//------------------------------// // Act 3: Reckless Business // Story: Friendship is Failure #25- Death to Twilight // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// ACT THREE The blazing sun sure took its toll on Twilight, and there was not a sign of Celestia’s team anywhere due to the desert being so far away and so massively wide. Starlight had to maintain her holographic form to save her friends. “Twilight! Twilight, come on! Stay with me!” she begged. Twilight slowly lifted her head up. “Sorry…” she peeped in a weak tone. “Where was I?” “You said you had an idea to help the Star Sisters.” replied Starlight. “Oh… right…” … “You did What?!” Spike snapped when Twilight told him the next day... “I’m going to be a small and temporary partner in this hotel.” replied Twilight. While Twilight could not offer the Star Sisters the exact amount of money they needed, she agreed to loan them a small amount from her own royal savings, which would keep the hotel going for a little while. The Sisters were nearly speechless at the amount she gave them. “We don’t know what to say.” said Goldie. “This is so generous of you.” added Silver. Twilight smiled, “It’s the least I can do for your wonderful services. After all, Friends help Friends.” Spike sighed in outrage. “I knew it! I knew something like this would happen. We’re supposed to be here on vacation, and you turn it into a Friendship Mission.” “Come on, Spike. I don’t want this hotel to be ruined. Do you?” “Well… no…” “So, can I count on you to help me?” Of course, Spike relented. “…So much for vacation.” The first thing Twilight had in mind was to make a few suggestions to The Sisters to help save money for the hotel. “Close the casino?” exclaimed Goldie. “But it’s one of our best attractions. Lots of ponies come for the gambling.” “Maybe,” agreed Twilight. “But those who win, or even strike up jackpots, will often take a lot of money.” Spike showed them a diagraph Twilight had asked him to write up, and a second one showing that profits were likely not to drop so hard if the casino shut down for a while. The Sisters were still unsure. “And you could also lower prices of stays so that more patrons will be able to afford to stay here.” said Twilight. “Slow down a minute…!” said Silver. “If we lowered the prices, then we really wouldn’t make nearly as much as we do now.” “Actually, you could.” said Twilight, and she magically lifted another diagram. “I studied a little bit of marketing, and even though you may not make as much as you do, you can sell far more, and the profits will add up. So, you may end up making even more than what you usually make.” The Sisters fell silent. “…But then there’s our staff.” said Goldie. “If the casino shut down, we’d have to lay off our card dealers, and wheel spinners.” “Not only that,” added Silver “We’d have to reduce salaries for those we keep.” The more the ladies all spoke, the more Spike kept secretly marking “Pros” and “Cons” on his clipboard, and the Cons were starting to look very risky. “I think they’re right, Twilight.” he said. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing. I mean you’ve never actually been part of a business like this before.” Twilight, confident as ever, insisted, “Trust me, but the time we’re finished, this hotel will be making more than if ever did, and like I said, all these changes don’t have to permanent.” The Sisters thought it over, but they were still not certain of doing all this. “Well, we could reopen the casino after a while.” said Goldie. “And once we make enough money, we can rehire the staff and raise their pays again.” added Silver. “And this is just part of my idea.” said Twilight “I have quite a few others…” In a song montage she put her plans to work over the next few days… Cutting corners just enough, we’ll make the mark just right, Giving more for much less so the budget’s not so tight, Think of all the happiness that every pony will share, Fun for all and more in sight, the profit’s in the air. Sort the profits, that’s the thing, When the market makes the call. Sort the profits, do it well, Make enough for one and all, Sort the profits, you will see… …In the end it’ll all work well. There’s no other fine way, There’s no way to go wrong, Now one more chorus of this song… Sort the profits, that’s the thing, When the market makes the call. Sort the profits, do it well, Make enough for one and all, Sort the profits, you will see… …In the end it’ll all work well. Other prices were reduced, such as the restaurant bills for the all-you-can-eat buffet, and longer hours for the pools, waterpark, and spas to be open. The current patrons were at first astounded, and the areas were most enjoyable. Twilight really thought she was something wonderful… …But it was all soon to come crashing down! As the days went by, the hotel was seemingly busier than ever-- with all the patrons enjoying their stays. Twilight and Spike went around greeting all the guests and asking how they were doing, to which they received gracious replies. “I’m loving it here.” “I’d definitely come back.” “I’m glad there’s no more gambling.” Twilight was glad there was no more of it as well, which she felt would lead to great savings for the Star Sisters. “How are the profits doing, Spike?” Spike checked the balance. “Well, they’re doing okay, but I don’t think this is sizeable enough.” Twilight checked the sheet herself. “That’s odd… I would’ve thought there’d be far more profits than this by now.” She shrugged it off thinking, “It’s only been a few days, I’m sure things will get going. How can they not?” On