The Locals

by Leoshi

The One About a House Key

It was the silliest thing, really. Something as small and forgettable as a house key shouldn't have felt so heavy. Even held up in a soft magical bubble didn't really relieve its weight. Rarity lay on her back and stared at the key for several minutes, lost in the reality that it represented. It had been a long and grueling process, but finally it was hers...and the house it unlocked.

Granted, it was a bit of a fixer-upper. The previous owners had decided to skip town following last year's pumpkin epidemic. But all the better for Rarity, fashionista extraordinaire! With a little time, a little patience, and a little bit of sweeping, her new home would become the envy of all of Ponyville!

In fact, she could do more. With a silly grin that matched the silly feeling, she fantasized her perfect home: great stone columns, an archway the same color as her new cutie mark, and a small spiral slope that was surrounded by glass panels, behind which her newest designs would be displayed. She could even work the dresses to rest atop a moving carousel, giving potential buyers every angle as they marveled over her work! It would be perfect!

A small spider ran along her wall. She instantly shrieked and ran for the other room.

Well, one thing at a time. Where was that broom?

'One thing' evidently involved more 'small things' than she would have ever expected.

A small spider on the wall revealed a small nest just outside her door. The nest was part of a larger network of webs all along her new home's foundation. As she studied the sheer terrible beauty of the network, she spotted alarmingly large cracks in the foundation. The damaged foundation was just enough to cause a second-story window to crack in its pane. That window's design had been discontinued several years ago.

She blew a raspberry at her new key. "I know I'll grow to love you," she said to it, "but right now I sure don't like you."

It took almost a week to hire all of the right ponies for the various jobs she found, but by that time her 'small things' had ballooned into 'big things.' A kind old mare offered to redo all of her windows for a modest price, in exchange for a custom order when Rarity opened her own shop. A suspicious, gruffy stallion told her that the foundation damage wasn't all that bad, but repairing it would take time and bits she hadn't yet earned. She kept his card all the same. She also found a local pest control service who promised to deal with the spider webbing. However, the one she spoke with was apparently arachnophobic. The controller offered to take the job only if Rarity gave up her own—and only—broom. "For self-defense," the pony had assured her.

So when Rarity came home one afternoon with a brand new broom, she got to work as well. "Icky dust can cause a fuss," she sang above the sounds of the working ponies outside.

It took longer than she would have liked (and she incurred a sizeable debt to that gruffy stallion, though he did do good work), but it eventually all came together. Spiders were removed, concrete was supported, and every window in her house was round and so modern! She did her part as well, sweeping up piles upon piles of dust mites. It was lucky that the window ponies were there the same day, or else she would have needed to leave her door open for ventilation. And goodness knows that was too risky, what with all those spiders out there.

Days later, Rarity's savings ran dry. Not too long after that, the money that her parents had gifted to her was gone as well. She took her key and hurled it against her walls, chipping the paint that had only just dried. "Stupid, silly pony!" she cursed herself. "You're too close to the sun now! Do you enjoy falling, Rarity? Is that it?"

One night, she stayed at her parent's house instead. She just couldn't bear to sleep inside of her own. The knowledge of what it was costing her was suffocating, and she swore that she still saw a spider darting up her bedposts. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that the spider was made out of money, and it was always running just out of reach. Worse, it was forming a new web to keep her trapped there.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rainbow Dash cut in.

Rarity looked up from the dramatic pose she had struck. "What? Is my hair out of place?"

The pegasus shook her head in disbelief. "Forget your hair, what's this about you going broke?"

"And what happened to the spiders?" Fluttershy asked.

Applejack casually tossed a piece of honeyed fruit into her mouth and swallowed it whole. "Ah've heard this one. She's tellin' the truth, or at least she thinks she is."

"You don't know what it was like!" Rarity said with conviction. "I was at my lowest point, darlings! No savings, no business, and nopony to turn to in my hour of need!"

"Eeyup," Applejack said. "There's the little white lie. You had plenty of help, drama queen. Didn't you say that your parents took out a loan for you so you could make ends meet?"

Unexpectedly, Rarity's face flushed red. "Ha! As if I'd ever need to bother my family with my problems!"

"Suuuure. All right, then...how'd ya get out of that pit you spent so much money to dig?"

"Ahem!"

As it happened, Rarity's parents had indeed taken out a small, simple loan in order to help her. They also reached out to some of their relatives in the capital, who were kind and generous enough to give her only a few extra bits. Put together, it was enough to keep Rarity stable until she managed to open her shop. ("Told ya.")

When she finally did have enough dresses to sell, she opened her doors to a collection of ponies. She saw a lot of familiar faces there, two of whom were her own parents. They held her newborn sister between them, who looked at all the new colors and delicate fabric as though it were part of another world. Rarity spared a moment to ruffle Sweetie Belle's mane before addressing the crowd.

"Welcome, everypony! Thank you for allowing me the honor of hosting you tonight. I'm confident that I have something that will make your dreams come true, so please join me!"

She never got her stone columns. Well, not like she had pictured them at any rate. Neither did she get that fancy archway or that spiral ramp with the displays. Instead, what she got was a showroom floor that was able to host upwards of twenty ponies, each of them showing signs of approval with her craft. While it was true that some of her visitors were her own family, many were faces she had only seen around town. As the night went on, she wrote down their names in her ledger—not that she remembered any of them yet.

That night was a huge success. It seemed that everypony had a need for one of her designs. Better still, they all had bits to spend. She sold dresses, ties, hats, dusters, and even one of her more extravagant headdresses, on top of all the custom order requests she was given. Unsurprisingly, the kind old mare who had helped her with the windows was among those to commission her. By the time the fancy cheese and juice was served, half of her showroom had been purchased. Two hours later, all that remained were the most expensive of jewel-lined gowns.

Rarity found out later (much later, as in years) that her parents had arranged for most of the ponies to be there that night. It was a gamble that had insulted her at first, but she came to realize the necessity of it all. And besides, even if the purchases were made at their request, the custom orders were not. Rarity had a business! It took her all of two seasons to pay back her debts, and she went on to recommend that gruffy foundation stallion when others in town had similar problems. She was nothing if not generous.

Oddly enough, she never had that chip in her wall painted over. She kept it at it was, just like she kept the same key. It served as a reminder to herself, to take her time when chasing her dreams. Above all, though, it was a mark of struggle that turned into success, and honestly she liked looking at it every time she walked into her home. It was a denial of perfection, just like her first few weeks starting out on her own. But it was that same imperfection that made it real. Made it heavy. Just like her house key.

Author's Note:

Oh my god, I was having so much fun with this one. Dramatic Rarity (Dramarity? No.) is so entertaining! Are we sure that isn't just her name?

Comments

[B_25]

this was momentary featured. i hope that makes you feel good

[Rose Quill]

[reader238]

Ha I knew there would be some gentle ribbing. Let it be said that Applejack started it.

[Leoshi]

8105865 Yup! I saw it go up before I went to bed last night. It was featured for all of fifteen minutes, but still! That's a record for me, making a front-page feature on the second day!