Some things cost more than just bits
“We need to talk.”
That was a phrase no one ever wanted to hear. Not from their parents, not from their lover, and certainly, Rarity decided, not from their little sister. Especially when it was spoken in that sort of tone, one that promised a particularly unpleasant discussion. No, this was most definitely the sort of situation she’d like to avoid.
“I’d love to, darling, but I’m afraid I must put away these bags first,” said Rarity in as cheerful of a voice as she could manage, given the circumstances. Her horn lit as she lifted a few of her shopping bags and gave them a little halfhearted wave. Sweetie Belle glared at them, then at her sister. Rarity did her best not to return the gesture out of habit.
“Go ahead, Rarity. In fact, I’ll follow you. This kinda involves the bags, too.” She huffed up at Rarity, giving her the no-nonsense look only a younger sister could pull off.
Rarity hesitated, but there wasn’t much that she could say to escape after that. “Very well, Sweetie. Would you mind picking up the others? There are a couple more waiting outside.”
Rarity levitated the bags alongside her as she made her way up to her room, trying to ignore her sister’s grumbling. She made it halfway up the stairs before Sweetie Belle’s shout made her hesitate. “You know, sis, a ‘couple’ usually implies TWO, not FIVE!”
“Well, that new F&F ‘super’ shop down in Manehattan was having a sale. They called it… what was it? A super-store super-sale? I simply had to take advantage of all of the good deals they were offering.” She chuckled, setting her bags down gently, trying to remember what was in which one.
Her sister appeared around the corner, a few grocery-laden bags dragging behind her on the floor. “This is a lot of stuff, Rarity. I thought you just went shopping a few days ago.” She groaned before dumping them unceremoniously next to the others. They slouched against each other like two tipsy mares out for a night on the town. Which, all things considered, wasn’t too far off of a description. She had enjoyed quite a day out and about, but sans alcohol and a shopping buddy.
Rarity chuckled nervously, hoofing back the flimsy plastic to check the contents of each sack. “For goodness sake, Sweetie, there’s no need to be quite so indelicate. I just got the necessities, and a few other things we might need in the future.” She lifted up a jar of something shimmery, inspecting it for cracks before gently nestling it between her other purchases.
Sweetie Belle wrinkled her nose, poking her muzzle into one of the bags and squinting to read a couple of the contents. “Did we really need D-Lux Fruit Polish, though? Or a feather comb? What are we even going to do with that? We aren’t pegasi, and Scootaloo has her own.”
“I-” Rarity frowned. “To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure yet, but should the need arise, we will be prepared! That’s the point of a sale, you see. You buy things when they cost less, so that you don’t have to buy them when things cost more! It’s like planning ahead, but with discounts!”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and began unloading the bags. Rarity did the same, albeit a bit gentler. She’d spent good money on those, not that Sweetie Belle seemed to care. Unlike her sister, Rarity knew the importance of a good bargain! “It isn’t like this won’t be useful, at some point, Sweetie. I’d rather be prepared than have to run to the store during an emergency.”
“I doubt an emergency would involve… what even is this?” Sweetie Belle lifted up a pouch of glass pebbles. “Aren’t these supposed to go in a fish tank?”
“They’re very pretty-” Rarity started, but Sweetie Belle’s scowl cut her off.
“No, they’re just stuff. Stuff to add to the other stuff you bought last time, and the time before that. We have pretty trinkets and glittery gems and a million other things. Did you really just get this because it said it was on sale?”
“I-”
“This is the issue I need to talk to you about. Why do you keep spending money on such useless junk? I know you buy what we need, but you keep buying a lot of stuff we don’t need, and it’s cluttering up everything!” She gestured to Rarity’s bookshelves, embellished with items from previous shopping trips. They sat there, judgmentally existing and collecting dust at Rarity. She winced, but Sweetie Belle wasn’t done.
“Sure, they might be on sale. This hair clip, that extra bar of fancy soap, they might be discounted to a good deal if you really need them, but you’re still spending more money on them than you would be if you hadn’t bought them at all!” Sweetie Belle snorted, gently tipping over a sealed bottle of shampoo. It was, Rarity noted as she examined it closer, not even the correct brand of shampoo. How did that get in there?
“I’m worried about our budget, Rarity. I don’t think it can take all this shopping and you supporting your business. I’m not even sure how you managed to buy all this stuff. Didn’t you just restock your botiques with fabrics?”
Flustered, Rarity managed to sputter out a response after a few seconds. “I mean, yes, but-”
Sweetie Belle held up a hoof and surveyed the room. She took a deep breath, and then slowly let it out, before speaking again, this time a bit softer. “How did you manage to buy all of this?”
“I was going to show you, actually. See, the F&F Superstore was offering these.” She held up a little flimsy plastic card. Inscribed on the card was Rarity’s name, in punch-letter silver. “They let me sign up for one, for being such a good customer. It works sort of like a tab one might have at a bar or restaurant, in that you put all your purchases on it, and then you pay it off later.”
Sweetie Belle frowned, slumped over a shirt she was struggling to fold as she mentally worked her way through the concept. “What happens if you can’t pay it off later?”
