The Middle Class
"292 bits from inventory to sales," Rarity muttered to herself as she tapped away at the computer. "Cost of goods sold was 161. All of which leaves us with a grand total of... 25,000 for the day, not bad."
She recorded the numbers in the ledger, then leaned back, took off her glasses, and sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. Though there had been a bit of friction between them at first, she was finding herself immensely grateful for Sassy's hiring as the weeks went on; the girl's designs were rough and she could be a bit overbearing when placed in a position of authority, but her business acumen was impressive, and her contacts were lifesaving. She'd been able to cut the cost for them to make some of their products by a fifth, or even more, thanks to her friends in the fabric industry. Add in the fact that, when she wasn't letting power go to her head, she was a genuinely pleasant person to be around (if a bit catty), and Rarity quickly found herself agreeing with Miss Hemline's decision to hire her.
"Rarity?" the girl in question said, popping into the back room. "It's 6:00, time to lock up."
"Thank you, Sassy," she smiled back, getting up from her seat. "And thank you once again for the accounting lessons, they've shown their quality many times over."
"My pleasure," Sassy replied with a grin. "It's been nice having someone else to talk shop with like this. Everyone wants to talk about the fancy dresses and suits they want to sell, never how they're going to pay for the materials to make them."
"Well," she replied, thoughts turning to the brutal years spent under the unreformed Sunset's heel. "while I may not have appreciated it at the time, some of my earlier high school experiences taught me the value of being able to support a program, not just put on a show. Both the facade and the structure that supports it are vital."
Sassy nodded as they signed out, waving goodbye to Miss Hemline as they left, before scowling and grumbling, "Of course, some people think that just because they don't like the facade they can tear down the structure behind it."
Rarity snorted at the reminder of one of the most common topics of workplace discussion, Starlight Glimmer and her unhinged Unmarked movement. They claimed to be fighting against the elites on behalf of those said elite were oppressing, but her tactics, those few that seemed to be more than empty wishes, advocated simply shifting the burden of oppression from the lower classes to the elite and, especially, the middle class. Too well-off to be counted among her lower class supporters and without the resources the upper classes had to mitigate the impact Starlight's "policies" (if they could even be called such), the middle class, the aspiration of her and her colleagues and the reality of their employer, would be caught in a deadly crossfire, one that several of her coworkers feared might prove fatal to their dreams. An education at Tabitha Germane, a grand tour of the kingdom, a summer house in the North to escape the heat, all might disappear in a flash of Starlight.
A future for her sister, free of the ceaseless toil Rarity put herself through, might disappear...
"Is there anything you need me to do?" she asked Sassy as they emerged in the parking lot. "Even if it's as simple as handing out pamphlets or sending emails, I'm willing to help."
"No, thank you," Sassy smiled in reply. "That might change soon, though; Starlight's due to reach the capitol in the next few days, and some of us are planning to meet her, let her know that her ideas don't just have enemies among the elite."
"Just let me know when," Rarity nodded. The "us" Sassy had mentioned was a collection of likeminded individuals, ones who realized the disaster Starlight's populism would bring about. She herself wasn't one of them, but she liked to think that she had a good relationship with several of them, especially Sassy and that Trender fellow from Crystal Prep.
Sassy thanked her and waved goodbye as they reached their autos, then went their separate ways for the night. Sassy lived in the downtown area, in an apartment that would look up to a broom closet, while she and Sweetie shared a roomier loft apartment near the city center. Squeezing more savings out of your expenses was fine, but appearances still had to be kept up, though on that point she and Sassy could debate seemingly endlessly. She snorted at the thought of Sassy coming into work one day wearing sackcloth, saying that it was cheaper than buying regular clothes, though she doubted even her efficiency- and economy-obsessed friend would be willing to go that far.
She pulled up to her complex, plugged her auto in for the night, then entered the elevator. A few moments more and she arrived at the eleventh floor, and found her apartment door waiting to greet her. Sighing in relief at the sight of her home, she walked over, slid in her key, and-
-found a brightly-smiling Sweetie Belle on the other side, standing right in the middle of the entryway.
