Under Her Wing

by Tinyweasels

Chapter 20 - A Midsummer Night's Wedding

Chapter 20 - A Midsummer Night's Wedding

The Summer Sun Celebration and wedding brought in ponies from all over Equestria. Rainbow waited at the crowded train station for the special guests to arrive.

"Rainbow!" Scootaloo shouted as she and the matron exited the train onto the crowded platform. Rainbow picked up the little pony and hugged her. It felt so right. The joy on the little pony's face said it all—her enthusiasm had not diminished one bit since her last visit.

"Hey Scoot! Great to see you again. Thanks Lady Golden Meadow, for bringing her along. Glad you could both make the wedding," Rainbow said, giving the matron a hug as well.

"Thank you, Rainbow dear. It was kind of you to invite us."

"Hey, it's a special day and wanted to have you two around," Rainbow said with a smile.

"Any day is special if I get to spend it with you, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo said excitedly.

Rainbow and the matron shared a knowing smile as they began their trek to the castle.

The little pony gushed to Rainbow about Celestia's visit to the orphanage a week ago and how excited all the foals were to meet her. Lady Golden Meadow also spoke of it with equal excitement. Apparently that discussion about the rules and regulations had borne fruit and Celestia was personally looking into the matter, even going so far as to visit orphanages all over Equestria to better understand the scope of the issue. Then Scootaloo told about how the entire Wonderbolts corps had visited as well and put on a show just for them.

When they arrived at Twilight's castle, the place was a madhouse as the staff looked after the princesses and guests.

"Rainbow!" a princess said in greeting, giving Rainbow a hug.

"Princess Cadance! Hey, everypony, this is Princess Cadance, evil overlord of the Crystal Empire, princess of love and stuff and Twilight's sister-in-law. She's cool. Princess, these are my pals Scootaloo and Lady Golden Meadow."

The princess smiled at Scootaloo and Lady Golden Meadow, who both bowed respectfully. "Welcome, it's so nice to meet friends of Rainbow's. I hope you both enjoy the celebration."

Scootaloo beamed happily. "Thanks, Princess Cadance, ma’am! It's always cool to be with Rainbow Dash!'

Rainbow knelt down to Scootaloo’s level and hugged her. "Hey Scoot, I'm gonna be scarce until after the reception, as I got a lot on my plate until then, but we can hang out when it's over and the sun celebration starts."

"Scootaloo!" All eyes turned to a distressed Rarity. "We need to get you into your flower filly dress and where is the bride?!"

Rainbow had no explanation other than the special train that Twilight had sent to Griffinstone for Gilda's family was already overdue. That earned a frustrated growl from Rarity, who picked up Scootaloo with her magic and galloped off.

Rainbow turned her attention to Lady Golden Meadow. "Ma'am, what's the word on the Scootaloo situation?"

The mare smiled up at Rainbow. "It's done. You just need to sign a few documents and you're ready to take responsibility for her today."

Rainbow's mouth dropped open. "What? How? I just sent that letter a few days ago. It has to take longer than that."

Lady Golden Meadow looked down and shuffled a hoof sheepishly. "Rainbow, I could sense the connection between you two when you met in the hospital. So I may have already started the process, being cautiously optimistic that you'd form a stronger bond. The longest part of the process is the background check and personal references, so when Princess Twilight and I were in Canterlot meeting with Princess Celestia, I asked if they'd be willing to act as character witnesses for you and both agreed, Princess Celestia going so far as asking the other princesses if they'd also be character witnesses. Well, personal references from all five of Equestria's princesses certainly smoothes out any difficulties that might be encountered otherwise. As for the background check, Princess Celestia had already done that discreetly when you became an Element of Harmony."

Rainbow glanced to Cadance and she nodded with a smile. "Thanks, princess," she said, then turned back to the matron. "Wow, you don't play around when it comes to adoption."

"Sometimes there's only one chance to connect a foal in need to the right home and I have to act."

"So, all clear in the background check?" Rainbow asked hesitantly.

Lady Golden Meadow arched an eyebrow as she looked up at Rainbow. "Well, there was something about an altercation in the human world. A place called 'Big Mike's Watering Hole'."

