It was a clear and beautiful day in the City of Equestria. Spoiled Rich had set up this appointment with two promising members of Crystal Prep. They were top of their classes and were ready to graduate. Spoiled Rich had a perfect idea; take them to lunch and show them why they needed to represent her family business. After all, the way to gain someone’s trust is through their stomach. Maybe with a full belly, those little brats will see reason. Spoiled Rich thought to herself. Unfortunately, things were not going well for Spoiled Rich.
Spoiled Rich explained, “I am just saying that I would not deny such a grand opportunity for the both of you. My husband is going to open his spa, and we will need a new face for our advertising. I want you two to be the center of the new brand.”
Upper Crust stated. “No offense, but I would never let some little store use my image.”
Fleur de Lis rested her head on her hands in a cute pose and said, “And I already signed up to be a model for Fancy Pants.”
Spoiled Rich asked, “So soon? But don’t you graduate in the Summer?”
Fleur de Lis smiled, “What can I say? He made me an offer I could not refuse. And it was my dream to be in a magazine, and he promised me a Perfume ad.”
Spoiled Rich responded, “I will not take no for an answer.”
Upper Crust replied, “Well, I am going to say no. There is no way I will help some cheap little store.”
Spoiled Rich replied, “Excuse me! There are 15 Riches Barnyard Bargains stores located in 3 states. We are family centered.”
Upper Crust replied, “It doesn’t matter how many stores you control when none of them can make a profit.”
Spoiled Rich, “That is very untrue. All of our stores are performing very well. When the spa opens, we will be swimming in money. Don’t you want to be involved in such a great opportunity? What could be better than money?”
Upper Crust held out her fingers, “First, if you can’t make a profit in something essential like a grocery store, what makes you think you can run something that is not essential, like a Spa?”
Fleur de Lis stated, “I think Spas are essential.”
Upper Crust scoffed, “Second, you have not even broken ground. Remember? You were going to demolish that pathetic little camp.”
Spoiled Rich sighed, “I remember.”
Upper Crust grinned, “But they paid up in rent, so you're….”
“Stop!” Spoiled Rich protested.
Upper Crust smiled. “Your husband decided to let them stay.”
Spoiled Rich winced. “Stop!”
Upper Crust continued. “Most likely because he doesn’t want to be the bad guy.”
Spoiled Rich bit her lip. “Stop!”
Upper Crust rolled her eyes, “And evict a perfect tenant.”
Spoiled sighed, “I know and completely understand all of that.”
Upper Crust: “Because it would ruin the excellent, family-friendly brand that he keeps for her stores.”
Fleur de Lis looked at her reflection in a water glass. “That sounds like a lot of problems when you say it like that. Too bad the camp paid all their rent. I think a spa would be great.”
Spoiled Rich: “Thank you for enlightening me to these details, but these are just minor obstacles. Once we find new land and a contractor, we can build a state of the art Spa. That spa would work better with an image. That image could be one or both of you.”
Fleur de Lis replied, “I mean, Fancy Pants is my agent. If he says yes, then I will do it. But between his magazines, Perfume, and clothing companies, I doubt he would say yes.”
Upper Crust looked at Fleur de Lis and then at the empty plates. Upper Crust reached into her purse and pulled a credit card out of her pocket. She shrugged, “Sorry, but it looks like the meeting is over.”
Spoiled Rich gave her card to the waiter. ”I insist that you let me pay. I did invite you to a business meeting, after all.”
Upper Crust said, “You’re not going to buy your way into me saying yes. I need a business that is more secure than what you can offer. I hear the rumors. About how your business is not doing well.”
Spoiled Rich, “I guess that does conclude our meeting. If either of you reconsiders my offer, you know who to call.”
Fleur de Lis replied. “I have to meet Fancy pants in an hour so we can talk about my next photoshoot.”
Upper Crust scoffed. “I appreciate everything you are trying to do for us, but I am going to graduate in less than a year. I need something more secure than what you can offer.”
Spoiled Rich replied, “That is nonsense. What is more secure than working for Riches Enterprises? We both make more than enough between all of our businesses.”
