling that brought more of a smile on Rainbow Dash's face. “You're still Rainbow Dash. You're still the Pegasus we knew before you left—you're just a mother now. That won't ever change what we think of you.”

“How can you be sure? What about, say, Applejack?”

“What about her?” Twilight cocked her head, bemused.

The Pegasus sighed, laying on the chair again. “Forget it. I-I still don't know, Twilight. Just... give me time to think, alright?” she asked in an exasperated tone. Exhaustion began to fill her, time lost on her.

Twilight's smile eased her. “Tell you what; it's pretty dark out, so I don't think I'll be home tonight. By tomorrow morning, you can give me an answer before I leave. That'll give you plenty of time to think,” she said.

“Sure, sure,” Rainbow accepted, relieved. But then she realized the evident. “But you should stay here. We don't exactly have many places, but you can take my bed.”

“Thank you, Rainbow. I'll just take the couch, though. I don't mind... Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“It's really good to see you again. Nothing can change that.”

Rainbow nodded absentmindedly, the sincerity in Twilight’s words bringing a warmth to her chest that reminded her just how strong their friendship had been--and still was.

She finally called down Cobalt to eat and let Twilight join in on their dinner. “That was way over a minute,” Cobalt argued, causing Twilight to giggle at his mildly irritated face, his somewhat chubby cheeks with hints of red added.

They ate in silence for a bit, knowing whatever they conversed about would be listened into by him if they tried. So Twilight instead listened to Cobalt's day at school along with Rainbow, who mostly paid attention; mostly being that most of what he said wasn't anything new except for a few simple things.

“And then when the teacher left, these two fillies got in a fight. And ‘cause this one boy liked the one girl, he squirted glue all over the other one’s mane, and then everypony started throwing stuff ‘round ‘till the teacher came in,” he said, an air of excitement all but exploding from him. His blue hooves spread out, and a wide smile stretched on his face. Rainbow Dash smirked at his enthusiasm for the silliest things.

“Oh, that’s awful,” Twilight played along. She then flashed him a feigned accusing look. “You didn’t throw anything, did you?”

Cobalt looked severely offended, but his eyes widened. “No!”

Twilight was easily amused, or at least pretended to be to entertain Rainbow Dash's son. She smiled and nodded whenever he showed real enthusiasm over the simplest things. Dash just watched as Twilight interacted with her son and saw a new light in Twilight that she saw in plenty of ponies when around Cobalt. He never had to do anything except be so adorable.

At last, Twilight bade Rainbow Dash good-night and fell into bed. The Pegasus found an extra blanket and pillow in a closet in her room and gave them to her. Cobalt followed his mother upstairs to get some shut-eye, as well.

Or, in some cases, only try.

Sleep eluded her that night, the pros and cons of both going or not fighting to the death. She, once the brave and strong Rainbow Dash, could not handle reality creeping onto her. And yet she knew she could not hide any longer. It was pathetic.

Still, was she ready to reveal this to everypony? This secret that she kept from them for so long by running away?

When she woke up to the blinding sun glaring under her eyelids, she thought harshly with a grumble, Not now, sun. Five more minutes.

But the sun was relentless, and continued to bath her in bright sunlight. Finally, she gave up on getting any extra sleep. Pulling the blankets from her body, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

It took a minute to realize what happened yesterday was not a dream, especially since her dreams were often about being high in the air, maybe a Wonderbolt or two at her side. Not a care in the world, and she loved it.

As soon as she headed into the hallway, Cobalt stepped up from the bathroom. His smile was bright as he approached his mother.

“Hey, Cobalt. What's up?” Rainbow asked.

“Are we're really gonna see your friends?”

Rainbow glared at him, a single brow high on her forehead. She almost asked him why he said that, especially with it coming out of nowhere, but then she had an idea. No wonder he looked so ecstatic early in the morning--even on weekends, he hated anytime before nine to get up. Now, however, it all made sense. “How much did you hear, nosy?” she then teased with a grin.

“Just that.” For some reason, despite his quickness to answer, he refused to keep eye contact with his mother, a timidness in his eyes just like that.

Rainbow Dash decided to let that slide. Being nosy was the last thing she cared about him doing. “I dunno, kid. I'm still thinking about it,” she stated with a faraway look.

A wave of disappointment made Cobalt's face fall. “Why don't you want to see your friends? Are you mad at them or something?”

“Heck, no,” Rainbow Dash dismissed the idea. “Things are... just complicated.”

Cobalt blinked several times with those big rose eyes and tilted his head. It took a moment for her to know why. Snickering, she said, “I don’t know if I’m ready to see them yet, that’s all.”

“That's too bad.” His disappointment washed into his eyes. He jumped into her hooves and stared up at her with those big, sad eyes. “When do you wanna see them?”

“I’m not sure, Cobalt. I don’t have an exact day for that.”

If looks could kill, Cobalt’s innocent, cherubic gaze would have at least sent Rainbow Dash to the hospital. “But you should! And I’ll be super super good and everything, I promise.”

Rainbow Dash did not think about it quite yet; there was something else she was thinking about. “Why do you want to go so bad? It’s not like you know them,” she quipped, even more befuddled than before. Why he wanted to go so bad was beyond her.

He shrugged. “It seems like fun.” When he smiled, revealing a set of pure white teeth, a squeak sounded. A squeak, of all things. She hated when he did that so much.

Ugh, why does he have to be so cute?! she thought as she hugged him tightly back. After this warm moment, she dug her hoof against the top of his sandy maned head in a playful noogie. “Ah, hay, we can go. 'Sides, everyone will go nuts when they see you.”

This pleased Cobalt, whose face perked up instantly. He jumped up with another squeak, wrapping his body onto one of her forelegs. “Awesome! I can’t wait!”

Rainbow Dash froze, letting what just happened sink it. She then sighed, realizing her defeat. As Cobalt fell from her grasp, she groaned into her hooves. Defeating by cuteness... she thought she had learned to get used to it by now. Apparently, this was not the case.

She walked downstairs and saw Twilight sitting casually on the couch that was her bed that evening. Hovering with a pink aura before her face was a green spine novel. Rainbow rolled her eyes, thinking, She’ll always find time to get her head into a book, hunh?

“‘Sup, egghead,” she greeted with a grin.

Twilight’s eyes jumped up, and she placed the book onto a nightstand. “Sorry. I was just reading one of your books--although you mostly have old Daring Do books.

Rainbow just nodded. “Whatever. So... I think I’ve made up my mind.”

This sucked in Twilight’s attention. “And?”

“Alright, I bite. Heading back to Ponyville for a few months doesn't sound so bad,” Rainbow Dash said. Cobalt grinned in approve beside her.

Twilight's face was alight at this news. If anything like Pinkie Pie, she might have burst through the ceiling. She ran up to Rainbow Dash and gripped her into another, much tighter hug. “Oh, thank you, thank you, Rainbow! You have no idea how happy I am!” she squealed.

“Yup, I definitely can’t tell,” she said, but nonetheless, she laughed at Twilight’s sudden burst of happiness.

In a Twilight levitated a small parchment, taking it in for a second. “This has the schedule for the trains on it. I understand if you need to clear things up here before you go, so we’ll go later tonight,” she explained quickly, trotting over to place the book back in its place--she even took a moment to indicate whether or not she put it in the right place.

Before Rainbow Dash could so much as take another breath after this, Twilight cut her off with more questions. “You don't mind staying in Ponyville for a few months, do you? I mean with your work and all, and Cobalt going to school—”

“It's no prob, Twilight. We’ll figure things out as we go along,” she said, flashing her a quick wink of reassurance. “I gotta get packin', but we'll be real quick.”

“Take your time.”

She turned to Cobalt and asked him, “Ya need to bring anything for the trip? It’s gonna be a while, Cobalt.”

Cobalt let out a sound of deep thinking--or as deep thinking as a five year old could. He just shrugged. Rainbow Dash shook her head and said, “Let’s head upstairs. If there’s something you wanna bring, bring it into my room and we’ll take it.”

The Pegasus zoomed into her room and grabbed a nearest suitcase, Cobalt following on hoof slowly towards his room. She roamed through her room, checking to find whatever necessities she needed, such as a pillow and blanket, and maybe one Daring Do book... or two... or five.

However, throughout her packing, she tried to think over what would happen when they returned to Ponyville. Who she would see, what she would say, and how to add in the fact she left five years ago because she had a son.

She groaned and buried her hooves onto her face. Yes, this would go perfectly!

Three

Grounded

Three

It took just a bit of their day to get through any complications that would have arrived with their abrupt departure from Manehattan for the coming months. Rainbow Dash explained to Cobalt Streak's teacher about their long stay over at Ponyville. At the concept of going to the school there, however, Cobalt groaned. But Dash decided to simply think about that later on, because by the time they got there, it would be the weekend, anyway.

As for her job, Dash headed into a restaurant called “Red Stallion’s,” and walked seemingly casually toward a working stallion named Ryder, who was balancing a plate of several glasses of red wine atop one of his dark green hooves. She poked his shoulder, causing him to turn and see the Pegasus, and his eyes grew as a name registered in those flashing rose eyes. In an instant, she flipped the tray, leaking all the glasses’ contents onto his coat and in his black mane. Glass splintered across the floor around him, and several customers gaped as if someone had committed murder.

She left behind a furious Ryder, smirking victoriously, and taking with her Cobalt and a speechless Twilight Sparkle. She only said to the unicorn, “He was always a big jerkhead. I thought I could let off a little steam, since I’m leaving for a while.” When she eyed Cobalt, he hid a laugh behind his front blue hoof.

Any other discussion of that was left unsaid, for they had arrived at the train station at 12:30, and Twilight said the ride would take them into the afternoon before they arrived at Ponyville. As the multicolored train puffed out smoke, and at 12:31, they heard a stallion announce in a bold voice, “All board!”

At last, they were heading home.

Rainbow Dash hated the sickly feeling flipping through her stomach as this was processed in her mind. Something was also stuck in her throat. Not a big fan at all at being anxious, she tried to ignore these both, mustering courage and telling herself to suck it up as they jumped onto the train in the nearest car.

***

Cobalt somehow handled the rickety moving of the train enough to drift to sleep, pure boredom weighing down his eyelids. Though it would take not so long to get to Ponyville by train, she did not want to bother him as his tiny blue body heaved up and down, his soft snores the only noise escaping his nostrils. She smiled down at him as she placed her hooves on the back of her head and sat recumbent on the red seat.

Twilight smiled at Cobalt, too. “He's so sweet.”

“He's a cool kid.”

“You're... never mind.”

Rainbow Dash huffed, though having an urge to laugh. “Spill, Twilight. C'mon,” she urged with a lazy wave of her hoof. At that point on, any more questions that hadn't been asked probably wouldn't bother her—so long as she didn't ask about the father, she was fine with it.

Twilight played with her hooves before saying anything. She took in the view of the outside as it brushed by them at a steady, peaceful pace. “You're... not bothered that he's an earth pony, are you?”

“What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked with an incredulous look, already feeling a sudden wave of irritation.

“I was just... you love flying, Rainbow Dash. I'm just saying that that might be one thing that bothered you when you had him,” she said, often stuttered with her words, an obvious sign she felt nervous just saying this. “I mean, you probably don't know, but has it ever?”

“I don't care. He's an awesome kid. We don't need to talk about this now, 'kay?” she defended him with a glower. “It doesn't matter if I did; I... still love him, you know?” She caressed his sandy blond mane, to which all he reacted with was a small fidget in his seat. She grinned down at her son.

Twilight's eyes grew, though Rainbow Dash couldn't quite figure out why. Had she said something wrong? Giving her a questioning gaze, Rainbow wanted her to say something, but she didn't. Instead, Rainbow just rolled her eyes and let it go.

Twilight just continued to smile and turned to look out the window. Dash, meanwhile, leaned back and stared disinterestedly at the ceiling. Listening to the clickity-clack of the train was soothing somehow. Exhaustion from the night before finally began to overcome her, and her eyelids slowly began to fall, her consciousness drifting. With a soft cushion pressing against her, there was not a single reason not to sleep there for a bit before they arrived. She struggled to stay awake and drift into the peaceful non-reality of sleep.

The latter won after two seconds.

***

“Rainbow Dash, wake up. Rainbow?”

She could only groan as she escaped a dreamless sleep, though her body felt relieved to get a bit more of sleep. Stretching out any tension and hearing any cracks from these tense muscles, she slowly opened her eyes.

Dash rubbed the sleep from her eyes and found the will to get up after a few groaning seconds. Twilight was already up, telling her that Ponyville was but a few minutes away. Cobalt sat beside Rainbow Dash, yawning with a small squeal like a cat. Still tired, he was fighting to so much as stand.

The train crawled to a stop in the train station of Ponyville. They headed out of the train and into the perfectly clear sky, Celesia’s sun shining down upon them all. Cobalt accompanied the two on Rainbow's back, and he nestled in her feathers and rainbow mane. They departed the train carefully so as to not bother him.

As they exited the station, Ponyville came into view, the same as she left it five years ago. Sighing, she felt the nostalgia hit hard. The simplicity of the city was what made it so great, and that would never change. Staring at the small buildings and wide open space, she remembered just how much she missed it when she left.

Oh, how bad it started off; she barely knew what to do as she stepped out into a totally different world in Manehattan, with nothing but a bag of remaining bits and a newborn colt in her arms. They were the harsher days of her life, or at least her new one. Adjusting was a complicated part of this, as was the fact of having a kid, of course. She actually did want to go back home in the beginning—just pretend she visited a friend and figure things out from there. Explain what happened and hope for the best.

One time, she even thought of finding him...

But that was besides the point. It was all behind her, and she swore on it. She never left Manehattan until now, too stubborn to succumb to any hesitance of starting a new, unexpected life. Shaking her head of those memories, she found them heading deeper into Ponyville, some faces familiar, some not. Some waved, others did not bother with their existence. Twilight Sparkle walked in silence for the time she was in her deep thoughts.

“So, where do you want to go first?” Twilight asked after a while.

Rainbow shrugged, but anything else desired to be said was whisked into the air as a voice screeched dozens of yard away.

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaashieeeeeeeeeeeee!”

Oh, boy.

Before Rainbow could look to the source of the sound, a blur of pink breezed into her vision. Cobalt startled and, having moved so suddenly, almost landed on the ground, caught by Twilight in her magical grip. This was a good thing, considering a sudden force had sent Rainbow Dash onto the ground. Something held her down as she felt a small stab of pain in her shoulders. With a small grunt, she opened her eyes up to see large blue irises blinked repeatedly and brightly at her.

“Dashie, I'm soooo glad to see you again! It's been forever since we saw you, we missed you so, so much! I mean, I had a feeling you’d show up once my eyes started to itch real bad. I even left my workers by themselves, just to see you! But I’ve so busy recently, I forgot to set up a party in time. Bad Pinkie!” She tapped the side of her head, momentarily losing focus on Dash, who remained immobile in her hold. But then she turned back down. “We'll have something set up soon for you, but it'll be a surprise, so don't tell, 'kay! Shh!”

Still accustomed to her ecstatic friend's randomness, even after years of not being around it, Rainbow Dash could only grin. “Pinkie... it's awesome to see you, too. But maybe you could, I dunno, let me go?” she offered, though her sarcasm was hard to detect behind her chuckling.

Pinkie jumped off and giggled. “Sorry, just got a bit excited.”

“I'd hate to see you really excited, then,” Rainbow commented with a roll of her eyes as she straightened herself back up.

“But how can I not be excited to see my bestest friend again? I felt like we haven't talked in five whole years.”

“Probably 'cause we haven't,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned.

“I know, what's your point?” Pinkie Pie tilted her head, to which Rainbow Dash could only struggle for an answer that she could never possibly come up with. “There's so much we have to do now that you're here—besides the wedding, of course. You are staying for the wedding, right?”

“Of course. It wouldn’t be awesome without me, now, would it?” Rainbow stated in a clear tone of deep pride in herself as she placed a hoof to her chest.

“I know. It’s so exciting!” She pulled Rainbow Dash in a tight hug. “We're all going to be bridesmaids! It'll be like I'm Becca while you're Megan.”

This took a second to many any sense of those last words. “What are you talking about?” Twilight questioned.

“Oh, nothing,” Pinkie Pie dismissed it with another titter and a wave of her hoof. She released the Pegasus, who coughed from being held against her will unintentionally. Pinkie noticed this and smiled weakly.

Her eyes then traveled down to the Cobalt sitting patiently in the grass. Her smile stretched wider on her face, if the act was possible. “Hey, who's this little fella?” Pinkie leaned in Cobalt's face. Cobalt, unaware of the antics of Pinkie Pie, unlike his mother, fell onto his flank as he tried to back away from this strange, new pony. She patted his head as if he were her pet.

It was as if the calm atmosphere evaporated as soon as she spotted Cobalt. This was why they were all here, after all. “Actually, umm...” Rainbow Dash slowly looked to Twilight, wondering at this point how to explain it. There would be so many times this would need to be said, and she had yet to really be prepared for it.

Twilight just nodded her head, but it was enough. Rainbow Dash took a heavy breath in and turned to Pinkie, who waited as she stood beside Cobalt, who seemed to find Pinkie nice as he smiled warmly up at her.

“Pinkie Pie, that's Cobalt Streak, my... son.” The words felt so strange to her tongue, no matter how many times she would say it, yet she loved it.

Pinkie just stared, and this made Rainbow fear the worst. A silent Pinkie Pie was a scary one. Her stare could make you break down, the harder she stared. It was as if your soul was being interrogated by a blank, indistinguishable gaze. Time ticked away as she awaited her reaction; any reaction would do at this point.

Yet even while anticipating it, when Pinkie Pie gasped and bounced into the air—staying up there for a whole two seconds, at that—Rainbow Dash flinched back a few feet, Twilight doing the same. But the Pegasus relaxed when it came to her that Pinkie Pie did not look one bit angry or sad.

“Does this mean I need two parties now, for both of you? So now it's a double-party! You guys' minds are going to be blown, I just know it!” Pinkie squealed, her blue irises glittering with excitement.

“That’s great, Pinkie, but—” Rainbow started.

But the party lover ran away in seconds, a mere path of pink before their eyes as she left dusk in her wake, as well as three very baffled ponies.

Dash only had to blink twice to fully process what had just happened and respond after.

“If there's one thing I didn't miss, it was Pinkie's antics,” Dash commented, earning a light chuckle from the purple unicorn.

Cobalt sucked in a large breath of air, and then sneezed a bit of dust that he took in from Pinkie Pie's abrupt departure. He blinked and just sprawled back into Rainbow Dash's grasp. “Was that one of your friends, mom?”

“Yup.”

“Are they... all that... weird?” He struggled for the right word, but his lack of any stronger diction, having just turned five, affected this. Still, it wasn't as if Rainbow disagreed with that.

“Well, not as weird as her, let's just say,” Rainbow Dash reassured him, using a wing to help him back onto her back. He squealed as he landed softly onto her cyan coat, and she nuzzled him curtly. “They won't jump out of nowhere, that's for sure.”

Cobalt nodded absentmindedly. They walked deeper into town, and Dash looked around. It was mid afternoon, with the clear skies beaming a simple bright blue many ponies were doing last minute activities before night dawned on them. Many places were as they were before she left. Not too far in the distance was Sugarcube Corner, and the multiple markets stretched far into one street in town. It was almost as if she never left.

Twilight stopped in her tracks. “So I have to head to the library, but I'm sure Spike will be happy to see you—”

Twilight cut herself off with a loud gasped, and Rainbow immediately turned. Knowing full well that no threat loomed, she still raised a hoof instinctively, ready to lob it down anypony’s throat.

However, she put it down when she saw a completely harmless looking, light cream coated stallion standing beside Twilight. He looked like the kind of stallion who would flinch if you so much as raised a hoof, which probably made him pull away his hooves from over Twilight’s eyes in the first place. The unicorn, too, registered who this was and beamed.

“Ink! You startled me,” Twilight squealed, laughing like a filly afterward.

“Sorry,” he said with an awkward smile. “Didn't mean to frighten you.”

“You're fine, honey,” she excused him with an affectionate nuzzle that lingered just a bit. Their smiles and the softening in her eyes just added more evidence for Rainbow as to who this was. Then she remembered the name on the invitation.

Duh! she thought, shaking her head. She then marched over to the two. “Alrigth, you two. Keep it in the bedroom, why don’t ya?” she teased.

Twilight faced Rainbow Dash and then blushed. “Oh, I'm sorry! I guess I should—uh, Ink, this is Rainbow Dash, one of my friends. She's going to be a bridesmaid,” Twilight introduced, gesturing a hoof to the Pegasus. For a moment, her eyes fell to behind Rainbow Dash, where a small, rose eyed figure popped out from her rainbow mane. “And this is her son, Cobalt.”

Rainbow Dash found herself grinning but also wilting at what Twilight said. It was one thing to say those words to somepony, but another pony explaining it to someone else—one who did not know a thing about her personally—was a different story. Then switching over to the light furred stallion. “And Rainbow, this is Ink Blot, my fiance.”

“Hi,” Ink Blot greeted the Pegasus with the same smile as before. He stuck out his forehoof towards Rainbow.

She stared at it for a moment, and when he realized she would not shake it, he placed it back on the ground. Coughing once into his hoof, he added, “Nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash. I’ve seen all of Twilight’s friends but you--until now, I mean.”

The Pegasus wasn’t sure where he was going with this but added to it. “Yup. I left for Manehattan a few years ago. Long story, but I decided to come back for Twilight’s wedding. Even though it’s been a while, we’re still awesome friends.”

“Good to, uh, good to hear.” He nodded and looked away at the same time. This conversation couldn’t have been any more awkward.

Noticing his sudden blushing, Rainbow Dash nudged him. “Hay, don't be nervous or nothing. You should learn to be more comfortable around us. Otherwise, things'll be awkward all the time,” she advised with a smug grin.

“Right. And hi, little one!” said Ink Blot with a burst of enthusiasm. He waved at the colt, who just blinked twice. His anxiety fell at the sight of the child, to which Rainbow Dash almost laughed. However, she was afraid any sound like that would make the stallion fall back into his shell. It was like talking to a certain other Pegasus she knew.

But she knew who this stallion was--or at least knew what he was to Twilight. With this, something in her gave her an urge to say something, just for a laugh--mostly a laugh for herself, but nonetheless, a laugh. And she did not fight against it.

“So, Ink Blot, right?” she began, struggling to suppress a smirk.

When Ink’s attention was brought to her, he nodded curtly and said, “Yeah.”

“So it's nice to meet you and all,” Dash began, struggling to suppress a smirk, “but since

you're gonna marry my friend, I think I have a right to say something. Just don't mess with Twilight, and we won't have a problem.” Behind her joking tone was a small threat that many could notice if they paid attention to her face. Nonetheless, unless one was easily terrified, she doubted she would intimidate him.

Ink Blot laughed lowly, something hard to distinguish if she at all scared him. A hoof rubbed the back of his dark brown, almost black, haired head. “Alright, then. Heh.”

He gestured to his fiance, still smiling nervously, as if anything he said would cause the end of the world. Clearing his throat, he stated, “I, uh, have to get going, Twilight. I'm sorry to just run off like this, but I have some stuff to do.”

“Go right ahead. I'll meet you at dinner tonight, okay?” Twilight said.

“Absolutely,” Ink Blot said with a hint of relief, as if he had any worry about Twilight disapproving. He leaned in to peck her lips gingerly. Once again, the two lingered in their moments, despite Rainbow being right behind them. If she wasn't noticeable here, she would have done the disgusted gesture of placing her hoof by her mouth and making a gagging noise.

But the two parted, and Ink Blot left to the west part of Ponyville. The three were alone again.

“He seems cool,” Rainbow commented curtly. She shrugged. “But he's not my guy or anything. But I was serious when I said he shouldn't mess with you. If he ever does anything bad to ya, let me know so I can teach him a little lesson, 'kay?” Her smile was wicked yet not by any means intimidating.

Twilight giggled, never one to take her threats so seriously. “Oh, he would never do that. He's always a real gentlecolt when he's in a more... comfortable place he’s used to.”

“Which is?”

Twilight paused to think of one example. “A library.”

