“At least my talent ain’t bein’ rich and nasty! Rather be a carpenter than a snooty, stuck up pair of prissy pansies like the two of you!”
Silver Spoon had winced when she’d heard that; Di might have been going a bit far, taunting Apple Bloom for having a “manual labor” cutie mark, but the farmer had figured out exactly how to hit back.
”What are your talents, anyway? Being born?”
“I think it’s being bitches!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were quick to back Apple Bloom. They’d started the whole day going downhill when they’d done that… just being right there for her.
“I can’t believe you didn’t speak up!”
Right there for her in ways that got harder and harder for Silvy to do on her Di’s behalf.
The grey-furred filly sorted through the chunks of raw silver she’d been given to work with for her job, picking out the ones that would have the fewest impurities. She should’ve made Di stop long ago. Picking on those three for being blank flanks had been bad enough, given how everybody interpreted their own marks. Once they’d gotten them, three or four years ago, it should have stopped. They could fnd somepony else to feel superior to, or maybe actually prove how good they really were.
The argument they’d had, albeit one-sided, kept ringing through her head.
“It’s bad enough Daddy won’t let me actually do anything but work the jewelry counter! I should be designing that jewelry, not selling it!”
Argent ore began to melt as she put them into the furnace, heat from the open cauldron curling the tips of her fur, sweat pouring down her face to help hide the tears.
“And you didn’t even say anything!”
“But Di, I –“
“Oh, what, you were feeling sorry for them? Or maybe you were afraid they’d bring up that you’re just a worker too?”
That was it, really. The tiny fracture that had been growing wider and wider. Di’s talent was for designing jewelry that other ponies made, like her crown. Silver Spoon’s? Even Di didn’t get it. Most ponies thought it was for being a noble-born earth pony, like Sweetie Belle did. The ones who knew her thought it was being a silversmith; manual labor, albeit classy manual labor.
But as the glimmering chunks of metal sweated off the last remnants of lead and tin to be poured out for scrap, leaving perfect liquid silver behind, Silver Spoon knew the truth.
“What are your talents, anyway?” Sweetie’s words came back to her as she watched the color of the liquid silver to make sure it was all melted before she poured the precious metal into horseshoe molds. Her fur curled again, the released heat blackening the tips before she righted the cauldron and stepped back to let the metal harden. When the time had passed, she would open the forms and remove still-warm silver shoes, all rough with flashing and flaws, identical to a hundred other fine shoes she’d helped make since her apprenticeship had begun.
Next, she’d have to set to work with her real special talent.
She took ugly, rough things, and she made them beautiful.
~~~===~~~
“Ugh, what are you doing here?” Diamond Tiara was still in a black mood when she’d opened the door to her room late that night. “I just got off work, and I’m still mad at you!”
“I know,” Silver said softly, lowering her gaze from her marefriend’s face. “But… well, I was hoping these might make up for earlier?” She turned around, picking up a gift box in her mouth and offering it to Di.
Please take it, please!
“You’re lucky I’m nice,” Di muttered, taking the box, surprised at how heavy it was. She transferred it over to her bed, starting to tug at the bow with her teeth.
“I was going to wait until the harvest dance, but… after earlier, I wanted to make sure that I gave them to you as soon as I was done with them,” Silver explained, stepping inside and closing the door. Di finally got the bow undone, tugging the ribbon free and ripping the top off of the box.
No amount of hard feelings could make her hide her gasp when she saw the shoes inside. Hours of careful filing and grinding had taken the flashing at the seam and turned the loose silver into the delicate frame for Diamond Tiara’s hooves. At the toe of the shoes, four deep blue sapphires were fitted, glittering when the light hit them. They were carefully engraved on the sides, with representations of Di’s cutie mark.
Inside, they were engraved with both of their cutie marks, linked together by a delicately carved chain.
“They’re beautiful,” Di whispered, her eyes sparkling.
“Let me put them on for you,” Silver told her shyly, nuzzling Di’s flank, encouraging her up onto the bed. The pink filly didn’t take much encouragement, climbing up and offering her hooves to Silver, who sat between Di’s haunches to help with them. It wasn’t necessary, really, but Silver knew her marefriend as well as she knew herself.
“You had a long day at work?” She asked, carefully placing the front two shoes on so that Di could admire them.
“Yeah… four hours of standing there and trying not to look bored while the normal ponies tried to pretend they weren’t shopping at Barnyard Bargains because they couldn’t afford a real jeweler,” Di muttered. “Bunch of unicorn junk anyways.”
“Not like these,” Silver promised, hooking the hind shoes onto Di’s hooves, then reaching up to massage Di’s aching legs. “Hoof made, just for you, I even melted them down myself!” She smiled warmly up into the cold blue eyes above her.
“So… forgive me?” She hoped that the reflection of light off her glasses would hide how close she was to tears, just thinking that Di might say ‘no’ despite the gift.
“Oooh… of course I do, you sweet talker,” Di sighed dramatically, leaning down to give Silver a gentle kiss. “Mmm… you know, Daddy’s out late to supervise a shipment tonight….”
Silver Spoon giggled, nuzzling the downy pink fur inside Diamond’s thigh to encourage her to spread her hind legs. As soon as they moved, she leaned in, nuzzling Di’s sex and giving it little tender, teasing licks. When they’d been younger, she’d done it because she was too nervous to really go at it. But in the years since, she’d kept doing it because Di loved the feather-light licks and kisses.
Tonight was no exception. Silver Spoon’s tongue worked Di’s pussy with practiced skill, while her hooves moved up and down her legs, massaging out the knots in her muscles that had been put there by hours standing behind a glass counter. Silver horseshoes slid along her mane, occasionally digging in to encourage her to put a bit more effort into it. She tipped her head, gently nibbling at Di’s swelling outer lips, and grinned at the moan she got in response.
When those moans progressed to whimpers, and her muzzle was slick with Diamond Tiara’s juices, Silver pushed her tongue into the hot, welcoming folds of her oldest friend.
“Silvy!” Di gasped, curling her hooves to push her muzzle in deeper. “Oh Celestia, just like that!”
Silver Spoon twisted her tongue inside Di’s pussy, loving the way her inner walls rippled and twitched with pleasure. Her own forehooves curled around the outsides of Tiara’s legs, pulling her up and forward a bit to get a better angle.
“Nnngh… Silvy… I’m… oh!” Diamond Tiara gasped as she came, her sweet juices flowing freely over Silver’s muzzle until skilled lips sealed around her vulva so that the spectacled earth pony could swallow every last drop.
After a few moments, Di fell back onto the bed, panting hard. Silver crawled up next to her, sliding a hoof under Di’s body, rolling her onto her side, facing the mirror on the back of her door.
“I love you, Silvy,” Di murmured, closing her eyes as the mare spooned up behind her.
“I love you too, Di,” Silver whispered, looking at them both in the mirror as Di dozed off.
No matter how rough and nasty she was when Silver came over… she was always beautiful when she was like this.
Author's Note
SMP Prompt: "Sometimes, I think you're my special talent."
This just seemed to fit.
Made some minor edits to formatting/grammar flubs that I spotted in re-reading it. If you've read this before, no real need to go through it again.
