> The Little Bakery of Horrors > by Nevermind1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Closing Down > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike got out of bed, ready for another day of working in an empty bakery. Since it's former owners left Ponyile, Suger Cube Corner has lost many of it's customers, and the once-well-known bakery now sat empty. Except for Spike and the new owner, Pinkie Pie, no one has set hoof in the bakery for years, and Spike knew that there won't be customers today, or tomorrow, or anyday this week... But he kept working because with Pinkie Pie still hoping for more customers to come, he had no choice but to keep helping her run the place, he didn't want to shatter her hope. And besides, she has been so kind to him after Twilight Sparkel's death Five years ago, giving him a new job, a new home, a new family. He couldn't let her down after all that. He went downstairs and saw Pinkie standing next to the door, looking out of through the window from time to time, as if waiting for somepony to come. "Good morning Pinkie" Spike said with a hint of concern in his voice. "Good morning Spike" said Pinkie cheerfully "I woke up super early today so I could be the first one to greet our customers today! They haven't showed up yet, but they will." Spike smiled at Pinkie, at least she has hope, he thought to himself. "I'm gonna go make breakfast, you want some?" Spike asked Pinkie. "No thanks, I already ate" said Pinkie, "By the way, we're all out of chocolate milk, you should go buy some, I would've gotten it myself but I need to stay here in case a customer comes" she smiled and went back to looking outside. Spike sighed, they ran out of chocolate milk about three times a week, so it wasn't a big surprise, although it was an annoyance. Pinkie enjoyed chocolate milk a little too much. He made himself breakfast and when he was finished eating, he left for the market. It was a nice day outside, birds were singing, Celestia's sun was shining high up in the sky, and the friendly ponies of Ponyvile were greeting him as he past them by. He always liked days like this one, this kind of day made him feel like everything is going to be alright. He got to the market and was on his way to buy some choclate milk, as Pinkie asked him, when he heard someone calling out to him: "Hey! Spike! Over here!" He stopped, rolled his eyes and turned around. Rose, the flower pony was always bothering him. He never managed to walk through the market without her calling him over to buy something. He learned to just accept it and go with it. There was no point in trying to avoide her, she could see the entire market from where she was stationed. "Hey Rose." Said Spike with a tired voice "Let me guess, you want me to buy something, don't you?" "Oh, I just love how you know me so well!" Said Rose with a smile. Before Spike had the chance to tell her he wasn't interested in buying anything, again, he suddenly noticed a strange little fly trap sitting on the counter in front of Rose. It wasn't an ordinary fly trap, something about it felt different. "Is that a new plant? I haven't anything like it before." He said. Rose looked around, slightly confused, before noticing the strange plant sitting right in front of her. Well that's odd, she thought, I don't remember putting it there... But Spike seemed interested in it, and she wasn't going to pass up an opportunity like this one. "Oh, Yes. this plant is a new kind of fly trap I found, I don't really want it for myself, though, to be honest. I've been trying to get rid of it for some time." "What?!" Said Spike, shocked that she of all ponies would say something like that "You want to get rid of it?! This is a new type of plant nopony has ever seen before! It needs to be preserved, you can't just throw it away like that!" " Well, if you really think It's that important, how about I sell it to you? What do you say, 20 bits?" Said Rose, delighted that she managed to get Spike interested in buying a plant for once. "Well..." Spike wasn't sure what to do. If he doesn't take it, she will probably throw it away and it would go to waste. But if he takes it, she would never leave him alone. After a while of thinking Spike reached the conclusion that she won't ever leave him alone anyway. "Fine" he said with defeat in his voice "You win. here's 20 bits." "Glad I could help!" said Rose as she gave him the plant and took his bits "Have a great day!" Spike walked back to Suger Cube Corner with the plant in hand. He spent all his money on it, and so was not able to get Pinkie her chocolate milk. He feared she'll be dissapointed, so on the way, he stopped by Sweet Apple Acres and got her some nice, juicy apples, hoping they would make a good "Sorry-I-wasted-all-my-money-on-weird-plants-and-didn't-buy-you-any-chocolate-milk" gift. He walked inside the bakery and saw Pinkie Pie has fallen asleep next to the door. Spike smiled at the adorable sight, put the plant on the counter, and went over to wake her up. "Pinkie" he whispered "Pinkie, wake up." Pinkie opened her eyes slowly. She looked at Spike for a a few minutes, while her brain was waking up. "Oh, hey Spike" she eventualy said "Did you get the chocolate milk?" "Actually, no." he said "I'm sorry Pinkie but, you see, Rose was going to throw awy this perfectly good plant. It's an amazing new discovery! I couldn't let it go to waste like that, so I spent all the money I had on it. I got you some apples, though." Pinkie looked at him with a blank expression. She looked at him without saying a word, which made Spike feel a bit uncomfortable. And just a little bit frightened. After a few minutes of scilence, Pinkie started to cry. Tears were rolling down her cheecks as she curled herself to a ball on the floor. Spike was confused, but worried. "Don't cry Pinkie! It's just choclate milk. Please, I'm sorry. just stop crying" he begged. "It's not just the chocolate milk, Spike!" She managed to say between sobs "The store is dead! Nopony wants to come here anymore. I wanted to belive we'll get through this, but I just can't do it anymore!" Pinkie fell down on the floor and cried some more. "If this keeps up, we may have to... to..." Pinkie couldn't bring herself to say it. "Close down?" Spike said, like he was having difficulties comprehending the situation. Pinkie just nodded her head in respons. Her face had a pained expression on it, as if the action was hurting her. Spike didn't know what to say or do. All he could think of doing was going over to Pinkie and hugging her. "It's going to be okay." he said, trying to convince both her and himself that what he was saying was true. But he had a hard time beliving it. > The Rarity II > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike has been helping Pinkie run the bakery science Mr. and Mrs. Cake moved to Manhattan, and in all that