NEW PART EXCERPT: In Which Diamond Tiara Uses Her Sassiness For Good · 3:31am Nov 5th, 2016
The Rich family had never been known for being cheapskates, but they could at least smell a scam when they saw one.
“They’re charging how much for these?!” Diamond yelled, losing her composure for a second.
“Two thousand bits for the cheap seats, miss,” the pony at the ticket booth replied civilly. “Why you askin’, kid? Not enough in your piggybank?”
Even though any decent pony would end the conversation then and there, the worker’s trademark Manehattan sass was what really nailed it for her. This wasn’t a complaint about her not being able to afford it, but one of a lazy mare charging higher prices in a higher-demand community.
“I’ll have you know that your ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’”—she rolled her eyes and spun her hooves in a circle in imitation of casting a spell—“routinely performs in Ponyville for two hundred bits. No bits at all sometimes, even. And you think that just because you put her in some fancy theatre, ponies are going to fall for it. Well, I’m not.”
“I’d say you’re the first one not to,” the ticket pony said. “Point is, it’s not just the venues we’re payin’ for here. It’s a popularity charge. More ponies have been wanting to see her, and if that means stayin’ in their Manehattan proud hometown and not traipsing through some folksy tourist trap, then so be it.”
“Tourist trap?” Diamond replied. “Please. This whole city is more of a tourist trap than Ponyville will ever be!”
At this point, though, she found herself being pulled by the tail by an annoyed Bambi, who’d already turned their tickets in to the box office.
“Now, now, don’t get into it with him too much,” Bambi muttered. “It isn’t worth it. If you ever really want to protest ticket scalping, I’d definitely start with the higher-up ponies.”
****
New Light Pollution coming tomorrow, and this part was way more fun to write than it should've been. Unfortunately, Trixie has no control of how much her tickets cost, or on inflation based on demand. Being from a family that at least practices fair business strategies in a smaller town, Diamond probably has no concept of this whatsoever.
