//------------------------------//
// Bonus 2: Early draft of Pumpkin making up with Masky 
// Story: Pound and Pumpkin Tales 2 
// by Never2muchpinkie 
//------------------------------//

During recess Pumpkin sat under a tree and watched Pound hanging out with his classmates, still trying his hardest to fly. Iron Wing was still acting like a jerk, but she could tell he wasn’t serious about it. 
“Hey, Pumpkin,” came a voice next to her. 
She turned to look and saw Masky standing there. She wasn’t sure how to feel about him now. She had got swept up in her feelings, and it had led her to make the same mistakes Pound had made. “What do you want?” she asked, keeping her voice neutral.
“Well, I’d, um… like to talk to you.” 
“About what?”
“Just about, um, things.”
He was looking very awkward. Pound seemed alright now, so she’d hear him out.  “Okay, then.”
Relief passed across his face, and he sat next to her, curling up into a ball, his head on his knees. “Pound talked to me before.”
“He did?” she asked, curious. 
“Yeah…” It was quiet for a few moments. “He didn’t say much. He just told me to either leave you alone or to stop persuading you to do bad things.”
“Pound…” She looked over at him again, his face red with exertion as he strained his wings. He hovered for about ten seconds before he landed. He was definitely improving. 
“I can tell your brother really cares about you just from that. He didn’t yell or hit or threaten me, but the look in his eyes was intense. It was kinda scary. He seems like the kind of pony you wouldn’t want to mess with.”
A tear came down Pumpkin’s eyes. Even though he was protecting her he didn’t completely shut out Masky, giving him the option to improve his behavior. She appreciated that.
“Yeah, your brother really loves you… and I hate him for it!”
Pumpkin glanced in his direction. His voice had cracked a bit when he said that. A few tears were coming down his face. “You hate Pound for being a good brother?”
“I don’t have anyone like that in my life. I’m an only child. My parents travel all over Equestria, never staying too long in one place.”
“And what about you? They leave you with a foalsitter or something?”
He shook his head, his eyes clenching shut. “No… they always take me with them. They never stay in one place longer than a month. I was in a different school before I came here, and I’ll be in a different school next month too. I never get to hang out with anyone long enough to be real friends with them, so what does it matter how I act?”
“Hmmm?” Pumpkin’s head tilted a bit. “What do you mean?”
He squeezed his body tighter, shaking a bit. “I’m SAYING it doesn’t matter if I’m good or bad here. I can be the nicest, kindest pony or the nastiest, worst one, and it won’t matter a bit. Since it doesn’t matter I just act like whatever kind of pony I feel like at the moment.” Changing his voice to quiet and unsure he said, “I-I-I c-can be a scared p-p-pony afraid of everyone.” His voice changed again, becoming suave as he pushed his mane back. “Or a cool kid that breaks all the rules.
“I can be whoever I want, since I don’t want to be me. By next month I’ll be gone, and a week after that everyone will just forget that I was ever here. So why should I care if I’m being bad? Even that barely makes my parents pay attention to me.” He buried his head in his knees, quietly sobbing.
Sympathetic tears came down Pumpkin’s eyes. She was starting to understand him now. She put a leg around him, rubbing his back. “I’m sorry, Masky. I didn’t know that things were so hard for you.”
He looked up at her, his face wet with tears. For a moment it seemed he would return her friendliness, but then he shoved her and turned away, crossing his legs in front of him. “Don’t bother!” he said angrily. “I don’t WANT you to be nice to me. I already told you that it doesn’t matter, didn’t I? You act all nice and pleasant and all that junk, but as soon as I’m gone you’ll just forget about me! You’ll move on to the friend’s right in front of you and forget I ever existed.” His angry tone vanished, replaced with sadness. “Just like my parents,” he said quietly.
Pumpkin stood up and sat in front of him. “I have a friend named Peppermint Swirl who reminds me a lot of you.”
“Am I supposed to be happy that there are more ponies being ignored?” he asked emotionlessly. 
She ignored his question. “Her parents weren’t paying much attention to her because they had just had a baby. A baby is near helpless, needing a lot of care and love. Peppermint felt she was being pushed out of her family, and grew to hate her little brother for it. It built up until one day she gave him a hard smack. Her father was so surprised that he smacked her in return.”
Masky sighed. “I almost want to say I wouldn’t mind that. At least they would be paying attention to me for once.”
She ignored him again. “I ran into her at the park, having run away from home, and I got the story from her. Despite how strongly her emotions were burning she never told her parents how she was feeling, and not opening up to them led to that incident. 
“When her father found her he immediately apologized, and then Peppermint told her dad about her feelings. Realizing how much he had been hurting his child he resolved to do better, and now Peppermint is happy again. She does have to share her parents affection with her brother, but it’s not as one-sided as before.
“So what about you? Have you ever opened up to your parents about how you feel about all this traveling you do?” He didn’t answer her. “I guess not, because ‘what does it matter,’ right?”
