A New Life for Bloodthirst

by NgKQ

Chapter 7

Bloodthirst decided to head over to Sugarcube Corner one day.

“I feel bored these days at home,” he said to himself. “I want to find something to do…”

He approached the entrance of Sugarcube Corner, and just as he stepped inside, out of nowhere, party streamers and confetti burst all around him!

“WELCOME!!!” Three voices called. Upon recovering from shock by the sudden surprise, he turned around to see Pepper Flake with her party cannon in front, with the twins Pound and Pumpkin Cake beside him.

“Do you like this surprise?” asked Pepper. “I planned it all along!”

“You… planned? That fast?” asked a bewildered Bloodthirst.

“She said that she saw you coming, and told us, and we planned everything quietly!” explained Pound Cake.

“Sorry if we scared the hay out of you,” said Pumpkin Cake cheekily. “We tend to do this whenever we see somepony interesting!”

“Scared me? Well you guys did – I was expecting a quiet mood and you guys suddenly freaked me out!” retorted Bloodthirst.

“She said sorry already!” said Pepper. “Anyway what’s eating you here?”

“Well, I’m pretty bored at home these days,” he explained to them. “I wanted to find some work to do.”

“Did you say work?” asked Pound Cake. “Looks like you came to the right place! I’ll go find my parents. Why don’t you all come with me?”

Bloodthirst followed the trio upstairs, where he greeted their parents, Mr Carrot Cake and Mrs Cup Cake, and of course, Pinkie Pie.

“So you wanted to look for a job?” asked Mrs Cup Cake. “Well you must know, vacancies don’t always last long here! We have room for applicants all the time, and it’s open to everypony!”

“You work might probably get boring,” said Pinkie Pie. “But you can get to know lots of ponies! It’s a fun job, really!”

“Can you handle this job well?” Mr Carrot Cake asked him. “From all those who volunteered, you seem to be a special pony to me.”

“I’ll try, Sir,” he replied, determined. “After all it’s better than staying at home watching Rarity and Platinum Royale work all day.”

“You can help them!” chuckled Pumpkin Cake. “If that’s the case you may consider doing part-time!”

“Okay,” said Bloodthirst. “I’ll go talk to Rarity. I’ll see if she approves.”

“Good luck, Bloodthirsty!” said Pepper Flake.

That night, Bloodthirst told Rarity and her family all about his plan.

“Ooh, that’s nice,” beamed Platinum. “You can go gain some experience!”

“You can actually get a bit of income to help support us too,” added Rarity. “I liked the idea you want to work part time.”

“Alright,” said Bloodthirst. “I’ll try my best.”

“Remember a labor ethic: Customers are always right. You must know what they exactly want, then you can make good business,” reminded Prudence Aura.

Bloodthirst’s first day of work was on Saturday. He went there early and signed up on the spot. Joining with him was a tan brown unicorn pony.

“So this is your first day of work?” the unicorn pony asked.

“Uh-huh.”

“Very well. I’m Striking Taps. And you?”

“I’m Bloodthirst.”

“Ah, I see.” He held out his hoof, but just as Bloodthirst stretched his own to do the same, Striking retracted back.

“Ah, sorry, just forgot that my hooves are sweaty.” He said. “Anyway, I’m working for the first time today, too.”

Just then, Mrs Cup Cake appeared.

“Well done, Bloodthirst,” she said as she acknowledged the form Bloodthirst filled. “Now then, will you come with me? Pound and Pumpkin Cake and Pepper Flake will teach you everything in the kitchen. Mr err… Striking Taps, will you wait here for a moment? Pepper Flake, show the other newcomer around please.”

Bloodthirst went, and when he turned back, he could see Striking looking disappointed.

“He must have been wanting to work in the kitchen, too,” he thought.

Soon Pound and Pumpkin Cake were teaching him on the basic handling of kitchen equipments.

“All you need to do is to measure exactly the amount needed, based on the recipe.”

Bloodthirst listened to everything nicely. But all the while he was working, he could see Striking didn’t look at all well. When he left the newly-made pastries on the counter he didn’t serve them instantly. When he turned to look halfway during his baking he saw that they had already been served.

“He’s really, really weird,” he thought to himself.

At the end of the day, Mr Carrot Cake called his two new employees.

“You’ve worked very well for the first day, and I’m very proud of you. Both of you shall receive fifty bits as your daily reward.” He handed them their earnings.

“Thank you, sir,” said Bloodthirst as he received, but Striking Taps, on the other hand, wasn’t thankful at all. He took his earning straight and went out of the café.

“He looks strange,” remarked Bloodthirst.

“Hmm, I don’t think so,” replied Carrot Cake. “I see him doing well all the day.”

When Bloodthirst got home he reported all of his day’s work to Rarity.

“That was fabulous,” she remarked. “Was there anypony else who was working too, besides Pepper Flake?”

