//------------------------------//
// IT... Returns... 
// Story: Pumpkin's Struggle (Part 3): Love is a Lie 
// by AngelShy24 
//------------------------------//

	“Or maybe… Acer was attacked, and Pumpkin tried to save him,” said Pinkie as she and Pound were trying to figure out why Pumpkin was in such a sorrowful state, “But then she got badly injured… and now… Acer’s DEAD!”
“Don’t say something like that, Pinkie!” shouted Pound in an upset tone.
“Well… why else she come home from seeing him and crying?” she responded, “The only other logical explanation would be if he broke up with her; and we all know that it’s not that!”
“Well I’m pretty sure that he’s not dead; why don’t we just ask Pumpkin what happened when she comes back down.”
“Are you sure that she might be comfortable with that?” Pinkie wondered.
“Probably not,” Pound responded, “but we have to find out what’s going on somehow.”
Suddenly, they heard a loud slam sound from upstairs, followed by a series of steady hoof steps clopping against the floor and coming down the stairs. Pound could see the shadow silhouette of his sister stretching down the steps as she was approaching closer to them.
“Ah, here she comes now,” said Pound.
However, when Pumpkin reached the bottom, there was no hint of a smile anywhere on her, her head was lowered in a position that they couldn’t see her face completely, and some of her front mane was drooping down all over her eyes. Something didn’t seem right to Pound; he could feel this weird chilling sensation coming from his sister.
“Um… h-hey, Pumpkin; are you okay?”
Without lifting her head up, Pumpkin answered in a low, trembling, seldom tone, “No… no I’m not…” 
Pinkie hopped down besides Pound and asked, “Acer isn’t dead, is he?!”
Pumpkin’s ears lowered suddenly, then she slowly walked past both Pound and Pinkie while saying, “No…” then her voice changed to that of what sounded a bit crazed, “but he is about to be.”
“Wait… what!” said Pinkie while she was trying to fully comprehend what Pumpkin just said.
The little filly was headed towards the entrance door without another a word when Pound suddenly stepped in front of her storm-riding path.
“Pumpkin, what’s wrong? I feel that something terrible has happened. Please, tell us what’s going on; we have to know.”
Pumpkin lifted her head up face-level to Pound’s and she made a creepy, unsettling glare at him with her newly crimson red eyes that were pulsing with a dark aura.
“Out… of my way… brother.”
Pound’s body started shaking as he was staring into his sister’s eye’s; they were very familiar to him, “Those eyes… oh no.”
He saw the evil gleam within her eyes and tried to show no fear as he stood his ground and looked at his sister straight in the eye, “Um… Pumpkin, m-maybe you should stay here a bit and cool off; you don’t seem well.”
“I said… get out of my way,” Pumpkin said in a more menacing tone as her horn started to glow.
“No, not until you cool down and tell us what’s going on!”
She stomped one of her front hooves on the ground; startling her brother then staring off to the side, “What’s going on… is that I have been living a lie. The very happiness that I had recievd was all nothing but a lie.”
“A lie?” wondered Pinkie.
Pumpkin suddenly turned her glare back at her brother with her horn still glowing immensely, “Now step aside so I can lay my wrath upon the one who has sinned against my heart.”
Pound saw what was going on now, but he wasn’t planning on letting it get too far. He knew for a fact that if Pumpkin got out of control again, the medical corps would have no choice but to bring her back to that dreadful ward place to keep everypony safe for the time being; he didn’t want that to happen.
“Sorry, Pumpkin; but in the condition that you’re in right now, I’m afraid that I can’t allow you to go out like…”
Suddenly, without making a flinch, she used her magic to lift her brother in the air and then flung him behind her right into a wall; leaving a small imprint of his body in it. He grunted a bit from the impact and then dropped down on the ground. 
Pinkie quickly rushed to him to see if he was alright, “Pound!”
He quickly got up and shook himself off, “Ugh, I’m okay.”
Pumpkin just stood there in the doorway while mouthing a message, “My love, my happiness, and my light… they were all ruined; gone in one single moment.” 
She turned her head towards them and slight trickles of tears were flowing down her face. She glared at them; not showing a single hint of happiness. 
“So, whether you two like it or not,” she said in a dark vengeful tone, “somepony’s blood will spill today.”
Her drooping mane wavered in the wind as her horn started to glow and a bright light surrounded her. Pound suddenly rose up in the air and raced toward his sister.