He started shaking again, taking in a sharp breath
“One of the important things I’ve learned is that ALL ponies, from children to princesses, make mistakes. Sometimes really big ones. Princess Luna was sealed away for a thousand years because of jealousy that led her to attacking her own sister. Our parents and Princess Twilight were too hard on us when me and my brother got into a fight and it led to us running away because we thought we weren’t wanted anymore.”
Masky looked over at her. That caught his interest. “You did?”
“One of our friends found us wondering at night, and she talked us into making up with them. Our parents were heartbroken that they had been so harsh, and Princess Twilight learned that she didn’t know much about kids our age.
“She learned something important, so she wrote it down in the Friendship Journal. It’s something they want to leave behind for the next generation of ponies, so they write down in it whenever they feel they’ve learned an important lesson. And on the other half of the page Twilight had US write down what we had learned from the experience, because she felt that no pony is too young to teach something important to others. It meant a lot to both of us, and showed that she was really sorry.”
She gave his head a pat. “What I’m trying to say is that your parents aren’t perfect either.” His interest faded away, and his expression went blank. “Maybe just like with Peppermint they don’t realize how much they’re upsetting you.
“So do you really hate travelling that much?”
He didn’t answer right away, looking lost in thought. “Well… not really. I actually don’t mind it that much. I’ve seen a lot of crazy things growing up.” His expression perked up. “I’ve been to Cloudsdale and watched the Wonderbolts perform with the aid of a cloud-walking spell. We went to Canterlot and got to meet Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. We’ve travelled to the Crystal Empire and seen the crystal ponies, and Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. We’ve watched the migration of dragons, hundreds of them in every single color overhead and showing off.  We’ve-”
He went off for a while, talking about all the places they’d gone. For a kid her age it certainly seemed he’d had several lifetimes worth of travel for the average pony. His eyes were twinkling with excitement and the contrast perplexed her. 
She put a hoof to his face to quiet him down. “I don’t get it. Your parents have taken you all over the world to see a whole bunch of cool stuff, you’re always included in stuff, and you seem happy with all of it. So how are they neglecting you? What’s really missing from your life?”
He looked contemplative again as Pumpkin put her hoof down. “Well… I guess… it’s not really so much about THEM. It’s more like we can’t every waking minute together having fun. They have a job that lets them travel a lot. It lets them see the sights, but at times they have to work. Sometimes they’ll hire a foalsitter, but sometimes they’ll leave me alone with a promise to keep all the doors locked and not let anyone in. When things are like that I get pretty lonely. And because we travel about so much I just don’t have the time to make friends to hang out with.” He let out a big sigh, his head drooping. “Because even if I did I’d just have to say goodbye to them over and over and over everywhere we went.”
Pumpkin rubbed his head again. “So your parents take you on a whole bunch of awesome adventures and trust you to be responsible enough to leave you alone. The only thing you’re really missing is lasting friends. Is that about right?”
“I guess so.” He gave another big sigh.
“From what you say I think your parents really care a lot about you, but you’ve given up before you even tried. Of course your mom and dad wouldn’t get there’s a problem if you’ve always been excited before.”
He turned his head away. “And what would talking to them do? Even if they feel bad for me what are they supposed to do about their job?”
“That’s what YOU have to find out! They’ve been doing this since you were small, so they must be good if they’ve kept it up this long. Did you ever stop to think that maybe they’re getting tired of travelling around themselves, but kept moving around anywhere because they just want to see you happy?”
Masky slowly turned back toward her, an eyebrow up.
“A parent who loves their child will do most anything to make them happy, and maybe they think you’d be miserable or bored without all that excitement in your life from seeing so many different things. You’re so busy thinking of things from just one way that you don’t even realize that maybe moving around is just an expression of how much they love you.”
His head backed up a bit, his lip quivering as tears welled up in his eyes. “Mom… Dad…” There was a mournful tone to his voice. 
“Wait here a moment. I want to show you something.” She stood up, grabbing her bag. She sat down next to him and pulled out a journal from inside.
“I don’t know what your parents are really thinking, or how much they really love you. All I can do is promise to be a good friend to you. That’s why I wanted to show you this.” 
She set it in his lap, and after a brief glance at her he opened it up. He read the first page, then let out a snort. “What is this, you talking to your imaginary friend? And I thought I was bad.”
Pumpkin’s eyes narrowed a moment, but what else was he supposed to think? She didn’t know about the connected journals herself until Starlight told her about them. She couldn’t exactly blame him for thinking she was writing to herself. 
“This is a magic journal,” she told him. “They form a pair. Anything I write in here shows up in the other one.”
He blinked. “Woooow,” he said, looking back down at it. “That’s cool.”
“Yep! Even if they’re halfway around the world they’ll still get the message. I can talk to Princess Twilight and her student to see about getting a copy for you.”
“Y-you’d do that for me?” he asked, gulping.
“Sure. I mean, I think you’re kinda cute.” She blushed, and he looked away, blushing too. “I can’t promise your parents will give you what you want. The only thing I can do is keep offering you friendship, even if you do leave us next month. As long as you have the notebook we can talk to each other every day, and you won’t ever have to feel alone again.”