the day before she and Spike were due to return to Ponyville, the hotel was almost a complete ghost town! Many of the staff had quit their jobs, either they didn’t like their new positions or the lower salaries they got. “I can’t wait tables like this, I was meant to deal cards.” “I’ve got needs that need filling, and I can’t do it with this pitiful income I get.” Many of the patrons had left, not just because of their vacations being over, but some checked out early. “I came for the casino, and there isn’t any.” “I’m going someplace to have to some real fun!” “This place is way too cheap for me.” Twilight could hardly believe her ears, the way many ponies preferred gambling over other fun and recreational activities. This was only the beginning…! Hardly any new patrons were coming in-- many had written in to cancel their reservations when they found out what was going on at the hotel, and it wasn’t pretty. Not only was the casino shut down, but other places in the hotel were failing too… The gift shop had only pitiful trinkets to sell, and hardly a good amount of them either… The buffet was closed due to there being no budget left to order more good quality foods and supplies… The water park shut down because the water and heating bills were piling up high… The biggest flop of all was the staff quitting their jobs, unable to take any more of their new positions or reduced salaries. “I was meant to deal cards, not wait on tables.” “I have needs that need filling, and I can’t get them with this pitiful income I make.” “I miss the hooting and hollering of the casino. I’m out of here.” “I can’t even buy my kids a decent gift here.” Twilight’s profits earned from her changes were not nearly enough to put things right again. Nothing could reopen with such pitiful earnings. “I don’t believe this!” cried Twilight. “This can’t be happening!” “Nice going, Twilight!” scolded Spike. “There has to be something we can do!” she thought and decided, “What if we invited huge celebrity guests to appear, and put on great shows and stuff, or… or… we could hold great exhibits… or maybe…” “Maybe you could WAKE UP!!” shouted Spike. “We can’t do any of those things because there isn’t enough money to afford it. People don’t just work or do things for free, you know, and now nobody wants to even come to this hotel, let alone help it.” “No! No!!!” cried Twilight. “I’ll… I’ll give another loan… I’ll hold donation charities… I’ll… I’ll--” “…You’ve ruined us!!” growled a voice. Twilight slowly turned to see the Star Sisters with mixed expressions of fury and sadness in their eyes. Goldie held up a letter from the bank with large black letters that read: “Notice of Foreclosure!” Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. “It’s over!” cried Silver “We’ve been officially declared bankrupt! We’ll never be able to rebuild now!” Goldie also held up a check, “We were forced to sell to Big Bill. He’s taken over now, and he’s going to convert the hotel apartment buildings for his employees!” Every word they said hammered into Twilight’s stomach painfully. She just couldn’t speak or find any words to say. Even Spike was sorry for the sisters, but he didn’t know what to say either, even though none of this was his idea at all. Then he thought of something, “Twilight, you invested money in this hotel. How are you going to get it back?” Twilight’s eyes widened. “My money!” Suddenly, a check for a large fortune floated in front of her. It was the money The Sisters had received for the purchase of their hotel, and it was more than five times the amount that Twilight had given. “Take it!” snapped Goldie, then she and her sister turned to leave. “Wait…!” cried Twilight. “Why are you giving me all this?” “We don’t want a single bit of that money!” growled Silver. “This hotel was more than a business to us; it was part of us!” “Our ancestors worked hard, and our family harder to keep it going all these ages…” sobbed Goldie “…And now, It’s all over, AND IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!!” Her scream echoed along the empty halls. “How can you think for one minute that we could accept that dirty money!” cried Silver. “Um… to start over and at least help yourselves survive?” said Spike. The Sisters cared more about their destroyed family honor than even their own lives at that moment. “Your just lucky our parents aren’t alive to see this!” said Goldie. “They’d probably disown us both for ever have trusted you… Princess!” Twilight tried to apologize, but nothing she could say or do would make up for this blunder. “If you give me a chance, maybe I can help you…” “Save it!” snapped Silver. “If we ever see you again…! IF WE EVER SEE YOU AGAIN…!!” She couldn’t finish-- she was too upset. “Let’s go!” said Goldie. “Let’s get out of here before she does something else to ruin what’s left of our dignity.” Then the sisters left the hotel for the last time leaving Twilight standing with tears coming to her eyes. “Twilight…?” Spike said to her, but all Twilight could do was fall on her tail and gaze tearfully at the ground. “What have I done?!” she sobbed. “You messed up! That’s what you did!” Spike scolded. “You don’t know to properly run a business like this-- it’s nothing like the School of Friendship, and now you’ve not only ruined a perfectly good hotel, but you also wrecked our vacation, and you sullied the honor of the sisters!” Those were all said in his mind, as much as he wanted to say them for Twilight to hear, despite them all being true, he could see she was already feeling crushed enough. All he could do was hug her softly.