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The Silver Stars

by David Silver

Chapter 90: 90 - Smile and Wave

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Silver focused on the task at hoof. Ponies began approaching her, one after the other. An orderly line gave them each a turn. She smiled, she waved, she used a convention-provided quill to grace comic covers or autograph books with her signature. Amusingly this was really the first time she got much practice writing her name, but it was trial by fire, and she soon had it in a smooth repetition.

Half an hour later, a lunar mare approached, her wings ruffling nervously. "H-Hello, your majesty."

Silver smiled gently. "Hello. You haven't brought something to sign?"

She shrank a little. "I... Could you sign my wing?" She spread out a wing

Silver tilted her head. "My quill isn't going to leave much a mark. One moment..." Sure it was a bit odd, but Silver saw no harm in it. She drew out her spell book and quickly found one of the basic spells that'd do the job and soon her name graced the leathery wing in silvery writing. "There you are. Why did you want that?"

She smiled brightly. "I want to be everything I can be... I'm joining the guard next week, and I'll work hard. Do you think I might become a princess, if I work hard enough?"

Silver felt conflicting emotions. "You... are lovely just as you are. You are a sleek predator in a world of prey." She leaned forward, flashing her fangs. "Never stop being proud of yourself, and hold yourself with the pride that merits. Just remember to act worthy of it. All that see you should know that lunar ponies are worth being impressed by."

The lunar pegasus gave a firm nod. "Y-yes, of course! Thank you, Princess Silver Stars." She paused a moment, shuffling in place. "Do you... think I could be your guard? You don't have royal guards yet, do you?"

Silver shook her head. "I do have one, but I haven't opened that position yet. I... Actually, my captain would be the one to hire more. You get in there and start showing off your stuff. Be all you can be, as you said."

She smiled, face full of hope. "I will! Thank you!" She dashed off in a clatter of hooves.

Twilight leaned over after her next guest. "You're going to run into her again. I give her a week before Rough Tumble is approached."

Silver nodded in agreement, but there was already a new pony in front of her. This one wore thick glasses and looked scholarly. He adjusted them at Silver and presented a book. "I should like the signature of the first known murderer to wear a crown of a princess."

Silver's tufted ears went up in surprise. "Excuse me?"

The stallion tilted his head faintly. "I thought I said that quite clearly."

Convention staff moved quickly to nudge the stallion away, one of them grabbing the book along the way, and he was gone. Silver frowned in distaste and tried to put the event out of mind for the next person, smile returning forcefully. "Hello!"

A few of the ponies wanted to know her favorite comic. Fortunately she had spotted a few that looked fun that she could rattle titles off of to keep them satisfied. There was a skewing of tribes. It was subtle, lunar ponies being more rare than solar ones, but it was clear that Twilight didn't get any lunar ponies. All the lunar guests wanted to see their lunar princess, which made sense enough to Silver. She considered what she could do for what were her people between guests before a magic green pony stepped up.

Silver blinked at Lyra, with Bon Bon just behind her. "Hi guys! I didn't expect either of you here."

Lyra put down an autograph book and flipped it open. "This convention is my 'out of jail' celebration. There are tons of great human and biped comics. I could suggest a few if you want?"

Silver quickly signed the book, and looked to Bon Bon. "How are things holding up?"

Bon Bon smiled, looking a little surprised at being addressed. "Oh! Everything's much better now." She hugged Lyra close. "I have my little harp back."

Lyra giggled. "Aw! You know you make me blush any time you call me that."

Silver tapped her chin and reached into her bag of goodies, pulling out a little minotaur doll she had picked out before. "For my favorite biped lover. Enjoy the con."

Lyra snatched it up with a grin, and they were soon off, chatting animatedly.

"'Ey." The next pony in line had approached, but Silver saw no one. She leaned forward and looked down, then smiled.

"Babs Seed?"

Babs tilted her head. "You knaw me?" She had a cutie mark, which threw Silver for a loop. A pair of scissors? "That's cool. Did ya talk ta mah sister or somethin'? Get outta here, course ya did!" She put a comic down on the counter. "Right here." Silver quickly signed it. "Thanks. Keep it cool, aight?" She turned and trotted off into the crowd.

Their time of signings was drawing close to an end, and both Silver and Twilight were glad for it. Neither were specially extroverted, and forcing the smiles and kind words over the two hour window was draining both. When the last smiling face had departed and the doors closed, they sagged onto their desks.

Rainbow slipped in with Spike at her side. "Heh, you two look like you had tons of fun."

Twilight waved a hoof weakly. "I couldn't contain the fun."

