Really not sure about this. Let's say being dressmaker doubles (our share of) Rarity's income, from ~60 to ~120. It takes NINE turns for that to be better than the gift. Not counting whatever compounding there is, in the benefits we can accrue from having the income now as opposed to later.
also to be fair bringing her to 4/2 next turn (or soon anyway) will slowly improve her work and likely her income anyway.
I started this wanting Rarity... but I'm having second thoughts.
That said, an income raise might be enough that we could give up the 500 bits I think... We also need to keep in mind that some of these actions give us things we'll NEVER get a chance at again, or that will be far harder to get later.
1) The benefits from these confidants aren't that large. Especially before they have lore levels!
2) Any benefits will take a while to accrue. A turn (or multiple) to actually make these good friends confidants, a turn to introduce them to the lore, a turn for them to become more than lore 0... Benefits now are more valuable than benefits later.
Also, to be fair, we already need multiple actions to bring up our current confidants. 1 for Rarity, 1 for Jade, and 2 for Fluttershy. We'd be adding 4 new actions to bring up the Good Friends to confidants, AND then probably 2 actions each (8 total) to bring them to 4/2.
On a different note, while 500 bits now are worth MORE than even, say, a double income for Rarity that would take 9 turns or so to pay off... there's also the narrative aspect to consider.
We'd be doing one of our best friends a major favour, this will sinergyze with bringing her to 4/2 next turn by making her even better right as she gets even higher-class clients, and we will not presumably NEED to spend all 500 bits at once, so with a bit of responsible accounting and bit-managing we might be able to make the bits from Rarity last enough anyway.
We can already basically bring the cost of summoning Axe to zero (key is -50 bits, one gift is -50 bits, other gift is a free reagent so -45 bits). We can potentially get a lvl 5+ book here (or, if we're lucky, from Canterlot and/or Frangiclave expedition, so we'll be able to choose WHICH book to give up if we get more than one)...
of course 500 bits now means we could try Baldomare's searches (100 bits minimum), so she might find high level artifacts or books on her own.
In any case...
I'm inclined to pick Harmony/MLP aligned action here, all else being equal.
That means closer to Cadance, Rarity > 500 bits, and Twilight (probably our last serious chance to repair our relationship with her, and to help her in general, at least until we're actually able to offer her a forge ritual).
[] "Cadance, both you and Shining sent invitations to Twilight. But maybe we should… check on her in person?" (???)
If it can't be negative then yes go check on her for goodness sakes! Even if Twi will still hates Velvet afterwards, she won't feel so alone. And with the sheer love Candance is radiating, it should cheer up Twi quite a bit! Emotional support is what she needs right now.
Also if we were there and could verify that Twilight won't bring up the "Velvet was there when I was kidnapped and then she rescued me from mad cultists" thing... well, this action might be what allows us to free Shining from the Leash.
Oh, so Lores can be used for Good Things, not just Bad Things.
(And also, Alicorn using it in her wedding, surely Alicorns know what they are doing?)
It might just be that, while searching for ancient wedding traditions, we just find an unrelated lore book. After all this would be the first time we'd be in the Royal Archives, and our SH power justifies us having an easy time finding valuable books in there.
For the latter part that was Bird, yes. As I have just repeatedly stated. But for the first part…
Okay, I'm genuinely confused. You seem to be differentiating the flashpoint of "Velvet reveals she has special knowledge" from "what the vote option says on the tin." Except that Velvet revealing she has special knowledge is literally what it says on the tin.
that's not true. We whisper secrets to her. It doesn't mean she's
aware those secrets came from us.
It's not like Selene initially realized we were teaching her eldritch knowledge. The first few lessons could have been passed off as coincidences.
If you want Cadance to trust us more, this isn't the option. It should instead be the "get closer" one.
[] "I would be honored to be the maid of honor." (Become closer to Cadance)
Straightforward, and by no means small. Even ignoring the giant carrot that is an Alicorn confidante, just being good enough friends with Cadance to be sure she will not tattle is enormous gift. To be honest, unless I see some really good arguments for the alternatives, I will vote for it.
We might not even have to go and reveal the lores to justify the healed leg.
If we believe she trusts us fully we could come up with a "someone proposed a miracle cure, I tried it, I failed to find them again after, please don't tell anyone" story of some kind...
and if the lores are discovered later, well, it seems like the one who helped us knew them somehow, but that doesn't necessarily make us guilty. If we're close enough, Cadance would likely keep quiet about this with Celestia because "I know it looks bad, but I also know I can trust Velvet completely, and Celestia is currently trigger-happy..."