Rainbow couldn't hold it in; she burst into loud laughter, to which Twilight blushed furiously She tried so hard to hide her sarcasm when she said, “I bet I can guess twenty bits on where you guys met.”

“Oh, Rainbow Dash,” was the only way Twilight could respond. But that was enough for the Pegasus to imagine how they got together. Twilight ran a hoof through her dark blue mane as she added lightly, “What I was starting to say was, I was wanting to get home to Spike real soon. Plus, I have a lot to get done. So do you want to come with me to the library, or do you want to see one of the girls first?”

“Actually, I was hoping to see somepony real quick,” said Rainbow Dash, and her answer was immediate. A certain mare’s head popped into her head. Granted, she also wanted to see the others, but there was plenty of time for them.

Twilight nodded, and the blue mare waved a hoof to Twilight as she ascended several inches into her air, her other hooves brushing cool Fall air. “Yeah. I’ll see ya later, Twilight.”

She looked over her shoulder at Cobalt, who gripped her neck tighter. “Ready to fly, Cobalt?” she said, her tone dripping with a small challenge as she watched her son’s reaction. He hadn’t really ever flown with her. “Just hang on tight, all right?”

“A-are you sure that’s safe, Rainbow?” Twilight questioned in a state of bordering panic.

“It’ll be fine! I’ll be there to make sure he’s safe, no matter what,” she tried to relax her friend with a light pat on her lavender shoulder. Twilight still had an air of doubt, but Dash brushed it off. “See ya!” she said one final time as she left behind the unicorn.

She only flew a few feet in the air, but had picked up enough speed to beat away any time she would by simply walking. Cobalt’s hooves braced around her neck tightly, but not to a point where she was choking. He was not as fearful of this as she thought he would, and the two flew away from Ponyville.

Four

Grounded

Four

Though she could have gone much faster, Rainbow knew the limits of speed when having somepony alongside her. With this in mind, she floated through the air in a more comfortable speed for Cobalt while still absorbing that awesome feeling of soaring through the air.

She only took a five second stop at her house to literally throw the two suitcases of their stuff from Manehattan through the window. Since it sounded like nothing got broken, and the suitcases didn’t cascade through the clouds, she nodded and zoomed to a certain friend’s cottage.

As she glided past Ponyville and toward the edge of the Everfree Forest where her friend's cottage stood, she noted Cobalt's shouts—they were not of fear or the likes, but of glee in flying through the air, his tan hair whipping through the wind.

It brought a joy to her to see him happy. She even felt happy enough to suddenly think about trying to make this less stressful of a task. Telling all her friends shouldn't have been so stressful; maybe she could try for a more light approach on this.

She could add some fun into this. With a grin, she thought of ways to trick her friends. Perhaps walk up to them oh so casually as if she had never left. It’d be hilarious! She grinned widely at the idea. It was time to stop being such a downer and at least try to make this less of a complication.

Yet her ideas depleted when she finally arrived and saw Fluttershy standing outside her house, in great peace with her animal friends.

However, she would have to put those plans away for now. One thing she could never forget about Fluttershy was her inability to expect the unexpected. Afraid to break the fragile pony, she simply walked up to the pony's peaceful cottage. She just couldn't bring herself to frighten her friend.

Fluttershy stood surrounded by a group of chicken, feeding them their seeds as she leaned down to them. Always so comfortable around animals that didn't talk, Fluttershy did not at all notice Rainbow Dash walking up to her.

She decided to just be blunt and get this over with. “Hey, Fluttershy,” she greeted so simply, it almost hurt. It was as if she hadn't been gone for five years and had simply headed over to the cottage to have lunch with her friend.

Fluttershy still flinched, but better than she expected. Fluttershy then turned around to see who addressed her. The mare's name dawned on her in milliseconds, because it felt like, as soon as she turned around, she also exclaimed in great surprise, “Rainbow Dash!”

Fluttershy ran over to her and gave her such a tight hug that Rainbow Dash made a note to never get on her bad side.

When she released her friend, Fluttershy’s wings fluttered. "Oh my goodness, it's been so long since I've seen you," she said with her eyes bright with excitement.

"I know. Since Twilight's getting married, I thought I might as well come along to make this wedding kick a-butt," she stated with a coy grin, which faltered when she realized a child was present. Luckily, Cobalt Streak did not notice anything.

Then she thought of something and nearly jumped a foot in the air. “Hey, how’s Tank doing?”

Fluttershy, full of calm countenance with the topic of animals, beamed. “Oh, he’s doing great. I mean, I try to fly with him when he wants to, but he really did miss being with you.”

Dash grinned weakly. In her note saying good-bye to all her friends, she asked Fluttershy to take care of Tank while she was gone. She struggled to decide on taking him, but in the end, if back then, she thought that she left her friends behind, she might as well have her pet, too.

Fluttershy just smiled back, but then she stopped. "Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want to go inside and have something to drink?" she asked with a gesture toward her cottage. “He’s eating right now, so maybe you’ll like to see him.”

"Uh, sure. Sounds good," she replied, noting how Cobalt peeked out from her mane shyly and cautiously.

This, too, was noticed by Fluttershy, who blinked several times before doing anything. She kneeled down on her front hooves. "And who's this?"

"This is Cobalt Streak."

"My, my, aren't you just adorable?" Fluttershy cooed and reached out a gentle hoof to the colt. He accepted it with a wide, toothy smile, those big blue eyes of the stranger strangely comforting.

“Ponies always tell me that,” he commented with a roll of his eyes. He chuckled behind his hoof.

The timid mare giggled, but then she tilted her head. There was a pause where Rainbow Dash was on her way to the door of the cottage. But Fluttershy stopped her. "Hey, he has your eyes, Rainbow--and his coat is the same color, too,” Fluttershy noted, perking her head up to Rainbow as Cobalt looked at a squirrel that approached them with wide curiosity. He sniffed it then backed away. “Is he your brother?"

Dash's confidence subsided as, once again, she knew the truth had to be said. And to be honest, it was pretty tiring, having to explain it over and over again. Yet she had to get it over with somehow. "Not... really, no."

Fluttershy's blank expression proved her answer made just as much sense as she knew it did; which wasn't much. When her eyes traveled to Cobalt with burning curiosity. Cobalt inched away but did not necessarily fall shy. Rainbow’s teeth gritted; she had a huge urge to say something, but she held it back.

"... Cobalt, is it? If I may ask, who is this?" She pointed to Rainbow Dash, much to her confusion at first, but the blue Pegasus knew his answer before he said anything. The answer that she wanted to say in the first place but found no way to just bring out.

I suppose this's another way. At this point, I could make a list of 'em, Rainbow Dash thought dryly.

She couldn't stop Cobalt from saying, "It's mommy, duh!" He rolled his eyes and spoke in an exasperated tone, finding it very obvious.

Fluttershy gasped and immediately averted her eyes to Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash... I...”

Dash just waited, waiting for Fluttershy to compose herself and respond in crystal clear sentences. She had to be very patient to be around Fluttershy for a long time.

“I’m sorry. I-I shouldn’t have just assumed he was your brother; it was so rude of me. I’m so so sorry!” she sobbed, shielding her tearful eyes behind her soft pink mane.

Rainbow Dash winced. This was worse than any disapproval; an upset Fluttershy was like a dagger to the heart. Unless you did not have one, you just felt bad. She flew closer to the sobbing Pegasus and said, “Relax, Fluttershy. You don’t have a reason to be sorry. It’s totally cool.”

The sobbing Pegasus peeked out, blinking at Cobalt, who trotted over to her. "But why--?"

Cobalt’s rose eyes bored into Fluttershy’s. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing is,” Fluttershy whispered, smiling weakly. She straightened up. “I’m sorry. I-I just had no idea. But... I’m so happy for you.” Her tone was genuinely kind, honest. Her expression met her words as her beam grew. “Oh, I have so many questions--but only if you don’t mind me asking.”

“He’s about five years old, I moved to Manehattan after having him, and I’m only here ‘cause of Twilight’s wedding,” Rainbow Dash explained in no time before Fluttershy could even ask. She found beating the bush pathetic, and would rather ignore it entirely. “Look, I’m going to probably be asked these question all day, so I’m going to explain this a lot, so I really don’t want to go too much into it, alright?” she groaned, on the brink of whining.

Fluttershy took all of this in with a slow nod. “Okay, but... at least you’re back. I won’t ask anything if it bothers you. I understand. I’m sure the others are glad you’re back, too.”

“Actually, I still have to see Applejack and Rarity,” Rainbow mentioned. I wonder if I still need to count Pinkie Pie--probably, she thought. She groaned. “Yeesh, I’d hate to be a delivery mare. I like flying and all, but not to fifty different places.”

“I’ll go with you, if you want,” Fluttershy offered in a sweet gesture.

Rainbow Dash had to consider that for a bit. As great a friend as Fluttershy was, it would only drag the trip to find both Rarity and Applejack if she had Fluttershy alongside her. Their varying speeds of flying would argue too often, against the fast flying Pegasus’s patience. But she shrugged nonetheless. “Ah, hay, why not?”

“I think Rarity's back by now, anyway.”

Rainbow Dash's ears flickered. "What d'you mean by that?"

"She's just been moving places in between here and Canterlot recently--she's been getting so much attention and clients there. But she still comes back a lot," Fluttershy explained.

"How long does she stay?"

"It's different all the time, but she's supposed to be back today. We can go find her maybe."

Rainbow nodded; she could check out Tank later. She doubted he cared about the little colt that would accompany her around a lot.

***

Rainbow Dash convinced Fluttershy that the two could fly back into town, against the protests of concerns coming from the timid Pegasus as she gestured to Cobalt, who clamped his hooves onto his mother's neck. So long as they kept at a slow pace, she did not make any remarks.

They might as well have just walked, at the pace they were going. With a grumpy look, she could only listen as Fluttershy conversed with the little colt, who took on any questions she had with eager answers.

“So what kind of things do you like to do?” was one of the many questions.

Cobalt’s large eyes softened as he pondered. “What kind of things?”

“Oh, anything, really,” said Fluttershy breathlessly.

“Well, mom likes to have me watch her do tricks. They’re super cool.” His goofy grin provided proof to his enjoyment of his mother’s feats, which weren’t all that often. She was either too busy at work or taking caring of him or tired because of this. But she tried to make those few times count, so maybe they were worth it.

“And she likes Daring Do... a lot.” He added emphasis to that last word, leaning his head in.

Fluttershy giggled. “She always liked to read those. But she didn’t like to admit she liked reading a while ago.”

“Wow, really? That’s silly!” Cobalt chuckled in his mother’s ear. He asked her, “Why?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I dunno, just didn’t think it was cool at the time.”

Other conversations drifted into the air as they continued to head to Ponyville, let it be about their lives or what has been going on. Rainbow Dash wasn’t much for proper conversation, but being with Fluttershy was great distraction for the fact she would have to explain a lot more about Cobalt someday to all of them.

Since she didn’t know if Rarity was home quite yet, Fluttershy, along with Rainbow and Cobalt Streak, started toward the Carousel Boutique to start. When it was obvious no one occupied the designer’s home, Fluttershy decided to start at the train station--either hoping to find her there or on the trail toward the location.

And it was as if the Goddesses were in a good mood, because not only was Rarity heading out of the train station, but Applejack was walking up to her. Knowing this would make things much easier--or quite possibly more complicated--Rainbow Dash nudged Fluttershy and urged her to move forward with her. Cobalt followed beside his mother’s flank.

Of the two ponies greeting each other after the unicorn’s visit to Canterlot, the farmer pointed beyond Rarity’s shoulder. “Is that...” Applejack let her question dangle, since the answer was obvious.

“With Fluttershy... and some colt on her back,” Rarity observed after craning her neck a bit. Her smile widened.

“Hey, guys!” Rainbow Dash shouted as the three met up with the two shocked mares.

One greeted with equal enthusiasm, while the other was more confused. Rarity’s face lit up like one of her sparkling dresses, and she trotted up to hug her. “Rainbow Dash, darling, it’s been forever since we’ve seen you! What brings you back here--I mean, I have a feeling, but how did you find out?” When she fell back, she let out her confusion, too.

“Twilight went to Manehattan while you was gone to find Rainbow ta tell her ‘bout the weddin’. Ah reckon she’s a pretty darn good convincer to bring you here,” Applejack added in, though with a suspicious look at Cobalt Streak. She said nothing, though.

“Oh. Well, great! Luckily, I anticipated this, and planned to make five bridesmaids dresses, rather than four. They’re nowhere near completed, but when they are, everypony will look fabulous,” Rarity exclaimed with a flicker of her mane.

Fluttershy giggled, then turned to Rainbow Dash to explain, “Rarity insisted on helping plan Twilight and Ink Blot’s wedding. I know it’ll be perfect.”

Rarity grinned at that complement. “Thank you, Fluttershy, but you’re right. I’ll do everything in my power to make this the perfect wedding for those two. They deserve it, after all.”

They all nodded, and there was a pause. It was Applejack who picked it up after an awkward moment. “So who’s this youngin’ here? He certainly ain’t a familiar face,” Applejack asked down to the colt. Rarity’s face added to this; obviously, they both wanted the answer.

Rainbow Dash once again was hesitant to answer, but something popped into her head. Reveal #4: Let it out like it's nothing! It could not have hurt to try. She was just tired of treating it like a big deal anymore. "Oh, yeah. Guys, meet Cobalt, my son."

Rarity's eye twitched the second this all fell from her lips. Fluttershy began to voice her concern, only it was fruitless. Soon after, she went limp and began to fall onto the ground in an melodramatic faint. Applejack caught her in time, quick enough to snap her from it with two hooves tilting her back up.

Using her hoof to fan herself, she said breathlessly, "Thank you, darling. I just-just didn't expect that."

"It still sounds strange to me, too,” Rainbow Dash admitted.

Rarity calmed a bit, then gave the mother a smile. "That's not to say we're not proud... right, Applejack?"

It was then that Rainbow noticed Applejack's reaction in her contorted features. Her eyebrows had narrowed, a clear sign of a mix of disapproval and irritation. Turning to Rarity, however, and the unicorn's stern gaze, it all fell away. Scrunching her nose, she relaxed her angered countenances. "Of course it's great. Congrats, Rainbow Dash.”

"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow said dryly. She hissed under her breath. She knew this would happen; she couldn't imagine how things would be if it went on as complicated as it felt to talk about this. Their reactions seemed so forced. They tried to look happy, but it wasn’t enough. "Look, me being here isn't about him. It's about Twilight's wedding, so don't make this a big deal, alright?"

“We wouldn't dream of it!” Rarity exclaimed with a swish of her hoof. “What you do with your life is your own decision, so we shouldn’t bother too much with it.”

Applejack shrugged. “We’re just glad you’re back. Ah know Twilight extra happy now that all of us are here to celebrate her weddin’.”

The unicorn’s ears perked up. “Speaking of which, do you know where Twilight is? I already planned to speak to her about wedding preparations as soon as I returned,” she added with a sparkle to her eyes.

“She just got back to the library a while ago. She’s probably still there,” Dash explained, a hoof directed toward the trail to Twilight’s house.

“Thank you, darling." Her smile to the Pegasus was genuine. Even when she glanced down at the child, her aura did not fade down to anything below such. "We must go to dinner tonight--to have us all together again. My treat."

“You’ll pay for all of us?” Fluttershy echoed. “Oh, Rarity, you don’t have to do that--”

"I won't be convinced out of it!" she stated with a wink, turning about to head to the library. Her head looked over her shoulder. "Tonight at Allino’s. All six of us will have a most splendid time.”

Rainbow was about to question what to do with Cobalt, but decided to think about that later. Besides, Rarity had already left the three mares and colt.

In this, Applejack did not say a word, just had watched the others interact, stoic faced.

Finally, Applejack made a sound, very calm and patient. “So he’s why you left?”

Despite her neutral tone, it didn’t sound anything polite. In fact, even Cobalt flinched back when she gestured to him. He fell back in his mother’s shadow. It irritated Rainbow Dash, so she did with a small bite to her tone, “It wasn’t on an extended vacation.”

The two ponies were as strong headed and stubborn as mules. Butting heads together spelt disaster. But the Pegasus refused to back down, not when she wanted to defend her child. Fluttershy took a step back, the tense air of an argument strengthening.

Applejack’s brow quirked. She adjusted her hat as she looked to Cobalt, who was now sketching circles in the dirt to distract himself. “But why? It ain’t like you had to,” she said.

“I just thought it was the best idea at the time,” answered Dash, rolling her eyes.

“How did that work out?” Applejack interrogated with a small glower to match. “How did you handle that exactly? Ah can’t really see ya as a mother, so--”

“We’re fine,” Rainbow Dash cut her off. She lifted Cobalt Streak off the ground into her forehooves, gliding in the air to keep stable. He struggled a bit, but soon, he relaxed in her warm embrace. “I’m doing my best with him. Just ‘cause I don’t act like I can handle a child doesn’t mean I can’t.” She nuzzled his cheek, earning a wide beam, as if to prove something to the famer.

“Ah get it, don’t worry. Ah just wish ya thought this through. Runnin’ away don’t solve anythin’.”

And there it is! the soft blue Pegasus thought bitterly. And she would have had just the right words to fight back, but with a glance at Cobalt, her face fell. She didn’t have the energy to fight about this. Not now. “It did for me. What’s your point?”

“Ya just left us; all you gave us as a letter--letter, for Celestia’s sake!” Applejack’s voice rose, but the strain in her words, the conflict to keep her emotions at bay, made them see more of her

Not that that eased Rainbow Dash. In fact, it only made things worse. Her mood had been fine until Applejack brought up what happened nearly six years ago. “Look, I don't need this, alright?”

“Rainbow, ah didn’t mean to upset you or nothing. Ah just wish ya didn’t leave us out of the blue,” she said with a tone still with remainders of acid. Her eyes flashed a look of critique.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you need to shove it in my face--or Cobalt’s. He didn’t do anything, you know,” Rainbow Dash snarled. “And I’m not here to have what I did judged because I was going through a lot of sh-stuff.”

“Ah know that, but it’s not like ya can hide it from us. We all think about it still sometimes. It was pretty selfish of ya to just disappear from our lives,” Applejack said honestly.

That hit her hard, right in a soft spot.Selfish. Selfish? She had no other way to respond other than finding anger in her veins. Her brows narrowed. “Forget this, I’m outta here,” Rainbow declared, her wings already flaring for departure. Applejack’s eyes softened, but something about her remained cold.

“But Rainbow-!”

She didn’t bother responding to Fluttershy’s cry. She did not look back; just turned about and raced into the skies. Any more seconds down there would just result in more fighting; she needed to cool off the blood boiling in her veins. Applejack was so unnecessarily harsh.

And right...

Not wanting that to echo in her mind, she flew home.

Rainbow Dash soared into the air, feeling the wind kiss her mane gracefully. She shut her eyes just for a second as she took in the feeling. She hadn't flown so high and with such energy in what felt like forever. Having an earth colt meant finding the ground as an easier home to live in. But in this one moment, she pretended like nothing kept her grounded.

In fact, she would have flown at deathly speed, were it not for him. But in the end, she didn’t mind. This was a perfect pace for the two. Cobalt, in her arms, watched the world go by below, gasping and grinning in awe. She smiled, too.

And she found herself heading toward her old cloud house, which miraculously remained intact. It appeared gray in the orange reflection of the sky.

She stepped in and held onto Cobalt for dear life, knowing a single wrong move would send him under the clouds and onto the ground feet below. Shutting the door, she noticed a single, strange thing as she observed the room.

It looked clean.

Even when she lived here, it wasn't as clean as it looked. It appeared spotless, on the bridge of perfection in terms of cleanliness. The suitcases landed on the bed where she wanted them to, and she flew around the room, inspecting it for a moment.

She doubted that if she wiped a hoof on any surface, there would be dust. While there was no strange shine to it, the Pegasus was bemused to see this place, which she swore was untouched for the past half a decade, clean, as if it were occupied.

But she didn’t let it bother her long. She sat on her bed and released Cobalt from her arms. However, she pointed at him with a serious stare. “Alright, Cobalt, I only have one rule right now. Until I find Twilight later, I want you to stay on this bed. Don’t try to get off, or ele.. I’ll be really sad.”

While the house was only one or two stories high, at best, that didn’t mean it was any less safe than a cloud abode miles high.

Since his mother never really was serious unless necessary, he nodded. “I don’t want you to be sad, so okay. Bu-but will I stay here forever?”

Rainbow’s fallen face rose into a grin. “Nah, I’ll figure things out eventually. But in the meantime,” she said as she glanced over at the bookshelf. She wasn’t a huge book pony--only a small one, she swore--but she had left a fair amount of books here that she didn’t take with her. She flew up and took out one book to read the author’s name aloud.

“Hay, I still have some good books left here; Manechael Grant, Emily Gryffon--ugh, Stephanie Meigher? What was I thinking?” She flicked that one out the window, feeling bad if anypony thought a walk near her house was a good idea.

“Ah-ha! One of my Daring Do books! Thought I had brought them all with me. Well, I don’t think I have anything else you’d like to read about... unless I read this one to you already.”

“Five times,” Cobalt Streak said in such a blank, deadpan tone, it was laughable, which she did. He sprawled onto the bed, face up. “You read me Daring Do a lot.”

“Oh, well,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. She whipped it onto the bed, maybe for a later time. “I just don’t think those other books for kids are good enough. They’re all so dumb,” she grumbled loudly, planting her flank back on the bed, sitting beside him. Leaning back, she asked, “Ya got any ideas what to do?”

A light bulb sparked in Cobalt’s head after a few ponder moments, and he jumped onto his hooves. “How ‘bout we make our own story--and it can be Daring Do, too”

“Really? I don’t think--actually, let’s try it!” Rainbow grinned. It wasn’t a bad idea. At least he wasn’t paying too much attention to the fact he was just sitting on that bed probably for a good amount of the rest of the day. She sat by him, and he cuddled into her lap perfectly. “Our story could be way cooler, even.”

Cobalt’s enthusiasm was visible in his features as ideas scattered across his mind. At first he sputtered until she could actually understand he was saying, “Okay, so Daring Do goes to... uh I dunno? Where she go?” He looked up at her with big rosey eyes when he got stuck.

“She goes to... the ocean!” Dash decided, thinking about one place she had yet to see Daring Do venture in those books. She had more places to go than Rainbow Dash thought.

“But ponies can’t be in water.”

Her first thought was, How can a five year old pick that up? “How do you know she can’t,” she challenged.

“There was Velvet’s party last year.”

The memory flashed in her head. Cobalt with the friends of the filly that the pool party was meant for, and Rainbow Dash just barely conversing with the parents. She was only there because she had taken the day off. But then she had gotten to see that one foal, a sister of another invited colt, sneak off toward the small pool and trip, unable to get help until somepony grabbed her. Rainbow Dash got kicked out for making fun of the filly--but who wouldn’t laugh at a kid who nearly drowned in a two feet pool? Just thinking about those words were hilarious.

Unless she darkly of Cobalt in that situation. “Yeeaaah,” Rainbow grimaced awkwardly, thinking, That sure was a fun experience. “But, uh, Daring Do had a submarine.” Cobalt blinked, and the Pegasus remembered her kid’s age and sighed. “They’re like carriages, only they go underwater. I haven’t seen one, but Twilight might have a few books on them.”

“Cool! Can we have one?” Cobalt asked like a spoiled child.

“Maybe; for your birthday,” she lied easily, hoping his memory wasn’t long-lasting. She just liked to make him feel good.

“Awesome,” he breathed as his eyes drifted up, thinking about an experience like such.

“That’s why you’re my kid. C’mere!” She grasped him in her wings and pulled her son closer to him.

Cobalt giggled; she realized her wings brushed his armpits. It lasted a second, but what happened caught on quick. He stepped away, blushing deep pink against the blue hues of his coat.

“Oh, yeah, you’re like me,” muttered Dash, noticing his panting breath and red, grinning face. A devilish smirk then complimented her idea. Cobalt saw this and didn’t know what to think.

She reached out to him and attempted to tickle his sides with her hooves. When he held them back with all his might, she added in her wings to do the job. He was no match, and he was tossed into a fit of uncontrollable laughter as Rainbow Dash tickled his sides.