Rainbow immediately got defensive. "Hey, it was the other guy's fault! He thinks he's a big and bad biker, all cool in his leather vest and wearing facial hair and he's like 'I hate Equestria' and 'I hate ponies' and we get in a big fight. I kicked his butt, it was super cool! My first human bar fight!" she said excitedly, taking a fighting pose and throwing a few punches into the air, then realizing who she was telling the story to. "Uh, yeah. But it's totally wrong to fight. I was still getting used to the way humans deal with things and humans prefer to fight their way through problems rather than trying to solve them.

"It's okay, Rainbow. I wouldn't have suggested your adopting her if I thought you'd be dangerous to her."

Cadance put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder and smiled. "I think it's wonderful that you're willing to reach out to Scootaloo like this, Rainbow. It takes a big heart to shoulder such a big responsibility."

Rainbow nodded, then turned her attention to Cadance. "So, that's things on the family front for me. How about you? Congratulations on the bun in the oven."

Cadance looked a bit uneasy. "I'm still getting used to the idea. It’s still strange and new, but not as strange as getting a letter of congratulations from Twilight when I wasn't even aware I was pregnant."

"Yeah, Discord has a way of doing that. How's Shiny taking it?"

"He's thrilled! And terrified, and anxious and everything else that comes with impending parenthood. I'm sure you know about some of that now.”

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, havin' a bit of that myself lately."

Cadance turned her attention to Lady Golden Meadow. "Ma'am, I'm glad to finally get the chance to make your acquaintance."

"Me? Whatever for?" the matron asked with visible surprise.

"I had heard you're a matchmaker and it seems from your cutie mark that's the case."

"Well, yes. That is my profession."

"What sort of matchmaking do you do? Just families or other things?" the princesses asked curiously.

"Families, couples, a fourth for bridge, replacement players for bands—I've matched just about everything over the years."

"Interesting. I know you are busy running the orphanage, but have you ever done any… moonlighting?" Cadance said with a sinister grin, rubbing her chin.

"Could you both follow me?" Cadance asked, directing them to a nearby balcony.

Rainbow and Lady Golden Meadow followed Cadance. As Rainbow stepped out onto it she could hear male and female voices arguing down below.

Cadance looked to her with concern, pointing over the railing. "Rainbow, I know I'm just a guest at this event but I must ask, what prompted you to hire the world's angriest bands to play at your father's wedding reception?"

Rainbow joined her at the railing and smiled. "Well, it’s a friendship and harmony kinda thing. You know, pony and griffin—they hated each other since forever, and now they're gonna get married. So I wanted to have a pony band that hates griffins and a griffin band that hates ponies here to show that things aren't so bad between us."

Judging by the look on her face, Rainbow had the feeling Cadance was struggling to hold in a face-hoof. The princess shook her head. "I tried to calm things down between them, but when I talked to them it seemed the only thing they could agree on was their contempt for me. The mare with the shaved off mane called me a &*%%$#^&, the one with the mohawk tried to spit on me and the griffins called me a #%^&*(! $#@*&% and gave me what was, I assume, an obscene gesture."

Rainbow laughed a bit. "Yeah, Daisy Cutter and her sister Toxin are from the band Prisoners of Harmony, and it’s got to be tough being an anti-establishment band in Equestria. The goth griffins are Grongor and his brother Shred, from the band Glue Factory."

"How did you manage to convince them to come to a gathering like this if they have such hatred?"

"A high profile gig, good pay. Rebellion doesn't put a lot of hay on the table.”

"There—he's doing it again, that gesture," Cadance said, looking down at the musicians.

"Yeah, he's totally flipping you off. Lemme handle this," Rainbow said and flipped the double bird back at him.

Shortly the musicians got back to arguing amongst themselves again.

"How does your matchmaking work?" Cadance asked, returning her attention to the matron. "Do you have to use magic or is it instinctive?"

Lady Golden Meadow went to the railing and looked down. "I just have to look and I can sense their potential connection. I've never 'read' the compatibility of griffins other than Fullbright Dash’s fiancée, but well, there is a strong connection and attraction between these ponies and griffins. However, cultural and racial hostilities won't let them even acknowledge it."

Rainbow watched as Cadance's horn lit up and moments later the arguing died down. The ponies and griffins stared awkwardly at each other. She cast a suspicious glance at Cadance. "Dude, did you just make them fall in love?"

