Pumpkin's Struggle (Part 3): Love is a Lie

by AngelShy24

Acer

It’s nighttime in Ponyville as Luna’s glamorous moon shone onto the land. Almost every pony was silent and snug all nice and tight in their beds; fast asleep. However, about an hour after midnight Pinkie was sound asleep when she suddenly heard light knock on her room door. She slowly rose up in her bed and groaned a bit while wiping away some of the sleepiness in her eyes.

“What… who is it?” she moaned, “You can come in.”

The door slowly creaked open as Pinkie tried her best to see who it was. Standing in the doorway of her room was Pumpkin Cake. She was wearing her favorite light-blue nightcap and carrying her stuffed rubber chicken on her back.

“Pinkie… I can’t sleep,” spouted the young filly that was awake yet still very sleepy.

“Having some bad dreams, Pumpkin?” asked Pinkie as Pumpkin trotted over to the left side of the bed.

“Not necessarily; I guess my mind just feels troubled and it’s keeping me awake. It’s like some kind of feeling telling me that if I fall asleep, something bad might happen.”

Pinkie looked at the young filly as she was constantly wiping her eyes; she looked absolutely tuckered out yet she couldn’t get herself to sleep. Pinkie smiled and scooted over in her bed to make room for Pumpkin.

“Come on over here, lil’ Pumpkin; and don’t rub your eyes too much, you could make them sore.”

Pumpkin hopped onto the bed and then laid down beside Pinkie and placed her stuffed chicken in front of her, “I hope I’m not bothering you; I didn’t want to wake Mom and Dad.”

“Don’t worry about that, Pumpkin,” Pinkie replied, “All of us are always here for you, including me.”

Pumpkin plopped her head onto the bed while trying to relax in her lying position, “Do you think… it would be too dangerous for me to go back to school tomorrow?”

Pinkie suddenly gave her a little noogie on the head causing her to giggle a little, “No way, silly; you need your education.” She suddenly got a little serious and made sure that she had Pumpkin’s attention, “Listen Pumpkin, don’t you dare pay any more attention to that mean Ruby filly; she’s totally lost her gumdrops to try and purposely make you lose it under pressure. And forget about her mother too; so what if she doesn’t care about your well-being. She can’t hurt you, nor will she ever have a chance to do so.”

“Pinkie…” said Pumpkin while looking at Pinkie with innocent, sleepy eyes, “can I… sleep with you; it would make me feel better.”

“Of course you can;” Pinkie replied, “you can stay here all night if you want.”

“Thanks, Pinkie.”

Pumpkin cuddled up closer to Pinkie before getting into a comfortable position. She gave a big loud yawn and grabbed her stuffed chicken as she almost instantly fell asleep. Pinkie just smiled as she gently rubs her hoof on top of Pumpkin’s head; comforting her getting her to stay asleep.

“Sweet dreams, Pumpkin,” said Pinkie, “Don’t let negative energies keep you from getting your beauty sleep.”

-----

The next day, the two foal twins were up preparing for a brand new day of school. Pumpkin, who was already at the door jumping with excitement, was wide awake; thanks to her comforting sleep with Pinkie Pie. She was ready to deal with any challenge that would come her way; even dealing with Ruby Rose.

“Come on, Pound,” Pumpkin shouted, “you don’t want to be late; do ya?!”

“Don’t be silly,” Pound replied, “we’re never late; no need to hurry?”

Pinkie hopped over to the doorway as the twins started to head out towards their school, “See you later, you two! Have fun, learn something, and Pound… don’t forget to look after your sister!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” said Pound. He suddenly posed in a proud-like stance while spreading his wings, “No pony is going to pick at Pumpkin without going through me first!”

Pumpkin decided to play along with her brother’s gesture, “Oh, my hero!” She then leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Ew, Pumpkin!” Pound shouted as he backed away and wiped off his cheek.

“Oh take it like a stallion, Pound.”

The twins continued onward as Pinkie kept a smile on her face; waving and waving until they were out of her sight.

“You’re going to keep an eye on her during their recess period; aren’t you,” asked Mrs. Cake who was standing behind her.

“That’s right! Not that I doubt Pumpkin, but I’m not taking any chances for anypony to make Pumpkin lose her cool! But don’t worry, she won’t even know I’m there; I’ll be going… incognito.”

Mr. & Mrs. Cake gave each other a look of worry; any plan of Pinkie’s always had its weird quirks. Does she really think she can pull it off?

-----

Pumpkin’s friend, Minty, was standing nearby the dirt path that led to the schoolhouse when she looked over to her side and saw Pumpkin and Pound headed her way. She saw Pound pretending to be calm, cool, and collective as always, but Pumpkin… she seemed rather cheerful; perhaps a lot more cheerful than how she usually sees her like on mornings like this.