“No, mom, please! Hahahahaha! Quit it. I-I-I’ll get you back!” he swore in between laughter and fits to catch breath.

“I’d like to see that,” she challenged.

She stopped, letting him cough and giggle for the aftermath. Rainbow Dash leaned on the bed victoriously. He straightened up, shook his head like a wet dog, and looked to her. With his own smirk, which she began to question, he belly flopped onto her.

“Hey, now! Watch it!” she warned him with no threat whatsoever in her voice. After loud chuckling, she took him off of her and found her eyes drifting to the side, for whatever reason. But if there was a reason, it didn’t matter.

She lost all focus on her child for a moment, intent on a picture angled toward the bed on a nightstand. She picked it up and walked to the window, her attention whisked away as this picture grasped it.

Her hoof slipped down onto the picture, which was autographed by Spitfire. Both mares were standing by the other, hooves slung over each other's shoulder. Rainbow Dash had trouble holding back a huge fangirl smile while Spitfire looked as calm and collected as always.

This was way back when Rainbow Dash had won the Best Young Flyers Competition. She was given high praise for her heroic actions--and she relished in that glory. She never did it for the fame--though some instances, she found her ego to be ballooned because of this--but instead for those ponies who needed it. The reward was always worth it, too.

She hadn’t done anything heroic in a long time. She had been so focused on Cobalt. He never meant anything that happened to her because of him, but she had given up plenty because of him. She gave up the glory, the heroism, even the skies, for him.

No matter how much she loved him, she couldn’t help but miss those days. She wanted to fly with the Wonderbolts, wanted to save somepony from falling off a cliff or something like that. Oh, the adrenaline from these things that came to her so simply back then. She grew insatiable for these gifts now, as if they were royal offerings rather than her old lifestyles.

What’d she give to fly free without a care...

A small whimper interrupted her spacing out.

All she saw when she turned around was a small, columbus blue body falling through the air--and through the clouds. What was happening registered faster than she ever reacted before, a strong instinct overcoming her. Her wings stretched out, and the Wonderbolt picture slipped from her grasp, instantly forgotten.

“NO!”

He disappeared in the clouds, leaving a small gap in his wake. She followed afterward at blinding acceleration.

She descended at marvelous speed, creating a hole through her floor. Her hooves outstretched very far as she soon saw Cobalt Streak falling in a short distance from her. He was not so much screaming in terror but crying as he cascaded, his tan colored hair whipping over him and his eyes hiding behind his hooves.

Due to her amazing speed, she braked in the air below him, waiting just a second to take him in her arms. He landed into her cyan forehooves, and his cries fell silent as he realized he had stopped. He pulled his hooves from his face. Upon the dawning fact that he had been saved from falling, his lips quivered, his body shaking.

An overwhelming feeling clutched her chest as she felt his body brush into her arms, the absolute fear of the worst possible outcome gone. She shouldn't have doubted her speed, but she nonetheless felt terrified to see her son like that. She let him relax and stop trembling in her arms and patted his back. “Goddess, Cobalt! Don't-you scared the heck outta me!” she said in an exasperated tone, her breathing heavy as she clutched her son onto her as tight as she could. She never felt such a need to hold him such as now, the fear of him falling well in her mind. She struggled to not cry now that he was safe

“I'm sorry, mom,” he apologized, bowing his head down onto her shoulder.

Composing herself and her racing heart, she looked into his saddened eyes and felt guilt sink deep into her chest. She sighed and said, “It's alright. You didn't mean it. Let's just...”

Why did she do that? Why did she even think about moving back up there, when her son couldn't even walk on the floor without falling instantly? That was why she had gotten a place in Manehattan in the first place; she couldn't live in the clouds with him. And she had accepted that, for him.

“You don't need to be sorry. I'm... we just need to be careful,” she said slowly.

Cobalt just nodded, eyes cast down in small shame that still lingered despite her saying otherwise. She glanced up at her house. She couldn't bother staying up there longer for now; she had to do something, now that Cobalt hindered her from staying up there with ease.

Rather than deal with it for now, however, Rainbow Dash quickly headed into the house to check the time. Thinking about what Rarity promised, perhaps she could meet Twilight later tonight for dinner, should the occasion still be available, and talk about some sort of spell to let him walk on the clouds. This was as close to a home as she could get, so she just had to use what she had available.

Sure enough, as she exited, she saw a yellow blur glide towards her and Cobalt.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash. And Cobalt,” she added with a sweet smile Cobalt's way. He waved. “Everypony's at Twilight's house, so I wanted to bring you over.”

“Is Applejack there?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

Fluttershy frowned slightly. “I'm sure she didn't mean to be mean, Rainbow. She's your friend, so she just missed you,” she defended their close friend.

Rainbow Dash didn’t think too much about going. While she already had a sudden grudge at Applejack for their argument, why should she let that take away time with her friends?

“Alright, let’s go.”

Five

GroundedFive

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.

Six

GroundedSix

Rainbow Dash sucked in a large breath and let loose more air as a relaxing sensation filled her chest. She glided in the clouds gracefully as she headed up to where she had promised to start work—where else but high in the pure blue skies of Ponyville.

She pressed onto a nearest cloud and felt its puffy embrace, thinking back to the days when she napped on plenty of firm clouds, shrugging off her work just to chill out. Clouds were ten times better than beds in that their softness, their velvety fabric, could never be beaten.

Working in the skies; oh, how she missed this. It was a perfect reason to drift in the air and kick some clouds with her hindhooves. It was a stress reliever... unless she needed a break from her stress reliever and just lay in the clouds for a nap. But overall, she did enjoy her job—it wasn't the Wonderbolts, but it was better than nothing.

Today's assignment was a simple, clear, sunny day across most, if not all, of Ponyville. So there were plenty of clouds to buck. Rainbow was at the edge of town, close to the Carousel Boutique, enjoying laying back while waiting for the Pegasus who would be assigned to join her for today. Every once in a while, she'd give a good kick to a random, passerby cloud just for the heck of it.

“Well, well, look who finally came crawling back,” mused a voice behind her all of a sudden.

Rainbow Dash's head fidgeted, but if the pony was trying to surprise her, it wasn't much. Turning around and stretching up from her cloud nap, she saw Raindrops, a good friend and co-worker. Her arms crossed over her yellow coated chest, she breezed toward the brash Pegasus, flashing a grin her way. “'Bout time you came crawling back. Get tired of... well, wherever you were?” Her smirk faltered for a moment, but it came back.

Rainbow just shrugged. “Well, now I'm back,” she said simply. Even though they were nice friends, they weren't that close, so why was she immediately jumping into questions? It was already starting to get annoying.

“So where did you disappear off to?” Raindrops continued with a flicker of her tail. She was never one to just let things go, her curiosity too strong to fight away, apparently.

“Manehattan,” Dash answered with a quirked brow. “I just needed time to myself, that's all. It's not like I told anypony that I died or anything.”

“No, but still, you just, well, left. Not telling anyone. I asked your best friends, like Fluttershy and Twilight, and they had no idea why you left. What's up with that, Rainbow?” she asked, eyebrows narrowed.

Rainbow felt irritation rise in her chest. This wasn't the type of conversation she wanted here. Letting out a huff, she just said, “C'mon, Raindrops, why do you care about what I do with my life? It isn't like it matters to you or anything,” she grumbled.

The yellow Pegasus thought about that for a moment. “Well, yeah, but I can't help but be curious. So sue me.” But when she looked at Rainbow Dash, her sarcasm fell. Her mouth struggled to put on a true smile. “Sorry, okay? I just wanted to know some things—what's so wrong with that?”

The way the Pegasus dropped her interrogating position made the tension brush off of Rainbow Dash's hooves, but not entirely. Certain things still bugged her a bit. Why did she care? And why did these questions bother her so much? She could have told the truth and be fine with it; she already told her friends about it. Perhaps it was just because she wasn't as close with Raindrops like the other girls.

Rainbow shrugged. “Nothing. I just don't wanna talk 'bout it. Can't we just get these skies cleared already?” she asked impatiently, already drifting toward a nearby cloud. Her irritation pulsed into her backhooves, and when she bucked the cloud, it felt pretty good. There was relief in cloud kicking, so maybe this wouldn't be all that bad.

“Fine, then,” Raindrops gave up without much effort. She joined Dash in their job together and got a good amount of work done when Raindrops suddenly lost her focus.

At the sight of a nearby figure flying down their path, she stopped all movement and turned to Rainbow Dash. “I'll be real quick, promise. 'Sides, we're doing a pretty good job, so let's say we break.”

“You don't have to tell me twice,” Dash remarked, letting her shoulders sag in relief.

“Hey, Derpy!” She flew over to the gray Pegasus and waved for her attention.

The cross-eyed Pegasus blinked at her and stopped mid-air. She adjusted the mailbag that hung over her shoulder. She smiled at Raindrops, apparently not noticing the rainbow maned Pegasus; perhaps her eyes weren't finding Rainbow's at the time. “What's up, Raindrops? I don't wanna be mean, but I still have some more mail to deliver.”

“I was just wondering if you have a package I ordered?” she asked.

Derpy's disappointment fell and was clear as crystal on her face. Shifting her bag again, she responded, “Sorry, Raindrops. There's nothing in here for you today.”

“Gah, I've been waiting for forever! And my cousin's birthday is, like, two days away!” Raindrops groaned melodramatically, her arms drooping to her sides.

“How long?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“Like, five days!” exclaimed Raindrops, hooves outstretched.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Then her eyes fell over to Derpy, who had realized who the pony was that joined their conversation. It didn't take long for those large, strange eyes to widen at recognition of an old friend. Rainbow Dash smiled at her weakly; Derpy was among the friends she missed when she left, so it was great to see her again.

“Rainbow Dash!” squealed Derpy, zooming toward her in a gray blur. “It's so good to see you. It's been so long since we've seen you.” She hugged Rainbow Dash tightly.

Dash hugged her back. “Good to see ya, too, Derpy. How's things going with you?” she added when they parted.

“Oh, fine. Dinky got her Cutie Mark a few years ago. She's been working a lot on her magic; I just wish I could help her,” she muttered a bit sadly.

That hit right home, and Rainbow Dash nodded absentmindedly. With her being a Pegasus and Cobalt Streak being an earth pony, there were obstacles that often reminded them of this difference—especially Rainbow's cloud house. She wanted to tell Derpy that she understood what she felt, but obviously, that would bring up questions, so she waited. Seeing Derpy's saddened face, she wanted to reach out a hoof, but what could she say—that wouldn't start up a whole new conversation?

But then Derpy perked up a bit. “But I should be asking you that! You moved away, and it's a shame we didn't get to see each other before you left out of nowhere. How have you been?”

That was something Rainbow Dash loved and disliked about Derpy. She never started any arguments or tried to make you feel bad, but the way she stated things often made you feel bad just a bit. Rainbow's smile fell a bit, but she perked it back up in time before Derpy asked anything. “I was... pretty busy in Manehattan.” She shrugged any other words away.

“Why Manehattan? That doesn't really sound like a place you'd like to stay at for too long,” Derpy giggled.

“Well, I did start out in Cloudsdale, but stuff happens, so...” Rainbow's voice drifted off. Unlike Raindrops, Derpy was one of her closest foalhood friends. Even as they drifted apart as they grew older, they still maintained a strong friendship. She was one of the ponies she hated leaving behind. So keeping secrets from a best foalhood friend just seemed so wrong to her. And quite frankly, Dash was tired of keeping the secret.

“Can I tell you something?”

Derpy's ears flinched upward. “Yeah, what's wrong, Dash?” she asked, noting Rainbow's low tone.

“I, uh, I left because I... I had a child. Like, over five years ago. That's why I went to Manehattan,” she answered, avoiding eye-contact with Derpy.

Derpy's face immediately lit, her wings fluttering at a faster pace, and this earned Dash’s attention again. She placed her arms back around Rainbow Dash in yet another hug, but tighter. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, I'm so proud of you! What's your kid like? What's his—or, um, is he a her? What's, uh, their name?” she asked in a flurry right in her ear.

Rainbow fell back, caught off guard by the hug but again took it, though this time a bit slowly. Like Fluttershy, their hugs and expressions both showed high praise for their friend. Their smiles looked true, though something about Fluttershy's showed a hint of pain; she just hadn't figured out why yet. Derpy, though, didn't seem to have a single problem with it.

She decided to let this go for now and went with one of her questions, hoping to clarify one thing. “His name is Cobalt Streak. He's a pretty awesome kid, except when he's a hoofful,” she added in a grumble.

“Well, kid's can be trouble,” Derpy said knowingly with a smirk. “If they were easy, it would be too boring, actually.”

Rainbow Dash ignored that, not exactly agreeing with that. She decided to get onto another subject, one bugging her mind as soon as Derpy responded to her little announce. “You... don't care that I just, ya know, left without telling any of my friends, like you?”

Derpy shrugged. “It's none of my business what you do, you know? You didn't even have to tell me if you didn't want to—”

“But I did!” Rainbow interrupted.

“I'm just happy you're back,” she continued as if Dash hadn't tried to cut her off. Her smile widened.

Rainbow Dash only wished some of her friends thought that way. But Derpy was different. She was an optimist, somepony who, if you made her mad, you know you did something beyond horrible. The smile on Derpy's face made Dash feel that this decision of going back wasn't as bad as she thought. The drama that already occurred, especially last week at the dinner, was annoying.

However, it was also reality. Derpy's reaction showed her cheerful, loving side, but she never thought of anypony badly unless they committed a truly horrid crime. She could have been with Derpy the entire time upon her return, but instead, she dealt with questions that summarized the problems in her leaving for Manhattan all those years ago.

That doesn't mean Rainbow Dash wasn't thankful for Derpy's kind words. “Thanks. That, uh, means a lot to me,” she mumbled under her breath, though loudly enough for Derpy to catch. She glanced down at her fronthooves as she said this.

Derpy just nodded. “Sure! If you ever need someone to talk to, about anything, just come visit me, 'kay?” she asked, placing a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder.

Rainbow thought about that for a moment, slowly nodding back. Derpy was a genuine mare, someone who wouldn't just say that. She was a listener for friends, there for those who needed it. Maybe she could be the pony she could talk to about...

Looking at the clock in the far distance, she barely saw the time, but she hissed under her breath. She was caught off guard by this. “Shit! I'm late,” she said with a frown toward the clock tower, which told her she was already five minutes late to get Cobalt from school. She waved at Derpy, her hoof a blue blur, and she said quickly, “Gottagobye!” and raced to the school.

Derpy blinked but did not get a chance to say anything. Rainbow Dash soared through the air. She did not want her son waiting for her for a second.

However, her eyes caught a group of teenaged ponies she was very familiar with. She stopped just for a moment to glance at an orange coated filly that walked with her friends—or better yet, flew, just above their heads. The butterfly on her flank showed how she earned exactly what she and her friends deserved—their Cutie Marks.

Scootaloo.

Her heart sank when that name came to her. She forgot just how many friends she left behind, until today. Derpy, Raindrops, now this little filly, a mere fangirl who became like a true sister to her. And for a long time, she kept that promise. They would hang out, eat, practice flying, and maybe a prank or two—or more.

She promised long ago to watch over her, like a sister. And look at her now, having broken her promise. She grimaced at herself. While Scootaloo looked like she was handling things on her own, that didn't mean that if Rainbow Dash flew up to her now, there wouldn't be any tension. She imagined the filly's eyes hardening and her getting angry at her. Dash didn't want that, but she knew something like that would happen.

She felt pretty bad; she could have been an awesome sister. Rainbow, honestly, kind of always wanted to be one. It seemed like fun. So when Scootaloo announced just how devoted of a fan she was of her, she took her in her wing. She didn't see a problem with it.

Now that she ran away, though, the problem was high in the air. Pursing her lips, she wanted to go over to the Pegasus, finally flying and finally with her Cutie Mark, and remark at how proud she felt. She wanted to hang out with Scootaloo and maybe see just how well she was at flying; a test flight ought to have been fun.

But not now. She wasn't ready. She still had many things to look over and fix as it was. Adding onto it wouldn't help anything. With a nod to herself at this decision, promising to see her again someday, she flew away with a smile. Another thing to add onto the list, but she knew she could work it out... somehow.

She appeared at the school in a hurry. Cobalt Streak was standing by the school doors with one Pegasus colt. Her smile grew at the sight of her son, a part of her that made everything fine. Even from afar, she could tell he was enjoying himself, laughing at a joke the colt made.

As Dash descended, Cobalt's eyes rose and caught the trail of light blue and rainbow. Beaming, his face and rose eyes lit up. He pulled away from the other colt immediately and ran forward to meet up with his mother.

Her wings' fluttering slowing, she landed on the ground before her son, grinning. “Hey, Cobalt, time to go home.”

Cobalt just nodded. “Okay.” He waved to the colt and jumped onto his mother's back. Stretching out her wings once, she fluttered them to rise up. He tightened his grip, but she did not feel any fear in his grasp. They soared in the air together, and they let the beauty of the winds and cool air speak for a minute rather than saying anything themselves.

“So, how was it?” she asked to spark a conversation.

He hesitated. “Okay,” he repeated. His tone was low, sad, but he was trying to hide it. And by trying, that meant miserably failing.

“Hey, what's wrong, kid? You're not allowed to be sad around me,” she said, hoping to get a chuckle in, but her lips pouted when she realized that wouldn't work this time. She laughed weakly, adding, “C'mon, you can tell me?”

“I don't like our cloud house,” Cobalt murmured, his ears sagging.

Rainbow Dash's face fell. “But at least Twilight uses a spell for you to walk around it, so it's not that bad, right?” she said weakly.

“I don't like it 'cause whenever I wanna go out, I hafta wait for you to just let me go on the ground, and it's-it's so silly!” he complained with a crack in his voice.

Dash nodded. That was something that had crossed her mind with this. Even though her house wasn't that high in the air, a single step off the clouds could not be a pretty cause and effect. She didn't know where to go with that, though. She couldn't find a place to stay yet, and she didn't want to stay at her friend's. She wanted to get through this on her own. And she would. “Alright, I'll... I'll think of something.”

The sun was crisp and bright as it reflected in the mountains and clouds, and they flew home together.

Seven

GroundedSeven

“And then I dumped the drinks all over him!” Rainbow Dash finished with a triumphant rising of her hoof, as if she had won a fight rather than snuck up on one of her old co-workers. Still, she found it to be successful, however slightly. It made her laugh, at least.

Fluttershy, however, did not see such amusement behind it. While smiling, it was a very small one. “Oh, my. Don't you think that was a bit... much?”

“Nah!” Dash answered with a swift motion of her hoof, claiming it silly. She sat back down in her chair. “It was just something random that popped in my head. And it was totally worth it.” Her grin widened.

“But if you go back, won't you lose your job?”

“Maybe.” Rainbow's huge emphasis on it only made it easier to figure out the true answer she was thinking of. A small blush arose in her cheeks, but she tried to brush it off, saying, “But until then, I think I'm good here.”

Dash had been living in Ponyville now for three whole weeks. She had yet to get a place on the ground to stay yet, since she could only work so much as a single mother. Still, Rainbow had been searching for several places to stay, so it was only a matter of time before that was settled. Cobalt had yet to complain once again about this, but she knew inside he'd rather live where he was comfortable; as in, someplace where it wouldn’t spell disaster if he took one wrong step.

But that wasn't one of her concerns now. Cobalt was in perfect harmony with the woodland creatures that he played with while he and Rainbow Dash visited Fluttershy for the afternoon for lunch. He giggled as a bunny tickled his sides with its whiskers. Rainbow smiled, satisfied that he was doing fine, and turned back to Fluttershy.

“So, seriously, enough asking about me. What's been going on with you?”

This seemed to unsettle Fluttershy in every way possible. She might as well have fallen out of her seat and escaped from under the table. Her face was more red than yellow, her eyes wider than usual.

Rainbow's eyes flashed, a sly smirk pulling onto her face. She flew over to the other side of the table where Fluttershy anxiously sat. “You're hiding something,aren’t ya? C'mon, let it out.” She nudged her playfully.

“Oh, it's nothing,” Fluttershy attempted to dodge the subject with a helpless, desperate giggle.

Rainbow just made circles with her hoof, gesturing for Fluttershy to go on. She would not let this go, not in a million years! Hopefully, Fluttershy would understand this and just say something.

“Just... I've been writing... to this guy in Ponyville.”

Rainbow Dash's heart skipped a beat. She had guessed a number of things that had happened, even going as far as saying she joined the weather team and was a highly praised member! But this was not at all what she anticipated. And she didn't know what to think of it. Her mind drew a blank as to what she should feel about this. Her lips moved constantly, as if it were struggling, choosing between a smile or a frown.

She stuck with a straight line of a stoic expression. With a clearing of her throat, she said in the best composed voice she could muster, “... R-Really? Tha-that's cool—I mean, just writing? Have you at least seen his face?”

“Sure, I have! You actually... well, we all know him pretty well,” Fluttershy added.

She thought of many stallions of Ponyville—or as many as she had seen. Now that she thought about it, there weren't as many stallions around, much less stallions they knew well, so that brought it down to such a small list. The first name that popped into her head made her face scrunch. “Please tell me it's not Spike.” While he wasn't a stallion, he still counted as a male, obviously, but she couldn't quite imagine those two together.

Fluttershy nearly jumped from her seat and into a branch of a nearby tree. Her face was very red at this point... again. “Of course not! He's nice and all, but he's not somepony—or, somedragon, I suppose, I’d really want to be with. B-but, oh, umm... I should probably just tell you. It's-it's Big Macintosh,” she blurted hurriedly.

She raised a brow in response, as vague a response as she could make. While Spike was one she couldn’t see with Fluttershy, Big Macintosh was another one, but for different reasons. Just imagining it, she saw them sitting next to one another at Sugarcube Corner. Both were too quiet to say anything, thus making it entirely awkward and embarassing. She grinned to herself as that thought came to her. Fluttershy made no comment on it. “No way... He can write?”

Fluttershy shot her a look. “Just because he doesn't talk much doesn't mean he doesn't know how to write and read,” she stated quietly, though the tiniest hint of testiness could be heard. Dash hardly considered it threatening, though.

“I know. I'm just sayin' that he seems more like a brawny kind of guy than a brainy one, you know?”

“Well, I admit, he's not the best writer. Some of his letters are pretty hard to understand sometimes and—but he's getting better!” she defended him at the last second.

Rainbow just chuckled, tapping her friend lightly on the shoulder. “Hey, I don't care. Just know that if he messes with you—in a bad way—come to me, and I'll sort him out.”

“Oh, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said, a bit exasperated, but she dropped it anyway.

They quickly discussed how it started. Rainbow Dash always knew Fluttershy felt something about Big Macintosh, but of course, due to her shy nature, Fluttershy never told anypony directly, and kept it a secret. Two years after Dash left, though, Fluttershy found herself wanting to be closer with him, getting the most courage she ever could—by watching Macintosh from the distance in a cloud when he worked in the fields. Rainbow Dash decided now was not the time to jokingly call her a stalker.

“I think the first time I really did anything was... well, I can't remember that much. I only know that it was after I went to your house to clean up and-”

“You did that?” Rainbow realized, cutting off her friend, her jaw fallen slack. She remembered how spotless it was, how it shocked her that it looked nice. Now it made far more sense, and yet she remained confused, though now for a different reason.

Fluttershy's shyness overcame her, and she blushed. “Well, I wasn't sure when you'd come back, so I decided to clean up every once in a while just because... well, I had a feeling you would come back eventually. I mean, you wouldn't just leave forever, right?”

While Rainbow Dash wanted to remark about that, denying this face, she thought it over. If it weren't for Twilight, she wouldn't be here in the first place, and wouldn't find any reason to be here. But for the rest of her life, would she really never see them again? Over five years, she knew that much, but what about ten years? Twenty? Rainbow thought it over, and honestly wasn't sure. But the uncertainty alone was enough.

“Nah, maybe not,” she said. There was a pause, and she remembered just why she had thought about this. “Well, cool. Thanks... for, y'know, cleaning up my house.”