Cadance smiled and shook her head. "No. I don't force ponies to fall in love. What I did was more of a 'hey, just think about it' sort of thing." She stayed outside, curious to see where her matchmaking would take the ponies and griffins. Lady Golden Meadow stayed with her, curious to see how the princess's magic worked in this situation.

Rainbow went back inside, worried she may have just witnessed the formation of an unholy alliance between the princess of love and the ultimate matchmaker. She met up with her dad, who was waiting just as impatiently as Rarity for Gilda's arrival.

"Too many confounded ponies!" an old voice groused.

They both turned to see Gilda and an unfamiliar face. The old griffin was a mix of panther and vulture, with a scar on the left side of his face, crossing over a blind eye.

"Hey gang! Here's my Grandpa Gruff," Gilda said proudly. "Gramps, this is Fullbright and his daughter Rainbow."

The old bird didn't say anything at first, just glancing at Fullbright, and then walking over to Rainbow. He gestured for her to lean down and she did so as he scrutinized her closely with his good eye then took her face in his claws and moved it around, closely examining her features. He took one of her hands, looked it over and examined her fingernails before finally turning and unsettlingly looking her over with his bad eye.

"Never seen one of your kind before, girl," Grandpa Gruff concluded.

Then he turned to look at Fullbright, then back to Rainbow. "That's his daughter? You ponies will sleep with anything," he grumbled.

"Hey, now—" Fullbright began and then Gilda jumped in.

"Whoa, Grandpa! Stop right there. Rainbow's adopted," Gilda said defensively.

The old griffin nodded and smiled a bit. Then he turned his scrutiny to Fullbright and put an arm over the pony's shoulder. "Ah, so you're the boy that caught Gilda's eye," the old bird said with a smile.

"Yeah, she's amazing and I'm a lucky stallion for having met her."

"Good. Since Gilda's folks aren't here to say this, it falls to me," he said and with surprising speed for such an old guy, he threw Fullbright to the ground where the pony was facing up and placed one taloned hand around the pony's throat and another on his chest, claws digging in over his heart. "You knocked up my granddaughter! Well, let me tell you this right now, boy. If you so much as THINK about cheating on her or abandoning her and the baby, I swear to the Sky Mother that I will hunt you to the ends of the Earth and when I find you, it will be like the old days! I'll rip the beating heart from your chest and eat it. Got that, boy?!"

"Y-yes!"

"Yes, what?!"

"Yes, sir!"

Grandpa Gruff smiled and released Fullbright. "Good. Now that we understand each other, let's party!" The old griffin helped the pony up then put an arm around Fullbright's shoulder as he began regaling him with tales of griffin glories as they walked on.

"Gilda, your grandpa is awesome," Rainbow said with a smile.

"Yep! He made me the griffin I am today. But despite that, I love the old buzzard," Gilda replied with a laugh.

Rainbow stood motionless as Rarity put the final touches on her dress while an equally annoyed and uncomfortable Gilda stood nearby in her magnificent wedding gown.

"Hey, Rainbow. I wanna to say thanks," Gilda said.

"For what?"

"For everything—being my friend, for still being my friend after all that crazy stuff that's been going on. For letting me be a part of your family. You and Red are the best things that ever happened to me."

"You're welcome, Gilda. Pals stick together and you're my oldest pal. I gotta ask, why do you call Dad 'Red'?"

"Oh, the first time I met him I nearly killed him."

Rainbow laughed.

Gilda frowned. "I'm not joking. I literally almost killed him."

Rainbow stopped laughing.

"It was in Las Pegasus like he said. I was in a bad way," Gilda said, frowning deeper. "I was a powder keg waiting to explode and then one night I'm in a bar and a bunch of pony punks lit the fuse. I was using fists at first, but it wouldn't have been much longer before it came to claws. It was the end of the line for ol' Gilda and I didn't care who I took down with me.”

The eerie finality of Gilda’s words chilled Rainbow to the bone. “And that’s when Dad showed up?”

Gilda smiled a bit. "Then I get smacked in the head with a pool cue and I turn and see Red there. He had been in the guard and knew how to fight griffins. He gets me away from the others and he and I are duking it out in the middle of the street in front of a big crowd. Eventually he goes for the knockout and I go for the kill."

Gilda paused, and took a deep breath. "He gives me a hard elbow to the throat and then follows through with a hoof to the face and I—I ripped him open. We both fall to the street beside each other, looking at each other. I'm passing out, he's bleeding all over the place. For some reason I say 'Red' before I was out."

