“Mom? I’m home.”

Why are the lights off? I guess they’re gone.

Silver walked into the living room. Mom’s books were piled to each side of the living room table. In the middle of the table were a bottle of shimmering apple wine and two empty glasses.

Why does that not surprise me? she thought before heading upstairs.

Her room was in the same chaotic order she had left it in, nothing had been moved. She smiled and opened the bottom drawer to her nightstand. There it sat, a small, dented, metal heart with a hole through it.

Dropping her satchel on the floor, she picked up the heart. “I think it’s time we finished you, don’t you think?”

She placed the heart in one of her empty bags and left the room, closing the door behind her. Humming to herself, she went back downstairs and out to her father’s forge.

Good, Dad’s not home either. Then again, when is he ever home?

She took the heart out of her bag and placed it on the workbench before starting up the smallest oven.

Once the oven was heated up, she picked the heart up with some tongs and placed it inside the oven. Once she removed it she began working the metal, smoothing it out and removing any dents it had.

I wonder what Aura’s up to? She thought as she accidently hit her hoof with the hammer.

Damnit! She flailed for a moment, biting her bottom lip. “Good. No blood… I hope it doesn’t bruise too badly.”

“Hmm… What should I do with you...” she whispered, looking the piece over. It was smooth and solid, except for the ragged hole in the middle. She slid a hoof protector over one of her hooves and set to work sanding the edge of the hole, Smoothing it out and bringing its edges so they weren’t so jagged.

She looked over the piece, inspecting its finish. That looks better. Time to get creative!

She pulled out her dad’s metal cutter. She flipped the switch on it and began cutting a design into the heart’s inner edge, around the hole. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a simple swirl upwards from the bottom tip of the heart, around the edge of the hole and out across heart.

Oh wow, that came out better than I’d expected! Now, what to put on the backside? More swirls? No… What about a quote or something? Something meaningful, maybe?

An idea sparked in the back of her mind and she began etching it into the metal, using a swirling format to match the front. Once she finished the inscription, it read.

Aft er she finished, she sat there and stared at it. It was truly beautiful. She blew the metal shaving from its surface and went over the entire thing once more to smooth out any and all sharp edges before placing it in her bag and leaving the forge.

I guess I’ll go to Aura’s for the night. Should I show it to her? Or wait until it’s finished?

Silver Spoon had grabbed everything she needed, including her satchel for school the next morning, and stepped down the stairs. The heart she had been working on was back in her nightstand drawer. She didn’t know what to think of it because it wasn’t finished yet, but she didn’t know what else to do with it.

A door opened and two ponies entered the house.

“Mom? Dad? That you?” she asked calmly.

“Silver Spoon? When’d you get home?” her father asked. Her mother squeezed past them and walked to her couch, grabbed a book and began to read.

“I got home at about four or five this afternoon,” she said softly.

“You’ve been gone for two or three days! Where have you been? Obviously not at school, your teacher dropped a letter off the other day saying you ditched school not once, but twice!”

“Sorry… I made a few friends and, well, uh…” She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t tell him the truth, he’d be even madder at her.

“So why’d you ditch school, Silver Spoon? Tell me the truth.”

Frustration boiled over and finally Silver answered him, “Fine! You want to know what I was doing? I made some friends, skipped school to go drinking with them, and got harassed at school, yet again. Oh, and guess what, Dad? I have a marefriend. Now if you would excuse me, I’m leaving.”

“No, you’re not.” He moved to block the exit.

“Dad! Get outta my way.” Anger spurred her onward, “All you two ever do is either ignore me or scold me. You don’t care about me, and it’s obvious she could give less than two shits about what I’ve been doing. Your own daughter is missing for two days straight and you two are here having wine and going on romantic dates. What’s up with that?”

Her dad was silent for a moment. “Silver Spoon.”

“What is it you want from me!?” She shouted at him, her eyes glossing over.

“I want to talk to my daughter.”

“Fine. Talk.”

“Silver Spoon, you’ve always been a troubled little filly, for as long as I can remember you’ve been either a bully or a loner. I wasn’t worried about you because you’re my daughter. You are able to take care of yourself. I don’t want to see you hurting your education like this. You can’t be skipping school anymore.”

Anger sparked inside of him. “And I don’t want you seeing this filly again.”

“Isn’t that just like you? Finally start being a real parent and then forbid me from seeing a pony just because she makes me happy.” She turned away from him and spat on the floor. “You just said that I’m strong enough to take care of myself. So why do you continue treating me like a child?”

“Silver, just listen to your father. I’m tired of hearing the two of you fighting all the time.” Her mother spoke from where she was laying on the couch.

