//------------------------------// // Ch 2: Stellar Performance // Story: Silver Strings // by Silver Strings //------------------------------// Silver Strings Ch 2: Stellar Performance It had been a few months since Silver and Star had made their relationship official, and now it was almost time for Star's play. Star was pacing back and forth through Silver's living room. "Oh, what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do!" Silver put a hoof around her, "Star, honey, calm down. You're gonna do fine. I've been watching your practices, you're great. Why are you so nervous anyway?" "Great? I'm only great? I have. To do. Amazing!" "Wait, why?" "Because there's a major talent agent that's gonna be in the audience tomorrow night. If I'm not amazing I'll just remain a small actress in Ponyville. And if I'm thinking about the talent agent I'll be too nervous to be amazing!" "Woah now, just calm down. The easiest thing to do in these situations, is literally just to pretend they don't exist. It's a lot better for your sanity for one thing, and it works. How do you think I got first chair in the orchestra? I just pretend that nopony else exists while I play, to help me focus." "Oh, I don't know...that works for you but...I can't do that..." "Of course you can. You do it all the time when we're together." "No I don't, what are you talking about?" "Usually when we're together nothing else matters but the two of us." "Oh," Star blushed and smiled. "Just take a breath and try it." She closed her eyes and began breathing slowly. "To make it easier, just think about me. Nothing else matters right now but the two of us. Don't think about the play. Don't think about the talent agent. Just me." She opened her eyes and smiled at Silver, "thank you so much Silver. Surprised that something so simple can help that much." Star kissed him. "Anything for you. Think you can do that while you're acting? Or even just when you're stressed normally?" "I'll try. It would definitely be easier with you there to do it with me." Her breathing started to get heavy again. "You alright, Star?" "Yeah, I'll be fine honey." Silver blushed at the pet name 'honey'. "Are you sure? Ooh, I know what might help you calm down." "What?" Silver held out a hoof, "Star, would you like to go on a date?" She perked up, "A date!?" She started bouncing around the room and giggling. "Sooo, is that a yes? I'll take you anywhere you want, as long as its affordable of course." Star managed to compose herself, "of course. Now, I think you should go while I get ready." "But...Star, this is my house." Her eyes widened with embarrassment, "oh, umm...right. Do you think I should head home then?" "No, you look fine as you are." "Good, then I should definitely go home then." "Wait, what? Why did you even ask then?" "'Cause, stallions don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to appearances. Most of the time you don’t wear clothes anyway.” “Star, most of Equestria regularly doesn’t wear clothes.” “But on a date? You’re a royal violinist. I know you have more class than that.” “Ugh, fine.” Silver walked into his room, put on a simple tie and walked back out. “Better?” “Much,” Star replied simply. “That doesn't really help me though.” Silver sighed, "Star, listen to me. You're beautiful as you are. You don't need to change anything. Especially not to please me." She blushed, "alright, I guess I can trust you." "So where do you want to go?" Star chose to have dinner at a very nice restaurant. Once they got their table, the two of them started talking. "So why exactly is this talent agent so important?" Silver asked Star. Stars eyes suddenly grew wide as she looked behind Silver. "Wait, what's wrong? Did I say something?" Silver looked behind him. "No don't look." She pulled his face back towards her. "Why? Who is that? What's wrong?" "That's the talent agent. Oooh, no. This can't be happening." She began looking around nervously, as if searching for a place to escape. "Star, hey. Look at me." She looked at him nervously. "It's alright. I doubt she's going to even recognize you. Do what I said earlier. Nothing else matters right now but the two of us, okay?" "I'm sorry honey, but that's not gonna work right now with her right there!" She was breathing heavily. "I have an idea. Wait here." Silver got up out of his seat. "Silver, what are you doing!?" “I’m just gonna go talk to her. She’s just a pony like the rest of us. If you’re worried she’s not gonna think you’re good enough socially, we’re at a nice restaurant, a restaurant that she herself is eating at. Don't worry. I got this for you." Silver walked over to the agent. Star sat back, unable to hear what he was saying to her; they seemed to be getting along. After a while, Silver began walking back with her. Star began to freak out even more in her head. "Star, I would like you to meet somepony. This is Madame Quality. Madame, Star Shimmer. She's going to be in the play you're reviewing soon." "Well, I must say, it's quite nice to meet such a young and lovely mare. ...What's the matter girl? Speak up." Madame Quality's voice was very dignified. "Oh, she's just nervous." "It's umm, nice to meet you too...Ma’am," Star said shyly. Madame let out a small laugh"Ah, that is understandable. I remember when I was a young mare. Is this your first big play, Ms. Shimmer?" Madame Quality asked. "Umm...yes." Star looked away shyly. "Well, your friend Silver Strings here told me -- come on, look at me, girl." Star looked nervously into her eyes. “Sorry.” "What’s there to be sorry