During the first breakfast after coming home, mom laid out the plans for the day. "Girls, we're going to the hardware store today."
"Do we have to?" Skyla sadly asked over her empty plate. "I wanna go to the toy store."
"If you want your walls, floor, and ceiling to look the way you want, then we're going to the hardware store. Today is not for buying anything big, we'll just be picking out samples of things you like and taking notes."
"Do the samples come out of our budgets?" I asked as I worked on my breakfast.
"The free samples will not come out of your budget. Any samples or catalogs that cost anything, however, will."
I finished what I felt like I could of my food and pushed the leftovers to Skyla. "That makes sense."
Dad came over to the table with a pair of saddlebags on him. "Tomorrow, we'll help you further plan out what you want to do. As soon as. . . Now that Skyla's cleaned that plate, we can leave when you're both ready."
The walk to the hardware store was longer than the walk to school. As with the walk to school, I kept my eyes forward and thought about things.
"Mom, could I have a wooden floor?" Skyla asked. "The ones at Applejack's place were really nice."
"You'll have to budget it," mom said, neither approving or, more importantly, denying the request.
"Does pink paint cost more than yellow paint?"
"Coloring the paint doesn't affect the price," dad answered. "If you want different colors at once, that's okay, but you'll have to budget it."
"Can I get some new lights?"
"That. . . That depends. Lamps are alright, but light fixtures. . . Those will require professional installation, so keep that in mind with your budget."
As Skyla continued asking questions, I kept listening to the answers. It was all useful information, and it answered some questions I had as well.
"This is cool," I said as I looked at a square floor lamp with shelves on it. "Dad, can I have my notebook?"
"Of course." Dad got my notebook and a pencil out from one of the saddlebags.
I opened the notebook to the first page, which had the layout of my room drawn on it. While I was looking at the dimensions, I suddenly realized something. "Why are the walls in my room so tall?" I'd never paid any attention to it before, but seeing that the walls were ten feet high surprised me. It also got me thinking about other places I'd been to, and all the walls were tall.
"In case Celestia visits. She's about eight feet tall, so that gives her some head room."
"Oh. Will she?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I doubt she would turn down an invitation, though."
"Hey, dad?"
"Yes, Inova?"
I pointed to a kit on a shelf. "Can I replace the hinges and handles on my doors?" The fact that the doors in my room were mine had me more excited than I felt like I should be. "I like this silver color and flat shape."
He took a breath as he considered my question. "I'm going to say no to that."
My heart dropped. "What? Why?"
"Because we've already had work done on the doors once, and it could cost more time than you might expect."
"Time?"
He turned my attention to the kits. "Do you see the differences in the hinges?"
I looked between the different kits with flat silver handles. "Does it make a difference?"
"Yes. The shape alone can make a huge difference. I also think you can come up with a better way to spend 50 Bits than two of those kits for your doors."
What dad said made sense, so I reluctantly turned away from the shelf, but not before making some notes in my notebook about it.
I looked between different paint cans on the shelf. "What's primer for?"
"That goes on the wall before the paint," a pegasus worker explained. He had a paint brush cutie mark, so he probably knew what he was talking about. "It lets the paint stick better and even affects the end result."
"It does?"
"It does." He pointed out a display of different shades of orange on some wood. "Without primer, the color and texture of the wall will show through the paint. If a crystal wall has light come through it, that can make the paint glow in ways you might not want."
"Oh. Like a cloud in front of the sun?"
"Sort of. Are you going to paint your room?"
"Yeah." I looked at him. "How did you know that?"
He shrugged. "Lucky guess. Do you want an energetic or calm feel to your room?"
"Uh. . ." It was something I'd never considered before, and I was stumped. "Well. . . I don't want pink."
"That's a good way to go about it. Figure out what you don't want so you can figure out what you do want."
Mom showed up and had an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry you had to watch Inova. Skyla was being difficult. Turns out the wooden floors she wants are more expensive than she thought."
"It wasn't a problem, Your Highness. I was just teaching her about paint and why primer is important. I've never seen a foal just sit and listen to. . . Well, anypony here like she does."
"She's very patient and curious like that. We're letting the fillies choose stuff for their rooms on a budget."
"Oh? Well, in that case, let me get you something." The stallion went to a nearby desk and came back with a couple pamphlets, which mom promptly accepted. "For your perusal, and budgeting assistance. Paint prices may change, but it's good for calculating simple painting projects."
"Thank you, sir. Inova, it's time to go to our next place."
"Okay." I followed mom and we quickly caught up with dad and Skyla, who was pouting.
We split up when we got to the furniture store. Skyla went to the more sparkly, glitzy, and brightly colored furniture with mom behind her, while I went over to the darker colored, more plain area with dad. The dark side was much easier on my eyes than the sparkly one.
"You do know these are more expensive, right?" Dad asked as I browsed.
"They look better." I leapt up onto a dark brown corner sofa and lay down to test it. It was decently comfortable. "I think this would be good."
"For your friends?" Dad teased.