Upper Crust replied, “I doubt it. If you had so much money, why does Diamond Tiara attend a public school like Equestria High? Why not send her to a private school like Crystal Prep?”
Spoiled Rich smiled, “That is just the small details. We sent Diamond Tiara to Equestria High because that is where she was most comfortable attending. Also, it helps the image of our stores, our motto is family first.”
Upper Crust replied, “I don’t believe you.”
Fleur de Lis looked into a spoon at her reflection and combed her hair, “I believe you.”
The waiter walked up to the table.
Spoiled Rich raised a hand and declared. “Why I could buy this entire restaurant with the change in my pocket.”
The waiter replied, “Ma’am, I hope you have change. Your credit card was declined.”
Spoiled Rich shouted, “What?! That must be an error in your machine.”
The waiter shook his head, “I tried three times.”
Spoiled Rich sighed and gave a second card to the waiter, “Can you try this one?”
Upper Crust smirked, “What were you saying?”
Four credit cards later, Spoiled Rich walked out of the restaurant. She was happy that she did not get arrested. Do they still do that? She thought to herself. She was sure that at least Uppercrust had a good time. The problem was that it was most likely for the wrong reasons.
Parked on the curb was her loyal butler Randolph waiting in the family Limousine. She slipped into the back seat and sulked.
“Oh, that was embarrassing,” Spoiled Rich said to herself.
Randolph turned around and looked at her, “It couldn’t have been that bad?”
Spoiled Rich sighed, “Four of my credit cards were declined.”
Randolph replied, “That bad, huh?”
Spoiled Rich said, “If they were even considering accepting my generous offer, they will not now. Toward the end of it, Uppercrust offered to pay for everything.”
Randolph bit his lip, “Ouch.”
Spoiled Rich replied, “Do me a favor. Give me a few minutes to recompose myself before we move.”
Randolph said, “Whatever you need.” He then pushed a button. As a result, the window between the driver and passenger went up.
Spoiled Rich smacked the seat and said, “How could this day get any worse?”
Spoiled Rich jumped when she heard her phone ring. She quickly reached to grab it. She looked at it to see the words hospital on the screen.
She pushed the button on the phone to pick it up. A nurse asked if this was Spoiled Rich, and she confirmed it. Then the nurse on the phone stated, “I am sorry, but I have some bad news about Almond Milk.”
Moments later, the phone dropped to the floor. Spoiled Rich started to well up in tears.
Spoiled Rich leaned back in her seat. The tears flowed down her face.
Randolph lowered the window and asked, “Is everything ok?”
Spoiled Rich said, “No. It is my brother.” In a shrill, she said, “He is gone….”
Randolph asked, “Should I drive you to the Hospital?”
Spoiled Rich replied, “There is nothing I can do for him at the hospital now. I always hoped he would get better. I should have visited him, and it might have brightened his day. I acted like a horrible sister.”
Randolph answered, “I’m sorry.”
Spoiled Riches cried, “The only thing I can do for him now is to honor his last wish.”
Randolph replied, “I will drive you across this state if you need me to.”
Spoiled Rich replied, “Take me to the sporting goods store. I am not going to mess up my good shoes.”
Randolph replied, “Right away.”
Spoiled said, “And hurry. We need to get this done before Diamond Tiara gets out of School.”
Rudolf hit the accelerator and turned into the next lane. A nearby car slammed on its brakes and honked in annoyance.
After stopping at the sporting goods store, and three more credit cards later, the limousine approached an old and faded sign. The sun peeled the paint until the letters were barely visible. Only Spoiled Rich knew the old sign initially said Spoiled Milk Family Farm. Nobody else who drove by it would know that the decrepit buildings had once been a popular and busy farm.
The limousine creped through the dirt road and moved slowly toward an old red barn in the distance.
Spoiled Rich sighed, “Is this the fastest that you can drive? We have to pick up Diamond Tiara in two hours.”
