//------------------------------//
// 18 - All According to Plan 
// Story: Tarnished Silver and Clouded Diamonds 
// by David Silver 
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Diamond and Gneech met up with Silver Spoon back at the Gilded Promise that evening, as promised. They ate in there, sharing their stories of triumph.

Silver held up a document. "Congratulations, we're a company! I put us down as the owners, Diamond Tiara. There had to be at least two for it to be incorporated, and we're partners, right?"

Diamond would have preferred being the sole owner, but she smiled. "You did good, Vice President of Legal Affairs." Silver beamed at her new title, even if it would be inferior to Diamond's Chief Executive Officer position. "As VP of legal, are there any laws we need to be mindful of?"

Silver raised a hoof. "Oh! Yes." She pulled out a sheaf of papers and set them on the table between the plates of food. "There are a lot of laws on the books regarding dye and pigment manufacture, or, specifically, or is that, like, more broadly, um, chemical work. Clothes design and sale is mostly unregulated, but they are very picky about chemicals that can totally explode."

Gneech bobbed his head. "That make sense. Clothes pretty harmless."

Silver looked to Diamond. "How did your day go? Did you, like, find out what we need to do?"

Diamond nodded. "As if there was a shred of doubt." She tapped the top of the table before sipping from her drink, savoring the fruity wash. "There's no lack of the basic ingredients to make clothes dyes. The tailors just don't make it themselves, and that's fine, but only one company is making them, and they're taking everyone else to the cleaners. The rates they're charging are outrageously inflated, which is why only nobles can afford to have colors. I got us a tailor with skill, and a chemist that knows how to do it." She flashed a smile. "The chemist was amusing..."





The griffon peered through his goggles at Diamond Tiara. "Little horse, are you seriously suggesting I stop the serious investigation of the workings of the universe in favor of inks?!"

Diamond waved a hoof dismissively. "Not inks, dyes. There's a difference."

He slammed a fist on the counter. "I refuse! This isn't worth my time. You couldn't hope to pay my fees, even if I did want to engage in such frivolities!"

Diamond raised a brow. "Is that so? Do you know how much... this much..." She gently poked a tiny bottle. "Just this much dye currently demands on the market? If you know who to sell to."

The griffon hesitated. "How much?"

Diamond quoted a number. The griffon's beak broke, moving up and down without any sound coming out at first. "W-what? This is a most crude joke!"

Diamond rolled her eyes. "Doubt if you want, but I'm not here to joke. I'm here to do business. If you won't make these dyes, I'll find someone else who will, and they'll get rich, and you'll get to explore the mysteries with whatever few coppers you have to your name."





Diamond raised her brows. "You should have seen the colors he turned, but he agreed. We have everything we need. The supplies are almost trivial for most of the colors, so we'll start with the easily available ones. Some bright blues, deep yellows... Of course, we're going to need to get a model or two to show off what we have." She tapped her chin thoughtfully.

Gneech raised a hand excitedly. "Gneech has idea!"

Diamond pointed at Gneech. "The board recognizes Gneech. Go ahead."

Gneech grinned as he clapped his hands. "Make models pay, make contest for privilege of 'winning' right to buy. We pick best, take money, they model."

Diamond considered the idea. "I like that... We'll announce we have a new color line and let griffons compete for the right to be the first customer. They love fluffing their egos. The winners will crow and strut with their clothes." She reached across and pat Gneech on the shoulder. "Excellent work, Gneech."

Silver bobbed her head. "That's, like, a great idea Gneech. I'll make some posters to put up. Where will the contest happen?"

They hashed out the plan and enjoyed dinner before moving off to their room to prepare for the next day. Several days later, they occupied one of the theatres that they rented for the day. Cross Stitch stood on two legs beside his collection of tasteful but clearly brightly-colored clothing. Forming a rough line leading up to the stage were about a dozen well-to-do griffons.

All eyes turned to the stage as Gneech emerged, dressed in deep blues with yellow highlights. He looked as regal as a kobold was capable of looking, and the effect wasn't lost on the griffons. "Good day. We thank you for coming. We have new clothing line, limited supply. If it make Gneech look this nice, imagine what it will do on griffon. Meet judges. Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and creator of clothing, Cross Stitch."

Each person bowed in time with their name before they settled in seats, ready to start the show.

The contestants came down from the higher portion of the city just to participate. Diamond quietly chastised herself. I should have charged them just to get into the contest, she thought to herself while keeping her smile. But not all the contestants were nobles and merchants. One in particular was naked and lean. The others avoided her entirely as they whispered among themselves.

Silver leaned in towards Diamond. "That one might be helpful, to show the clothes around the the middle and lower class griffons. She's, like, probably poor or something, and if she wins a set, she'll never take it off with pride."

Diamond raised a brow. "But can she even afford a set if she wins?"

Silver waved a hoof. "Be magnanimous. She'll pay for it with the advertising."

Diamond nodded, not disagreeing, but... "I have to make a show of being fair. We'll talk to her after the show."