Fluttershy smiled a little. “It's no problem. Anyway, that day, I thought about if you liked a stallion. You wouldn't just sit in the background. I wanted to try to be like you for once and went up to him. I-it didn't go so well, at first, but he was very nice about it. The next day, I visited him, and we had something to eat. After that, we... sometimes, we'd meet up, but most of the time, we write, since it's easier for us to do that rather than talk out loud.” Her smile grew as she thought about how it happened.

Rainbow Dash nodded, only paying half attention at this point.

Cobalt screamed, and Rainbow Dash's instincts made her immediately turn. Now her attention was caught. Her wings flared for any oncoming danger. It was in vain, however, for she saw what made her son scream. It stood in deep confusion where Cobalt once stood to observe the animals. A smile slowly pulled onto her lips as she tried really hard not to laugh.

“Oh, Cobalt,” said Fluttershy, walking over to Cobalt, who hid at the corner of the cottage. His eyes were huge, shivering with fear. Rainbow Dash joined them as Fluttershy guided the squirrel over to the three. “Is he what scared you, sweetie?”

Cobalt's head perked up. He was reluctant for a moment, but his softened eyes steeled, even if it was forced. “No! I-it surprised me, th-that's all!” he said, stepping out. His chest puffed out a little, as if this would rise his colt-liness.

However, when the squirrel leaned in with a sniff, Cobalt let out a squeak and cringed away. Rainbow snickered. “C'mon, Cobalt, squirrels aren't scary. They won't bite,” she said after regaining control in her laughter. She leaned down to him and rubbed his head soothingly. “Unless you're an acorn.”

Cobalt snickered for a moment, but then his ears deflated. His feigned pride died away. “He tried to bite me.”

“Oh, I'm sure he didn't! None of my animals would ever harm a soul,” Fluttershy defended her creatures, picking up with squirrel in her arms. “You didn't, did you?”

Dash let out a small noise of amusement. She just placed a hoof on his shoulder. She gave him an encouraging grin. “It's nothing to be ashamed about. Everypony has fears... except me, of course.”

Cobalt just chuckled behind his hooves.

“I'd like to stay and all, but Rarity's already got me tryin' on dresses for Twi's wedding. You know, 'cause that's what I'd rather be doing,” she muttered the second part in a lower tone. “You sure you don't mind watching Cobalt while I'm at Rarity's?”

She didn't trust many ponies with her child; she always worked while at school and otherwise, never went out. She despised leaving him alone with someone she barely knew. Hay, she didn't want Spike to watch over him at first; it was just her strange protective side coming out. But Fluttershy was different. She had faith in Fluttershy for these things, the nurturing side of her personality strong.

“Of course, Rainbow Dash,” she said. “I'll take good care of him.”

“Good. Now don't cause trouble, Cobalt; no screaming at innocent squirrels.”

Cobalt's mouth opened, but unable to argue about it, he blushed instead.

Fluttershy and Rainbow laughed, before the latter flew off.

“Does the dress flow smoothly, dearie?” Rarity questioned, pacing around Rainbow Dash as the Pegasus stood stiff on the circular stand. Wearing her red-rimmed working glasses, Rarity's look showed her determination for nothing under perfection. “How does it feel?”

“Yeah, it's fine,” Rainbow Dash, lacking interest in the straightjacket Rarity called a dress. While she actually did feel free in this dress, her legs free to move about in a comfortable way, being forced into clothing that she didn't believe suited her well was not her thing. She could think of numerous other things she'd be doing at this moment. Like battling a dragon... with no weapons... and tied down to a tree.

But she made the promise to at least get her dress done and over with a while ago. And that dreadful day had finally arrived.

“Oh, I don't want it to be just fine, Rainbow Dash. Granted, it's Twilight's special day, but I want everypony to be perfect,” she declared with a wave of her hooves as she gestured to the four other dresses aligned neatly on four identical mannequins. At that time, there was one stripped down, while Rainbow Dash wore its outfit.

“It's okay, Rarity. I swear,” said the Pegasus, knowing her exasperation wouldn't help her in this. But standing stiff for several minutes in a dress she did not want to wear was aggravating, time dragging. If this dragged any longer, she'd start begging.

“Really? Because I feel as if something is missing, that's all. Be honest, because I'd hate to see that, in several months, that it looks awful,” Rarity continued to probe.

The Pegasus sighed with a shake of her head. “Yeah. It flows good,” Rainbow said flatly, nodding in confirmation.

“Well, dearie.”

“... Well, what?”

Rarity blinked. “Never mind. You can take off the dress now. We'll probably check out how it is in several months, but other than that, it should be ready to go,” she announced proudly, fluffing her hair as she placed all her equipment to the side on a large table.

Rainbow Dash let out a large sigh. “Thank goodness!” She jumped off the stand and nearly pulled the dress off like she were ripping off a paper from a notebook. There was the tiniest sound of a tear to the side.

Rarity winced at the noise. “Here, let me help.” A hue of gentle blue encompassed her horn, as did the dress. It was a struggle, but soon, Rainbow's body felt free to breath much more easily. She let out another sigh.

"I can't help but note, Rainbow Dash, that you have a great figure for a mare who had a child. Some mothers just blow up and stay that way—I can't imagine that horror. You look just about the same since you left," Rarity complimented, the dress floating beside her.

Rainbow blinked, not having anticipated that; as if anyone could. "Well, it wasn't something I was too worried about, but thanks. Heh. I don't even need to try to look awesome.” A grin crossed her face.

Rarity chuckled under her breath. "I suppose so."

She put the dress into a closet alongside four other light purple dresses. Taking off her red glasses, she walked passed Rainbow Dash, who sat in a comfortable velvet couch, and to the table. As she organized a line of her designer tools, she asked, "So what do you plan to do after the wedding?”

"Huh?"

"Are you staying here or heading back to Manehattan after the wedding?" Rarity specified. Before Dash could ask, she added, “Just drawing up conversation, dearie.”

Rainbow's eyebrows tilted down. "Of course I'm not staying. This is just a visit for a few months. I still have stuff to do back there."

Rarity smiled, but it wasn't comforting. "I've never heard a worse lie, and dear, we know Applejack," she told her softly, leaning down toward Rainbow as the latter's eyes fell to the floor. A questioning gaze brushed onto her face as she waited for another, better response. “You don't exactly seem so intent on leaving, is all.”

"Look, I dunno. I just don't want to stay." Rainbow's head snapped up as her own words processed into her mind. Wincing, she added, "What I mean is-"

Rarity's nose scrunched. "It's not because of us, is it, dearie? I'd like to think we've been awfully supportive for you and Cobalt. Haven't we?" she asked, her lips pouting out.

"Totally. C'mon, I didn't mean it like that!" Rainbow defended herself, jumping off the couch and walking up to Rarity, who had marched away with her nose pitched into the air, a true sign of her air of brisk melodramatics. "You guys are great—even if Applejack isn't all for it.”

"No, though Applejack can definitely compete with you for stubborn heads," Rarity said with a light grin. “She'll come around soon.”

Rainbow gave her a look but continued. "But the worst thing is that she actually has a reason to be mad at me," the Pegasus let slip.

The seamstress's ears perked up. "Pardon?"

Rainbow Dash sighed, feeling no regret with her words, which surprised her. She dreaded telling anyone before, but with a friend like Rarity, perhaps there were exceptions. And she was tired of hiding it, actually. Several weeks, she held it in, but she could only hold it in for so long. It didn't feel as bad to let out the truth a bit, not now. Still... "Can you, uh, keep a secret?"

Rarity gave her a narrowed eyed stare. "Rainbow Dash, I really don't like this. You've already kept secrets from us. Why bring in more?"

"Rarity, I'll tell everyone eventually.” She tried to believe her own lie but couldn't bring herself to. She hid her eyes in her rainbow mane so Rarity couldn't try to detect any lies. “Just this one time, okay? That's it.”

An exasperated sigh fell from Rarity's mouth. Defeated, she said, "Alright, then. What is it?"

"Uh, he—the father. I met him at AJ's family reunion," she revealed, thinking back to that night about six years ago. She remembered heading to the Apple farm, knowing that the family reunion equaled all the food and drinks the Apples worldwide made for the event. And that meant an eager, esurient Rainbow Dash, even though eventually, Applejack kicked her out.

"Oh, my. Does she know about him?" she asked in a whisper as if it were conspiratorial.

"Nope. At least, I don't think so." She prepared to steel herself for any questions that might have to do with—

"Well, does he ever mention her?"

Crap. Silence. An awkward shuffling of cyan hooves. Rainbow refused to meet her friend's probing eyes. The silence was painful.

"Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said accusingly.

She bit her lip, feeling as if something was rising in her chest. "That's another thing." Might as well get this over with, she considered. "I never told him."

“About?”

“Cobalt.”

"WHAT?!"

Rainbow Dash jumped into the air, and stayed that way, when Rarity pretty much yelled in her face. Her face showed how much she believed this to be a wide scandal. Dash took a step away and glared at her, begging that she keep quiet before anyone near the boutique bring up questions. There was far too much explaining to do to be interrupted—that, and calming Rarity a bit before she did anything such as pass out.

“He left the reunion way before I could. Besides, I didn't even mean to do it with him. We were both pretty drunk at their little reunion.” Her lips pursed a little, thinking back to that little incident. It gave her a headache just thinking about it, so she put it away for now. “But it doesn't matter now. I don't care about him, so the last thing I need is to be forced to be with him because we accidentally had a kid!” Her arms crossed over her chest before she landed back on all four hooves.

Rarity looked disappointed at her. “Oh, dearie, you've dug yourself into a very deep hole. I mean, why would you not try to at least find the father? Didn't Cobalt ever ask about him?”

“A few times, but it wasn't ever something he bothered with for long, so we didn't do much about it.” Or at all, Dash added grimly to herself. She started a path to the kitchen but stopped. “Hey, you mind if I have a drink?”

Rarity didn't seem interested in Rainbow Dash's thirst at the moment. “You can't get out of this, Rainbow Dash, now that you told me.”

“Oh, come on! I thought I was done with everypony interrogating me like I've committed a crime!” Dash groaned. She planted all four hooves on the ground and bowed her head down. Already, the stress was getting to her. Why couldn't she have one peaceful day without being attacked with questions? She should have seen this coming. Tell Rarity, of all ponies, about something that no doubt would get a huge reaction. Perhaps this wasn't the best idea.

No backing out of it now, dumbo.

“If you told us all of this beforehand, at any time when you came back, maybe it would have been fine. But this is big, Rainbow Dash. You never told the father of your son that, well, you had a son! Why in Equestria did you never think to tell him?”

“What do you care about him? You don't know him.”

“I know he's Cobalt's father, and that's more than enough.” Rarity struck her nose into the air, as if taking a whiff of air. “You need to think these things though, dear, before they get out of hoof.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do?

“Find him. Do you know where he lives?”

“But...”

“But what?”

Rainbow Dash immediately thought of Cobalt, her ears falling. “It's nothing. Look, I just know how he'll react. Or Cobalt.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, what if Cobalt wants to be with him instead of me?” Dash asked, grimacing.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, you shouldn't think like that.”

Rainbow Dash did not answer. Rarity turned and found her eyes, glancing down. They were glossed over in disdain as they thought over that scenario. Cobalt meeting his father, wanting to be with him more than her, or worse, getting mad at her for never telling him. Rainbow Dash sighed, and Rarity could feel the worry coming from her. Nopony had seen Rainbow Dash like this. It was a different side of her.

Rarity smiled at her warmly. “Rainbow Dash, we're all very proud of what you have accomplished. To be perfectly honest, I never quite expected you, of all ponies, to be a mother.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Rarity gave her a look, still smiling. “Oh, come on, darling, it's the truth. Did you ever see yourself having children a few years ago?” she challenged her.

Rainbow didn't have to think long about that. With a grimace, she silently agreed with that. Before Cobalt, she wanted to work with the Wonderbolts, not care for a kid. She would have complained and groaned about all the hard work that came alongside any newborn. She would never have the freedom to do as much as she wanted.

Yet, it felt totally different now. “Well, yeah, but that was years ago. Now... he means a lot to me, so I don't regret it,” she said rather timidly, playing with her hooves to distract herself.

“If he means that much to you, and I'm sure he'd want to see his father. No matter what happens, maybe you could do that much for him, at least.” Though her back was turned, for some reason, Rainbow imagined a grin on the unicorn's face.

Oh, man! She's using the Cobalt card! Before you know it, everypony will try it out. Just keep fighting it.

“I...”

Rarity watched. The next words that came from her mouth weren't exactly planned. They were blurted out without a second thought, though slow and clear.

“I'll try.”

Darn it!

Rarity turned back to her, smiling. “I'm so glad. It'll be good for you and Cobalt.”

“It's not like you've been through this before... right?” she added a bit worriedly. After all, after over five years of not seeing her, there were probably some things she didn't know everything about her friends' current lives just yet.

Rarity giggled. “No, I'm not there yet. But someday... anyway, I just think that would be the best thing to do.”

“Thanks, Rar. I mean it,” she said. There was a pause. “I know where he lives.”

“Then start from there. And anytime, dear,” Rarity said with a wave good-bye.

Dash waved back before departing from the boutique, a new kick in her wings. She had a whole lot of thoughts racing in her mind, racing faster than she ever had flown before. There was much planning to do, now with something she realized needed to be done.

First, to the train station, to check the times for the next day.

Rainbow Dash got up that morning a bit late, but since it was the weekend, Cobalt slept in as much as possible. She knew she'd never hear the end of it from Cobalt when she shook him awake. She tried to explain to him they were visiting someone, and she grabbed him before he could whine about being woken up. Picking him up and placing him on her back, she started their flight together toward the train station. She went at a slow, careful pace. Behind her, Cobalt struggled to pick a side between awake and asleep.

Dash laughed and continued, though she found herself distracted a hoofful of times on the way. She didn't know much about him except his name and what town he lived in. Did he even remember her, or the night they shared?

She couldn't imagine telling the stallion the truth, but it had to be done, another thing to start her new life of no longer hiding in the shadows.

She thought about him a bit. Only two things she knew about him came to mind:

He lived in Appleloosa, and his name was Cortland. From there, she had no idea what to think of him, or what he'd do once she told him about Cobalt. But she had to do something.

Eight

GroundedEight

They drifted to sleep as soon as the train started and began the long travel to Appleloosa. The only sounds that drifted in the air were the moving of the train... and Rainbow Dash’s loud snoring.

Rainbow was in blind bliss in her sleep, snoring loudly, yet her son was unfazed by the snoring, somehow. He was curled in his seat like a fluffy, light blue ball. Rainbow Dash, unaware of how long it would take to get there, decided any sleep was good sleep. They were the lone ponies in the car of the train, the room all to themselves.

Or so they thought.

It was then that a bright pink head gradually dove into the scene, a pony upside down. A wide grin had crept on her face when her face reached the same level as her victim. Covering her giggling mouth with her hooves, she waited for a few moments, watching Rainbow snoring.

It did not last forever, though. Said mare couldn't handle the silence any longer. Her smile couldn’t get any bigger.

“Hey, Rainbow!” she shouted right into her friend's sleeping face.

Or better yet, previously sleeping, for Rainbow Dash's eyes blinked open so suddenly. She let out a small cry as the sound's reverberation in her ears threw her from her calm unconscious. The surprise even sent her onto the floor. After a small crash, only her cyan hindhooves were back on the vinyl seat.

Either the sound of Pinkie Pie's shout or Rainbow Dash's yelp awoke Cobalt. His rose eyes peeked out, and after rubbing them, he noticed the absence of his mother. After noting the blue hooves, he peered out from over the edge of the seat and saw his fallen mother, who was shaking her head and blinking in a small daze. “You okay, mom?”

She slipped from her daze quickly and huffed at a hair that splayed over her vision. “It's all good. No worries, kid,” she said to him breezily, floating back into her chair. When those blue eyes continued to stare at her, Rainbow Dash's anger knit her eyebrows into a glare.

“What was that for Pinkie? And wh-what are you doing here?” she asked, still recovering a bit.

“Because I saw you heading to the train station, and I was worried you were leaving again. I mean, you're coming back, right?” Pinkie questioned in her usual perky tone, though her eyes did not match her expression otherwise.

“Of course I am!” Rainbow Dash defended herself, arms crossed before her. “I just need to head somewhere real quick.”

“Ooh, can I come with?” Pinkie suggested, the idea making her face light up.

Rainbow Dash gave her a blank look. “You're already onboard, so I don't think you have a choice.” She sulked back into her seat. Cobalt lay back into his curled up position, resting his head atop his hooves. His head then tilted onto Rainbow's side. She smiled down at him.

“Great!” Pinkie said, sitting beside her. The early time of day clearly did not perturb her enthusiasm. She paused, but since the quiet apparently was too imperturbable for her, Pinkie Pie glanced back at her, ready to start a conversation. “So, why are you going out so suddenly? It's so... sudden.”

“Just got some things to clear up. It's nothing big or anything. I've got it all under control,” she lied with ease. She shut her eyes, yawning, only to open them when Pinkie spoke up again. “That's why I'm heading there on my own; it's nothing I can't handle.”

“And what’s with the train? You can fly, silly,” Pinkie teased, as if the obvious needed to be said.

“It takes a while to get there. And with a kid on my back, that’d be just a pain,” Rainbow Dash said, reclining back against the chair. She kicked her hooves up against the seat in front of her. She would have loved an extra time to sleep, but with Pinkie here now, that wasn’t going to happen. As much as she liked the exuberant pony and all, Rainbow also liked one thing that Pinkie Pie probably has never heard of: naps.

Pinkie Pie nodded, accepting this. But she wouldn’t shut up forever. If she had something on her mind, she would let loose. “Where's this train going, anyway?”

“Headin' to Appleoosa.”

Rainbow Dash was not the one that answered her.

They both turned to the source of the voice, who was sitting casually in a seat facing away from them. Only her wide Stetson hat was visible over the red vinyl seating; that is, until she stepped into the walkway. She didn't look happy to be there, either.

“What's next? Is Twilight going to pop out with her magic?” Rainbow Dash commented. Both she and Pinkie jumped out of their seats, and Dash took a step toward Applejack. “How did you know I was here? A-and how long were you sitting there?”

“Since the train left. And how d'ya think Pinkie knew you were here? She got here before ah could take another step, but we caught ya headin' to the train station. We just wanted to know what you was doin'.”

“So you snuck on the train?” Rainbow Dash taunted. “Nice one.”

Applejack's glower snapped. Her cheeks burned crimson, but she pretended not to notice. “Ah—that's not the point! My point is that ah don't know why in Equestria yer on this train. You ain't runnin' away again, are ya?” she accused.

Rainbow's face fell. “Why are you guys thinking I'd do that? I had reasons to do that before; what reason do you think I have to leave before Twilight's wedding?” she snapped. The only reason I'm here in the first place, she added. “Why does everypony just jump to conclusions like that?”

Applejack didn’t respond to that; only looked away. “Sorry, Dashie. We're just afraid something happened that made you want to go away again,” Pinkie said, actually looking sad. “At least, I did.”

Dash hated that a sad Pinkie, even just a bit doleful, looked like a sad puppy. It was impossible to not feel bad for her. Grimacing, she said, “It's not that, though. You don't need to worry about that, I swear.”

“So why are ya headin' to Appaloosa? Seems out of nowhere, if ya ask me,” said Applejack.

“I'm going to visit somepony—there, you happy?” she added with a hint of impatience.

“Who?” Applejack asked, surprised, obviously curious as to who, in a town she knew far more often of, knew Rainbow Dash.

“You know a stallion named Cortland?” Rainbow bit her lip. Pinkie glanced at her, then Cobalt. Cobalt rose an eyebrow at her, wondering why she stared at him.

Applejack looked confused. “'Course. He's my cousin. We were pretty close as foals when he visited. We ain't exactly the best of pals, but still. Why-?”

The Pegasus's answer was only to stare intently at her, hoping she could fit in the pieces of the puzzle.

Applejack, while not the most clever pony in Equestria, was smart enough to put two and two together. She turned away just for several seconds to comprehend it, but when she did, her eyes grew wide enough to almost cover her entire face.

There was just a flicker of anger flashing across her face, but it left as quickly as it arrived. Her mouth moved to the side, and her eyes fell down to the floor. When she looked up again, she, in Rainbow's perspective, had a blank countenance, impossible to tell what she was thinking or how she felt.

Rainbow was about to ask, only Applejack slowly turned away to the window and said, “It’ll take a while to get there. Just sayin’, by the time we can get to Ponyville, it’ll be late out.”

That was all she said. And in such a low voice, at that. When she sat down, Rainbow Dash begged Pinkie Pie, with her eyes, to figure out what to do. Her reaction was so vague, so strange, that she had no idea what to do back. The pink pony just shrugged, not that Dash could blame her. They just watched their friend sit down in a seat on the other side of theirs.

She just stared out the window, unable to find the right words to say. Her eyes remained on the scenery that passed the train for the last half hour of their travels. Rainbow just stared at Applejack; she wanted to do something, but couldn't think of what exactly. She struggled to even move for a moment before decided to sit with Pinkie Pie and Cobalt again, giving the farming mare time for herself to perhaps think.

Rainbow Dash was actually glad Pinkie Pie was here. With Applejack in some sort of stupor, she wouldn't have had anyone to talk with, and it would have just been overall awkward. They chatted for the whole train ride, trying to ignore the eerily silent Applejack in the seat behind them—to no avail.

When the train conductor announced their arrival, she couldn't feel any more impatient to leave the train. In fact, Rainbow Dash would have been the first off, if she hadn't had to grab Cobalt. She was glad to leave the train, hating how her stomach flipped when she thought of as to why she was here in the first place. She tried to brush it off, but somehow, it kept coming back.

She just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

They departed the train and into Appleoosa, which was filled to the brim with hard working ponies. It was in late spring, so much work was to be done. When Cobalt glanced around on Dash’s back, he just smiled at his mother. She smiled back, though a bit forcefully.

“D'ya know where he lives?” Applejack asked, earning immediate gazes from the other two. This was the first time she had spoken since on the train.

Rainbow Dash took no hesitance to answer. “Dunno. I just remember his name. Cortland.”

“Cortland, huh?” Applejack's lips puckered, as if this was the first time Rainbow Dash said his name to her. “We were close friends as kids whenever we went to reunions. Ah wonder how he's doin' now,” she wondered aloud.

“And how he'll be doing after this,” Rainbow Dash murmured.

“Huh?”

“So do you know where he lives?” She completely ignored Pinkie's question and asked Applejack.

Applejack had to think for a minute, her hoof tapping her chin. Then she nodded. “Ah'm pretty sure ah know where he and his sister live.” She started walking into Appaloosa, more towards the east, Rainbow and Pinkie following behind her.

“He and his sister live together—there was one brother, but he moved elsewhere, so they're pretty close,” Applejack informed them on the way.

“You okay, Dashie?” Pinkie Pie asked, joining beside Rainbow Dash in their walk. The fact that Rainbow Dash was walking--no, sulking--wasn’t a good sign.

“Sure.” She barely tried to conceal that lie. That sinking feeling was back, and stronger than ever. They were in the town of his father. She tried to pick her head up, as well as her pace.

Pinkie Pie gave her a dubious gaze, but did not voice her doubt. They traveled behind Applejack.

***

Applejack pointed to a house a bit off town. They stepped onto the wooden porch, but stopped at the shut door.

“Hello? Anypony home?” Pinkie Pie called out first, knocking on the door. When no one responded, Pinkie frowned. She turned to Applejack and shrugged. “They're probably just not home right now.”

“Ah'd think at least one of 'em'd be home. Maybe—”

“Somepony want us?” a mare yelled out in a sing song voice, but not from inside the house, but to the left of them.

They got off the porch and peered to the left to see a mare with two side ponytails trotting gaily toward them from the side of the house. When she finally stood in front of them, large green eyes lit up at their visitors. “Oh, heya! You don't look ta be from 'round here—except you, AJ!” she added upon seeing Applejack from behind Rainbow Dash. She trotted over to her with an air of heartiness and shook Applejack's hoof. “Good to see ya, cous'. What brings ya to our personal piece of hell?” she asked with a silly giggle.

