Bubble Berry's Bakeryby Bright LightChaptersChapter One: Order UpChapter Two: Police TapeChapter Three: Fresh MeatDedication, Preface, and AcknowledgmentChapter One: Order UpStreetlights lit up the dirt path of downtown Ponyville. While during the day, the streets were bustling with busy ponies doing errands or going to work, the town was silent except for the loud rain pouring down on the ground. Care Package, a young stallion just got out of work from his job at the post office. It was a late night and his head pounded as he pushed himself forward through the town under the rain. Being a pegasus, he would of flown, but, a recent accident had caused him to only be able to work in the mail room until he healed. As he lightly jogged through the rain his ears heard something past the patter of water, hoof steps. He stopped to look around to only see that he was alone. He continued on his path until he heard it again. The clip-clop of hooves coming right towards him, this time louder. Care Package ran faster and heard the hooves speed up as well, this time coming right near him. He turned around and stopped to see. Still, absolutely no one. He hurried himself along in the direction of the city hall. He was running into an intersection when suddenly the echo of scrapping metal shrieked into his ears. A knife stabbed forward into his side. Care Package felt the burning blade rip into his flesh, he pulled himself away and cried out. He started to cough as he ran, and blood spurted from his mouth, he felt like he was drowning. The smell of copper was in the air. The sound of hooves echoed behind him coming closer and closer, he tried to look back at what, or who caused him injury. He made a mistake and he ran into a dead end between two buildings. Care's throat burned and he panted looking for some kind of opening or door. He tried moving some trash bins out of the way to perhaps hide behind them but he just ended up smearing his blood onto the cans. Care Package looked to the entrance of the alleyway and saw a pink stallion. The soaking conditions from the rain flattened out his hair, from the once puffy and curly mane that every-pony was used to. “Berry? Bubble Berry? P-Please, you got to help me! I just got stabbed by someone! ” The cut-up stallion begged gasping for air as he ran up to the friendly pink pony . “Care Package, Care Package. Ssshshh it's okay. I'm your best friend, right? I'll help you. ” Berry talked in soothing, comforting voice and took Care Package's hoof. "Trust me." Berry gave a soft smile to him. Care Package felt claws of dread grip at his gut when Berry suddenly pulled Care Package in close. The burning sting of a blade ran across his neck. Care Package cried out but it was distorted by his gurgling of blood. He backed away clutching the wound. "That's what friends are for. Right?" Berry said in the same calm tone coming closer to Care who gasped for air. He fell backwards onto his flank and pushed himself away until he bumped into the brick wall behind him. "We'll always have a very special friendship beyond anypony else." Berry raised his knife up above Care. "I promise." The pink hoof came down onto the call bell. “Order up!” Said the cheerful pink pony holding a plate with a large cupcake sitting on top. “One large red-velvet cupcake!” A mare approached the counter and took the pastry. This morning, the crowd in the Sugar Cube Corner was exceptionally large, but this was normal for Berry. He breezed through handing out every order as if it were nothing. The line cleared as quickly as it formed. Back when Mr. and Mrs. Cake first hired Berry a few years ago, they helped out with a majority of the orders, register work, and busing tables. As the years went on, The Cakes had foals of their own. Berry was promoted to assistant manager and given the responsibility of cashier, serving pastry, busing tables, and having responsibility of baking and decorating small pastry. The Cakes handled larger pastry orders such as cakes, pies, and more complex deserts. At first, The Cakes were worried that Berry wouldn’t be able to handle such a tremendous workload. He happily accepted the extra work and served every customer with a beaming smile. “Have a good day!” Berry smiled to a customer trotting happily out of the shop with a box of a dozen donuts on his back. No one came into the shop for several minutes and it seemed the rush was over. Berry grabbed a towel out of the sanitary bucket under the counter and began wiping down the counter. Many ponies sat at the round tables, enjoying their pastries, milkshakes, and coffees. Some talked to each other while others were more quiet and read a book or the paper in the corners of the room. After finishing wiping off an empty table Berry approached a group of sitting younger colts. “Hiya fellas, everything come out good?” Berry looked around at the younger colts. One had a mouthful of cupcake. “It’s great!” “Yeah it’s good.” The boy with a mouthful of pastry simply nodded, unable to reply. “You seem to really enjoy my cooking, huh Score?” Berry asked. The boy nodded again in response. Berry laughed. “Good, good. Well, you fellas enjoy!” Berry got right back into the groove of work. As many ponies left, the pink pony continued to tidy up. At around 2 o’clock, Berry flipped the open sign on the front door to closed. “Good work today, Berry. - Thank you, Berry.” Berry talked to himself as he wandered over to the counter and placed the broom back to its corner. “Oh, hey Gummy!” The pink pony’s face lighted up as he saw the toothless alligator stand with his normal blank stare. “Wanna to come count my drawer with me?” Berry picked up the baby alligator and placed him on top of his head. Berry took his money out of the drawer and brought it over to his office. Well, he considers it his office. The room used to be a broom closet, but after Berry’s most recent promotion, The Cakes thought that it was appropriate that he get his own office. It was functional, to say the least. One oil lamp was bright enough to do most paperwork and counting bits without causing too much eye strain. The desk itself was an old end table and the chair wasn’t really a chair at all, it was a stool. A short one, probably for school-aged ponies, so Berry had to sit up straight at all times in order to be comfortable. He happily completed his work though. He only had to be in there for about twenty to forty-five minutes at a time. As Berry wrote some numbers down on a spreadsheet he looked over at Gummy. “What do you think, Gummy? It’s a good office for the amount of work I do.... Right?” Berry looked deeply into Gummy’s face. Gummy simply blinked. “Heh, thanks. You're always supportive of me.” Berry patted Gummy on the head with a smile. He reached into the register drawer and continued to count the bits. Then, somepony knocked on the door. “Oh!” Berry moved his table over and leaned his stool a bit back to open up the door. “Hi, Mr. Cake!” Berry greeted the short pudgy stallion when he walked into the “office”. “Hello Berry. Just wanted to say, you have been doing a fantastic job lately. Business is just super.” Berry knew when the Cakes started to compliment on his work they were going to ask for something from him. “Mrs.Cake and I have been talking and we’ve been thinking that it may be time to hire somepony new to the bakery.” “You-You’re firing me?” Berry looked as if the cold grip of death grasped onto his soul. “Oh goodness! No, no, no, Berry!” Mr. Cake put a hoof on Berry’s shoulder. “Not yet anyway. I was just going to ask you if you knew anypony that might be interested in working at the bakery. As assistant manager, you have the power to interview and recruit new people into the shop if you want.” Berry’s face looked unsure about the whole thing. “I mean...No offense, Mister Cake. But, I like working alone. I think I’m good at working alone. It’s what I’m used to.” “I understand your concern...” Mr.Cake replied in his customer service voice. “When you joined this job and there were fewer customers there wasn’t a need for any other workers...but in the future, we’ve predicted that the number of customers will continue to rise.” “Hmm, that makes sense.” Berry nodded. “If someone skilled is hired, who knows how to work the register and hand out the food, then you can spend more time cooking.” Mr.Cake pointed out “Oh yes! Of course. I’ll get right on it, Mister Cake! ” Berry smiled to the pudgy stallion. "Great, get back to work. I'll see you tomorrow." Mr. Cake left. While Berry's pay was small compared