//------------------------------// // The Invitation // Story: Ponyville Millionaire's Club // by Inspector Brown //------------------------------// “Rainbow, take it easy!” Starlight Glimmer said with a scowl. “Those cupcakes cost money, after all. Don’t you think you’ve had quite enough?” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she bit into the eleventh red velvet cupcake she would have that evening. “Chillax, Star. Rarity’s covering for all of us, so we can have as much as we want!” “I don’t care how generous you say she is,” Starlight retorted, “it’s not right to blow through somepony else’s money the way you are!” “Yes, I can see your heart is in the right place,” came a familiar voice. Starlight turned to find Rarity walking up to the counter behind her. “But you are making a fuss over a trifle, really. What’s a couple of bits among friends?” “I know,” Starlight said, “but a couple of bits, times about three dozen ponies, times multiple rounds, that adds up to more than just a trifle. I mean, just look at this place!” Starlight swept her hoof around Sugarcube Corner. The tiny bakery was packed pretty tightly, with customers at every table, and about as many more standing around mingling. All of Rarity’s dearest friends and family were in attendance, as well as some ponies she didn’t know all that well, but who decided to turn up anyway when they heard what she was planning. “Starlight, I think you’re missing the point. Again.” said Pinkie Pie, who had been working the counter for the past three hours non-stop. “Did you forget why Rarity said she was throwing this party? We are celebrating the fiscal achievement of Equestria’s newest millionaire! She’ll never miss a measly eight hundred bits.” “You see,” Rarity said, cool as ice. “It’s no big…wait, how much?” “Hang on, let me see,” said Pinkie, grabbing the register tape, and scanning it with her eyes. “Uh-huh. So far, you’ve run up a tab of eight hundred twenty-nine bits and forty-six cents.” Rarity’s eyes froze in an unblinking stare. “Oh, dear. That’s a bit more than I expected.” “See, Rainbow?” Starlight seethed. “I told you to slow down!” Rainbow shook her head as she wiped the frosting from her muzzle. “If Rarity wants me to stop, she can tell me herself.” She turned back to the counter. “Yo, Pinkie! Hit me again!” Pinkie handed Rainbow another cupcake. Then she punched a few buttons on the cash register. The tape grew a little bit. “You’re up to eight thirty-one, nineteen,” she announced. “Are you sure you can afford that?” Starlight asked, tentatively. Rarity brought a hoof to her chin. “If this keeps up, I may have to let Sweetie Belle go without her favorite cereal for the next month. Or any food at all, for that matter.” For a single, terrifying second, Starlight thought Rarity was actually serious. Then she noticed the mischievous twinkle in Rarity’s eye. Starlight grimaced, and lightly shoved her friend in the shoulder. “Oh, come now, Starlight, don’t be like that,” Rarity said. “You’re so serious all the time. You’ve got to learn to lighten up. Enjoy yourself. It’s a party, for pony’s sake! Ooh, I think I know what will help.” She turned to the counter. “Pinkie, dear, bring our friend Starlight my usual, if you please.” “Coming right up!” said Pinkie. She reached behind the counter, and produced what appeared to be an ordinary yellow cupcake, with a rosette of white icing. She put it on the counter in front of Starlight, then punched its price into the register. “Eight thirty-four, fifty-nine,” she said. Even though Starlight couldn’t quite do the arithmetic in her head, she knew that jump meant this cupcake was quite pricey. Clearly, Rarity had expensive tastes, much more expensive than hers. Still, it would be rude not to at least try it. Starlight floated it up to her mouth, and nibbled just a small piece of the cupcake, close to the edge. “I don’t get it,” Starlight said aloud. “It tastes like one of those Bargain Batch cupcakes that they sell in boxes of sixty. You pay three bits and change for this?” “Take a bigger bite,” Rarity insisted. “You’ll get it.” Starlight opened her mouth wide and bit the cupcake in half. She was greeted by a sudden juicy flavor. It teased her tongue with a tangy taste, yet its sweet sensation left her salivating with satisfaction. Pulling back, she saw that hidden within the cupcake was a core of raspberry filling. Starlight usually didn’t like raspberries, but the soft cake and creamy icing muted the more potent parts of the filling while enhancing the sweet flavor. She happily chomped the