"Whoa," Rainbow said.

Rarity had been silent, trying not to intrude on the story. "He must love you very much to marry you after a first impression like that."

"Yeah,” Gilda replied with a heavy sigh and looked up to Rainbow. “A few days later he visits me in jail and talks to me. I thought he was there to gloat and press charges, but he did the opposite. We talk and when he realized I'm your old friend, he pays my bail and refuses to press charges. He said that since I'd been a friend when you needed one, he'd be the friend I needed. Then he even goes so far as to call in some favors and spread some bits around and everyone involved just lets things drop! He lets me crash at his place and then gets me all enthused for his new airshow and hey, things just started to click between us. It's not like I set out to seduce your dad or anything. He's just not like any guy I ever met before. We griffins are miserable, greedy, angry jerks, so you can't imagine how it made me feel when he looked past all that and thought I was something wonderful and special."

"Gilda, wow," Rainbow remarked. "That's quite a way to meet a guy. I can't believe Dad never told me about that."

"It's not a story he likes to tell, for obvious reasons. I just call him Red to remind myself about that first meeting and that I could've easily missed out on the best thing in my life."

Rainbow went over and knelt in front of Gilda, whose head hung low in shame. Rainbow put a hand under her chin so she could look her in the eye.

"It's okay, Gilda. I forgive you," Rainbow said. "And I'm happy you two are happy together. Just promise me that you'll take good care of him and try not to kill him again."

Gilda laughed a bit and smiled. "I promise, Rainbow."

Right after that touching moment Rarity ushered Rainbow out of the room so she could finish her work on the bride without interruption. Rainbow went to check in with her dad, part of her duty as Best Mare. She found him in front of a mirror, making sure his suit jacket was right.

"Hey! Lookin' good, Dad," Rainbow said.

"Thanks, honey," Fullbright said, grumbling as he struggled with his bowtie. "I hate formal stuff. We ponies weren't meant for this."

"Hey Dad, I don't mean to bring up bad stuff, but Gilda just told me why she calls you Red. Is that story about a fight true?"

"Oh yeah, very true," he said and stood upright, then drew a hoof across his abdomen. "Another word you never want to hear from a doctor is 'disemboweled'. For being a mostly normal, fairly ordinary pony, I have had some startlingly horrific injuries."

Rainbow shuddered. "No scars or anything?"

"I had them fixed by the cosmetic surgeons in Las Pegasus. Best in the world."

"Wow, you really are the most forgiving guy I ever met. You set a high standard, Dad."

"If I had demanded my pound of flesh, I'd have missed out on all the happiness I have now with her. The pain’s passed, the scars have healed, I'm in love again and it's a wonderful thing. I wouldn't trade this time with Gilda for anything," he said, then ran a hoof over the saddle bags nearby then put them on.

"Saddle bags at a wedding?" Rainbow asked curiously.

He smiled and opened one of the bags to show a number of ornate wooden boxes. He drew one out and opened it.

"Wow!" was Rainbow's response to the gold jewelry inside.

"Griffin society is patriarchal, so at the wedding the male has to show he's a good provider and he does so by 'festooning' his bride with gold and jewels. It's a lucky thing you have a good job, as that was your inheritance," he said with a laugh. "And the baby's too. And don't worry, this stuff is all new. You'll get your mom's stuff."

"It's okay Dad, I don't mind. I'm not really a jewelry kinda mare."

"No. I thought about it and it just seemed disrespectful. I know she'd want you to have her things."

An attendant came in and told them the wedding was about to start. Fullbright checked himself over in the mirror a final time and Rainbow decided to indulge one last curiosity.

"Hey Dad, I have to admit, I am morbidly curious about something. If you had actually gone for one of my friends, which one? I'm thinking Twilight or Apple Jewel."

Fullbright laughed. "Rarity, in a heartbeat."

"Rarity? Really?" Rainbow asked in genuine surprise.

"I've always been attracted to high maintenance mares."

Rainbow pondered that for a few moments. "Mom was high maintenance?"

"Good heavens, Rainbow, you have no idea," he said with a laugh. "I like the type that keep you on your hooves and don't let you get complacent."

The attendant returned and told them the ceremony was starting.

"Showtime, Dad," Rainbow said, smiling at him.