time he learned there was nothing Pinkie liked more about working in a bakery than interacting with customers. Every time someone walked in, even by accident, Pinkie would jump at them with trays of baked goods, exited to see ponies who wanted to visit her bakery. That was exactly the reason why it was so heart breaking for Spike to see all the customers go, until even Pinkie had to admit defeat and close down the store. It was like the end of an era for both of them. On that day, when they were getting ready to close the store for good, they got a visitor. Rarity walked in to the store while Spike was comforting Pinkie in the kitchen. They heard the bell ring as the door opened and both their heads jumped up in surprise, hopeful looks in their eyes. "Spike? Pinkie Pie? Are you here?" they recognized Rarity's voice. Pinkie's head fell back to the table and Spike went out to see what Rarity needed. "Hey Rarity," he said. "Now isn't a very good time for a visit." "Why? Is something wrong?" she asked with a worried voice "Pinkie just realized the only four customers we got in the past three years were you, Fluttershy, Rainbow and Applejack." Spike looked at the floor "She says we need to close the store down." "Oh dear" said Rarity sadly "I'm so sorry Spike. How are you handling it?" "I can't say I'm surprised, but it's still pretty difficult to comprehend. I've lived and worked here for Five years, and Pinkie for even longer! I can't imagine how she's feeling right now." "Well..." Rarity stopped to think for a second "You can start by decorating this place a bit. Put something interesting in the window, so that ponies passing by will see it and want to enter. That would only be a start, of course. This place really could use some renovation." "I don't have anything interesting. Well, I do have that plant I bought today, but I don't really see it attracting customers to a bakery..." "Plant? What plant?" Rarity said with interest in her voice Spike gestured towards the plant on the counter. Rarity gasped "Why, it's Absolutely ravishing! I've never seen a plant like this one before. What is it?" "I don't know, it looks like some kind of fly trap, but not like any fly trap I've ever seen before. There's something... Strange about it, something... Weird..." Spike looked at the plant as he talked, like he was trying to figure it out. He shook his head and looked back at Rarity "I guess it could go in the window, but I don't see how that would help at all." "Trust me darling, if there's anything I understand is what kind of things attract ponies to a business." said Rarity proudly. Spike always liked Rarity, she was the most beautiful mare he's ever met, and he trusted her judgment. He took the plant off the counter and put it on a small end table in front of the window. When he turned back to Rarity he suddenly noticed there was something different about her that day. "Hey," he said, pointing at her face "why are you wearing your mane like that?" Rarity put a hoof in front of her mane, which was covering her right eye "Oh, well it's... It's my new style. Everypony's wearing their manes like that today, didn't you know?" Rarity said with an awkward smile on her face Spike didn't belive her for a second. He reached his claw over to her face and moved her mane aside, revealing a black eye. "Rarity!" Spike said, shocked at the sight "What happened to you?" Rarity covered her eye with her mane again "It's nothing, really." She said quickly "It was just this new stallion I've been seeing lately. He can be a bit... aggressive somethimes, it's okay. Really." Spike looked at her with shock in his eyes "Rarity, that's horrible! We have to tell somepony about this!" "No, really Spike, it's okay." Rarity said "Look, I have to go now, sorry." "Wait..." Spike called after her, but she was already out of the bakery. Before he managed to leave after her, the door opened again and a pony entered the store. "Hello." said the pony "Sorry if I'm interrupting or something, but I saw that mare leaving, so I assumed you were open" Spike looked at the pony, trying to figure out his reason to come here. Surely he didn't come here to buy something. After all, nopony's baought anything from them in three years. "Yes, we're open" he said with a suspicious voice "Good! Because I saw that plant at the window and I just HAD to come in and see it up close. What is it?" The pony went over to the plant and observed it. Spike looked at the pony with a surprised and confused look on his face "That plant?" He asked "Well, of course! I've never seen anything like it before! Is it a new breed?" "Well..." Spike didn't know what to say, Rarity's plan seemed to be working well so far "yes yes it is. it's a newly discovered kind of fly trap I found" "And what do you call this rarity?" 'Rarity.' Spike thought 'well, she is the one who gave me the idea... and she is the most beautiful pony in Equestria, so it fits well with the plant... "I call it the Rarity II" he told the pony "Oh, I like it. It's clever" "Yeah, sure" Spike said, still unable to belive it was actually happening. He suddenly got an idea "Would you like to buy something while you're here?" He asked "Sure! I'll take a dozen Cupcakes." Spike was amazed. Their first customer in three years! He ran to the kitchen to tell Pinkie Pie "Pinkie!" he said quietly "Pinkie, there's a pony at the door, he says he wants a dozen cupcakes!" Pinkie's head Rose up in shock "What?!" she said, then ran out to see if it was true. Spike heard her scream in excitement before she ran back to the kitchen. She made the cupcakes the pony ordered in an impossible speed, and ran back out to give them to him. Spike went out after her, he wanted to see their first sale in three years with his own eyes. "Thank you very much." Said the pony "that plant is remarkable. I'll tell all my friends about this place!" The pony went out of the store. Pinkie and Spike could not belive what had just happened. Pinkie started jumping up and down in excitement and tackled spike with a hug "I can't belive it!" She yelled right into his ear. She pointed at the plant with her hoof "that plant you bought, It's amazing! Thank you so much Spike!" "I can't belive it!" said Spike with a big smile "Rarity was right, the plant helped us get a customer!" Spike's smile disappeared when he thought about Rarity. That black eye she had... But before he could share his worries with Pinkie, another customer walked in to the bakery "Hello" She said "I was just walking by when I saw the plant at the window and I thought, if this bakery has such a beautiful thing in it's window, it must be worth my while to come in and buy something." "Yes ma'am!" Said Pinkie Pie "We have some great baked goods here! Spike, go make her what ever she orders. I'm gonna go tell Gummy the good news!" Spike took the mare's order and then went