to others. The Cakes had given him the perk of living under a roof with a warm bed. His room was on the second floor of the Sugar Cube Corner and, while small, was quite nice. The Cakes did not live in the Sugar Cube Corner and had their own house just a few blocks away from the Sugar Cube Corner. He had the normal bedroom amenities, but the most notable was the small widow's walk where Berry, like that night, could look out onto the horizon of Ponyville and take in the warm glow of an ending day. Berry took in a deep breath of the warm spring air and headed back inside. Gummy was asleep in his tiny bed. He went over to his mirror and looked at himself. He was quite average weight considering he worked at a pastry shop, he made a few funny faces to himself before going over to his bookshelf. On one of the selves was a rock and next to it was a framed picture of Berry and his family. It was taken just a month before Berry was about to leave for Ponyville. His brothers looked glum compared to the adolescent puffy haired pony that was smiling widely. His parents were looking at the camera sternly. Berry gave a sentimental smirk to the picture and took out a cupcakes cookbook. He opened it revealing a hidden compartment that contained a key. Berry took the key and exited his room with a cheerful bounce to his step. Berry entered into the basement and went down the stairs. He turned on the light above him. Walking over to the supply closet, he took out the key and used it to open the door. "I promised didn't I?" He smiled as he entered in, turning on the light. Chapter Two: Police TapeIn downtown Ponyville, the sun steadily approached the horizon. The sky was painted with purples and oranges. The dead-end alley-way where Care Package was brutally slaughtered was fenced off with police tape. Just as it happens many times ago, one pony in town reports hearing a scream the night before. The police comb the area and see what they can find. On that day they were given a tip about a dark alleyway downtown. An orange pegasus stallion with a curly red mane, named Gold Shield, guarded the scene. His partner, a blue unicorn stallion who had spiky sky-blue hair, guard the scene with him, he was named Blue Line. The job of a Ponyville Guard is quite simple. Crime barely happened in Ponyville compared to other cities. The fact that these disappearances were occurring shook the police department. While they were not happy that it was happening, some investigators were excited to finally have some action. Guards too had started to buzz about promotions for those who capture the one causing these disappearances. Guards were assigned certain areas in Ponyville to stand, or patrol, and keep watch of the citizens. Their armor was no where near as sophisticated as the Royal Guards of Canterlot. It was made of gold plated copper, which looked nice, but dented easily, and most of the gold on their armor chipped away over time. On the other hoof, their weapons were slightly more sophisticated. The orange pegasus welded a miniature crossbow that strapped to his primary hoof while the blue unicorn’s weapon of choice was his horn. The most important rule for guards was they were not allowed to speak with other ponies while on duty unless it was a command to trainees, responding to their superiors, or giving commands to a citizen. The blue and orange stallions patrolled up and down the street in opposite directions. They would meet in the center for a brief moment before continuing their beat, stopping at the end of the block, turn around and go in the opposite direction. They repeated this over and over. “Rain happening at the same time of the disappearances is not making it easy.” A white stallion with black hair emerged from under the police tape with a golden furred mare with a brown mane by his side. “Blood splatter analyst has nothing to work with. We don’t even know who the victim is!” The stallion continued. “The victim may have been walking home from work when it happened. Let’s check with the local businesses to see if anypony worked the graveyard shift. Got any ideas for what the closest businesses are, Gum.” The mare replied. “Well...The post office is closed but people still work inside until really late.” “Let’s hit it.” “Lead the way, Star Charm.” Gum replied. The two investigators left. When no one was left in sight the orange pony spoke from the corner of his mouth as he passed the blue stallion. “No leads?” “Rain. Washes away...” walked away and then they met again in the center “...all the evidence, Gold Shield.” “Just like the other times.” Gold Shield said quickly as he passed the blue pony. “They’re trying their best.” The orange stallion stopped and put his hoof on Blue Line’s chest to stop him from walking. “That’s not what I mean. Can’t you see, Blue Line? They’re just shooting in the dark at this point. We could do better!” Gold Shield started to raise his voice. Major Amber then came out to the two guards. “Is that talking I hear?” Blue Line and Gold Shield fell silent and puffed out their chests in their normal guard post, statue position. “Oh so it was just the wind?” The two guards maintained their silence at Major Amber’s comments. “Alright, alright, At ease, fellas. Were done here for the day.” The well-built mare spoke, the two guards simultaneously sighed with relief and their posture sagged. “Blue Line, I need you to be at the mayor’s speech tomorrow on guard duty. Gold Shield, you’re off tomorrow. Dismissed.” “Yes ma'am!” The guards said in unison walking away, taking their helmets off. Blue Line ruffled his hair to let the cool afternoon air sooth his scalp. The two stallions returned back to their small station at the north of town. Blue Line used his magic to open up his locker while Gold Shield opened it with his hooves. A picture of a maroon mare with a flower in her mane was taped to the inside of Gold Shield’s door. Multiple pictures of mares and stallions were put up onto Blue Line’s. “You going to work your bar job tonight?” Blue Line put his armor and his crossbow away into his duffel-bag. “Yeah. They want me working closing.” Gold Shield took off his armor as well. "Good luck." That wasn't the full extent of the conversations Blue and Gold usually had, but they were both groggy from work. They both closed their lockers, said goodnight to each other and went their separate ways. The next morning the ponies around town hall were murmuring with worry. Blue Line stood stage right of the podium set up on the top of stairs leading up to front doors, along with a few other guards. Mayor Mare approached the podium. “Attention! Attention everypony!” The crowd became silent. “I thank you all for coming on such short notice. I trust that each one of you will spread this information across town. With the multiple disappearances that have been occurring on almost a monthly average, The Ponyville Police Department has implemented a curfew until the missing ponies have been found and brought home. Curfew will start at dusk and continue until the sun is raised the next day.” Some ponies started to murmur with each other. Mayor Mare continued, “The Ponyville Police will now be doing late night searches across the town at night. Major Am-” “Why don’t you just admit it’s a killer who's doing this?!” A mare yelled out from the middle of the crowd “Miss, please wait until the end for que-” “Stop hiding it from us! Tell us the truth! Is there a killer in Ponyville?” The mare interrupted, the crowd started to talk with each other louder. Blue Line looked over Amber and the Mayor for instruction. Both of them focused on the mob of ponies. “Everyone! Everypony! Please calm down!” The crowd’s volume lowered as the mayor tried to raise her voice over them. “The Ponyville Police Department are trying everything in their power to find out what exactly happened to these ponies. I’ll hand it over to Major Amber for further information. After that we will answer questions you may have.” Mayor Mare and Amber switched places. “Good morning, Ponyville. Our investigations involving the recent disappearances have been quite difficult. Please hear my words carefully. We are not entirely sure if there is a killer in Ponyville at this point in time. However, we recently found a bloodstain last night in the downtown residence area. Further investigations need to be made in order to see who is the victim. That being said, we have not ruled out that there is a killer in Pon-” Just then, a bone-chilling scream was heard just at the back of the crowd. Blue Line