Chapter 15
Chapter 15
18 hours earlier.
Señora Amarilla de la Manzana took a deep breath as the lift she was riding in reached the top floor of the Sweet Apple Acres Company headquarters in Ponyville.
Ponyville, it had been a long time since the Señora had been to Ponyville. It had been twenty years ago, and in those days, a thick cloud of smog hung over the city. No longer, they'd cleaned up their act. Over the last twenty years, the Equestrian Republic had aggressively pursued green and eco-friendly technologies. Good thing too, the Señora had hardly been able to breathe the last time she was here.
She was not the only one in the elevator. She looked over at the other occupant and smiled. Her ever faithful gryphon manservant, Juan Carlos, stood next to her, holding her things and looking over holo papers for the deal she was about to make. Juan Carlos was the only person that she could stand to be around, despite the fact that he was a gryphon, Juan Carlos was a quiet, stoic individual, and despite his large, and intimidating size, he had a gentle personality that made him perfect for the work that he did.
Juan Carlos looked over to her, nodding his head as he opened the briefcase he was carrying, returning the holo papers to it and buttoning it up tightly.
'What are you thinking, Juan Carlos? Is the deal a good one?'
'Sí Señora', Juan Carlos said, nodding his head.
'Is there anything you would have done different?' Amarilla asked.
'No Señora', Juan Carlos said, shaking his head in the negative.
Amarilla smirked, that was Juan Carlos, he rarely talked, but when he did, it was in very short sentences.
The lift opened on the top floor, and Amarilla stepped gingerly out of the lift and walked along the open hallway, at the far end of the room was a desk. Amarilla knew the person who was sitting at it, not personally, but by reputation. This was Jonagold, head of Sweet Apple Acres, descendant of the founder of the modern company, Big McIntosh himself.
Jonagold was a yellowish-red coated mare, her mane was blonde, and her eyes were a sharp green. Oddly enough, they were not unlike her own. Jonagold looked up and offered Amarilla a pleasant smile. 'Well hello Señora de la Manzana, it is a pleasure to finally meet you'.
'Likewise', Amarilla said.
'There have been rumours that you've been wanted to buy us out for quite some time, I'm sorry to tell you, I ain't selling, my granddaddy would roll over in his grave if he knew I sold our family's livelihood', Jonagold said, crossing her forelegs and looking at Señora adamantly.
'You have not looked at the deal', Amarilla said with a frown.
'Oh, you've got plenty of money, I know you're good for it', Jonagold said. 'I ain't selling'.
'All I ask is that you look at it', Amarilla said. 'Juan Carlos?'
Juan Carlos nodded; he opened the briefcase and set the holo paper detailing the offer on Jonagold's desk. Jonagold begrudgingly took a look at it. She pulled it closer and read it over. Her jaw dropped wide open.
'Okay... I'm going to be honest here, this amount that you are offering...' Jonagold said.
'It is my offer. I will go no higher, and I will go no lower', Amarilla said simply.
'But... this... what you're offering? It's twice as much as what the entire company is worth!' Jonagold said.
Amarilla smirked, most business people would not have said that, most people, when they had seen how much she was offering, would have have taken it on the spot and run off with all of it. 'Like I said... it is my offer'.
'This... this is an extremely generous offer', Jonagold said.
'Allow me to make it more generous. After my purchase of the Sweet Apple Acres company, nothing will change', Amarilla said simply.
'Pardon?' Jonagold asked.
'I will be changing nothing', Amarilla repeated. 'After I purchase Sweet Apple Acres, you will continue to be in charge, de facto. I will allow you to make whatever choices you wish to make in management. The only thing that will change is that my name will be added to some files'.
Jonagold blinked slowly, processing the information, she looked back down at the paper before her, and nodded. 'Well, when you've put it that way... the offer is incredibly generous, I'd be a fool not to agree. Fine, I'll sign it'.
Amarilla smiled. 'I thank you, and welcome to Manzana S.A.', she said as she turned to leave. 'I'll have my lawyers send over the full paper work'.
'Señora de la Manzana?' Jonagold asked. 'I have to ask... well, it's just that, you've got a bit of a reputation in the business world, and it ain't for being generous... I got to ask...'
'Why so generous on this deal?' Amarilla asked. 'My reasons are my own. Let's just say... it's sentimental, a tribute to the mare who allowed me to come to the position that I am in now'.
'What do you mean?' Jonagold asked.
Amarilla offered Jonagold a small smile, saying nothing, and walking back towards the lift.
…
'You think I was too generous, don't you Juan Carlos?' Amarilla asked as they walked down the stairs of the metro station, and onto a platform, and boarded the Ponyville Metro to return to their hotel. 'Speak your mind, Juan Carlos'.
