> Family Appreciation
>  by Pokota
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Golden Plate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay class, settle down."

Cheerilee looked around. The foals were all still chatting animatedly, excited to hear from Silver Spoon's father today. Silver Spoon was very quiet about her home life, so the children didn't know all that much about him other than the fact that his name was Golden Plate.

"Quiet please!" Cheerilee tried again. "Now, as you know, it's Family Appreciation Day today, and we'll be hearing from Silver Spoon's father, Golden Plate! I want you all to be quiet and respectful while he's here."

As if on cue, a stallion with a honey colored coat and a brown mane entered the classroom. On his flank was a mark that didn't quite match his name: a quill and scroll. Golden Plate smiled as he entered the room.

"Good morning, everypony! I'm Golden Plate, Silver Spoon's father. Miss Cheerilee asked me to come and speak to you today about who I am and what I do for a living. I'm a historian, which means I go through information and try to figure out what actually happened and what's just legend. For example, did you know that Ponyville was the first village to permanently take land from the Everfree?"

Apple Bloom raised her hoof, as did Silver Spoon and Snails. "It took me a long time to get that into the history books. The only pony left who can verify that fact is Apple Bloom's grandmother, Granny Smith. But that's not why I'm here today." Golden Plate shook his head. "I'm not here to tell you about the dull pouring over of dusty old tomes - if you want that story, Twilight Sparkle would be more than happy to, uh, educate you more thoroughly on the thrills of books. What makes my job worth it is that I go and meet people and get their stories. How many of you have read Daring Do books?"

A lot more hooves went up in the air. Golden Plate smiled and went on with his explanation. "Daring Do is an adventurer, meaning she goes out and gets physical artifacts for historians like me, to study and to fit together with what's in the books. What separates legend from fact is evidence. Using Granny Smith as an example again, how many of you know where Zap Apples came from. When Granny Smith first-"

At this point, Cheerilee leaned over and whispered something in Golden Plate's ear. "Really? She already told that story? And I missed it? Darn." The class laughed, and Golden Plate took a moment to rearrange his thoughts. "Well, I guess I'll talk about how I got my cutie mark, then."

He cleared his throat, and three fillies in particular leaned in to pay close attention. "My parents were smiths from Salt Lick City. Now, I'm sure you've all heard some pretty weird things about what ponies are like in Salt Lick, but let me tell you that they're ponies just like you at heart. My dad was a tinsmith, and my mom was a silversmith. Silver Spoon here looks just like her grandmother. Anyway, my parents named me with the expectation - or maybe hopes - that I would be a goldsmith and carry on the family tradition. But I didn't have the hooves for delicate silversmithing, and I always had trouble breathing when I was near the hot fires you need for tinsmithing.

"One day, though, Princess Celestia came to Salt Lick City, and she requested that my parents and I meet with her. She ended up inviting the three of us to live in Canterlot. There's less room for tin- and silversmithing in a big city like Canterlot, but the Princess - may the sun never burn her too badly - found us a nice place on the outskirts of Canterlot where mom and dad could practice their smithing.

"What does this have to do with my cutie mark? Well, I'd always loved books. Not quite so much as that precocious young lavender filly did, but I was always drawn to knowledge, particularly the knowledge that those who had gone before could give us. I think the first thing I did when we moved to Canterlot was to interview the librarian about Canterlot, how it started, important stuff that had happened there... I started taking notes on what she could tell me about Canterlot, and at the end I asked a question that would change my life forever."

Snips raised his hoof. "Yes, young colt?"

"Did you ask her to marry you?"

The class laughed, as did Golden Plate. "No, I didn't ask her that. I was still a little too young to be thinking about that at the time. What I asked her was 'do you know anypony else who can tell me about Canterlot?' That's when my cutie mark appeared. My parents weren't exactly thrilled that I wasn't going to be a goldsmith like they wanted, but they were still happy that I'd found something that I could do and that I loved doing."

Sweetie Belle raised her hoof. "How did you meet Silver Spoon's mother?"

Golden Plate smiled quietly for a moment, before he started on the story. "Like I said before, there are no historians without adventurers. I was out in Fillydelphia tracking down some obscure facts about... I don't even remember what information I was tracking down, to be honest, but it must have been important to me at the time. I had just gotten finished with an interview with an old gray stallion, and was heading back to my hotel when I quite literally crashed into the most beautiful  pegasus mare in the world. A lovely, pale blue coat, with a wild white mane and tail. She called herself Dream Chaser."

Diamond Tiara gasped. "Silver Spoon's mom is a pegasus?"

Golden Plate nodded. "Dream Chaser was getting ready to go on an expedition into Griffon territory in order to help the Griffons understand where the Wyvern Cult came from. I won't go into details on that particular kerfuffle, but the long and short of it was that she was looking for someone who could read Ancient Gryphon before she could leave on her expedition."

"And you could read Ancient Gryphon, right?" Scootaloo asked.

Golden Plate shook his head. "I couldn't read it very well at the time. I knew the basics, which was good enough for Dream Chaser, and I knew enough griffon history to impress the Griffon Emperor. We were at the Imperial Library for a few days, tracking down as much information as we could on the legends of the Wyvern Cult, and deciding which legends would be easiest to verify. I think I first realized that I felt something special for Dream Chaser when we got out to the actual dig site. Since the area is tamed, it was mostly safe enough for a formal dig, but Dream Chaser was a true Pegasus as she showed me on the first night there."

He rubbed his jaw and continued. "We had been assaulted by a teenage dragon on the first night. It took all of us to drive him off. I fought as hard as I could, but there's only so much an Earth Pony can do against something that can fly, and once he took to the sky and started pestering us that way... well, let's just say that I learned how to properly treat burns and broken wings that night.

"I was by Dream Chaser's side for the entire expedition, tending to her wounds and learning what I could about her even as she talked me through splinting a wing. We warmed up to each other, and when we got back to Fillydelphia, we started dating. Colts, if you think dragons are scary, try dating. Nothing scarier, nothing more thrilling. We've had our rough patches, but we knew we loved each other, and we never gave up on loving each other, even when I was being a stubborn fool or when her wanderlust threatened to take her far away from me. Eventually, we married and moved to Ponyville - partly because of the enticing ruins within the Everfree, and partly because of the rich history that Ponyville has, but mostly because this way we could raise our daughter in a quiet village."

He paused and waited a moment. "At least, we thought at the time that Ponyville would be a quiet village. Between everything that's happened here, I think Ponyville will have the most interesting history out of all of the cities in Equestria once everything is said and done."