Rarity's shoulders slumped. "Fire, water, or my materials?" she wearily asked; the only times Sweetie Belle acted like this were when she'd made a mistake and was trying to avoid her sister's wrath.
Sweetie Belle pouted at her question, and indignantly replied, "Can't I just be happy to see my big sis? Why does me being happy to see you have to be so superstitious?"
"Suspicious, darling," she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "And it's not you being happy to see me that's suspicious, it's how hard you're trying to seem happy, combined with your barring of the way in."
"I'm not!" she squeaked defensively, immediately stretching out her arms as if to belie her words. "I really am happy to see you, and not just because another round of nasty letters came by and I was scared I wouldn't see you again!" Gasping, she covered her mouth, too late.
Rarity slumped in sadness. "Another round, eh?" she wanly smiled. "And you were trying to protect me from them, weren't you. The gesture is appreciated, Sweetie, and I apologize for my earlier suspicions. Sadly," she sighed, stepping in and closing the door behind her. "you cannot protect me from the world, sweetness. Your valour is appreciated, but futile. Where did you put them, please?"
Sweetie Belle pouted as she shoved her hands in her pockets. "On the table," she grunted.
Rarity nodded in thanks, then walked over to look at the latest correspondence from her 'admirers,' those in the area who knew her, or at least her reputation, and were enthralled by Starlight Glimmer's populist folly. There were three this time, all doubtlessly anonymous, none of the 'bold revolutionaries' who opposed her possessing the bravery to stand up to her without either overwhelming numbers or the shield of secrecy. She shuddered at the thought of Starlight's arrival emboldening them, giving them the courage to attack her openly, breaking down her apartment door while poor Sweetie could only watch and scream...
"It's not fair," the girl in question pouted. "You protect me all the time, you protect all of us a lot, but I can't protect you at all, not even when you need it the most. I'm useless."
"Far from it, sweetness," Rarity replied as she opened the first missive. "Even if you are not able to fight directly, something I doubt highly, you do so indirectly by giving my friends and I something crucial; something to fight for."
"I wish I could help more, though," Sweetie Belle said. "It's not fair for you to have to save us all the time."
"Like mother's so fond of saying," Rarity answered as she began glancing over the letter, a generic threat against the 'oppressive cultural elite' Starlight's supporters seemed to view her as. "'The world's not fair. It's not about getting what we deserve-'"
"'-it's about making do with what we get,'" she sighed. "I know, I know. It still feels wrong, though."
"You'll find no objection from me, darling," Rarity nodded as she opened the second message. Another fairly standard threat, though the crude drawing of her being burned at the stake was an interesting touch, unrealistic though it may have been; the historical method of executing magical prisoners was by beheading, with the instrument of execution for some reason being specified as a sword made of iron. Why steel or bronze wouldn't suffice, her research had been unable to say.
The third letter, though, was far worse, a threat that made her quake in simultaneous rage and fear:
Hello, pony girl; enjoying using your magic to look at your big, empty head? Those diamonds must be great mirrors, though I'm not sure what other uses they have. How poetic; your magic's all about looking good while being useless, just like you are. Of course, you're not going even going to be good at that by the time Starlight's through with you. I bet you're going to be glad when she forces you to give up your magic; you won't be able to stand looking at yourself in a mirror.
But don't worry; when you're gone, I'll take good care of your sister for you. For as long as you're away, I'll care for her like she's mine, though it won't be easy; reports of you or your friends doing stupid things, like fighting Starlight, might distract me, or even make me forget that I'm supposed to take care of her. We don't want that, do we? No, we want the best for her, the best life she can live. When Starlight comes to power and takes you away, I'll make sure to give her that, provided you don't make me forget. I might even be able to teach her how to be a real businesswoman, wouldn't that be something? I could teach her how to use that beautiful voice of her's to get anything she wants.
That voice of her's really is something, isn't it? It's so beautiful, soothing, enchanting; I could wax lyrical about it all day! There's just one problem; I have some concerns that it might not be...well, all natural. I mean, how can a voice that says some of the things her's does really be natural? Now, her voice might just be a bit strange...just like you and your friends seem. If it keeps sounding strange, saying things like you're innocent or Starlight's wrong, and Starlight hears about how enchanting it is, well, what conclusion can she draw? If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, as the saying goes. Don't worry, though; when I take care of her, I'll try to help straighten out her voice.