to the kitchen. Though he coldn't really get Rarity out of his head. She looked so scared to talk about that stallion she was dating... In just one week, Sugar Cube Corner went back to being Ponyville's most well known bakery. Everypony wanted see the Rarity II, and while they came over to see it they ordered something. Spike and Pinkie Pie were happier than they were in years. Buisness was better than it's ever been, and ot was all thanks to the Rarity II. But after a week has past, Spike realized something about the plant. He had no idea how to take care of it. The plant just survived on it's own for the past week, and Spike was beginning to assume it didn't need to be taken care of. But one night, the plant wilted, and Spike started to panic. He didn't want to tell Pinkie about it, because he didn't want her to worry. He tried giving the plant water, change it's soil, put it in different temperatures, but nothing helped. "No! Come on Twoie! You can't die on me like that, we need you here!" but nothing he did worked, the plant was dying and Spike couldn't do anything about it. Spike knew that if the plant dies, so would their hope of getting any more customers. Out of frustration, Spike hit his claw against the nearest wall, not realizing there was a picture hanging there. Broken glass scattered all over the floor, and Spike grabbed his claw in pain. He looked at it. It was bleeding. "Oh, just GREAT!" he yelled in anger "For Celestia's sake! Can ANYTHING go right today?!" he turned to walk away, but suddenly, he noticed the plant was moving. He ran over to the it with hopeful look in his eyes. "You're moving! What made you do that?" The plant seemed to be leaning towards his bleeding claw. Spike moved it around, and saw that the plant was following it's movements. "Blood?" he asked "Is that what you want? You want my blood? Well, I guess I can spare a few drops... Just as long as you don't make a habit out of it." Spike moved his bleeding claw above the plant and let the blood drip bown towards it. The plant opened it's trap and swallowed the dragon's blood. It seemed to help, and the plant returned to it's old beauty. It even grew a bit larger than before, Spike noticed. And business was going well. Spike continued to feed the Rarity II his blood, and in exchange, the plant brought customers to the bakery. Spike was happy. > Moral Dilemmas > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike, Pinkie and Rarity were standing together, reading a news paper. "the young dragon claimes to be the first to have discovered this mysterious breed...' I thought you said Rose sold it to you." Rarity said "She did, but she doesn't really deserve any credit. She was about to throw it away when I bought it." he told her "'The Rarity II is currently on display at the Sugar Cube Corner Bakery in Ponyvile' that's us!" Pinkie Pie yelled in excitment "But I don't see the address of the store anywhere here" She added examining the article. "Sorry about that." Spike said, rubbing the back of his head "I got nervous and forgot to mention it." "It's okay, silly!" Said Pinkie, putting her foreleg around Spike's shoulders "I'm just happy to be mentioned in the paper!" Spike smiled. He loved seeing Pinkie Pie in a good mood. "I still think you should decorate this place a bit more." Rarity said, looking around at the store "Espacialy now that you're getting more sutomers than ever before." "Oh, I don't think we need to change anything." Pinkie said with a smile "But it looks like your mane is going throgh some 'redecorated', Rarity. It's been so different lately. What did you do to it? It's almost completely covering your eyes!" "Oh, it's... It's nothing, really. I just... like it better that way, that's all." Spike glared at her. Before he could say anything the door to the bakery opened and a white unicorn with a blue mane and a drill cutie mark came in. "Rarity, there you are! I've been looking all over this damn town for you! Where the hell have you been??" He said angrily "Oh, I'm sorry Hurt." Rarity said quickly "I didn't notice the time an-" "What did I rell you about using my first name in public like that?!" Hurt shouted at Rarity "Don't talk her like that!" Spike said angrily Hurt looked at him for a second, tha laughed. "Oh, I like you! You're tough, unlike this worthless piece of trash here." he gestured towards Rarity with his head "Aren't you gonna introduce me to your friends, Rares?" "Oh, of course! These are Spike and Pinkie Pie. Spike, Pinkie, I'd like you to meet my coltfriend..." "Doctor Hurt, you can call me doctor. It's a pleasure to meet you." He reached his hoof towards Spike, but Spike didn't take it. "What do you want?" he asked coldly "I just came here to take Rarity. Come on, Let's go!" He grabbed Rarity's front leg and startd to pull her violently towatds the door "Doctor, you're hurting me!" Rarity cried "Just be quiet!" He said, and slapped her over the face with his hoof. Rarity's eyes filled with tears as he dragged her out of the store. Pinkie Pie and Spike were shocked, why would Rarity be seeing a pony like that? "This is just wrong..." Spike said "I know." said Pinkie "You think we should talk to her about it?" "I don't know if that'll help at all..." Spike said sadly "Well, I need to go to Fluttershy right now, I'm helping her plan her wedding, so I'll talk to Rarity about it later.." Pinkie said and left the store. Spike sighed. He turned and went to sweep the floor. The bakery was a lot messier lately, because of all the customers. But Spike was still grateful, the Rarity II was helping them to get famous and business was better than ever before. The plant itself was Also looking better and bigger than ever. Of course, Spike had to feed it his blood, but it was fine. That was a small price to pay for all the fame and fortune they've been getting lately. Pinkie was happy, Spike was happy, although a bit drowsy. No worries at all. 