Rarity walked glumly over to her doorway. In the window, a sign reading "closed" hung off a hook. She flipped it around, making it reappear as "open." The unicorn peered out of the window, her dark blue eyes hoping to catch at least one person who wanted to come to her shop. When nobody appeared, she let out a sigh and plopped herself down in a chair at her kitchen table.
A miniature stack of bills lay there, three to be exact, Rarity reading through them. Bills came every month. No surprise there. Rarity just wished they didn't come every month. Perhaps every three months would be better. Sure, there would be a larger sum on the slip of paper, but at least she wouldn't have to look at these dreadful reminders every four weeks.
Electricity: 30 bits. Water: 40 bits. 70 bits total.
Rarity threw the papers to the far end of her table and stood up. She was still wearing her lacy, too-short nightgown from sleeping, and she was afraid Sweetie Belle would see her. It didn't matter, at the current moment though. All the agitated mare was thinking about was some scrumptious eggs drowning in ketchup. She bent down, her purple panties exposed, a semi-large bulge clearly visible. While she was reaching for the carton of eggs, she heard a squeaky voice behind her.
"Good morning Rarity~!"
Rarity snapped up, nearly dropping the carton of eggs and the bottle of ketchup she was multitasking with with her other hand.
"Good morning Sweetie Belle," she replied, placing the two objects on her counter. She ran a hand through her knotted hair as she fetched a bowl to crack the eggs in.
"I saw your underwear," Sweetie said pleasantly.
"Well isn't that nice?" Rarity retorted, pulling her skimpy nightgown down to its maximum length. She pounded one egg on the bowl she had set on the counter along with the other things until it cracked. Tossing the shell in the garbage, she faced her sister. "Would you like any eggs?"
"Actually, I think I'm going to go get dressed and go to Apple Bloom's place," she answered. "Granny Smith always cooks up something good for Christmas." Her dull, mint eyes twinkled.
"As long as it's okay with the Apple's," Rarity assured, cracking one more egg. She grabbed a silver whisk and began to beat the yolks.
"Okay. Bye~!" Sweetie Belle dashed out of the kitchen, most likely off to get dressed and brush her hair and teeth.
The unicorn placed her dish of beaten yolks on the stove with her magic. She flicked the switch on and returned to her dreaded mini-pile of bills.
70 bits for bills may not seem a lot to a human, but mind you that in Equestria, they use gold coins for their currency.
She stood up again and walked upstairs to her room. She had retired from using the childish "piggy-bank" to store her bits in when she was about thirteen and decided to start using a glass jar. It wasn't as fun as a porcelain mammal that swallowed your money through a slit in their back, but it was more professional, as Rarity often explained to Sweetie Belle. Still, her younger sister had insisted on decorating it with heart stickers and silly cartoon doodles.
Rarity levitated the jar in front of her face. She popped the seal on it, and reached her hand in, grasping a handful of coins. With a remainder still in the jar, she counted the ones in her hand. 10.
She scooped some more. Only 5 more.
She tilted the whole jar over and dumped the remainder out. Only 20.
Rarity gawked at the low sum of coins in her hands.
"How the h-h--?!" She was so aghast, her eyes looked as if they were nearly going to pop out. "How could I only have 30 bits?" Anger flared inside her heart. She was angry at herself for allowing her previous self to spend that much. Rarity gripped the bits firmly in her fists. She poured them back into the jar and fitted the cap back on the glass vase.
"Sh.." She gritted her teeth, trying to prevent herself from using such naughty language. "Shit!" she suddenly burst, hoping Sweetie wasn't close enough in the house to hear her. She hated setting a bad example for younger people. The panties and the cursing probably weren't helping her live by her moral, however.
Bills were due in a month. Well.. No. The bill collectors wanted you to pay on time, but if you were having trouble, you could be given a month. Even in that period of time, Rarity was sure she wouldn't be able to pay off her debt. Who buys dresses now? Yeah, her friends, but six ponies wouldn't give 40 bits for dresses.
"People like sweaters during Christmas time," she thought aloud. "Maybe I could start selling sweaters.." She exhaled deeply, sitting on her bed.
While she was analyzing thoughts, a whiff of stormy smoke crept from the downstairs kitchen into Rarity's room. Her ears pricked up as an alarm suddenly set off.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! the fire alarm yelled, signaling for Rarity to come downstairs immediately and get rid of whatever was causing the smoke to disturb it.
"Shit!" Rarity yelled again, no time to cover her mouth, "my eggs!"
Sweetie Belle jumped into the kitchen, a comb hanging from her knotted pink and purple hair.
"Rarity!" she shrieked, still in a sing-song voice. The bowl on the stove was intoxicating in a blackish smog as was at the verge of igniting into flames at any time.
"I'm coming, Sweetie Belle, darling!" Rarity ran to the dish, her nightgown hiking up on her thighs, exposing massive parts of her undergarments. She grabbed a folded, white towel from one of the drawers and spread it out in the air, banging it on the slowly flaming dish. The smoke was trapped underneath the membrane of the towel. thus causing it to to simmer down. The flame died as well.
Rarity lifted the towel and threw it onto the counter. She fitted on oven mitts quickly and took the dish off. The eggs inside were charred, their fluffy, white edges crisped into dark black ashes.
"I need to pull it together." She put a hand to her exasperated face. She tossed the eggs into the trash and the dish into the sink. Rarity looked at her sister. "Finish combing your hair, Sweetie Belle."
"That was a close call," Sweetie noted, yanking the comb out of her hair, a few bits of pink hair left on the spokes. She ran it through again, pulling some of the knots out. "You gotta watch what you're cooking Rarity." Her voice squeaked.
"Just a little distracted," Rarity assured, grabbing a yogurt from the fridge. She dipped a spoon into the creaminess and took a bite out of it.
"Okay then~!" Sweetie Belle finished her hair and ran to her room to go change out of her pajamas.
End Kapitel
