There's a certain risk in sending this particular class of students on field trips, and Ponyville's school board is tired of seeing all of the disaster odds come through. So if the kids want to visit the Autarky Magic Center, then they're going to provide the security deposit. And that money can only come from one source: the classic school fundraiser. The corporate adults providing the 'chocolate' even promised a personal reward for selling lots of the stuff!
Cheerilee is putting Diamond in charge of the sales brigade.
The adults are going to regret that.
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Chapters (1)
There's not enough money in the world...
I'm amazed Roseluck didn't single-hoofedly pay for the trip just to make sure the CMC weren't in town
Make THAT the sales pitch and you'd have more bits than you'd know what to do with...
Added to
The Triptych Continuum Rebooted (group)
Ponyville (folder)
Well this was amazing. I loved every part of it. I'm not a huge DT fan, but I was definitely cheering her on here.
*cackles in Machiavellian glee* Well done! Very well done!
Though, as a fan of Hershey's, there will be the necessary demerits.
Having said that:
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Hey, I just reread Bitter/Sweet quite recently! I love that story!
And now I love this one, too! Delightfully satisfying to see everything come together, and Diamond Tiara's characterization feels on-point in the best way: still fairly prissy and arrogant, but with a good head for business and a good heart for leadership.
What an absolute joy to read!
So, just what is the board going to do with those field trip funds that they are no longer giving to Ponyville East, hmmm? (Never mind the "security deposit", that is just screaming to be turned into a nice slush fund for the board to pillage.)
Ah, false inventory records and scamming the schools for an additional profit on their already grossly overpriced "goods". Fund raisers have always struck me as a rip-off, both of the people who buy the stuff and of the schools/clubs/whatever that do them. The only ones who profit are the companies that oh-so-generously "donate" the stuff being sold.
While I do like the improved version of Diamond these stories are showing, I still have to admit to despising Diamond -- and the adults of Ponyville -- for acting like the Crusade is just the CMC's fault and ignoring their own culpability in it.
EVERY school teacher I EVER had was ABSOLUTELY CLUELESS when it came to dealing with bullying and harassment.
TOTAL DENIAL that it EVER happened was their MOST USEFUL response!
i swear, LAWS requiring them to ENCOURAGE bullying would be an improvement!
"The mills of [the rich] grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small." I still think legal action is in order. Fraud charges, etc.
oh, like the one in THIS scene?
Flim Flam Shim Sham
They tried to pull a scam
I came in expecting more CMC selling chocolate shenanigans, but left with a vague aesop that Companies Are Evil (but not the people who work for them), a taste for chocolate, and a general feeling that accounting, too, can be a fetish.
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Unfortunately for many adults in this situation when it comes to kids they don’t want to address the real issue. Look at what it took in When Earth Meets Sky, Scootaloo getting injured. The adults don’t want to admit to the fact they all should have sat down with their parents and the foals long ago. It also comes because people forget just how smart the young can be. In this story they got caught because Diamond isn’t your average filly and once she started to get suspicious she knew what she needed t do to prove to her father that something wrong was going on.
"The exact phrase they used was 'escaping containment.'"
I have the feeling Cheerilee knew exactly what she was doing in putting Diamond in charge.
They may not invest in quality ingredients, but they've clearly put a lot into printing presses.
Given that it's Roseluck, I'm sure she can think of any number of things They could do in the meantime, but at least the Crusaders won't be involved.
I do love the consistent detail of your Cotton Cloudy trying to determine what flirtation is by process of elimination.
Perhaps my favorite part of this story is that this is legitimately a case where Diamond could have trotted out "Do you know who my father is?" But she didn't. These were her employees. Her enterprise. Her responsibility. She did everything right, and when the world didn't care, she kept on doing it. That kind of character is a 10 on the Mohs hardness scale. Outstanding work. Thank you for it.
Ah, scammers getting their due, always enjoyable even in fiction.
Love stories like this.
Foals, I would think, or children. I’d think they would be a bit confused about goat students elsewhere.
Whoa, a Seinfeld reference. Classic.
This story gave me PTSD flashbacks to when these kinds of people would come to our school and try to make us sell overpriced products as kids. They would act all nice, put on a big presentation, and then hand us a catalog saying "these are the prizes you can get if you sell this much!"
Weirdly enough, I never saw any kids with the prizes.