Randolph replied, “Sorry ma’am. If I drive any faster on these dirt roads, the chassis will bottom out, and you could hit your head. Also, with only front-wheel drive, if we get stuck, you will miss picking up your daughter.”
Spoiled Rich pouted in the back seat. “I should have gotten the deluxe package.”
Spoiled Rich rested her hand on the door and looked out to see rows and rows of dead wheat sitting in what used to be the farm’s fields.
After what felt like an eternity but was only 10 minutes, the limousine stopped in front of the old rotted red barn.
Spoiled Rich hung her legs out of the limousine and slipped a pair of boots onto her feet. She then tosses a pair at Randolph. “Put these on so you don’t mess up your good shoes.”
Randolph smiled, “Mighty considerate of you.”
Spoiled Rich yelled, “I don’t want mud in my car!”
Randolph sighed, “Of course not. That would be tragic.” He then slipped them on and placed his dress shoes into the vehicle.
They walked around the red barn, checking to see if it was safe to go inside. Some boards were missing, giving them a little light. Age had worn down the paint leaving the wood bare to the elements.
Randolph replied, “Are you sure you want to do this? There is not much to save.”
“When my brother first went to the hospital, I promised him I would take care of his most prized possession, and I will keep my promise.” Spoiled Rich explained.
They noticed a large silo near the barn with a rusted hole in the side.
Randolph said, “That silo will never hold any grain again. Then again, I wonder why you need one on a milk farm.”
Spoiled Rich looked at him and explained, “Back in the day, we used to grow corn, wheat and soy to feed our milk cows. At most, we had 200 cows. Growing their food was sometimes cheaper than buying it.”
Randolph replied, “Sounds good to me.”
Randolph turned on a flashlight as they walked into the barn. Slowly they passed by rows of empty stalls. The smell of the barn was a unique mix of rot and neglect. A rusted machine sat at the end of the barn in a corner.
Before Randolph could say anything, Spoiled Rich said, “We used this to milk the cows. I guess my brother has not used it for some time.”
Randolph asked, “Why not? Milk is something that everyone needs. If my old memory serves me correctly, Rich’s Barnyard Bargains used to carry Spoiled Milk. It seems strange that they would not do well.”
Spoiled Rich shined a light down the empty stalls. “The problem was the farm’s name. Nobody wanted to buy Spoiled Milk.
Spoiled Rich smiled, “The best day of my life was when I met Filthy Rich. I got him to sign on to carry our family Milk in his stores. That is how we met.”
Randolph grinned, “I remember I took you both home that day.”
Spoiled Rich said, “His name was Berry Rich then, and I used the name Spoiled Milk. I don’t know how he took me seriously.”
Randolph said, “You both were a nice couple.”
Spoiled Rich said, “This farm should stay here in memory of the town’s history, but that annoying little brat named Shadow Hound has already asked my brother if he could buy the farm. Between that and Filthy Rich needing land for his spa, I fear it is only a matter of time before this farm is gone.”
Randolph said, “At least if Mr. Rich builds his farm, the land will stay in the family.”
Spoiled Rich replied, “But that smelly apple farm is next door. Who wants a spa next to a smelly apple farm?”
Randolph grinned, “Maybe the boy wants to buy it for the apple girl? Maybe they are like you and Mr. Rich when you were younger.”
Spoiled Rich scoffed, “That apple farm is big enough. Who even eats that many apples?”
Randolph replied, “They make good zap apple jam.”
Spoiled Rich said, “Good point.”
Randolph pointed the light at two black cellar doors at the side of the barn. They looked newer than the rest of the barn and had no handles. However, there was a keypad nearby.
Spoiled Rich said, “I wonder how we are supposed to get inside.”
Randolph replied, “If I were younger, I might be able to use a crowbar to pry the doors open.”
Spoiled Rich asked, “What if the item we are looking for is in the cellar?”
Behind them, a voice said, “Need a hand, old man?”
Out from the shadows stepped a woman. She had charcoal skin, and her hair was green and slimy, with Jade stripes in it.”
“Who are you?” Spoiled Rich asked.
“I am a business partner of your brothers.” The woman replied.