We don't want her to join you, after all, do we?
"Sweetie Belle," she said, her voice quivering iron. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to send you to stay with mother and father for a while. Something's come up."
"Uh-uh!" she squeaked in argument. "I know where this is going, and I'm not letting it! Someone wrote something really mean in that letter," she pointed accusingly at the paper in Rarity's vice grip. "and now you're trying to send me away 'for my own safety' while you stay here, despine the fact that you're at just as much risk as I am! If I have to go away for my own safety," she crossed her arms defiantly. "then so do you!"
"You will not be staying here," Rarity firmly replied. "I will not have your death on my conscience."
"And I won't have your's on mine!" her sister retorted.
"It won't be," she reassured her. "If any blood is shed, it will stain my hands, not your's."
"I don't care if I have to finger-paint with that blood," Sweetie Belle snapped. "I'm not leaving you to die!"
Wincing at the reminder of her sister's challenges with metaphor, Rarity gently replied, "I'm not asking you to leave me to die, sweetness." Gently stretching out her hand to cup her sister's face, she said, "I'm asking you to leave me so that you can live."
"But I want you to live, too," her sister protested, trying to lean away from her hand.
"I want myself to live too, darling," she replied. "Yet I must risk that loss to avoid risking a much greater one, of losing you. I cannot let Starlight Glimmer or her minions daunt me, anymore than Princess Twilight could let Sunset Shimmer daunt her. Whatever losses my defiance might incur are nothing to the losses letting them have their way would. Someone must bid them defiance, Sweetie Belle, and you know what father always says; 'When you hear the words "someone must-"'"
"'-replace them,'" she sniffled. "'with "I must."'" Wiping her nose on her sleeve, she looked up at her sister, fire in her eyes. "Then I won't let you stand alone! You say 'someone has to bid them defense?' I say, 'I have to bid them defense!'"
"And risk burdening me with what I first set out to avoid?" Rarity quietly asked.
Sweetie Belle flinched.
"I know it's not easy, sweetness," Rarity whispered, gently brushing her hair. "I know how much you want to protect me, how much you want to show your sister that you love her. But this is not your fight, and I would rather hear you curse my name than let you risk shedding even a drop of blood needlessly. I love you, Sweetie Belle, and I know that you love me, knowledge that warms my heart and soul. Please," she put her forehead to her sister's. "show me that love by listening to me, by protecting me from the loss of you. I know you're willing to die for me, and I'm touched by that, but I have another request for you; can you live for me? Will you be willing to survive, whatever happens to me, to let my sacrifice mean something? Please, sweetness," she kissed that sweet head. "Will you live for me as willingly as die?"
Sweetie Belle blubbered in the affirmative, wrapping her arms around her sister and sobbing. Rarity returned the embrace, as well as the tears.
No greater love might there be, she thought as she gently rocked her sister, than to lay down one's life for a friend, but barely less is the love you're showing me, sweetness. I might be willing to lay down my life for you, but your willingness to let me go and lay that life down is little less impressive.
"I love you, Sweetie Belle," she whispered through her tears.
And her heart picked up her sister's reply, in her tears, blubbering words, and actions;
"I love you more."
Fresh tears sprang up as she remembered this old game of their's, one they hadn't played in far too long. She didn't know when they'd get to play it again; Starlight's arrival might herald the revolution she said it did, or the Unmarked might peter out, along with the courage of those who'd written her such lovely notes as the one driving her to send her sister away. She and Sweetie Belle might soon look back on this from around the table and laugh, or from whatever prison Starlight concocted for 'the elite' and weep. She might emerge none the worse for wear, or she might die. But none of that changed her answer, the answer that won her the game;
"Love you most."
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They use bits?
I still don’t know how that happened.
What does all that mean?
Why would she get nasty letters?
Don’t you have magic?
That’s what she’s worried about? Also, they know she has magic?
