Under Her Wing

by Tinyweasels

Chapter 7 - Troubling Thoughts

Chapter 7 - Troubling Thoughts

Rainbow's life fell into a routine over the following weeks. She spent most of the day in Twilight's library reading and listening to music when Twilight wasn't studying. Spike and the castle staff constantly checked on her to make sure she didn't need anything. Nurse Redheart visited each afternoon to make sure her recovery was on schedule, and one day a week Dr. Gray was flown in from Canterlot to check on her. Then there were the daily visits from the spa twins for massages, to which Rarity or Apple Jewel would selflessly volunteer to join her for moral support. Twice a week her friends would gather and they'd have a slumber party at the castle to keep her company.

The biggest problem with recovering was all the freebies—the residents of Ponyville would cook and bake for her and Pinkie Pie kept up a constant supply of sugary treats. Rainbow worried that by the time she could get out and about she'd weigh 500 pounds. Rainbow used her downtime to write to her father; in his replies he continued to expound on his ideas for the show, but didn't say anything about Gilda beyond purely professional terms.

Rainbow wished she could be more supportive, but it was still too big a hurdle. She knew they wanted her approval, but she just couldn't yet. The best she could offer them right now was lack of opposition.

"And I said, 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy?'" Pinkie said as she and her friends burst into laughter.

Rainbow laughed, and was glad her recovery was far enough along that laughing no longer hurt—a very important factor when being friends with Pinkie Pie. They were all gathered on a pile of cushions in the library for a slumber party and as she got closer to getting her cast off the mood had lightened each week as the shock of her accident faded from everypony's mind.

As much as she was enjoying the slumber party, there was something troubling her.

"Rainbow Dash, there's something troubling you." Pinkie said, having glanced up and raised a hoof to point over her head.

"What?" Rainbow said. "No. What makes you say that?"

"It was in the sentence ab—" then Pinkie seemed to catch herself. She made a scrunchy face and glanced about nervously a few moments, then smiled. "I mean, it just seems something's really bothering you."

Rainbow studied her friend for a minute; there always seemed to be more to her than she admitted. "Okay, yeah. Maybe there is a tiny little huge gigantic thing."

All her friends looked to her expectantly. They had at times kept secrets from each other and it always, always ended in misunderstandings and hurt feelings.

Rainbow sighed and leaned back. "My dad's visiting next week."

There was silence for a few moments as her friends looked to her and then to each other.

"And that's troubling in what way, if you don't mind my asking?" Fluttershy asked. "Every other time you couldn't wait for him to visit."

"Well, he's putting together a historical themed airshow and I told him about those great Wonderbolt costumes Rarity made. He'll want to take a look at them if you still have them."

"I would be delighted to show him my work, Rainbow—I still have them in storage. Is that what was troubling you?" Rarity asked quizzically.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and took the plunge. "And Gilda is the star of the show and she's coming here with him." Her words caused a few gasps from her assembled friends. "Pinkie, can you see it in your heart to throw her another welcome to Ponyville party?"

"Sure, Rainbow! It would be my pleasure," PInkie replied with a big smile.

Fluttershy looked surprised, then her brow furrowed a tiny bit, which for her was the equivalent of anger.

Rainbow had expected this. "Fluttershy, I know she yelled at you, but can you be cool with her visiting? I met her and Dad in Canterlot. She's changed and wanted to come here to apologize to you."

"How do you know she's really changed?" Fluttershy asked, brow still furrowed.

Rainbow sighed again, drawing her knees up to her chest. "Because she and Dad are in love."

Apple Jewel just looked to her shocked friends and then to Rainbow. "Never woulda expected that in a million years."

Fluttershy's eyebrows now rose to their highest; she only managed a surprised squeak.

"Tell me about it," Rainbow said with a weary smile. "I figured you guys would learn soon enough, so best to just get it all out of the way now."

"How long have they been together,?" Rarity inquired.

"Not too long, I think. Dad would’ve said something the last time we met up if her or the air show were really serious at the time."

Rarity quietly nodded as she rubbed her chin with a hoof, her eyes looking off into the distance. "Interesting," she said with her sly smile, then her attention returned to the matter at hoof. "I'll need to do some research on historical griffin fashion and armor styles. That won't be a problem. I'll have some preliminary sketches ready for them when they arrive."

"Cool. Thank you," Rainbow said.

"You are quite welcome. What are your feelings on this, if you don't mind my asking?"

Rainbow straightened out then jumped up on her feet, starting to pace around the room awkwardly on her crutches. "It blew my mind! I mean, my old buddy from Flight Camp and my dad? It freaked me out at first. But they'll keep going along whether I approve or not, so I'm going to just have to learn to accept it. Gilda's my oldest friend, my first friend. I know we had a falling out, but deep down I know I can trust her with my dad. And I can trust Dad that he's not just out chasing younger tail. From what he said, this is his first relationship since Mom died. It's two people I've known a long time and care a lot about. I mean, better Dad date somepony I know rather than a stranger, right?"

"Do you think they'll get married?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow's eyes went wide and she flopped down on the cushions and stared at the ceiling. "Oof, don't even say that! It's hard enough dealing with them dating. I'm not ready to deal with the thought of them getting married."

"That would make Gilda your stepmom!" Pinkie said excitedly.

Rainbow pulled a pillow over her head. "Thanks for reminding me," she groaned.

"You're quite welcome," Pinkie said with a smile.

"I wonder if they'll have children," Fluttershy wondered.

"How can they have kids? He's a pony, she's a griffin. They're totally different species," Rainbow asked, her voice muffled from under the pillow.

Twilight cleared her throat to get Rainbow's attention. "The hybrid offspring of a griffin and a pony is called a hippogriff. The front half is eagle and the back half is pony."

Fluttershy instantly perked up. "Ooh, that sounds so adorable!"

"You would know that, Twilight," Rainbow replied, rolling her eyes as she emerged from under the pillow.

"I just happen to be very well read," Twilight replied, ignoring Rainbow's sarcasm as she levitated a book off a nearby shelf, opening it to the middle and passed it to Rainbow Dash.

"You're fretting too much, Rainbow darling. They are still just dating, after all," Rarity said comfortingly. "Be patient and see how things develop, and if their relationship becomes more serious then sit down and talk with your father and share your concerns."

After the group hug that followed, the mood turned lighter and the slumber party resumed. Makeovers, truth or dare, and scary stories followed.

Comments

[AetherToast]

Just realized that you keep calling Applejack by the name of Apple Jewel. What the heck?

[Winter Quill]

7732269 I noticed that too, at a while guess I would say with RD being human there was no Rainboom so she stayed with the Oranges for quite a longer before moving back to Ponyville. The name change probably came from whatever her cutie mark is.

[Prismmirror]

7732309

I think all that happened is that Discord warped reality to link this version of Equus with a version of Earth. Doing so caused mixing and mashing of destinies, with Rainbow Dash winding up a human. 'Apple Jewel' is AJ's real name; reality just shifted a bit like it did for Dash.

[Cyrus Colter]

7733652
All but apple jewel being the birth name is true to my memory in this story's head canon.
Her birth name is in fact applejack.
She just prefers apple jewel due to her line of work in this story

[Tinyweasels]

10244779
Right. She considers Applejack her country bumpkin name and prefers to go by the classy name Applejewel that she picked for herself. Only her mom gets to call her Applejack. :)