He slowly turned back to her. “Why… why are you being so nice to me? After what I did… you should be furious at me.”
Pumpkin slowly breathed in, then just as slowly let it out. “To be honest I’m kinda ashamed of myself for getting swept up in your words, but it did have a good outcome. Truth be told…” She looked embarrassed. “Well, I hate putting down Pound, but being truly honest he’s kinda weak.”
“Whaaaaat?” Masky replied incredulously. “That look he gave me wasn’t ‘weak.’ It was anything but.” 
Pumpkin let out a little moan, feeling guilty. “Pound tries hard, but when it comes to just himself he’s a bit of a pushover. That’s why he was so bothered by not flying: he couldn’t muster up the courage to confront his bullies. They walked right over him.
“However, by you pushing me to get involved in things it made things personal for him because he feared for my safety. That’s what made him settle things with them. He really just wanted to protect me. If he thinks there’s some kind of danger he’ll do whatever it takes to get me out of it. That’s why, more than anyone else in the world, Pound is my number one hero.”
Masky looked away, then back at her. “But doesn’t that apply to, like, everyone you love? You don’t think your mom or your dad would do the same for you?”
Pumpkin glanced over at Pound again. “Well, it’s not that they wouldn’t… it’s just that it always amazes me how a pipsqueak like him will take on whatever is in his way. He tried to take on four older colts at once one time when there was a problem. He even threatened to beat up Princess Twilight if she made me cry, even though he had just gotten over a serious injury.”
Masky’s eyes bugged out. “He didn’t!” he said incredulously.
Pumpkin laughed. “Twilight is a close friend of our aunt, so she’s like family to us. Even so, I wouldn’t doubt he’d say the same to even Princess Celestia.” She let out a little sigh. “The reason he threatened her was because I was terrified. I had lost control of my magic when I was angry and sent a bookcase toppling on top of him. He nearly died.”
Masky’s mouth hung open.  
“When I saw Twilight I freaked out, sure that she was there to give me some horrible punishment like taking me away from my family, and I ran to Pound for support. That’s why he said what he did. He wasn’t going to let even a princess pick on me. How many ponies do you know would do that?”
Masky slowly shook his head. “Not many. I certainly wouldn’t have the guts to say that.”
“That’s one of the reasons I respect him more than my other family members… when he’s not driving me absolutely bonkers, that is.” 
She rubbed his head again. “So let’s get back to you, because there’s another reason I care about him so much, and it’s why I can’t just leave you alone, so I’m offering you a Pinkie Promise not to forget about you.” 
“A what promise?”
“A Pinkie Promise,” she repeated, “named by my Auntie Pinkie. Once you make a Pinkie Promise there’s no taking it back, unless something like a life-threatening injury happens or something really serious like that. Otherwise, it’s a commitment to see something through to the end. 
Standing up she sat in front of him again, lifting her hoof and moving it around. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. I Pinkie Promise to you that I’ll always be your friend, unless…” She drifted off, thinking of Pinkie’s promise to her and Pound after they ran away from home. She had promised to love them forever, even if they went bad. She didn’t want to make an exception when she was acting like Pinkie. “I’ll always be your friend, even IF something happens and you turn evil. I’ll keep believing in you and try to bring you back to the side of good.”
“Why?” he asked again, looking thoroughly confused. “Why make that promise to me? We’ve only known each other a few days.”
“Because… I know what it feels like to be lonely. That’s why I understand you so well, even though we’ve gone through different things.” She set her head on her knees, hugging her legs. “I don’t know what I’d do without Pound. He’s more than just a brother or my twin… he’s my best friend.” A solitary tear came down her eye. “We get into some big fights sometimes where we attack each other or yell or won’t talk to each other, but we always come back together before long.
“During one of those fights Auntie Pinkie, rather than sending us to time-out or something like that, decided to separate us. She kept me home, and left with Pound to one of our friend’s houses, telling us that we weren’t allowed to see each other for the rest of the day.”
“And how did that make you feel?” he asked curiously, mimicking her pose.
“Great, at first. It didn’t last, though. Since we weren’t in school back then and none of our parents or Auntie Pinkie’s friends have children we usually only had each other. Auntie Pinkie was gone and both our parents were working downstairs, so it was just me. I got some rare alone time, but it wasn’t long at all before I started feeling bored and lonely. Eventually I snuck out of the house to go make up with him. Halfway there I ran into him. He was feeling the same way.”
“Okay, but didn’t you get in trouble for breaking the rules?”
“Well, Auntie Pinkie found us, and we united against her, telling her if she was gonna punish us for not listening she was gonna punish us together, since we wouldn’t be separated again. We were both scared, but then she smiled and told us that was what she was hoping for when she forced us to be apart.”



For the TL:DR crowd who scrolled past the author's note, this is just an early draft I didn't complete, so it ends abruptly here