Useless? I’m sorry, how many times have they saved the world? I lost count after three.
Ok, now they’re threatening to take away your sister. Time to do some training.
What does that mean?
Peter out?
10861679
Yep. Wrote about it on a blog post here.
How what happened? Sunset's rise to power?
Starlight's proposed policies would hurt the middle class, the class Rarity and her coworkers aspire to be. Under her, they would be pushed back down the economic pyramid, with their various goals being torn away from them by Starlight's policies (for example, savings intended for a summer house being drained by new taxes).
She cultivates the image of the cultured, upper class woman. Combine that with her magic (which is known about only through rumor, at the moment) and she is basically the ideal target of the Unmarked, a militant movement with their fair share of supporters in the area.
Against the horde she fears Starlight's supporters to number, even her magic may not be enough.
Oh, no, she's terrified at the thought of being executed; she just knows that simply shaking in terror does no good, she needs to work to prevent what she fears from coming to pass. The detail about how magic-users were typically executed was just a bit of gallows humor on her part.
We know that they've saved the world multiple times, yes, but the other characters don't know all the details. (Sunset, Celestia, and Luna have been able to keep a fairly good lid on news of just what Canterlot High has gone through since the Fall Formal, allowing the outside world to remain ignorant of just how close it's come to destruction over the years.) Even if they did, it's unclear exactly how important Rarity was to those times they saved it; it's a team effort, making tracking each individual's contribution more difficult.
Indeed. Threaten Rarity and she'll try to resolve it peacefully; threaten Sweetie Belle and she'll tear you to shreds.
"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13) The greatest kind of love is the love that drives one to sacrifice for the one they love, even to the point of death. This kind of love, the love that makes the life of the other worth more than one's own life, is undoubtedly the greatest of loves, surpassing even romantic or familial love. But the love that allows you to accept the other's will even when it hurts you, putting the good of the other ahead of the harm caused to the self, as shown in Sweetie Belle allowing Rarity to stay and possibly die, is little less great.
Fade away, basically.
10861781
Jeez, is the law that difficult?
Really?
About everything.
10861770
So they don’t use regular money?
Yes.
Wow, that’s a lot. Does starlight know that?
What does starlight’s supporters have that can hurt her?
Ohh. I was really questioning her priorities for a few minutes. Also, you’re telling me she can get executed for having magic?
Apparently they didn’t do a good job.
Wow. That’s a lot of different types of love.
Ohh. I have never heard that phrase before.
Ah, but that's the beauty of it. If you oppose her, then clearly you are part of the elite, whether you think of yourself as such or not. This counterprotest probably won't end well.
I am surprised that Rarity and Sweetie aren't living with their parents. There may be a story there.
I don't know what Rarity's talking about. That's actually a fantastic line.
I get the sense that every chapter of this one will end in tears. Though our last focus will be alone... Well, we'll see what happens. Brilliant work in ramping up the tension.
10861837
The bit is regular money for them, just like the euro is for citizens of the European Union and the yen is for the Japanese.
Maybe, maybe not; it's a bit unclear whether she's malicious or simply ignorant.
Hands, feet, knives, rocks, pieces of pipe, the usual arsenal of urban revolutionaries basically.
She's afraid she might if Starlight comes to power. Whether that's actually true or not is almost beside the point, the point is that it's a possibility at all.
Even the best net lets some fish through, sadly. They did well, but this seems to have been too big for them.
Yep.
Yeah, it seems to be a bit obscure.
Regarding Sunset's rise to power, it's a bit complicated, but the gist is that she worked her way into the Wondercolts' lives before manipulating them into behaving as she wished, namely breaking up friendships to preempt rebellions against her (and stop it from hurting whenever she saw someone laughing with their friends and she couldn't remember the last time she did). She did allow them to form groups, though, primarily for ease of administration (it's easier to give a command to the Eco-kids group as opposed to Fluttershy, Sandalwood, etc.) and providing her cover from Celestia or Luna investigating (she's not breaking up friendships, if she was why would she be helping keep the groups together?).
10862285
So starlight’s supporters are actually a threat?
I don’t think I get it.
That last letter is fifty shades of fyayed up.