The selected six griffons of middle and upper class and they bought a suit each with glowing pride. Cross Stitch looked almost beside himself with joy. He had only been promised 30% of the take, but with such highly-priced dresses being moved, even that was enough to make the day quite worth the effort, especially since he didn't have to pay for the, usually prohibitively expensive, dyes.

The winners showed off their new clothes with pride and poise, and quickly departed, likely to show off to friends and strangers alike. Diamond cut off the poor contestant before she could leave. "We'd like a word with you, if you have a moment?"

They escorted her out of sight and Diamond pointed at her. "We like your look. You have a certain... rough charm that we think compliments our line."

Silver Spoon bobbed her head. "We plan to bring some color to your district as well. Would you like to showcase it?"

She smiled hopefully. "Oh, I just wanted to see how I'd do. There's no way I could afford such lovely dresses. I can barely put food on the table."

Diamond wobbled a hoof. "We're offering. Two gold pieces, special discount. Send your friends, and we'll have some other colored clothes fit for griffons that do real work that won't break your coinpurse."

She become intrigued and considered a moment before digging out an anemic-looking pouch. She produced a handful of silver coins and sighed. "No, no. It's very kind of you, but food has to come before an outfit."

Gneech stepped forward and put two gold coins in one of her talons. She frowned at him. "I'm not looking for charity! I haven't lost all my dignity yet."

Diamond advanced and put a hoof on Gneech's shoulder, pulling him back. "Forgive him. He's just a kobold, you know how it is, but if he gave it to you, it's yours. Kobolds don't like rejected gifts."

She looked uncertain, but nodded a little. "Alright, fine. I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings, I suppose." She held out the coins. "So I'll just give it to you."

Diamond sent her on her way, dressed in the finery and glowing with satisfaction for having it. Diamond slapped Gneech on the back. "That was close!"

Gneech squeaked at the slap, but nodded quickly. "Alpha horse saved the day."

Diamond put a hoof to her chest. "As if there was doubt. Now come on, our work isn't done yet."

They got Cross Stitch to work. Properly inspired to the idea that there was money in it, a lot of money, he wasn't hard to motivate. They soon had a second tailor, a friend of Cross Stitch's, helping out to make new lines as quickly as possible. Some slack was had when they took their existing clothes and started re-using the materials, dying and coloring them before resewing them back into shape. Some colors were reserved for upper class, others for middle, and more natural colors for lower class, but they all looked nicer than naked fabric.

Stitch in Time became a busy place, but there was an immediate issue. Higher-class griffons didn't want to bump elbows with their inferiors while shopping for clothing. Cross and the fillies worked out a hasty deal with Cross Stitch's friend, and a new shop was thrown open with the new colors, capturing the lower end of the spectrum and leaving Stitch in Time to handle the higher end of the spectrum.

The chemist's eyes bulged when the first payment arrived for his work. He was making more money than he had been making alchemical creations, by far, and he stopped complaining and started making colors as a full-time task. Everyone involved was getting their pockets lined with wealth and coin, especially the fillies.

They weren't severely undercutting their competition, that was a losing game. They came in about ten percent cheaper for the 'noble' colors, and fifty percent for the middle class colors. The insult was perhaps the lower class, where they were charging barely more than uncolored clothes. Want a nice earth-tone brown? Just a few more coppers. A dazzling red would put a griffon back a lot more.

Word began to spread of this new business, and other tailors approached the fillies, inquiring about their supply of dyes and wanting to get in on the action. The fillies were quite willing to be the middle-ponies, selling the dyes to them at a slightly higher price than Cross Stitch and his friend were paying, but not monstrously so. They made more money, and their chemist was kept busy while his own coinpurse filled with coin he never knew he could make, just making simple dyes.

It was scarcely a week later that they moved out of the Gilded Promise and took up residence in an upper class inn. They ate well, dressed well, bathed, and even had a griffon servant that saw to their every need. Life couldn't get much better than it was.

Silver Spoon leaned back on her lounge chair, sighing blissfully as her mane was combed carefully by the butler. "This was a great idea, Diamond Tiara. Now we just have to wait for somepony to show up and rescue us."

Diamond raised a brow from where she lay. "Rescue us, from what?"





Pinkie had arrived! She looked up the slope at the huge egg-shaped city and clopped her hooves together with excitement. "Don't worry, auntie Pinkie Pie is here to save you!" She galloped up along the snowy path towards the city, to have a griffon crash down in front of her, wielding a long spear.

"State your business," declared the griffon with a frown.

Pinkie hopped up on two legs and pointed at herself. "My name's Pinkie Pie, and I'm here to rescue two pony fillies. Did you see them? One of them's about this tall." She held out a hoof. "Her name's Diamond Tiara, and she has a grey friend named Silver Spoon."

The guard raised his brows. "Huh. Everyone's heard of them. The two fillies with all the money. You know them? Are you their parent?"

Pinkie waved a hoof dismissively. "Naw! I'm more of their aunt than anything. Can you take me to them?"

"Right this way." The guard turned and began leading Pinkie up into the city.