Trials and Tribulations

by _SilverTongue

A Change Of Scene

Trials and Tribulations
Chapter Two: A Change of Scenery
By Silvertongue123

Silver slowly awoke and sat up in his bed. He rubbed his eyes with his hooves, and looked at the empty bed next to him.

She must’ve woken up already, he thought.

He crawled out of bed, plodded to the window, opened the blinds, and was welcomed by the purplish-gold of the morning sky. He yawned and shook his mane.

Yesterday had taken a toll on him and sleep was a blessing for his tired body and mind. He sluggishly walked to the bathroom, shut the door, and looked at the mirror.

He hated looking at himself now. His reflection had become a constant reminder of the stallion he hated so much. A reminder of the greed that now controlled every aspect of his life. A token of the power he had exercised over other ponies. He wanted to be different. He wanted change.

Why am I the way I am now? What’s made me different? Is moving really the right choice?

The questions seemed to invade his mind like a torrential flood, overwhelming him with second thoughts, but he dammed them up in the corners of his mind by forcing his focus on straightening his mane. He needed to talk to Morning Star as soon as possible.

Where will we go?

He stopped dead in his tracks as names of cities swept into his mind.

I really need to talk to Morning Star; she always has the solution to these issues, he shook his head and continued with his morning routine.

After finishing, he slowly crossed the elegant carpet of his second floor, down the stairs, and opened the front door quietly, as to not wake Little Blossom. He glanced at the ornate clock that hung above the front door.

It read 5:45 am.

It’s almost time for the sun to rise.

He opened the door and walked out into the twilight, with rays of the not yet risen sun reflecting a deep orange off the atmosphere and a dark pink from the clouds. On the front steps sat Morning Star, who in herself looked like a sunrise.

“You’re up early,” she said without looking back, “Would you like to enjoy the morning with me?”

She was teasing him, but it was all in good fun.

He walked down the steps and sat down next to his wife. Their eyes met and Silver Tongue was glad that he had her. The light purple mare slowly turned her eyes to the rising sun, her violet eyes reflecting the red- orange hues that ran across the sky.

He took a deep, relaxing breath; finding himself feeling more alive than he had in the past six years of living in Manehattan and began to remember how he had gotten to Manehattan.

After he had finished school in Canterlot, he began his practice and was gaining popularity, but he was still just a young colt at 20 years old. But he was an ambitious colt, which is why Morning Star had agreed to marry him after a year of courting.

He had met Morning at the annual Fall Festival in Canterlot while desperately trying to find the food stalls, for some reason he couldn’t remember. He remembered the day exactly. While he was running to the food stands, a mare with an orange-red mane had stepped in front of him. He wasn’t paying attention, so he accidentally ran into her and they both toppled to the ground. Silver was in a daze, but when his vision cleared, this beautiful mare was staring down at him, kindly holding her hoof out to him. He gladly accepted her offer, rose, and stared in awe at the creature of pure beauty that was in front of him. He slowly introduced himself while stuttering an apology, to which she blushed darker than the red streaks in her mane. She apologized as well, and Silver asked if he could buy her a drink.

From that point onward, their love blossomed like a rose and they felt like they had truly found happiness. They were married when he was twenty-four and she twenty-two. They had decided to move to Manehattan almost immediately after their marriage in order to expand Silver’s practice. For the next six years they had lived in Manehatten. The first few years had been the hardest of his life, but also the best. During those years, his love for his wife was not hampered by the attraction of wealth, the only thing he needed was Morning Star. When he was with her, he felt like he could conquer the world.

“Silver are you ok?” Morning Star asked, jerking him out of the past.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, collecting his thoughts, “Yes I’m fine. I was just remembering the joy of meeting you, and how we ended up in this awful city.”

They stared at each other for a second and began laughing.

“Do you remember the first time we moved to this house? You forgot to get the key from the cellar, and we were stuck here in the rain without a roof over our heads!” Morning Star recalled with a laugh.

“Hey it wasn’t my fault!” Silver pleaded, laughing.

“Yes,” Morning Star’s voice trailed off as she saw the sun enter the canvas that was the morning sky. She quickly glanced around and found her source of inspiration, the morning star. Next to her, Silver Tongue was in awe.

It has been awhile since I’ve seen a sunrise as beautiful as this.

