Carousel Boutique.
Saturday, August 21, a few days later. “Suited for Success”.
The last-minute fashion show for famed Canterlot designer Hoity Toity was about to start. With the dresses they intended to wear to the Grand Galloping Gala. Dresses which were locked inside the building.
While Rarity was recovering from her latest panic attack and the other ponies and dragon were looking for the lost key, Twilight Sparkle was walking around the building, looking for an unlocked window to climb in through. There were other ways to get in—starting with one of Rainbow Dash’s characteristic entrances—but Twilight was trying to be subtle.
She didn’t find an open window, but she did find the window that looked in on Rarity’s showroom, where the ponykins with their costumes were on display. As the sun was on the other side of the building, the room was in shadow, but Twilight could easily see that somepony was in the room, pacing back and forth between her and the dresses. From the silhouette, it was obviously Pinkie Pie. Only…something was off about her.
That Pinkie was able to get into a locked building was at this point not even a mild surprise to Twilight. But she was talking to herself, which didn’t seem like her. And the back part of her mane was sticking straight up, like it was being held up by an invisible string.
Twilight rapped loudly on the window. The rogue bit of mane shot back down, and Pinkie glanced back with a look of terror, which immediately disappeared on not seeing a look of terror on Twilight’s face. With a couple of hops she was at the window, which she opened. “Hi, Twilight!” she exclaimed. “I just wanted to get one more look at the dresses before I tried mine on. Somebody said there was something wrong with them.”
“Well, there’s always going to be doubters, Pinkie,” said Twilight. “Could you let us in? The door’s locked.”
“Oh, that’s right—I locked it! Sorry.” She then left to open the door.
~ ~ ~
It turned out that the unnamed “somebody” was right: there was something massively wrong with the dresses, every single one of them. And Rarity’s panic attack grew into a full-fledged episode.
After the resulting intervention, after Rarity saved the dresses from their out-of-control inspirations, and after Rarity’s reputation was fixed and Twilight converted the entire experience into a friendship lesson, she made her way over to Sweet Apple Acres.
“As I promised you after your help with Spike’s book a couple of days ago, I’ve taken a look at your finances, Applejack.”
“Okay,” a nervous Applejack said from the porch. “And what did you find?”
Twilight consulted her notes. “You are definitely the victim of predatory lending practices. That interest rate is frankly illegal. I can get you set up with a reputable bank. Or…”
“Or?”
“Or you can let me buy it out. I’m sitting on a pretty substantial holding, which I’ve been able to access for three years now.”
“Really?” Applejack asked incredulously. She pointed up at Mount Canter. “Doesn’t your family just own the mountainside?”
“Yes. And the trains pay a brushed bit for right of transit. I’m confident that the Apple Clan’s finances are on an upward trend. And I’d like to get in on it now, while the entry fees are still low.”
She pulled a portfolio out of her saddle bags and presented it to Applejack. “I have several possible scenarios outlined here. I have ‘full partner’ in there just to show the full range of possibilities I’m willing to work with, not because I think for a moment that you would go in for such a loss of control.” She opened the portfolio to a particular pair of pages, with a pie chart and a trend graph. “This one is probably more to your liking: instead of just paying off the mortgage I take it over, at the market rate for those with perfect credit scores. That means that I’ll have exactly the same power over your farm as the bank did.”
Applejack plucked the portfolio out of Twilight’s magic field. “That’s…a very interesting set of proposals, Twilight.” She looked back at the farm. “Granny is still the one in charge, so…”
“Oh of course!” Twilight exclaimed. “Just schedule a time, and I’ll gladly come over to give a complete presentation to her, and any other members of the Clan you deem fit to invite.”
“Yeah…” Applejack said absently, stunned at the sudden relief from her endless financial woes. “I’ll get back to you on that, OK?”
Twilight nodded enthusiastically. “All right.”
That night Applejack explained Twilight’s offers to the whole family.
They all quickly agreed to Twilight’s preferred proposal to take over the loan.
Even Applejack agreed that it stood a better chance than what she had planned at the Gala. So that just became a source of additional guaranteed funds.