Silver Strings Ch 4: The Next Step
Settling in was the easy part. Unpacking took forever, but that was just in the nature of moving. Silver found a home just on the edge of town. It was quiet enough for his liking, and it was close to where Star lived. Everypony in Ponyville was Silver's type, aside from Pinkie. She was still crazy, but she was a crazy he could deal with. He had to admit; her parties were the best.
Now it was time for the hard part. Silver paced his living room, waiting for Star to arrive so she would take him to meet her parents. It had been easy enough for her to meet his, but Silver had to make a good impression. Unlike his parents, her's lived in the same town.
Star walked in as Silver was taking another round through his living room. "Honey, what are you so worried about? My parents are going to love you." She put a hoof around him to stop his pacing.
"How do you know that?" Silver responded.
"Because, you moved to a whole new town just to be with me. You left your friends and family behind, and that aside, you were willing to practically buy me a house. In Canterlot! It's clear that you love me and you want to take care of me. That's all they care about."
"I-I-I just..."
"There's nothing to worry about. Just breathe."
Silver took a long, deep breath. "Alright... Let's go."
*** *** ***
Star walked into her old home with Silver nervously following behind her. "Mom, Dad, I've got a surprise for you. Oooh, what's that smell?"
The two of them sniffed the air.
"It smells like your muffins, but slightly different."
They heard a mares voice come from the kitchen, "hey Honey. I see you finally brought your special somepony over. The muffins should be ready in about ten minutes. I know he likes them."
Silver looked over at Star with a confused look. "How does she know that?" He whispered
Star shrugged. "Mother's intuition? How should I know?" Star decided to switch subjects. "Hey mom, is dad home?"
They heard a response from the kitchen, "no, he's at work. Should be home by dinner though. Opf, why are we yelling to each other. Get on in here so I can see you two."
The couple walked into the kitchen to see a table set perfectly for four. "Did Star tell you I was coming over?" Silver asked her.
"Nope," she said simply, still preparing food. She turned around to look at the pair. "Well, you're a handsome one."
Silver bashfully smiled and looked away.
"You two get settled down. I'll be right out. Go ahead and leave your saddlebag by the front door."
Silver and Star walked back out into the living room to wait. "Did you tell her I was coming over?"
"No, it was supposed to be a surprise. You just can't win with moms, can you?" Star responded.
"I'll keep note of that for when we have our own little filly."
Star blushed and smiled before giving Silver a playful kiss. "You're wonderful, you know that?"
"Well I'm certainly not going to deny it."
Star's mom walked into the room. "So, I hear you moved all the way down here for my little 'Shooting' Star." She pulled Star over and kissed the side of her head.
"Mom!" Star was blushing furiously as she shoved herself away.
"Hehe, yeah." Silver giggled a little at their moment. He held out a hoof in greeting. "Silver Strings. Nice to meet you--"
She suddenly pulled Silver into a tight hug, ignoring his outstretched hoof. "My name's Cinnamon Spice," she said to Silver after releasing him. "So, care to tell me how you wound up in small town Ponyville?"
"Well, long story short, after a couple months I just couldn't stand to be apart from her anymore so... well at first, I asked her to move over to Canterlot, but we both figured it would be easier for me to move here instead. It's certainly less costly. Either way, though, I would have been able to support the both of us."
"If you don’t mind me asking, how much do you make?" Cinnamon Spice asked.
"Well, enough to comfortably pay for both my house and around sixty percent of Star's from month to month. Plus living expenses and self indulgence. It's rewarding being the first chair violinist to the royal symphony."
"Wow." They said in unison, even though Star had already been told that once before. You could practically see the bit signs in both their eyes.
"Well, for somepony who lived in Canterlot and can live with that kind of budget, you're very...uuh...down to earth." Cinnamon was impressed. "I would expect somepony like that to be posh and snooty."
"Ha. Yeah. That's what everypony says. 'You live in Canterlot?'" Silver said, imitating nopony in particular. "'But you don't have an accent.' I didn't grow up in the same conditions I have now. We weren't poor, not even close, but for our location, we were below 'middle class' and I didn't grow up around the ponies that try to act like they're better than everypony else. My dad makes instruments and my mom, before she had me, was a singer. She used to go up on stage and perform for crowds all around Canterlot but after I was born she had to stay home. She still performs locally for friends or community choirs. After I got my cutie mark during a guest performance with the Canterlot Symphony is when I picked things up for us."
"You performed with the Canterlot Symphony before you even got your cutie mark?"
"Well, I got my cutie mark quite late compared to everypony else. Very last in my class actually."
"That hardly seems to matter. Just means you had more time to find out what you love. I mean just look at the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
"The who?"