"Let's do this. Go, team Dash!" he said with a smile, and he and Rainbow did a hoof bump.

They entered the magnificently decorated ballroom of Twilight's castle and made their way down the aisle. Rainbow took her place beside the groom. Soft music from Octavia and her quartet filled the chamber as the many guests took their seats.

Princess Celestia took her place at the front and stood quietly in an amazing iridescent gown. Rainbow saw that everypony had shown up—a griffin ambassador, even Fullbright’s old friends from the Wonderbolts.

The music picked up and the wedding march began. The flower fillies appeared--Scootaloo with Princess Luna very carefully following her lead as they spread flower petals along the aisle.

Then all eyes turned to the back of the hall and a hushed murmur followed as everypony saw the bride. There were gasps at the sight of her in her magnificent gown—a gown that would have been appropriate for a fairytale princess. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Silver Spoon and Diamond Rich carried the train of the gown. The foals were all practically bouncing with excitement. Rainbow knew they were all thrilled to be in the wedding, but Rainbow guessed the rumor she'd heard was true, namely that when Rarity was getting them ready for the ceremony Diamond had gotten her cutie mark when Rarity put a tiara on her head.

Grandpa Gruff walked Gilda down the aisle, holding her talon. He led her to the front, where she looked adoringly at Fullbright through her veil.

Celestia looked to the guests. "If there be any who object to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace." When there were no objections she continued. "If I may have your indulgence a few moments, there I something I wish to say."

The princess looked to the couple and then to the crowd. "There was a time long ago when such a union would have been seen as treason by both our nations. I am glad those times have passed. When I was asked to do this, I had to do some soul searching and realized nothing had been accomplished by our centuries of hatred. So let this union be a blessing to our peoples and let a new day begin for our world."

There was a murmur of approval from those present.

"Now, let us begin," Celestia said. "Fullbright Dash, do you proclaim yourself worthy of this hen, Gilda Deathwing?"

Soft laughter went through the crowd.

Gilda glared at them. "Hey, it's what we're called!" she grumbled, then turned to the princess and then back to Fullbright. "Sorry."

"I do," Fullbright Dash replied, smiling at Gilda.

Celestia turned to Gilda. "Gilda Deathwing, do you proclaim yourself worthy of this stallion, Fullbright Dash?"

"Yeah. Uh, yes ma'am."

"Do you both swear to guide and protect the other, to love and cherish each other till the end of your days?"

Both agreed.

"Will you bring up your children in the way of all good things?"

Both agreed.

"Fullbright Dash, you have proclaimed your desire to wed this hen. Will you provide for her and your children?"

"I will," he said and he began to lay out the jewelry boxes before her and when he opened them Gilda gasped. Then he began to put the jewelry on her as tears streamed down her face. She shook a bit, trying to hold back her emotions. It was a rather lengthy process as he did indeed festoon his bride with gold and jewels.

"Gilda Deathwing, he has shown that he will provide for you and your children," Princess Celestia said. "Do you accept this offering from his heart and accept him as your life-mate unto death?"

"I do," she said, choking up.

"Fullbright Dash, you have proclaimed to all here that you wish to wed Gilda Deathwing. Do you take her as your life-mate unto death?"

"I do," he replied, shedding a few tears of his own.

Princess Celestia unfurled her wings and stood tall. "Then I, Princess Celestia Solaris, proclaim this couple wed. Let your words be written upon your hearts so that you may forever remember your promises to each other and a thousand curses upon any who seek to destroy what has been joined here today."

A standing ovation followed. Rainbow joined the others in the receiving line and she couldn't help but notice that most of the griffins stayed by themselves, not even congratulating the bride. The diplomatic griffins and her grandfather did though. When the couple had greeted all the guests, Rarity whisked the wedding party away to pose for Photo Finish, the official wedding photographer.

"Time to make DA MAGICS!" Photo Finish said with relish.

When the pictures were over, Rarity had Gilda and Fullbright change out of their wedding attire and now were just wearing capes—Gilda's white and Fullbright's black.

"Capes?" Rainbow asked.

Rarity didn't look up from her work to respond. "A cloak is the only thing the couple is allowed to take on the hunt."

"Anypony have any idea what it is we're hunting?" Fullbright asked.

Rarity shook her head. "Sorry, but Pinkie Pie swore me to secrecy."

