On The Wings of Wind

"You really can manipulate air as easily as breathing now, huh?"

That was Twilight's observation as she and Zephyr were testing his new magic capabilities with the 'Breezie Charm' on. It was to the point where his magic was more akin to Unicorn magic with a fresh coat of wind-aspected paint. It was also as she surmised right after he got it that his magic was nowhere near as powerful as before.

Zephyr picks up a book from a top shelf and opens it with said magic without ever flying. "It kind of feels strange, not going to lie. But maybe this will help keep my magic from going out of control with those bursts."

"You haven't had any since you started wearing the charm, right?"

"No, but I suppose that would raise the new concern of "what if said bursts were my body's way of venting my wind magic safely" or something like that." Zephyr frowned. "I really do wish someone out there had more information on how Falconites lived and used magic..."

Twilight let out a sigh at that, understanding his frustration. "You mentioned that Discord wasn't helpful in that regard, right? A shame too, I would have loved to hear about it." A knock on the door interrupted the two. "Come in!"

"Hello, is one Twilight Sparkle in-- hello Zephyr!" Windy and Bow had entered the library and were overjoyed to see their future son-in-law.

Zephyr let out an amused chuckle. "Hey! Going around introducing yourself to Rainbow's friends?" Looking at Twilight, he motions towards the two. "These two are Rainbow's parents!"

"Oh, it's an honor to meet you!" Twilight flew down with a smile. "You just wished to introduce yourselves to me?"

Bow nods at that. "Yup! I'm Bow Hothoof and this is my wife Windy Whistles. A pleasure to meet you, Princess Twilight, and thank you for being friends with our Rainbow Dash!"

"Just Twilight will do, and I'm honored to be Rainbow Dash's friend. Her loyalty has saved me on a number of occasions!" Those words overjoyed the parents, which made Twilight wonder how hers were doing.

"Have you introduced yourselves to everypony else?" Came Zephyr's question, since he had an idea of who the two already met.

Windy smiles as she nods. "Yup! We met the Cakes and Pinkie Pie, We already met Rarity and her little sister, and we're just now meeting you! Anypony else we're missing?"

"Just Applejack on Sweet Apple Acres. Does Rainbow know--"

"Yeah I know." Rainbow entered the library was a wry look on her face. "They informed me that they wanted to do so just to get to know everypony. Mom, dad, Sweet Apple Acres is to the south, you can't miss it!" Both of them smile at their daughter and hug her as they head out. "I can't believe I'm saying this... but I never realized how much I missed them..."

That got a curious glance from Twilight. "You know, I just realized that you never talked about your family. Is there a story?"

"Basically..."

"... Make sure that hats and bows closet is fully stocked." Applebloom goes to check and nearly has the whole closet fall on her. "That's a check from me!" There was a knock on the door. "Who could that be?"

Answering the door revealed two Pegasus ponies. "Hello, is a pony by the name of Applejack here?"

"My sister? Ya' just missed her, she's off making a delivery and ah' don't know when she's coming back."

"Oh... that's a shame. She's the last of Rainbow Dash's friends we wanted to introduce ourselves to." Windy gives her husband a sad look. "Nothing for it, we'll just have to come back another day."

"Wait... you two know Rainbow Dash?" Applebloom's curiosity got piqued.

Bow grins. "Know her? We're her parents! Ah, but may we know your name?"

"Name's Applebloom and ah'm old enough to look after mah'self!" The filly announced with glee.

Windy beams at her. "That's great! I'm sure your family is proud of you! Perhaps we should let you get to it--"

"Applebloom, why are ya' talking to strangers?!" The three of them gave a start when Applejack suddenly zipped between them and Applebloom. "Who're y'all and what do ya' want with mah' sister?!"

"O-oh dear, there's a miscommunication going on--"

"Miscommunication, nothing! Get out of here before ah'--"

"APPLEJACK!" The farmer gave a start when her little sister shouted at her like that. "Don' be rude! These are Rainbow Dash's parents and they went out of their way to come see YOU!"

