Despite the pony that they had come from no longer existed, it makes sense that Greed's first target would be a successful businesspony like Mr. Fruit Basket.

Mr. Fruit Basket was an ordinary pony living in the ordinary town of Ponyville. He ran The Fruit Basket, a fruit and veggie stall located in the town's market. With a name like his, you'd think he was destined for the marketplace, but that wasn't the case. Many moons ago when he was just a foal, his parents were preparing for a picnic when they found him in the fruit basket having eaten all of the fruit! They were understandably upset, but they couldn't stay mad at him.

The Fruit Basket was one of the more popular stalls in the marketplace. One reason, besides the kind-hearted stallion running it, was the stall's return policy. Mr. Fruit Basket promises his customers that if they purchase something and it goes bad within 24 hours, they can bring it back to him and he'll replace it free of charge. Fruit Basket takes his promises very seriously. He hasn't broken a single one in all of his days.

One day, while he was working at his stall, an adorable little filly came up and asked his attention. Fruit Basket, wanting to treat all ponies equally, always had a hoofstool outside of the stall in case little fillies and colts wanted to buy anything.

"Excuse me, sir." the filly said after climbing up on the hoofstool.

"What can I do for you little one?" Fruit Basket asked.

"I'm trying to help the Bowls for Foals charity." she explained. "It's a charity that will give food to little ponies in need."

"Why that's a pure cause if I ever heard one." Fruit Basket said. He checked his bit pouch to see how much he had. "I'm sorry, I don't seem to have the spare bits right now." he said shamefully.

"Oh...OK." the filly sighed.

"Chin up little one." said Fruit Basket. "I promise you I'll donate as soon as I get my finances in order."

"What are fine-dances?" she asked.

"Nevermind, just look for me in a few days and I'll be sure to hand you some bits."

The filly's face lit up like the morning sun. "Ok, mister." she said, then she trotted away.

What a nice filly Fruit Basket thought to himself.

After he closed up the stall, Fruit Basket started heading home. It wasn't much, a simple cottage on Stirrup Street, but it was enough.

I don't want a big house anyway. Fruit Basket thought to himself. It would be nice though. After some dinner, he trotted upstairs and went to bed.

Wake up a voice whispered to Fruit Basket. Open your eyes it insisted.

"Give me a second, I'm tired." Fruit Basket explained, blinking his eyes open.

How can you be tired? You are in a dream. The voice said.

"I'm...dreaming?" Fruit Basket said, looking around his dream. It was a sunny field filled with grape vines, pineapple plants, and apple trees. After taking in the scenery he looked for the source of the voice.

"I'm over here." the voice said, it's whisper gone.

Fruit Basket looked in the direction of the voice and his eyes fell upon a frightening sight. Standing in front of him was a lime green creature with dragon-like wings. Their eyes were red and reptilian and their teeth sharp as knives.

"Wh-Who are you?" Fruit Basket asked, his voice quivering with fear.

"I don't necessarily have a name." the creature said. "All you need to know is that I am of no danger to you."

"How can I be so sure?" Fruit Basket countered.

"Think of it this way." the creature said. "If I was going to hurt you, I would have done it already."

The creature made a good point, so Fruit Basket lowered his guard.

"You know, you were right in not donating." the creature said, purposefully being vague. "You have more important things to spend your bits on."

Fruit Basket couldn't remember what the creature was talking about. He only remembered one small detail. "I do have to pay my bills before spending any more bits." he said. "If I don't, Mayor Mare's gonna have my head on a platter."

"Indeed." the creature said, not caring about Fruit Baskets financial stability. The sun started going down in the field.

"I'm waking up." Fruit Basket said. "Bye...ummm...what was your name?"

"You can just call me Deerg." the creature said. After that, the field became a sea of nothingness and Fruit Basket woke up.

Fruit Basket woke up and stepped out of his house. He was feeling oddly eager to get to work today.

"Another day of selling fruits." he said to himself while trotting up to his stall.