Rainbow had seen Mulia Mild in town a few days before the wedding, so she had a pretty good idea what the "animal" was going to be. Once the couple was ready for the hunt, the group went to the castle grounds where all the others gathered for the reception. It was griffin custom that food wasn't served until the hunt was completed, so there was a lot of pressure on the couple to make a fast kill.

Princess Celestia approached the couple and nodded, then addressed the crowd. "The couple has one last duty. They must show that they can work together in what is most important. Can they trust their lives to the other and provide for all they care for?"

The couple agreed.

"Then bring on the beast!"

Pinkie Pie and Mulia brought forth a cart that was covered in a large sheet. Under it was something big and irregularly shaped. Twilight's horn lit up and suddenly the thing under the cloth struggled. Pinkie pulled the sheet away to reveal a magically animated mousse moose with a red candy heart on its chest. The confectionary creature bolted from the cart and the startled couple overcame their surprise and took off after it. The guests were abuzz in discussion of the ceremony and hungry ponies checked their watches.

About twenty minutes later a battered and disheveled couple appeared, carrying their "kill".

Grandpa Gruff looked at his gold pocket watch and shook his head. "We're all starving to death and you two were out for a romantic stroll!"

"That was harder than I thought it would be," Fullbright admitted as he and Gilda carted the body to the dessert table.

"Yeah, don't quit your day job, boy," Gruff laughed.

As the servants began bringing out the food, Rainbow took a microphone and stood by the head table, starting the traditional best-mare toast to the groom. "What can I say about Fullbright Dash? Awesome dad, hero, inspiration. He set the example that led me to becoming the Element of Loyalty. He's surprisingly durable. He shared a lot of wisdom with me over the years and made me the mare I am today. Let's not forget the greatest wisdom he shared with me, 'Life's too short to hold a grudge,' and that simple wisdom has made me what I am today. Without his guidance, I would have nothing and be nothing, so let's raise a toast to the element of awesome, Fullbright Dash!"

A cheer went up and everypony began eating. Rainbow took her seat to the left of her dad with Gilda on the right. He leaned over and gave his daughter a quick hug.

"Honey, this wedding was amazing. Thank you," Fullbright said with a big smile.

"Hey, for you two, you know we'd pull out all the stops. So Gilda, did it live up to your dream wedding?" Rainbow asked, peering past her dad to her "mom".

Gilda had tears in her eyes and she was so overcome she could only nod her head.

"Cool!" Rainbow replied with a satisfied smile.

After the food, the dancing began. Octavia and her quartet were still in charge of the music, as Rainbow wanted traditional music for the first part of the reception to please the older and uppercrust guests, then at the halfway point she'd take over with the louder, heavier music. When the music started, the first dance at a pony reception was traditionally father and daughter, and here it was Gilda and her grandfather. And they must have been practicing, as she did pretty good here. Once that was over the others began dancing, and between dances the bride and groom mingled with the guests.

When Rainbow could finally get Gilda aside, she looked toward the group of reclusive griffins that still remained aloof from everypony else. "Hey, Gilda. What's with those guys over there? They haven't said two words to anypony."

Gilda rolled her eyes and made a dismissive gesture in their direction. "That's my family. Aunts, uncles and some cousins. They don't like that I'm marrying a pony. Screw 'em."

"They came to the wedding even though they're against it?"

"Hey, a griffin would show up for their own execution if they could mooch a free meal out of it," Gilda said with a terse laugh. "All that matters to me is that Grandpa approves."

Shortly Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Grandpa Gruff and the griffin ambassador approached.

Grandpa Gruff patted Rainbow's hand and smiled up at her. "I gotta say, this is quite a shindig, youngster. Even Corsair here liked it!" he said, gesturing to the regal griffin beside him.

Ambassador Corsair nodded, and responded in a formal tone, "I had reservations about this, but I am quite pleased that you respected our customs and traditions. I further give you points for imagination on your version of the hunt." The ambassador looked to the reclusive griffins at their table. "While I grudgingly approved, I have the wisdom to understand that the old ways are not always the best ways."

Rarity nodded and gave a polite bow to the ambassador. "We are honored that you found it worthy, sir. Gilda is our friend and we wanted to make this a ceremony that both races could be proud of."

Rainbow smiled and nodded. "Yeah, did you see that awesome festooning Dad did with the jewelry?"

