Birthday Bios: Sunny Crystal

You know, if folks wanted to write about Silver Shill more often, I betcha that the majority of fics involving his backstory would probably involve some sort of critical-as-heck mother that would dig at his insecurities to the point that her son has a nervous breakdown. It'd probably make sense, but I already did that sort of parent with Cheese Sandwich and wanted to do something different with Silver (granted, it never even crossed my mind--my first idea for Silver's backstory was he had to pay a debt to Flim and Flam after getting an expensive necklace for his mom).

Besides, I sure wouldn't trade Sunny here for some cliche. Look at her, she's adorable!

Anyway, off to her story!

Sunny Crystal was born in Halterside on a warm summer day. Named for her sunny disposition, she was a happy baby that got her parents and older sister smiling. She always had an adorable chub that made her have pinch-able cheeks, and she was adored by everyone in town.

She was exposed to the beach at a young age, and has enjoyed it ever since. No matter what her age, she'll always be building sand castles, wading in the water, and sunbathing. While she admits with embarrassment that she has gotten sunburns, she's still perky and upbeat about her time in the sun. She has often tried to find seaponies, but she's been unsuccessful.

She wasn't ever able to really lose her baby fat. It was noticeable even when she was starting school, and her classmates teased her for it. She was bewildered and upset when something that had been a mark of her cuteness was now an object of ridicule. She went home crying when she was called "squishy", "blubber", and "marshmallow", and she started to be a little shy after that. Anypony that she could have viewed as a new friend was instead viewed as a potential bully who'd only see her fat.

There were a couple of ponies that saw beyond that and became her friend. Those were firm friends that she'd have for life, and she'd play dolls with them, dress up with them, and go to the beach with them. They often yammered about cute colts and what kinds of names they would give their future foals. Sunny has admitted that she likes the name 'Pearl'.

She got her cutie mark after making a necklace for her mother for her birthday. She was so excited after getting her cutie mark that she made necklaces for her friends and any nice fillies (or colts) that asked. She found that making jewelry soothed her whenever she was upset, and it was either that or a trip to the beach whenever she needed some time to calm down and think. She often sold her necklaces and anklets and whatever else she made, seeing as they were often more jewelry than she needed.

As an adolescent, she got a job working as a salespony in Halterside's local jewelry store. While she couldn't sell any of her own creations there, she knew enough of what she had to sell that she was pretty effective at it. Some of her favorite customers were stallions asking advice on what kind of trinket they should give to the mare they wanted to marry.

Of course, there were some who derided her based on her chubbiness. Some complained to the owner that she shouldn't be the first face they see in a jewelry store because she wasn't attractive enough. That hurt a lot, and she often had to hold back tears until she got home. She wasn't even sure she'd attract a good colt, especially that cute new colt, Noble Metal.

They happened to bump into each other on the beach one day, and though she opted to hide behind a rock, he assured her that he was friendly. They started a friendship as they splashed in the water and built sand castles together, and she offered to get her brother-in-law to give them a boat ride. Noble, curious about what a boat ride on the ocean was like, accepted, and offered her a tour of the lighthouse he worked at in return.

They had several years of their sweet friendship, though Sunny didn't think it'd be romantic at any point. She wasn't a thin and beautiful mare, and while she has tried to lose weight, she couldn't keep a good routine. At the very least, she kept it down to levels where life was manageable and she had as few problems as possible. So, she just expected him to invite her to his wedding, and she would be happy for him and his bride.

She found herself invited, all right, but she didn't expect herself to be the bride. Being a bit of a craftspony himself, Noble had gone through a lot of trouble to make her a necklace to propose to her with. He even managed to get a couple of real pearls to put in the trinket, which Sunny was able to spot easily. She was overjoyed with his proposal, and soon enough, they wed.

Their first foal was a daughter, Platinum Pen. She was a rather serious little filly, but Sunny and Noble tried pretty hard to get her to smile. One they got that smile (which unfortunately involved Noble having a slapstick routine with eggs), they snapped a picture to hang on the wall forever. Noble liked that little Penny had her mother's dimples.

A couple years later, their second daughter, Pearly Whites, was born. Sunny was happy to get to use the name she always wanted to, though she wasn't so happy with how fussy and clingy Pearl turned out to be. She often had to ease some annoyance on Penny's side as well.

On the plus side, Sunny didn't have ask Pearl to clean up her messes--Pearl was a neat freak who did it on her own.