I looked side to side and leaned over to whisper, "so mom doesn't annoy me about being ready for friends. And I like the dark color."
"Mhm. Inova, why do you want dark colors instead of bright ones for your furniture?"
Memories of confetti blasts, explosions of color, and overall brightness ran through my head. "Well. . . Pinkie and Cheese."
Just that was enough of an explanation for him. "Oh, I see. They can be a bit much sometimes." He checked the tag attached to the corner sofa. "This one's on sale for only 200 Bits."
"That's a good price." For something that felt so sturdy and comfortable, 200 was a good price.
"But today's the last day of the sale."
At that moment, a stallion wearing a jacket and tie came up to us. "Interested in this one?"
"I want it!" I exclaimed. "It's going in the corner of my room."
"She can afford it," dad said. "The fillies are learning about budgeting. We're just looking around for now."
"Always a good skill to have," the stallion said. "I have some of these boxed up in the back, and if you'd like, I can put your name on one and any other furniture you get, then hold it until you want it delivered."
"How much does holding it cost?"
"Absolutely nothing, and I can hold it for a month, but it has to be purchased first. The benefit of holding it until you have everything you want is a reduction in total delivery fees."
"How so?"
"Paying for one big delivery is cheaper than paying for multiple small deliveries."
Dad turned to me. "You understand that, right?"
"Yeah.” I had no idea how much the fees were, but it made sense. "Can we put it on hold?"
"Are you sure you want to do that? It will-"
"Come from my budget, yes. I can afford it."
"If you say so."
The store stallion nodded. "I'll get a ticket started for you." He left to go do that.
Curiosity stuck like lightning. "Dad, why is the stuff over there cheaper?"
"There's a couple reasons," dad said. "One is that the foal size furniture is smaller, so it takes less material and work to make. Another is that foals eventually grow into adults, so it's not made to last quite as long."
"So it's not as sturdy?"
"Probably not. Do you want to keep looking?"
"Yeah." I got off the corner sofa and kept looking around, waiting to see things that stood out to me.
A few days later
I had a few receipts and various notes from my folder in front of me on the table, along with the costs of things I wanted. My corner sofa would be accompanied by a bigger bed, a nice chair, new desk, night stand, a wardrobe, a square coffee table, and multiple display shelves, which ate up about 2200 Bits. The sofa, desk, night stand, coffee table, wardrobe, and chair came pre-built, though the bed and shelves would need assembly beyond what I could do, but that was within what mom or dad could do, so that was another 40 Bits. Skyla had some furniture from there as well, but her costs weren't mine to worry about, and thankfully, neither were the delivery or removal fees. My main consolation was that the furniture would last longer, so it wouldn't need to be replaced.
Three of the shelf lamps came to 90 Bits, and needed assembly that I couldn't do, which would be another 15 Bits to have mom or dad put together. Each glance at the assembly costs made me frustrated with myself. I was still stuck at getting a single rock past four inches off the ground, let alone picking up more than one object, and I couldn't see myself putting the supposedly simple lamps together. I thought about the Golem Bricks and how putting them together might work for putting the lamps together, but the smaller size of the bricks didn't translate very well in my mind to the bigger items. I set my mind on trying anyways, but still budgeted for the mom and dad level assembly fee.
A crystalline ceiling light that caught my fancy with its gear-like shape was 150 Bits, and would need professional installation to replace the simple one already in place, an extra 30 Bits. At least one of Apple Bloom's books did have instructions on replacing fixtures by hoof, pictures included, but it was something neither mom or dad knew how to do, so they couldn't do it.
I'd settled on four colors of paint for my room and bathroom: dark blue for the walls, bronze for the gear designs I wanted, black to outline the gears, and orange for the trim around the doors and floor. The amount of paint needed, along with primer for it all, felt like one of Comet Kicker's flying hoofballs to the belly, at 725 Bits before professional installation, which would be another 75 Bits. The only compromise I could see to bring that cost down, if needed, was switching the metallic bronze paint with something non-metallic and similarly colored.
I wanted to replace the carpet, but the cost of getting it removed and the new carpet professionally installed was too much with everything else. I understood Skyla's dismay much better after seeing the numbers. Like her, I settled on a large rug for the middle of the room instead. Her chosen one had a floral pattern while mine was just blue, gray, and white rectangles and squares. The rug was 140 Bits, and a smaller matching one to go next to my bed was another 60. The only challenge I could foresee was unpacking them, but if I needed help, there was no fee on that.
My bathroom also got some attention beyond just painting the walls. I didn't like the faucet, so I got a different one for 70 Bits. The unframed mirror got a 20 bit frame, and getting those installed was another 30 Bits. I also picked out a pair of lights for 140 Bits to go on either side to replace the ones that were already there. Getting the lights replaced at the same time as the ceiling one would be a mere 10 Bits on top of the first fee. The towels, washcloths, and shower curtains got replaced with orange ones that had straight light blue and black stripes on the bottom, which matched my mane and tail perfectly. Skyla made a similar choice, going with her own themed set. Seeing the Princess themed sets of items was weird, but I got over the feeling of confusion quickly. The set cost 60 Bits, which seemed like a lot, but whatever the towels were made of was very soft and very nice, which stood in contrast to the quality of the cheaper ones.