Applejack didn't seem as surprised by that statement as Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash. “Howdy, Peachy Sweet. Actually, my friend here wants to talk to Cortland.”

“Cort?” the red maned mare named Peachy Sweet retorted. “Which one of yous, out of curiosity?”

“That'd be me,” Rainbow said with a coy smile. “I'm Rainbow Dash. The others just snuck on the train.” She chuckled.

“You wouldn't be able to find him without Applejack, though, would you?” Pinkie pointed out, oblivious to Dash's irritated glare. When she did see her friend's expression, she just said, “What's the frown for, Dashie?”

Peachy giggled, but a moment later, rose a brow and waved a hoof in the air. “Sure, though why you wanna do that is beyond me. He's inside being borin', as usual. Hang on, ah'll get 'em—CORT, get you behind outside 'fore ah pull it out here!”

It took a minute, but soon, a stallion appeared from inside the house. He slowly approached the group, and Rainbow Dash dreaded the fact that she recognized him. Her heart sank as she realized this was the stallion, and that this was all true. After six years, she somehow remembered his face.

Gazing at Cobalt and then him, she noticed that they had the same mane and tail, both in its shaggy style and sandy color. His green coat and blue eyes were different, of course, something Cobalt didn’t gain once born. And for some reason, she saw that they both had the same pointed nose and bigger ears than normal for ponies their age; why in Equestria she noticed that, she had no idea... but she could see her son in that face. She didn't know what to think of that.

The stallion, Cortland, looked disinterested at the three mares and single colt. His gruff expression was pulled down in a grimace as he said, “What'cha ponies need?”

“Oh, Applejack's visitin' with her pals, is all,” explained Peachy Sweet. She glanced at the other ponies. “And, uh, one of her friends wants to talk to ya... of all ponies, for some reason.”

“Uh, hey,” she introduced herself with an awkward smile.

“Hi,” he said curtly. He squinted at her for a moment, observing her. Giving up, he made a noise before saying, “Do I know you from somewhere?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Kinda. Uh, I dunno how to explain this.” It was so much easier with my friends. She felt something lodged in her throat, forcing her to cough. When she cleared her throat, she said, “Umm, Cortland, my name's Rainbow Dash, and we kinda met at your family reunion.”

Cortland observed her until his blue eyes flashed. “Oh, yeah. Ah remember you. The Apple Family Reunion, what, five years ago? Been a while.”

You could say that again. “Yeah. Six or something, but who's counting?” Cobalt snuck into view in her mane, but Cortland paid little attention to him.

“You hooked up with a gal and didn't tell me?” Peachy questioned, leaning into her brother's face, which switched to an irritated one—one that can only be made between siblings.

“You don't have to know everything in my life, sis,” Cortland said.

“My, my, you son of a gun,” Peachy squealed, slapping Cortland's shoulders. Her shocking strength sent him into a sort of tumble before he caught himself. “Ah didn't know you had it in ya, Corts!” She then leaned into the three mares and spoke in a whispering tone, as if Cortland could not hear, “Ah swear, ah assumed he always was on the other side of the street.”

“Well, ya know what happens when you assume, Peach,” Cortland sneered. Then he shot her a look. “And what the heck does that mean?”

“Oh, it's a sayin'... I heard it somewhere, I think.”

“It's a stupid sayin'.” He rolled his eyes, with the smallest twitch to his lips falling instantly when the conversation fell back to the matter at hoof. “'Sides, we just met and stuff. No big deal.”

“Not exactly,” Dash said slowly, to emphasize her words.

Cortland glanced at her, his eyebrows quirking. Applejack adjusted awkwardly to the side, glancing at Pinkie Pie. Both stared at Cobalt, who stood atop Rainbow's mane, his big rose eyes blinking as the scene unfolded. This was about these three, and even Peachy just watched the three stare at each other. His eyes demanded her to continue, and they wondered if Rainbow even wanted to say it. They came here to see what she was doing, and they feared she'd chicken out. It wasn't something Rainbow Dash would normally do, but something about her nervous expression told them she wasn't ready for this.

Finally, someone spoke. “I, well... ugh. Cortland. This is my son—and he's yours, too.” She squinted nervously, worried about his response and reaction.

Silence. She was used to this anymore, especially when she told somepony she knew about Cobalt. She had to wait for the information to sink in and let them find an appropriate reaction that suited them. Cobalt stared at Cortland, whose own gaze shifted back at either him or the Pegasus. His pupils dilated, but that was all for now.

“If ah knew to pack some extra stuff along that trip, I would have,” Peachy commented with a shake of her head, cutting into the cold silence. Cortland sent her a vicious glare, which she pretended not to notice as she headed back into the house. She glanced over her shoulder at Pinkie Pie and Applejack. “Wanna head inside for somethin' to eat while these two sort things out?”

Rainbow Dash glanced over at Pinkie and Applejack, both of who smiled at her before they headed inside to let the family get to know each other—if that is what they can call it.

Ten

GroundedTen

The sky still beamed down gentle darkness onto Equestria when the train arrived. It was very early when the train arrived in Ponyville, well past midnight. The five ponies exited the train, and Rainbow Dash sucked in a boatload of air. It was as if being back made her realize what she had done, and it tossed off so much stress from that morning when she first got on the train.

Not to mention that she just felt a bit better. Maybe it was the fact that she did the best thing for Cobalt, and not just herself. The more she thought about it, the more tired she got thinking of it. She just did what she felt needed to be done, that was all, through a bit of pushing from Rarity.

When Cortland jumped off, he glanced around, taking in the new scenery. However, he didn't seem too interested in it for now. He looked rather bored, slowly turning his head left and right. He stopped his searching when he tilted his head his cousin's way. “You don't mind me staying at your place for the next few days, do you, cous’?”

Applejack's ears perked up, snapping away any attempts to doze off. “Ah brought a bit of money with me, but it'd just be easier to get a place to stay with you guys, ah'd think.”

Applejack grinned at him. “Sure! Ah'm sure we can find a space for ya.”

“Ah'll sleep on the floor, if ah have to. Ah'd hate to just go back so late at this point,” he grumbled to himself, letting out a huge yawn. “Night, ya'll.”

They bid each other good-night and were about to separate when Cortland stopped in Rainbow Dash's path. “By the way.” He gestured her aside. Applejack stopped, waiting for her cousin.

Rainbow gave him a questioning gaze. “Yeah?” She held a tight embrace on Cobalt, who was constantly shifting from consciousness to being asleep, his eyelids threatening to shut. At his mother's touch, his eyes snapped open.

“Just saying, maybe you can cut Applejack some slack. She told me... well, that doesn't matter. But she did say that she was a bit rough on you when you came back here, apparently.”

“What did she tell you about?” Rainbow almost shouted. Cobalt whined at the loud noise. Rainbow Dash just sighed, giving her son a quick apology. She glanced over at Applejack, who was waiting beside Pinkie a few feet away.

Applejack gave her a crooked smile, proving she listened into their conversation, as well . Her nostrils flared, but she otherwise let it go. Cortland didn't seem so bothered by it, anyway.

“Enough,” he answered, taking a sudden interest on the ground. Looking back up, the stallion added, “But ah just wanted to let you know, ah'm certain she means well. She may be rough on you, but she probably has her reasons.”

She gave him a bemused look, but rather than question why the hell he was bringing this up, she said, “Alright. Sure.”

Cortland smiled at her. She kept note of this and wondered what in Equestria they talked about concerning her, as well as . “Great. Ah'll, uh, see you later. And night to you, too, Cobalt.” His smile became strained at Rainbow Dash and Cobalt, who dangled in her grasp as she floated a few feet in the air.

She nodded at him. Cortland looked like he wanted to say something, but after a moment, he just walked away with Applejack. Once they disappeared from her view, she groaned, knowing that she would be seeing Cortland a lot more, now that he was here, as would Cobalt. Hopefully, it wouldn't make it any worse for her: hopefully, he wouldn't want to keep Cobalt back at the farm even more, or even worse, Cobalt wouldn't want to...

Her heart pounded as the idea struck her. Looking down at her son, she couldn’t imagine him out of her grasp. But still... “Hey, kid.”

“Yeah?” was the barely murmured response from her son.

“Promise you'll always stick with me, that you'll stay with me, 'till the end, right?” she asked, a bit of a strain in her voice. It was strange, asking of this promise, especially when he was so tired and barely understood what she meant. But she just wanted him to say it.

“Sure, mommy... wanna fly in fluffy clouds...” was all Cobalt muttered before his eyelids fell over his eyes for the rest of the night. He snored so lightly, he sounded like a tiny whistle.

She smiled and planted a kiss on his forehead. Pinkie smiled at her, a mischievous smile, at that. Rainbow Dash's cheeks suddenly felt like they were on fire.

“What?” she demanded in a whisper, hoping her glower would redeem herself a bit.

“Oh, nothing, Rainbow! I'll see you two tomorrow!” Pinkie replied with a giggle, skipping off to Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow was the last to leave, flying back home with another yawn. It had been a huge day, and it went without saying that she needed some rest.

***

Two days after their return to Ponyville, in which Cobalt constantly shifted between with Rainbow Dash and spending time with Cortland (though with a careful eye in the sky every once in a while from Dash), Cobalt finally asked to have some time not just with one or the other, but with both at once. She had no idea why, but when he flashed those puppy dog eyes, she had nothing else to say but yes.

If there was one thing Cobalt liked about Ponyville asfare that Manehattan did not have, it was the luscious park. They grabbed Cortland from the farm and brought him over there for a simple walk.

Cobalt and his parents strolled along the walkway for a good few minutes in silence. Rainbow and Cortland took in the perfect, sunny day, only giving sideways glances every once in a while at one another. For Rainbow Dash, it couldn't have been any more awkward. Only Cobalt was oblivious to this, enjoying the area around them. How it looked so simple, yet so nice. As much as Rainbow Dash wanted to enjoy it, she just couldn't. Not when the air was so awkwardly tense.

“So... what's up?” Rainbow started as he sat down on a bench while she perched lazily in a tree above the two boys.

Cortland looked at her for a moment, then looked away. “Nothing much. You?”

“Eh, same.” Another minute of silence passed. Rainbow Dash blew a few leaves from her face as they fell down on her.

“Weather's nice,” Cortland complimented.

“I made sure it would, since Cobalt wanted to hang out today,” she explained in a plain, bored tone. It was supposed to be fine out that day anyway, with just a few clouds and a small possibility of a light drizzle. With the pulling of a few strings, though, she was able to get a one hundred percent clear day.

Cortland nodded absentmindedly. “That was nice.”

She shrugged, but said nothing. If he didn't catch her gesture, that was his own problem. She didn't care. Besides, Dash just wanted to end the conversation as quick as possible, regretting that she even started it.

It was hard just to talk. Only Cobalt didn't see that, which made it a bit worse. She decided to look around at the park. Many ponies had been, were, and were going to be at the park to enjoy the crisp, almost-end-of-spring day. A few ponies caught her eye, but one in particular made her stop, nearly tumbling out from the branch she was perched on.

A pair of light purple eyes met Rainbow Dash's rose ones, and they locked for the longest time. Her eyes couldn't let go as a sinking feeling cascaded down into her chest. That face was all too familiar.

"I, uh, I'll be right back," she stuttered, ignoring Cortland's confused look. She flew away, knowing he and Cobalt would be fine together, and toward the onlooker half a mile away.

She slowed down when the younger Pegasus began to fly, however cautiously, to her as well. They looked away from each other for a moment, only to realize that someone had to say something eventually.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash," the orange Pegasus spoke first with a nervous smile.

"Scootaloo, uh... hey," she greeted back, wanting to smack herself. There was a pause, one she wondered if she needed to fill . "So, umm, listen, squirt—"

"Can you... not call me that? I'm not a kid anymore," Scootaloo interrupted a bit forcefully, though. She had a big interest in her hooves as they kicked the grass under them. She bit her lip during the silent moment, only she was the one that broke it this time, saying, "Besides, you don't have to say anything. It's no big deal.”

Rainbow Dash stared at her. The look on Scootaloo's face said far more than words ever could. Her forehooves crossed over her chest, she asked, “What is—or, what isn't?”

Scootaloo licked her lips, reluctant to answer. “That you left Ponyville—that... that my sister left me behind,” she confessed through shut eyes. If tears started to fall, she'd never hear the end of it.

Worst... guilt trip... ever! Rainbow Dash thought, and she would groan if Scootaloo wasn't looking so distressed. She and Scootaloo weren’t literally sisters, but they had a good connection until she left. How badly was it broken now? Staring at the mare's face, it was hard to tell.

She sighed as lightly as possible. “Look, Scootaloo, I've had this conversation more times than me and my friends saved Equestria. I left 'cause I... had a lot going on, so I moved away for a bit to get away from everything.”

“Without telling me?” Scootaloo cried out, her voice cracking and her head snapping up.

Rainbow Dash recoiled, but knew, one way or another, this had to be finished quickly. She was getting tired of these repetitive conversations, like she was living in a broken record. “Believe me, it was pretty last minute,” she said. She turned away a minute, wondering what else to say at this point. A few thing came to mind, but she didn’t like saying any of them.

However, seeing the heartbroken face of someone who idolized her, who made her feel even more awesome than she already did, made her think a quick one wouldn't hurt. “Alright, Scoots. I know you're upset, but I dunno know what to tell you. I... I'm sorry, 'kay?” she added so abruptly, she wondered if Scootaloo even heard that. Oh god, she wouldn't have to say it again, did she?

Scootaloo did not respond, only letting out a cool, low sigh. If looks could kill, her sad one would send Dash to her grave before she had the chance to respond. Her big eyes looked away, on the verge of tears. Rainbow Dash fell back again, not sure what she had done wrong this time.

“Bu-I said I'm sorry!” Rainbow exclaimed. She didn't get it. Didn't saying sorry usually solve problems in the end? What was the problem now?

“I just want to know something,” said Scootaloo, now speaking in a low tone. She sounded older than she really was, which very much caught Rainbow Dash's attention.

“Yeah?”

The younger Pegasus's light purple eyes never looked so solemn, so old. Not too old, but maybe only a few years younger than Rainbow Dash herself. She wanted this answer a lot. “Why?”

It was so vague, yet so obvious. That was what sucked the most. “Damn,” Dash muttered.

“What?” she asked, unable to catch what she said.

“Nothing!” Rainbow said in a hurry. She looked over her shoulder, where Cortland and Cobalt were. Cortland lay on the bench, looking like he was attemptingto enjoy the scenery, while Cobalt was standing on a tree stump, keeping his eyes on a few small creatures that would pass by.

An idea struck her. A small smile crept on her face. “Just come with me. I wanna show you someth—I mean, someone,” Rainbow said with a grin that Scootaloo didn't get.

Scootaloo followed her anyway, mostly keeping at a fast trot. Rainbow Dash almost felt bad; before, she had seen her fly perfectly fine. And yet she could only do it for a bit at a time. She remembered how she helped her fly while out camping, just a bit. That was the day they really connected. She smiled at the memory as she flew, only to stop a few feet away from Cortland and Cobalt.

“I just need to borrow him for a bit. You don't mind, right?” she joked, already taking Cobalt in her grasp and flying away from Cortland before he could respond.

Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash and Cobalt Streak met half way. The former stopped and looked as confused as Dash expected. She rose a hoof and said in a whisper, “Hi.”

Cobalt smiled ear-to-ear, waving back at her.

“Scootaloo, I'd like ya to meet Cobalt. Cobalt, this is, uh...” She thought long and hard about it. Then she added, a bit slowly, “Your... aunt.”

Scootaloo's eyebrows rose up at her, quivering as she processed this. Her mouth quivered, as well, but it curved into a wide smile soon after. Scootaloo caught her in a huge hug around the waist. Rainbow Dash, though stiff at first, wrapped a wing around the filly.

“You're not mad anymore, are you?” she asked, her voice cracking.

Embraced in Rainbow's blue fur, she pondered, making She sighed. “No. I wasn't mad. I... I... just promise me you won't leave for a long time. Promise?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled under her breath. “Sure, why not?” Was that a lie or the truth? Even she couldn't figure that out. But it was certainly an option, for her friends' and Scootaloo's sake. She smiled to herself, for some reason finding this warm embrace calming.

Cobalt, sat there on his haunches, blinking at the two. His mother saw this, and rolling her eyes, stretched out one wing towards him.

Cobalt understood enough and jumped in, and the three tumbled onto the ground with the unexpected attack. Cobalt fell on his back, and he stayed there, looking at the sky. Not too far away, Rainbow Dash saw Cortland watching them, a tiny grin on his face. He walked away before she could say anything.

Dash didn't stop him, and Scootaloo distracted her, anyway. She had a giddy, childish grin on her face. “So, since he doesn't have a Cutie Mark, maybe he can join the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” She pumped up her hooves.

“But didn't you guys get your Cutie Marks yet...?” She knew Scootaloo got hers. What if the other two didn't?

Scootaloo giggled. “Yeah, we all did. But that doesn't mean we can't keep it going! He can start a new generation of the Cutie Mark Crusaders! What do you say, Cobalt?

“Cutie Mark what?” Cobalt asked, his jaw slack at the word.

Scootaloo burst into laughter. “Don't worry; we'll explain everything, right, Rainbow Dash?” she asked in that fangirl-ish voice, with a hint of a crack, that Rainbow Dash remembered before.

Dash groaned, also remembering exactly what kinds of things the Cutie Mark Crusaders did. Celestia knows what else she missed while she was gone.

Eleven

GroundedEleven

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.

Twelve

GroundedTwelve

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.

Thirteen

GroundedThirteen

“Hey, I'm back-” Before she could say anything beyond that, her voice left her. She stood at the doorway, ceasing everything, with a blank expression at her son and the babysitter.

“Keep pressing X!” commanded the unicorn with a straight blond mane, her face contorted with fierce determination. She held a controller like Cobalt, only in her yellow hued magic, and she paid far more attention to how he was progressing in this game—a game Rainbow Dash could only describe as something that really likes red graphics.

“It's really tiring,” Cobalt whined, his hoof tapping the X button at a slower pace than apparently required. His face was red; whether with anger or impatience from playing the video game, Rainbow hadn't a clue.

Rainbow chuckled. When she had gotten this apartment, there wasn't much to it. But she also had no idea how cheap it was, but when she checked the prices, she found the perfect opportunity to buy some furniture... and then some. As in, a gaming system that would entertain her son.

Though on occasion, she did find herself going into mother mode and telling him to do his homework first; she just didn't want more remarks from Miss Cheerilee about him not doing his homework. Now, though, it looked as if he'd rather be at his desk, doing math problems than playing this game.

"C'mon, little blue. Just pound his face a little—ooooh, uh, hi, Rainbow Dash.” The mare caught herself and, cheeks ablaze, stood up. The controller dropped onto the floor once it slipped from her magical grasp.

She cleared her throat, and Cobalt turned to see his mother. Relief washed away his irritation at the game. “Hi, mom!” he called out.

“Say, what's got ya so beat? You look like you ran a marathon.”

“She keeps beating me, and it's not nice!” Cobalt complained with a whiny attitude, pointing an accusing hoof her way.

“Hey, I won because I deserved it,” the unicorn said with a proud attitude. She stood up and walked over to Rainbow Dash, and it took a second for Dash to realize why she was here.

“Oh, right. Uh, thanks. How was it, Cobalt?” she asked with a smile before turning with an anxious look toward Summer Breeze. She didn't know much about the mare, but knew from others that she could be described as simply care-free and kind. She only accepted her because she needed a babysitter so suddenly, and the mare lived right underneath her apartment. “Did he, uh—everything's okay, right? Like, no problems or whatever?”

“Don't worry. He's fine,” said the unicorn, flipping her straight blond mane out of her face. She played with it for a moment before continuing. “He didn't cause any trouble or anything, so it's all good.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know that. Awesome,” she said. With an enthusiastic grip on Cobalt, she tossed him lightly into the air and easily caught him. She smiled at him for a few moments before placing him back on the ground, then going over to Summer, she tossed her a few bits.

Summer beamed and put the money in a bag. “If you ever need somepony to watch over him, you know where to find me.”

Dash nodded curtly, distracted as she exited the house. Summer didn't seem so bad, but she'd rather have Cobalt around her or at least ponies she knew closer to her rather than random ponies. If everypony she knew wasn't busy, she could have done that. She glanced at the doorway and heard Summer leave.

With Summer Breeze gone, she couldn't hold it in anymore. She breezed toward Cobalt and asked, “Hey, kid, guess what?”

“What?” He pulled away from his crayon drawing and gave his mother curious eyes.

“We're going on a trip to the Crystal Empire!” She gave him a big smile, hoping he got excited.

That didn't register any surprise or shock—in fact, he looked pretty confused. He didn't even react to his mother's over-excitement. She realized a second later why. “Oh, right. You don't know about that. Heh.”

“Is it made of crystals?” he guessed, brow quirked. He giggled at his silly idea.

“For the most part. There are even crystal ponies there.”

Cobalt's eyes shot open wide. Obviously, he never heard of anything like this, and the fact his guess was actually true was a complete shock. “Really? Are you sure?”

“Heck, yeah! I've been there a few times, actually. It's pretty sweet there,” she complimented, in order to get his hopes high. She grinned wide in hopes to make him more enthusiastic.

Now with proof of its greatness, Cobalt smiled ear-to-ear. “Wow, that's awesome!” he said with flailing little hooves. “I can't wait! When are we going?”

“A few days, I think.”

He then let out a loud raspberry. “Aww, that's too long. Can't we go now?” he asked impatiently.

Rainbow chuckled at him, tickling his sides. He giggled. “That's a no, but you can wait, can't you?”

“N-no,” he struggled to answer straight when a yawn escaped him.

She rolled her eyes. “You gotta grow some patience, little blue,” Dash added with a smirk. She picked him up again and heard him give a squeal as he let out another yawn. His eyelids shut, threatening to close for the night. “Now it's time for bed, how 'bout?”

Cobalt didn't answer. He had already fallen asleep in his mother's grasp. Rainbow Dash made the trip quieter by flying her way to his bedroom.

With Cobalt now asleep in his own room, Rainbow Dash just couldn't do the same. She remained wide awake, to a point where the ceiling lacked much interest. It didn't even have a fan, so all that was there was dull, gray paint to look at. The only sound in her ears was the gentle rainfall that always was a peaceful noise to sleep through.

However, bored out of her skull, this wasn't enough to keep her occupied. She got out of her bed, which would never be the same as her soft cloud bed, and searched through her room for entertainment. Her bookshelf, of course, had plenty of readable things. And other than that, well, loud video games were out, else it might wake Cobalt.

Dash brushed her hoof through the top shelf and grabbed a random book. She pulled it out and peeked at the title: Where We Belong by Emily Gryffon.

She didn't remember much of the book, so it must have been a while since she read it. With this in mind, she shrugged, and took it to her bed. She landed on it slowly, floating down with her wings spread out. Landing, she cuddled into the blanket and pillow, both of which were not so bad really. They had a softness to their texture, not exactly like a cloud, but it would do.

She opened the book to the first page. Almost instantly, she recalled this book and groaned. Rainbow peeked at the back for its summary and rolled her eyes.

Oh, great. Why did she get this book again? It only pissed her off more about what happened with her. It was not an exact copy in any way, but it certainly brought unwanted memories. She loved how the writer took on events that could very much happen in life—the exact opposite of who wrote Daring Do, but both wrote well enough that she didn't care—but when some similarities were visible on the pages, Rainbow Dash didn't like it one bit.

Next thing she knew, she found herself thinking back to around six years ago: the day that shook her life forever and some beyond that date.

Rainbow Dash sat on the paper covered mat in the doctor's room. It was quiet and white, the room. She wanted to say something, but she was afraid she'd freak out. Doctors' offices never really were all that comforting. All she had to listen to was the paper crinkling underneath her. It only did that when somepony moved a lot, which she did in her anxious state.

Doctor's offices always freaked her out. She hated doctors, any place involving sharp needles being prodded into and on your body—ugh, just thinking about it pained her. She shuddered.

She also hated how long the doctors and nurses took. Good Celestia, why even make an appointment when they make you wait for nearly an hour? Perhaps that was why they were called patients—you apparently had to have a lot of patience. Well, she didn't.