'I wish Twilight was still here to see all of this' Spike thought sadly. Ever since Twilight died in a flying accident Five years ago, something inside him changed. He was never quite the same carefree dragon he used to be. "Spike..." He heard a whisper from behing him. He froze in his place. He knew that voice, but that was impossibe... "Spike." The voice said again, a little louder this time. "T-Twilight...?" "Spike! Turn around!" Spike turned around, but there was nopony there. "Oh, no. I'm starting to hear voices now..." Spike said to himself. Suddenly, the Rarity II opened up and Twilight Sparkle's voice came out of it "No, you're not. I'm right over here." Spike's eyes went wide. The plant was talking to him! And in Twilight's voice no less. It must have been a dream or something. "Why are you looking at me like that? I've been on this end table for months now, didn't you see me here?" The plant said "You can talk..." Spike said, still in shock "Of course I can talk! Don't act so surprised. You're a dragon living among ponies, like that's not abnormal." "O-okay then..." Spike took a small step back "Oh, come on Spike. Don't be scared of me. We've been together for so long, surely something as silly as me being able to talk isn't going to scare you away, right?" Spike stopped backing away "There you go." The plant said "Now, can you get me something to eat, please? I'm getting pretty hungry." Spike looked at his bandaged claw "I'm sorry Twoie, I don't think I can sapre anymore blood today. Just give me a few days to heal." "It doesn't have to be your blood, you know..." The plant said "Huh!" Spike scoffed "And how exactly am I going to get you blood, than? What, do you want me to start killing ponies or something?" "Well..." "What?!" Spike was appalled "Are you insane?! I'm not gonna..." He lowered his voice "I'm not gonna kill ponies for you to eat!" "Oh, come on Spike. I thought you were supposed to be my number one assistant." Spike looked at the plant. It sounded just like Twilight... Could it be...? No, that was impossible. But maybe...? "And besides," the plant continued "if you don't feed me, how are you going to keep this business runing?" "What are you talking about?" "What? Do you think this is all a coincidence ? The customers, the interviews... It was all me." "But you're just a plant." "Am I? Or am I the one who's going to make all you're dreams come true? Come on, Spikey, what'll it take? More money? More fame? How about that Rarity?" that last suggestion seemed to get Spike's attention. The plant smiled "Yes... I saw how you've been looking at her. I can get her for you, all you have to do, is feed me." "I... I can't. I just can't kill anyone, even for you." "Are you telling me you don't know ANYONE that you'd like to chop up and feed to a hungry plant like me?" "No! No one deserves that kind of fate!" "Really? Not even that Hurt guy?" "Well..." Spike seemed to be considering it "Think about it, how he treats her, how he takes her for granted, how he talks to her. She doesn't deserve all of that! She deserves someone nicer, kinder. Someone like you..." Spike felt a bit dizzy. He didn't know what to think, did Hurt deserve this? After all, those things the Rarity II said about him were true. But, could Spike really bring himself to commit such a crime? Spike thought back to how Hurt treated Rarity... Hitting her, insulting her... Every one of these thoughts made Spike's blood boil. He hated that stallion. He wanted to see him punished for what he did, he wanted to see him suffer... "Well?" The plant said, as if sensing Spikes thoughts "What do you say?" Spike closed his eyes "... I'll do it." he said coldly The plant smiled... Doctor Hurt was one of the least known dentists in Ponyvile, His office sat at the edge of the town, with only a small sign to indicate there was a dentist's office there. Hurt, as his name implied, had a particular fondness of seeing ponies squirm in pain. A Lot of the times his patients didn't even need all the treatments he gave them, he just did it because he liked it. That evening, Spike was standing in front of Hurt's office. He couldn't believe he was actually going to do what he was going to do. He thought about going back home, but he couldn't. He had to go in there. For Rarity. For the plant. "Alright, last paitent for today!" Called Hurt from inside the building.Spike saw Derpy leaving the building, holding an ice pack against her swollen cheek. He gulped and walked inside "T-that's me.." He said "Hey, don't I know you?" Hurt asked "Well, Yeah. We... We met yesterday. I'm Rarity's friend." "Oh right! How have you been doing? Well, no time to chat, it's almost closing time. So just go sit over there and I'll be with you in a minuet." Spike walked into a small room. Inside, he saw a bunch of sharp tools on the walls, a dentist's chair in the middle of the room, and next to it, a barrel of water, where Hurt washed his hands between treatments. He sat in the chair and waited. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he thought maybe he could breath fire on him or something like that... While he was lost in thoughts, Hurt entered the room, smiling. "Okay, open up, Let's see what you've got in there." "I'm not here to get my teeth examined, doctor." Spike said that last word with a hint of venom in his voice. "What the hell are you talking about?" Hurt looked a bit confused "You hurt Rarity for the last time you monster!" Spike said before breathing a samll cloud of fire towards Hurt's face, barely missing him. Hurt ran to the side of the room with fear in his eyes "Are you crazy?!" He yelled, in both anger and fear. "That was just a warning shot Hurt! Get ready for your real treatment." He walked towards him slowly. Hurt was shivering in fear, Spike inhaled. This was it, he was going to kill him.But he couldn't. As much as he wanted to, Spike couldn't bring himself to do it. He turned his head to the side and burned the wall next to Hurt head. Hurt panicked and ran, tripping straight in to the water barrel. He started kicking and flailing his hoofs around, splashing water everywhere. Spike looked at what was happening infront of him. Hurt was drowning, if Spike didn't help him, he'd die in a few minutes... 'Then I wouldn't have to be the one who kills him' Spike thought. He just stood there and stared at the drowning pony infront of him, and watched as the movements slowed down, and the bubbles slowly disappeared. After a few minutes it was all over. Hurt was dead, and Spike just stood there, feeling empty. Spike dragged the stallion's body back to the bakery. "Oh, great!" Said the plant upon seeing the lifeless pony "You got me a midnight snack." "This is the last time I'm doing something like that for you. Do you understand?" Spike said coldly "Alright, Fine. Just chop him up and put him in my mouth." Spike went to the kitchen and got a knife. He chopped the dentist's body, and fed his body parts to the plant. He did not notice Pinkie Pie looking at him from the top of the stairs. > Feeding > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fluttershy's wedding was to take place in the town hall in ponyville at the beginning of summer. It was a happy occasion and everypony was excited for it. Spike was attending the rehearsal dinner the day before the wedding. He seemed very distracted for the entire evening. He was restless, whenever somepony came over to talk to him he would say he can't talk to them right now, he seemed to be constantly checking his surroundings, as if he was afraid somepony was going to jump on him from the crowd. Pinkie Pie Also looked a bit nervous, she stared at Spike for most of the evening, and her usual enthusiasm was nowhere to be found. She didn't know what to think. Spike wasn't a murderer, she knew