I wrote down all the costs, added them up, and sighed in relief. Out of my 5,000 Bit budget, everything I wanted, along with assembly and installation costs, came to 3,855 Bits. I still had 1,145 Bits left for other things, and I began brainstorming.
Skyla, sitting across from me, looked up from her doodling. "Is something wrong, Inova?"
"I've got leftover Bits for my budget, but I don't know what to spend it on."
"I've got a lot leftover. Can you help me get my wooden floor?"
I considered it. "How much do you need?"
She shrugged. "I don't know."
"Figure that out and then I'll consider it."
The doodles got left behind. "Mom! How much have I spent on my room?"
"I have the receipts and notes in my office!" Mom called back. "You can do the math!"
I could hear Skyla's groan from the office. She came back with her folder of what she wanted and the costs of everything. "Inova, can you help me?"
"Sure." I dragged my chair around to Skyla's side of the table and sat down with her.
"Where should I start?" She opened the folder and spread all the papers out. Thankfully, there was some blank paper available.
"Which of these are from the furniture store?"
"Uhm. . ." She started levitating the papers in a frantic rush to figure out which ones were from the furniture store. "These!"
"Set them in one stack."
We continued sorting out what came from where, and what each thing was for. I had her add things from each stack, then add all those totals up. Even though she could levitate things, she still opted to have others build for her. As the final total started coming into view, she started looking scared. The seven she wrote was shaky, and it looked like she'd rather fight Aunt Celestia than face the numbers. "Sis?"
I looked over the numbers again and double checked the numbers. All the math was done right, and her total was 7,580 Bits. Even if I gave her all my leftover Bits, it wouldn't be enough, and I wasn't about to give up any of my stuff. "Okay, we need to get rid of some things."
"No. . . Mom!"
"Yes, Skyla?" Mom responded.
"Inova says I have to get rid of stuff for my room!"
That was enough to get mom to come to us and double check everything. "Well, the math's right. . . Oh, there. Inova also included your wooden floors and professional installation. If we take that out, it comes down to 5,780 Bits. You still have to cut things out to get under your budget."
"Can I cover the 780 Bits for her?" I asked.
"If you can afford it from your budget, you can." She went over to my stack of papers and math. "Well, it looks like you can, and you'll have. . . 365 Bits left."
Skyla gave me a big hug. "Thanks, sis! You're the best!"
Over the next couple weeks, ponies came in and out of the house to do the work to upgrade our rooms. The fixtures were replaced first. While the furniture being replaced was gone, Skyla and I slept together on the couch. The painting stage took the longest amount of time, since each coat had to dry before the next one could go on.
When the furniture was delivered, Skyla and I got to direct where each item went. The only ones I couldn't immediately direct were the ones that needed assembly.
Skyla had opted entirely for professional assembly on what she needed assembled. While she was out with some friends one day, I spent time at home with mom and dad as they built my lamps, bed, and shelves. Seeing everything come together was nice, and I tried to use my levitation to help, but I couldn't do much.
One thing that had gotten bigger was my stack of Golem Brick sets. Aunt Luna sent them while Skyla and I were gone, and it was more sets for the stack, which got put back in my room as a pile.
Once everything was done and all my other stuff was moved back in, there was another problem I faced: getting things on the new shelves.
Thankfully, I had a cunning plan, and I found just the stallion I was looking for easily enough. "Psst, hey, dad," I whispered after he got home one day.
"Yes, Inova?" He whispered back.
I looked around to check for spies. "Can you put my things on my shelves for me?"
"Inova, that is something for you to-"
"I have 365 Bits left in my budget. I'll pay you all that to put things on my shelves."
Dad started acting conflicted. "Oh geez. You are making a very good offer. . . But I have to stay resolute and not waver. As the Prince of the Crystal Empire, I cannot be bribed with simple money."
"I'll go with you for ice cream."
That did the trick, and he caved with a dramatic sigh. "Oh alright, you talked me into it."
"Yay!" I led dad into my room and to the stacks of things around the room. "I already grouped things together."
"Oh? Are you making this easy for me?" He taunted. "Because it seems like you're making it easy for me."
"I can make it difficult if you want."
"So where does this stack of books go?"
The first stack was the most important one, since it was all the books by Apple Bloom. They went on a shelf that I could easily get to from my new desk.
We went around, and he put everything up just as I asked him to. The only thing he didn't help me with was my pile of unbuilt sets. "Hmmm. . . Do you want this organized?"
"I'll take care of that," I assured.
"We can do some levitation practice with it. Come on, let's try."
"Okay." I wasn't happy about the sudden magic practice, but obliged.
I was really happy while I was having ice cream with dad. I still hadn't made much progress with my levitation, but with some suggestions from him, I was able to move some of the smaller boxes on top of other boxes, and just that was a big victory for me. It wouldn't be enough to organize the whole stack, but it would help.