She lay back and tried to keep calm. Hospitals and anything related to those always brought out theworst in her.

Just when she thought of leaving, the doctor came in. Good, she thought. She'd rather know what was going on with her.

The fatigue, the nausea and vomiting, and the fact food itself, the very sight, made her sick; it was all too much, and she had no idea what her problem was. And while Twilight was a good source for checking books as to what problems were, she wasn't a doctor. And this seemed pretty big. She'd rather face the horrors of doctor's offices than hope a few books could solve everything.

The light coated doctor went through his clipboard, keeping it levitated in a blue aura. “After looking over your symptoms and the questions you answered, the cause of your problems is actually very obvious now,” he said behind the clipboard. He looked back to her, and just as she had a flash of worry on her face, he abruptly added, “There is no serious disease or illness you have, Miss Dash. Actually, it's some pretty good news.”

Rainbow looked at him, pretty much demanding him to go on. The wait was killing her! His tone wasn't very helpful either; any second longer, she felt like she would explode!

“Rainbow Dash... you're pregnant.”

Those four words changed everything. Words couldn't dare describe her thoughts, her feelings, that made her fall speechless. She just stared at the doctor blankly, as if trying to process it for a moment before responding. Her breath stopped short, and she opened her mouth to speak, but for a good minute, she couldn't. This... there was no way... it was impossible...

“A-are ya sure? I-I mean... did you double-check? TRIPLE check?” she asked in desperation, in deep denial of this. Her hooves were shaking, and her heart was pounding at an impossible rate.

“We made sure to check everything, and it's definite that you are just about a month pregnant,” the doctor said with a stern expression. He nodded. “This is probably a lot to take in, but it'll be okay. Our nurses will help you get through this, if you are that nervous. Is this your first pregnancy, because it's very understandable—”

“No, no, I got it.” Her voice was empty, lost, as she cut him off. He stared at her questioningly. Rainbow stood up. “I can handle this. Don't worry.”

The doctor gave her a look, hesitating. “Well, I recommend you speak with one of the nurses, at least, for a pamphlet about the process, though it's never easy even with many books and pamphlets. I have to go right now, if there isn't anything else you are certain you need. Congratulations, Rainbow Dash.”

“Thanks,” she grumbled, not sure how it was a congratulatory moment. He left Rainbow to herself, where she pondered... well, everything.

Everything was what changed from that point on, after all. And that was the worst part for her. Nothing would be the same, according to her. She felt a whole other life starting already, and he/she wasn't even here yet!

On her way home, she was flying a lot slower than usual. She was afraid her lack of concentration on where she was going would lead to stupidly running into something, lost in her thoughts. Her mind was trotting millions of miles a minute. The wind whistled through her mane, and her eyes closed in deep thought once she found herself in an area that she was certain she wouldn't run into anything.

One thought that crossed her mind was one of her own mother. Feathered Dash. So busy with work and hanging out with friends, she often had Rainbow Dash home, with an available friend, by herself, or on rare occasions when he was home, her father. Those were the best times, but they were such a rarity, it was more often than not that she was home alone. And it sucked. It was boring and sad, and sometimes scary. She learned to fend for herself, but because of this?

Now she was going to be a mother. Mothers do what they can to be better than their own parents. And she wasn't going to do anything like her mother did. She couldn't let her child be alone like that. Even if it was with other ponies, only ones she trusted, it was fine.

She could only trust so many ponies with her child. There were obviously her friends...

… Her friends.

How in Equestria would they react?

She felt a twinge of something unexpected, and something she couldn't explain. It was in her chest, and it happened at the very though of her friends finding out. She couldn't hide it forever, could she? Why should she hide it? What's the worst that could happen?

The world around them would change at the reveal, and who knows how they'd react? Would they like the baby, too? Would they accept it? Why was she so unsure about the answers? They were her friends, after all! And yet... how far does friendship go? Could it change, too, with something like this that happened because of a stupid mistake?

No, don't panic now, she thought. That's Twilight's thing; freaking out over nothing. She opened her eyes again and watched the sky glow orange as the sun began to descend into the mountains for the day. She was alone with her thoughts, yet she didn't like being alone. Not right now. She started flying elsewhere, only her wings and the wind guiding her there.

On her way there, she kept herself occupied with one other thought: the father.

She thought of that night at Applejack's farm, where she sneaked in the midst of the Apple Family Reunion. She loved all the food and drinks that were offered, so how could she resist? She remembered waking up with a hangover, and with a stallion apologizing over and over again about what happened. She didn't think much of it, or him. She only knew that they talked just a bit at the reunion. Other than that, he could have very well been a stranger.

She had visited Applejack's farm the other day, and no other family members other than her close family was there. Was he even here? She remembered very little about him, only two things: his name, Cortland, and that he lived in Appleloosa.

But that didn't satisfy her. If she had a kid, she wanted it to be with someone she knew and trusted. And now, she found herself with one after a night with some strange stallion. How embarrassing. Rainbow refused to even think about him anymore. If she didn't know him, she didn't want to bother. End of story.

She couldn't take it anymore. Once her focus fell back into reality, she found herself heading away from Ponyville and closer to the Everfree Forest. There, Fluttershy lived very close to.Her heart stopped, along with her body as she flattened her wings and landed on the ground.The cottage was just over the little bridge. She might as well tell somepony. Fluttershy would understand, Fluttershy would help her out. After all, Rainbow Dash could trust her best friend with anything.

She knocked at the door, and it only took a few seconds for hoofsteps to resonate in her ears. Before she knew it, the door opened, and a head with light pink hair popped out.

Large blue eyes flashed with recognition once their eyes met. “Oh, Rainbow Dash. How are you?”

“Hey, Fluttershy, I...”

She couldn't get anymore than that. Her mouth was open, but no words came out. They refused to let her say anything. There was now a hint of nervousness in her, and she wanted to go away, embarrassed that she couldn't get out the words she wanted.

Fluttershy looked at her, concerned. “What's wrong? Are you okay?”

She honestly had no idea, unable to find out why she couldn't speak. After a minute, she said in a slightly struggling voice, “Y-yeah... I just... wanted to know if...”

Her mouth could not bring out the words she wanted. They were stuck in her throat, which had shut everything away but the air she used to live, but not what she desperately wanted at that moment. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked to the side. She was already in a rough condition, and this didn't seem to be helping one bit.

Fluttershy flew closer to her, taking note of Rainbow's barely steady breathing and shaking. “Are you okay, Dashie? You don't look well. Maybe you should come inside and lay down for a bit?”

Rather than try to run away at that very moment, she actually realized how exhausted and thirsty she was from the overwhelming stress that was driving her nuts at that very moment. Rainbow nodded. “Sure, thanks.”

Fluttershy guided Dash in with one wing wrapped around her shoulder. There was an immediate comfort that flowed whenever she was in Fluttershy's house. Whenever she messed up an air trick and got injured, Fluttershy would be there to help her get better. Even if they were little trips when Tank needed something that involved Fluttershy's help, a lunch with her was a nice way to unwind. She was always there for her, so what was different about now?

Just about everything, Rainbow Dash thought in bitterness. I can't handle this, and I don't want her to know how pathetic I feel right now! It's just embarrassing.

Fluttershy brought a cup of tea over to her. Rainbow Dash took a sip and sighed, the liquid livening her a bit. It wasn't enough to bring her mood back up, but it was something. Fluttershy went to grab a cup of her own and was flying over to the couch Dash was sitting on when the latter started another conversation.

“I can trust you with anything, Fluttershy?”

“Absolutely!” she answered with no hesitance. “You're my best friend. W-why would you ask something like that? Are you certain nothing is wrong?”

Rainbow just nodded. Of course. Of course she could trust Fluttershy. That's why she came here in the first place. So what was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just say it: 'I'm pregnant and I don't know what to do.' That was all she had to say.

“I've kinda been feeling down lately, that's all. Had lots on my mind, that kind of stuff.”

“Is there anything you need to tell me?”

Rainbow Dash even got close enough to open her mouth, but again, no words formed. Her throat was tightened again, and she grit her teeth.

“Oh, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have been nosy,” Fluttershy apologized in the blink of an eye, making Rainbow jump.

“No, no, it's cool,” Rainbow said, realizing it was pointless to be there. She knew she could not at all explain her situation or put it in any sort of words. It was a mistake to be here; now, she felt just plain stupid. She already finished her tea and put it on the table in front of her. “I could try and explain it, but I don't think there's any point. I'll-I'll figure it out on my own.”

“Okay...” Fluttershy looked concerned, enough to want to say something, but she didn't. Before Rainbow could leave, she added in a hurry, “If you need anything, I could help you... if you want.”

Dash nodded curtly. “Thanks, but I... look, I gotta go!” In a hurry, she flew away, hugging herself, leaving behind her worried and bemused friend.

She had finally realized why she couldn't do this, why she couldn't tell them.

She was afraid. Afraid of facing the truth, the reality of telling her friends. She imagined their looks, their expressions: shock, disappointment, even horror. They would criticize her behind soft tones, tell her how to take care of a child. She wasn't exactly experienced or anything, nor did she anticipate or plan anything like this, but neither did they.

They wouldn't understand, and she could handle this herself. She was going to be the mother, not them. She didn't want to let them know what had happened to her because of her pure stupidity. After that, everything would change, for probably the worst. She loved how it was now, how their lives were simple minus some adventures now and then.

She would rather face dangerous creatures and evil spirits or whatever than deal with what was happening at this moment.

If she ever told them, it couldn't be now. She wasn't ready yet. She flew home and buried her face in her bed, groaning as she felt the stress of being pregnant already falling onto her shoulders like a ton of bricks. Yet she'd rather deal with it like this than tell any of them...

***

Three long, agonizing months had passed by, and with each week, it was getting harder to conceal her pregnancy. She was a lucky soul that didn't get a huge, obvious stomach in the beginning, and just looked like she had eaten way too much at Sugarcube Corner.

But that wouldn't last forever. Eventually, when the inevitable got closer, of course they'd put two and two together. They would find out, and her lies would be shown. The more she kept it secret, the worse the reveal would be. How would they feel if she told them she was months into pregnancy without telling them?

She considered telling them one last time, but knots constricted in her stomach at the idea. They would have loved her child, that much she knew. Yet would they love her back? Would they still love her even after the stupid thing she had done? They wouldn't... call her names, would they? Would they judge her, think differently of her? It wasn't even being pregnant that was the problem, it was why that pained her the most. She wasn't planning it or anything. How would they feel if she explained that?

She didn't want to find out. Ever. It was too much. Her head and heart were in a panic state, and she couldn't think straight. The next thing she knew, she was packing a few things, ready to head out.

And by head out, she planned to move out of Ponyville and... go just about anywhere where she can move in and start a new life altogether.It was rough to even consider, but it had long been in her mind. She fought it for so long; after all, how could she ever leave behind her friends like that? It was cruel.

But there was another pony to consider, and that made the decision even more complicated. There was a limit to loyalty, especially when there are more ponies to consider. She looked down at her gradually widening stomach and sighed. Her bag was wrapped on her back, and she left the house.

All she left in her dust was a note plastered on the door, telling her friends she was fine and had moved away suddenly, promising to write. She always did, to ensure them she was okay, but it was never the same.

Dash knew Pegasi couldn't fly beyond four to five months of pregnancy, so she walked to the train station, keeping an eye out for any ponies she knew well. It was very early at the time, the sun having just risen. She looked for a train to the first city that appeared in her eyes on the map on the wall at the train station. She poked her hoof at it and sighed: Manehattan. It could work.

Getting on board, she lay her head down and sighed. It was taking a while to accept what she was doing, and she had yet to.

“If I can't be loyal for my friends, I'll be sure to do my best with you,” she said, looking down. Her hoof gently touched her stomach, as if her child already could hear it. She wished he/she would, so it knew how much she was doing because of him/her. She wanted to not feel so alone at this moment.

She made her promise to stay loyal with Cobalt. She only had that one mare take him home from school for her, but that was it. Otherwise, she stayed home with him and made sure to be a good mother. On some occasions, she went out and had someone foalsit him, but only after several months of getting to know someponies in Manehattan. That was it.

But that wasn't her problem. Not one bit. She groaned into her hooves as she recalled what she had done to her friends. Leaving them like that; how could she do that?

In the midst of her hormones, she assumed the worst, thought horrible things. Her mind delved into horrible things that never happened. Maybe it was denial, or maybe it was fear. Hormones mixed into that was just a mess. She was afraid of change in her great life, and it was enough to drive her away from home to sort out a whole other life altogether. At least then, she could fix her life the way she wanted it.

But that didn't go as well as she wanted it to, now, did it?

That was why she was here. Not only did Twilight's wedding take account into it, but she now realized her mistakes and stupidity in the past, and she wanted—no, she needed—to mend whatever problems she had broken when she left Ponyville behind. Smiling, she was certain she was doing well in that.

The smile was still on her face as she fell asleep with the book resting on her chest.

Fourteen

GroundedFourteen

When Rainbow Dash informed him they planned to leave for the train station at eight o’clock, Cobalt Streak took it seriously.

Excited beyond his mother’s belief, Cobalt snuck into her room on the tips of his hooves, his eyes brighter than usual in the early morning. By the time he got to her bed, standing on his hind hooves and just holding on by the edge, he saw her still in a deep sleep Her mane fell around her face in every direction, but he noticed how peaceful she looked between her colorful strands, even though her snoring ruined that.

Cobalt struggled to get onto the bed, his hooves grasping the blankets as tightly as possible. Once he got close enough to her, he shook her gently and said, “Get up, mom. We’re going to the crystal place.”

“Yeah, Soarin’, I can totally make it,” Rainbow mumbled in her sleep, smiling behind her mane.

His lower lip sticking out, Cobalt decided on a far more direct approach. The bed shook as he jumped up and down shouting, bordering whining, “Get uuuuuuuuuup!”

“Gyah!” Rainbow Dash sat up abruptly enough to startle Cobalt. Groaning, she rubbed her eyes and shook her head to wake herself. As she realized what--or who--caused her to wake up like that, she turned over to Cobalt, who sat on his flank with a sheepish smile, one that feigned innocence.

“Ya know, just a little tap is fine next time,” she advised him, demonstration with a pat on his shoulder.

The shy expression shifted into a blank stare. “I tried that already!” Cobalt waved his hooves in exaggeration. “So I had to try something else.”

“You gotta stop hanging around Pinkie Pie. She’s making you trouble.” After a moment, she sighed, knowing it was pointless to talk about this. Glancing outside at the rising sun, she knew they had to get to the train station around this time anyway.

Yeesh, all these train rides. Yes, she'd rather do this than fly far distances over and over, but if she had a bit for every train ride she'd have... well, she could easily find a new, better apartment; one with larger space just for the heck of it.

Nonetheless, she started to look for anything she might need to pack. She grabbed a blanket and pillow for the train ride—she doubted she would stay up for the remaining time while heading to the Empire—and flew into the hallway, ready to grab Cobalt and head to the station.

***

At the sight of the train station, not many ponies stood around. Given the early time, this did not surprise Rainbow. She flew closer before catching sight of Fluttershy, who was standing in one corner of the station. Her teal eyes glanced around, and when they found Rainbow Dash, she smiled.

“‘Sup, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash landed in front of Fluttershy, while Cobalt got off of her back when her hooves touched the ground.

“Morning, you two,” she greeted with a warm smile.

Cobalt stepped towards her, and when her eyes lowered down at him, he said, “Mom told me there’s lots of things made of crystals where we’re going. It sounds really cool. Is it?”

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh, yes, and it’s so wonderful there. You’ll love it.”

Cobalt had a wide grin on his face. Rainbow glanced around in search of other ponies, but silence echoed through the train station, minus a few other random ponies passing by. “So, is anypony else here yet?”

“Actually, Pinkie Pie was first to show up.”

Rainbow let out a short laugh. “Can’t say I’m surprised. So, then, where is she?”

“Up there,” was Fluttershy’s short reply, and when she pointed exactly where, Rainbow did not believe her, giving her a dubious look. Knowing her friend well, though, she floated up above the roof of the station.

Sure enough, a pink ball curled in a ball at the edge of the roof. It only moved to make steady breathes.

“She’s been sleeping since I got here, but I didn’t want to disturb her,” Fluttershy added upon joining her in the air. Her gaze met Dash’s. “Maybe we should wake her now, since the train should be arriving in a little bit.”

Pinkie did not react to them as they spoke, continuing her heavy sleeping. Noting this, Rainbow rose a hoof up, signaling Fluttershy to keep quiet. A mischievous grin grew on her face. Mulling over the plan in her head, she said, “Sure, but... give me a sec, okay? Heheheh.”

“What...?” Fluttershy asked, stopping when Rainbow flew higher up.

The blue Pegasus ascended and stopped at the first cloud in sight. She brought it down with her, right above where Pinkie, who made tiny snoring noises, rested. Fluttershy landed down beside Cobalt, knowing whatever Dash was doing, she didn’t bother stopping her.

Rainbow stood atop the aloud and jumped on it numerous times, its fluffiness tickling her, making it hard to not laugh. Several noises emanated from the cloud, and soon, rain sprinkled downward onto the sleeping pony.

It took a few dozen raindrops to bring Pinkie out of dreamworld, and she stood up in a second, shaking her body like a wet dog. Her mane poofed out, only to return to its usual curliness. A clueless look made up her face as she looked at nothing but air. Then she heard a burst of laughter from up above.

Rainbow had fallen on the cloud, laughing her butt off. Nothing held her back at this point. She peeked out and saw Pinkie Pie gazing up at her, her lower lip sticking out. Dash’s laughter gradually dwindled into silence.

Then Pinkie beamed, her face brighter than a second ago. “Oh, Dashie!” She laughed.

“You’re not mad or anything?” Dash asked. While she got the feeling Pinkie was not, her laughter sounded fairly out of place.

“Nope, but you better sleep with one eye open tonight,” Pinkie warned her with a giggle that did not match her alleged threat. Rainbow just smiled as the pink mare skipped down several feet, landing on her hooves with ease.

“Hello, girls. I’m not too late, am I--” Twilight, arriving behind them, stopped mid-step. Staring blankly at Pinkie, whose mane dripped water on the ground around her, she asked with caution, “Why are you all wet?”

“Just Rainbow Dash being a silly filly,” she answered, turning her head to Dash, whose cocky smirk said it all.

“Don’t be the first to sleep when me and any clouds are around.” Rainbow crossed her arms over her chest.

Twilight let out a small laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, smiling. “It’s a good thing I got here now. I believe the train is suppose to be here soon.”

“Then, where are Applejack and Rarity?” Rainbow asked, lifting a few feet in the air to search the area. The two ponies were not anywhere to be seen.

“Probably still getting ready, for all we know. Rarity was still packing when I saw her,” Twilight explained. “I’m sure they’ll be fine, since the train isn’t coming until--”

“Right now?”

“What?” Twilight’s eyes grew, the smile wiped clean off of her face.

Pinkie pointed north and sure enough, the train stopped at the entrance to the station. Steam billowed from the whistle as it cried out.

Fluttershy was the first to say something. “They’re going to miss it!”

“I saw them just a while ago, getting read--” Once again, Twilight stopped and glanced behind her. Not too far in the distance, two figures raced toward them. The others hurried into the train, but Twilight stayed back for a second. She shouted to the two running ponies, “Hurry up, you two! The train’s here!”

Applejack and Rarity arrived just in time at the front of the station, both of them panting. While Rarity brought many bags with her, Applejack carried a good majority of them, the rest levitated in a wisp of her blue magic. Having stopped for a minute, Applejack shifted a glare at Rarity.

“Ya had to bring so much stuff with ya, didn’t you?” she asked with a huff, the extra weight on her back straining her even more after her run.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” was Rarity’s cool answer. She smiled with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Besides, you suggested to help anyway, so don’t complain.” Her grin only widened at Applejack’s glower.

“Hey! Get your butts on the train before it leaves you guys!” Rainbow Dash shouted out from the door to enter the train. The others, minus Twilight, were already inside.

Both mares jumped at the shout, their minds back on what was going on. The train puffed smoke, the gears on the wheel shifting clockwise. Applejack leapt on board first, albeit struggling with the extra luggage on her back, and Rarity approached the train, following shortly behind.

“Packing light, Rarity?” Rainbow teased as Twilight and she helped Applejack with the luggage.

“I’ll have you know that an opportunity to look gorgeous at such an extravagant place is only--” Rarity began, on the verge of fangirling over the Crystal ponies.

“Yeah, yeah, you wanna look nice for the crystal ponies, we get it. Now come on!” Rainbow again asked through her teeth with a far more bitter tongue. The baggage she held was heavy; she hoped whatever Rarity had in there was worth it.

They finally listened to her, heading into the train as Twilight opened the door for them all. Applejack and Dash, the second they entered their car, tilted the luggage off their shoulders in a not so gently way.

Rarity pouted at them. “No need to be so irritable.”

***

“Ah still can’t believe it...” Applejack muttered, her eyes staring afar out the window. They were passing through empty areas with simple forests and grassy plains, halfway to the Empire.

Applejack caught everyone’s attention, especially Twilight’s, who sat beside her. Applejack kept to herself, silent, for a long while during the ride, so it brought a lot of curiosity in her.

“What is it?” Fluttershy wondered aloud for them all, turning away from a conversation with Dash. All their eyes turned to the farm pony.

Applejack shrugged. “‘S nothing. Just... Twi’s gettin’ married, Rainbow has a son, and Pinkie’s runnin’ the Cake’s bakery. It feels like just yesterday, our biggest worries were... heh, savin’ the world. A lot has changed, that’s all.”

Rainbow’s mind drifted back to when they faced off numerous bad guys, varying from a now reformed Discord to a unicorn with a crystal fetish, Sombra. They weren’t too hard to defeat in the end, despite the close calls. Thinking back, though, they felt far easier than anything that happened in the several years that made up her life. However strange it sounded, it was nonetheless true.

“And I’m still deciding...” Twilight began, but her voice trailed off as she, too, distracted herself with looking outside.

They waited for her to continue, but after a minute of silence, Rarity spoke up. “Decided what, Twilight? You can’t keep us dangling like that!”

Twilight hesitated, licking her lips while keeping her eyes away from them. Finally, she glanced up at them. “After our honeymoon, Ink Blot wants us to move into his house in Canterlot... away from you guys. And I don’t know if I should.”

Immediately, they all approached her, their reactions varying from shock to happiness to concern. “Oh, that’s wonderful, Twilight! I mean, we’ll be sad to see you go, but you should if it makes you happy... I mean, does it?” Fluttershy added with

Twilight smiled a bit. “I really want to; we’ve gotten much closer over the past few months because of... well, everything. And I can’t wait to get married with him. But... I can’t just leave you guys. After all we’ve been through,” she said, her voice quickly shifting from elation from being with Ink Blot to sadness.

Rainbow looked away, trying not to think about how that sounded to her. She did anyway, the past sneaking into her memories. Even if Twilight didn’t mean to put her words in that way, it still hurt. Nopony noticed, though, instead wishing to comfort Twilight, and Rainbow Dash wanted it that way.

“But Twilight, that's part of life! Moving on to do what makes you feel happy; not other ponies. I can handle that! After all, we moved away when we were younger to do just that, didn't we?” Pinkie said, earning everyone's attention at this point. Her words were wise yet full of perkiness. Twilight took note of this and nodded, though her countenance showed she was still hesitant on the idea of moving.

Rainbow’s head perked up, Pinkie’s words working on her better than they did for Twilight. “Yeah, it'll be hard, but we'll get over it,” she piped in to help her friend, shielding her sadness with a masked smile. “You just... have to not think about it. Go with the flow.”

“Besides, we'll still be there for ya, Twi,” Applejack added, patting her on the back, though hard enough to make her fall forward a bit. “Heh, sorry.”

“Applejack's right, Twilight. Don't ever think that just because we're not living in the same place, we're not going to be friends,” Rarity said, nuzzling Twilight as they gathered closer to her.

Twilight smiled, rubbing her eyes. Rainbow did not see any tears, but she had a feeling Twilight was making sure she was not. It took Twilight a minute to say anything, either because she was taking this all in or she was thinking it over. “Oh, thank you, girls. I just don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out from how sappy that sounded, but when Pinkie Pie grabbed her and Rarity, all six formed a small huddle around each other. In seconds, they hugged each other tight, “awwwing” and everything.