Silver smiled a little. "I enjoyed meeting other lunar ponies. I'm not used to being looked at with... like I was a hero."

Rainbow smirked at that. "You get used to it with time."

Spike waved a claw. "Never! I still get shivers when I visit the Crystal Empire. I'm with you, Silver. So how'd it go?"

Twilight sat up properly. "Overall, it went fine. Only a few trouble ponies, but most were happy to see us and they were very well behaved."

Spike waved out towards the hall. "Well enough of that, how 'bout we grab something to eat and I'll tell you about the awesome panels I saw today!?"

Silver smiled and nodded towards Spike. "I'd love to hear about it." She slipped out of her chair and stretched. "So, where to?"

The rest of the day was their's to enjoy, so after eating, they wandered the convention, though never without a guard nearby. Twilight found Silver roaming the halls and approached her. "Rainbow said you ran into Starlight again?"

Silver nodded. "She is the one that warned us, remember?"

Twilight frowned a little. "I am aware of that... but I don't think she's a very trustworthy pony. If she grabs your cutie mark, your magic will be gone with it, and your physical abilities are a part of that magic. They could just pick you up and walk off with you." Silver's expression was soured and Twilight sat up, clopping her hooves together. "I'm saying this because I care, Silver. I don't want you being hurt."

Silver moved in and rubbed noses with Twilight gently. "Thank you. I haven't given up on her though. She hasn't given me a reason to."

Twilight smiled ruefully. "That is a very princessly thing to say. Just be careful."

The day passed happily enough until Silver was pushed up against the wall by the pegasus that was her guard. "Stay down," she whispered softly, covering Silver with a wing and blocking the view. After a moment, Silver was let up with a grumble. "Sorry, that pony over there has been watching you the last half an hour. I thought they were up to something."

Silver snorted. "We could ask? Chances are good they're just a random person." She trotted towards the trouble pony, only to be cut off by her guard again, who was then frowning severely.

"It is my job to keep you safe. That means if I say somepony looks like trouble, you avoid them, not go up to shake hooves." She nudged Silver around. "Besides, the game of Ogres and Oubliettes is about to start and you didn't want to miss that." She didn't, and she turned towards the event, putting the odd pony out of her mind.

As it turned out, most princesses did not play roleplaying games, and Silver gained a small crowd when she not only began to play competently, but confessed she had run her fair share of games. Loud marriage proposals were shouted amongst the laughter, and the games continued despite the disturbance. A player seated beside her leaned closer, adjusting his bowtie. "Uh, so... do you have a special somepony?"

Silver cocked a brow. "Hoping to get lucky?" He turned a dark shade and looked away, shamed into silence, but Silver continued, "I do. A herd. They are the most wonderful people I know."

The answer prompted more questions, but the game ended without Silver getting agitated. They invited her to come play again, and she gave a noncommittal reply, setting off to find Twilight and the others.

Sky Ranger, as the pegasus was called, pointed off into the building. "Twilight is currently watching a panel on writing your own comic. Rainbow Dash is with Spike, status unknown, but healthy."

Silver tilted her head a bit. "That's a curious trick." Sky just nodded, and Silver started off before she ran right into a human.

The human was a male, and held up a hand apologetically. "Sorry about that." The lanky caucasian was forced to back up as Sky moved between him and Silver. "Hey, easy. I'm not here to start trouble."

Silver waved Sky aside. "Relax. I don't think he meant anything by it. Hello. I didn't expect to run into another human, but here you are."

The human looked confused. "Another? You saw another? Where?"

Silver perked her tufted ears. "Oh! Sorry... I kinda maybe used to be one, poor phrasing on my part."

He nodded a little, looking confused. "Well, I'm Ted. Nice to meet you... Silver Stars was it? I saw you in the morning paper. You were a human? How'd that go down."

Silver rolled her eyes. "Got a month to tell the story? Welcome to Equestria! Have you been here long?"

A large earth pony came up behind Ted and reared up to throw a leg over his shoulder. "Come on, bud. We're gonna miss it."

Ted waved a hand as he was hauled off. "See you later!"

Sky perked an ear at Silver. "You don't mind if I report that human do you?"

Silver shook her head. "I suppose not. Not for anything bad, right?"

"Done! And no." She waved with a wing. "Twilight is just getting out, this way."

They went off together, though Silver wondered about Ted a moment, hoping he was doing alright in the strange world of brightly-colored ponies. Twilight's appearance drove the thought clear, and they met with smiles. The first day had been survived, and only two more to go.

Author's Notes:

Can I get your autograph? Put it here, on my typo.

Next Chapter: 91 - It's Full of Stars Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 57 Minutes
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