that, but that dream she had a few nights ago felt so real... Every time she started to think about that dream, something distracted her, like somepony complimenting her party arrangements, or her friends wanting to talk to her about something. Spike was sitting in his seat, as Rainbow Dash was giving a speech. He didn't listen to a word she said, but he did pay close attention to Angel Bunny, Fluttershy's pet rabbit. The rabbit had a habit of causing trouble when something did not go his way. Spike usually tried to ignore Angel's behavior, but he wasn't really himself tonight. He was still full of guilt from that night... The horrible memories were losing his mind. Just as he felt like he was about to burst into tears, he noticed Angel running into a different room. He didn't know why, but he felt compelled to follow the rabbit. He slowly got off his chair and walked over to the other room. He saw Angel attempting to climb out through the window. He probably got bored or something, Spike thought. He walked over towards the rabbit and grabbed him from behind. Angel was startled and started to struggle. "It's alright, calm down!" Spike said, irritated "I'm just bringing you back in there. This is Fluttershy's day, and it would mean a lot to her if you were there. Now come on, Let's get back." Angel was not convinced. He struggled hard. Spike had a difficulty holding the bunny in his claws, and he was starting to lose grip on him. He tightened his grip and started walking back to the main room, but Angel was struggling even harder. Spike was beginning to get angry, he wasn't in a good mood to begin with, and the rabbit was just making it worse. He felt like he was floating outside of his own body as his claws tightened around the rabbit's neck. He suddenly caught himself, and let go of Angel, but it was too late. Angel's dead body fell to the ground. Spike was horrified, he didn't mean to it, he didn't want this to happen, but it did. Fluttershy... Fluttershy is going to be devastated... "Spike? Spike where are you?" the sound of his friends calling for him woke him up. He had to hide the body, put it away somewhere. He didn't want his friends to see this. He took the dead rabbit in his armss and cradled it, like he was a sleeping foal. He walked back to the main room, where his friends were waiting for him, with the exception of Fluttershy, who was with her future husband. "Shhh.." he said quietly "Angel fell asleep. I'm going to take him home to rest, I think the little guy had enough fun tonight." Pinkie looked at Spike with a blank exprassion. She noticed he was very nervous, was he telling the truth? Before anyone could say anything Spike left the building. He ran back to Sugar Cube Corner. "Well, hello there." Said the Rarity II as Spike entered the store "is that what I think it is in your arms?" "Just shut up, okay?! Just eat the rabbit already, get it over with, please." "I thought you said you weren't gonna do this for me anymore." Said the plant with an innocent voice "It was an accident! I didn't mean it, I... Just take it!" Spike gave the rabbit to the plant, and closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look as the plant devoured it whole. "Mmmmm..." The plant seemed to be enjoying it. "I still prefer ponies, but I guess that works too." Spike didn't say a word. He just stood there, looking at the floor. He never thought he would kill anyone in his whole life, and he's already killed a pony and a rabbit in the past week. "Oh, come on! Don't look so guilty. That bunny was terrible! No one would miss him anyway." Spike didn't even bother to argue with the plant. All he could think of was how big it got lately. It seemed to grow larger every time it ate. They had to get rid of the end table, so the giant plant was sitting on the floor, next to the door. And it was all because of him, Spike thought, because of the murder he's committed. He should have gotten rid of the plant when it started suggesting killing ponies as a food source... But he couldn't. It wasn't just because the plant made him famous, but because it was making Pinkie Pie very happy with all the customers it got. And, Spike didn't like to admit it to himself, but he couldn't shake away the feeling that this plant had some sort of connection to Twilight. He really missed her this passed Five years, and hearing her voice again made him feel good, like she was still there with him... As he was lost in thoughts of his late friend, Rarity walked in the bakery. "Spike, where were you? The girls sent me to look for you, and you weren't at Fluttershy's cottege..." "Angel's dead." Spike said, no emotion in his voice. Rarity was silent. No one spoke for several minutes. "Wha... what happened to him?" Rarity finally asked. "I... I don't know. He just dropped dead during the rehearsal dinner, and I didn't want it to ruin the evening, Fluttershy seemed so happy..." "But... We have to tell her, Spike!" Rarity said with a serious tone. "I... Yeah, I guess you're right..." Spike said, lowering his head. Rarity put her hoof on Spikes soulder, a comforting smile on her face. "Don't worry, Spike. It's okay for you to be a little shaken up after what you've been through tonight." Spike looked up at her and smiled. "How have you been holding up?" He asked her "What do you mean? Oh, right. Well you know, I've been... good." Rarity looked down in sadness. "Rarity, don't cry! He was horrible to you, you didn't deserve someone like him." "I know, it's just... Since he disappeared I've been feeling so...relieved. And I feel terrible about it." "You deserve to feel relieved, Rarity. You need someone better to be with, not a sadistic creep like him." Rarity smiled "Thank you, Spike. I don't even know why I started going out with him in the first place. He seemed so nice at first. He's nothing like you, you're so kind and caring..." She looked at him, smiling. There was a moment of silence, Spike felt like he was going to die of awkwardness. He looked her in the eyes, gazing at them for a few seconds before he leaned in and kissed her. Fluttershy's wedding was postponed. She couldn't even leave her house for about three weeks after Angel died. She loved that rabbit, even if he was treating her like dirt sometimes, and she couldn't even think of getting married a day after his death. Pinkie Pie did not know what to think anymore. First, she dreams about Spike feeding the dentist to his plant, only to later find out that the dentist was missing in real life and that Spike was now dating Rarity, and then she sees Spike carrying Angel away in his arms before discovering the rabbit has died. Something was wrong, very wrong. But she didn't want to jump to conclusions. Spike was still recovering from the traumas of his own actions, but having Rarity around helped a lot. He couldn't believe his luck, he got the most