When they separated, Dash looked down at Cobalt, who peeked his head from the back of his seat, big eyes watching them. She flew to the seat and poked her own head out slowly. “Thought you were sleeping, kid,” she said with a chuckle.

“Is Twilight okay, mom? She sounds kinda sad,” Cobalt ignored what she said, his concern visible in his eyes.

Rainbow flashed him a grin. “No prob, Cobalt. She's got a lot of friends to back her up, so if she has any problems, we're there for her. She just has a lot on her mind.” She patted him on the head and put him on the window seat. He rose onto his hindlegs and stared outside, absorbed quickly into the scenery.

She thought over what Twilight announced, and how they reassured her. Twilight would be moving away. And she was cool with it entirely; she wouldn't lie about something like that. But what if she told everypony she was still considering going back to Manehattan after the wedding? How would they react? They supported Twilight's decision, what about hers? They didn't mind her leaving in the first place, though it took some time for everything to work out well. Was it worth it to leave it all again?

Even now, though, she was not too sure.

***

“Can I ask you something, Rainbow?”

Rainbow Dash grabbed her small bag, and Cobalt took a ride on her back. She stopped getting ready, though, when Twilight acknowledged her. With a quirked brow in confusion, she turned and, her bag in her mouth, answered. “Sure?” Due to her confusion, it was more of a question than anything.

“Okay, and uh, don't be bothered by it at all, okay? I'm just wondering...”

“Spit it out before the train leaves with us in it,” Rainbow cut her off with a roll of her eyes, already heading outside.

Twilight followed, slightly flustered. They entered the city, and Cobalt's attention instantly fell into the colors and crystalline design of the city overall. The sun's reflection off of each and every crystal that made the houses, the castle, even the ponies, made the city shine in a symphony of bright light and color. Cobalt's eyes glowed like the crystals. Rainbow smirked at him, knowing he'd be interested in this. However, her attention fell back to Twilight, remembering what was going on at the moment.

“So, ho-how did you feel when you left us six years ago?” Twilight asked when she got off and the train departed. “What you said on the train; was that how it was for you? Just getting over it and everything?”

Rainbow's silence was her answer, her mood cascading. She did feel something when Twilight said she felt sad about leaving them to live with Ink Blot. She didn't know what it was, but she sure knew that it wouldn’t go away.

In Dash's silence, Twilight automatically started panicking that she said the wrong thing, saying, “It's okay, you don't have to tell me. I only wanted to try and know if—”

“No, it's fine.” The seriousness in Rainbow Dash's voice made Twilight fall quiet in a second. Dash's back was to her, so it was hard to distinguish how she felt about the question.

“Honestly... kinda,” Rainbow finally answered, looking back to the unicorn with slight hesitance at admitting this. She grimaced. “I mean.... look, I was going through a lot, so I wasn't exactly thinking straight or anything, so that didn't help. And I mostly left because...” Rainbow shut her eyes, wondering if she should stop there. Twilight gazed at her, concerned. With no more thought to it, she blurted, “I was afraid.”

“You? Afraid? Of what?” Twilight exclaimed in shock, her jaw falling slack.

“Eh, I don't even know where to start.” Might as well get it all out there, since we're on the topic. “Being judged for what happened, things not being the same at all, you guys not looking at me the same way again—” Her voice rose with each point that made her lose it that day when she left, what motivated her to leave behind her friends, mixed in with all the hormones, of course. Even Cobalt could feel her muscles tense, and he stood up, peeking over her mane at her, but she couldn't see him.

“Goodness, I had no idea you were like that,” Twilight said, stopping Rainbow Dash mid-sentence.

Rainbow felt her muscles begin to relax once she finished talking, and she noticed Cobalt standing on her back. She decided to take him off, since he could very much walk on his own. They were just used to it. She gave Twilight a look when she was done. “Like what?”

“A worrywart, you'd probably call it.”

Rainbow Dash glared at her, her wings flared. “C'mon, I was having a baby, so like I said, I didn't exactly have any logical thinking on my side like it would for you. I panicked, that's all.” She tried so hard not to blush at this point, feeling more embarrassed than angry.

“Well, all I can say is that even if you did tell us upfront, it wouldn't change things between us. Applejack was right when life does change, but what never changes is the magic of friendship, even if our connections aren't as strong as they were a few years ago,” Twilight said, giving a spiel Rainbow felt all too familiar with, which made her stick her tongue out once more and roll her eyes.

“Why don't you go write that in a letter for Celestia while I show Cobalt the place?”

“Sure!” Twilight said, but then she thought it over for a moment, and she stared at her with a grin. “Anyway, have fun. But make sure you meet us at five at a place called Diamond Diner. It's a block away from the castle, so we'll meet you there.”

When Dash nodded, Twilight walked away, leaving Rainbow Dash with her son, who was looking around with his eyes glowing with excitement. Every sight seemed to amaze him. She wrapped a wing around him and grinned.

“Ready to check out the city, kid?”

“Yeah!”

Rainbow lifted him up on her back, stretched out her wings, and lifted into the air.

Fifteen

Grounded

Fifteen

Rainbow Dash and Cobalt Streak soared through the skies, the latter with an expression of pure delight on his face. He loved feeling the wind on his coat as he held his mother tight so as to not fall. He saw the shining buildings, which reflected from the sunbeams above, and gentle blue painted the sky with soft white clouds that felt like cottony candy and air in one. He laughed as his hoof reached out to feel the cottony air rush through his fur. No matter how many times his mother brought him up into the sky, it felt like another adventure.

The crystal ponies were mere specks down below, but he cowered away as he glanced down, fear of the high height making him turn away. Only when Rainbow tilted her wings down to descend did he feel calmer, sighing with relief.

Trying to remove the nerves as Rainbow Dash began flying down, Cobalt spoke up. "That ice cream was the best ever! Well, almost as good as the ones Pinkie makes."

"Yeah. At least they don't give out crystal ice cream... I don't think it'd sell," Rainbow laughed at her own joke, her hooves touching the ground. She placed the tip of her wind onto the pavement to let Cobalt slide down.

When he did, he turned to his mother, his face cheerful, lit up after the ice cream and fun ride. It fell a bit, though, when something crossed his mind, and his ears fell down as he tried to look between his eyes at his nose. "Do I have any ice cream on my face?" He pointed, trying to move his head at every angle to see it.

Rainbow grinned at her son moving his head this way and that, like he was dizzy and about to fall over. "Yeah, right there on your cheek." She pointed at her own to demonstrate.

Cobalt licked his left cheek and tilted his head. "How 'bout now?"

"Nope, still there."

"Where?" Cobalt whined, getting impatient.

"Here!" Rainbow Dash poked him in the side, getting out a few giggles in response. "And here, here, aaaand here!" With each 'here,' she ticked him in his side, his belly and under his hooves.

"Hehe, aww no!" he shouted through laughter. "My hooves are the most ticklish; it's cheating!"

"How is it cheating?" she challenged, bowing her head to his eye level.

Cobalt tried to look angry, but his face fell. "I don't know."

Rainbow simply laughed again, nuzzling his neck before straightening up. "Okay, so let's check out our place for the night."

Cobalt nodded and followed his mother into an apartment building, which sparkled with a crystallized glow like most of the things here. Sparkly things often absorbed his attention, so he was lucky he didn't walk right into a building wall.

A wing appeared in his track, stopping him.

When he looked up to his mother, she chuckled. "The door's right here, kid. You almost ran into that wall, so you oughta pay attention next time." She winked and opened the door.

Cobalt Streak blushed, scrunching his mouth. Then he coughed out a feather before entering the house. He took a look inside, his ears flattening, and his first remark was, "It doesn't really look all that crystall-y."

"Well, I doubt they can make everything out of crystals. I mean, imagine if they made, like, the water outta crystals. It'd just be a bit much, don't you think?" Dash asked.

She took a look around the house and showed him the few rooms this apartment contained, including his own very small room. He flopped onto the bed and already wrapped himself up in the seafoam green blankets, giggling as he bundled up. Dash sat in front of him, helping him wrap himself in tighter. "Are you cold or something?" she joked.

"Hehe, no. They're really soft, though."

Rainbow brushed a hoof on the fabric, musing in agreement. Then she jumped off the bed. "Alright, kiddo, so this is the first time I'm trusting you on your own. Here's the one question I have for you: do ya think you can handle it?" she challenged, leaning into him with a smirk.

Cobalt thought about it for a moment, but then he puffed out his chest, the blankets slipping off him. "You bet!"

"Yeah, you're my son alright." She nuzzled him and took a step back. "Just know a few things, since it's your first time 'n all. Don't go anywhere that... yeah, just anywhere except this apartment. Second, don't be tempted by the crystal things—believe me, they're shiny and distracting, so I don't bl—"

"Alright, mom!" Cobalt Streak said, waving his hooves to stop his mother from going on. "I got it, okay?"

Dash shut her mouth and tried not to blush, realizing how motherly she sounded. "Right. So! I'm off. I'll see ya in abit. I won't keep you by yourself for too long."

She trotted off, and Cobalt heard the door slam. He turned around to look out the window and see his mother flying away. She disappeared in seconds.

Cobalt Streak looked around for a bit. He sighed. "Gah, I'm bored... this sucks." He fell onto his bed, struggling in his blankets to feel comfortable. Once he did, his eyes went up to the ceiling. Not even the ceiling shined like the buildings. "How's that fair?" he asked aloud with a pout. "There has to be something interesting to do..."

***

"I remember this one time, and it was, like, Cobalt's first week of school, about two years ago. So he was kinda nervous the whole week. He was supposed to tell something about himself. When I asked him what he told them, apparently, he started screaming his name and stuff." Rainbow laughed, swirling her drink around. "Poor thing. I wouldn't be surprised if he wet himself."

The girls laughed or "aww"-ed in response. In this building, they reserved a large room for Twilight and her group of friends. Light music sang through the air, and Pinkie Pie immediately fell in love with the chocolate fountain. While she got drunk on sugary sweetness, Twilight, Princess Cadence and Rarity joined Rainbow Dash at a long table with pearl white cloth, telling funny stories and drinking apple cider, made from Applejack's farm, while Applejack and Fluttershy grabbed something to eat.

"He seems really shy. Very unlike you. Think he got that from his father?" Rarity questioned.

Rainbow thought about that for a moment. "I dunno," she decided to answer. "When I hung out with him, he just seemed... kinda reserved. I don't know if that means shy, though. So maybe." She glanced at the table of food where Applejack and Fluttershy were chatting, flashing a smirk as she added, "Maybe he somehow got it from Fluttershy."

"How is Cobalt Streak? If we ever have the chance, I'd love to meet him," Cadence said cheerfully.

"Doing good. He seems to really like it here, too! He's back at the apartment. I hope he'll be fine on his own, but-"

"On his own?" Twilight interrupted, which Dash didn't mind too much. Her concern, however, she somewhat did.

"Yeah, so?"

"Do you think he's old enough to?" Twilight asked, worry clear in her eyes. "I didn't even trust Spike alone in the library until he was a couple years older. I'm just saying, he's about five, isn't he? It seems very young to be all by himself."

"I trust him. I might as well test it now. Besides, it's not about age, it's about how you can handle it. And I'm sure he can." Rainbow Dash leaned on her chair and placed her hindhooves on the table, taking a good gulp of cider.

"Well, I doubt having a babysitter would hurt. Wouldn't you feel better knowing somepony was there to watch over him?" Rarity put in.

"I don't trust Cobalt with just anyone. One of you guys, sure, that'd be fine. But some stranger in this city? Just... no way," Dash declined immediately, straightening up with a somber look. The idea of handing off her son to some stranger... it almost terrified her. She shook her head to take away these thoughts.

"Actually, I don't think Shining Armor would mind watching over him for a bit. He knows you enough that I think he'd be alright with babysitting your son," Cadence offered.

"Seriously?" Dash asked, her ears flickering up.

"Of course. I mean, I wouldn't be here if I was super busy, so it's pretty quiet in the castle." Cadence giggled. "Besides, I'd love to see how he is with kids... you know, in case we decide to have one."

"Alright." Rainbow Dash decided to step back. That last reason was more than she asked for, after all. "Thanks for that. I'll, um, go get him them. Back in a flash!"

Rainbow saluted before flying out the doors, waving to the rest as she passed them. Pinkie Pie most likely didn't see her through her large tummy filled with chocolate. Rainbow Dash shook her head and left the restaurant, heaing back to her apartment. Taking no time to enter, she kicked the door open and shut, hoping the sound didn't frighten Cobalt Streak. She noticed it was unlocked and wondered if she did so before she left earlier. With a shrug, she looked inside for Cobalt.

When he wasn't there, she called out, "Hey, Cobalt... Cobalt! Yo, get out here!"

She looked in the small living room followed by the kitchen when he did not respond after a while. Peeping into a few cabinets big enough to hold him, she shook her head, wondering where he could be hiding. A sudden game of hide and seek wasn't a really common game with them, but she might as well try for his sake.

With a sneaky grin, she sped into his bedroom, glancing at his bed, where she saw him last. Only his blankets lay there, thrown about in a messy manner. Dash turned to the closet, which was shut. "Oh, please," she said with a wave of her hoof. "You've gotta try harder with hide and seek, kiddo. You always chose the same hiding place, the... CLOSET!"

Once she flipped the doors open, her grin fell. Empty.

"Cobalt! What the hell?" she mumbled, tapping her chin in wonder. She peeked under the bed, even in the cupboards one more time, just in case. She checked through every corner and possible place one could squeeze through. Options were thinning, until she found herself in the living room again.

"Cobalt?

Still nothing. He would come out by now, wouldn't he? He wasn't always patient, often coming out just to surprise her or because he got bored sitting in the same spot. Why not now?

Something came to her, and her eyes grew small, diluted in fear. "Ah, man."

The door flew open as she raced outside again, going into the air at breakneck seed. Rainbow Dash searched most of the empire high in the air, flying with the greatest might she could force into her wings and checking every moving body to make sure it was Cobalt's.

No signs of her son.

Sweat poured down her face. This wasn't happening... no way! She had to relax. When she saw the building her friends were in, she let out a harsh breath and dived down.

"Guys!" Since she was still far away from the building, her yelling didn't matter. If only she cared. The door was shut, but again, she had no concern. She shut her eyes, preparing for the impact.

Her head felt a strong force of pain as it contacted with the doors. The force from her flying pulled the doors from its hinges, and the pair of doors fell onto the floor. Despite forcing the doors open with her head, and despite the ringing in her ears, Rainbow continued to fly until she found the room her friends reserved for the party.

The girls went on talking and laughing, drinking and eating their meals. That is, until Rainbow came in, shouting as she opened these doors with more ease, though huffing from the flying, "Guys! Twilight, Fluttershy, everypony!"

Their happiness slipped away at the sight of horror etched in their friend's face. They all ran to her, except Fluttershy, who was already standing beside her. "Oh, Rainbow. J-Just calm down. Now what's the matter?" She grabbed Rainbow by the shoulders and made her stare right at her.

Finding Fluttershy's eyes seemed to bring a sort of composure to her. "C-Cobalt," she panted, not from the stress, but the exhaustion from how much she flew in so little time.

"Darling, take a breath." Rarity put a hoof on her back. When she found Rainbow relax with a shudder, she added with a gentle smile, "What's wrong? Something about Cobalt, you said?"

Rainbow took deeper breathes to fully relax herself, taking the time to understand how ridiculous she was acting. Fear overcame her, and only now, did she even try to stop herself from having a panic attack. She ran a hoof through her mane. "I dunno. He... he just left the house. Or worse." Something bothered her eyes, and she rubbed whatever was in them. Gasps entered her ears before she added, "I was gone for, like, ten minutes, and already, I can't find him! I flew everywhere, I'm sure of it, but... I can't find him!"

"Oh, Rainbow, he's so young. Did you really think it was the best idea to leave him all by—"

"I know, Twilight!" Dash grit her teeth in fear of lashing out at her friend, feeling stung by Twilight's remark. Given how she already interrupted their fun at the party, she didn't want to cause trouble between any of them. She lowered her voice, accidentally letting slip a hint of desperation. "But can you not pander me about this for a minute and... help me?"

Twilight took a step back, her eyes softening. "Sorry," she sighed. "I do know that he can't be too far away. Why don't we all search the city for him? Maybe you flew too fast, and you missed him somewhere. If we work together, it'll be easier to find him."

"But first things, Dashie; smile! We're your friends, and we got your back. And Cobalt's." Pinkie pulled up the lips on Dash's face to a forced smile.

While that smile slipped, Rainbow didn't feel too scared now, some hope returning. It would be okay. With her friends smiling at her in reassurance, she nodded and released her wings. "Alright. Let's go find him."

***

Only the six of them remained, with Cadence returning to the castle in hopes Cobalt was there for any reason. The girls searched in all difference places and directions in the city. They even asked several crystal ponies if they saw a little colt wandering around, with little results.

"I did see somepony like him him, but that was a while ago," said one glittering pink mare. She pointed north of them. "He went that way. Looked similar to you, too; he your son?"

"Thanks! And, uh, yeah."

"It's a big city, miss. You should've kept a better eye on him," she chided.

"Again, thanks," growled Rainbow, gritting her teeth. She struggled to hold back her tongue, because a fight was not what she needed right now. "Now I'm gonna go and find him before I punch you in the face."

The mare took a cautious step and watched Rainbow Dash fly off, a burst of air whacking her face from the Pegasus's immediate flight. The skies were painted a burning orange, reminding her how close it was until night. She couldn't imagine Cobalt out at night in a place he did not know. Already, he was out in a city he could get so easily lost in.

How could she let him slip from her hooves like that? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

In her ascension, Dash saw Rarity not too far away and lowered herself to talk to her. "Anything?" she asked, something she hoped multiple times got a good response.

"Not yet, but don't worry, dear. He's got to be around," Rarity reassured her, something Rainbow heard multiple times in the past five, maybe ten minutes. Time was lost on her by this point.

"I know," she mumbled, feeling less positive than before. She hissed under her breath, her patience thinning. A concerned look crossed Rarity's face, but before she could so much as ask, Rainbow Dash zipped straight up into the darkening sky. Rarity watched her become a speck in seconds before continuing walking around.

"Cobalt!" Dash yelled, her voice cracking as she fought emotions that were ready to burst from her throat.

"I see him!"

Rainbow's heart nearly stopped, the abruptness of that statement sending her into a momentary shock. When she returned, though, she turned to the source of the voice. "Where?" She nearly rammed into Fluttershy, her hooves shaking, before she looked all around them.

Fluttershy grabbed Dash to once again relax her and pointed. Dash turned to where she gestured, and her eyes widened.

Rainbow found herself staring into the jousting field, a round starting as two stallions on either side prepped to take down the other, pawing at the dirt. Her attention, however, was on the crowd standing in the seating area. Of all the gloriously sparkly ponies, only one did not have that sparkle to them. He was young, with a light blue coat, and watched everything with curious rose eyes.

"Cobalt!" she yelled, tears in her eyes. She felt her stress lifting away now that her son was in her sight of vision.

Cobalt's eyes wandered up to the skies, her call somehow reaching that far. When he saw his mother, bright eyes lit up, and he rose from his seat. "Momma! Hi!" He waved eagerly.

She could barely hear him, and this became apparent to him. Cobalt went under the rail and slipped onto the ground of the field. In a blind run, he hurried to see his mother and get her attention. He failed to see the two stallions with pointed swords not too far away from him; he was, in fact, running right towards them, looking into the air and at his mother instead of where he was going.

And like that, the stress returned. What the hell are you DOING, kid? Get out of—Celestia damn it! Rainbow Dash plummeted toward the ground, her hooves reaching out for Cobalt. The wind made her squint, but she kept her focus and almost slammed on the ground. Her heart pounded over and over. Those stallions wouldn’t dare continue jousting with a kid standing in the middle.

However, those sticks that stuck out, pointed right towards him, terrified her to no end. She straightened herself up just in time before she met with the ground. In the midst of her indistinguishable panic attack, she did not even notice one hoof touching the ground, destroying her balance.

The stallions had long turned away at the sight of the ponies in the way, pointing their weapons in different directions. Dash didn’t see them, however, and tripped as her hooves wrapped around Cobalt, who had frozen on the spot. Her wings stretched out as they tumbled into the ground.

“Over here!” Fluttershy called out, flying towards the scene. The other four girls followed behind her in a hurried gallop. Dust surrounded them, causing a tension in which silence was cold and taunting. A pin drop could be heard should one land on the ground. The excitement in the group dissipated to painful silence as they waited to see Rainbow in midst of that blasted dust.

At last, Applejack decided to step up in caution. “Rainbow, Cobalt! Are ya two okay?”

The dust thinned, first revealing the two jousters, fallen down with their spears dropped onto the dirt. They struggled to get up and glanced around in search of what caused the chaos.

The two jousters turned to their side, revealing two bright blue figures laying in the ground, one bigger blue holding the other tight. The girls gasped and rushed over to them.

“Sh-shit, Cobalt, holy crud… don’t—are you…?” Rainbow stuttered in a whisper, never letting go of her son as she stammered to say something comprehensible.

“I’m sorry, mom. You told me about these things, and I wanted to see what they were like. I was only gonna go for a little bit, I swear! I didn’t mean to scare you. Please don’t hate me!” He hid in his mother’s arms, burying himself into her coat and wings.

“Are you kidding me?” Words finally formed with clearance. She let out a large sigh, almost laughing. The fear disappeared, and so much emotion replaced it, too many to name. She wasn't used to this. “You’re so silly. You’re talking to your mom here; it’ll take a lot for me to hate you.” A tear slipped from her eye, but she let it go this time.

Rainbow Dash groaned, pain ripping somewhere in her back once the adrenaline disappeared.

“What’s wrong, mom?” Cobalt asked, his ears dropping in worry.

“Oh, your wing!” Twilight exclaimed.

Rainbow looked over her shoulder to see both of her wings bent up. It looked more like a weird piece of art instead of her glorious wings. However, she turned back to her son, and he mattered far more than those. “Ah, it’s nothing. I’ve dealt with broken wings all the time.”

Fluttershy breezed over to her, examining her wing. Her pupils shrank. “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go get this checked! You’re hurt, and it looks… really bad. This isn’t something you can let go like a bruise or a paper cut.”

“Agh, paper cuts are the worst,” Cobalt muttered, shuddering.

“C’mon, we’ll take you to the hospital,” Applejack said, offering a hoof for her.

“I said I’ll be fine.” Rainbow stood up, brushing away Applejack’s offer in her stubbornness.

***

In the blink of an eye, Rainbow found herself in a bed, in a room with brilliant lights and a window looking out into the city.

Her eyebrow raised in confusion. “What the hay?” she asked, her voice cracking as she rose from the pillow… only to lay back down with some pain striking into her head and even her wings. She stretched out her wings as best as she could without feeling any sort of pain and saw bandages wrapped around them both.

“Hey, someone tell me what happened?”

“She’s awake!” Twilight shouted from outside in the hallway. The five girls came in with relieved looks on their faces. When Rainbow saw Cobalt approach her, she reached out for him, ignoring the bit of pain in her head, and he jumped into her arms. His hooves wrapped around her.

“How are you feeling, Dashie?” Pinkie bounced over to her, tilting her head to the side in concern.

“Like I just woke up with a major headache in a hospital,” Dash answered, rubbing the back of her head while holding Cobalt in her coat with the other. “What exactly happened? I don’t even remember coming here!”

“The doctors said you suffered from some sort of concussion. It was minor, so it wasn’t too bad,” Fluttershy told her. “Did you hit your head when you were… well, trying to get Cobalt?”

“Well, no, but I think, uh, I have an idea how that happened.” Dash winced, recalling when she rammed into that door to get to her friends. In the midst of her panic, she didn’t even feel anything or acknowledge the pain.

“Momma?”

“Yeah, Cobalt?” she asked with a curious look down at her son.

“Don’t fall down like that, okay? It was scary.”

She considered shooting him a glare but knew it wouldn’t be a good idea. “Just as long as you don’t walk off on me like that again, got it?”