Silver Spoon walked into the living room and glared at her mother. “Mom, how could you say that? He’s telling me I’m not allowed to go see my marefriend, simply because she’s a mare. Isn’t that a little messed up?”

“No, I don’t want you seeing her either. You’re our only daughter, how are we supposed to get grandchildren from you and a mare? Explain that to me. How is Platinum's business supposed to run itself when he’s too old to work the forge? How do you expect us to sit by and watch you ruin your life?”

“I am not ruining my life by being with a mare! I can run the forge when Dad’s too old. Besides, all you ever do is sit there and read or sleep. Am I even alive to you? Do you even recognize me? Because this is the first time we’ve had a conversation in what? Three weeks? We live in the same house and we don’t even speak to each other!”

Platinum stepped into the doorway of the living room. “Silver Spoon, take a seat.”

“No! I won’t sit down when you’re both attacking me!” She stood next in between the table and a chair with tears in her eyes.

Her mom spoke next, “It’s not that I ignore you. It’s that I simply have nothing to say to you.”

Dad stepped forward and glared at her. “What Gem Stone means is that she does care about you, she just doesn’t know what to say or do when you’re around. You’ve always kept a distance between us that we can’t bridge.”

“I haven’t tried to stay distant. But every time I try to help in the forge, I screw up. Every time I come home, I don’t get acknowledged or anything. No stories or good nights, nothing. She gives no effort towards being a Mother. She’s a maid, she cleans and cooks and reads. That’s all. It’s pointless for me to give her any respect when all I am to her is a whisper in the wind.”

Platinum glared at Gem Stone. “Is this true?”

“Well…” her mother started.

“I don’t think she’s ever even said she loves me.” Silver finally dropped into the chair and took a shaken breath. Tears poured down her cheeks.

Platinum stood next to the chair she sat in and placed a hoof on Silver’s shoulder. “I work all day and strive to keep a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, and bits to spare. I may not have time to spend with Silver Spoon here.” He glanced down at his daughter. “You have no right to ignore your own daughter like that. It’s your job to take care of her, and love her unconditionally.”

“Does it matter now? She’s a fillyfooler, just like your sister. Does that mean you’re going to disown her too?”

“Leave my sister out of this. She’s messed up her own life. We’re talking about our daughter here and how you’ve been ignoring her. I had no idea you were being such a lazy leech! No wonder Silver Spoon and her friend were always bullying the other children while they were younger. She never had a mother!”

“She never had a father either!” Gem Stone closed her book and sat it on the table. She stood up from the couch and took a few steps towards them. “I don’t have to be here, I don’t have to clean your house, I don’t have to make your dinner, and I sure as hell don’t have to love your daughter.”

With that, her mother turned and walked out of the room. A moment later she appeared with two saddlebags full of her belongings. “I’m done,” she said, walking out the front door and slamming it behind her.

Both Silver Spoon and her father sat in silence for a while. Finally, Platinum stood up and walked into the kitchen. He returned with a bottle of scotch and two glasses, setting them on the table, he shoved a pile of books off onto the floor. “They were in the way. Here, try this. It was your grandfather’s.”

He poured a little of the liquor into one of the glasses and pushed it across the table for her. He poured himself some, filling it almost to the brim, before setting the bottle down. She lifted the glass to her lips and sipped it. Her lips puckered at the sourness of the drink, but it had a good flavor. She just hadn’t expected it to be quite that strong.

“I’m sorry, Silver Spoon.” He took a drink from his glass and sighed.

“Don’t be. You weren’t the one who completely ignored me for the past ten years.”

“No, but I should have talked to you sooner about her. She always assured me that you were doing fine and that everything would be alright. I shouldn’t have listened to her. All she ended up doing was driving a wedge between us and using me for my money.”

Silver sat her glass down and stood up. “I’m… I’ll be going now… I’m staying the night at Aura’s house. That okay?”

“Have fun, Silver Spoon.” He didn’t look up from his drink. “Just stay safe… Love you.”

“You too Dad, love you,” she said before she stepped towards him and gave him a small hug before leaving.

Silver Spoon knocked at Aura’s front door. A moment later a light pink mare opened it. “Hello, how can I help you?” she asked in a cheerful voice.

“Hello, is Aura home?” she asked politely, “She had offered me a place to stay tonight…”

She nodded, “If you’re a friend of Aura’s, please come in, we were about to sit down for dinner if you’d like to join us.”

Silver couldn’t help but smile at her generosity. “That would be lovely, thank you.” She followed her into the house and saw Aura setting the table for dinner. Her mother walked on into the kitchen and started talking to Aura’s dad.