“There was someone called Striking Taps, but he doesn’t seem to like me.”

“Is that so?” asked Platinum Royale. “If he ever does anything to you just tell the boss or us.”

“I will,” he replied. “For some reason I sense something wrong on him.”

On his following working sessions that followed, Bloodthirst worked hard, and he gained recognition from everyone. However, on the times when Striking Taps was on duty as well, he never talked to him, and his face was cross and sulky all the time.

“I’m not sure if I’m seeing things,” said Pound Cake. “Every time I see Striking Taps working on the same day as Bloodthirst, he doesn’t look at all happy.”

“I saw that too,” agreed Pumpkin Cake. “This is raising my suspicions. Have they met before they signed up to work?”

“Nah, it can’t be,” replied Pepper Flake. “Bloodthirst’s only here for two months, how could they actually ‘know’ each other in the first place?”

“Oh, yeah, you’re right,” remarked Pound. “Then we need to observe further.”

“You sure are alike to your mother, don’t you, Pepper?” asked Pumpkin.

One afternoon, Bloodthirst was on his duty again, but Striking Taps was off-duty.

He had just served a tray of cupcakes on the counter when then, a familiar figure approached him.

“Hullo, Bloodthirst,” greeted Chaos Control. “Fancy seeing you here!”

“Chaos Control?” responded Bloodthirst. “Why are you here?”

“Heh-heh, just visiting you. Pepper Flake told me everything. So, are your earnings good?”

“Fine, I get paid up to fifty bits a day.”

“Anypony working with you?”

“Err, you know, there’s this somepony called Striking Taps. He seems weird, he’s always grumpy and he didn’t even talk to me when he’s working with me.”

“Striking Taps… Oh, I heard about him! You better watch out.”

“Why?”

“My sister says he’s a racist. He thinks that normal ponies all work better than weird-looking ponies like us.”

“How? What happened?”

“My mother once participated an animal fair with us. When we first saw him, he looked like as if he’d taken an instant dislike to us. When it came to the showdown where the animals perform tricks by their owners, we won the first prize. We suddenly heard a shout, and it was him, saying that these weird-looking ponies couldn’t have won the first prize. Many of the ponies booed him, and everypony called him a racist for leaving a remark. Even Greenie Hats nearly picked up a fight with him!”

“Oh wow, that was one story!” interrupted Pepper Flake from behind.

“Well if that’s the case,” continued Bloodthirst. “We have to be wary of him. If he’s anywhere, he can cause trouble.”

“Yes,” agreed Chaos. “You need to know, his friends told my sister all about him after that incident. They say he’s quite arrogant and snobbish.”

“Maybe that explains why he didn’t even talk to me in the beginning,” remarked Bloodthirst. “He must have thought that improper ponies like me should work as a waiter and not as a kitchen assistant.”

“That’s discrimination! Mayor Diamond Tiara wouldn’t allow that,” commented Chaos.

A week later, Bloodthirst was working again. Striking Taps was there, too. As usual, he remained in his sour face and wasn’t talking to Bloodthirst all the while.

A while after lunch break, Striking Taps spoke to Pepper Flake.

“Excuse me, Miss Pepper Flake,” he began. “This café is open to everypony working, right?”

“Um, yeah, earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, and many more else, everypony’s welcome!” she replied.

“Really? Then can I swap positions with that guy over there?”

“Err, you know, we need more waiters than kitchen assistants, and that arrangement was set by random by our boss. Besides, he’s new to Ponyville and he wants to know how to live. This is true, you know…”

“Oh, really? New to this village?” he smirked. He approached Pepper, saying, “Why don’t you ask your boss to ask him to find a better job around?”

“Wh-what are you doing…?” she cried as he began making lewd moves upon her.

“No one ever does that to my friend!” Bloodthirst, who came out of the kitchen and saw everything, came to her aid and knocked him out of her way.

“Oh, you weirdo pony, I should’ve whacked you when I first worked!” Striking Taps insulted.

“Just bring it on!” Bloodthirst retaliated, and both engaged into a fight, while Pepper Flake watched with horror. They banged an empty table, which overturned.

The twins came out of the kitchen when they heard Bloodthirst’s shouts. Without wasting time, Pound went upstairs to inform the elders, as Pumpkin joined Pepper and the other customers in trying to break up the fight.

It wasn’t long before Mr Carrot Cake, Mrs Cup Cake and Pinkie Pie arrived to see the commotion.

“Alright, stop this!” Mr Carrot Cake thundered. “What actually happened?”

“I saw Striking Taps harassing Pepper Flake!” began Bloodthirst.

“Boss! Fire this guy, please. He’s an eyesore to me!” retorted Striking Taps.

“Hey! How could you say that?!” cried a customer.

“Silence!” Mr Carrot Cake shouted. “Both of you have caused a disturbance. Now, you must clean up all this mess. Afterwards I’ll be sending you home and report everything to your families!”