rest of the treat, letting the tastes and textures swirl and swim in her mouth. She moaned softly. “I take it you enjoyed that?” Rarity said wryly. “Worth. Every. Cent.” Starlight said. “Rarity, there you are!” Rarity turned to see Twilight Sparkle approaching the counter. She waved her over. “I was beginning to wonder if I would see you here. I wanted to congratulate you. I know how hard you’ve worked over these many years, and reaching a milestone like this is a major accomplishment. I’m certain you feel really proud.” “Oh, stop it, Twilight,” Rarity said, turning away. “You’ll embarrass me.” “I know, I know, you weren’t doing it for the money,” Twilight said, “You were just doing what you love. But you wouldn’t be where you are today if ponies all across Equestria didn’t love what you do. You have to take pride in that!” “You’re absolutely right, Twilight. I would not be where I am today without the love and support of all my dear friends. And I hope you and everypony else understand how deeply and truly grateful I am for all your love and support!” “I’ll say we do!” Rainbow Dash piped in. “With a bash like this, I’d say you’ve become the toast of the town! Hey, Pinkie! Slide me one of those peanut butter ones!” “Make it two!” said Starlight Glimmer. Pinkie pulled two cupcakes from behind the counter, then rang them up on the cash register. “Here’s to Rarity, the nicest, kindest, sweetest member of the Ponyville Millionaire’s Club!” She and Rainbow snickered to each other, before bumping cupcakes, and eating. “Oh, I’m not a member yet,” Rarity said. “But, I expect I’ll be getting an invitation soon enough.” “Starlight!” Twilight hissed. “Don’t give Rarity any ideas about joining those creeps!” “Ideas?” Starlight said, bewildered. “Those creeps? Twilight, I was just talking abstractly.” “Oh. Oh, I see.” “Wait, wait, wait a minute! Are you telling me that the Ponyville Millionaire’s Club is actually a thing?” “Oh, right, you haven’t been here that long,” Twilight said. “Well, the Ponyville Millionaire’s Club is a secret society that only invites millionaires to join, because…I guess they just don’t like the poor and working class ponies in this town.” “That sounds oddly specific,” said Starlight. “Hang on, if they’re a secret society, how did you find out that they exist?” “Everypony knows the club exists, Starlight,” said Rainbow Dash. “What we don’t know which ponies are members of the club, because nopony will admit to being a member of the club.” “And we don’t know what those ponies do when they meet in their secret hideout,” Twilight added. “But if they’re going to all that trouble to hide it from the rest of Ponyville, it can’t be anything wholesome, I can tell you that much.” “How do you know they have a secret hideout?” Starlight asked. Twilight shot Starlight a “don’t be dense” look. Starlight gasped. “Are you a member?” Twilight covered her eyes with her hoof. “No, Starlight.” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “That’s exactly what a member of a secret society would say if they were asked, Twilight.” “Okay, you want full disclosure? Here it is: I received an invitation to join when I first moved to Ponyville. I don’t know why, maybe they thought I had a secret trust fund from my parents or something. Either way, I threw the invitation out, and never gave it a second thought. I got another invitation right after my coronation, and I threw that one away too. I haven’t heard a word from them since. And if I never hear from them again for the rest of my life, it will be too soon. I may be a princess, but that doesn’t mean I’m better than anypony else. The last thing I should be doing is joining some exclusive club of self-absorbed ponies who think that they are. Does that convince you?” “Yeah, yeah I should say so,” Starlight said, clearly taken aback. “I understand you have strong feelings about them, but let’s not go painting these ponies with too broad a brush,” Rarity said. “Don’t forget, it was the Millionaire’s Club that donated seventy-five thousand bits to help rebuild town hall after Applejack came home without any rodeo prize money.” “Rarity’s right,” said Pinkie Pie. “They also paid to help restore the damage to the landscape after your super-mega-ultra-magic-exploding-battle with Tirek.” “Yeah,” said Rainbow. “And they helped cover the damage I caused in Cloudsdale that one time I tried to sabotage winter.” “Wait, you did what?” Starlight asked. Rainbow stroked the back of her head. “It’s kind of a long story, I really don’t want to get into it. Short version; I’m not