“Morning Pumpkin,” said Minty, “You look rather cheerful this morning.”

“Well… I had a good night’s sleep last night; I’m up and rarin’ to go!”

“So you’re not worried about… you know who?” Minty asked.

“Don’t worry, I’m ready for her this time,” Pumpkin said with confidence.

“Um, no offense,” Minty replied, “but you said that the last few times and it still didn’t work out.”

Pound walked up to her wearing a proud smirk, “Well Miss Cheerliee had a little talk with Ruby’s Mother; she plans to expel her if she causes another fight to ignite between Pumpkin and her.”

Minty had a slight sigh of relief for Pumpkin upon hearing that, “Well alright; too bad for Ruby. If it does happen she’ll deserve it!”

Minty looked over at Pumpkin who appeared to be thinking in her own little world; probably contemplating on the whole Ruby being expelled thing.

“And don’t think for one second that it will be your fault, Pumpkin,” Minty shouted. Pumpkin suddenly woke from her spacing around and looked at her friend.

“Huh, what was that?”

“If Ruby causes a fight to happen between you two and she gets expelled, it won’t be your fault; she would’ve brought it all on herself.”

“Oh, yeah… if you say so,” said Pumpkin while smiling slightly.

Pound looked up ahead and saw someone familiar, “Uh-oh, prissy pony up ahead.”

As they approached closer to the schoolhouse, nearby where Ruby and some of her misc friends were standing, they did their best not to look at her straight in the eyes. Some of her misc. friends were giggling a bit as they saw Pumpkin and the others walked by in a weird manner. Pumpkin’s eyes sort of leered to the side trying to get a glimpse of Ruby, and then Minty quickly tilted Pumpkin’s head back around.

“Just keep walking,” Minty said, “keep walking and pretend that you don’t even see her.”

They almost reached the door of the schoolhouse, and then suddenly Pumpkin heard Ruby call out to her in a snooty tone, “Well, nice to see that you still came today, Pumpkin. Here’s to another new day of learning.”

Pumpkin didn’t even turned around to answer her; she just took a deep breath, and calmly replied, “Yeah, whatever; just make sure to keep your knowledge away from me.”

As they walked inside the schoolhouse, Ruby just smiled while flouncing her mane making sure that it looked perfect for presentation. One of her friends came up from behind her and questioned her, “Hey, Ruby, are you sure that this will be all worth it in the end?”

Ruby looked at her smiled slightly, “Trust me, it may all look like a waste of time but it’s for the best of Ponyville. My mother says that it must be done and I trust her enough; so when it does happen I’ll be doing all of Equestria a favor.”

“But what about Minty,” said another one of her misc. friends, “think she’ll ever be your friend again once you succeed in putting Pumpkin away?”

“She’ll understand sooner or later… she has to. I intend to prove my mother’s theory today after school; she’ll be so proud of me!”

-----

“Good morning, class!” shouted Miss Cheerliee to her students as they were sitting down for class ready to learn. “I hope you all had a good night’s rest last night. Hope you’re ready for more learning.” Then she put on a slightly more serious face, “And I hope some of you will be on your best behavior or else you may find yourself written up or, or even expelled.”

Some of the students just gasped a little while looking at each other wondering what their teacher was going on about; except Ruby, who knew exactly what she meant.

Then, Cheerliee put on another cheerful face for the class, “But don’t worry; you’re all good students and hopefully that will never happen.”

Most of the class suddenly sighed in relief of heir teacher’s words knowing that she was partly just playing around.

“Yeah, you go, Miss Cheerliee!” shouted Minty.

“Now before we start today’s lesson, I’d like for the class to welcome a new student that will join us for the rest of this semester. Why don’t you come up here and tell us a little bit about yourself.”

The class watched as an individual student rose up from his seat and started to go up at the front of the classroom. He was a white Pegasus colt sporting a wavy lime-green mane. His appearance seemed to be a bit dynamic as he flew the rest of the way to front of the class.

“Hello, everypony,” shouted the young colt in an excited manner, “my name is Acer! My parents and I came from the northern sky city of Trottingham!”

He turned to the side and spread his wings to make himself look cool as he displayed his cutiemark to the class, “I got this awesome cutiemark here from discovering my love for Aerial sports! I love things like wing gliding, air surfing, turbo skating, things like that! I’m happy to be here and I look forward to spending time with all of you!”

Ruby Rose had her head on her desk listening to pegasus who was introducing himself; but then she suddenly had a closer look. When she realized who it was she started to freak out in her mind.

“Wait a second, isn’t that… oh my gosh! It… it is him! It’s Acer; my lovely pegasus friend that I left behind at Trottington when I moved here 3 years ago! I can’t believe that he’s here! Hmm, I wonder if he’s changed his mind about being my coltfriend.”