jumped down from the stage, with two other guards, and ran past the ponies. “Out of the way!” Blue Line hollered at citizens. The guards started to block off citizens from the source of the scream. At the back of the crowd, Blue felt sheer horror pass through him. He saw the adolescent colt, Score, strangling his marefriend, Cherry Burst. Blue quickly rushed over and charged into Score, knocking him off Cherry Burst. He quickly recovered, got back up, and growled at Blue. “Get down on the ground!” The blue unicorn yelled. Cherry Burst got up from the ground rubbing her neck. “S-Score what is wrong with you?!” She hid behind Blue Line. Score screamed and ran at Blue. He didn’t hesitate. Blue Line's head leaned forward and his horn glowed. It shot out a bolt of mana, straight towards Score. Cherry Burst shrieked. The whole crowd watched with terror stricken faces. Even the other gaurds were a bit drawn back by what happened. A sense of dread washed over Blue Line. On the ground, Score sobbed heavily as he tended to the scorch mark on his back leg. Blue Line tried to stop Cherry but she shoved past him and went to Score’s side. “Honey, are you okay?!” Score looked at his marefriend, he looked as if he was going to say something but then his eyes rolled back into his head. He fell limp onto the ground and his cheek twitched. "Score?! Score!" Cherry stood their helplessly watching her coltfriend have a seizure. “What did you do to him?!” Cherry screamed at Blue Line. “Shooting a colt. Shooting an unarmed, colt in the middle of probably one of the biggest gathering of ponies this month. And you shoot a colt in the hoof and trigger him to have a seizure.” Blue Line stood motionless, with a one yard stare, in Major Amber’s office, holding his helmet under his wing. He listened to Major Amber lecture him on his decision. Star Charm, the head of investigations, stood by her side, watching as Major’s face turn from her normal yellow into a bright red as she continued to rant to Blue Line. “-one of the most irresponsible decisions I have seen on this force! I won’t have it Blue! I won’t!” “Major, the colt was acting rabid. He is a large stallion and I couldn’t’ve taken him on with hoof-to-hoof combat.” “That weapon is for when you have no other option, do I make myself clear? You had the option to use less lethal methods.” Just then, a knock on the door echoed over Amber’s voice. “I’m busy!” She yelled to the door. “Major, It’s Bright Light. It’s important.” Bright said behind the door. “Come in.” Bright entered and took out a file from his bag strapped to his side. He closed the door behind him with his back leg. Bright placed the papers down on Amber’s desk. “After being rushed to the hospital, the doctors noticed Score having erratic behavior." He paused. "Unfortunately he has fallen into a coma.” Major Amber looked at Blue Line with daggers. He swallowed his saliva. Bright opened the file and pulled out a picture of what looked like an pony’s brain from the top view and handed it to Amber. “Doctor Well, the unicorn, scanned his head and found that his brain was inflamed.” After Amber studied the picture for a moment and then handed it over to Star. Bright handed her a new paper. “So they then tested Score’s blood for diseases and poisons and this is what they found.” Amber studied the new paper, her eyebrows raised up and then she handed the paper over to Star, whose eyebrows also raised. Blue Line looked nervously around at the group of ponies discussing medical papers. “I thought this should be brought to your attention because of Blue Line’s actions today.” “Yes...Yes. Thank you, Bright. We will take this into consideration. You may go.” Amber nodded to Bright. He left the office. There was a long moment of silence, the simple clicking of typewriters filled the background in the rest of the office. “Score was found to have been infected with Mad Cow Disease. Which is why he was acting so erratically, Blue. While these are odd circumstances, you are still not excused for taking such drastic measures." Major Amber walked over to her window and looked outside at the noon sky. "You will be suspended for two months. Please hand in your helmet.” She said not looking at him. Another long moment of silence before Blue Line approached the desk and placed his helmet down. Major Amber sat down at her desk and sighed. “Dismissed.” Blue Line left silently. Chapter Three: Fresh MeatAfter the Sugar Cube Corner closed, and Berry finished counting his drawer, he dashed out to the main area to wait for his applicants to arrive for their interviews. Berry took a coffee cupcake out from the display and chomped down on it. He still had work to do. Outside there was a small line of ponies holding papers, anxiously waiting for Berry to invite them in. “Oh goodie! They’re here!” Berry smiled and went to open the door. “Okie dokie! First pony please! The next pony can enter after the last pony leaves.” The first pony entered in. Berry invited her to sit down and she calmly sat down. Her eyes were sagging a bit along with the rest of her body. Berry noted that she had a certain...scent. Her mane was long and free-flowing. She had a nose-ring that Berry couldn’t help from glancing at every few moments. Berry sat across from the mare with a smile. He looked at her resume. The resume looked as if it was quickly written by hoof on a ripped piece of parchment with a grocery list scrawled on the back. “So, Petal Blossom, would you like a cup of coffee?” “Nah, I’m good. Thanks.” Petal nodded “So, what makes you interested in working for the Sugar Cube Corner?” Berry readied his pen to write down a response. After a long moment of silence from Petal, she blinked and said. “Well. I’ve always liked cupcakes and eating pastry.” She nodded. Berry nodded with a tight lip and scribbled in his notepad pretending to write something. “What do you feel you can bring to Sugar Cube Corner?” “Oh man, I’d want to just bring people together, you know? Just like, make this a place where people can not only enjoy pastry but enjoy the stress free environment. I want to bring a more slow paced workload to the table. You know? It’s not about the money it’s about making people happy. “ “T-This is a retail job. It’s not really suppose to be slow.” “Nah man, you just gotta think outside the carriage of life. What you think as a retail job I think of as a re-tailoring of people’s lives. You know? Make people whole again, not just with foods but with their soul.” “Okay, well, thank you for answering my questions, we’ll call you after we process your interview.” “Alright man. Cya.” The next interviewee was an old mare named Sugar Stick. “What would you say your greatest weakness?” “Oh well my arthritis causes me to get a bit slow but I try my best. My retirement funds didn’t work out for me so well you see so I have to be looking for a job at the moment to pay the bills. After my husband died it’s been hard getting food on the table. My grandchildren haven’t contacted me for the longest time so I have to support myself at this point.“ “Wowie, that’s depressing! Welp. Uh, we’ll contact you if you fit the qualifications after we review everything.” “My life is draining every day. I don’t know if I’ll die tomorrow.” She mumbled as she slowly made her way out of the shop. Eight difficult applicants and two coffees later, Berry was feeling like the life was being drained out of him, they same way it felt when he donated at the Sugar Cube Corner blood drive except without the gloating rights. The second hand on the clock was just about to hit the 6pm mark, suddenly the door of the Sugar Cube Corner burst open and a young mare came in panting with papers in her mouth. “Uh...Here for an interview?” The pink pony raised an eyebrow. The mare simply nodded. She placed her saliva soaked papers on the table and Berry gestured for her to sit. The young mare was gasping for breath. Berry gave her a glass of water. After a moment, she catched her breath and straightened her hair. The mare had a blue mane with yellow fur. “My name is Daisy Flour.” She extended her hoof to Berry and shook his. “I’m sorry about the dramatic entrance. I just got back from the copy shop to get a copy of my resume made. I only saw the posters for the help wanted this morning.” She smiled. Her teeth were almost as bright as Berry’s. “Nice to meet you. So, I see you worked at Canterlot in a doughnut shop for three years?” “Yes Mister Bubble I-” “Please, call me Berry.” Berry interrupted in a cheery tone. “Berry. Ever since I got my cutie mark as a young filly I knew my destiny was serving ponies food with a smile.” “Good, good. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you leave?” Berry asked “Well...” Daisy started “To be perfectly honest, the Canterlot culture is a bit too...slow paced for me. I wanted to move on to something bigger and better and I heard so much about the Sugar Cube Corner, and their wonderful bakery boy, I just had to come here as soon as possible!” “Aw you’re a flatterer.” Berry smiled to Daisy, waving her off. “I try.” After Daisy jumped the hurdles of the common interview questions Berry decided to quiz Mrs. Flour. “Alright Daisy, were almost done here, I have one little question for you to test your knowledge on baking?” “Okay, shoot.” “Which clockwise direction should the frosting be applied on a freshly baked cupcake?” Daisy then scoffed. “The answer is no frosting.” “No frosting?” Berry's tone couldn't be any more sarcastic. “Of course. Frosting on a freshly baked cupcake would just melt off and also ruin a batch of cupcakes. But after they have been cooled for five minutes, assuming we’re talking about your typical swirl cupcake, you apply the frosting in the direction of your dominant side for the best quality spread.” Daisy said as Berry nodded in excitement. “Well Daisy, you seem very qualified for this position! But, it’s up to a unanimous decision by me and my partner to decide. Seeing as we’re short on time, I’ll ask them now.” Berry got up and started to head to the kitchen, taking the papers and Gummy with him. “I’ll be right back.” Berry approached Gummy in the kitchen. “So, what do you think?” Gummy stared into the distance silently. “You make a good argument. Okay let's have a vote. All opposed in hiring her raise your appendage.” Gummy stared into the distance silently and didn’t move. Berry didn’t move either but watched Gummy. “Okay so we’re in agreement.” Berry returned to Daisy. “Congratulations!” He threw colorful confetti. “You have been hired to work at the FABULOUS Sugar Cube Corner!” “R-Really? Just like that?!” Daisy squeaked. “Oh my goodness! This is wonderful! W-When can I start?” She was squirming in her seat with excitement. Berry pondered for a moment, pieces of confetti rested on the ground. “I guess...Come back this Saturday at 10 AM!” Berry chirped. “Oh my goodness. Thank you! Thank you Mr. Bubbl- I mean, Berry! T-Thank you so much!" She exited the Sugar Cube Corner and did a victory dance outside the shop. Berry sighed contently, he walked over to the pan and broom in the corner of the room and started to sweep up the confetti. “Confetti is always worth the mess.” He nodded. Saturday came, and the Sugar Cube corner wasn’t as busy as it was during the week. Not as many ponies were looking for their usual caffeine fix. Berry was behind the register with Daisy at his side. “Alright Daisy, your duties out here will be to handle the register, serve the food, and bus the dining area. On your resume it said you worked at a bakery in Canterlot before as a cashier, yes?" “Yeah, we had a really old one. This one looks much more modern.” “It should be the same thing. I know you probably know all this stuff already so we’ll cut this part short.” Berry grabbed a dusty sign from behind the counter that said "We’ll Be Back in Few Minutes!" and placed it on the front of the register. “Follow me.” Berry started to walk away from the register, past his office to another door down the hallway. “I want to show you the stockroom.” Berry opened the door which lead to a set of stairs down into darkness. They both went down and inside was large shelves of dry ingredients in bulk. “After the store closes, you and me will take stock of all the dry ingredients, to keep track of what was used.” Daisy nodded in response. She looked over to a door in the corner of the room. “Do we have to count what’s in that room as well?” “Unless you’re wanting to count mops his post” Berry chuckled, starting to trot up the stairs. “Come on, let's head back up.” Berry went back to the counter and removed the sign from the register. Daisy stood next to him back to where they were before. Berry started to give the next part of the training. “Alright so, the next part I just want to refresh you on is busing tables, the thing is about balancing out betw- Oh! Hello sir!” A stallion with black hair and a white coat approached the counter. “Hello, I’m P.P.D. Detective Gum Horseshoe.” He flashed his badge to Berry. “Oh from the police department! Are you here for an order for the office?” “Actually I was curious if I could ask you a few questions.” The stallion said putting away his badge. Daisy’ looked to Berry and Berry raised his eyebrows. “Uh...I mean...S-Sure!” Berry said. He looked over to Daisy. “Do you mind taking over for a moment?” “Yeah no problem.” Daisy took Berry’s place. Gum followed Berry into his office. They both sat across from each other in awkward positions, trying to fit in the small broom closet. “So” Berry readjusted himself. “What seems to be the problem?” “Do you happen to know a young stallion by the name of Score?” Gum asked. “Oh yeah! He comes in here all the time...Why? Is he okay?” Berry leaned forward. “I don’t know if you’ve heard about the outburst that happened the other day at the Town Hall? Score started to beat his girlfriend and an officer shot him. He’s currently in the hospital in a coma but reports came back that he has Mad Cow Disease.” A deep sense of dread washed over Berry that he hasn’t felt in years. “So, I, and a health inspector, are going to perform an investigation in this establishment to see if anything he ate may have given him this disease.” Berry sat there with a tight lip for what felt like an eternity. “What day do you need to come in.” He manage to finally croak out. "Mad Cow Disease, Berry?!" Mr. Cake shout echoed in the now closed Sugar Cube Corner. "Mr. Cake, please! We have nothing to do with this!" "Oh we better not!" Mr. Cake shouted. "Listen, Mr. Cake, I know this seems bad." "Bad?! Berry! We're going to lose so much profit!" "Y-You don't think I have anything to do with this do you?" "No Berry. No." Mr. Cake rubbed his face. There was a long moment of silence before Berry spoke up. "I mean we have nothing to worry about Mr. Cake! The Sugar Cube Corner is clean!" "That's not the point, Berry. The point is our publicity is going to plummet! Mrs.Cake's already stressed out enough taking care of the two little ones, this is just...too much!" Mr. Cake shook his head. "Mr.Cake, I promise you, I'll do everything in my power to clear this up. " Berry nods putting a hoof on Mr. Cake's shoulder. Mr. Cake pauses, he takes out a handkerchief and pats his sweaty forehead. He puts the handkerchief away and looks to Berry sternly. "Berry...You're a good colt. I trust you...We need to think of some things that would attract crowds back that get scared away. We're probably going to slash our cupcake prices and see how that goes. They said they'll be here sometime tomorrow?" "Yeah. But don't you worry, I'm fully prepared!" Berry said with a determined grin masking his nervousness. Dedication, Preface, and AcknowledgmentTo you Preface What you are about to read is a novelization of recent events that occurred in Ponyville. Some names have been changed to protect the identity of innocent bystanders, victims, and their families. The author of this novelization does not condone the horrible atrocity that Bubble Berry committed using the Sugar Cube Corner as a front or any other crimes depicted within this book. I must express the urgency of why this book needed to be written. The incident with Bubble Berry was not a simple story of a psychopath. There is much more underlying corruption than what was published in the Ponyville Press. Many were skeptical of me writing this book. I, at one point, had no will to write this book and just continue living as if the events from before never happened. Which is the exact reason this story needed to be spread and told. I wanted to thank the friends and family who pushed me forward to writing this book. Acknowledgement This book depended on many for the correct translation from real-life to paper. My former employers, The Ponyville Police Department, has been greatly helpful in my research of the events. Mrs. Legal Eagle, Bubble Berry’s lawyer, was also very cooperative with providing me legal documents on Berry’s court proceedings. Many other anonymous sources, who did not want to be named, also helped me gather various information to create this story. The citizens of Equestria, and I are grateful for the help of making this book.
