A new student named Acer moved to Ponyville and came into Cheerliee’s class for the rest of the school semester. He just so happens to be a foalhood friend of Ruby Rose when they both used to live in Trottingham. Ruby still sees themselves as more than just friends, but Acer says otherwise. Unfortunately for Ruby, Acer took a liking to Pumpkin Cake and decided himself that he was going to try and be her coltfriend.
Ruby did not take Acer’s action well and a dark ember of jealousy begins to burn deep within her. She thought that Acer was basically putting himself in danger by letting himself be close to Pumpkin all the time; if she ever goes berserk, Acer might end being the first victim. Ruby wasn’t going to let this happen, she wanted to inform her mother right away.
Envy Rose was inside her shop house tidying up around the main room all nonchalant with no worries bothering her; that is until her daughter suddenly rushed into house in a state of panic while slamming the door behind her.
“Please, Ruby, haven’t I taught you not to slam doors behind you;” said Envy in a formally matter, “it ruins their woodwork.”
“I’m… sorry… mother…” Ruby responded while catching her breath, “but… you won’t believe what happened at school today!”
Envy arched her eyebrow at her daughter, “You didn’t get yourself expelled, did you?”
“No, I didn’t,” Ruby quickly shouted.
Envy suddenly sighed a breath of relief, “If not, then I suppose that you’ve finally made your mother proud and got that that little cake filly back to that place?”
“Far from it,” said Ruby in a disappointed tone, “You know that Pegasus that I met back in Trottingham, Acer, he’s here! He’s moved here to Ponyville!”
Envy remembered him well and saw him as a nice, noble gentlecolt. She smiled a bit while eyeing her daughter, “Is He; well that’s nice to hear. He still didn’t accept you as a fillyfriend yet, am I right?”
Ruby slumped down on her flank and a face of rejection and worry formed on her face, “Well… that’s the problem.”
Envy saw the expression on her daughter’s face and realized that something troubling must’ve come up.
“Is there something wrong?” she asked.
“He… chose… somepony else,” Ruby responded with tears flowing from her yellow eyes, “he chose somepony else to be his fillyfriend.”
Envy came beside Ruby placed her forehoof around the little filly to help comfort her, “Well… I’m sorry to hear that, darling. But, you can’t force anypony to be with or not be with any filly of his choice.”
“But…” Ruby continued, “It wasn’t just any filly; he chose… Pumpkin! He chose that danger prone filly over me!”
Envy’s eyes suddenly grew wide and then narrowed down a bit. Whatever glee that showed in her face suddenly disappeared as she became quite bothered.
“Hmm… is that so?” she asked.
“I’m afraid it is,” Ruby responded, “I mean… he knows all about her; what she’s like, and what she’s done! But yet he still chose her! This is absolutely bad; if she so much as hurt him, I’ll never forgive her!”
“Calm down, Ruby,” said Envy, “The boy is obviously oblivious to what he is getting himself into.”
Ruby sat down on the couch with her forearms crossed while sporting a pouty face, “Hmph; I’ll say! Only another psycho would dare be a coltfriend to Pumpkin; and Acer is no psycho.”
Hearing what took place at the schoolhouse, Envy just couldn’t ignore it; she had to do something.
“Just how attached is the little filly to your Pegasus friend?” Envy suddenly asked suspiciously.
“She did seem too shy at first, but now she’s being all lovey-dubby with him; she thinks he’s really cute! Before we know it they’ll soon be become really close!”
“This is just as I feared,” Envy thought to herself, “If that filly’s emotions focuses too much on another subject and makes her unaware of any mishaps that may happen to her, she’ll store up too much anger energy in her. Then if it’s unleashed at once, it could be the end of us all.”
“Mom, what are you thinking about?” Ruby asked suddenly.
“It’s… i-it’s nothing; but perhaps what Acer needs is a live demonstration. If you can somehow get that little filly to flip-out at somepony in front of him, then perhaps he will understand how dangerous it is to be so romantically close to her.”
Ruby’s frown suddenly turned upside after hearing the great idea her mother just gave her, “Yeah that could work! But… how do I make it work?”
