The Silanos

by Kama and Hallie

The Gift

As the sun was setting upon Ponyville, Roberto walked up to the gates of Sweet Apple Acres. Roberto was feeling very confident right now, even more so than he usually is, because he was carrying two sacks in his hand, and he knew for sure their contents will win over the Apple Family. If his gift won't win them over, then he didn't know what would.

As he approached the house and barn, Roberto saw a familiar-looking orange earth pony in a hat walking around, just finishing up some extra chores after returning from the School of Friendship before she went in the house. Applejack saw the large man in the white suit walk towards her and greeted him, though for some reason she still looked uneasy.

"Oh! Hey there, Mr. Silano! I almost thought ya weren't comin' today."

"Hello to ya too, Miss Applejack!" Roberto greeted back. "I'm 'ere as ya requested."

"Well, uh, jus' come inside. The whole family's preparin' ta make dinner, ya can talk ta all of us," Applejack gestured to the door. She then noticed the two sacks Roberto was carrying in his hand. "What's that ya got over ther?"

"Trust me, ya'll see," Roberto answered, a smirk appearing on his face.

Applejack looked at the man with a mixture of skepticism and uneasiness, but decided to let him inside anyway and wait before she makes any judgement. Applejack still could still not exactly place what it was about Roberto and his family that made her not fully trust them. From how Roberto asked the Crusaders all those questions like they're part of some sinister plot to kill him, to his son, the one named Gabriele, who Applejack could tell was very off. There was something not right about the Silanos, but the farm pony couldn't properly figure out what it was, and as much as she tried to brush it off as while Roberto acted strange and his son certainly gave off a bad vibe, there was nothing to indicate there was anything particularly nefarious about them (maybe not yet), but the feeling still lingered in the back of her mind.

The orange mare led Roberto through the door into her house, and they walked through a narrow hallway that Roberto almost couldn't fit into due to his wide size. They arrived at the kitchen and dining room, where all the members of the Apple Family were preparing ingredients for their dinner. Roberto paid attention to every member, the only one he recognized was the yellow filly with a bow in her mane and Applejack's little sister named Apple Bloom, there was an elderly green mare seated at the table who Roberto guessed was their grandmother, there was a large red stallion who he assumed was the older brother of the farm pony, and lastly was the member that easily stood out the most, a light purple unicorn mare with a fluffy dark purple mane and a cupcake cutie mark. The unicorn was obviously not actually a biological relative, and judging by how she was always by the red stallion's side, was probably his girlfriend or wife.

"Hey, everypony. There's someone here ta see us," Applejack annouced, which grabbed the attention of all the ponies in the room and all eyes were now on Roberto.

"Is this...?" Big Mac asked.

"Yup, the feller who wants ta use some o' our acres," Applejack answered. She then turned to the human behind her. "Why don't ya take a seat, Mr. Silano?"

"Of course," Roberto said as he went to his spot on the table.

Roberto just remembered that ponies rarely ever used chairs, which made sense since their bodies weren't exactly designed for them, so every dining table he's come across in Equestria always had cushions in place of chairs. Roberto never liked sitting on those cushions that were practically just on the ground, it felt very uncivilized for someone like him and his family to sit on the floor, which was one of the reasons he prefered to eat in his own house than outside. Granted, ponies don't always use cushions, as they do sometimes use stools, and sometimes there were sofas but those are a different category than chairs. One thing Roberto had to say was that using pony seats for his Italian restaurants just felt...wrong, like they felt so out of place. But this was Equestria, not Earth, and he was in someone else's house right now, so there was no use complaining.

Roberto took his seat, while all the members of the Apple Family sat opposite to him, all of their eyes just fixed on him. Applejack sat in the middle, right beside her grandmother, so she was cleary going to be the family's speaker right now.

"Ah've discussed yer offer with mah family, an' we have come to an agreement," Applejack said, pausing for a second before announcing the answer.

Roberto felt a bit anxious, though if you looked at him at the moment you would never guess. Roberto was always someone who was good at hiding his emotions and what he was thinking. He really hoped the answer was "yes", as by having his crops be grown in the Apple Family territory, it should garner a bit of protection than if he used a property entirely in his own name. Maybe it wouldn't happen immediately, but maybe several years from now, if Equestria ever started their own "War on Drugs", or had any Earth agencies like the DEA come over, there'd be a high chance his property would be the first in Ponyville to get raided. So by having all his products grown in the property of not only the most respected family in Ponyville, but an Element of Harmony as well as a best friend of Princess Twilight Sparkle, it'd keep his products at least a bit safer, as he doubted many would want to cause problems with Applejack, thus causing problems with Princess Twilight herself. Of course, Roberto wouldn't grow his illegal products alongside his legal restaurant products like his olives and tomatoes and grapes where everyone could see, he wasn't stupid, which was why he planned to have an underground facility right underneath the acres that would be offered to him where he could freely grow and process his narcotics. That way they'd still be on the Apple Family property and thus protected, but won't cause the Apples any problems since they'd be none the wiser. If this went successfully and everything else went smoothly, he might be able to start multiple drug factories across Equestria, but he'll have to wait and see.

