One-shot: The necklace
She was one of those lovely mares, but, by fate, she was born in a poor family, and, by that same reason, she couldn't shine by her own, she couldn't get much attention, she couldn't have a chance of marrying a very handsome stallion, but she did in the end, she married Filthy Rich.
Fate is a very curious thing, because his name was Filthy Rich, but he wasn't actually rich, his family had money and fame, but they decided not to give anything to the poor boy, but the poor thing wasn't devastated, he found a way to keep moving forward, he had an average job, and when he met her, gosh, she was beautiful, she still is by the way.
Yet, something about her was really annoying, but he couldn't quite figure out what yet, it almost seemed like she was content, but never happy, she married a very admirable stallion and had a house to live in, but it never was enough, she wanted more, but she couldn't afford to have more, and this made her very sad, worse, she suffered.
She always dreamed of going somewhere fancy, like Canterlot, or maybe Manehatten, take a change of rhytm for once, but she couldn't, she didn't have to work, her horseband did all the work, and she didn't do any homework, she hired a servant to do it with the little money they had, and yet, everything in her house annoyed her even more: The walls, the low class they were, things any other mare wouldn't find amusing, and Filthy Rich noticed this, so, he thought that maybe he could get her a surprise.
One day, the two collided and Filthy gave her a very big envelope.
"Take this, there's something inside for you". Spoiled opened the envelope slowly, and inside it was a card that said:
All of the royals of Canterlot beg to Spoiled Rich and Filthy Rich to spend the evening with them at the Royal Castle the next Sunday.
Instead of seeing her happy, she threw the card towards a table and whispered:
"What do you want me to do with this?"
"My dear, I figured you'd be happy, you don't go outside that much, and this is an unique opportunity to do so, getting that invitation costed me a lot, because a lot of ponies want to go and they can't go in the end" She looked at him weirdly, and, she couldn't keep her impatience anymore, she exclaimed:
"And what do you want me to wear? I have nothing"
Filthy Rich didn't think that, he stammered:
"Well, the outfit you wear for the theater... Is rather nice"
And, seeing his wife cry, he shut his mouth. With doubt in his voice, he uttered to whisper:
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, but I don't have anything to wear, so I can't go to that party, you better give that invitation to another pony who's wife is better dressed than me!"
The poor guy was desolate. "Come on, how much can an outfit cost?"
Spoiled was thinking about it, doing mathematic operations inside her head, and, unsure, she replied:
"I can't say exactly how much, but I think I can go with four hundred bits"
He froze, that was the exact number of bits he was going to spend in a shotgun to go hunting from time to time with his friends.
"I'll give you the bits, but the outfit better be worth it"
The day was coming, and Spoiled Rich was nervous, so, Filthy asked her:
"Is something happening to you?"
"Yes, I don't have any jewelry, not even a single stone to put on my dress, I will look like somepony miserable, maybe we shouldn't go"
"Put flowers on your dress, they are simply stunning on this season, and with ten bits, you can buy some really beautiful roses"
Spoiled wasn't convinced about it "No, there is nothing more humilliant than looking like a poor pony among rich mares..." She responded, and she was about to finish her sentence, but her horseband interrupted her.
"You are SO silly sometimes, go to Miss Rarity's boutique and ask her if she can give you some piece of Jewelry, you two are very close, I doubt she will say no."
"Hmm, I didn't think of that, thank you"
"You're welcome"
The next day, she went to the Boutique, Rarity opened the door and let her in, Spoiled told her the things that happened, Rarity, rather than replying, pulled out a small box, when she oened it, Spoied saw a large collection of jewelry, and Rarity just said: "Choose wisely." Spoiled looked over to the jewels, but she didn't figure out which one would be perect for the event.
"Do you have any more?"
"Yes, yes darling, come here"
Rarity guided Spoiled Rich towards her room, once they were in there, Rarity pulled another box, this one bigger than the previous one, and showed Spoiled another collection of Jewels, and she kept searching the perfect one, and then, she saw the perfect one, a necklace of pure diamonds, her heart began beating faster, and she started staring at the beautiful thing.
Later, full of angst, Spoiled said:"Can I borrow this just for one night?"
Rarity just giggled at the nerves of her friend, and, with a smiley face, she responded: "Of course, anything for a friend"
Spoiled threw herself into the hooves of her friend, and later, she left with her treasure.
At last, the day arrived, and the glory of Spoiled was inmense, between all of the ladies, she was the cutest, the fanciest, the most graceful mare in there, and, full of happiness, she never stopped smiling, not for an instant. All of the stallions looked at her, they asked who she was, they wanted to present themselves, and not only the guests notoced her, even the royals looked at her in awe.
And she danced with glee, with happiness, filled by the emotions she was feeling and without thinking on something else than the joy she felt, in the glory of her triumph, and, feeling overwhelmed by a cloud of good feelings formed by all the compliments of the male guests and the envious glares of the females.
She left the party at four o' clock, just before dawn, she put her coat over her shoulders, because it was freezing outside, but, even the coat looked fancy if it was being worn by her, her poverty was being removed by the outfit she was wearing, and, most importantly, the necklace she borrowed from Rarity.
"Wait, it's cold, I'll call a taxi or something to get us home" Said Filthy, but there wasn't any kind of transport near them, so, they had to leave walking, at last, at the end of the road, they found a carriage , they felt so relieved to finally stop walking, they got inside the carriage, and they left Canterlot in no time.