The day was relatively slow with only a few ponies stopping by. Nothing real interesting happened except that, for some reason Fruit Basket kept sneaking glances at the crate he kept his bits in. Odder still, was the fact that they looked shinier then they normally looked. Fruit Basket wrote it off as simple boredom, finished the work day, and trotted home.

That night, he awoke in the same field, except it seemed off now. The grape vines were a bit dry, the apple trees a bit yellow-leaved, and the pineapple plants' leaves drooped a little.

"What's going on?" Fruit Basket wondered out loud.

"Your guess is as good as mine." a familiar hiss-like voice responded. Fruit Basket turned around to see the creature from last night standing four leg-lengths from him.

"Ok, who are you?!" Fruit Basket demanded.

"I told you, call me Deerg." the creature replied.

"Ok, what are you?!" Fruit Basket said.

"I am a mere fortune spirit here to help your riches swell." Deerg said, poorly mimicking an eloquent voice.

"Well, more bits would help me with my bills." Fruit Basket reasoned. "What did you have in mind?"

"You and I both know about the slow business day you had today. You need a way to make more bits faster." Deerg insisted. "I suggest that you enforce a 'No Refunds' policy."

"I couldn't possibly do that." Fruit Basket argued. "It's my duty to give ponies what they deserve if my products are not up to par."

"But you are simply too modest." Deerg said. "Your products are already up to par."

"You think so?" Fruit Basket asked.

"I know so." Deerg replied. "If they aren't, then it's the fault of the pony handling it, not you."

This obvious flattery somehow worked on Fruit Basket. "Ok, I'll give it a shot." he replied. Fruit Basket woke up right after that. He didn't have time to notice that the plants in the field became more withered; or that his coat had turned green for a split second.

After stopping by Town Hall to pay his bills, Fruit Basket trotted to his stall and waited for ponies to come. A mare came trotting up to the stall holding something in her hooves

"Excuse me, sir." she said.

"What is it ma'am?" Fruit Basket asked.

"Well, I bought this tomato yesterday, but it's gone rotten." she replied, holding up the rotten tomato for Fruit Basket to see.

"So it did." Fruit Basket said.

"Would it be too much trouble to ask for another one?" the mare asked politely.

For some reason, Fruit Basket was angered by this request. "Sure, but you'll have to pay for it." he said.

"I'm sorry to be rude, but don't you normally have a return policy." the mare said, shrinking away from Fruit Basket.

"I said you have to pay!" Fruit Basket insisted. "No payment, no tomatoes."

The mare was very afraid at this point and complied with his orders. "When did he get so greedy?" she asked herself.

At the word, Fruit Basket snapped back to reality. "Ma'am?" he called to the mare.

"Yes?" she asked, cautiously trotting back to the stall.

"I'm sorry for that, I don't know what came over me." he apologized. "Here's your bits back and an extra tomato for the inconvenience."

The mare took the items and lit up. "Thank you so much!" she smiled. "You know, for a second, I thought I was talking to a completely different pony."

I felt like a completely different pony. Fruit Basket thought to himself.

"Thanks again!" the mare called as she was trotting away.

"It was nothing!" Fruit Basket called back. "What was that about?" he thought out loud. "What happened to me?" In his pondering, he noticed that the bits in his crate were no longer shining as they had been yesterday. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this." he declared to himself.

As Fruit Basket entered the field in his dream, he expected the plants to look wilted like last night. Surprisingly, they looked healthier than normal. The creature who called themselves 'Deerg' was stomping towards Fruit Basket when he showed up.

"What were you thinking?!" they blasted at him. "Did we not make an agreement about getting rid of that stupid return policy?!"

"I simply couldn't." Fruit Basket protested. "I don't want to be greedy...like you!" he shot at Deerg

Deerg's eyes widened at this. "What did you say?!" they demanded.

"You heard me!" Fruit Basket shouted back. "You're greedy! Try looking in the mirror for once!"

As if the fields were listening, a mirror popped up in front of Deerg. Only, that wasn't their name. Reflected in the mirror was the creature's true name: Greed

"So that's what you are." Fruit Basket declared, remembering hearing stories about this creature from his parents.