“Pumpkin, wait!”
But the last thing he noticed and saw was a small little grin that appeared on Pumpkin’s face, and then she vanished out of sight. 
“She transported?!” shouted Pound in shock, “How did she…”
“Oh no, she’s planning to kill Acer!” shouted Pinkie suddenly.
Pound looked over at her feeling a bit freaked out, “What; how do you know that?!”
“Oh nothing;” she said sarcastically, “just the statement that she made about Acer not being Dead… but he’s gonna be!”
Pound knew for a fact that Pinkie was right; this was starting out to be like that exact day when they were toddlers all over again.
“But… b-but I don’t understand,” he said, “Why would she want to do this… to him; it makes no sense. Unless… unless he really did fake his love for my sister just to hurt her in the end!”
Pinkie thought that could be possible too, “Well, maybe we should let Pumpkin kill him.”
Pound looked at her with an annoyed expression, “Pinkie…”
“Oh, I’m just kidding! Now come on, I’m sure that she’s headed to that same location that she came from!”
They were headed towards the door, and then suddenly, something came to Pound’s mind, “Wait, what about mom and dad? Shouldn’t they know?”
“I don’t know where they are,” Pinkie responded, “and by the time we find them, somepony could already be dead! We have to try and stop her before it’s too late!”

-----

Back at the open area near the park, Ruby was sitting there patiently waiting to see what could happened after her plan worked. Acer was still unconscious beside her but the after affects of her mild spell was about to wear of soon.
“Where is she already,” Ruby thought to herself, “I really don’t have all day.”
But even though she was going along with the plan, she still felt a little uneasy about if she could handle doing this; but… her magic training hasn’t failed her yet.
Just then, Acer started to wake up, and soon she would have to explain things to him.
“R-Ruby; what’s going… on? What… happened to me?”
“Oh; um… hey, A-Acer! Um… I-I saw you passed out… out here for some weird reason. I was very worried.”
“I did come out here to meet with Pumpkin,” Acer responded, “but then suddenly… everything went hazy; like I was under a spell or something.”
Ruby sweated a little and gulped hard in her throat.
“I’m not sure exactly of what happened, but I feel like...”
Suddenly, he saw the visible drag trail in the dirt nearby; the same one in which he created when he sent Pumpkin tumbling across the ground. 
“Hey, what’s up with that rugged dirt trail over there?”
Ruby hesitated a bit and then told him a lie.
“I-i-i-it’s nothing! I mean it could be anything.”
“Well, in any case,” said Acer, “Pumpkin must be running late or something. I suppose I can wait for her for a few more minutes; and if she’s not back by then, I’ll just go to her house to see if she’s alright.”
He then looked over at Ruby who seemed to look a little troubled, but he just thought that it was because of her worry of might have happened to him.
“Oh, and by the way… thanks for watching over me and making sure that I was okay. In the end, you really are a good friend… and I trust you.”
Poor Ruby; just that comment from Acer alone suddenly made her feel like her guilt was eating her up inside; she truly felt terrible about what she had done. She knew that she did it because her mother thought that it was the best thing to do to keep Ponyville and all of Equestria safe, but it still ended up feeling very wrong to her for what she did; no matter what she thought of Pumpkin.
“Um… A-Acer,” she said hesitantly as she slightly pushed on his back, “Acer, y-you really have to get out of here!”
“Huh; what are you talking about,” Acer responded, “What’s going on?”
“I’m… I’m afraid I did something… really, really stupid.”
Acer suddenly had this unsettling feeling in his gut that made him know that something serious was up.
“Ruby, you’re freaking me out; what are you…”
Suddenly, Ruby looked behind Acer and saw what seemed like a glowing light… it fully hit her of what it was. 
“LOOK OUT, ACER!”
She quickly pushed him down on the ground as a magic beam just missed the top of Acer’s mane and dissipated on the ground. Acer’s heart was racing wondering what was going on.
“What the hay was that!?”
“Acer, you have to leave… now!” Ruby pleaded.
Acer glared at her all while feeling panicked, “What’s going on, Ruby!?”
He then heard a familiar voice behind him; although, there was something oddly chilling about how it sounded.
“Hello… Acer.”
Acer slowly turned around and saw a familiar little filly slowly approaching them from behind some bushes. Her head was down and her mane was drooping down so that it was covering her eyes. Acer knew who it was, but he had a feeling that something was happening to her.