Chapter One: Order UpStreetlights lit up the dirt path of downtown Ponyville. While during the day, the streets were bustling with busy ponies doing errands or going to work, the town was silent except for the loud rain pouring down on the ground. Care Package, a young stallion just got out of work from his job at the post office. It was a late night and his head pounded as he pushed himself forward through the town under the rain. Being a pegasus, he would of flown, but, a recent accident had caused him to only be able to work in the mail room until he healed. As he lightly jogged through the rain his ears heard something past the patter of water, hoof steps. He stopped to look around to only see that he was alone. He continued on his path until he heard it again. The clip-clop of hooves coming right towards him, this time louder. Care Package ran faster and heard the hooves speed up as well, this time coming right near him. He turned around and stopped to see. Still, absolutely no one. He hurried himself along in the direction of the city hall. He was running into an intersection when suddenly the echo of scrapping metal shrieked into his ears. A knife stabbed forward into his side. Care Package felt the burning blade rip into his flesh, he pulled himself away and cried out. He started to cough as he ran, and blood spurted from his mouth, he felt like he was drowning. The smell of copper was in the air. The sound of hooves echoed behind him coming closer and closer, he tried to look back at what, or who caused him injury. He made a mistake and he ran into a dead end between two buildings. Care's throat burned and he panted looking for some kind of opening or door. He tried moving some trash bins out of the way to perhaps hide behind them but he just ended up smearing his blood onto the cans. Care Package looked to the entrance of the alleyway and saw a pink stallion. The soaking conditions from the rain flattened out his hair, from the once puffy and curly mane that every-pony was used to. “Berry? Bubble Berry? P-Please, you got to help me! I just got stabbed by someone! ” The cut-up stallion begged gasping for air as he ran up to the friendly pink pony . “Care Package, Care Package. Ssshshh it's okay. I'm your best friend, right? I'll help you. ” Berry talked in soothing, comforting voice and took Care Package's hoof. "Trust me." Berry gave a soft smile to him. Care Package felt claws of dread grip at his gut when Berry suddenly pulled Care Package in close. The burning sting of a blade ran across his neck. Care Package cried out but it was distorted by his gurgling of blood. He backed away clutching the wound. "That's what friends are for. Right?" Berry said in the same calm tone coming closer to Care who gasped for air. He fell backwards onto his flank and pushed himself away until he bumped into the brick wall behind him. "We'll always have a very special friendship beyond anypony else." Berry raised his knife up above Care. "I promise." The pink hoof came down onto the call bell. “Order up!” Said the cheerful pink pony holding a plate with a large cupcake sitting on top. “One large red-velvet cupcake!” A mare approached the counter and took the pastry. This morning, the crowd in the Sugar Cube Corner was exceptionally large, but this was normal for Berry. He breezed through handing out every order as if it were nothing. The line cleared as quickly as it formed. Back when Mr. and Mrs. Cake first hired Berry a few years ago, they helped out with a majority of the orders, register work, and busing tables. As the years went on, The Cakes had foals of their own. Berry was promoted to assistant manager and given the responsibility of cashier, serving pastry, busing tables, and having responsibility of baking and decorating small pastry. The Cakes handled larger pastry orders such as cakes, pies, and more complex deserts. At first, The Cakes were worried that Berry wouldn’t be able to handle such a tremendous workload. He happily accepted the extra work and served every customer with a beaming smile. “Have a good day!” Berry smiled to a customer trotting happily out of the shop with a box of a dozen donuts on his back. No one came into the shop for several minutes and it seemed the rush was over. Berry grabbed a towel out of the sanitary bucket under the counter and began wiping down the counter. Many ponies sat at the round tables, enjoying their pastries, milkshakes, and coffees. Some talked to each other while others were more quiet and read a book or the paper in the corners of the room. After finishing wiping off an empty table Berry approached a group of sitting younger colts. “Hiya fellas, everything come out good?” Berry looked around at the younger colts. One had a mouthful of cupcake. “It’s great!” “Yeah it’s good.” The boy with a mouthful of pastry simply nodded, unable to reply. “You seem to really enjoy my cooking, huh Score?” Berry asked. The boy nodded again in response. Berry laughed. “Good, good. Well, you fellas enjoy!” Berry got right back into the groove of work. As many ponies left, the pink pony continued to tidy up. At around 2 o’clock, Berry flipped the open sign on the front door to closed. “Good work today, Berry. - Thank you, Berry.” Berry talked to himself as he wandered over to the counter and placed the broom back to its corner. “Oh, hey Gummy!” The pink pony’s face lighted up as he saw the toothless alligator stand with his normal blank stare. “Wanna to come count my drawer with me?” Berry picked up the baby alligator and placed him on top of his head. Berry took his money out of the drawer and brought it over to his office. Well, he considers it his office. The room used to be a broom closet, but after Berry’s most recent promotion, The Cakes thought that it was appropriate that he get his own office. It was functional, to say the least. One oil lamp was bright enough to do most paperwork and counting bits without causing too much eye strain. The desk itself was an old end table and the chair wasn’t really a chair at all, it was a stool. A short one, probably for school-aged ponies, so Berry had to sit up straight at all times in order to be comfortable. He happily completed his work though. He only had to be in there for about twenty to forty-five minutes at a time. As Berry wrote some numbers down on a spreadsheet he looked over at Gummy. “What do you think, Gummy? It’s a good office for the amount of work I do.... Right?” Berry looked deeply into Gummy’s face. Gummy simply blinked. “Heh, thanks. You're always supportive of me.” Berry patted Gummy on the head with a smile. He reached into the register drawer and continued to count the bits. Then, somepony knocked on the door. “Oh!” Berry moved his table over and leaned his stool a bit back to open up the door. “Hi, Mr. Cake!” Berry greeted the short pudgy stallion when he walked into the “office”. “Hello Berry. Just wanted to say, you have been doing a fantastic job lately. Business is just super.” Berry knew when the Cakes started to compliment on his work they were going to ask for something from him. “Mrs.Cake and I have been talking and we’ve been thinking that it may be time to hire somepony new to the bakery.” “You-You’re firing me?” Berry looked as if the cold grip of death grasped onto his soul. “Oh goodness! No, no, no, Berry!” Mr. Cake put a hoof on Berry’s shoulder. “Not yet anyway. I was just going to ask you if you knew anypony that might be interested in working at the bakery. As assistant manager, you have the power to interview and recruit new people into the shop if you want.” Berry’s face looked unsure about the whole thing. “I mean...No offense, Mister Cake. But, I like working alone. I think I’m good at working alone. It’s what I’m used to.” “I understand your concern...” Mr.Cake replied in his customer service voice. “When you joined this job and there were fewer customers there wasn’t a need for any other workers...but in the future, we’ve predicted that the number of customers will continue to rise.” “Hmm, that makes sense.” Berry nodded. “If someone skilled is hired, who knows how to work the register and hand out the food, then you can spend more time cooking.” Mr.Cake pointed out “Oh yes! Of course. I’ll get right on it, Mister Cake! ” Berry smiled to the pudgy stallion. "Great, get back to work. I'll see you tomorrow." Mr. Cake left. While Berry's pay was small compared to others. The Cakes had given him the perk of living under a roof with a warm