"We've decided that ya have our permission ta use some o' our acres ta grow yer crops fer yer restaurant business," Applejack finally announced the answer.

Roberto was relieved to hear that, because while he still had many other options, this seemed like the best option to start his very first narcotics factory in Equestria. Plus, since this factory would be the closest to his house and could easily be linked back to him, it was extra necessary it was hard to locate.

"Well, that's nice ta hear. I'm sure this'll be the beginning to a great partnership," he said with a smile.

"So, ya say ya'll be sharin' yer profits with us?" the green elderly mare asked, which judging by everypony's face, was the question that was lingering on their minds.

"That's right. It's only fair that I give good payment fa the ponies that are helpin' me start my business 'ere in Equestria. All the crops that I grow on ya land will be harvested fa my restaurant business, an' that isn't just 'ere in Ponyville, but also in Canterlot an' Manehatten. Also, all my my crops are gonna be imported from Earth, 'cause y'know, I wanna make sure my ingredients are one-hundred percent Italian. So with all the crop harvestin', the imports, the deliveries, an' the profits of all my restaurants an' stores 'ere in Equestria, I think it's only fair I share with ya...a third of our monthly profits. How's that sound?"

All the members of the Apple Family's eyes widened and they all exchanged looks before turning back to Roberto. "A third?!" they all asked in unison.

"An'...how much would that be, exactly?" Applejack asked.

"Well, ta be honest, I'm not too good with my understandin' of the Equestrian currency an' economics. I usually 'ave otha' guys ta do it fa me. But, if my memory serves me right, an' my calculations are correct, that should be around...a hundred an' fift thousand or so bits a month. Which would also mean that you'd earn, uh..." Roberto exhaled while he attempted to calculate the numbers in his head, which caused him to blow out a huge puff of smoke from the cigar in his mouth that caused Apple Bloom to cough. "...I'd say between six 'undred an' eight 'undred bits annually."

The Apple Family went silent once again, trying to process what they were hearing.

"Eight hundred bits?!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

It seemed almost too good to be true. Applejack was initially a bit suspiscious, but she didn't notice any hints that Roberto was lying, so it seemed like a safe offer to make. Of course, Roberto was only counting the profits made from his restaurant business, he decided to leave out the potential profits from the narcotics processing out for now. Leave the money laundering for later.

"So, whaddya say? Is the deal official?" Roberto asked.

Applejack looked at her family before taking any action, and after all of them nodded at her (Apple Bloom nodded very energetically), she looked back at the human. "An' this is jus' ta let ya grow yer crops on our land?"

"Yes," Roberto answered.

"Well then, it's a deal!" Applejack announced. The farmpony spit on her hoof before extending it to Roberto, who looked at it with a disgusted face. "Oh, uh...yer probably not the type ta do that, huh?"

Aside from the obvious reason of why Roberto was reluctant to shake Applejack's hoof, Roberto had never tried spitting in his life. Unless it was out of necessity or disgust, he never actually tried properly spitting, as he thought it was digusting and below someone like him. But for the sake of fully gaining Applejack's trust, he reluctantly decided to make an exception this one time. He brought up his hand up to his face, trying to figure how he wanted to do this, because he knew if he tried spitting he'd only make himself look like a complete idiot. Roberto then decided to build up the saliva in his mouth and instead of expectorating like Applejack did, simply brought his hand up to his mouth and sort of kissed it and poured his saliva out onto it. It was obvious from his face that he absolutely hated doing this. He looked up at Applejack as if asking for her approval, and Applejack simply shrugged in response as if to say 'good enough'.

The two of them then shook on the deal, which Roberto visibly cringed as he felt his wet hand touch Applejack's wet hoof. Immediately after they finished shaking their hand and hoof, Roberto pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his hand free from Applejack's and his own saliva.

"Alright then, it's settled. Oh, uh, jus' one more thing ta make it official," the mob boss said as he pulled out from one of the sacks he was carrying a contract and pen, and he placed it on the table in front of Applejack. "My restaurant business is pretty huge so there's gotta be some paperwork involved, y'know?"

Applejack read the contract in detail, to make sure there was nothing fishy going on in it, as in scenarios like this the contracts usually contain things that go against the signing pony's wishes. But thankfully, when Applejack finished reading it, there was nothing suspiscious within its contents at all, it pretty much just read everything that she and Roberto have just talked about. With that, Applejack grabbed the pen and signed her name on the paper with her mouth. When Applejack returned the contract and pen, Roberto also looked at the pen with a disgusted look as it was just in the farmpony's mouth, and he took out his handkerchief again to wipe it clean.

"Well, consider this partnership started!" Roberto announced, and the entire Apple Family smiled at each other.

"By the way, ya haven't told us what ya got in those bags o' yers," Applejack pointed out.

"Ah, yes. Those are meant as complimentary gifts fa you an' ya family as a show o' my thanks fa the partnership," Roberto answered.

Despite the fact Roberto was a little worried Applejack might reject his offer, he had no reason to. Because with the gift brought with him, there was no way the Apple Family would reject it. He pulled up the first sack and placed it on the table, and then opened it for the Apples to see its contents.