proud of myself, I learned my lesson, I’m never going to try that again.” “I don’t care about their acts of largesse,” Twilight said, stomping her hoof. “They only make huge donations like that to make themselves look good. They figure if they dump bushels of money on the citizens of Ponyville, nopony will question where it comes from, or what those ponies are doing in the middle of the night.” “I don’t know,” Pinkie Pie interjected. “If you listen to what Granny Smith says, the Millionaire’s Club has been around just about as long as Ponyville itself.” “So? What does that prove?” “Well, if those fancy-pants types were really up to something evil and sinister, wouldn’t somepony have noticed it a long time ago?” “That’s a good point,” Starlight said. “Ponyville is a small town, where everypony knows everypony else. Especially pink earth ponies with unruly curly manes. Not that I mean anypony in particular, mind you. But at any rate, dark and sinister secrets are like germinating seeds in topsoil. They always manage to find their way to the surface.” “Starlight,” Twilight moaned, massaging her muzzle, “nopony puts this much effort into covering up something that’s completely innocuous. You of all ponies should know that better than anyone.” At this, Starlight’s ears drooped. She looked away shamefully. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “That came out way worse than I meant it, I swear.” Starlight huffed. “I am never going to live that down, am I?” “Ladies, ladies,” Rarity said, stepping in between Twilight and Starlight. “We can speculate about the motives of a secret club of wealthy ponies until the cows come home, but speculation is all we will have! These ponies have a right to their own privacy, and we should respect that. Now, I do not want to hear any more talk about secret societies of any stripe at my celebration! Pinkie, dear, a round of chocolate milkshakes for the four of us, if you please?” Pinkie slid four frosty glasses down the counter to four waiting hooves. She rang up the prices on the cash register. “That brings you eight sixty-four, even.” “I didn’t ask for the running total,” Rarity grumbled. The party ran a bit longer than Rarity expected. Although Sugarcube Corner closed at ten-thirty, stragglers were still ordering sweets until seven minutes past eleven. Mr. and Mrs. Cake had to threaten the patrons with mandatory foal-sitting duties in order to get them to leave. Rarity was the last pony out the door, thrilled that her generosity had brightened so many of her friends’ faces. Even if it did set her back nine hundred fifty-seven bits and two cents. The Cakes just had to put their two cents in, didn’t they? Even though it was dark, the moon was full, so Rarity had no trouble making it back to Carousel Boutique. She was still a good four meters away when she noticed the moonlight reflecting brightly of something rectangular that was attached to her front door. Wondering what it was, she kept her eyes fixed on it until she got close enough to see it clearly. It seemed silver at first, but as it came into focus, she saw gold on it as well, and later some green. Finally, she could make out what it was. It was a silvery reflective envelope, adorned with six golden rings interlocked with one another in an intricate weaving pattern. Rarity grabbed the envelope in her magic, and peeled away the tape that held it to the door. She turned it over, and saw that her name was written across the seal, along with the words “for your eyes only.” Rarity smirked. She knew exactly what was in this envelope. Her party at Sugarcube Corner had served its second, secret purpose. She didn’t tell anypony this, not even her closest friends, but Rarity had been looking forward to joining the Ponyville Millionaire’s Club since the day she opened Carousel Boutique. Like most native Ponyvillians, she first heard of the club’s charitable work when she was just a foal. After her next door neighbor’s house was accidentally struck by lightning, and the insurance company refused to authorize payment, the Millionaire’s Club cut the poor family a check for eighty thousand bits, enough to restore their house to its former glory, and then some. That magnanimous act of kindness inspired Rarity, and drew her to try and find out more about the club. Of course, all her detective work only yielded one definitive fact: the Ponyville Millionaire’s Club was in fact a thing. With no information to go on, her imagination started crafting some wild fantasies. Rarity would often imagine some random, non-descript pony