Envy smiled and gave her daughter’s horn a light tap, “Just keep on doing what you’ve learned and what you can do; and make sure you don’t get caught.”
Ruby suddenly jumped up onto her mother giving her a big hug, “Thanks a lot mom, you always seem to know exactly what to say.”
“I always do, darling,” said Envy with a pleasant smile, “I always do.”
-----
Back at the main center off Ponyville, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were a little on the tense side while taking care of their business at SugarCube Corner. They couldn’t get their mind off of how their daughter was doing at school; even though they trusted their son, Pound, to keep an eye on her.
Suddenly, knowing that the school hours were over, their hearts began to race as the entrance door swung open. It was then they heard a familiar voice call out… in a cheerful way.
“Hey mom, dad; we’re back!”
It was their daughter, Pumpkin Cake, and she sounded so happy. They both rushed over to the door to welcome both of their little ponies.
“Welcome back, you two,” said Mrs. Cake, “did you have a good day?”
Suddenly, they realized that there was a third pony that was standing right beside Pumpkin; they’ve never seen him before.
“Well hello,” said Mrs. Cake with a pleasant smile, “Who is this?”
Pumpkin stood ahead of the new pony and looked at her Parents with a smile, “His name is Acer; he’s a new student that just started attending our class today…” She then looked over at Acer, and her smile got even brighter, “… and he’s my coltfriend.”
Both Mr. and Mrs. Cake suddenly froze with pure shock as they started looking back and forth at their daughter and Acer.
“Wait… w-what did you just say?” said Mr. Cake with his eyes still wide.
Pound looked at their parents with an amused smile, “I know; pretty awkward, but it’s true.”
Acer walked up closer to the Cakes and greeted them with a bow, ”It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. As you can already see, I have met your children; and I have to say that I think you two have a very awesome son, and a very lovely daughter.”
Mrs. Cake nudged her husband on the side and kinda chuckled a bit, “Well… isn’t he quite the gentlecolt.”
“Acer told us that his parents taught him on how to be polite to others,” said Pumpkin, “especially if he wants to be their friend… or coltfriend.”
Acer blushed a bit from slight embarrassment, “I’ve sorta had a crush on Pumpkin ever since I was 7, even though I’ve never met her. As the younger foal I was, I told my parents that one day I wish to be that filly’s friend and make her feel better from whatever made her unwell.”
“Oh honey, please hold me,” said Mrs. Cake to her husband as she leaned against him, “This little colt has become our daughter’s blessing!”
Mr. Cake chuckled awkwardly as he placed his forehoof around his wife. Pound rolled his eyes and sighed.
“A blessing? Mom… I think that you’re over-exaggerating just a little bit.”
“Oh I don’t know,” said Pumpkin while wrapping her forehooves around Acer, “It sounded pretty accurate to me.”
“By the way,” said Acer to the Cakes, “I saw a certain pink pony putting on a spy act nearby our school; Pinkie Pie is it? Is she here?”
Suddenly, as if on cue, Pinkie Pie zipped past from behind them and into their conversation sporting a delightful grin.
“Why hello there, Pumpkin and Pound.” She gave them both a certain wink with her eye, “Who’s your new friend?”
“You’re not fooling anypony, Pinkie,” said Pumpkin leering at Pinkie.
“I’m guessing that you’re incognito plan wasn’t a complete success?” asked Mr. Cake.
“Nope; ‘fraid not. But who cares; I got to witness cute little Pumpkin here accepting friendship to this little handsome colt. It was so beautiful!”
Acer came up to Pinkie and had a good look at her; and then he suddenly realized, “Hey wait a second. Now that I’m seeing you better, I think I recognize you.”
“You do?” asked Pinkie while tilting her head to side being curious.
“Yeah, I do. If Pumpkin doesn’t mind me saying… aren’t you that pink mare that that almost got killed by her when she was only 1yr old?”
The room suddenly fell silent after Acer’s question. He felt like maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned it like that.
“Oh, sorry; maybe it wasn’t smart to ask that.”
Pumpkin suddenly walked up to him and told him, “Hey, it’s alright; and yes, you are right.”