about. I was just like you at your age. My first agent scared the daylights out of me. You at least have the benefit of me being nice.” Madame Quality took a long look into Star’s eyes. “Ah, yes. I can see everything in your eyes. That...special spark that I used to see in my own long ago. And just look at your cutie mark; that alone is a sign of a good actress. We have a lot in common Star Shimmer. We even share a name." Star looked shocked. Silver noticed something off about Stars cutie mark for the first time. He could have sworn earlier that it was a smiling thespian mask, but right now it looked scared. "Yes, my first name is also Star. Well, good night to you two. I should get going; my husband hates waiting for me.” She let out a laugh and then turned her back to the pair. “Have a good performance, Ms. Shimmer." She walked away and left the two to their date. "Oh, Silver. What were you thinking?" Star put her face down on the table. "I made myself look like an idiot," she said, her voice muffled by the table. "No you didn't, she'll remember you now." Silver put a hoof over Stars back. "Yeah, as the pony who made a total fool of herself." "No she won't; she knows what you're going through. Plus she seemed really nice to me." “I just…” Star looked up and let out a heavy sigh. “I hope that went better than I think it did.” *** *** *** During dinner Silver did his best to make Star feel better. By the time their food arrived she was back to her usual, un-nervous, self. "Silver, how did you even do that?” Star asked as they left the restaurant. “You told me you were shy, even though I still don’t believe that." "Yes I am. I also told you, though, I would do anything for you. Star, I just want to make you happy." "Really? You're so sweet, Silver.” Star planted a quick kiss on Silvers lips. “What did I ever do to get you?" "You crashed into me, remember?" Star smiled and laughed. "Oh, shush," she said as she playfully shoved Silver. Silver took another look at Star's cutie mark and it was smiling again. He decided it would be better to just assume he was seeing things. *** *** *** They had finished dinner quite late and Star ended up having to stay over due to exhaustion and the train station being closed for the night. “Silver, I don't want to take your bed. I'm the guest. I'll take the couch. It's fine." Star insisted. "I can't let you do that. You're my marefriend; I can't let you sleep on the couch. Plus you've got your play coming up; you need to be comfortable and well rested." "The play isn't tomorrow. I'm fine with the couch. I know you're trying to be sweet, but I just don't feel right taking your bed from you." "Well I don't feel right letting you take the couch. Just take my bed. I'm fine; I don't have anything important coming up." "Oh, alright. If it'll make you happy." Silver gathered up a blanket and pillow for himself and set up on the couch as Star took his bed. That morning Silver woke up to the smell of baking muffins. "Star is that you?" He asked as he walked into the kitchen. "Yeah, I still felt bad for taking your bed...even if it was very comfortable." "You don't have to feel bad. I offered." "Well, I still made breakfast for you," she said pulling a tray of muffins out of the oven. Silver got a good smell of the fresh muffins, "I...guess I can accept that." He slowly started to gravitate towards the muffins. "Nah-ah-ah. Not yet," she pushed her front hoof against Silver's lips. "There's a little something else that comes with it." She leaned in and kissed him. "Thanks for letting me sleep comfortably; I hope you weren't too uncomfortable on the couch." "No, I'm fine. Can I eat now?" Star giggled at how much of a colt Silver could be. Stallions can be gentlecolts like Silver usually is, but no matter what, the quickest way to their heart is through their stomach. Silver looked up from his muffins. "Ummm," he said with his mouth still full. "Do you want some too?" Star giggled again. "No, I'm alright. I made them for you." He swallowed. "Well, I'm leaving some for you anyway. Just in case." Star smiled. "Alright, I guess I'll take one." "Honey, are you sure you got the right cutie mark? These are good." The pet-name 'honey' made her heart race as usual even though she had been hearing it for quite a while. "It's just an old recipe my mom taught me; I've been using it since I was little." "Ooh, speaking of honey, I bet that would taste good with these. Let me check if I have some." Silver began rummaging through his cabinet. "Hey, I'm sorry to leave so early, but I have rehearsal. I'll see you when it's over." "Ok, bye Star." He didn't stop searching for honey. She started to walk out a little disappointed. "Oh, wait! Before you go," he ran up and kissed her. "Have fun. I'll be waiting outside for you as usual." She smiled. That's what she was waiting for. “Alright, honey. I'll see you there." She happily flew off to her rehearsal. Silver began thinking about Star as soon as she was gone. Her changing cutie mark wouldn't stop bothering him. He could have sworn that it had changed expressions while she was talking to Madame Quality. *** *** *** Silver knew by now how all of Star's rehearsals went; they would practice scenes for a while and then run through the full play. Generally, Silver would distract himself with games or errands until they started the run through of the play. Star didn't know that he watched her at every rehearsal. Silver decided to stop by the bank so he could get something special for Star after the final showing of the