"Are these your parents?"
Rarity looked up from her work. She'd been working on a design she had in mind for her visitor, Mole Cricket. The fellow had made a rather substantial commission today, wanting to order an entire winter wardrobe for the upcoming change in the seasons. After staying two weeks in Ponyville, autumn was already halfway over, and Winter Startup was just on the horizon. Designing clothing for him was a challenge, not least because he had a body-type and a color scheme quite unlike any other creature she had ever designed for, let alone having his own natural armor. This was going to be tricky...
Peering over her glasses, she looked to see what her client was doing. Cricket was looking at a photo set upon her desk. "Yes," she said, "Those are indeed my parents, Cricket." The changeling nodded, and seemed to study the picture with interest. Odd. After a moment, Rarity returned to her work.
A few seconds later, he said, hesitantly, "They're not exactly what I expected..."
Rarity looked up from her work, an eyebrow raised. She'd had this conversation before, and it always annoyed her. "Oh? And what were you expecting?"
Cricket seemed to fumble at this point, having difficulty putting into words what he meant. "Well," he said, "It's just, since you had such an interest in gemstones and fashion, I would have thought your parents would have had similar interests. Instead, your father seems a bit of a sports-stallion, and your mother... well, I'm not quite sure what to make of her."
Now that surprised her. Most ponies would comment on the fact that she was much more refined, and her parents were far more... rustic. The fact that they seemed to have radically different interests very rarely came up. "Well, darling," she admitted, "You'll see that quite often. Sometimes parents and children do have very similar interests. Other times, they can be radically different. This might surprise you, but Pinkie Pie's parents are rather serious rock farmers. They rarely laughed or smiled before Pinkie Pie found her special talent. I've met them a couple of times when they came to visit her. They're rather... stoic, but they're pleasant company."
Cricket nodded thoughtfully. After a few seconds, he said, "I suppose that makes sense: I've met Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor, and had I not been told that they were related, I wouldn't have expected them to be brother and sister. I suppose it's no surprise that the same can go for parent and child. Hmmmm..."
Cricket now seemed to be lost in thought. Rarity turned back to her work, but after a moment, she took off her glasses, looked back at the changeling, then asked, "Something on your mind, darling?"
Cricket was startled out of whatever chain of thought he'd been following, then after a moment, he shrugged. "Well," he said, "I suppose it's just... I notice that you have a very nice place here, and your parents seem to live in something a little more... basic. I can't say I know much about pony society yet, but... is there a reason you live in someplace so... fanciful, while they live someplace so down to earth?"
Hmmm, he seemed to be phrasing it a lot more politely than she would have expected. "Well, Cricket, I suppose they are a bit more "down to earth" than I am. I've made enough working here that I could buy them someplace much nicer, but neither of them would want to hear such a thing. The two of them built that house together with their own hooves when they were my age. They're happy right where they are, and it would break their hearts to move out. No amount of money could ever replace that house. While I might be a bit more... 'fanciful', I suppose I'm a bit more ambitious than they are, as well. My parents are happy right where they are. I'm aiming for much bigger things in my life."
Cricket nodded, seeming a bit surprised. "I can relate."
Rarity raised an eyebrow. She asked, "Oh? And what does that mean?"
Cricket hesitated, then seemed to decide that he could go into a little detail regarding what he meant. "I was born at the very bottom of changeling society. Unlike an aristo, I didn't have any parents to raise me. I was just put in a classroom full of other commonborn changelings, and very little was expected of me, except to grow up to fight changelingkind's enemies. But I was... ambitious, myself, I suppose. I sought out somebuggy who could teach me more than what I was expected to be taught. Enough that I could not just survive, but thrive, in the future. Where many of the other changelings in my generation didn't do much beyond earning a name, at best, I ended up becoming a squad leader when I was eight, a lieutenant when I was ten, and was made commander when I turned thirteen. And now, here I am, forging ahead into territory that no other changeling has ever dared explore. So, yes, I can understand somepony with humble origins having grander aspirations."
Rarity rubbed her chin in thought at that. She'd not thought that the two of them had anything in common, but then, many would think she didn't share many interests with her other friends, either. After a moment, she asked, "You weren't raised by your parents, darling?"
Cricket shrugged eloquently, and said, "Parents were a privilege. The aristos liked to keep their bloodlines... pure, so they took special care to make certain that their eggs were well looked after, and never mistaken for more common changelings. Commoners, since there were so many more of them, didn't have the resources, or the spare time, to look after their own eggs, and all eggs look pretty much the same anyways, so in order to prevent confusion, they were just all kept together. Everybuggy treated every hatchling like they might be their own offspring. I couldn't tell you what my parents may be like. Similar? Different? Who's to say? I may have met them in passing, and never knew of it. Personally, now that I'm out of the swarm, I wouldn't mind having a couple of kids of my own to raise, one day..." He abruptly stopped, noticing that Rarity was giggling. He abruptly blushed, realizing that he was getting into very personal territory.
Smiling brightly, Rarity said, "It's rather rare to hear you talk about yourself, Cricket. I must admit, you've surprised me." After a moment, she grinned, and said, "Well, I, for one, think you'd make an excellent father one day. I've seen how well you've gotten along with Sweetie Belle, and her friends Applebloom and Scootaloo seem rather taken with you as well."
Cricket began blushing much more brilliantly. She had heard that he'd been made an official member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, due to his own lack of a mark. The fact that changelings didn't get a mark didn't seem to dissuade them from dragging him along with them, at least every other day, on one of their misadventures. While Rainbow Dash had insisted on going along with them (the pegasus was convinced that Cricket was up to something, and wasn't about to leave the changeling alone with Scootaloo, not to mention the other two), she'd admitted that he did seem to have a way with children, and took everything in seemingly good humor. In exchange, the three seemed to consider him something akin to an older brother.
"Well, wherever your parents may be, Cricket, I'm certain that they'd be quite proud of you, regardless of whether you're just like them, or totally different. Ah, but returning to the reason for your visit, darling," Rarity said, smiling warmly, "I have a few ideas for a look for your winter wear that I can show you now. And, as you requested, I have some hats that you can try on. Feel free to tell me what you think."