"Fine! You've found me out. So what?!" Greed spat back. "I can still make you oodles of money!"

"Even if I wanted the money, I wouldn't trust someone as evil as you!" Fruit Basket shouted.

"Then you leave me no choice." Greed said. Their voice had gone low and their teeth were curled into a feindish smile. In an instant, Greed lunged at Fruit Basket and knocked him on the ground. The fields around them withered in an instant. The grapes turned sour, the pineapples were infested with maggots, and the apples trees dropped rotten apples onto the now dead grass. The last thing Fruit Basket saw before blacking out was Greed's red eyes staring into his...

Fruit Basket woke up in a strange place. The floor was metal and the ceiling was so high, it faded into darkness. Behind him was a lone door surrounded by a dark nothingness. The only source of light in this entire place seemed to be coming from two gigantic oval-shaped windows that stood in front of him. Outside of the windows was an image of a Ponyville road.

Wait a second! Fruit Basket said, his voice echoing off the nonexistent walls. This is Stirrup Street!

He ran up to the windows to see what was going on. Just in front of the windows lay a control panel of sorts. Most of the lights on it were off. Things like 'Movement', 'Thoughts', and 'Vocals' were unable to be tampered with. What was on were different displays of Fruit Baskets organs and body parts.

I guess this must be here to make sure everything's in working order Fruit Basket said aloud, knowing nopony could here him. He looked at the displays and saw terrifying things. His teeth had become sharp and his eyes a red-tinted version of their usual color. His coat had a greenish hue to it and he noticed tiny stubs growing out of the sides of his body.

What has this thing done to me?! Fruit Basket shouted. Looking through the windows, he noticed how ponies weren't taking notice of him. Pressing a button labeled 'Third-Pony View', he saw that, on the surface, he looked like he always did, ponies couldn't see what had become of him.

My body must know that something isn't right, which is why these displays are messed up. Fruit Basket deduced. But what use is it anyhow? I'm trapped here. Knowing he had nothing better to do, he looked out the windows, which he assumed were meant to be his eyes. Then, he bolted to the windows to make sure what he was seeing were true. Walking up to the stall his possessed self was running, baskets on her sides, was the charity filly Fruit Basket had met a few days ago.

Oh no!! Fruit Basket shouted. What's going to happen to her?! He couldn't even bear to imagine the horrible things Greed might do if they got their claws on her.

The filly walked up to the creature that looked like Fruit Basket. "Hello sir, are your fine-dances all better?"

The possessed Fruit Basket did nothing except stare at the filly menacingly.

"Because, you promised you'd donate as soon as you in order" she reminded them

She is so adorable Fruit Basket thought to himself. He snapped out of it and realized that His possessed body was moving closer to the filly.

DONT YOU LAY A HOOF ON HER!!! Fruit Basket shouted as he smashed through the oval-shaped windows.

Fruit Basket lay on the ground in a crumpled heap. He couldn't move.

"Mister?" a sweet little voice called to him. "Are you ok?" Blinking his eyes open, Fruit Basket saw the little filly leaning over the counter with a look of concern in her eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine." Fruit Basket replied. "Probably just a fainting spell."

The filly just stood there awkwardly.

Fruit Basket remembering he was in his stall, reached into his crate, pulled out some bits, and threw them into the filly's baskets.

"Thank you sir!" she beamed. "This'll help a lot!"

Fruit Basket was happy, but then he remembered what recently transpired. "Here you go." he said, extending an apple to the filly. "It's the least I can do for delaying my donation."

"Thank you sir!" the filly repeated, her face lighting up even more. She then trotted, or more bounced, away.

Such a nice filly. I'm glad I could save her. Fruit Basket thought to himself.

After work, Fruit Basket went home. He intentionally put off going to sleep for a while, but knew he'd have to face Greed sooner or later. At night, he laid down in his bed and closed his eyes, ready for his encounter.