play. "Well, well. Who do we have here? Grabbing more money for that marefriend of yours?" Silver heard a burly voice ask from behind him. “If you’re not careful you’re gonna run yourself dry.” "Hey Big Bit." Big Bit was the owner of Silver's bank. "Yeah, stopping by again for Star. She's been really stressed about the play and I wanted to get something for after it's done." "Haha! You don't see ponies as devoted as you so much anymore. You're quite lucky the music biz' pays so well. You come here almost every week for that pony of yours." "Yeah, I know I spoil her." "You thinking of marrying her?" Silver's eyes grew wide, his jaw dropped, and he blushed furiously. Big Bit let out a loud guffaw, "that's a 'yes' if I've ever seen one." "We- yeah, but...not yet! We've only known each other for what, five months? That's hardly enough time for a proposal!" "Who ever said there were limits on love?" "There may not be limits on love, but certainly there are limits on marriage...right? I...haven't even told her I love her yet," Silver hung his head a little at the last sentence. "Well, I have an idea then. After her play, tell her. When she walks out, hug her, kiss her, give her a gift, tell her 'you were amazing. You are amazing. Star Shimmer, I love you'," he said all this very loudly and with dramatic movements of his body. Ponies who didn't know the two of them were staring at Big Bit. "Move along, move along. Nothing to see here!" Big Bit demanded. "Even if I did that, it's still too early to propose. Yeah, I really care about her, hay, I love her, but, we haven't known each other long enough to commit to marriage." "Oh please. I've seen the way you look at her. You couldn't imagine yourself with another mare if you tried." "Yes I can." Silver pointed a hoof at a random mare, "I could see myself with her!" Big Bit gave him a skeptical look. "Fine! You're right. I can't picture myself with anypony else. She’s the mare of my dreams. It's just -- no matter how much I love her -- it's just too early." "You'll come around." "So...can I get my withdrawal now? You kinda pulled me out of the line and I have to be somewhere in about twenty minutes." "Yeah, I'll get it for you myself." He left and came back with about 300 bits. "Woah, this is way more than I need. I only wanted to take out two thirds of that." "Yes, I know. Think of the rest as a gift from me to the both of you." "Thanks Big Bit. Now, I gotta go." Silver took off towards the theater Star practiced at. *** *** *** The stage was an open air amphitheater and Silver took his place atop a cloud and watched from above so that Star wouldn't know he was there. He watched them rehearse from beginning to end; in his opinion, it was performance ready, but to the director it still needed more work than they had time for. Silver met Star at the entrance of the theater as usual. “Hey, don't listen to the director. You guys all look great." "How would you know what we looked like? Nopony was in the audience. Unless...was that you in the cloud?" She asked him. "What cloud? I don't know what you're talking about." "The cloud lingering above the stage. You know, clouds are supposed to move in the sky. Not very subtle just sitting there like that." "Oh yeah, that cloud," he said, trying to play it off. "Yeah, that was me. I was early so I caught the last few minutes," he said, still trying to play it off. "Honey, that cloud was there for at least an hour." "Oh alright, fine. I watched the whole thing," Silver said before playfully sticking his tongue at her. Star smiled, knowing she had won again. Star always won their little 'arguments'. And when she didn't it's either because they tied, or because she let Silver win. "So how was it?" She asked nervously. Silver didn't answer her, but kissed her instead. "Answer your question?" "You know, I always assume you mean yes, but sometimes I'm not sure if you're actually saying no and just looking for an excuse to kiss me." "It's both. I mean yes and it's an excuse to kiss you." Star smiled and shyly looked away. The next few weeks continued in a similar way. Silver would 'hide' in a cloud to watch star perform, sometimes she would notice, sometimes not. If rehearsal ran late or if they went out after rehearsal, Star would stay the night and make breakfast in the morning. Then, before they knew it, it was the night before the play, and Star was freaking out. "Just breathe deeply, everything will be fine Star." Silver tried to calm her down. "How can everything be fine with this going on? Oooh, I'm so scared." "You know I've been watching you rehearse; you guys are great. Madame Quality already knows you; I'm sure she will talk to you about the performance." "Yeah but what if--" Silver interrupted her with a kiss. "You won't. Believe in yourself honey." "You're too good. You know that?" "Mmm, I'm not gonna deny it. Come on, I got you a little something. I was planning on giving it to you tomorrow but it seems like you need it now." Star kissed him for a long time. "I can wait until tomorrow then. The thought itself calms me down pretty well." Silver smiled. "Alright then. I'll wait until after the play to give it to you. Come on now. It's late, and you've got a big day tomorrow." Silver took her to bed, his bed as usual, kissed her goodnight and went to where he had been sleeping on the couch. When he woke up, he smelled the usual muffin smell, but Star wasn’t there as she usually was. She had already gone off to her final dress rehearsal before Silver was even awake. Celestia bless her for how sweet she