bed. His room was on the second floor of the Sugar Cube Corner and, while small, was quite nice. The Cakes did not live in the Sugar Cube Corner and had their own house just a few blocks away from the Sugar Cube Corner. He had the normal bedroom amenities, but the most notable was the small widow's walk where Berry, like that night, could look out onto the horizon of Ponyville and take in the warm glow of an ending day. Berry took in a deep breath of the warm spring air and headed back inside. Gummy was asleep in his tiny bed. He went over to his mirror and looked at himself. He was quite average weight considering he worked at a pastry shop, he made a few funny faces to himself before going over to his bookshelf. On one of the selves was a rock and next to it was a framed picture of Berry and his family. It was taken just a month before Berry was about to leave for Ponyville. His brothers looked glum compared to the adolescent puffy haired pony that was smiling widely. His parents were looking at the camera sternly. Berry gave a sentimental smirk to the picture and took out a cupcakes cookbook. He opened it revealing a hidden compartment that contained a key. Berry took the key and exited his room with a cheerful bounce to his step. Berry entered into the basement and went down the stairs. He turned on the light above him. Walking over to the supply closet, he took out the key and used it to open the door. "I promised didn't I?" He smiled as he entered in, turning on the light.
Chapter Two: Police TapeIn downtown Ponyville, the sun steadily approached the horizon. The sky was painted with purples and oranges. The dead-end alley-way where Care Package was brutally slaughtered was fenced off with police tape. Just as it happens many times ago, one pony in town reports hearing a scream the night before. The police comb the area and see what they can find. On that day they were given a tip about a dark alleyway downtown. An orange pegasus stallion with a curly red mane, named Gold Shield, guarded the scene. His partner, a blue unicorn stallion who had spiky sky-blue hair, guard the scene with him, he was named Blue Line. The job of a Ponyville Guard is quite simple. Crime barely happened in Ponyville compared to other cities. The fact that these disappearances were occurring shook the police department. While they were not happy that it was happening, some investigators were excited to finally have some action. Guards too had started to buzz about promotions for those who capture the one causing these disappearances. Guards were assigned certain areas in Ponyville to stand, or patrol, and keep watch of the citizens. Their armor was no where near as sophisticated as the Royal Guards of Canterlot. It was made of gold plated copper, which looked nice, but dented easily, and most of the gold on their armor chipped away over time. On the other hoof, their weapons were slightly more sophisticated. The orange pegasus welded a miniature crossbow that strapped to his primary hoof while the blue unicorn’s weapon of choice was his horn. The most important rule for guards was they were not allowed to speak with other ponies while on duty unless it was a command to trainees, responding to their superiors, or giving commands to a citizen. The blue and orange stallions patrolled up and down the street in opposite directions. They would meet in the center for a brief moment before continuing their beat, stopping at the end of the block, turn around and go in the opposite direction. They repeated this over and over. “Rain happening at the same time of the disappearances is not making it easy.” A white stallion with black hair emerged from under the police tape with a golden furred mare with a brown mane by his side. “Blood splatter analyst has nothing to work with. We don’t even know who the victim is!” The stallion continued. “The victim may have been walking home from work when it happened. Let’s check with the local businesses to see if anypony worked the graveyard shift. Got any ideas for what the closest businesses are, Gum.” The mare replied. “Well...The post office is closed but people still work inside until really late.” “Let’s hit it.” “Lead the way, Star Charm.” Gum replied. The two investigators left. When no one was left in sight the orange pony spoke from the corner of his mouth as he passed the blue stallion. “No leads?” “Rain. Washes away...” walked away and then they met again in the center “...all the evidence, Gold Shield.” “Just like the other times.” Gold Shield said quickly as he passed the blue pony. “They’re trying their best.” The orange stallion stopped and put his hoof on Blue Line’s chest to stop him from walking. “That’s not what I mean. Can’t you see, Blue Line? They’re just shooting in the dark at this point. We could do better!” Gold Shield started to raise his voice. Major Amber then came out to the two guards. “Is that talking I hear?” Blue Line and Gold Shield fell silent and puffed out their chests in their normal guard post, statue position. “Oh so it was just the wind?” The two guards maintained their silence at Major Amber’s comments. “Alright, alright, At ease, fellas. Were done here for the day.” The well-built mare spoke, the two guards simultaneously sighed with relief and their posture sagged. “Blue Line, I need you to be at the mayor’s speech tomorrow on guard duty. Gold Shield, you’re off tomorrow. Dismissed.” “Yes ma'am!” The guards said in unison walking away, taking their helmets off. Blue Line ruffled his hair to let the cool afternoon air sooth his scalp. The two stallions returned back to their small station at the north of town. Blue Line used his magic to open up his locker while Gold Shield opened it with his hooves. A picture of a maroon mare with a flower in her mane was taped to the inside of Gold Shield’s door. Multiple pictures of mares and stallions were put up onto Blue Line’s. “You going to work your bar job tonight?” Blue Line put his armor and his crossbow away into his duffel-bag. “Yeah. They want me working closing.” Gold Shield took off his armor as well. "Good luck." That wasn't the full extent of the conversations Blue and Gold usually had, but they were both groggy from work. They both closed their lockers, said goodnight to each other and went their separate ways. The next morning the ponies around town hall were murmuring with worry. Blue Line stood stage right of the podium set up on the top of stairs leading up to front doors, along with a few other guards. Mayor Mare approached the podium. “Attention! Attention everypony!” The crowd became silent. “I thank you all for coming on such short notice. I trust that each one of you will spread this information across town. With the multiple disappearances that have been occurring on almost a monthly average, The Ponyville Police Department has implemented a curfew until the missing ponies have been found and brought home. Curfew will start at dusk and continue until the sun is raised the next day.” Some ponies started to murmur with each other. Mayor Mare continued, “The Ponyville Police will now be doing late night searches across the town at night. Major Am-” “Why don’t you just admit it’s a killer who's doing this?!” A mare yelled out from the middle of the crowd “Miss, please wait until the end for que-” “Stop hiding it from us! Tell us the truth! Is there a killer in Ponyville?” The mare interrupted, the crowd started to talk with each other louder. Blue Line looked over Amber and the Mayor for instruction. Both of them focused on the mob of ponies. “Everyone! Everypony! Please calm down!” The crowd’s volume lowered as the mayor tried to raise her voice over them. “The Ponyville Police Department are trying everything in their power to find out what exactly happened to these ponies. I’ll hand it over to Major Amber for further information. After that we will answer questions you may have.” Mayor Mare and Amber switched places. “Good morning, Ponyville. Our investigations involving the recent disappearances have been quite difficult. Please hear my words carefully. We are not entirely sure if there is a killer in Ponyville at this point in time. However, we recently found a bloodstain last night in the downtown residence area. Further investigations need to be made in order to see who is the victim. That being said, we have not ruled out that there is a killer in Pon-” Just then, a bone-chilling scream was heard just at the back of the crowd. Blue Line jumped down from the stage, with two other guards, and ran past the ponies. “Out