Finally, they were at their home, and entered their house sadly, for her, it was all over, and for him, he thought that he had to be at his office at ten o' clock. In front of the mirror, Spoiled took off the coat she was wearing, to see herself one more time before taking off her beautiful outfit, but she screamed in terror when she saw something terrible in her neck, or rather, something that wasn't in her neck:
She wasn't wearing the necklace.
"What is it?"
She turned towards him. "I... I... I don't have the necklace!!!!"
Completely surprised, her horseband stood up. "What are you saying?! It's impossible!"
And they searched through the pockets of the coat, through the house, and through the streets of Ponyville, but it was no use, they didn't find anything.
"Are you sure you had it when we got out of the party?"
"Yes, I touched it at the exit of the Royal Palace!"
"But, if it fell when we were in some street, we would have heard it fall. Maybe you left it inside the carriage"
"Probably, did you see its number?"
"No, and you?"
"No"
They looked at each other terrified, at last, Filthy got dressed up and said: "I'm going to search through the whole village, to see if I can find it"
And he got out of the house, she stood inside of the house, with her dress still on, without forces to lay down, demolished on a chair, without any lights of clarity. Her orseband returned at Seven o' clock without anything on his hooves. He went to the police, to the newspapers of Ponyville to publish a big reward, to the companies of carriages, everywhere to see if he could have a glimmer of hope, while she stood on the same chair with the same state of disbelief.
"Maybe it's best if you write a letter to Miss Rarity telling her that you broke the necklace, and she must give us time to pay it back". Filthy said, without any other idea.
"That will take time" And he dictated the letter.
One week later, theybhad lost all hope, and Filthy, who had gotten old really fast, said: "We must find another necklace"
And, from the next day on, they went to the jeweler, and searched for a necklace that was exactly like the lost one, they also went with the pouch to see if the jeweler recognized it, the stallion looked at his books, and,he finally said:
"Miss, I didn't sell the necklace, I only sold the pouch"
Then they started going to every jeweler in town, searching for an exact replica, with nothing else than their memories, both of them nearly sick of all the angst and fear.
Luckily for them, they found an exact copy of the necklace, but unluckily for them, it was too expensive, it costed fourty thousand bits, but after lots and lots of begging, the jeweler left the price in thirty six thousand bits.
Filthy had eighteen thousand bits, the only money his family left him, and he had to keep borrowing the money that was left, he borrowed one thousand bits from one, five hundred from another, three there, he signed contracts, he made ruinous commitments, he dealt with usurers and all kinds of moneylenders, and compromised his very existence by putting at risk his sign without even knowing if he vould make it honorary, and, scared of tomorrow, for the black misery that was just ahead of him, te perspective of all the public privations and all the moral tortures, he went to the jeweler and paid for the necklace, leaving the exact number of bits on the local.
When Spoiled took the necklace back to Rarity, she received her friend very coldly.
"You should have come earlier, you know? I could have needed it"
And Rarity didn't open the pouch, like Spoiled feared, if she opened the pouch, what could have happened? would Rarity take her for a liar? or worse, a stealer?
As for everything else, she took heroically the determination she needed to take, it had to be paid and it would be paid, she fired the servant, they left the house they lived in, and they had to live very poorly, Spoiled finally knew what it was like doing house chores, She cooked, she washed the dishes, she cleaned their clothes, she took out the trash every morning and took in the water, taking her time with each hoofstep, and she dressed like any village mare, she went to the market with her bag, defending her bits with her life. Every month they had to pay and renovate debts, to keep gaining time.
This life kept going the way it was for ten years, when the time passed, they had resolved all of their debts, including interests, by this time, she looked older than she really was, but she was the strongest, roughest, and rudest mare of the low class, with her clothes dirty, her mane and tail messier than Pinkie Pie's, she talked roughly and cleaned the floors with water and soap, but, sometimes, when her horseband was at his office, she looked outside the window and thought about that night when she had all the glory of the world in her neck, when she was the most beautiful mare among the royals.
What would have happened if she never lost the necklace? Who knows? Life is a very treacherous thing, and to change it, it takes so little things.
A beautiful Sunday in the morning, she saw a mare with a filly by her side, it was Rarity with her younger sitster, Sweetie Belle, always beautiful, always seducing. Spoiled got excited when she saw her, can she talk to Rarity? Yes, why not? She already paid for her mistakes, right?
"Good morning Rarity"
Rarity, without recognizing her, was confused by this mare, so modest, so weird, so familiar, and she replied:
"Miss... I don't... know who are you, but you are mistaken"
"No, I am Spoiled Milk"
Rarity couldn't supress a yell. "Oh my, darling! What happened to you? You are so different now!"
"Yes, I've been through a lot, I suffered a lot, and all because of you"
"Because of me? How is that possible?"
"Do you remember the necklace I borrowed from you that night? Ten years ago?"
"Yes, but why?"
"Very well, I lost it"
"How could you lose it if you gave it back to me?"
"I gave you an exact replica, and it took us ten years to pay for it, as you can comprehend, it wasn't an easy thing for us, we weren't very rich when we lost it, whatever, it's in the past now, and now I'm so relieved"
Rarity froze. "Did you buy a diamond necklace to replace mine?"
"Yes, and you didn't notice it because the stones were exactly the same colors, shapes, and sizes"
When Spoiled talked that way, she felt confident and prideful, Rarity took her hooves and said:
"Oh, my poor Spoiled, that was the first necklace I ever had, but, I first had it when I was a filly, my father bought a fake necklace for five hundred bits at the Ponyville market."