beautiful mare in Equestria to date him! And it was all thanks to the plant. Although he was still sort of afraid of it. It did ask him to kill ponies for it to eat, but, on the other claw, so far the plant only ate jerks and sadists, so it wasn't that bad... right? That's what he told himself to make himself feel better, anyway... One morning, Spike was walking with Rarity, as she walked her sister, Sweetie Belle, to school. "Okay, Sweetie, have fun at school today." Rarity said happily. "I will, don't worry!" Sweetie Belle said with a smile and ran to look for her friends. "Hey Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom said when she saw her friend. "Hey Applebloom. Guess what, I got us new roller skates to replace the ones we broke, so now we can go back to working on our roller skating cutie marks!" "Yeah, like that'll ever happen." Said Diamond Tiara as she and Silver Spoon walked by, they both laughed. "Why do ya keep popping up when we are talking about our cutie marks?" Apple Bloom said, annoyed "Cutie marks? What cutie marks?" Diamond Tiara said with a mocking smile. "Yeah, all I can see is your empty flanks." Silver Spoon chuckled to herself. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, Sweetie Belle did the same. "Will you give it a rest already?" She said "You've been doing this for so long, we got over it, like, six years ago? And you're still trying to hurt us with that insult?" "You're just jealous because we got our cutie marks at the right age!" Said Diamond Tiara. "Unlike you. You girls are fifteen years old, and still no cutie marks. That can't be normal." Sweeitie Belle looked down. She was right, it wasn't normal... "Don't listen to her, Sweetie Belle. Come on, Let's go." They went into the schoolhouse, Spike and Rarity were standing close by, and they saw the whole thing. "Why, those no good bullies..." Rarity mumbled angrily. Spike was so enraged at the cruelty of the bullies, how can they say something like that to Sweetie Belle? Who did they think they are?! He was so angry, he wasn't thinking straight. "Spike, I'm gonna go to the spa now, I'm meeting Fluttershy there, do you want to come too?" "No. I'm good." Spike said without taking his eyes off Diamond Tiara. "Alright than, I'll see you later." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked away. Spike was mad, very mad. He didn't know why he was this angry at two small school fillies, they were just foals after all. It probably had something to do with the fact that he was always upset lately because of the current events, but he was still steaming mad. Without thinkiing, he walked over to the fillies. "Hey there," he said in a fake happy tone "I'm not sure if you know who I am but..." "Yeah, you're that plant guy, right?" Said Diamond Tiara "What do you want?" "Well, how would you like to have a close look at the plant?" "Why would we want that? My daddy went to see it once and he said there were so many ponies there he couldn't even get near it." "How about I get you in after closing time?" Spike suggested "You can do that?" Silver Spoon asked. "Of course I can! So what do you say? An exclusive first hand look at the plant, without anypony to distract you..." Diamond Tiara seemd to be considering it. "But why are you offering this to us?" She asked suspiciously "Well, I saw how you talked down those two blank flanks over there and I have to say, I admire your courage to just walk up to them and talk to them like that! Most ponies would try to avoid the subject, but not you two." "Well, we are pretty courageous..." Silver Spoon said. "Alright, we'll come by tonight at 22:00 PM" Diamond Tiara said. "Great, I'll see you girls then." Spike watched as the two fillies walked away. What the hell was he doing?! Was he actually going to kill two young foals? 'Well,' he thought 'maybe I could just scare them a bit, tell them to stay away from Sweetie Belle or they'll have to deal with the Rarity II. Yeah, that's it...' And he walked away. It was dark outside, Spike was sitting in a chair, looking through the window, when he heard a knock on the door. He went over to open it . The plant was no longer sitting next to the door, it was now in the corner, next to the counter, where it had room. Spike opened the door and Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon walked in. "So where's the plant?" Silver Spoon asked. "It's right over there. Not too close!" "What do you mean 'not so close'? I thought you said we could get as close as we wanted to it." Diamond Tiara said and kept walking towards the plant. "No! Diamond, don't get too close!" Spike said. "Oh, relax, what, do you think the plant's gonna eat me or something?" she said, not noticing the plant looming over her from behind. "D-Diamond..." Silver Spoon said, looking at the plant with a terrified expression. Diamond Tiara turned around to see what scared Silver Spoon so much. She screamed when she saw the giant plant. "Finally, more ponies." the plant said with a smile, just before swallowing Diamond Tiara whole. Silver Spoon started to run towards the door. "Stop her! If she gets out she'll tell everypony!" the plant shouted. Spike quickly ran after Silver Spoon and grabbed her. She struggled, and Spike had to throw her to the side. She screamed just before her forehead collided with the corner of the counter. There was silence. Spike didn't know what to do or say. He just stood there, staring at the fillie's corpse, horrified at his own actions. How did this happen? He tried to find an answer, but all he could think was: 'It's my fualt...' "Come on, give me that second filly over there, the first one wasn't enough, I'm still hungry!" Spike looked at the plant. How could it be talking about something like that now? Spike just killed two foals, and for what? Because they were bullies?! They were just fillies! "Come on, Spike. You don't want somepony to find the body later, do you?" The plant continued to persuade spike into giving it the lifeless filly. Spike thought. The plant was right, if the body was found, he'll go to prison for life. But maybe he deserved it... "Think about Rarity, Spike." the plant said "Think about Pinkie. Think of how devastated they would be if they found out. You don't want to let them go through this, do you?" It's true, Spike thought, they would be devastated. He really couldn't make them go through that. He slowly took the body, and put it inside the plant's mouth. He wiped the blood off the counter. This wasn't supposed to happen. He didn't mean this to happen. But it happened, and he couldn't do anything about it. It was out of his control now. > Pinkie Pie > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pinkie woke up. It was dark, Gummy was asleep in his bed. She looked at the clock, it was 02:30 AM. She heard a loud noise coming from downstairs, she got out of bed