Juan Carlos was silent for a moment. 'Sí Señora... it was unlike you'.
Amarilla wasn't going to protest there. To be frank, she was a relatively unpleasant person to be around. She had no family, and no friends, and for good reason. Amarilla had a rather abrasive personality, her behaviour during the Sweet Apple Acres purchase was wildly out of character for her.
She had built up a reputation in the business world, her tactics were aggressive, ruthless, and had made her incredibly wealthy. She was well respected in her home country of Hispaña, respected, and feared.
The only person who could seem to stand to be around her was Juan Carlos.
It was odd, considering that she had met the gryphon after she had caught him stealing food from her land. Juan Carlos had been a child in those days. He was alone in Hispaña, nameless and abandoned by his family in the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms. Gryphon children remain nameless for the first five years of their lives. Juan Carlos had been about four.
The gryphon child that would become Juan Carlos did not speak when Amarilla had caught him stealing. In fact, he had remained silent for the entire of the encounter. For stealing food, Amarilla beat him and then tossed him off her land.
He came back the next day, and once again, stole food. This time, waiting for Amarilla to have clear view of him, and then stealing an apple off one of her trees. Once again, Amarilla beat him and threw him off her land.
He came back the next day, and stole another apple. This time, Amarilla did not beat him; instead she went up to him and asked why he continued to steal, when he knew what would happen. He answered simply.
'Nadie me pagó la mente', he had said. No one else paid me mind.
She had taken the gryphon in, and spent the next several years training him to be her servant. The gryphon would remain mostly silent for the majority of it, but he showed his appreciation in other ways, she would go on to name him Juan Carlos.
The gryphon was her only source of companionship, and had been for many years. Her family had all died long ago, and she had no friends. Juan Carlos was not only her manservant, but her closest confidant.
Now that the deal was closed, it was time to return to Hispaña, she had purchased passage on a cheval passenger liner, the Madame La Salle, actually she had purchased passage for seven people, but she would only need room for two. Amarilla made it a habit to purchase all the space around her as well. She liked to be alone, and others liked to be spared from her unpleasant company, as far as she was concerned, she was doing them a favour.
She looked over at the gryphon, to discover that he had buried his face into his persona procesador de información, the hispaña version of the equestrian MIP. Juan Carlos was, presumably, checking on their booking status for the Madame La Salle on his PPI, she left him to it, he was responsible for their travel arrangements.
'I am sure it is fine, Juan Carlos', she said eventually.
'Sí Señora', Juan Carlos said.
Eventually the metro brought them back to their hotel. Amarilla was glad to be back at her suite, the day’s events had been very tiring, and she was very happy to curl up in bed and go to sleep.
Amarilla slept through the night, and awoke early in the morning to discover Juan Carlos standing beside her bed.
'Juan Carlos? Is everything all right?'
'No, Señora, I have been checking our booking information for our flight today', Juan Carlos said.
'And?' Amarilla asked.
'The company made a mistake, and booked several other passengers in the rooms you reserved', Juan Carlos said.
Amarilla blinked at him. 'What?'
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No wonder she likes him....he's Big Macintosh with a beak!!!!
I really hope Grandma V recognizes AJ even under her disguise. It might be nice for AJ to be able to talk to an old friend.
435851
and with a relatively exotic accent
I say relatively since she lived in Ponyville for a fourth or so of her life
436725
I....doubt that's Applejack, but we'll see
435851 Pffft...Bwahahahaha that's awesome, that sorta tickled the back of my head but it wasn't until you said it that I realized that's what I had been thinking. Kudos mate *brohoofs*
Interesting parallels abound.
I still don't think it's AJ, but I can see similarities.
697010 I agree with you there. I'm thinking she is either AJ's descendant, or Braeburns. It would make sense because:
If AJ and the others hadn't gone to Appleloosa, then there would not have been peace between the ponies and buffalo,
therefore buying S.A.A and allowing it to continue is a tribute to AJ. I could be wrong, but I guess we'll see.
Well, I'll see. You've more than likely finished this story by now!!!
Well, when you put it that way, you'd be a fool to agree immediately. It doesn't make business sense to pay twice what a company is worth unless you expect its value to increase dramatically, which normally means you think you can run it far better than it is currently being run. So either Amarilla knows something you don't, or she has hidden motives, and either way it's something major. I don't trust her as far as I can throw her, and that's taking into account the fact I can't even pick up fictional characters.
Also, for the record, I see all of you theorizing that Amarilla is AJ, and I say you're all wrong. I know AJ when I see her. And it's been so long, AJ is probably dead by now, and if not she's not going to pass for a physically normal and much younger mare.