"Oh, just three little fillies that haven't gotten their cutie marks yet. They call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They try anything they can think of to find their cutie marks. It's cute but I don't think they really understand what a cutie mark means."
"Ah. I may have to meet them someday."
"You and everypony else."
Silver laughed and continued with his story. "Being so young still, the symphony paid my parents until I was at a 'legal working age'. And that's how I got where I am now. What about you guys?"
"Oh, our story is a lot simpler." Star explained. "I grew up pretty much the same as I am now. We've been 'middle class' since before I was born. Most of my time as an actress has been with the community or other small time productions. When we met was my first big play."
"Well, now that you have an agent you're sure to get into a lot of big plays."
"Yeah," Star gasped at a sudden realization. "I might be able to get Madame Quality to speak to the orchestra director so you can play with us if we have a musical!" Her excitement for just the possibility was adorable.
"I would love that." Silver smiled at his marefriend.
"And I would go to every single one of them," Cinnamon chimed in.
*** *** ***
"I'm ho- oh hi." Star's dad said as he walked through the front door. He was a dark orange earth pony with a short brown mane and tail. "Who might you be?"
Silver had been waiting alone in the front room while Cinnamon was doing last minute checks on dinner and Star stepped aside to visit the little mare's room. "Uuh, hi," Silver said awkwardly. "You must be Star's dad."
"That's right, and you are?"
Star's dad looked like a nice stallion but Silver found himself at a loss for words. "I'm, umm...Star's--"
"Hi dad!" Star came into the room and gave him a big hug. "I see you met Silv--" she saw the look of worry on Silver's face. "Dad, are you harassing him?"
"No!" Star gave him a stern judgmental look. "I swear I'm not!"
"You," she pointed a hoof at her dad. "Wait here."
"But I-"
"Here," Star said with a light stamp of her hoof.
Star pulled Silver down the hall. "What's wrong, Honey?" She asked him softly with a tone of concern.
"I don't know what to say," Silver replied in a near whisper.
"You were great with my mom though. My dad is nice. It's not like he's a drill sergeant or something. He coaches a kids basketball team at the gym."
“I-I know, but…”
“But what?”
“I...I don’t know.” Silver hung his head in defeat.
“Just go talk to him. He’s not gonna hurt you.”
"You don't know that."
"Yes I d- Honey he's my dad. If I'm any example, he's the one who raised me."
"To be fair, you did plow into me the first time we met."
Star facehoofed. "Stop making excuses." She gave Silver a quick kiss. "Honey, go talk to him," she said sweetly, followed by another kiss, and then a stern look.
"Alright, I'm going." He nervously walked back into the living room where Star's dad was still waiting. His ears perked and his back straightened when Silver walked in.
"Uuhh, hi. We didn't really get a proper introduction did we?" Silver asked, far too formally.
"Too formal, Love.” Star teased as she walked through the living room to the kitchen.
Silver faced her. "Oh hush," Silver said playfully. He could hear her giggle as she left the room. When he turned around, Star’s dad was right in his face.
“I just have one question.” He said flatly.
“Yes?” Silver’s eyes had shrunk to pinpricks.
“What do you intend with my daughter?”
The worry in Silver's eyes vanished and he looked him straight in the eyes. “To love her, make her happy, and keep her safe at all times, no matter what that requires of me.” Silver stated that fact like he had said it thousands of times before.
Her dad sat back with a warm, genuine smile. “Then we’ll get along nicely.” He hooked a leg around Silver’s back. “Name’s Ace. Now let’s go eat.”
The rest of the night progressed easily with both of Star’s parents warming up quickly to Silver.
*** *** ***
It was late when they left to take Star home.
"Aha! They loved you!" Star let out a delighted squee and gave Silver a quick kiss on the cheek.
"That went a lot better than with my parents." Silver laughed.
"Well the conditions are a bit different. Nopony is leaving. I'm still gonna be here no matter how things end up between us."
"Things will only ever end one way between us."
Star smiled at his intended meaning. "You're wonderful."
Silver just smiled back at her. They walked in happy silence until they reached Star's house. "Goodnight my love. It's been a great night," Star said as she pulled her coltfriend into a hug.
"Who said it was over yet?" Silver playfully asked her over her shoulder.
Star pulled back from the hug and tilted her head, letting an ear droop down like a confused puppy. “What do you mean?”
Silver laced his statement with false concern to throw her off. “Star, I need to ask you something.”
“What is it?” She sounded genuinely concerned because of the way he had asked.
“Star,” Silver started, still with the concern in his voice. He quickly dug something out of his saddlebag that Star couldn’t see. When he looked up, Silver had the most sincere smile. “Will you marry me?” He held out a gold wingband and waited for her to answer.