Bow nods. "It's true! Certainly our timing was... off, but we were going to leave little Applebloom alone once we heard you weren't here!"

After observing them for a bit, Applejack could tell they weren't lying. "Alright... ah' believe ya'. Still, Applebloom, ah' told ya' not to answer the door if yer' all alone!"

"Applejack, what about the fact that ah' can take care of myself?! What about your pie delivery?"

"Pies? Family's more important!"

"Dear... is this..?" Bow whispered to his wife, who nodded with uncertainty. "Alright well... is a visit still out of the question?"

"Ya' can, but it seems there's still various chores that still need doing 'round here. If ya' want to stay and watch, go ahead." Was Applejack's response.

Windy and Bow did so, but they were perturbed by how overprotective of Applebloom Applejack was being. Windy gives her husband a worried look. "Was this... how we were treating Rainbow Dash all her life?"

"How you were what now?" Rainbow had shown up to see how her parents were getting along with the Apple family.

Bow motions towards a frustrated Applebloom. "Tell it to us straight, Rainbow. Were we just as bad as Applejack here?"

"Huh?" After observing for a bit, Rainbow Dash quickly realized what her parents were getting at with a grimace. "Kind of, though with overindulgence rather than coddling. Even so, I can relate to Applebloom's frustration... but I've never seen AJ this bad before."

"Did something happen recently, maybe?" Windy really wanted to help Applebloom, or at the very least teach Applejack not to be so coddling. "Wait... we were similar once... dear, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Bow grins. "I sure am! Let's give little Applebloom a rest while we go 'praise' Applejack." Rainbow was baffled, especially when her mother winked at her.

When Applejack started setting up nets around the apple farm to "keep Applebloom from getting an owie", Windy suddenly popped up beside her. "Say, isn't this the first safety net you've put up since we met? Let me laminate that for you!"

"Uh, what?" Applejack was completely thrown off by the action as Windy took the net and came back with it bundled up onto a trophy. "T-thanks? Ah' kinda need that fer' safety reasons."

"Oh posh! We do need to keep a record of your achievements, right?"

Applejack rolled her eyes as she picked up one of the apples that were dropped. Bow suddenly popped up with his own grin. "Hey, sport! That's your first apple picked up? Here's a trophy to commemorate!" He gives Applejack a gold trophy of an apple in the exact same likeness as the one she just picked up.

"Now hang on, what's going on here?!"

Rainbow, while in the background, immediately saw what her parents were doing and did her best not to burst into laughter. Applebloom, now free of Applejack's coddling for the time being, wandered over to the Pegasus with a confused look. "What's going on?"

"You'll see."

Throughout the day while Applejack was trying to work, Windy and Bow kept popping up to 'overindulge' her with various rewards and achievements. It was really starting to get to the farmer. "Can ah' ask you something? Why are you doing this to somepony who's a stranger?!"

Bow pops up while looking like he's thinking. "For one, you ARE our daughter's friend so we have a connection there."

"But even if that's not enough, we heard an interesting tidbit of information." Windy gives Applejack a sly grin. "Seems your family has all but adopted the Windstorms as part of your family. Considering our daughter is dating one, we might become part of your extended family one day as well. Hence, we aren't strangers and can celebrate all your accomplishments!"

Now Applebloom was doing her best not to laugh, especially when she saw her sister get more irate as the day went on. Eventually, Applejack had enough. "WILL YA' STOP THAT?! Do ya' HAVE to reward EVERY. LITTLE. THING ah' do?!"

Bow, figuring it was enough, gives Applejack a wry look. "I don't know, do you have to protect Applebloom from every little 'precieved' danger?"