[] "Your dress is good. But it could be better. I know a mare..." (Involve Rarity in dressmaking. Applies Rarity's Lore levels)
Tempting, but not really tempting. While strengthen Rarity's career is nice, mechanics wise 500 bits upfront is just enormous. Unless we are seriously underestimate it, and it will bring something like 5x revenue, simply mechanically inferior, even if nice narratively. For me, passs.
On the other hand, IF we don't need all 500 bits immediately, and can make do with just the raised income (especially if we also teach her to bring her to 4/2 next turn, hopefully making her an even better and wealthier designer)... well, the value of the bits is lower, but it might still be enough while also allowing us to help Rarity for some nice and kind narrative.
[] "But none of them are nobles. Are you sure I can invite them?" (Increase all non-locked ponies in your Contacts list to Good Friends)
Actually a lot, really a lot of AP worth, but for now, I am more interesting in strengthen out bases. Maybe I will change my mind later, but for now, pass.
Considering the major investments required to then bring them to confidant tier AND to teach them the lores, I'm starting to lean towards "maybe our current confidants are good enough" and then go with a different pick instead.
We still need to invest another 4 social actions in upgrading our current confidants anyway too!
[] "Cadance, do you mind if I put a few Names on the list…?" (Invite all Names who are summoned on Turn 19 / ???)
It will probably enhance security, but well, Alicorns aren't easy targets already, and in life-or-death situations we are already going there. Additionally, there's some anti synergy in inviting Axe, but not Pride. Pass.
There's also a remote chance of maybe moving towards Mareinette's Redemption, I think. but yeah, really remote. I just think that if anything could make Mareinette regret her past actions, it would be Harmony or Love from the MLP side.
Baldomare already knows of Love, and I could see this making her better disposed towards us... but then again, maybe not. And I have no idea how Axe would act here.
[] "Cadance, what do you mean keep the change? What do you mean that I should keep the change?! " (Gain 500 bits)
Like I've said, this is really, really big. I think I value relationships more, but this is really tempting.
I'm leaning towards Rarity over this become it's still more bits (if less than this option) while also being more... harmony/mlp-aligned, fitting better with the Wedding in my opinion.
Getting 4 people to good friend one step away from confidant is a major win for us. And inviting 4 names to the party and making them like Velvet more, brings them closer to becoming permanent summons on our team. And we still have plenty of bits left over to do what needs doing.
[x] "But none of them are nobles. Are you sure I can invite them?" (Increase all non-locked ponies in your Contacts list to Good Friends)
[x] "Cadance, do you mind if I put a few Names on the list…?" (Invite all Names who are summoned on Turn 19 / ???)
[x] "Cadance, what do you mean keep the change? What do you mean that I should keep the change?! " (Gain 500 bits)
We have no reason to believe the reward for bringing the Names is "they like us more".
It could be better security. It could be the start to Mareinette's redemption. It could be a chance to introduce her to Cadance and getting an excuse to potentially hire them in the Bureau later on. It could be none of the above.
We just don't know. All we know is that it won't be net-negative
A few thoughts. The 500 bits is probably the most immediately useful, but also the most boring. The Rarity option has the potential to be useful long term if it increases how much she makes and is more interesting story wise. The Fluttershy option intrigues me from a story perspective, as well as possibly changing Comet's outlook on Velvet. Also it may have an effect on her secondary lore. I think the Bridesmaid option would be the more fun, but whispering lore to her is real tempting because I'd love to read what that looks like and it could have real weight to future plans. I don't really care about Velvet's family enough, outside of Steppes, to want to invite them and the other options feel more like just upping relationships to save AP. Which is useful yes, but doesn't intrigue me as much, at least right now.
I agree on Rarity vs 500 bits.
sure, 500 bits are more mechanically useful right now, but Rarity also helps, AND has narrative implications as well.
I'll think of it a few more minutes, but I'm leaning for a vote on
1)Getting Closer to Cadance
2)Rarity Dressmaker
3)Twilight last-chance
with some more distant contenders being
4)hopefully lore book for Baldomare
5)500 bits
6)more good friends (but they'll be a chore to rank up to confidant and then teach lores to...)