Fruit Basket barely had time to notice that the fields were more vivid than they ever were before he saw Greed lunging at him. As if he'd gained some sort of power, Fruit Basket easily dodged the attack. Greed landed with a skid and charged at Fruit Basket again. Once more, he easily dodged the attack.

"You're hopeless!" Greed spat at Fruit Basket. "I try to make you rich, yet you take no heed to my advice!" They paused, and then evil smile began forming across their face. "If you don't want money," they began. "I suppose you don't want your life either!!!" In an instant, Greed lunged straight at Fruit Basket, their teeth bared and ready to chomp down on his skull.

Fruit Basket tried to run, but it was too late. Greed was upon him.

At least, that's what would've happened had Greed not suddenly bounced back about 30 leg-lengths. Fruit Basket opened his tightly-closed eyes to see a forcefield surrounding him. At first he was confused, then he thought back to past encounters. Whenever Greed was influencing him he broke free of it when his kindness shone through.

Helping that little filly was the kindest thing any pony could have done Fruit Basket thought to himself.

Greed was undeterred by the unexpected assault and gave another charge. Once more, they were knocked back, unable to lay a claw on Fruit Basket. They got back up a third time and started desperately clawing at the forcefield. Fruit Basket was worried at first, but saw that their claws weren't doing any damage and, in fact, were getting chipped away with every strike.

They're getting weaker Fruit Basket thought.

"Why?! Why can't I maim you?" Greed shouted when their claws were all but completely destroyed.

"Because I radiate what you fear most, Greed. " Fruit Basket said, edging closer to the creature. "Charity and Kindness."

"Impossible! You should be trapped in your own subconscious right now! I possessed you!" they shouted.

Fruit Basket started walking towards Greed. "Do you honestly think that anything would stand in the way of me saving a little filly from your evil clutches?!"

Greed tried to fly away but their wings weren't working, they started frantically crawling away from Fruit Basket. "How could money not have worked? Money is everything. Money is everything." They kept repeating to themselves.

"That's where you're wrong." Fruit Basket said, overhearing their mantra. "Money can give you a lot of things, but it can never give you what everypony big and small wants."

"And what...would that be?" Greed said in between attempts to open the gate to the field and get out of there.

"A happy life!" Fruit Basket proclaimed. At that, he jumped onto Greed and forced them onto the ground.

"Get off me!" Greed struggled underneath Fruit Basket's weight.

"Well, you wanted me." Fruit Basket said. "Here I am!"

Greed struggled and struggled but couldn't make Fruit Basket so much as budge. Then, out of nowhere, a massive hole formed in the ground. Fire was burning at the bottom of it. Out of the hole stretched a giant red hoof with black markings on it. Fruit Basket jumped back instinctively, unintentionally freeing Greed from his grasp.

Greed was grabbed by the hoof and started getting pulled down the hole. "This isn't over!" they cried. "I'll come back stronger than before! I'll wear your skin as a coat! My claws will be the last thing you see before you die!"

"Good luck with that." Fruit Basket said, not even batting an eye at the outlandish threats they were throwing at him.

The hoof and Greed disappeared down the hole as it closed up.

Fruit Basket didn't know what to do now, so he found a shady spot underneath an apple tree, closed his eyes, and prepared to wake up.

Tomorrow is another day he thought.

"That was truly disappointing." the pony said to Greed as they got back.

"You try dealing with him! He wasn't tempted by money at all!" they protested.

"I've heard enough of your excuses!" the pony quieted Greed. "Clearly, your not qualified for this job."

"So what?" Greed asked. "You going to send someone else after that Fruit Basket cretin?"

"No. Fruit Basket is of no concern to me." the pony said. "We must find another pony to corrupt."

An image of a pink and purple unicorn selling flowers popped up on one of the screens that hung in front of them.

The pony called another creature's name. "Get in here!" they commanded.

The creature complied and entered through one of 7 doors.

"I have a job for you." the pony said to the creature.

Greed looked from the screen of the unicorn to the creature and back again.

She has no idea what she's in for! they thought

Author's Note

Who is that pony?
Who is the creature going after the unicorn?
What's going to happen?

Nopony knows...