Spoiled Rich asked, “What do we call you?”
“You can call me Chrysalis.” the woman replied.
Spoiled Rich replied, “Ok. What are you here for?”
Chrysalis said, “You really shouldn’t open things that don’t belong to you.”
Spoiled Rich announced, “This is my brother’s farm, so now it is my farm. Shouldn’t you have to ask me?”
Chrysalis smirked. “Not if his will leaves everything to me.”
Spoiled Rich gasped, “He wouldn’t do that.”
Chrysalis shifted her weight to her other side. “I am pretty sure I can find a contract that says differently.”
Spoiled Rich yelled, “That is illegal?”
Chrysalis replied, “Not if it is his handwriting.”
Spoiled Rich started seething and growling.
Chrysalis waved her hand back and forth dismissively, “Look. I have a very particular set of skills. I can have $100,000 transferred to or from any of your bank accounts in a matter of hours. Copy any signature. Don’t mess with me, or you will regret it.”
Spoiled Rich scoffed. “With one phone call, I can just tell them the charge was false. We have cell phones.”
Chrysalis said, “Not when they have video footage of you entering the bank and bank tellers to give them eyewitness.”
Spoiled Rich replied, “I would never go into a bank and give you money.”
Chrysalis said, “You wouldn’t need to. They only need to think it is you.”
Spoiled Rich asked, “Why would my brother work with someone like you?”
Chrysalis replied, “As I said, I am just a business partner. All you need to do is walk away, and I can transfer the money into your bank account before Diamond Tiara gets home.”
Spoiled Rich ordered, “Open the Door.”
Chrysalis shifted her hips again, “Are you sure you want to go down there? You may not like what you will find.”
Spoiled Rich said, “Should I call the police? Maybe they want to see what is in there.”
Chrysalis answered, “Fine, but I gave you a fair warning.”
Chrysalis rapidly entered something into the keypad. Clicking noises came from under the door, and a handle appeared. Chrysalis reached down and grabbed one of the doors. Randolph grabbed the other. Together, they swung it open.
The small group walked down the staircase. Against the wall was an old switch. Randolph looked over and flipped the switch. As a result, the wall started to hum. A few seconds later, the first set of lights turned on, followed by another row.
Spoiled Rich said sadly, “How could you?” as the lights slowly turned on row by row.
She looked into the room and saw rows of trees growing underground. Purple lights lit the rows of trees, and large fans kept fresh air flowing through them.
Spoiled Rich started to walk into the room.
Chrysalis grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. Chrysalis replied. “You don’t want to step any closer, or you will get sick. Those are ultraviolet lights.”
Chrysalis walked over to the panel and flipped a switch. The purple lights turned off, and the white fluorescent lights turned on.
Spoiled Rich touched one of the feather-like leaves and held it in her hand. Each leaf looked like a star with seven sides. She explained. “The farm was not doing well financially when I got married. With sales being down, I wondered how my brother was able to keep the farm.”
Randolph asked, “What is going on in the farm?”
Spoiled Rich said, “I don’t think this is legal.”
Randolph retorted, “How do you know it is illegal?”
Spoiled Rich said, “If it is legal, why would he be growing it under the barn in a secret basement?”
Chrysalis said, “I don’t know what you mean. It is legal in at least 18 states. 19 by the end of the year. When you do my line of work, we call this product.”
Spoiled Rich said, “It is not legal in this state.”
Chrysalis said, “It is if you have a medical license.”
Randolph asked, “Do you have a license to grow this?”
Chrysalis said, “Let's just say it is complicated.”
Spoiled Rich demanded, “Just get it out of here.”
Chrysalis explained, “If I do that, then the product will get damaged. I need at least eight more weeks of growing.”
Spoiled Rich said, “I don’t care about your product. Just get this out of here.”
Chrysalis said, “Are you sure about that? If you walk away right now, I will give you 20% of whatever I make selling this and any future product I grow on this farm.”
Spoiled Rich demanded again, “Get out of my farm!”
Chrysalis said, “Oh! Do you want to play hard to get? I will give you 30% of any profits.”