was. She didn't have to take the time to make muffins every morning but she did just for him. After cleaning up, Silver happily ate the muffins and set out to go see the days first performance. There would be three performances that day and Silver planned to see all three. Star would be the most nervous about the last since that was the performance that Madame Quality was expected to be at. Silver found his spot atop the clouds and watched the rehearsal. The director actually seemed pleased by the end of it. Silver certainly was. "Hey Star," Silver said as Star walked up to him after she got out of her costume. "You guys are gonna be great tonight." "Got your head in the clouds again?" Silver laughed. "That was clever. Yeah, I was watching. So what time is the first performance?" "It's in two hours." "Ooh, okay. Good. Would you like to go on one last date before your performance? You know, to boost your confidence." "How could I say no?" Silver took Star to a nice place for lunch. While they were eating they heard a very elegant voice nearby them. They both recognized the owner of the voice instantly. "Why hello again Ms. Shimmer. I didn't think I would get to see you again before the performance. How has it been going?" "He-hello Madame Quality. I-it's been going well." Star was instantly nervous. "Oh come now girl. Calm down. I have perfect confidence in you. I'm sure your coltfriend here feels the same way." "I know she is gonna do great." Silver agreed with her. "Th-thank you." Star attempted to compose herself. "I look forward to letting you see us. We've all been working very hard to make this a tremendous performance." Silver caught a look at Star's cutie mark and again it looked nervous. Now he was sure there was something up with it. "Aha! Now that's the confidence I was looking for. Well, I’ll certainly see you tonight Ms. Shimmer. Have a nice lunch." Madame Quality turned and walked out of the restaurant. "See, what did I say? I told you she would remember you." Silver said once Madame Quality was gone. Star took a deep breath. "Well that definitely went better than last time. I actually feel pretty good now." Silver took another look at Star's cutie mark and again it was smiling like normal. He had some questions but he decided to hold them off until later. They finished their lunch and headed back to theater so that Star could get dressed for the play. *** *** *** All three performances went phenomenally. There were no mistakes that Silver could see from any members of the cast. By the end of it, Silver could practically recite the whole thing himself. Silver met Star outside the theater. "We did it, we did it, we did it," Star said excitedly as she pranced in a circle around Silver. "It was great Star. You guys really pulled through." Silver momentarily thought about what Big Bit had told him to do but quickly decided against it to spare his own embarrassment. Madame Quality walked up to them, Star still bouncing around Silver. When she noticed Madame Quality, she stopped instantly and blushed furiously. Madame Quality's face was blank and serious. "H-hello Madame Quality." Star looked away shyly. She kept a straight face for a few moments but slowly, Madame Quality's straight face broke into a wide smile. "Well done Ms. Shimmer. It's been quite some time since I've seen a performance as flawless as yours tonight. I'll be sure to get ahold of you if I find something for you to be in. For now, goodbye Star Shimmer." Star had a huge smile on her face. "Goodbye Madame Quality." "Oh please, if I'm going to be your agent, call me by my first name." "O-okay. Goodbye Star Quality." Star Quality turned to talk to some of the other performers and the director. "It feels so weird addressing somepony with the same name as me. Especially somepony who is so important. So...you said you had a gift for me?" "Well, its a couple things. They're all at home though, so let's go." Silver took Star home to give her her gifts. "So first," Silver pulled star into a long kiss. "Congratulations on your performance tonight." Star blushed. "That's a good way to say good job," she said shakily. "Next: I had this brought in straight from the best seamstress I knew." Silver pulled out a beautiful dark blue dress from a chest in his room. "Oh my...Silver, this is amazing, but how did you afford this? And who even made it for you?" "I flew to Ponyville myself to talk to Rarity during one of your rehearsals. She was more than overjoyed to make it after I told her the reason. Derpy brought it in just last week for me." "Silver...I...I love you. I don't want to scare you, but I love you. I really do." Star was smiling but she was having a hard time looking at Silver. Silver gently pushed her face towards his to make her look at him. He had a huge smile across his face. "And that was the last thing I had for you. I guess you beat me to it though. Star, I love you too. We've only known each other a short time but in that time you've made yourself the most important thing in my life. Six months ago I didn't even know you existed, but now I can't imagine my life if you didn't exist." Star was almost brought to tears she was so happy. “Silver, I don’t even know what to say.” “Don’t say anything yet. There’s one last thing I want to ask you.” “What is it?” Silver took a deep breath. “Star...would you like to move here with me?” Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all characters directly from the show belong to Hasbro. I do not own any rights to anything that isn't an original character.