of the way!” Blue Line hollered at citizens. The guards started to block off citizens from the source of the scream. At the back of the crowd, Blue felt sheer horror pass through him. He saw the adolescent colt, Score, strangling his marefriend, Cherry Burst. Blue quickly rushed over and charged into Score, knocking him off Cherry Burst. He quickly recovered, got back up, and growled at Blue. “Get down on the ground!” The blue unicorn yelled. Cherry Burst got up from the ground rubbing her neck. “S-Score what is wrong with you?!” She hid behind Blue Line. Score screamed and ran at Blue. He didn’t hesitate. Blue Line's head leaned forward and his horn glowed. It shot out a bolt of mana, straight towards Score. Cherry Burst shrieked. The whole crowd watched with terror stricken faces. Even the other gaurds were a bit drawn back by what happened. A sense of dread washed over Blue Line. On the ground, Score sobbed heavily as he tended to the scorch mark on his back leg. Blue Line tried to stop Cherry but she shoved past him and went to Score’s side. “Honey, are you okay?!” Score looked at his marefriend, he looked as if he was going to say something but then his eyes rolled back into his head. He fell limp onto the ground and his cheek twitched. "Score?! Score!" Cherry stood their helplessly watching her coltfriend have a seizure. “What did you do to him?!” Cherry screamed at Blue Line. “Shooting a colt. Shooting an unarmed, colt in the middle of probably one of the biggest gathering of ponies this month. And you shoot a colt in the hoof and trigger him to have a seizure.” Blue Line stood motionless, with a one yard stare, in Major Amber’s office, holding his helmet under his wing. He listened to Major Amber lecture him on his decision. Star Charm, the head of investigations, stood by her side, watching as Major’s face turn from her normal yellow into a bright red as she continued to rant to Blue Line. “-one of the most irresponsible decisions I have seen on this force! I won’t have it Blue! I won’t!” “Major, the colt was acting rabid. He is a large stallion and I couldn’t’ve taken him on with hoof-to-hoof combat.” “That weapon is for when you have no other option, do I make myself clear? You had the option to use less lethal methods.” Just then, a knock on the door echoed over Amber’s voice. “I’m busy!” She yelled to the door. “Major, It’s Bright Light. It’s important.” Bright said behind the door. “Come in.” Bright entered and took out a file from his bag strapped to his side. He closed the door behind him with his back leg. Bright placed the papers down on Amber’s desk. “After being rushed to the hospital, the doctors noticed Score having erratic behavior." He paused. "Unfortunately he has fallen into a coma.” Major Amber looked at Blue Line with daggers. He swallowed his saliva. Bright opened the file and pulled out a picture of what looked like an pony’s brain from the top view and handed it to Amber. “Doctor Well, the unicorn, scanned his head and found that his brain was inflamed.” After Amber studied the picture for a moment and then handed it over to Star. Bright handed her a new paper. “So they then tested Score’s blood for diseases and poisons and this is what they found.” Amber studied the new paper, her eyebrows raised up and then she handed the paper over to Star, whose eyebrows also raised. Blue Line looked nervously around at the group of ponies discussing medical papers. “I thought this should be brought to your attention because of Blue Line’s actions today.” “Yes...Yes. Thank you, Bright. We will take this into consideration. You may go.” Amber nodded to Bright. He left the office. There was a long moment of silence, the simple clicking of typewriters filled the background in the rest of the office. “Score was found to have been infected with Mad Cow Disease. Which is why he was acting so erratically, Blue. While these are odd circumstances, you are still not excused for taking such drastic measures." Major Amber walked over to her window and looked outside at the noon sky. "You will be suspended for two months. Please hand in your helmet.” She said not looking at him. Another long moment of silence before Blue Line approached the desk and placed his helmet down. Major Amber sat down at her desk and sighed. “Dismissed.” Blue Line left silently.
Chapter Three: Fresh MeatAfter the Sugar Cube Corner closed, and Berry finished counting his drawer, he dashed out to the main area to wait for his applicants to arrive for their interviews. Berry took a coffee cupcake out from the display and chomped down on it. He still had work to do. Outside there was a small line of ponies holding papers, anxiously waiting for Berry to invite them in. “Oh goodie! They’re here!” Berry smiled and went to open the door. “Okie dokie! First pony please! The next pony can enter after the last pony leaves.” The first pony entered in. Berry invited her to sit down and she calmly sat down. Her eyes were sagging a bit along with the rest of her body. Berry noted that she had a certain...scent. Her mane was long and free-flowing. She had a nose-ring that Berry couldn’t help from glancing at every few moments. Berry sat across from the mare with a smile. He looked at her resume. The resume looked as if it was quickly written by hoof on a ripped piece of parchment with a grocery list scrawled on the back. “So, Petal Blossom, would you like a cup of coffee?” “Nah, I’m good. Thanks.” Petal nodded “So, what makes you interested in working for the Sugar Cube Corner?” Berry readied his pen to write down a response. After a long moment of silence from Petal, she blinked and said. “Well. I’ve always liked cupcakes and eating pastry.” She nodded. Berry nodded with a tight lip and scribbled in his notepad pretending to write something. “What do you feel you can bring to Sugar Cube Corner?” “Oh man, I’d want to just bring people together, you know? Just like, make this a place where people can not only enjoy pastry but enjoy the stress free environment. I want to bring a more slow paced workload to the table. You know? It’s not about the money it’s about making people happy. “ “T-This is a retail job. It’s not really suppose to be slow.” “Nah man, you just gotta think outside the carriage of life. What you think as a retail job I think of as a re-tailoring of people’s lives. You know? Make people whole again, not just with foods but with their soul.” “Okay, well, thank you for answering my questions, we’ll call you after we process your interview.” “Alright man. Cya.” The next interviewee was an old mare named Sugar Stick. “What would you say your greatest weakness?” “Oh well my arthritis causes me to get a bit slow but I try my best. My retirement funds didn’t work out for me so well you see so I have to be looking for a job at the moment to pay the bills. After my husband died it’s been hard getting food on the table. My grandchildren haven’t contacted me for the longest time so I have to support myself at this point.“ “Wowie, that’s depressing! Welp. Uh, we’ll contact you if you fit the qualifications after we review everything.” “My life is draining every day. I don’t know if I’ll die tomorrow.” She mumbled as she slowly made her way out of the shop. Eight difficult applicants and two coffees later, Berry was feeling like the life was being drained out of him, they same way it felt when he donated at the Sugar Cube Corner blood drive except without the gloating rights. The second hand on the clock was just about to hit the 6pm mark, suddenly the door of the Sugar Cube Corner burst open and a young mare came in panting with papers in her mouth. “Uh...Here for an interview?” The pink pony raised an eyebrow. The mare simply nodded. She placed her saliva soaked papers on the table and Berry gestured for her to sit. The young mare was gasping for breath. Berry gave her a glass of water. After a moment, she catched her breath and straightened her hair. The mare had a blue mane with yellow fur. “My name is Daisy Flour.” She extended her hoof to Berry and shook his. “I’m sorry about the dramatic entrance. I just got back from the copy shop to get a copy of my resume made. I only saw the posters for the help wanted this morning.” She smiled. Her teeth were almost as bright as Berry’s. “Nice to meet you. So, I see you worked at Canterlot in a doughnut shop for three years?” “Yes Mister Bubble I-” “Please, call me Berry.” Berry interrupted in a cheery tone. “Berry. Ever since I got my cutie mark as a young filly I knew my destiny was serving ponies food with a smile.” “Good, good. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you leave?” Berry asked “Well...” Daisy started “To be perfectly honest, the Canterlot culture is a bit too...slow paced for me. I wanted to move on to something bigger and better and I heard so much about the Sugar Cube Corner, and their wonderful bakery boy, I just had to come here as soon as possible!” “Aw you’re a flatterer.” Berry smiled to Daisy, waving her off. “I try.” After Daisy jumped the hurdles of the common interview questions Berry decided to quiz Mrs. Flour. “Alright Daisy, were almost done here, I have one little question for you to test your knowledge on baking?” “Okay, shoot.” “Which clockwise direction should the frosting be applied on a freshly baked cupcake?” Daisy then scoffed. “The answer is no frosting.” “No frosting?” Berry's tone couldn't be any more sarcastic. “Of course. Frosting on a freshly baked cupcake would just melt off and also ruin a batch of cupcakes. But after they have been cooled for five minutes, assuming we’re talking about your typical swirl cupcake, you apply the frosting in the direction of your dominant side for the best quality spread.” Daisy said as Berry nodded in excitement. “Well Daisy, you seem very qualified for this position! But, it’s up to a unanimous decision by me and my partner to decide. Seeing as we’re short on time, I’ll ask them now.” Berry got up and started to head to the kitchen, taking the papers and Gummy with him. “I’ll be right back.” Berry approached Gummy in the kitchen. “So, what do you think?” Gummy stared into the distance silently. “You make a good argument. Okay let's have a vote. All opposed in hiring her raise your appendage.” Gummy stared into the distance silently and didn’t move. Berry didn’t move either but watched Gummy. “Okay so we’re in agreement.” Berry returned to Daisy. “Congratulations!” He threw colorful confetti. “You have been hired to work at the FABULOUS Sugar Cube Corner!” “R-Really? Just like that?!” Daisy squeaked. “Oh my goodness! This is wonderful! W-When can I start?” She was squirming in her seat with excitement. Berry pondered for a moment, pieces of confetti rested on the ground. “I guess...Come back this Saturday at 10 AM!” Berry chirped. “Oh my goodness. Thank you! Thank you Mr. Bubbl- I mean, Berry! T-Thank you so much!" She exited the Sugar Cube Corner and did a victory dance outside the shop. Berry sighed contently, he walked over to the pan and broom in the corner of the room and started to sweep up the confetti. “Confetti is always worth the mess.” He nodded. Saturday came, and the Sugar Cube corner wasn’t as busy as it was during the week. Not as many ponies were looking for their usual caffeine fix. Berry was behind the register with Daisy at his side. “Alright Daisy, your duties out here will be to handle the register, serve the food, and bus the dining area. On your resume it said you worked at a bakery in Canterlot before as a cashier, yes?" “Yeah, we had a really old one. This one looks much more modern.” “It should be the same thing. I know you probably know all this stuff already so we’ll cut this part short.” Berry grabbed a dusty sign from behind the counter that said "We’ll Be Back in Few Minutes!" and placed it on the front of the register. “Follow me.” Berry started to walk away from the register, past his office to another door down the hallway. “I want to show you the stockroom.” Berry opened the door which lead to a set of stairs down into darkness. They both went down and inside was large shelves of dry ingredients in bulk. “After the store closes, you and me will take stock of all the dry ingredients, to keep track of what was used.” Daisy nodded in response. She looked over to a door in the corner of the room. “Do we have to count what’s in that room as well?” “Unless you’re wanting to count mops his post” Berry chuckled, starting to trot up the stairs. “Come on, let's head back up.” Berry went back to the counter and removed the sign from the register. Daisy stood next to him back to where they were before. Berry started to give the next part of the training. “Alright so, the next part I just want to refresh you on is busing tables, the thing is about balancing out betw- Oh! Hello sir!” A stallion with black hair and a white coat approached the counter. “Hello, I’m P.P.D. Detective Gum Horseshoe.” He flashed his badge to Berry. “Oh from the police department! Are you here for an order for the office?” “Actually I was curious if I could ask you a few questions.” The stallion said putting away his badge. Daisy’ looked to Berry and Berry raised his eyebrows. “Uh...I mean...S-Sure!” Berry said. He looked over to Daisy. “Do you mind taking over for a moment?” “Yeah no problem.” Daisy took Berry’s place. Gum followed Berry into his office. They both sat across from each other in awkward positions, trying to fit in the small broom closet. “So” Berry readjusted himself. “What seems to be the problem?” “Do you happen to know a young stallion by the name of Score?” Gum asked. “Oh yeah! He comes in here all the time...Why? Is he okay?” Berry leaned forward. “I don’t know if you’ve heard about the outburst that happened the other day at the Town Hall? Score started to beat his girlfriend and an officer shot him. He’s currently in the hospital in a coma but reports came back that he has Mad Cow Disease.” A deep sense of dread washed over Berry that he hasn’t felt in years. “So, I, and a health inspector, are going to perform an investigation in this establishment to see if anything he ate may have given him this disease.” Berry sat there with a tight lip for what felt like an eternity. “What day do you need to come in.” He manage to finally croak out. "Mad Cow Disease, Berry?!" Mr. Cake shout echoed in the now closed Sugar Cube Corner. "Mr. Cake, please! We have nothing to do with this!" "Oh we better not!" Mr. Cake shouted. "Listen, Mr. Cake, I know this seems bad." "Bad?! Berry! We're going to lose so much profit!" "Y-You don't think I have anything to do with this do you?" "No Berry. No." Mr. Cake rubbed his face. There was a long moment of silence before Berry spoke up. "I mean we have nothing to worry about Mr. Cake! The Sugar Cube Corner is clean!" "That's not the point, Berry. The point is our publicity is going to plummet! Mrs.Cake's already stressed out enough taking care of the two little ones, this is just...too much!" Mr. Cake shook his head. "Mr.Cake, I promise you, I'll do everything in my power to clear this up. " Berry nods putting a hoof on Mr. Cake's shoulder. Mr. Cake pauses, he takes out a handkerchief and pats his sweaty forehead. He puts the handkerchief away and looks to Berry sternly. "Berry...You're a good colt. I trust you...We need to think of some things that would attract crowds back that get scared away. We're probably going to slash our cupcake prices and see how that goes. They said they'll be here sometime tomorrow?" "Yeah. But don't you worry, I'm fully prepared!" Berry said with a determined grin masking his nervousness.
Dedication, Preface, and AcknowledgmentTo you Preface What you are about to read is a novelization of recent events that occurred in Ponyville. Some names have been changed to protect the identity of innocent bystanders, victims, and their families. The author of this novelization does not condone the horrible atrocity that Bubble Berry committed using the Sugar Cube Corner as a front or any other crimes depicted within this book. I must express the urgency of why this book needed to be written. The incident with Bubble Berry was not a simple story of a psychopath. There is much more underlying corruption than what was published in the Ponyville Press. Many were skeptical of me writing this book. I, at one point, had no will to write this book and just continue living as if the events from before never happened. Which is the exact reason this story needed to be spread and told. I wanted to thank the friends and family who pushed me forward to writing this book. Acknowledgement This book depended on many for the correct translation from real-life to paper. My former employers, The Ponyville Police Department, has been greatly helpful in my research of the events. Mrs. Legal Eagle, Bubble Berry’s lawyer, was also very cooperative with providing me legal documents on Berry’s court proceedings. Many other anonymous sources, who did not want to be named, also helped me gather various information to create this story. The citizens of Equestria, and I are grateful for the help of making this book.