Spoiled Rich said, “I don’t want any part of your dirty deals. Just get this junk out of my farm.”
Chrysalis stated, “Then let’s hit this out of the park. If you let me continue the operation, I will give you 50%. It is more than your brother made, and he grew the stuff.”
Spoiled Rich stated, “Shut it all down. Burn it to the ground. Now.”
Chrysalis sighed, “Ok. Final offer, I will give you 70%. I see it is a firesale. With the seven credit cards that were declined, you can’t say no to a generous offer like that.”
Spoiled Rich. “How did you know about that?”
Chrystalis smiled, “I have my sources. How embarrassing for you to experience credit card problems right in the middle of a business meeting. Just think about my offer. All you need to do is say yes, and all your money problems could go away.”
Spoiled Rich, “No deal. Now get out of here.”
Chrysalis said, “Fine, but I am going to send the boys back to collect my product.”
Spoiled Rich said, “Fine. Just get out of my life. I don’t ever want to see you again. And get it out of here, or I will burn this to the ground.”
Chrysalis said, “Fine then, but you are missing out. I was giving you one heck of a good deal.”
Spoiled Rich replied. “I don’t need any of your deals.”
Chrysalis smiled, “Tell you what. Give me some time, and I might at least send you $10,000 for your trouble.”
Spoiled Rich replied, “You don’t have to. I don’t want your dirty money.”
Chrysalis stood in the middle of the room, “Ok fine. Then you won’t hear from me again. Just leave everything on when you leave. I will fix the lights later.”
The lights flickered, and Chrysalis was gone. Randolph and Spoiled Rich turned around to see where she had gone, but they didn’t find her.
Randolph looked at his watch. “If we leave now, we can pick up Diamond Tiara with 10 minutes to spare.”
Spoiled Rich walked up the stairs and out into the open sun. “We still need to find my brother’s most prized possession.”
Randolph followed her. He also shielded his eyes with his hands as he asked, “What is it?”
Spoiled Rich replied, “He never told me, but if I had to bet, it is a friend we had growing up. I am sure he is still here. I hope he remembers me.”
Randolph pointed at the house, “There is only one last place to look.”
Randolph and Spoiled Rich walked into the old house. The lights were dim. Most of the lights came from various windows. The house was dusty and looked unkempt. They went into the kitchen and found food rotting on the table. Flies flew in giant swarms around what must have been meat, but it was long past being recognizable.
Spoiled Rich held her nose as she complained, “I knew I should have checked here after his accident. Hard to believe it has only been a week.”
Spoiled Rich looked through the cupboards in the kitchen. After a few minutes of searching, Spoiled Rich removed a wooden box and opened it. Inside the box, she found some silver utensils. She pulled out a silver spoon and looked at it in a sliver of light from one of the windows.
Randolph commented. “That would sell for a high price.”
Spoiled Rich commented, “Oh, I am not going to part with this silver. It was my great, great grandmother’s.”
Randolph said, “Excellent. if we leave right now, we can make it to the school with a few minutes to spare.”
Spoiled Rich explained, “The silver is just a bonus. A family heirloom that I am going to keep.”
They walked up to a set of stairs and heard TV static from one room.
Slowly they walked up the stairs. They heard something move, and they stopped.
Randolph said, “It might be an intruder. For your safety, we should leave. Your brother was sent to the hospital a week ago.
Spoiled Rich rolled her eyes, “If they are intruders, they missed the silver, so they are bad at their job.”
Spoiled Rich and Randolph tiptoed up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, they saw a doorway with the sound of TV static coming from behind it.
Spoiled Rich grabbed the doorknob of the bedroom. She explained, “Block the stairs. I will turn the doorknob, and I need you to grab anything that might run out.”
Randolph looked confused, “What if it is a raccoon?”
Spoiled Rich scoffed, “It wouldn’t be a raccoon. The coyotes ate them years ago.”
Randolph replied in concern, “What if it is a coyote?”
Spoiled Rich said, “There is only one friend I know who would lay on my brother’s bed for hours.”