Aura sat the last plate down before she noticed Silver. “Silver! You’re here!” She rushed around the table and hugged her tightly.

“Yeah…” Silver hugged her back, but she was feeling completely drained.

“Oh! I need to set you a spot, don’t I?” Aura said, rushing into the kitchen. She came back with a plate in her mouth, she sat it on the edge of the table and smiled at her. “Dinner shouldn’t take too much longer to cook, why don’t we go to my room, you know, so you can put your bag down.”

Silver nodded and followed Aura up the stairs and down the hallway. Her room was the second room on the left. “I’m glad your parents are alright with me staying over.”

“Yeah, my dad overheard me offer you a place to stay,” she said, smiling as she fell onto her bed.

Silver took her satchel off and dropped it near the end of the bed before dropping down next to her friend. “Hey, Aura…”

Aura rolled onto her side and looked up at her. “What’s up?” She was still wearing that soft joy-filled smile.

“Well…” Silver started crying, pressing her face into Aura’s blankets.

“Silvy? Are you okay?” She moved closer to Silver and laid a hoof across her shoulders. “Don’t cry, Silver, it’ll be okay.”

Silver didn’t look up but started crying harder into the blankets. At this point, Aura had moved so she could lay her chin at the base of Silver’s mane with one hoof and her cheek pressed against Silver’s shoulders. Aura squeezed her marefriend tight for a moment and gently rubbed her back and side comfortingly. “It’s alright, Silver, you can let it all out now.”

A knock came to the door. “Aura, dinner’s ready,” her father said through the door.

“We’ll be down there soon,” Aura answered. “Silvy? Are you going to be alright?”

Silver took a deep breath and got up. “Let’s go eat dinner. We can talk about it later, okay?”

Aura nodded and lead the way downstairs. Silver followed her into the dining room and took her seat, across from Aura. Aloe and Klein were already seated opposite of them. Aloe had taken the liberty of filling the plates for the two of them, it was spaghetti with a creamy vegetable sauce instead of the traditional tomato sauce.

Silver Spoon looked up at Aloe, finally able to place where she’d seen her before. An awkward silence lingered over the table for a moment before she realized why she was so familiar; she was one of the Spa sisters.

“Silver Spoon, yes?” Aloe asked with a harmless smile.

“Yes?” she answered.

“I remember you now. You and your friend, Diamond Tiara, used to come to the spa quite often when you were younger.”

“Yeah, sorry if we ever caused any trouble. I know Diamond and I used to be a handful whenever we were in there, especially when Diamond was having a bad day.”

“Oh, that’s alright. Obviously, you’ve never been in there when Fluttershy and Rarity drop by every week. I love my work, and so it doesn’t bother me or Lotus. We used to look forward to your visits because something interesting always happened.”

Silver flicked her ear in surprise. Did she enjoy having Diamond Tiara bad mouth her and her sister? Well, then again, Diamond just threw bits at ponies and the spa girls always did do a good job on her hooves and mane. “Perhaps I should start visiting you more often -- at the spa I mean.”

“You should! Bring Diamond down, too. I haven’t seen her but once or twice since you were both fillies.”

“I’ll let Diamond know, we’ll see about visiting you some time,” said Silver, poking at her food.

“So what do your parents do?” Klein asked through a mouth full of noodles.

Silver closed her eyes trying not to cry. “My father’s a blacksmith.”

He swallowed his food and prepared another bite. “That must be some hard work. What about your mother?”

Silver shook her head feeling as if she were about to puke. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, standing up and running up to Aura’s room.

She closed the door and crawled under the mountain of blankets on Aura’s bed. She only laid there for about a minute before she heard the door open. “Silver Spoon? Are you okay?”

Silver couldn’t answer her with anything more than a woeful wail. She felt Aura climb into the bed next to her. “It’ll be okay, Silvy, but what’s wrong?”

Pushing the blankets out of the way, Silver pulled her friend into a tight hug. “Thank you, Aura.”

“I haven’t done anythi-”

“Yes, you have. You’ve given me something to live for,” Silver said before pulling away. “My... My mom… Sh… she just l-left us.”

Silver laid down and pressed her face into it. She could feel Aura stroking her mane. “You can tell me about it later on. But for now, just rest, okay?”

Silver tilted her head so she could speak clearly. “Celestia just lowered the sun, though… I was thinking about going and seeing Berry Pinch or Shady Daze.”

“I think we should visit Shady instead of Pinch. Pinch is a good friend, but she can be too… anyways, we should get going if we want to talk to him.” Aura stood up and looked down to see that Silver hadn’t moved.

