Sweeney Dash: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Rainbow Dash walked up to the dusty door of Mrs. Pinkie Lovett's Meat Pies, giving a quick passing glance to the exterior stairs. She pushed open the door, a cloud of dirt and cobwebs exploded in a cloud of dust in front of her face. The inside of the  small shop was disgusting to say the least. A layer of dirt covered everything, leaving a lifeless and cold feel to the place. Besides the multitude of cockroaches roaming the nooks and crannies, the only sign of life was a pony behind the counter cutting vegetables. Her pink mane was matted, her clothes looked as zombified as her paling pink coat. She looked nearly dead.....that or completely insane.

As Dash put one hoof back through the door frame, the pony looked up at her. Her eyes filled with a mixture of shock and alil happiness at the sight of the cyan pegasus.

GASP "A Customer!" the pony called out as she rushed around the counter to greet her first customer in what had seemed like ages, stabbing the large knife she used for slicing vegetables into the counter. Dash barely had time to react before she was being ushered around the store.

"Wait!

What's your rush? What's your hurry?

You gave me such a --

Fright, I thought you was a ghost!

Half a minute, can'tcher sit! Sit you down, sit!"

The pink pony forced Dash deep into a booth seat, rushing back over to the counter picking up where she left off making her pies.

"All I meant is that I haven't seen a customer for weeks!

Did you come here for a pie, ma'am?

Do forgive me if me head's a little vague --"

"Ugh! What is that?"She grabbed a roach off her work space and threw it down to the floor crushing it beneath her hoof

"But you think we had the plague!

From the way that people

Keep avoiding --"

"No you don't!" She smashed another roach on her counter covered in powder, continuing to roll some dough right on it. Then she grabbed a already made pie and set it on a plate. She blew the dust off and dropped it down in front of her customer.

"Heaven knows I try, ma'am!

But there's no one comes in even to inhale!

Right you are, ma'am , would you like a drop of ale?

Mind you, I can't hardly blame them!

These are probably the worst pies in London!

I know why nobody cares to take them,

I should know,

I make them,

But good? No!

The worst pies in London,

Even that's polite!

The worst pies in London,

If you doubt it, take a bite!"

Dash poked at it with her hoof before taking a bite. She held the bite in her mouth trying to keep from puking. The pony could tell what she was trying to do.

Is that just disgusting?

You have to concede it!

It's nothing but crusting!

Here, drink this, you'll need it!

She sat a large pint of ale in front of her, which she jumped at the chance to take the drink to get the taste off her tongue.

"The worst pies in London...

And no wonder with the price of meat

What it is

When you get it

Never

Thought I'd live to see the day

Men'd think it was a treat

Findin' poor

Animals

Wot are dyin' in the street!"

"Mrs. Mooney has a pie shop!

Does a business but I notice something weird.

Lately all her neighbors' cats have disappeared!

Have to hand it to her --

Wot I calls

Enterprise

Poppin' pussies into pies!"

"Wouldn't do in my shop!

Just the thought of it's enough to make you sick!

And I'm tellin' you, them pussycats is quick!

No denying times is hard, ma'am

Even harder than the worst pies in London!

Only lard and nothing more --"

"Is that just revolting,

All greasy and gritty?

It looks like it's molting,

And tastes like,

Well, pity"

"A woman alone,

With limited wind,

And the worst pies in London!

Ah, ma'am , times is hard,

Times is hard!"

She picked up her rolling pin and slammed it onto the now crumpled body of a very large and juicy roach. Dash drank more ale, the taste of the pie still lingering no matter how much she drank.

"It's going to take a lot more than ale to get that taste outta your mouth. Come into the den, I'll get you a nice tumbler a' gin, eh?" The pony, who Dash had figured to be Pinkie Lovett,  motioned her to the back room. Dash obliged, curious about this strange mare, but mostly wanting the taste out of her mouth.

They stepped into the den, the room was filled with knickknacks and dusty antiques. A stairway lay vacant just outside the doorway, a haunting feel creeping from the dim light of the dirty windows. Mrs. Lovett trotted over to the mantle, pouring a large glass of gin as she talked in her eerily upbeat voice.

