The morning sun lit up the room as Rarity stood at her sewing machine. She guided fuchsia fabric along the needle of the machine. The blueprint of her design sat beside the sewing machine.
The fabric started to take shape as her steady hooves continued working. Her mane was messed up, and her glasses occasionally slid off her muzzle. She was making the dress for herself, but she still didn’t want to leave it unfinished. She wanted to show it off to her friends.
The fabrics were sewn together, but the dress was not complete. It was still missing gems that Rarity hunted for previously. She decorated her dress with gems. Finally, she was done. She sat down to take a break.
A few minutes later, she felt a familiar sensation on her cutie mark. She looked at it and noticed that it was glowing. She knew it only meant one thing. She needed to go to the Friendship Kingdom Castle.
She walked to the castle and into the map room. Twilight was already there with a pile of books.
“You’re going to love this!” Twilight exclaimed. “You are going to the Golden Kingdom, an empire built on generosity!” She levitated a book. “It says right here: Gold Ring founded a piece of land as a place of refuge for ponies all across Equestria. Ponies flocked in until a town was made. The town agreed that Gold Ring should be the king as he was the founder, and that was the start of the Golden Kingdom. The crown was passed down from generation to generation until King Gold Coin, who is the current ruler.” She skimmed her books. “There’s nothing about him, though.”
Rarity’s eyes shined as she listened to Twilight. It felt like the Kingdom was made for her. She was ready to go there and solve whatever problem they had. She looked at the map and found that her cutie mark was the only one present. “Am I the only pony going?”
Twilight nodded, “That’s what the map said.”
Rarity looked at the door. “Very well. I do wish I had a friend to accompany me, but if I was meant to go alone, that is the way it has to be. I will see you later, Twilight.”
She left before Twilight said another word. She walked to the train station and bought a round trip ticket to the Golden Kingdom and waited for the train to arrive. When it did, she sat in her car of the train as she waited for it to arrive at her destination.
“We are at the Golden Kingdom!” The conductor announced. Rarity stepped off the train alone. It was a surprise that she was the only pony to be there, but she didn’t think too much of it. She turned around, and what she saw shocked her.
The ponies walked around with their heads low. Most of them were naked, and those who weren’t only wore a piece of torn fabric. Each individual rib was lined by the skin. Their eyes were as hollow as the indentions of their ribs.
She looked around at the buildings. The walls were chipped all over, and there were a few noticeable holes in every house. The hay of the houses rotted giving off a putrid smell. It was not like how Twilight described it at all. She wasn’t sure if she was in the right place. She needed to know where she was.
She found a pony standing alone and asked her, “Where are we? You see, I was trying to go to the Golden Kingdom, and…”
“You’re here,” The mare interrupted.
Rarity looked at her suspiciously. “I beg your pardon, but this cannot be the Golden Kingdom.”
“It is, honey, and unless King Gold Coin abandons his greedy ways, we’re going to stay like this for awhile,” She explained.
“Thank you…” Rarity was unsure of her name.
“Amethyst,” The mare responded.
“Thank you, Amethyst,” Rarity thanked again. “Do you know where the King is?”
“He’s in the castle, but he doesn’t like visitors,” Amethyst explained.
Rarity gave her a few a few gems and headed towards the castle. She didn’t care that King Gold Coin hated visitors. She was not going to allow ponies to starve. She couldn’t understand why he refused to help his own subjects. .
When she got to the castle, she was stopped by two guards. She needed to speak to the king. “Please sirs, I bring a message for the king.”
“Fifty bits,” One of the guards announced.
Rarity thought the price was ridiculous, “That is too much to demand!”
“King’s orders,” The guard told her.
She levitated a bag of fifty bits to the bucket. She had to wait for the guards to count them, but she was given access when they were done. She walked down the long hall and into the throne room where a greyish-white unicorn with a brown mane sat.
Rarity walked on the golden walkway to the throne. The throne was made of gold, silver, and platinum. The king sat upon the throne. She wanted to give him a piece of her mind, “My name is Rarity, and I came here to tell you something! Ponies out there are starving! Their homes are in poor condition, and they are weak! All you do is steal money from other ponies without caring about them!”
The King seemed to ignore her. “Bow down to me.”
Rarity shook her head, “I will not. A King should be fair and make sure his kingdom is strong! You have not proven yourself to be a king.”
“Bow down to me!” He repeated, shouting that time.
Rarity held her ground. “I refuse to acknowledge you as a king! You have stolen from these ponies for too long! How would you feel if ponies stole from you?”
She left the castle before he said another word. She was surprised that he didn’t send her to the dungeon. Perhaps he was so greedy that he didn’t want to have to build more room in the dungeon. Perhaps he didn’t consider her disrespect to be that bad. Regardless, she didn’t face consequences.
She needed to make sure the ponies were healthy. The kingdom was small, so she was able to afford to buy food for everypony. She didn’t want to give any more of her money to a greedy king, so she had to get food from outside the kingdom.
There was a small town five minutes from the walls of the kingdom. The buildings lacked architectural design, but they were still in better shape than the buildings in the Golden Kingdom. She found a bakery and ordered fifty pieces of bread. It was plenty to feed the ponies.
The baker was surprised at the order, but he filled a cart with fifty loaves of bread. Rarity knew she had to take a cart. There was no way she was going to walk back levitating all that bread. After the baker was finished, he asked Rarity for 100 bits. Two bits per loaf was very reasonable, so she gave him the money and left with the bread. She made a mental note to return the cart.
When she got back to the Kingdom, she was stopped by more guards. One announced, “All imported goods must go directly to the king!”
Rarity looked at the guards. They were in no better condition than anyone else. “If he wants the bread all for himself or to sell it for an unfair price, then I refuse.”