trotting down Main Street, acting perfectly normal, waiting patiently for those around him to avert their gaze, at which point he would disappear down a blind alley. He’d tap a specific combination of short and long taps in key locations on what looked like an ordinary wall, causing it to swing open and reveal a secret passage to an underground bunker. Once inside, a well-dressed, well-spoken servant would greet him with a jacket and pipe, pre-loaded with the finest tobacco, of course. Then this normal, run of the mill pony would enter a grand hall, decorated with opulence and grandeur to rival the Royal Palace, and finally let his guard down. He’d rub elbows with his fellow millionaires, and they’d engage in the kind of pleasures and frivolities that can only be truly appreciated by the well-to-do. Oh, if only she could see what the Ponyville Millionaires see… And now, a quarter of a century later, that dream was finally going to become a reality. This silver envelope held her official invitation to the secret clubhouse. She’d have to pass some kind of initiation test, of course, but that small hurdle cleared, she’d finally take her place among the wealthy elite of her hometown. The excitement made her entire body shiver with anticipation. She quickly took the envelope inside and shut the door. She ran upstairs to her bedroom, closed all the blinds, flicked on her bedside lamp, and then finally opened the envelope. Inside was a type-written letter on an ordinary sheet of white paper. That struck Rarity as surprisingly commonplace. Wouldn’t a club of rich ponies put a little more effort into their clandestine communication? Such as some custom stationary, or calligraphic text? Maybe even some special perfume, to give the future members both a figurative and literal whiff of what was to come? Perhaps the money they save on invitations goes toward improvements to the clubhouse, Rarity thought. “Greetings and congratulations on your financial success, Miss Rarity, from the esteemed Members of the Ponyville Millionaire’s Club,” the letter began. “By virtue of your improved station, we hereby extend to you an Invitation to partake in the Initiation Ritual that, if completed, will confer upon you the rights and privileges of Membership in our club. On the seventh day of November, make your way to the Club’s headquarters at 385 Viking Street. Make sure you arrive no earlier than 7:00 pm, but no later than 7:10 pm. We are expecting you, and our time is quite valuable. Good luck, Miss Rarity.” Rarity chewed on her lip to keep herself from squealing with delight. She didn’t want to wake her sister, or anypony else, as they might ask what she was so giddy about. She couldn’t risk telling anypony she was invited to join the most exclusive, most mysterious, most secret of secret societies in Ponyville. If she broke their confidence before she even passed the initiation test, they’d never let her in. Rarity reigned in her emotions, and made a plan for her arrival at the clubhouse. November seventh, that was tomorrow. She’d try to arrive at 7:05 pm. Where’d they say the clubhouse was again? She looked back at the letter. 385 Viking Street? That can’t be right! That would mean the Ponyville Millionaire’s Clubhouse is…literally three doors down from my parents’ house? First her invitation was written from a common typewriter, now the clubhouse was an ordinary cottage in the heart of the middle-income neighborhood? Where was the luxury? Where was the finery? What was this, a millionaire’s club, or a college fraternity? No, Rarity told herself. This had to be part of the initiation ritual. Any pony that wasn’t willing to face the seemingly paltry offering by the club was clearly some kind of ultra-snob who wasn’t worthy of the mantle of membership. Yes, the Ponyville Millionaire’s Club was like Pinkie’s Cinnamon Surprise cupcake: it only looked ordinary on the outside, but it was so much sweeter on the inside. Once Rarity proved herself worthy, they’d show her the secret knock that opened up the raspberry filling that was the real clubhouse. Yeah, that had to be it. Or was it? The only way she was going to find out for certain was if she followed the instructions she was given. And she had to wait until tomorrow to do that. There was nothing left for her to do now but go to sleep. She folded the letter back up, and slid it back into the envelope. She hid it away in her nightstand, and retrived her sleep mask. She slid it over her eyes, then flicked her lamp off, and let her tired mind carry her away to the Plane of Dreams.