“Pumpkin;” he said nervously, “is that you? Are you okay?”
He suddenly found himself quickly jumping to the side to avoid another beam shot from Pumpkin.
“What the…”
“How dare you ask me that,” said Pumpkin in altered dark voice, “after what you did to me.”
“Pumpkin, what’s wrong?” he asked while feeling a bit fearful of her presence, “Hold your head up; l-l-let me see those cute little eyes.”
A sinister smirk showed up on her face, “Heh, you mean… these eyes!?”
She had held her head up, but what Acer saw was not what he expected; her eyes were a dark, crimson red, and her mane didn’t look as neatly and well-groomed as it once was. It was dangling all over her head and face. To him, it was a shocking sight.
“Sweet sister of Luna!”
“You see these eyes,” Pumpkin stated, “these were caused by your betrayal, your deception, your lie.”
Acer felt very confused of what was going on; what could have possibly caused her to act this way towards him.
“Pumpkin, I don’t know what you mean; I was just waiting here for you to show up like you mention in the letter you sent me. Why would you think I would betray you?! Ruby, do you know anything about this?!”
“Um… uh…” 
Ruby couldn’t say anything, she was a bit too frightened by Pumpkin’s presence; this was the first time she’s ever been this scared towards her. However, when the angered filly fired another beam at Acer, she quickly got in front of him and deflected it out of the way. The force of the impact was pretty strong; a bit stronger than she thought.
“Man, that’s some powerful stuff,” she said.
“Pumpkin, you have to calm down,” said Acer who was trying desperately to reach her, “I’m right here for you! Please, do it for me?”
Pumpkin didn’t care to listen as she attacked him yet again. This time, Ruby caught it with her horn and repelled it back at Pumpkin. Unfortunately, she easily jumped out of the way and was glaring at Ruby.
“How are you able to do that, Ruby?” asked Acer.
“It’s kinda hard to explain right now,” she responded.
Pumpkin took a couple of more steps towards their direction with her fear-driven eyes still fixed on Acer.
“You think I’m going to fall for your fake love routine again? The very proof of what you did to me is right there behind you!”
Acer looked behind him and once again saw the dirt trail on the ground, “Wait… that…”
“… was made… when you broke my heart, and rammed me into the ground!”
“What; Pumpkin, that’s not true,” Acer shouted out pleadingly, “I didn’t do that! I would never do that to you!”
“LIES!!!”
Ruby got in front of Acer once again to deflect a powerful magic beam shot by Pumpkin, but it felt even stronger and more exhausting to defend against it than before.
“A-Acer, you have to get away,” said Ruby while panting, “She’s going to kill you!”
“I’m not going anywhere until I find out what’s going on!”
Pumpkin glared at Ruby with her sinister stare while brushing her hoof against the ground, “Out… of the way, witch! He’s going to suffer for what he has done to me… or do you want to die first?”
Ruby, while still shaking, stood her ground and bravely planned to go against the deranged filly. She was hoping that it was going to all turn out the way she wanted it to be; despite the major pressure going on right now.
“N-n-no, I’m… I’m not going to let you hurt Acer! C-come at me; I can handle you!”  
Pumpkin just chuckled while looking at the filly that had made her recent life a living hell and started to charge her horn again.
“Heh, your funeral.”
Ruby took a few steps forward towards Pumpkin and readied herself.
“Pumpkin, please snap out of it before somepony gets hurt!”
Pumpkin ignored the words of Acer as she suddenly shot a barrage of fireballs at Ruby. Ruby felt tired, but still managed to place up a shield to deflect all of the fireaballs. Once it ended, she was panting and smirking at Pumpkin, she felt rather proud of herself for deflecting all of that.
“How… do you like that; told ya that I could handle you.”
Pumpkin’s eyes were glistening as she continued to stare down Ruby while lightly growling, “You… are becoming a huge annoyance.”
“That’s right, keep coming at me,” Ruby shouted, “and I’ll just continue to repel you back. What are you going to do now fr… Pumpkin?”
“Ruby, now’s not the time to egg her on like that,” Acer responded.”	
“Don’t get a swell head, fool,” growled Pumpkin, “Over more than a year I’ve put up with enough crap from you. You think I’m a freak now, you have no idea how much of a freak I can be!”