Randolph said, “Can you open the door so we can leave? I am getting tired of the smell, and it makes me want to start cleaning.”
Spoiled Rich twisted the doorknob, “Are you ready?”
Randolph nodded, “It reminds me of the old days of catching opossums.”
Spoiled Rich smiled, “Close to it.”
Spoiled Rich twisted the doorknob, and they both walked into the room.
The room was dwarfed by a king size bed that filled up the room. A small dresser sat in the corner, and a small tube TV sat on the dresser. Static buzzed away with the faint images of colorful neon ponies dancing on screen.
A blanket on the bed arose and growled at Spoiled Rich and Randolph. The blanket jumped at Spoiled Rich, thus knocking her to the ground. Spoiled Rich lifted her arm to block what she knew was coming. Randolph reached toward the blanket and attempted to grab it.
Spoiled Rich screamed, “It is me, it is me! You need to stop.” Something wet started to drip down her arm.
Randolph pulled back on the blanket and ripped it upward, revealing a red dog with a yellow mohawk. The dog stopped biting Spoiled Rich’s arm, sat down, and began to whimper.
The dog looked frail and scared. The dog’s once black eyebrows had turned gray with age, and its eyes were milky white with cataracts.
Spoiled Rich pat the dog on the head. The dog responded with an active tail that wagged back and forth.
Randolph looked at a gold dog tag around the dog’s neck and read the name Garble.
Randolph said, “It looks like the trouble maker's name is Garble.”
Spoiled Rich rubbed the side of Garble’s face. Garble licked the side of her hand. “He was just scared.”
Randolph raised his voice. “He could have killed you. The bugger has to be at least 70 pounds, and I think he is a Retriever.”
Spoiled Rich pointed to Garble’s eyes, and Garble didn’t blink. Spoiled Rich explained, “Garble must be at least ten years old, so he has bad cataracts. You must be careful with this old dog because he can’t see, so he has to smell everything. He must have been scared in that room for a week with nobody around.”
Randolph asked, “Is your arm ok? Should I got get the first aid kit?”
Spoiled Rich lifted her arm, “I am fine, he didn’t break skin.”
Randolph asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you were searching for a dog?”
Spoiled Rich explained, “I was afraid you would think I was crazy and that you would convince me to leave.”
Randolph replied, “We will be late picking up your daughter, and we still need to find the food for Garble.”
Spoiled Rich said, “We can leave right now. I will buy fresh food for Garble on our way home.” Garble started to lick her face.
Randolph grabbed Garble by the collar, and Garble snapped at him.
Spoiled Rich replied, “Don’t scare him. He cannot see you.”
Randolph walked back to the limousine and placed the silver in the trunk.
Spoiled Rich grabbed a leash from the closet on their way out of the house. Garble stopped and cried on the porch of the house and started to try to walk back in. Garble dragged his feet as Spoiled Rich, and Randolph, dragged him into the car. When they got to the door to the limousine, Spoiled Rich jumped into the back seat and pulled on the leash while Randolph guided Garble into the car. Eventually, Garble gave up and jumped in. Randolph shut the door when Spoiled Rich and Garble were safely inside the limousine.
Randolph dusted the dog fur off his clothes and replied, “That one has some fight in him.”
Garble looked outside the back window and started to howl.
Spoiled Rich pet him on the head, “I know, boy, I am sorry. I miss him too, but you are going to come live with me.”
Randolph got into the driver’s seat and replied, “Filthy Rich is not going to like this.”
Spoiled Rich Replied, “I am not leaving Garble at that dirty farm.”
Randolph commented, “Diamond Tiara is not going to like that either. We will be ten minutes late to pick her up.”
Spoiled Rich replied, “She will have to learn not to be so spoiled.”
Randolph checked, “What about the fact that she will have to sit next to that smelly dog?”
Spoiled Rich rubbed the top of Garble’s head. Garble slowly shut his eyes. “She will have to learn that some things are more important than money.”
The limousine drove in the direction of Equestria High. Both Spoiled Rich and Garble started snoring.