Just as her son nodded, a light yellow stallion with a silver mane entered the room with a clipboard in his magical grasp. “Glad to see you’re awake, Miss Dash. Are you feeling any better?”

“Sure,” was Dash’s vague answer. She shrugged.

“Well, good then.” He flipped over a piece of paper from the clipboard. “Aside from the broken wings, you also suffered a minor concussion. However, a good night’s rest should help you feel better by tomorrow. And I recommend not moving around too much or doing too much for the rest of the day. In fact, I wish to keep you here so we can be sure you’re okay.”

Rainbow Dash glanced at her friends. “Don’t we have tickets to go home later?”

“Yes, but we can get more tickets for the next train. It’s fine. We don't wanna leave you here all alone,” Twilight said with a smile.

“You guys can go,” Rainbow said, waving her hoof at the door. “I don’t care. You shouldn’t waste tickets because of something stupid I did.”

“We’re not leaving you here alone because of some tickets, Rainbow Dash. That’d be terrible of us,” Rarity said with a sharp look. She changed her attention to the doctor, who was looking through his notes, unconcerned with their conversation. “When can she leave, doctor?”

“Tomorrow morning would be a safe time to let her go. Some more rest for her head will make her better, but she will need to be careful with her wings for a week or so—”

“Yeah, I got it. Trust me, doc, this isn’t the first time I’ve been in this situation before,” Rainbow Dash cut him off with a grin. She glanced at her friends, and it fell. “So, can you leave me and my friends alone?”

“Of course. Visiting hours end in about ten minutes, so you shouldn't take too long,” said the doctor before leaving the girls and Cobalt to themselves.

When all eyes were on her, a shyness washed over her that she didn't expect. This whole day surrounded her in unexpected emotions. "I, uh, didn't realize this would happen, guys. I... I'm sorry," Rainbow Dash started, lowing her voice in embarrassment.

Somehow, they didn't need her to repeat that. "I don't think anyone had any idea this would happen!" Pinkie exclaimed. "And it doesn't matter; it's all okay now!"

The girls nodded, but Dash felt a strange paranoia staring at their reactions. She couldn't tell what they were thinking or feeling, and that was the worst part. Dash could tell Pinkie didn't care, but the others? There was uncertainty there.

"'S long as you're alright, then that's all that matters!" Applejack said, stepping up. Rainbow gave her a weak grin. AJ turned to the girls. "Right?"

They all murmured in agreement, but even with AJ's help, Rainbow didn't feel like it helped her any better. Something bugged her mind, but if only she could figure out what. The clock ticked, and about two minutes remained. Her head moved to look at Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, can you take care of Cobalt for the night?” she asked. "Obviously, I can't keep him here, and I'd rather he be in a real bed anyway, and not some small, uncomfortable bed like this one." She shifted a bit, proving it didn't provide comfort she wanted. She didn't complain, though.

“Absolutely,” Fluttershy answered. She took Cobalt’s hoof and murmured to him, “As long as you’re okay with that.”

“And Cobalt Streak.” She said his full name to emphasize how serious she wanted to be at the moment. His eyes widened, and he shied away with a bit of a blush on his cheeks, taking a great interest in the floor now. “Don’t go wandering off this time, got it? You’re lucky I’m not punishing you for what happened today, but… it’s the first time. Just… don’t get it happen again, got it?” She shifted from anger to worry in the course of a few sentences, but Cobalt failed to notice, still scared to meet her eyes.

“Yes, momma.” His hoof brushed the floor shyly, and he took Fluttershy’s hoof again. “I think mom’s mad at me.”

Rainbow Dash’s face fell again, but Fluttershy simply smiled. “Oh, of course she’s not. She’s just very worried about you, Cobalt. You did scare her.”

“Really? But she told me she’s not scared of anything.”

Fluttershy giggled. “There are a few exceptions.”

“I’m right here, guys,” Rainbow replied flatly.

"We'll come and get you tomorrow morning," Twilight informed her, as she checked the clock in the corner. "We should go now. Do you need anything?"

Dash waved a hoof, blowing a raspberry. "Nah, I'm good. Just some sleep. See ya guys!"

The girls and Cobalt left Rainbow Dash, and as she turned the lights off, she let the silence be her company. The outside shimmered like holiday lights, and the purple skies of twilight. She needed this quiet, this tranquil scenery for one thing: to think.

Sixteen

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Seventeen

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One

**Grounded

One**

There are certain kinds of horrors, not just scary images or jump scares in horror films. A spine tingling horror where fear and realization envelope you as one. They don't necessarily haunt your nightmares with creepy faces dangling before you nor do they scream right in your face.

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.

She had no idea how wrong she was, for reality would come to bite her in the butt.

She had just gone through the mundane customs of her everyday life in Manehattan. Having just left work and gotten dinner, she walked through the street she went through each and every day, her eyes traveling to the skies above. 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. Overall, it was a fairly nice end to a simple day.

Checking the time on a clock not too far away to be noticeable, she realized it was 6:14 p.m. She had plenty of time to roam around but found it best to just head home and relax. 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?

Then again, she had done overtime recently for the sake of paying her bills alongside having more cash. 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.

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.

Well, there was one part of that that was true.

Putting completely simple puzzle pieces together, she put a familiar name to those purple eyes that belonged to matching coat and a flowing violet mane—minus a few pink strands—that almost entirely concealed her horn that proved her unicorn status. It was impossible not to recognize her, even after several years.

In a single moment, upon meeting the eye's of somepony, 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.

The mare she was staring at stayed where she was, looking nearly endlessly at poor her, as if her gaze would break her somehow.

Though the fact the mare was motionless unsettled 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. 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, the mare on the other side of the street lost her patience as well as the game. 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 in the end was not significant, either, for she did what she felt best to do... and ran.

The pony ran 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 the other mare followed her, 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 after remembering something, kept them unlocked.

After a few seconds of silence reigning and peace beginning to return to her, she released an overdue sigh. Her head gently banged onto the top of her head, wisps of her mane dangling into her vision. Wiping them away, she headed deeper into the room she stood in; 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.

Though trying to think failed horribly. Only a single one touched her mind, 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. It hurt her to leave them so suddenly, yet she was certain she had done the right thing. And she was also 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 she was closest to. With it being twenty-five minutes after six (not at all much change since noticing her), she expected somepony to arrive anytime within ten, maybe fifteen, minutes. Would the mare try to find her and talk to her in that time? She shuddered at confronting 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 the unicorn who followed her here. She nearly panicked as an instant reaction but told herself to calm down. To be afraid of talking to this mare was like being afraid of small animals; she never intended to hurt her. Obviously, she was there for a visit, to say hello to her.

Though... why? It had been several years since they even spoke, let alone seen each other. Why now did she decide to pop out of nowhere?

Sighing, she knew that not only her questions could not be answered by herself, but 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?

She opened the door to reveal a gently smiling purple pony. The pony's 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, gradually accepting the hug by tapping her hooves against her friend'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. While she had not a single grudge against her friend, having her here brought unwanted nervousness about her. Would there be enough time to talk and have her leave before he came home?

“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.” Be glad your not Applejack, 'cause then you'd be screwed!

“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 this 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.”

“No way; what happened?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Cake just got too busy, especially since they had another kid, Cream Cake. I think... they're actually here somewhere.”

“Seems a lot of ponies from Ponyville like to move here,” Rainbow grumbled under her throat.

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 abrupt reluctance to answer bothered her. She should have known this would happen. Friends just do not pop into your new town for a simple cup of tea and a talk, especially with the way she left. “Why did you leave?” was the obvious question she knew would come around soon.

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 her friend before Twilight became concerned and/or suspicious.

“It's, uh, kinda hard to explain.”

“Please, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. “We were all really confused when you left like that. 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. The tension in Twilight's voice bothered her.

Thankfully, the unicorn 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; unable to see things right in front of her face? 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 never come find you. We tried to once but never found you. We were actually really worried, but you kept sending letters. The only reason we didn't do anything was because... well, I don't know, but we trusted you were doing fine on your own, I suppose. 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. “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. There was a pattern to it:

Knock... knock knock... knock.

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 the house entrance.

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, Rainbow Dash,” she said, her Manehattan accent noticeable but not as severely thick as she thought when Rainbow first came to the city.

“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, of course, heard this. Her ears perked up, and the gears in her head could probably be heard shifting and moving around. When she processed it all, her pupils shrunk until they were close to being all white. “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 fall through her mouth, though her reaction was enough to get what she was thinking.

Rainbow Dash stood with her young son in her arms. He blinked, confused, 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.”

Nine

GroundedNine

The three ponies stood there in silence for the longest time. It was unbearable, but Rainbow Dash had no attempts to say anything. If she tried, she couldn't get the words out of her mouth. She'd much rather wait for him to say something.

“So, uh...” His gruff stature fell, replaced with an anxious, more reluctant look. He was hesitant, looking at Cobalt carefully, as if his stare, if to harsh, would burn him. Slowly, he pointed a green hoof at him. “He's mine, too?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow deadpanned. Since she pretty much announced it to him, she didn't think it could be any more clear—unless she needed wave a sign in the air that screamed, You're Cobalt's father in agonizing neon lights. But she didn't wait for his response; she didn't care. Instead, she leaned into Cobalt Streak's ear and whispered into it. What she said brought a jolt in his expression, and she pulled back..

Cobalt's ears rose, as did his smile. Trotting up to his father, somepony he didn't know until now, he no longer looked afraid of the big stallion. Rather, he jumped once in the air before Cortland, which the stallion blinked at. “Hi, dad,” he exclaimed in excitement. He giggled at the last word.

“Uh, hi... Cobalt, is it?” He wore a crooked smile, but not in a charming way; it was just awkward.

“That's what mom calls me, so yeah,” he said with a wide smile he concealed under his hoof. His hair danced over his bright blue face, and he blew it off with a puff of air. He blinked those rose eyes up at his father.

“Cobalt Streak,” Dash added on. She perched her son on her shoulders as she rose in the air, in a position as if she were standing on her hindhooves. She flashed a grin his way. However, the air felt crisp with unwanted tension. Her face fell into a pout, and her eyes glinted with a more somber tone. “Okay, enough awkward conversation, alright? I-I just wanted to come to, well, let you know?”

Cortland's brow arched high. “How old is he?” He swapped a glance at the colt for a moment.

“I'm five!” Cobalt answered for Rainbow Dash.

Cortland's lips dropped into a simple frown, his eye crinkling. Rainbow Dash remained as she was, unfazed by his stare. “So, what took ya so long?” he questioned in a sardonic manner.

Rainbow Dash returned the harsh stare back. “It's not like I need help or anything—Cobalt, just head inside,” she interrupted herself, urging Cobalt into Cortland and Peachy's house. She hated talking about him as if he weren't there—so she'd make it that way. “We need to talk for a bit.”

Cobalt did as told, though he didn't look all too happy about it. As he left, she swore she heard him mutter, “My friends' families always fight about stupid stuff.” He headed inside before she could ask if she heard him correctly. The door wide open, he let himself in, and they waited before the door shut behind him. Voices echoed from the house, revealing they had time while their family and friends occupied Cobalt's time.

Rainbow Dash brought her attention back to the stallion. “I don't need help with him or anything else—we're both fine on our own,” she said.

“Ya could've at least told me!” argued Cortland. His jaw fell slack. “Ah'm a father, and ah didn't even know for five whole years!” He hissed under his breath, and Dash just watched. Yeah, she got how he felt and expected some sort of exaggerated response. At least he wasn't violent—he'd get his ass handed to him.

There was a pause, which Cortland filled in. "Didn't... didn't he ever ask 'bout me?" he asked nervously, his voice cracking at the end.

Rainbow Dash didn't answer immediately, instead thinking back to a particular moment where this did happen for the first time nearly a year ago.

As she and Cobalt trotted home after Rainbow picked him up from school, Cobalt had just mentioned a school project. He didn't seem too perturbed about it, so maybe it wasn't so bad. As long as she didn't have to do too much for it, it wasn't a problem for her, either.

He brought it up before she could even bother to ask more about it. “My teacher wants us to do a... a thing about what our parents do,” he said, smiling ear-to-ear. “Like, for jobs. We bring our moms or dads and say what they do.”

“Sounds cool. Makes me wish I wasn't just a waitress, but eh, how bad can it be,” Dash commented.

They walked across the road and were about to open the door when Cobalt stopped walking. Her hooves stayed on the ground, and she turned to him. “What's up, kid?”

Looking up, he asked, “I wanna know what dad does.”

Rainbow Dash's heart jumped several beats. “Why?”

“Some friends have two parents who do stuff. And since we never see dad, or talk about him, I just wanna know.” Cobalt shrugged, not at all aware of the reaction his question gave Rainbow Dash.

She bit her lip. This was something she had long not bothered with, so how could she tell him? She almost felt bad that she never told him about his father... but why he brought it up now, she had no idea. Not wanting to dwell on it, she said, “Uh, he's living somewhere else but he's... really busy with what he does.”

He nodded, accepting this. If he were any older, he probably would have argued otherwise. She was glad he was only five, blissfully ignorant. “What does he do?” Cobalt asked again.

“He farms.” That much, she knew. In the Apply Family, pretty much everypony farmed, making apples, obviously.

Cobalt thought of that for a bit and then nodded. It wasn't mentioned again, except for when it was briefly mentioned for his project. Other than that, any mention of his father was placed somewhere in the far back of his mind. If he ever thought about it, he never said anything.

"Maybe,” she answered finally, “but not to a point where I gave up and tried to find you. Look, I'm here now. Better late than never or something. I'm not here to be interrogated; I got enough of that when I first went home."

If he said, "Duh," under his breath alongside a sigh, she ignored it entirely. She didn't care about this stallion; he was nothing to her but the father of her child. If she even found him long ago before he left, she doubted she would even tell him. Her fear just rose so quick that she found herself searching for him. Now, thinking back, she probably would have let him go freely. He had a life elsewhere; she didn't want to be a part of his life, and vice versa.

"God, I can't believe this," he moaned, laying on his tush in the dirt. His head leaned onto the wall. He paused again, pondering, and she waited for his next response. "So, what'cha plannin' to do?"

Rainbow Dash trotted to where he sat, though remained on all four hooves. "After this, I'm heading home. You... you can come with us, if you want. Stay in Ponyville for a bit."

“Ah'm guessin' ah don't get a say in who he stays with?” He grimaced.

“Believe me, I've done a lot for him. I'm not letting him go unless I'm dead—not even then... somehow,” she faltered at that last part, but her determination was strong. But she saw his eyebrows narrow; there was a good chance that he wasn't all for this. “If you want, you can go back to Ponyville with us for a visit—y'know, to be with Cobalt for a bit.”

“Can't we share him?” When Rainbow looked confused, he explained, “Like, you can keep him for a bit, then ah can for a bit, then we just keep takin' turns. How bad is that?”

“Cobalt's not a thing you throw around,” Rainbow snapped. Though still looking angry, she said in what she hoped was a calmer voice. “Listen, he's my kid. I dealt with being pregnant with him, so I get to say what—er, who he stays with.”

“What if he wants to stay with me?”

“What if he doesn't?” she countered, now full of rage. They stood there for a long moment

They left their argument at that and went inside. They said not a word, yet that alone said much. Rainbow refused to make eye contact with Cortland. While he could have been much worse, he took this exactly as she expected; he wanted Cobalt, as well. Not just because he was the father, though that certainly was a part of it. Whatever the reason, though, she couldn't put a hoof on it. That wouldn't happen, however, unless she had a say in it, which she did... and the answer was no.

Peachy Sweet was playing chess with Pinkie Pie, while Applejack and Cobalt watched. When the two others entered, they pulled away from their game for a moment. They stared, as if something magical would happen if they did for a certain amount of time. Then the two mares continued their game. While Rainbow could not understand how chess worked, based on Peachy's twitching expression, and Pinkie's grin, she could tell who had the advantage at the moment.

Cortland just turned to Peachy Sweet and said, “Ah was wonderin' if ah could go to Ponyville for a bit of a visit. Ah know ah have my work to do, but—”

“Oh, just leave, you silly,” Peachy waved it away. “Give me the house for a few days. Ah can handle the place alone, don't you worry. 'Sides, you could use a good outing with a few gals.” Her eyes flickered with a devious air. “Plus, you can talk about a few things with your friend here.” She pointed at Rainbow.

Cortland just rolled his eyes. “Fine. I'll be back in a few days... and next time, Peach, will ya not nose into our conversations?”

Peachy Sweet feigned an innocent look, gesturing as if to say, Who, me? She smiled and continued, “But still, should you two, ah dunno, talk about this—ugh, stop cheatin'!” she suddenly whined, shooting an accusing hoof at Pinkie Pie

“I'm not cheating, I'm just playing the game,” she said, smiling and enjoying the game. Dash had no idea Pinkie could play chess, though... any surprise of Pinkie was not so much a surprise, though, she supposed.

“T-Then stop playing!” Peachy growled back through her teeth. Pinkie tilted her head, a bit concerned. When she turned to her brother, she turned back into her sweeter self in an instant. “So how did your talk go?”

“There's nothin' to talk about.” He shifted his head up to the side, to which his sister stuck his tongue out at him.

“Exactly,” Rainbow grumbled in agreement, walking over to her friends.

“Oh, c'mon. There's plenty for you two to talk 'bout—”

“No,” they uttered simultaneously.

Peachy groaned, rubbed her forehead. “Cort, you're so stubborn! Just get out before you give me a headache.”

“Maybe they are good together! They're both soooo hardheaded,” Pinkie said. She knocked on Rainbow Dash's head, earning a huge glower from her. Pinkie Pie's lips pursed, and when she saw Rainbow's face, she said, “Don't worry, Dashie, your head isn't that hard.”

“Thanks,” she grumbled.

Peachy giggled. “You're a funny one. If you ponies wanna hang out anytime, don't be 'fraid to visit. Ah love visitors—it's Cortland that's a pain in the flank.”

“Love ya, too, sis.”

Peachy beamed at him, clasping her hooves together. If it were possible, a halo would appear above her head.

***

By the time they ended back up on the train, night had just arrived. Cortland traveled down the walkway into the seat Applejack sat in alone. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Cobalt were in a separate car, when Applejack stated she wanted to be alone for a bit. Applejack appeared to be on the brink of falling asleep, her head against the arm of the chair.

Cortland, with two filled cups in one hoof, limped up to her, noticing the distance in her eyes. She watched the world go by in a darkened blur, though she looked as if were in her own little world, her emerald eyes glossed over a little. Smiling, he cleared his throat to tug her back into reality.

She blinked twice and looked beyond her shoulder at him. A smile just barely tugged at her lips. He reached out one cupped hoof. “Here. It's not alcohol, I swear,” he promised jokingly with a chuckle.

Applejack grinned back, accepting the drink and already taking in a long gulp before responding. “That wouldn't've reassured me, anyway,” she said. She leaned against the vibrating wall of the train, her hat shaking to the train's beat.

Cortland waited a moment to start conversation to let her drink. She drank nearly half of it before taking a break to breath. His eyes met with hers, observing them. “Ah have to say, you don't look all that cheery. Was my sister that unbearable to see?" Cortland teased as he sat in front of his dreary cousin.

Applejack blinked at him, feeling exhausted again. Having barely done a thing that day, she wondered why. With a violent shake of her head to ignore it, she replied, "Naw, it's... Rainbow told me it was you she... had Cobalt with, and ah ain't exactly thrilled." She stirred her mug absentmindedly.

"So?" Cortland asked with a mindless shrug. "It'll be like you two'll be cousins of cousins—or somethin'. No big deal."

"That ain't it, though. We were best friends, and she never told us about him—or you! We ain't exactly close anymore, but still... not just me, but Pinkie Pie and the four of us... we used to be really close and the best of friends, but now...” She shrugged, unable to come up with the right words.

"Hello? Father of mysterious child here! How ya think ah feel?" Cortland called out a bit too loudly, waving a hoof in the air to emphasize. The tired pony winced. "Sorry." He corrected his tone.

“Ah expected you to be mad, though, at least... aren't ya?” Applejack squinted at him in wonder.

He just shrugged. “Well, at first, yeah. But who wouldn't be. A while later, though, ah dunno, she seems like she's tryin'. She did come to see me and let me know 'bout Cobalt—even if it took several years.” He gave a hollow laugh. When Applejack didn't laugh back, he added, “If she didn't want to bother to tell me, she wouldn't have. That's all ah'm sayin'.”

Applejack finally had a laugh in her, albeit a small one. "Ah mean, ah feel bad for her... a little. She just wants to be here for Twilight, but we ain't exactly givin' her the friendliest welcome." She looked down in disdain. She then gave a quick explanation of what had happened with Rainbow Dash—from her running away to Twilight finding her for her wedding. Her face betrayed her, not at all masking her feelings for what had happened—not so much anger, but sadness.

Cortland listened with strong ears. He stayed silent throughout her story, and his expression remained stoic. He only said something when she finished, after downing a bit from his mug, “What d'you hate 'bout it so much? Her runnin' away can't be the only problem,” said Cortland.

He just stared at her. It took a few moments, but his stare just made it too comfortable to take. Applejack's eyes flashed.

“Don't look at me like that! Ah'm mad at her 'cause she never told us... not about Cobalt.” She paused. “We could've helped her, ah know that. We're friends, and friends just don't leave their friends like that—ain't right.”

He nodded, but not like he was listening. Cortland's eyes glanced outside, taking a long, thoughtful drink. After sighing, he asked her, “Didn't you do that years ago? The same as her?”

Applejack glanced at him, finding herself blushing at that memory. “How did you—?”

"Your brother certainly can find something to talk about when he wants to." He chuckled lowly. “Especially about your little stories about what you and your friends do.”

"Yeah... but that's different!" she defended.

"How?"

"Because my friends stopped me to help me see ah was makin' a mistake! If they hadn't been there, honestly, ah—well, ah wouldn't be there still, maybe, but ah wouldn't realize the mistake ah made, just leavin' 'em like that. We tried to find her, but she always hid and sent us letters, so we thought she was fine. But we could've tried harder... especially me, since ah knew pretty much exactly what she was thinkin',” she said, taking a heavy breath afterward. It felt as if she threw out all of what bothered her on the inside with these words, and her face was very serious.

“Ah see,” Cortland nodded, a sign to continue. How did he know she had more to say?

Applejack sighed, burying her head in her hooves. “Ah mean, it was a bit different, but still, ah could've done something. Ah wasn't a good enough friend—even if she did run away. Rainbow Dash is a loyal pony; she wouldn't just leave us unless she thought she had a reason,” she mused to herself. Her head leaned on the seat. “Ah just don't know why she left us, and it bugs me.”

“Maybe she just thought it was a good idea back then,” Cortland guessed.

“Well, it certainly didn't seem like one,” said the farm mare. She shook her head slowly. “Ah mean, why didn't she come to us and explain everythin'?”

“What, am I a psychologist?” He gave her a grin, but she didn't return it. It fell back into a frown, and he cleared his throat. “Ah don't think you should be angry at her for this. Ponies make mistakes—you should know that.”

“Are ya gonna keep usin' that against me?” Applejack questioned, though her tone was lighter than the sentence alone intended.

“Maybe, but anyway, friends shouldn't let mistakes get in the way of their friendship. It only bucks stuff up, and if that's what bothers your friendship, then that's... well, that's just sad.”

Applejack thought about that for a long time, all the while her eyes kept fluttering open and shut. She continued to struggle sleeping. Cortland smirked at her but did not speak for a bit, waiting for her to say something, if anything at all.

“Ah'm tired, Cort. Maybe we can chat 'bout this tomorrow.”

Cortland smiled, accepting this. If she ever got an answer, it didn't have to be at that moment. He just stood up and left her to get another drink, unable to sleep. Not when a lot was going through his mind.

When he came back, he found her still awake, surprisingly. Perhaps she was the same as him. She didn’t look too exhausted, instead leaning against her seat, staring at the ceiling with her eyes full of concentration. Deciding it best not to bother her, Cortland sat back down on the other side of her. His eyes wandered across the world on the other side of the window, shrouded in darkness of the cool night. He smiled and tipped the mug to his lips.