//------------------------------//
// Chapter 29 - Preparation 
// Story: Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium 
// by Thunderbug80 
//------------------------------//

It was relatively quiet at Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium when Iron Will returned from checking in with Can't Run, Can't Hide. Bon Bon lifted her head off the checkout counter and blinked before shaking her head and smiling apologetically at the minotaur.

"Welcome. Sorry, it's been a long week." She crossed her forelegs on the counter and put her head back down. "Honestly, I kind of welcome a slow morning for once. With all the selling, auditing, purchasing and arranging shipment of stock, and overseeing payment of contracts, I haven't had a good night's sleep since this whole crazy debacle began!"

Lyra appeared then and stopped just inside the doorway to the back room. She yawned and stretched her back and legs.

"Did you say it's time to sleep? Okay then, Bon Bon, you're the boss..." Lyra slurred the last few words as she spun around in a full circle and sleepily made her way into the main shop area to one of the display tables. She promptly climbed onto the display and laid down, knocking over several books. "Good night," she murmured, her legs askew.

"Lyra! No sleeping on the job!" Bon Bon shouted, then let out a yawn of her own. Her cheeks grew red. "Though honestly, I'm with you. We need a break." She looked at Iron Will and said, "I don't suppose your bosses decided to waive the final week's payment? Because seriously, that would be amazing."

Unfortunately, Iron Will had not come to tell the hardworking duo that they were off the hook. Quite the opposite, really. When the tiny orange pony—Scooterdude?—had saved the day by helping to pay off the previous week's debt repayment, Iron Will decided that Lyra and Other Pony deserved to have a moment of celebration before hearing about this week's amount. The fact that this would be the final payment was nice and all, but—

"Yeah, the look on your face says it all," Bon Bon said. "Of course they didn't. Well, lay it on us. What does Lyra owe?"

Iron Will took a moment to observe his surroundings before answering. He was currently blocking the only exit. Good. Both Lyra and Other Pony were either lying down or in a resting position. Good, no chance of injuries due to fainting. He brought out his clipboard and studied it, took another quick look around, then did his best to smile.

"Uh oh," Bon Bon said. "This can't be good."

"You should buy all the potatoes," Lyra murmured in her sleep.

Iron Will cleared his throat. "Yes. Of course. It is Iron Will's great pleasure to announce that Can't Run, Can't Hide is pleased with your progress, and that there is but one payment left to make. Due in one week's time, naturally. The amount of this final payment is..."

Bon Bon leaned forward, her eyes intense. Unnoticed on the display table, Lyra's ears perked up. The suspense was palpable, and nerves were set to the point of breaking. This was it: the amount that would determine everything. Somewhere in Ponyville, a pin dropped.

And then the front door opened and in walked Diamond Tiara.

She stopped in her tracks when she noticed the tension in the room. "G-good morning, everypony," she said, somewhat apprehensively. Bon Bon and Iron Will turned their intense gazes to Diamond, and she shrunk back a bit. "Oh, should I leave? I... I thought Scootaloo explained everything, but I-I guess I should go."

"It's okay, you're with us now," Lyra mumbled, then yawned and turned over. "We love you, Diamond Potato."

Diamond blushed and took another step back, but Bon Bon took that moment to explain.

"It's okay, Diamond Tiara. We... we get it. We're happy to have you with us. Iron Will was about to tell us what the final debt payment will be. You happened to walk in just before he could reveal it."

"Right," Iron Will said. "So, the final payment amount is a mere—" he made a show of checking the clipboard again "—ahem, one hundred thousand bits."

At the sudden thumping sound, Iron Will lowered the clipboard and looked around. Lyra was still sleeping on the display, so she hadn't fainted. He looked at Bon Bon, whose eyes were wide with shock, but she was otherwise upright. That could only mean...

He looked down at Diamond Tiara, who had promptly fainted. She was muttering something subconsciously that sounded a lot like, "Join other side, she said. Be free, she said. Hundred thousand..."

"So, uh..." Iron Will began. "What do we do now?"





"One hundred thousand bits?" Bon Bon paced frantically around the shop, her eyes still wide. She stopped, glared at Iron Will, shook her head, and continued. "Couldn't settle for quadrupling the payment like last time, hm? Had to go ahead and shoot for the moon. Not that eighty thousand bits is that much more achievable, but it sure sounds a lot better than this!"

Lyra, who had awakened from her nap, walked over and put a hoof on Bon Bon's shoulder.

"It's not his fault," Lyra said. "If anypony's to blame, it's my parents for running up such a huge debt in the first place. I mean, honestly, how in Equestria did they spend so much?"

"I know I'm the new girl, but I really think that's not what you two should be focusing on right now."

Lyra and Bon Bon looked at Diamond Tiara. She'd recently regained consciousness and looked somewhat less pale, and was looking up at the pair with a concerned look.

"What do you mean?" Bon Bon asked.