Rarity gave a snort of laughter, then quickly covered her mouth with a hoof. "Yes, we made sure everything was festooned with the proper decorations."

Pinkie Pie giggled. "And the Cake's cake was festooned with all kinds of different flavors so everypony and everygriffin could enjoy it!"

Rarity and Pinkie struggled to keep their laughter inside.

Ambassador Corsair rolled his eyes. "I take it you were using Grayfeather's Guide to Griffin Gatherings?"

Rarity, exhausted from the days of preparation, was a bit more jokey than normal and laughed. "Yes. The writer did seem inordinately fond of the word. One might even say the book was festooned with it!"

Grandpa Gruff looked to the human and ponies and removed his fez. "This old bird doesn't say 'thank you' very often, but this deserves it. I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought there might be a stigma among ponies over marrying a griffin, but you went all out and made her feel like royalty. I'm not getting any younger and I was worried she'd end up with some worthless lout, but now I know she's found someone that will take good care of her."

"She's a good friend and it was our pleasure," Rainbow replied with a smile.

Rainbow watched the ponies having a good time and she took up her camera and did her best to capture the event. The picture of Granny Smith dancing with Grandpa Gruff was definitely going on her wall. It was almost time for her and her band to start their part of the musical event. One last traditional dance.

"May I have this dance, Miss Dash?" Big Macintosh asked from behind her.

She turned and was surprised to see him standing on his hind legs. He smiled and gave a gentlemanly bow and held out his hoof. He wasn't wobbling or unsteady. She was more startled than anything, as he was rather shy and for him to ask her to dance at a public event was rather a big step.

"Certainly, Mr. Apple. I would be delighted," she said and curtsied.

With him standing upright, he was actually taller than her, so it was odd to look up to meet his gaze for a change. She put her hand on his hoof and felt the strange sensation of the magic ponies had in their hooves to hold things. The only thing she could compare it to was like putting her hand in fresh dough. The magic gently enveloped her hand as he stood close and put another hoof on her hip.

“This can’t be spur of the moment, dude,” she said as they began to dance.

“Enope. Miss Lyra’s been teachin’ me to stand upright without makin’ a total fool of myself.”

Rainbow blushed as she danced; she was not unaccustomed to dancing in general, but knew others were watching as she could hear cameras taking their picture together and she couldn’t help noticing Princess Cadance and Lady Golden Meadow both looking at her, nodding with knowing smiles. Big Mac had been confident and brave at the start, but as the dance progressed they both began getting increasingly self-conscious. They broke off at the end of the music, both blushing and smiling shyly at each other.

“Uh, hey. Thanks for the dance, big dude,” she said nervously.

He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly. “E-yup. It was my pleasure, Miss Dash.”

When the dance was over, Rainbow approached the princess and matron. "Not one word out of either of you and no meddling. Things are complicated enough as it is."

Cadance gave a big smile. "There's no need. You two have plenty of love already."

The matron smiled up at her and put a hoof on her hand. "I must admit, I always wondered about who you'd end up being drawn to. I knew your being a child of two worlds would complicate things for you."

"Yeah, it has. The Equestrian in me says Big Mac is the kind of guy every mare dreams of—big, strong, handsome, loyal as the day is long, kind and rockin' those awesome unshorn fetlocks, but whenever I think all that, the human part of me interrupts to remind me that I'm in love with a talking horse."

Author's Note:

"Hey, it was the other guy's fault! He thinks he's a big and bad biker, all cool in his leather vest and wearing facial hair and he's like 'I hate Equestria' and 'I hate ponies' and we get in a big fight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u35U2sSgnE0

Comments

[Prismmirror]

I was still getting used to the way humans deal with things and humans prefer to fight their way through problems rather than trying to solve them.

'Cause that's not a stereotype. And she and the EoL have never decided to fight their way through problems in the past... nope...

[RuinQueenofOblivion]

Grandpa Gruff is officially the best Griffon character ever... sorry Gawd, please don't tear me to shreds.

[Shadow Quill]

I love the idea of RainbowMac. It's a ship I haven't seen before and you somehow made it work. Props for doing the unexpected and figuring out how to get it right. Also, Grampa Gruff is best griffon.

[silverthorn]

That bit with Big Mac at the end was awesome.

[Tinyweasels]

10899378
Thanks! Glad you're enjoying the story.