“Um, yeah; yeah, what she said,” said Pinkie out of relief, “I am the one! Of course, it wasn’t just me.”
“I know,” Acer responded, “It was you and 5 other mares, right?”
“Yep, you’re absolutely right!”
“Hey, Pumpkin… I can get off this subject if you want me to; you know, if it’s bothering you.”
“No, its okay,” she responded, “What else do you want to know?”
“W-well… how did you put up with it? How did you get through your days?”
Pumpkin looked at her parents for their approval. They nodded their heads; telling her to go ahead.
“I don’t remember much of how it started; I was only 1yr. old after all. But what I do remember was not too much fun. It was like a constant battle in my head; one side trying to keep calm, and one side trying to spread fear and having the need to kill. I guess my inner darker self doesn’t like to be told what to do; hence why I almost killed Pinkie. Not to mention that I almost lost my brother’s love and trust when I accidentally mutilated his wings; he was practically terrified of me. But, throughout the years as I got older, I became more aware of my situation and I did my best to redeem myself and earn back everypony’s trust; except, I never did lose anypony’s trust. They were just a bit weary of my condition, and they all wished me luck and prayed for me that I would be able to get out of that dreadful place as soon as possible.”
“We knew that Pumpkin was drawing in a lot of attention around Ponyville,” said Mrs. Cake, “it just didn’t hit us right away that all of them only cared for Pumpkin… and us. They all wanted to help us in any way they could. Pumpkin is really lucky to find somepony like you. You don’t care at all what she’s like, do you?”
“Of course I don’t,” Acer responded while shaking his head, “She can’t help it if she was born like this; I am willing to help her out in any way I can.”
Pumpkin couldn’t help but hug him again while tearing a bit through her eyes.
“Unfortunately,” said Pound in a solemn tone, “there are still a few who consider her a threat, and a danger to all Equestria.”
“What; who would think such a thing?” questioned Acer while flapping his wings out of mild anger.
“Do you know our classmate, Ruby Rose?”
Suddenly, Acer’s wings drooped down out of shock, “R-Ruby? You mean she is one of them?!”
“You do know her, don’t you?” asked Pumpkin.
Acer nodded slowly to Pumpkin, “Yeah, I do. We were good friends back in Trottingham before she had to move here. I did talk to her today, but when I saw you and wanted to see you she seemed to be against it. She really didn’t want me to be into you; now I know why.”
“She did give me a little look before she left the schoolhouse;” mentioned Pumpkin, “Is she… jealous of me?”
“It truly sounds like it to me,” shouted Pinkie while smacking her hooves together.
“Ruby’s mother doesn’t care for Pumpkin either,” said Pound, “In fact, she wishes for Pumpkin to get back into that ward where she belongs… but we really don’t like to dwell on that.”
Acer looked at Pumpkin who was holding her head down trying her best not to crack under emotional pressure; he then went over to comfort her while displaying a little anger himself.
“That’s… that’s terrible! Aside from my family, Ruby and her mother are some of the nicest ponies I know; why would they act like this towards her!?”
“Because… they think… I’m… a freak,” Pumpkin responded quietly shedding a tear, “I’m a monster, a lost cause, a fatal disaster waiting to happen. They see me as nothing but a… major threat to everypony around me.”
This time, even Acer shed a few tears realizing just how tough Pumpkin really had it; not to mention who was truly responsible for her hard time recently.
“No way; they could’ve said all that.”
“It’s true,” said Pound, “the thing is the mother doesn’t do a thing; instead she has to Ruby trust her into personally harass Pumpkin whenever she could to make her lose her temper to remind others exactly just how dangerous she is… nothing but a bunch of bullcap. We’re not quite sure why they are doing this, but the matter has been mostly taken care of; although if they are as you say, nice ponies, they’re certainly not showing it.”
Acer noticed a slight glow emitting in Pumpkin’s horn; and seeing how slightly distraught her face was, he had an idea of what was going on. He politely held up her head and lightly held his hoof on her horn. Pumpkin suddenly felt a feeling of comfort as she felt the irritation go away. She looked at Acer who had a serious, honest look on his face.