Diamond indicated the shop with a hoof. "What I mean is, look at this place. The displays are tacky, the cash register is rusted, the floor is absolutely appalling. There's not enough light to properly showcase the merch, you can smell the amount of dust in here, and seriously, do you really think the merchandise you have on-hoof is enough to raise a hundred thousand bits in one week? You can't possibly earn enough like this." She held a hoof up when she saw the look on Bon Bon's face. "I'm not trying to be mean, honest! Whether you like it or not, you're going to need to attract the Canterlot elite if you want to somehow succeed."

The room was silent as those gathered pondered what Diamond said. Lyra looked at the old checkout counter that Bon Bon had built for her, and the rusty old cash register upon it. She walked over to the windows and tried to see her store from an outsider's perspective. She looked at the floor. The walls. The merchandise.

"She's right," Lyra said. "If we're going to do this, we need to go all-out. We do need the rich ponies of Canterlot." She tapped on the window. "But we need the ponies right here in Ponyville, too. And we need the ponies of Appleoosa, Fillydelphia, Manehattan, and everywhere in-between. Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium needs to change. We aren't just going to sell everything, we're going to sell to everypony!"

"How are we going to do that?" Bon Bon asked.

"We're going to invest everything we have left into a one-day renovation. New displays, new everything. I'm going to need yours and Iron Will's help with that." The two nodded. "Then, tomorrow, we have the grand re-opening of the shop!"

Diamond Tiara added, "I'll pull some strings and call in some of my father's favors that are owed. I should be able to get some top-quality items delivered tomorrow morning, and I can also use my—ahem—influence to drum up interest in the grand re-opening!"

"Wow, okay. So this is really happening," Bon Bon said. "Well, no rest for the weary, I guess. Looks like this is it. Today, we work our tails off. Tomorrow, the real work begins."





Trixie walked slowly into her shop, her head drooping. She walked right past Amber Glow, not even bothering to acknowledge her existence, and into the back room, where she found an old couch to flop onto. Upon hearing Amber follow her into the back room, she turned to face the back of the couch.

"What's wrong?" came the fully-expected question.

What was wrong? Everything was wrong! Not only had she earned the wrath of Spoiled Rich, but now she had to somehow come up with an explanation as to why her daughter Diamond Tiara was now working for the enemy. To add insult to injury, that dastardly duo the Flim Flam brothers had explained to Trixie that, while she was perfectly within her rights to claim all of the guild contracts, she had a duty to actually make an effort to complete them or she would lose that right and somepony else could claim them.

"Not feeling well? It's okay. You take the rest of the day off and I'll handle the shop."

Trixie turned over to face Amber. "Shouldn't you be on the sales floor?"

"I'm on a break."

"Did you earn one, or is Trixie going to have to administer some disciplinary action?" Amber smiled. To Trixie's great annoyance, it seemed genuine.

"I've earned three. But I'm only taking one. There's more bits to earn, after all."

Trixie raised an eyebrow. "You've made nine thousand bits?"

"Ten thousand forty-one bits." Amber's smiled faltered, and a small wrinkle of concern appeared on her otherwise-flawless forehead. "Though, if you'll forgive my honesty, I feel we can earn far more. It's just that I can only serve so many customers at a time, and a lot of the produce is nearing expiration, about a quarter of the merchandise is faulty, and well—" she put what she probably hoped was a comforting hoof on Trixie's shoulder "—let's just face facts. The name of the shop is just ridiculous. Filthy Trix? That alone is going to scare half of our customers away."

Trixie sat up on the couch and brushed Amber's hoof away from her. "You've seriously made over ten thousand bits in one day?"

Amber nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yes. And I'm serious when I say we can make more than that. Far more. What this store needs is a renovation. We close the shop for one day, renovate everything, remove all old and faulty stock and replace it with exclusive and limited items that will draw in the crowds and eliminate low bit-per-transaction sales. Then we have a grand re-opening of the shop. Preferably without that ridiculous name. I think if we work together, we can outsell any competitor, let alone Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium!"

Trixie stared at Amber. The new hire's eyes sparkled with excitement and enthusiasm, her smile was wide and endearing. For the first time since hiring her, Trixie saw her not as an obnoxious assistant, but as something else. Something she had needed all along: a perfect partner. This marvelous mare had provided all the answers for Trixie.

There would be no more lazing around and feeling sorry for herself. If she had to put in the hard work, so be it. She would not be fired by that insufferable cow Spoiled Rich. She would prove her worth to Filthy Rich, prove her worth to herself, and prove to all of Ponyville that she was not only great and powerful, but she was capable of doing more than just cheap stage magic. 

"Okay, Amber Glow. Trixie admits you've impressed her. We'll try this idea of yours and have a grand re-opening tomorrow. But if you think Filthy Trix is such a ridiculous name, why don't you come up with a new one?"

"Oh, I already have!" Amber beamed. She disappeared onto the shop floor, then reappeared with a scroll in her mouth. She set it down in front of Trixie and unrolled it. "I designed this sign right before you came in. What do you think?"

The drawing depicted a pair of purple eyes on a black background speckled with small diamonds. The name of the shop was written in fancy purple letters:

Trixie's Rich's.

Trixie grinned. The lines were drawn in the battlefield. It was on.