Pumpkin slammed her front hooves onto the ground, and with all of her might, she sent a huge magic beam at Ruby. Ruby was able to halt it at first, but soon the force of it was getting too strong and the beam eventually burst through Ruby’s defense and landed right  on her. She screamed in agonizing pain from the impact and fell right in front of Acer. Her whole body was covered in singed bruises and she was hardly moving a muscle.	
“Ruby!” Acer shouted as he stared at her in horror.
But then, while still alive and conscious, Ruby was lifted up in the air by Pumpkin’s magic and she was levitated over to her. She held her close and looked at her straight in the eyes.
“Stay out of my way; I’ll kill you later.”
Ruby was then thrown over Pumpkin and tumbled against the ground coughing and groaning from the pain.
“Pumpkin, stop this,” Acer cried out, “Ruby are you… Ahh!”
Acer jumped back suddenly while dodging Pumpkin’s attack again. She was slowly walking towards him again giving him her murderous stare. This time, Ruby couldn’t get in her way.
“Now, back to you, dearest Acer.”
“Pumpkin, please… just let me talk to you; you’re not being yourself!”
“There is nothing to talk about,” said Pumpkin with hatred still in her eyes, “And I am very much myself.”
The more Pumpkin edged towards Acer, the more he backed away; worried that she might attack again.
“What’s the matter, are you afraid of me now?”
Trying to not show any main fear in his expression, he just answered calmly, “N-n- no, Pumpkin… I’m… I’m not afraid of you.”
“Well… you should be,” she said with a sinister smile; but then that smile quickly went away; “Nopony abuses me… and leaves with their blood intact.”
Acer was doing his best to keep on a straight face even though he was still shaking from slight fear, “You… d-don’t want to do this.”
“Why don’t we test that theory?”
Pumpkin’s final chance to take out Acer was interrupted when a voice suddenly called out, “Pumpkin!” 
She stopped and turned her glare behind her baring her teeth; she then saw ponies that she thought she left behind, Pound and Pinkie.
“I knew it,” shouted Pinkie, “See, I told you that she was here!”
After looking at his sister, Pound noticed their classmate, Ruby, near beside them lying on the ground covered in bruises; it was clear to him of what happened to her.
“R… Ruby?!” he gasped.
Ruby looked up at him and literally pleaded at him, “Please… y-you have to stop her.”
Pound turned his attention back to his sister who was showing no pleasant feeling for seeing them there.
“Pumpkin, whatever you’re doing… it has to stop.”
“Stay out of my business, Pound,” snarled Pumpkin.
“I’m your brother,” Pound responded, “this involves me too… and Pinkie.”
“That’s right!” Pinkie responded in a serious tone.
“Look, even if Acer did something cold and cruel to you, I won’t allow you to murder him like you almost did to Aunt Pinkie back when we were just toddler foals!”
Pinkie slightly shuddered a bit when she thought of that time.
“What’s up with you guys,” shouted Acer, “What in celestia’s name did I do to her!?”
Pumpkin stared at her brother square in the face feeling very un-amused, “So… let me guess, you 2 two are going to try and stop me?”
“By any means, if necessary,” Pound responded.
“That wouldn’t be very wise for you to try that,” said Pumpkin with a slight chuckle, “Tell me, do you feel like having your wings severed again; that would definitely help calm your dear little sister down.”
Pound suddenly faltered down a bit and he fully closed his wings. Pumpkin was trying to place that horrifying moment back in his head again; his entire body was shaking.
“Don’t let her scare you, Pound,” shouted Pinkie, “She’s… sh-she’s only bluffing!”
“Oh really, I’m bluffing,” said the demented filly as she turned her eyes on the pink mare, “You mean like when you thought I was bluffing when I held that knife right between your eyes?”
Pinkie smiled nervously and gulped very hard; and she was rapidly sweating as well. Just then, a powerful beam came at Pumpkin at full speed; but just when it reached her, Pumpkin absorbed it with her horn. She turned her crimson eyes in the beam’s direction and saw Ruby who was barely standing and had wide frighten eyes knowing that she missed. 
Pumpkin returned the shot back at her but Ruby was able to soften the hit with a shield; but not by much as went traveling across the ground.
“Stay… down,” she said.
“Oh celestia, Ruby,” shouted Acer.
“I wouldn’t worry about her yet,” said Pumpkin as she turned back to Acer, “because as of right now, I’m going to kill you… and I’m going to enjoy it.”
“Pumpkin… please… I don’t understand;” stated Acer feeling upset for her, “why would you think that I would ever hurt you?!” 	