“All imported goods must go directly to the king!” The guard repeated.
“I heard you the first time,” Rarity told him. “This bread was made by a baker in a small town five minutes from here. His heart goes into making the bread for ponies to eat, not for it to mold because ponies are unable to afford it! I bought this bread to give to the ponies who need it.”
“All imported…” The guard started, again.
“Look at yourself!” Rarity interrupted. “Look at everypony here. The king is the only pony who lives here who isn’t starving! You don’t need to blindly take orders from a king who only cares about himself!”
There was silence for a few moments. Then the guards got out of the way. She thanked them and walked to an open field. She told the guards to tell the ponies that she brought food for them. They obeyed her and left.
Ponies flocked around the cart eager for food. She made sure everypony was given a good amount of food and watched them eat. She was pleased at the site. They ate as if it was a big feast. Perhaps it was a feast to them.
Rarity heard the sound of angry hooves approach her. She turned around to see who they belonged to, and she saw King Gold Coin in rage. “They needed food!” Rarity explained. She didn’t know why he was angry.
“I don’t care about that!” He shouted angrily. “You stole from me!”
Rarity gasped, “I would never steal nor encourage others to steal from anypony!”
“I was stolen from on the same day you came here!” The king retaliated.
Rarity shook her head. “I am not a thief. You, on the other hoof, continuously stole from ponies, even when they had nothing left. Nevertheless, I do not condone thievery, even if it’s from a greedy pony like yourself.”
“If you didn’t steal, then help me find the thief!” The king commanded.
Rarity stepped closer to the king. “No. Why do I need to search for a thief when one is standing right in front of me?”
“How dare you accuse me of being a thief!” The king shouted in rage.
One of the ponies from the crowed, a middle stallion, shouted, “You have stolen from us ever since you took the throne!”
“Silence!” The king shouted.
The stallion ignored his orders, “I was the thief. My children and wife had nothing left. We couldn’t afford your ridiculous taxes. We needed to survive, and you had most of the money. I didn’t expect you to ever realize it was gone.”
The king was in more rage, “You will be locked in the dungeon!”
“For what! Committing the same crime you have committed on us?!” A mare from the crowed shouted.
The king looked at his subjects. He saw their hatred. Then he looked closer at them. Their manes were messed up, a lot of them were physically weak, and many were sick. They barely had any fat on them. For the first time, he felt a new kind of pain. Seeing those ponies in that condition made him realize what he did.
He looked at the bread many of the ponies were still happily eating. “You traveled and bought the bread with your own money?” The king asked.
Rarity looked at him confused. “Who’s money did you expect me to use?”
“Why did you do that for them?” He questioned..
Rarity answered, “They were starving, and it was the right thing to do.”
The king nodded and turned to the crowed. “I apologize for how I treated all of you during my rule. For now on, I promise to be a fair king and to make sure all my subjects live a comfortable life. No more unfair taxes, no more ridiculous prices, and you will no longer be charged to speak to me. I promise to live up to the family tradition and make this kingdom known for its generosity once again! As a celebration, there will be a party at eight tonight! Everypony is invited!”
The crowd was silent for a moment. Then gradually, ponies started clapping until everypony was clapping loudly. . He made sure to live up to his promise no matter what. The subjects forgave him, but he had to prove that what he said wasn’t just words. First, he needed to set up the party.
Rarity felt the same feeling in her cutie mark that she felt earlier. It glowed again signaling her job was done. She didn’t go home, yet, though. She decided to help the king with the party. She helped prepare the food and decorate the castle with streamers. Finally, it was almost time for the party to start.
Rarity decided it was time for her to leave. She did what she needed to, and there was no other reason for her to be there. She headed towards the train station, but she was stopped by the king.
“The party won’t be the same without you!” The king exclaimed.
Rarity was shocked, “Whatever do you mean?”
“You helped me see the error in my ways, and without you, there would be no party,” he explained.
Rarity thought about it for a moment. She didn’t want her friends to feel left out, but she didn’t want to disappoint the king, either. “I don’t know about this.”
“How about this! I will give a speech in your honor at the beginning. After that, you can leave.” The king suggested.
It wasn’t a bad idea. She smiled. “I accept. One day, I may even return here along with my friends.”
Rarity and King Gold Coin walked to the castle where the party was about to start. Everypony gathered in the castle for the special celebration. They made room for the king and Rarity as they entered the main room where everypony else was. Rarity took a seat at one of the tables next to Amethyst while the king walked on the stage.
Everypony was settled, so the king decided to start his speech. “Ever since the beginning days of this kingdom, it has been a kingdom known for its generosity. My fathers helped anypony without question. Unfortunately, all of that changed when I took the throne. I was a very greedy king. I allowed my subjects to starve while I acquired more wealth than I needed.
“Today, I saw what I have done. When I saw Rarity give you food, I saw that she was happy. It made me realize something. While I stayed in my castle cut off from the outside world, she was happily giving to other ponies. She didn’t treat it like losing something from herself like I did. She treated it like somepony else gaining something. If she didn’t come here, I would have still been blinded.
“I would also like to thank Wood Whistle for teaching me a lesson by stealing the gold from me!” He looked at the pony he acknowledged, “Don’t get used to it! I will not forgive any more thievery!” Wood Whistle chuckled in response. The king continued, “The Golden Kingdom will return to its former glory!”
Everypony in the crowed cheered in approval. Rarity set a few gems down on the table and left. She was glad that everypony was happy. She wanted to return again to see how things were going, but that was for another day. She returned the cart to the baker and took the train to Ponyville. It was a long day for her, but everything turned out great in the end.