"Isn't this homey now. Got me wallpaper at a bargain, only partly singed when the chapel  burned down," She talked out loud, not caring if anyone was listening, as she handed Dash the gin. She barely got hold of the glass before it was emptied and Pinkie began to pour another one. "There's a good girl, now sit and warm your bones." She motioned for Dash to sit down on the ragged looking couch in front of the fire place. Once again Rainbow obliged at the offer, but stared off at the empty stairwell.

"If times are so hard, Mrs. Lovett, then why don't you rent out your upper room?" Dash asked as she threw back her second tumbler of gin.

"No one will go up there, they say it's haunted." Pinkie said in a mournful tone as she stared off at the stairs too.

"Haunted?"

"Who's to say they're wrong. You see, something happened up there many years ago. Something...not so nice." Pinkie stated staring off into space. Dash stared intently at her, hoping for news of her family. Hoping they were ok.

"There was a barber and her wife.

And she was beautiful...

A proper artist with a knife,

but they transported her for life.

And she was beautiful..."

Her eyes darted over to Dash. "Dash was her name, Rainbow Dash." The room felt colder at the mention of the name.

"What was her crime?" Dash asked coldly, sadness and fear taking over her.

"Foolishness.... "

Pinkie stared off into the distance once more

"He had this wife, ya see.

Pretty little thing,

silly little nit.

Had her chance for the moon on a string...

Poor thing!

Poor thing!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucy sat at the window of her apartment, tears streaming down her face as she stared down at the merciless streets below. Around the corner, just in her line of sight, Judge Blue Blood stood with a bouquet of flowers, The Beadle Rarity Bamford standing beside him as he raised it to her sights.

"There was this judge, ya see...

Wanted her like mad!

Everyday he sent her a flower

But did she come down from her tower?

Sat up there and sulked by the hour

Poor fool!

Ah, but there was worse yet to come

Pure thing!"

She turned away from her window and looked down at her filly, a beautiful yellow pegasus with flowing pink hair. The Judge looked down and threw the flowers into a dirty mud puddle as he stormed off, Rarity following close behind.

"Well, Beadle calls on her all polite

Poor thing!

Poor thing!

The judge, he tells her, is all contright.

He blames himself for her dreadful plight.

She must come straight to his house tonight!

Poor thing!

Poor thing!"

Later that night, Rarity showed up at Lucy's doorstep, telling of how The Judge was sorry for her tragedy and wanted to apologize personally for what happened. She dragged poor Lucy along the dark ally ways of London leading to the judges house.

"Of course when she goes there...

Poor thing!

Poor thing!

They're having this ball all in masks.

There's no one she knows there!

Poor dear!

Poor thing!

She wonders, tormented and drinks!

Poor thing!

The judge has repented, she thinks.

Poor thing!

"Oh where is Judge Turpin?" she asks..."

Lucy stumbles around the party looking for Turpin, throwing back whatever drink she can find. Turpin is standing in the corner, a mask covering his eyes but not his intentions as he moves towards the helpless and drunken woman.

"He was there, alright!

Only not so contright!

She wasn't no match for such craft, ya see.

And everyone thought it so drull.

They figured she had to be daft, ya see.

So all of them stood there and laughed, ya see!

Poor soul!

Poor thing!"

The Judge removed his mask as he descended on the poor woman, her screams ripping through the air as he began to remove her night dress and defile her twisting form. The other guest laughed and the Beadle stared with a smile of triumph written across her face as the woman let out a primal scream

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Dash screamed, enraged by the image the story placed into her mind. Her eyes glowed with a savage rage as the world she once knew came back into perspective. Pinkie looked at her in shock. "Would no one have mercy on her?"

"So it is you. Rainbow Dash." Pinkie said to the shattered remains of a mare in front of her.

"Where is my wife? Where is my Lucy!"

"Poisoned herself. Changeling venom, from a herbalist around the corner.l tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen to me."

Dash fell back into her seat, a tear falling from her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and not another one fell.

"And he's got your daughter."

Dash looked at her. 'H-he?...........Judge Turpin?"

"Adopted her like his own."

The color drained from Dash's face as she staggered around the room.

"Fifteen years....sweating in a living hell on a false charge." She was talking, of course, of the mines situated below the city of Cloudsdale. " Fifteen years dreaming that i might come home to a wife and child."

"Well i can't say the years have been kind to you Rainbow Dash."

"No! Not Rainbow. That bitch is dead. It's Sweeney now..... and she will have her revenge."

((AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter was a little harder than the others will be to convey the emotions here and i hope i did my best. More to come!))