and walked out of her room to see what happened. She went downstairs and say Spike, standing in the middle of a big pile of broken furniture, crying. "Spike? What happened here?" She asked, concerned. Spike jumped. He turned around and looked at Pinkie. She rushed towards him and gave him a hug. He huged her back. "Spike, what happened? Did somepony try to break in?" "No." Spike said, holding back his tears, "I can't do this anymore, Pinkie. I just..." He started crying again. "Do what? Spike, tell me. Is this about Twilight?" "No. No, I... I just can't live like this anymore! We have to get rid of that plant!" he shouted. "What? Why?" Pinkie seemed confused, she thought back to her dream, it couldn't be that, could it? It was just a dream after all, right? "The plant, it... it eats... I had to feed it..." Spike couldn't finish his sentences. "...Ponies?" Pinkie asked, hesitantly Spike looked up at her, surprised. "H-how did... how did you know?" "I saw you feeding doctor Hurt to it. I thought it was just a dream, but I couldn't stop thinking about it..." "Pinkie, help me. Please, I've been so angry lately, I can't control myself, I... I just kill ponies, and then feed them to the plant. And I can't live with the guiltg anymore..." Spike sobbed into Pinkie's soulder. "So... Angle Bunny, and those fillies that disappeared?" Pinkie asked, afraid of the answer. Spike could only nod his head slightly. Pinkie didn't know what to say, Spike was one of her best friends she couldn't imagin him killing anypony. How could this be happening? "Why, Spike? Why are you doing this?" Pinkie asked, tears in her eyes. "I... I don't know. I guess, the plant has been convincing me to do those things. I've been trying to tell myself it had nothing to do with the plant, but I guess, on some level, I've been enjoying the fame the plant got us. I was happy to see you happy because of all the customers, I was happy to be with Rarity, and the only ponies I... gave to the plant, were jerks. Doctor Hurt, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, Angle... I told myself that made it okay, but I just can't live like this anymore..." "It's okay, Spike. We'll get over this." Pinkie held him and cried silently. After a few minuets of silence, Pinkie finally spoke again. "Okay, Spike. Let's go." Spike looked up in confusion. "G-go? Where?" "Spike, we have to tell the royal guards about this..." Pinkie said with a serious tone. "What?! No! We can't tell the guards about this! Please, Pinkie!" "I'm sorry, Spike. But if you're not gonna come with me, then I'll have to tell them myself." Spike panicked. If she told the guards, his life would be ruined. Rarity would leave him, everypony should hate him, he's go to jail, all his friends would leave him... No. He couldn't let that happen... "Pinkie! Please, don't telll anypony, please! I'm begging you!" Spike cried. "Spike, we can't keep something like this a secret! This is a big deal! It's not like we discovered rainbow-flavourd peanuts or sometrhing! This is serious!" "No! I... I won't let you! You can't do this to me!" Spike was begging. "Spike! You don't want her going around telling ponies what you've been doing, right?" They suddenly heard a voice say. Pinkie raised her head and her eyes went wide. "Twilight?!" She said, shocked at hearing her dead friend's voice. "No, Pinkie. It's me, right over here in the corner." Pinkie looked for the source of the voice. "The plant, you airhead." The plant said in frustration. "Oh my gosh! You can talk!" Pinkie didn't know if she should be excited or terrifed. The plant ignored her. "Come on, Spike. She's going to tell everypony, she's gonna turn you in. You don't want that, do you?" Spike's head was spinning. He didn't want this, any of this. "Spike, don't listen to that plant! It's just a plant! You don't have to do waht it says! We don't need it!" Pinkie was yelling, she wanted Spike to listen to her logic. "Of course you need me!" The plant shouted, "I not just any plant, you know. Where do you think all the customers came from? It was all me. After all, I am Equestria's best magic-user, aren't I?" Spike looked up at the plant. It sounded just like Twilight... He knew it couldn't actually be her, he knew it was impossible, but he just couldn't stop thinking... was it impossible? "Spike, listen to me." the plant said, moving closer to the dragon's ear, "I have been with you for a long time. There's no one who knows you better than I do. You can't just throw all that away like that, right? We're like family." "...You sound just like Twilight..." Spike said, looking at the floor. "I know." the plant said quietly. "And I assume you've already guessed there was a reason for that..." "You're a liar!" Pinkie said, pointing her hoof at the plant. "Twilight is dead! You know it just as well as we do! Now leave us alone you meanie!" "Whoa there, filly!" the plant said in a sarcastic tone "'Meanie'? What kind of languages that? You see that Spike? Do you see how she talks to me? After everything I've done for you two?! Is this how you say thank you???" "I can't belive this..."pinkie rubbed her temples with her hooves in frustration. "I'm going to tell the guards right now! I'm putting a stop to this!" She turned around and started walking towards the door. "NO!" Spike yelled. Without thinking, he grabbed the leg of one of the broken chairs that was on the floor next to him and threw it at Pinkie. She fell down. "Come on Spike! Finish her! Don't let her get out of here!" The plant shouted. "Spike, please! Listen to me!" Pinkie begged from the floor as Spike started walking towards her slowly, "Spike! No! Don't listen to the plant! It's not Twilight! It's not Twilight!" "I can't let you tell everypony about this..." Spike said. He was even scared of himself at that moment. "I won't let you..." Pinkie, with tears in her eyes, attempted to get up and run away, but Spike grabbed her. He didn't want to hurt her. He won't hurt her. He won't. He won't. He won't... He couldn't handle it anymore. He threw Pinkie to the side, crying in agony. Pinkie fell over, next to the counter. She got up and looked at Spike. "Spike, Let's go to the guards. Please..." She whispered. Spike was silent. He didn't say a word for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, he spoke. "... Alright." he said quietly, "Let's go..." "Oh no, you won't!" The plant said. It raised it's head high, then with a quick motion it dove down towards Pinkie. Pinkie tries to get out of the way, but the plant managed to take a big bite of the side of her body. "No!" Spike ran towards Pinkie. He grabbed her and dragged her away from the plant. "Pinkie! Talk to me, please!" Pinkie's eyes were half closed, and her voice was quiet. "It's okay, Spike... It's okay..." she whispered. "You know what's right, Spike... Don't let the plant have it's way..." Her