//------------------------------//
// Rich Apples  
// Story: The Price of Cider 
// by StormLuna 
//------------------------------//

The next morning the Apple Family and the Lunar Royal Guard were awoken by the crow of the rooster.  They had just got sat down to breakfast and they heard a knock on the door.  Applejack said, "Certainly Juice Bottle isn't here already."

Applejack went and got the door and was greeted by Princess Luna.  "Good morning princess, how is your morning treating you?" asked Applejack

Luna replied, "We are doing good dear Applejack.  How are you doing?"

Applejack replied, "Well I'm a bit nervous about this Juice Bottle guy paying us market value for our cider."

Luna said, "Well that is why I am here, to make sure he doesn't try any funny stuff.  He knows me and he knows that if he tries to cheat you guys that I will banish him to the sun."

Granny Smith shouted, "Come on in princess!  You must be hungry after that flight here from Canterlot."

Luna replied, "I am hungry and I know that you guys serve food that is far better than that garbage Celestia has the cooks make."

Apple Bloom said, "You betcha princess.  We're having eggs, bacon, toast, oats and of course cider this morning!"

Luna licked her chops and said, "That sounds delicious!"

They had a good breakfast and shared a few laughs before there was another knock on the door.  This time it was Juice Bottle.  Juice Bottle was looking around and was thinking that he should be able to get a good deal for the cider.  He was thinking to himself, "This is going to be a piece of cake.  I can probably only pay them 10% of market value and they will think that they are getting paid well."

Applejack answered the door and said, "Howdy!  You must be Juice Bottle."

Juice Bottle replied, "Yep, I'm Juice Bottle."  He looked in there and saw that they were just finishing breakfast and said, "I'm sorry if I caught you at a bad time."

Applejack said, "No, we're just getting finished with breakfast.  Come on in and we can discuss this cider sale and relax over a nice mug of cider."

Juice Bottle went in and saw Luna was there as well.  His joyful face suddenly turned somber as he knew that the princess would make sure that he paid market value for the cider.  He said, "Oh hi your Majesty, how are you doing?"

Luna replied, "I am doing alright."  Luna gave him an odd look and asked, "Juice Bottle, you looked so happy when you first got here and now you look like you lost your best friend.  What is wrong?"

Juice Bottle started to cough and then replied, "Well I just realized that I forgot to have someone watch over the office."

Luna could tell he was lying.  She asked, "You do have other employees there don't you?  I highly doubt that the office will fall apart without you there."

Juice Bottle knew he better not try any funny stuff given how Luna was watching him like a hawk.  They sat down to discuss the sale.  Juice Bottle asked, "So when did you get your cider made and how many barrels do you plan on selling?"

Applejack replied, "Well we just finished producing it last night, so it is plenty fresh and we have 1,000 barrels to sell."

Juice Bottle said, "Well let me pull out this morning's newspaper to check the price of cider."  He looked in the financial section and said, "Well right now cider is trading at 12.1..."  he looked up and saw Luna with a scowl on her face as she knew he was lying.  He continued, "Oops, I mean it is trading at 121 bits per barrel.  That is worth 1,210,000 bits."

Applejack had a stunned look on her face and asked, "Really?  I didn't know cider was that valuable of a commodity."

Juice Bottle replied, "Yep, it is."  He then asked, "So who do I make the check out to?  Do I make it out to you Applejack?"

Granny Smith interrupted, "Make it out to Sweet Apple Acres since this is a business transaction."

Juice Bottle had a sick look on his face as he whipped the company checkbook out and wrote a check out to Sweet Apple Acres for 1,210,000 bits.  Luna saw this and asked, "Juice Bottle, you look like you have an upset stomach.  Are you getting sick?"

Juice Bottle replied, "Oh I'm just not feeling all that good.  I probably should get going.  Let's get the cider on the freight train to the bottling plant up in Manehattan."

They headed out to the south field where the cider was stacked neatly.  Juice Bottle was looking at it hard and counted it to make sure there were a thousand barrels there.  Luna's eyes started to shine a bright white as she shouted, "Juice Bottle, don't worry, there are a thousand barrels there.  I know the Apple Family very well and they are as honest as they come."

Juice Bottle saw this and got a lump in his throat and replied, "O-Ok your Majesty."

Luna levitated the barrels to the freight train and it headed off to Manehattan.  She accompanied the Apple Family back to Sweet Apple Acres while Juice Bottle headed to the cafe for a mid morning snack before catching the train back to Manehattan.  He was approached by Flim and Flam, who had seen Luna levitating cider barrels from Sweet Apple Acres onto the train.  They could tell he was sad and upset.

Flim asked, "Why the long face sir?"

Juice Bottle growled, "Who the hay are you and what does it matter?"

Flam replied, "Because we are a couple of friendly former cider makers and we are thinking about getting back into the business."

Juice Bottle said, "Oh, it is you, the Flim Flam Brothers, the boys who sell the nastiest cider on the face of the planet.  Well if you plan on it, don't contact me.  No one wants to drink cider with rocks, dirt and tree branches in it.  No wonder you two are FORMER cider makers."

Flim asked, "But Juice Bottle, times change!  Just because our cider used to have rocks, dirt and tree branches in it doesn't mean that it will now!  How much did you pay Sweet Apple Acres for that cider anyway?"

Juice Bottle was getting agitated.  He shouted, "OVER A MILLION FREAKING BITS.  WOULD YOU TWO JUST LEAVE ME ALONE.  TWO OVERLY JOYOUS TWIN STALLIONS IS THE LAST THING I NEED TO PUT UP WITH RIGHT NOW!"

Flam replied, "Well alright then.  No need to be such a grump!"

Flim and Flam headed over to the park to discuss what they found out.  Flam asked, "How the hay did he have over a million bits to pay to Sweet Apple Acres for all that cider?"

Flim replied, "Didn't you notice that was Juice Bottle, the CEO of the Equestrian Fruit Beverage Company?"

Flam put his hoof up to his face and replied, "Oh how could I have forgotten.  He was the pony who told us our cider was terrible and that he would never buy anything from us."

Flim got a grin on his face and started rubbing his hooves together.  Flam asked, "Flim, what is running through your mind?  Whatever it is it must be sneaky."

Flim replied, "Well, if he won't buy cider from us ever again how about we find somepony with connections to the commodity exchange and have them cause the price of cider to plunge.  Then we can put Sweet Apple Acres out of business and they will have to sell to us just to survive!"

Flam asked, "Now wait a minute brother, where the hay are we going to find this pony?"

Flim replied, "Oh I have an idea of who can do it.  I know where his office is.  Follow me."

The two headed over to the office of a very influential businesspony that Flim is certain that could help them bring down Sweet Apple Acres.  Flam seemed unsure of this but wanted to do anything he could to break the Apple family.