“We can talk to him tomorrow after school, but for now, let’s just stay here and-”

A knock on the door interrupted Silver. “Come in,” said Aura.

Klein opened the door and came in, closing it behind him. He sat down at the edge of the bed. “Silver Spoon, I’m sorry if I said something wrong. I shouldn’t have been so blunt; I was just curious if I knew your parents or not. I’ve met your dad once or twice, but I don’t know his name.”

“It’s alright. It’s just-” she paused to take a shaken breath, “It’s just that my mother walked out on us only a few hours ago.” Silver lifted one of her hooves and punched the bed, “Fuck her.”

“Oh, my… How is your dad holding up?”

“I don’t know… I left shortly after she did and came here.”

“Well, Silver, It’s not my place to tell you what to do, but you should be there for him. He probably feels like he just lost his wife and his daughter in one fell swoop.” Klein bowed his head and dismissed himself, closing the door again on his way out.

Silver shook her head and looked at Aura, “Let’s stay here tonight. Tomorrow after school… can you come with me to my house? I want to talk to my dad. He’s against me being with you, but I want him to meet you before he judges you. After that, we can go talk to Shady Daze or something, alright?”

Aura climbed back into the bed, throwing the blankets over the two of them. She pulled Silver close to her and kissed her softly on the lips. “I’m alright with that.”

Silver Spoon’s eyes began to water again and she pulled her friend into a tight embrace. “Thank you so much, Aura.”

Aura smiled and began to cry too. “I’d do anything to help you through this.”

Silver Spoon kissed Aura’s neck softly; her fur was soft and warm, like a pillow. Silver Spoon pulled away and looked into her friends’ light blue eyes. “Aura, I’m so glad I- we bumped into each other. I can’t believe it’s only been three days.”

Aura just smiled and kissed her again before closing her eyes and pressing her face into Silver’s chest. “I’m glad too, I just wish everything would slow down and leave us alone for a while. We actually haven’t had a chance to just spend time relaxing like this.”

“Don’t worry there will be more time in the future. I just hope my dad hasn’t done something stupid.” Silver stroked Aura’s mane with her hoof and she rolled onto her back. Aura moved with her, keeping her head on Silver’s chest.

“Babe, you know you can talk to me about this, right?”

“I know, Aura… And it’s not that it’s all bad. M-my mom… She was never treated me like I was her daughter, s-she ignored me for most my life. I mean when I was a young filly, s-she did everything she could possibly do to make me smile and laugh. I… I was happy.” A lump filled her throat and stopped her from speaking. She took a deep breath and Aura looked up at her. Aura kissed her neck and laid her head back where it had been.

Silver Spoon calmed her emotions and continued, “I don’t remember when she stopped caring, but I know it was before I knew Diamond Tiara. My mom just flat out ignored my presence. Hell, I can’t even remember the last time my parents and I sat at the same table and ate dinner together. I forgot what that was like until tonight… and sorry for running out without eating, it did look good, but I’m just not hungry.”

“You should still eat something, Silver. I can go make you a sandwich or something.” Though Aura’s offer required her to leave the bed, she just snuggled closer to Silver’s side, squeezing her tighter. “I don’t wanna get up…”

“Then don’t. I’m not hungry anyways.” Silver smiled. “Hey, Aura?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you honestly think of me?”

“Well, you’re a lot more complicated than I had ever expected. Definitely not the mare I had always heard you were. I’m glad you’re not what I expected. I always had had a feeling that you were deeper than the shallow shell those rumors made you and Diamond out to be. I’m happy I get to know the real you, and proud that I can call you mine.” Aura said snuggling closer to her.

Silver Spoon placed a hoof under Aura’s chin, moving her head so she could look at her smile.

Such a cute smile...

Silver leaned down and kissed Aura softly on the lips. Aura returned her kiss and slid her tongue into Silver’s mouth while letting her hoof run through Silver’s fur. Silver broke the kiss and smiled at her. “Let’s go to bed, tomorrow’s going to be a rough day.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right…” She seemed a bit disappointed but she smiled in return.

Silver Spoon giggled, knowing what she was thinking. “Don’t worry, we’ll get around to that later.”

Aura blushed, “Sorry…”

“You’re fine, and not alone.” It wasn’t a lie, Silver wanted it just as bad as she did. She just wanted to wait. “Good night, Aura. Sleep well.”

“Night babe. May Luna guard your dreams,” Aura replied, quietly yawning.

Silver Spoon could feel Aura’s breath slow though she hadn’t fallen asleep. Silver Spoon closed her eyes and carefully ran her hoof through Aura’s mane.

I’m sorry, Dad.