"What?! this and that have nothing--"

"Applejack, they have EVERYTHING to do with each other." Now Windy was stern, which caused the farmer to actually back off a bit. "Tell me, how happy do you think your sister is when you constantly hover over her, coddling at every turn? I mean, pillows on a rake? That defeats the whole purpose of HAVING a rake!"

"B-but she might hurt herself an'--"

Now Bow had a disapproving look. "If she hurts herself, help her out THEN. But what you're doing right now is stifling her. Do you want your sister to hate you? Can you live with the fact that she might end up running away from the farm to live somewhere else?"

Applejack opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. She couldn't answer because the scenario Rainbow Dash's parents just laid out for her hurt her heart way too badly. "Ah'... ah' don't want... that..."

"Then why do you coddle her so? What underlying issue is making you act like this?" Windy remembered when Harpsong wanted to explore something similar when they were trying to patch things up with their daughter.

After some hesitation, Applejack relented. "Ah' can tell ya'... let's go inside so we are more comfortable..."

Applebloom and Rainbow Dash joined as well, no longer finding humor the the scenario. Once everypony was settled, Applejack shook her head. "Ah'm the way ah am because... ah' feel like ah' need to be a parental substitute... after ma' and pa' passed away after Applebloom was born. Not only that, but mah' little stint with going to Manehattan to live with mah' relatives there... really did a number on me when ah' realized ah' was homesick..."

"Applejack..." As much as the coddling still irritated her, Applebloom started feeling bad for hating her sister.

"That's why ah' constantly looked out for her, trying to be the best mom-sister ah' could be. But ah' guess the main reason... is that ah' couldn't accept that she was growing up so fast..."

Windy pats Applejack on the shoulder with an understanding look. "We know... because, as parents, we did something similar with our daughter after our first baby was stillborn." That got a terrified look from Applejack. "It took the Windstorms visiting with Rainbow Dash before we realized just how out of line we were. And that's why we were acting the way we did today, to try and show you just how frustrating something like that can be."

Rainbow Dash nodded at that. "After our meeting, mom and dad did their best to dial back their overindulgence with me because they didn't want to be cut out from my life. That's part of why they did that to you, AJ. They don't want you going through the same thing."

"Ah'... ah'm sorry, Applebloom. No matter how much ya' wanted to prove yer'self... ah' didn't want to accept that you were growing up..."

Applebloom left her seat and hugged her sister. "Ah' know you love me, sis, but all ah' ask is the chance to prove myself... to show ah' can take care of myself. It's not like ah'll cut our family off just because ah can do so!"

"Ah'... no, yer' right. It'll be difficult for me... but ah'll try mah' best fer' ya'."

Bow smiles at the sight. "Glad we could help using our own experiences." Rainbow Dash nuzzles him and Windy at those words.

"By the way, Applejack, you still have pies to deliver."

That got a look of panic from the farmer. "Oh no! Ah' better get going again!" That's when she had a thought. "Applebloom, ah'll give ya' a choice here. Did ya' want to stay here by yer'self... again, or did ya' want to help me deliver the pies? Before ya' say anything, this would be just to show you how dangerous some of our routes can be in the future."

Applebloom, wanting to reconnect with her sister without the coddling, smiled. "Ah'll come with. How bad can it be?" That got an eye roll from Applejack.

"Well, I'm glad everything worked out!" Windy gets up from her spot. "Side note, you CAN still look out for your sister, just let her try and solve something for herself first before helping."

"Huh... why does that sound like a lesson Zephyr learned with Fluttershy?" Everypony laughs at Rainbow Dash's amused question.

As Rainbow and her parents leave Sweet Apple Acres, they see Twilight flying back in. Bow waves to her. "Did you leave town for something?"

"Yeah... our chat earlier made me realize I missed my parents so I went to Canterlot to visit them."

"Aw, that's nice to do!" Windy suddenly had an idea. "One of these days, we should invite all our families to an outing! A total of six families, that would be a great time!" Rainbow rolled her eyes while Twilight looked happy at the suggestion.