“Because I trusted you… with everything I had! But then you turned around and treated me like I was nothing to you, or anypony! You treated me like a monster… and called me a… freak…”
“He did what?” said Pound.
“I knew it,” shouted Pinkie, “Let me at him!”
“NO! Hold on, you got it all wrong,” Acer responded, “Pumpkin, I don’t know who did what you mention to me, but it wasn’t me! Abusing you and breaking your heart is the last thing that I would ever do to you! So please, calm down and fight your emotions, and go back to being the sweet and caring filly I’ve known to fall for.”
Ruby still felt a little jealous against Pumpkin, but at this point even she hoped that she would come back to her senses. But unfortunately, Pumpkin was still not buying Acer’s sweet act.
“Spoken like a fool who wants to save his sorry flank from his own deserved demise.”
“Come on,” said Acer, “you have to come back to your senses!”
“Not on your life, Acer,” snarled Pumpkin as she aimed her horn right at the worried colt, “You dared to break my heart,“ A creepy smile suddenly appeared on her face while panting lightly, “so now… I’m going to break yours… literally.”
Acer jumped out of the way once again avoiding Pumpkin’s attack, “Stop; I just want to help you!”
“Nothing but LIES!”
Suddenly, Pinkie jumped on top of Pumpkin pinning her down on the ground to avoid Pumpkin from firing another shot.
“Gotcha!”
“Hold her down tight!” shouted Pound as he joined Pinkie. He then tried to reach his sister’s sanity himself, “Pumpkin, I’m begging you; fight whatever is making you do this! Fight it!”
“Get… off… of… ME!”
Pumpkin used some kind of magical force to ricochet both ponies off of her and into the air. Too bad Pinkie didn’t have wings as she fell onto the ground with a hard thud; she groaned a bit from the harsh feeling. Suddenly, Pumpkin glared at Pinkie with a creepy grin and fired a spell at her, and Pound noticed.
“Aunt Pinkie, look out!”
Pound quickly flew down in front of Pinkie who was still trying to get up to shield her; however, instead of harming them, the spell created a magical barrier around both of them.
“What the…” thought Pound.
Pumpkin just chuckled out of amusement, “I think I’ll have some fun with you two later.”
She then started to head back towards Acer without any more distractions.
“Pumpkin, stop;” shouted Pound as he was beating against the shield, “This is not worth murder! Pumpkin!”
“Stupid Sheild,” yelled Pinkie, “I can’t get out!”
Pumpkin soon came upon Acer who this time didn’t seem to run away. She held her horn in front of him while her psychotic smile was in his view as well.
“Ugh… Pumpkin, please don’t…”
Without warning, Acer was hit by a huge beam attack from Pumpkin, in close range too. He was holding painful scream in as he tumbled across the ground. Pumpkin was still smiling feeling partially satisfied to see Acer experiencing the same pain that he gave to her earlier.
“Did you feel that, that’s only a taste of the pain I’m about to make you endure.”
Acer slowly got up as his whole body was shaking; he wasn’t going to give up on her just yet, “Pumpkin… even if you do kill me, what will that prove to everypony? I know that the real you is still in there and I know that you really don’t believe anything that you’re saying. Please, think of your friends and family. None of them would do anything to harm you… including me. Can’t you believe that?” 
Suddenly just for a second, it seemed that Pumpkin’s eyes suddenly converted back to the original blue color and the filly just looked at him wondering if he meant what he said.
“Acer… I…”
But it wasn’t for too long as the darkness came back in her sinister gaze, “Ugh… no. No, no, no! Never again! You played with my heart once; I won’t allow that to happen again!”
She suddenly raised Acer up in the air with her magic and slammed him against a nearby tree and held him there. He was grunting and struggling against Pumpkin’s force, but his resistance was futile.
“Pumpkin, stop!” shouted Pound with tears in his eyes.
“Do you fear me now, Acer?” said Pumpkin staring creepily into the trapped colt’s eyes, “Now that I’m about to slowly drain your life away?”
On the outside Acer stayed calmed, but on the inside, he was terrified for his life and was scared of what would happen to Pumpkin after this.
“Pumpkin… even now… I… I-I-I don’t fear you, nor do y-you want to kill me.”
Even after everything she was putting him through, the caring compassion that Pumpkin thought was fake would not disappear from his face. The psychotic filly tighten her grip on his body as her creepy smile went away. 
“You sicken me.”