As mentioned by others, your slowly maturing Diamond is working her way to becoming a more clear student of her very admirable father. Her absorption of her father's business morality has begun to firmly move from privilege to responsibility and this may be one of the first times her father will have said he was proud of her as his filly and as heir to the Barnyard Bargains business and had no reservations. Mr Rich will likely rest easier and have greater confidence that Diamond will be ready to smoothly move from school to a role within what will be her company after this example of her improved understanding of the true responsibility of a good and respectable business pony.
Diamond has learnt her lessons in becoming a better pony in a painful way so far but hopefully her example here has earned her the start of a new reputation much like Apple Bloom's new apprenticeship and abandonment of the Crusade has started for her.
This story makes me glad that every time my school did a fundraiser, we just threw a school festival and sold homemade cake and arts and crafts. Can't imagine having to deal with this kind of scam.
My eyes also got a bit moist when Diamond used her pocket money to pay the class. And when her father told her he was proud of her - great moments with all the character buildup that's been done for Diamond in her previous stories.
It seems that in the end the brown mare and stallion were fired by Horshey's. I think the reason they were fired because they tried to keep the extra bits for themselves insted of giving it to the company or else because that's what Filthy Reach demanded to restart orders from Horshey's.
Diamond did take care of things professionally from the start and she did show responsibility towards her employees.
I think my favorite part is tut Scootaloo managed to sell chocolate by telling ponies that she would be out of town for a few hours.
Blackmail is such an ugly word. Actually, this is extortion, but there' s no trope for that.
Every prospective Evil Overlord needs at least one Token Competent Minion. Silver Spoon is looking forward to the future.
I will go so far as to say the only thing Diamond Tiara did wrong was... Ok, two things.
First, she should have had Chief Miranda Rights there, perhaps with a few deputies. You know. For security purposes. Since there was all that money lying around.
Second, know that all heathen capitalists abide by Ferengi Rule of Acquisition Number 1 : "Once you have their money, never give it back." She gave them all the money. She didn't get her portion back. Properly, she should have given them *exactly* what they were owed for the 'product' and copies of the ledgers. Copies, not the originals. (you have to breathe a little duplicating fluid for your craft) Any disputes can be settled in court. Ponyville court, of course. That would go so well for the scammers. Not.
She's just a little too trusting in the system. Sometimes, you just don't trust the other guys or it comes out poorly. She'll learn and get a little cynicism in there. Then we're all in trouble. All hail our new Not-So-Evil Overlord.
Was the mare's name a reference to Grit?
I liked the mention of Worthys. That had been a great story.
Given how insistent the school board was that the foals and not the adults provide a security deposit for this trip, and that they had to do it by participating in this specific fundraiser, I wonder if someone in the school board was in on the scam?
Ah, fundraiser products.
Double retail price seems fair for a fundraiser.
Four times retail price seems greedy.
And yet, they think that somepony else is stupid because her eyes don't work as a team. She's stupid because she's a cynical jerk.
My satisfaction is immeasurable, abd my day is saved.
Lord knows I was swept into those scams as a kid.
This was an utter delight to read. I look forward to reading your other stories.
This one is quite excellent… love the pacing, the gradual reveals and the pay-off, as well as the progress to Diamond’s character.
This reminds me of those damned coupon books I was made to sell as a kid for my elementary school, for like $20 each, and if a kid sold 50 of them, they could get a scooter as a prize. One that lit up! Child me dreamed of that scooter, and had no idea what a scam it was, because I had no concept of how much a scooter, even a cool light-up one, costed.
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Exactly. Any system is only as good as the people in it. And when it comes to accounting, your bank account is usually a lot safer than someone else's.
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And yet Filthy Rich over here creating and running a company, and yet he's one of the most likable characters of the series.
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Fair. But then again, they do let Discord amble around so...
My knowledge of this Sweetie Belle is rather limited, but isn't she usually elsewhere right now?
For the record, my expertise here is basically nonexistent at this point...
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I did wonder which members of the board had been bribed to let this happen.
But Estee, how do you really feel about Hershey's?
Seriously though, I really enjoyed this one.
👍
I loved DT's character growth here.
Those two weren't ever going to pay the students their fair share, just collect and scarper off.
If I was running a business like Bon Bon, yeah if some rando or the Flim Flam bros were trying to make sales outside my shop I'd be none too pleased, but I might make an exception for a school fundraiser or scout troops. Heck, Miss Bon Bon might have been a potential ally against Horshey's and in particular two less than reputable agents.