"My first gift, one that's pretty much standard business procedure, one thousand bits ta start!" Roberto announced, gesturing at the large bags with many gold bits pouring out of it.

The Apples all gathered around the large pile of bits, amazed at the generous gift the human just gave them. Applejack then looked up again. "An' what's the second one? I saw two sacks."

"Well, this...this is the really special one. Ya gonna love it," Roberto said with a grin on his face, as he could already imagine the faces on the ponies when he revealed his second gift.

Roberto then pulled up the second sack, which strangely enough did not look as full as the sack of bits, which made the Apples even more curious as to what it could be. As Roberto untied the string and opened the sack up, the Apples leaned in to see what was inside, and what they saw completely shocked them into utter silence.

"A-are those r-really...?" Applejack stammered.

"Yup, those are exactly what ya think they are," Roberto answered, still smiling with his arms crossed.

Inside the sack was a dozen golden apples. It was unlike anything Applejack and her family had ever seen before. Applejack took one of the apples in her hoof and brought it up to her face to analyze it closer, and she could see it was legit. It wasn't an apple painted gold, and it wasn't a fake apple made out of gold, it was a straight-up organic apple that was golden. It was like something out of one of her dreams.

"Well, if that ain't the prettiest darn apple ah've ever seen," Applejack's grandmother murmured as she stared at the golden apple with sparkles in her eyes.

"B-but...how did ya get these?" Applejack tried to ask.

"I've got a lotta connections goin' on throughout Equestria, an' they tend ta find some pretty interestin' things," Roberto answered. "Y'know, I heard that these apples 'ave some magical power ta them. I'm not entirely sure what is though 'cause everyone says somethin' different. Some ponies say that these apples grant prosperity an' rejuvenation, some say they grant the wishes of whoeva' eats 'em, an' some say they grant immortality! I'm not entirely sure I believe the last one, but what do I know?"

"Immortality?" Apple Bloom repeated what Roberto said.

"Ya should consider yaselves very privileged right now. Not only are ya the first ponies ta eva' recieve these golden apples, ya probably one o' the only ones who'll get this many at once. Even the richest millionaires an' billionaires out there, I'd only give 'em like three or five at most."

"I-I don't know what ta say..."

"So...d'ya want 'em?" Roberto asked.

"Of course!"

"Eeyup!"

"Yes! We want 'em! We want 'em!"

"Yes!"

"Darn tootin' right, we do!"

Every single one of the Apple Family answered at the same time, causing Roberto to chuckle. The whole thing went exactly how he thought it would.

"Then they're yours!"

"So, then...what should we do with them?" the purple unicorn asked the rest of her family.

"Do whateva' ya want with 'em, they're yours anyway. Use 'em wisely, though. They're very, very rare," Roberto told them.

"Yeah, Applejack! What should we do with 'em?! There's only twelve of them! Ooh! Maybe we can make 'em into jam like the zap apples!" Apple Bloom suggested.

"Y'know what I think?" Applejack said. "We can plant them! An' we can make a new special apple orchard fer all o' Ponyville ta enjoy!"

"That won't work, I'm afraid," Roberto said.

"What?"

"Believe me, I tried doin' that myself. I mean, it's pretty much the obvious thing ta try ta do. But when I checked inside 'em, there were no seeds if ya can believe it. An' I even tried gettin' one o' my unicorns, she's a pretty talented magic user, ta try an' use one o' those fast-growin' spells or somethin', and still nothin'. So sorry ta say, but those golden apples can only come from one place."

"An' where's that?" Apple Bloom asked.

"That's strictly only fa me an' a select few o' my workers ta know," Roberto answered.

"What?! Why?!"

"I'm afraid that if too many people know where these apples come from, it'll attract too much unwanted attention an' probably cause more harm than good. Ya unda'stand, right?"

Apple Bloom just pouted, while Applejack simply nodded. While it wasn't the answer she hoped for or wanted to hear, she could kind of understand where Roberto was coming from. Plus, the man was already kind enough to partner up their businesses and give them a priceless gift, so it really wouldn't be right to argue with him right then and there.

"Well then, that's all I came 'ere ta do. I'll be goin' home now," Roberto said as he got up.

"Don'tcha wanna stay a bit? We're about ta have dinner," Apple Bloom said.

"No, it's fine. I'm havin' dinner back at my house. My sons are probably waitin' fa me anyway. So ya take care o' yaselves, an' I'm sure our partnership will go very well." And with that, Roberto walked out of the dining room and out of the house, leaving Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack and her family then continued staring at the golden apples, still wondering what they could do with them. As Roberto said, these apples are obviously very rare and priceless, so they want to make sure they spend them properly. And while Applejack's feelings of uneasiness about Roberto have died down for now, her feeling of suspiscion still lingered in the back of her mind.

"D'ya think these apples really make ya live forever, Applejack?" her little sister asked.

Applejack rested her head on her hoof, still stared at the apple she held in her other hoof. "I really don't know, Apple Bloom."