“I’m sure that family has been telling you this already but… you’re not a freak, a monster, or a lost cause. I’d say that the real monster is whoever harasses you.”
Pumpkin started smiling again while wiping away some emotional tears.
“Don’t let anypony get you down or get you easily irritated. Don’t let that other side of you gain in control; I believe that you’re stronger than that.”
Pumpkin held her head up; feeling her confidence take flight and Acer’s words giving her stronger willpower.
“Don’t worry, I am. After what I’ve been through, I never want to harm anypony again. Besides…” Pumpkin began to rub her head against Acer’s cheek, “… I think I’m fine… now that I’ve met you.”
“I’m glad that I can help,” Acer responded, and then gave her a little peck on her cheek.
Mrs. Cake started to sob in happiness beside her husband, “Oh Celestia, I think… I’m going to cry.”
“Easy honey, easy; it’ll be alright,” her husband responded to her.
Pumpkin suddenly felt a slight twinge in her head and groaned a bit while holding her hoof to her head.
“Pumpkin, are you alright,” asked Acer.
She sat her hoof down and showed a bright smile to hide her expression of the light pain, “I’m alright, but… could you excuse me for a moment, please?”
“Oh… um, sure,” said Acer awkwardly.
Acer watched Pumpkin as she began to walk upstairs towards her room; then suddenly, Pinkie came from behind and gave him a light noogie on the head.
“Alright; you go, Acer! You know how to impress little fillies!”
Acer kinda blushed but tried to hide it, “Well, I don’t do it to mainly impress them; I just do it to be nice and polite… like my parents taught me.”
As Mr. Cake carried his happily sobbing wife in the front room, he called out, “Pinkie Pie, would you mind helping us out in the kitchen; as sentimental as this moment was, we need to get back on schedule.”
“Okie, doki, loki,” she responded; then she looked back at Pound and Acer, “Gotta roll, you two colt keep on keeping it real!”
As she skipped off towards the kitchen, Acer just smiled and shook his head, “That pink mare really is something.”
“Hey, Acer,” said Pound suddenly, “can I talk to you for a sec; colt to colt?”
Acer looked up and nodded his head, “Sure, what’s up?”
“Well… I just wanted to tell you that… well; you’re the best thing that’s happened to Pumpkin since she was released from that psychiatric ward. I wish I was there for most of her growing up in that place but… I let fear control me. I let Pumpkin’s uncontrollable actions on me draw me apart from her when she needed my support most.”
“Well, getting most of your wings sliced and torn up by your own twin can do that to you,” Acer responded, “And besides, you two were just toddler foals; you couldn’t have thought that through.”
“I know, but she’s still my sister; my twin sister. We’re both 2 halves of the same whole. If I never had gotten over my fear of her, she probably wouldn’t be able to move on with her life. But luckily, she’s met you; and now I can sense that she’s finally going to be able to get through with this much better than she has already.”
“By the way,” said Acer while looking at the stairs, “what is she doing up there…” He hesitated slightly, “Um, unless it’s none of my business.”
“Whenever Pumpkin feels a great deal of stress in her body, she goes up to her room alone to meditate; it helps her to stay calm and keeps her other side at bay.”
Acer was quite amazed by all of this; it seemed that Pumpkin had a self-saving method after all. Maybe with that and his support, he believes that Pumpkin could finally be out of danger of losing control of her emotions.
“I guess things were already taken care of before I got here, huh?” said Acer.
Pound looked over at Acer; wondering if he was still thinking about the ones he calls… nice ponies, “So what are you going to do about Ruby and her mother?”
“I’ll talk to them eventually, but… maybe now is not the best time. Knowing Ruby, she’s probably too mad at me right now.” Acer laughed a bit along with Pound.
Something suddenly across Acer’s mind, “So, Pound… at one point during school I couldn’t help but notice that you were making quite some dreamy eyes at that earth filly; Minty Swirl was it?”
Pound’s face suddenly blushed full red as his wings suddenly popped up, “W-w-what; I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Acer sported a sly smile and chuckled while patting Pound on his back, “Don’t worry about it, man; some colts are just more resourceful at this kind of stuff than others.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean,” spouted Pound.