Her and Noble's third foal was the first and only son, Silver Shill. While Sunny initially wanted 'Shell', a mix-up ended up having his name be 'Shill' instead. They still took to calling him their little silver seashell, and generally flowed well with his more easygoing personality. Still, he was kind of timid and prone to pouting. Not to mention he was subject to Pearl's obsession with cleanliness, which had Sunny put the filly in time out whenever she did something that was kind of harmful to the baby.

Five years after Silver's birth came Comedy Gold. Sunny and Noble liked that she was practically born laughing and was a happy baby. What they didn't like was how much trouble she tended to get into. Often, Goldie would be sending two-thirds of her older siblings into a panic. At least she behaved for her father, and both Sunny and Noble found some incidents funny enough to write down and tell stories about.

The next few years were a mix of chaos and bliss. Summers equaled playing on the beach, swimming, and going on camping trips, and winters equaled snowponies, snowball fights, and Noble's special mix of hot cocoa, that he liked to sell as much as Sunny liked to sell jewelry. Often, Sunny would be making trinkets for her daughters, like a necklace of teeth for Pearl (which freaked out the other kids), a brooch for a dress Penny wore to a dance, or even gag glasses for Goldie. She and Noble worked together to show Silver how to make a necklace in case there was a girl that he liked.

She continued to work at that jewelry shop, both in selling and cleaning the merchandise. She had brought each of the kids at least once; Silver was both the best behaved and the most interested in her job, while Goldie is the one that Sunny's not allowed to bring in anymore.

Her and Noble's relationship was still strong after eighteen years. They liked having their anniversaries to themselves, sending the four kids off to Grandma's while they had a trip to Baltimare to have dinner and see the sights. They'd go on and chat about life and work and what the kids did that was funny or frustrating. They also discussed having an anniversary that was different from their norm, such as taking a trip to Manehattan instead, or perhaps to Canterlot. They decided that their 25th anniversary would be a proper year to do that.

It wasn't meant to be, however. Nightmare Night had an incident with some teenage pegasi stealing clouds from the weather station and trying to make the 'Haunted Lighthouse' setting more eerie. All it did was cause a terrible storm that had everypony running for cover. Noble, however, was caught by some rough waves that ended up killing him.

Sunny was very upset by the news, and after crying for a couple of days, she fell into depression. She put herself in a ho-hum routine of going to work and back, make an easy meal for the kids, and then fashion some kind of necklace or bracelet as she thought about how there was a hole in her life. On occasion, her routine would be disrupted by the need for groceries or trying to get her kids Hearth's Warming presents, but not by any festivities that came up. She only got out of her numb routine after all four of her kids got through to her about how they were all upset about the tragedy.

Now that her husband was gone, she was the main source of income for the family, and that meant she couldn't spoil her children. She still managed to give them what they needed and let them have a little fun, but they couldn't have their luxuries as often as they used to. Penny and Pearl took on jobs to both help and save for the schools they wanted to go to. Silver was selling his mother's little bead necklaces to his classmates, and Goldie took to scanning the streets for spare change, if she wasn't sneaking into committee meetings for her own party planning purposes.

Sending Penny to law school was a bit difficult, though a bit of assistance from a college fund that she and Noble created made it easier. Sending Pearl off to dental school was a nightmare, with everyone bone tired from working so hard to get her there. After that, college was not an option for Silver and Goldie.

A few years later, another problem arose: Goldie got sick with a bad case of colic, enough to require surgery. Since surgeries tended to cost a lot of money, Sunny had to work harder, her other daughters had to send money, and Silver got so desperate for a job that he ended up having a stint with conponies Flim and Flam. While he did manage to bring home some money after that, he still tried to find some employment.

An incident at Halterside's Town Festival had Goldie reopen the surgical wound and get sent back to the hospital to fix it, adding more to their debt. On the other hoof, Silver made a couple of new friends that helped him make his contribution to paying off the bill. One convinced him to open a pizzeria in town and gave him a rundown on budgeting and business-running, and the other helped fund it and even worked with him as penance for the incident.

Sunny was skeptical about the pizzeria at first, but it became a hit. While she still worries about the bill, she's at least happy that her son found a way to help that didn't involve a con. Not only that, but her youngest daughter healed quickly and was soon back in action.

Overall, she's quite proud of her children for what they do, and she even likes the ponies they associate with in some way, such as son-in-law Coppersmith (Penny's husband), and old and new friends like Jelly Jubilee and Silk Shimmer. She's also happy to say that she's a proud grandmother to a colt that bears her late husband's name.

She still misses her husband terribly, but she's content with her life.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

I wish Silver Shill were popular enough to have cliches associated with him. He certainly has rich potential as a character.

In any case, an enlightening look at the Metal family's matriarch. (That necklace of teeth sounds especially imposing. )