The sunrise triggered the memory of the day he and Morning had gotten married. She had insisted on a very early wedding so the sunrise could be a part of the wedding, but the night before the wedding neither could sleep, so instead of sleeping, they had stayed awake until the wedding. The wedding was beautiful. Morning's grandparents came along with her friends and close relatives, but for Silver, it was a different story. His dad did not show up as he had been recently been arrested. Silver had no close family, but he did have a very close friend from his college years, Cloud Hoof.

Cloud Hoof was the best friend Silver Tongue could have asked for. He was always causing trouble and slacking off; however, he had always brought joy to Silvers’ life. Cloud Hoof was the best colt and one of Morning Star's best friends was the best mare. They had decided to host it at Canterlot Garden, in a section that he and Morning had always gone to for dates, with a raised platform that bordered a lake and flowers all around, the aromas, the sights, and the sounds made the wedding perfect, but what was the most inspiring of all was, as the ponies said their vows, the sun peaked over the horizon flooding the sky with the colors of Morning Star’s mane.

“Morning Star?” Silver tentatively asked, “Even though last night you said it was okay, are you sure we want to move?”

“Yes,” she replied with a smile, “I had been thinking that we need a new place to stay. A new life.”

“Agreed.”

He turned his attention back to the stunning array of purples, oranges, and reds in the sky and continued to think, looking back at Morning Star every moment or so. She had kept her eyes on the star that was her namesake, tears beginning to creep into her eyes.

“What's wrong, Starry?” Silver hoped he wasn't pushing her too hard; he wanted this to be her decision, too.

"I was just remembering my parents and what they taught me," She sniffed and put her head on her husband’s shoulder. He put a hoof over her shoulder and pulled her close.

"It's alright. Don’t cry. Your parents are proud of you! You have become a strong mare and are the mother of a beautiful filly. Don't let anything get you down."

She looked up at him with her beautiful violet eyes and smiled. He returned her smile, then brought her close once again. They shared a kiss for a moment, then returned to watching the sunrise. She then spoke softly to him, "Can we please get out of this place? You and I have changed from the ponies we once were to ponies we don’t want to be. I want to live and love again like we did when we were first married."

He looked down at her and nodded his head; feelings of relief entered his body as he realized that his family is what mattered most.

The sun had risen further to illuminate the neighborhood and the couple in a soft light. The smell of grass graced their noses and the sound of chirping birds blessed their ears. They were at peace. Silver remembered one time that this feeling had been planted in his soul; it was when he was a younger colt who would travel the neighborhood with his imaginary friends. His house was near a forest and a creek and Silver Tongue would play with his imaginary friends there, reenacting the Griffon Wars, or pretending to be the great pirate Black Hoof.

While he was there, he felt at peace, but once he was forced to come back inside, that peace was ripped away from him. His imaginary friends disappeared and he was left with poverty and sadness. He shuddered and was brought back from his memories into the real world. He needed a place where it was peaceful and quiet. He needed a new home.

His practice was important; however, his sanity was also important to him. Manehattan was doing him a disservice. It had changed. Before it was a somewhat quiet city with few ponies in it, the majority lived in the urban areas surrounding it. But there was a commercial boom and everypony wanted to live in Manehattan. That had led to a number of problems, more congestion, more noise, more distractions, more disruptions, and less communicating with neighbors. It was a problem that nopony could fix.

Silver’s mind thought of cities that he would like to live in. Las Pegasus was off the list, as it was no better than Manehattan. Canterlot was full of the upper class that he avoided because of their snobbishness. Trottingham was way too far away. Suddenly, the town of Ponyville popped into his mind. He tried to shake it out. The more he thought of it the more he liked the prospect of moving to the little country town. It was as if some invisible force was pulling him closer and closer toward it.

He turned to Morning Star and without thinking said,

"We're moving to Ponyville."

The time was 6:15am.
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A/N

Thanks to everybody who has helped edit and critique the story!
Special thanks to: Ancient LionTurtle, Dusk Quill, and Lord Sunder.

Chapter 3 will be out soon.

Comments

[EternalShadow54]

Pretty good. My only tick about it being that a few words might have been overused, more than twice in a single paragraph, but otherwise I saw no flaws, and I'm interested to see how their trip to Ponyville shall affect them. I can just imagine Pinkie Pie now...