head fell to the side, and she went silent. > The End > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Pinkie! No, Pinkie wake up!" Spike shook Pinkie Pie as hard as he could, but it was hopeless. Pinkie Pie was dead, she died because of him, because of his actions, because of his decisions. Spike cried, as the plant watched him from the other side of the room. "Well, that was disappointing." The plant said. "I wanted to eat the whole thing. I can't live on a small piece like that. Hey, Spike, bring the rest over here!" Spike clenched his fists. He stood up and looked at the plant, hatred in his eyes. "Get out of my life!" He yelled. "You made me do terrible things! You're not my friend, you're not Twilight! You just used her voice to trick me into helping you!" "Well, look who finally figured it out!" the plant said, now in a deep voice. "Took you long enough! Did you seriously think I was Twilight?!" the plant laughed. "You're stupider than I thought you were! Now come on, give me the rest of my meal!" "No! Y-you're a monster! I'll kill you!" "I'd like to see you try!" The plant shouted. "Spike!" Spike turned around. Rarity was standing at the door. "Spike, what's happening here?!" "Rarity? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Spike asked "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd visit you..." Rarity said without taking her eyes off the plant. "What is happening here?" She asked again. "Oh boy!" the plant smiled, "More food, great! I was starving." the plant stretched its head towards Rarity, but she was just out of it's reach. She took a step back. "Rarity! Leave her alone you monster!" Spike yelled. "Come on! Get over here! Don't you wanna meet your old boyfriend again? He's right in here, just come closer!" The plant said. Spike quickly ran towards Rarity, he grabbed her hoof and ran outside with her. Once they were outside, he stopped to catch his breath. "Spike, what did that thing mean by 'Meet your old boyfrined again'?" Rarity asked with concern in her voice. Spike told her everything, he just let it all out. He couldn't keep this seceret any longer, so he just told her the whole story. When he was finished, Rarity was in shock. "Spike, I... I never thought you... Why Spike? Why would you do all those terrible things?" "I... Well, I did it for you, for us! For the bakery! This aren't good reasons, I know. I don't deserve a mare as great as you, I don't deserve good friends like Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, or Applejack, I don't deserve any of the fame and money that plant got me..." Spike's voice trailed off and he strated to cry. Rarity can close to him and held him. "It's okay, Spike." She whispered. "You didn't mean it. You didn't mean to do all these things, it's alright." "No, I have to make this right..." Spike said, he broke the hug and looked Rarity in the eyes. "I'm going to get rid of that plant once and for all! If I don't come back..." Spike took a big breath before he continued, "If I don't come back, just know that I'm sorry, tell everypony what happened, and say that I'm sorry." He kissed her. "I love you, remember that." "I love you too, Spike." Rarity said, "Please, don't do this, please. Don't risk your life like that, it's too dangerous!" "I have to. This was my own fault, I'm going to fix it." He turned around and walked inside the bakery. "Oh, you're back!" the plant said "I thought you would. Now come on, the dead mare over there looks better by the minute!" "That dead mare was my friend! And you killed her! You're a murderer! I'm a murderer! You ruind my life! You're going to die right now!" Spike ran past the plant into the kitchen. He grapped the largest knife he could find, and ran back to the plant. "Awwww, that's so cute! You actually think you can fight me. Alright, I'll play along." The plant smiled as vines grew from it's stalk and slammed Spike to the other side of the room. Spike crashed on the floor. He got up, dusted himself off and started running back towards the plant. The plant tried to knock him over again, but Spike slashed at it's vines. "Whoa, there! That's not very nice of you, Spikey." The plant said. Spike slashed the vines, again, and again, and again. "Just die!" He yelled. "I don't think so!" The plant shouted, before hitting Spike again. "Spike!" Rarity ran into the store, "Leave him alone you monster!" The plant turned it's head towards her and smiled. "I love food that comes to me on it's own." It said and wrapped a vine around the screaming mare. "No!" Spike yelled. "Say goodbye to your mare friend, Spikey!" the plant said triumphantly. Rarity stopped screaming. She lowered her head and sunk her teeth into the vine as hard as she could. The vine broke and the plant screeched in pain. "How did you do that?!" The plant was caught off guard by the by the sudden bitting. "Doesn't feel so good when it happens to you, does it!" Rarity yelled up at the plant. Spike took the opportunity and ran towards the plants head. The plant turned around and looked at Spike. He tightened his claw around the knife, "Leave us alone!" He yelled. "Spike, wait! No! Don't do it!" The plant shouted in Twilight Sparkle's voice. Spike froze in place, just long enough for the plant to wrap a vine around him. "Oh, you ARE an idiot." The plant smiled, and swallowed the dragon whole. "No!" Rarity screamed. "You're turn now!" The plant said as the vines came closer to Rarity. Suddenly, the plant stopped. Something was wrong, the plant could feel it. It looked down at it's stalk. "What are you dooing in there?! Stop!" Rarity suddenly had hope. Spike was still alive inside of the plant! And he was slashing it from the inside. "No! Stop it! Don't..." the plant started screeching in pain and flailing around the room. The plant's screech went higher and higher until Rarity could no longer hear it. The plant withered, and it's head fell to the floor. Everything went silent. It was over. Rarity looked at the plant's stalk, hoping to see Spike coming out of it, but she knew it was hopeless. Spike killed the monster, but at the cost of his own life. She cried. The story of Spike, the dragon who sacrificed himslef to slay a horrible monster that threatend all of pony kind, spead quickly across the land. Rarity, the only pony who witnessed these events as they took place, made sure the story doesn't die, so that no one would ever make the same mistakes of trusting monsters like the Rarity II, even if they offered them everything they ever wanted. She also made sure the ponies knew Spike was not to blame for this, and that he was the one who saved them all. She didn't want Spike to be remembered for the bad things he did, only the good. And Rarity continude to spread the word. Whatever they offer you, no matter how good it seems, no matter how badly you think you want to, don't feed the plants.