“Then they’ll expect you to pay a little bit more after a deadline for the inconvenience, and they won’t let you shop there again until you pay it off. It won’t be a problem, though, Sweetie, because I make more than enough to pay it off right away.” Digging through a bag, Rarity found what she was looking for and pried out a crumpled receipt. It seemed like a far larger number than it was in the store, but still a decent deal, when the amount of items were taken into account.
Sweetie Belle’s voice steadily grew louder and louder as she went on. “That isn’t the problem, Rarity! The problem isn’t that you have enough money to survive and shop like this, the problem is that you’re shopping all the time and getting stuff we won’t ever even use! You’re wasting your own time and money to fill up the house with junk!”
She paused, mostly to take a breath, and looked at Rarity. Her expression changed in an instant from frustration to concern. Her hoof tip reached out towards Rarity’s face, and it was only when it pulled away, damp, that Rarity realized she’d been tearing up.
Wordlessly, Sweetie Belle trotted over to her sister’s desk and pulled out a tissue box. One floated towards Rarity, a white flag, a peace offering. “What’s really wrong, Rarity?”
Rarity sniffled and took the tissue. “I just… get so anxious, darling. Shopping helps me think through things, it helps distract me from the problems at hoof…”
“... and it feels good to get stuff, doesn’t it?”
“Precisely. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the rush of satisfaction, as it were, whenever I make a purchase. I suppose it may be getting a little out of hoof, perhaps.” She attempted a wobbly smile, examining a few of the items with great big friendly SALE stickers on them.
“You think?” Sweetie Belle laughed, peeling off one to examine the original price. It was, Rarity noted, not quite as much of a sale as she had thought.
“I do. Yes, I do see the problem you were referring to. And perhaps buying everything on credit isn’t the best idea. I don’t know if I’d be tempted, someday, to buy more than I can afford at the moment, even if I could afford paying it off at a future date.” She crumpled up the receipt and tossed it lightly towards one of the further bags. It missed, catching on a few coat hangers sticking out of one of them. Why ever did she think she needed more of those?
“So you’ll get rid of the card?” Sweetie Belle perked up, shuffling through the bags.
“After I pay off what I’ve already purchased, yes. And I’ll try to limit my spending to true necessities, instead of frivolous purchases all the time. Truth be told, I don’t even know what I’d use this for, anyway.”
“Do they take returns?”
“Come to think of it, no. I suppose it’s because they’re a superstore of sorts, and perhaps they want to verify the quality of the items they sell, and-” Rarity bit her lip as a thought occurred to her. “Oh, shoot.”
“What?”
“They aren’t just any superstore, they’re the F&F Superstore. Flim and Flam! Of course they’d be behind this sort of nasty trickery. All talk of credit, and buying now but owing more in the future if you cannot pay it off in time. This is exactly the sort of thing they’d come up with!” She groaned and slumped over a bag containing an exotic assortment of pudding mixes.
Sweetie Belle scoffed, stuffing a few empty bags into another bag. “Weren’t you saying earlier that it was a great idea to buy all this stuff at a bargain price? That they had wonderful sales on everything you could want or need in the future?”
“Quite beside the point, Sweetie. I’m sure I’m not the only pony who fell for their scheme. Why, the store was crowded with other ponies! I’ll have to get Applejack’s help for talking them out of this one. She’s had experience with exposing their plans.” She hummed, lost in thought for a moment until her sister brought her out of her trance.
“And you won’t go shopping again?” She batted the bag-full-of-bags across the room, landing neatly beside Rarity.
“Not there, anyways.” At her sister’s irate look, she hastily continued. “I’d just be buying the necessities. The real ones, this time. I think I’ve bought enough extra things for a couple years at least.”
Her sister rolled her eyes and resumed sorting the assortment of items into neat little stacks. Not color-coded, as Rarity would have done, but functional enough. “It isn’t really a problem when you buy a few nice things every once in a while, you know. It’s just a problem when you don’t budget right for them and that’s the only thing you’re buying. Like, I get that it’s stress relief in the moment, getting this junk, but afterwards you’re left with empty pockets and cluttered rooms.”
Sweetie Belle picked up a stack of dish towels with witty designs on them and headed towards the linen closet. “Speaking of cluttered rooms, I think maybe you should find a different home for some of this stuff. I’m not sure where you’d even put all those knick knacks and things. At least other ponies may not have quite so many already.”
“Well, I know those other ponies lack something I’m lucky to have.”
“A job to afford all the stuff they buy on sale that they wouldn’t buy at all normally?” She shrugged, settling the towels in a neat stack on a shelf. “The common sense to not buy into this sort of scheme?”
“No, silly!” Rarity swept up her sister into a tight hug. “They’re missing a sister to talk some reason into them. Come on, now, let’s go explain this whole mess to Applejack. I’m sure she’s got an idea or two on how to fix it.”
Author's Note
For the record, my point isn't that buying things for yourself is bad. It's just smarter to budget these things. All good things can be done to too much of an extreme.