Cheerliee got back up and walked up beside Acer, “Thank you, Acer; you may go back to your seat now.”

Pound looked over at his sister and asked her in an excited tone, “Hey Pumpkin, that Pegasus seems pretty cool, doesn’t he?”

Pumpkin found herself watching Acer as he went to his seat; to her he was probably one of the cutest colts she’s ever seen. It made her feel rather… happy and at ease.

“Yeah, he sure is something alright,” responded Pumpkin to herself in a content and calm way. She laid her head against her hooves on the desk and sigh to herself while continuing to look at him.

Unfortunately, Ruby notices her love struck expression that was aimed at her old friend.

“What the…” she said to herself, “is she…” She had a feeling that maybe Acer wouldn’t have any similar feelings for Pumpkin, but it still didn’t feel right with her seeing that unicorn filly looking at him that way.

“Sorry, Pumpkin,” Ruby thought to herself while continuing to glare at Pumpkin, “but I’m afraid that he’s already taken.

-----

Pretty soon, their recess period came and every filly and colt were outside playing and hanging out with each other while Cheerliee was sitting on the steps of the schoolhouse entrance watching over her students.

The new student, Acer, was just walking around watching what all the students were doing and was trying to decide which crowd to join. But then suddenly, the snooty little filly named Ruby Rose walked up behind him and decided to give him a little surprise.

“What’s up, Acer?” she called out in a semi-teasing tone, “Remember me?”

Acer quickly turned around and was content in seeing who it was, “Oh, Ruby Rose; I thought I recognized you.” He then gave her a light hug in which Ruby thoroughly enjoyed, “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Same here,” Ruby responded, “I never thought that you would move here too; it must be fate.”

Acer gave her an amused look and chuckled, “Um… actually, my parents just had to switch locations of their jobs due to some minor hurdles of the job location in Trottingham. So, how’s your mother?”

“Oh she’s doing just fine,” Ruby replied, “We’ve been doing good ever since my father passed away, and continuing the family teas and herbs business went off easier than my mother expected.” She quickly turned her side flank into Acer’s view, “And check it out, I got my cutiemark!”

“Pretty neat, congratulations,” Acer responded. He turned around and showed Ruby his as well, “Like mine?”

She stood there and stared at it a little longer than she should have and sighed a bit, “Yeah, it does look nice…” She suddenly shook herself out of it and responded normally, “Y-your cutiemark I mean; your… c-cutiemark looks nice.”

Ruby Rose felt a little awkward, but she just wiped it off and stood right beside Acer looking at him straight in the eyes, “So, h-have you thought about changing your mind yet?”

Acer looked at her feeling confused, “About what?”

“You know; about you… and me?”

Acer suddenly sighed and rolled his eyes while lightly pushing Ruby off of him, “Come on Ruby, you’re still going on about that? You know I only like you as a friend. I’m afraid that’s never going to change.”

Ruby stood back and lowered her ears feeling disappointed, “Yeah, I get it; just thought I try anyway.”

Both ponies suddenly just stood there in an awkward silence; hearing nothing but the sounds of the other students playing. Just then, Acer looked over at a group of ponies playing together; running and kicking a ball around. In that crowd, a certain filly had caught his eye; and something about her seemed very familiar when he saw her.

“Hey… Ruby,” he asked, “do you know who that filly over there is?”

Ruby looked over at the playing crowd, and based on where he was pointing, she was hoping that he was talking about her old friend.

“Oh, you mean that one with the tomboyish attitude? That’s Minty; she’s pretty nice I guess. She’s just as daring as you so you might end up liking her if you…”

Acer suddenly cut her off and shook his head, “Nah, not that filly; although she does seem pretty cool. However, I was talking about that filly; the one with the light-blue bows in her mane.”

Ruby knew that this time she couldn’t avoid it; he was indeed talking about Pumpkin. But why would he be interested in her? But then she thought that maybe he didn’t know about Pumpkin and her… mental problem. Perhaps if she did tell him about Pumpkin, he might have second thoughts.

“Oh, well… that’s just Pumpkin. You ought to be careful around her though, she suffers from a bi-polar disorder.”

Acer suddenly got intrigued by this information, “Really, what happens with her?”

“Well…” Ruby continued, “She gets angry rather easily; and when angered enough, it’s like she’s a completely different pony. I even heard that one time she got so mad she actually tried to murder somepony; and she almost succeeded!”

Ruby had a good feeling that telling him all that would frighten him and he would rather not have anything to do with Pumpkin; but she was sadly mistaken.

“Wait a minute, now I remember,” Acer suddenly said out loud.

“Say wha?” said Ruby feeling confused.

“That’s Pumpkin Cake; the filly from this town who went psycho at only 1yr. old and almost killed not just one, but 6 ponies!”

It seems that he did know her after all; was that a good thing or a bad thing?

“Um… yeah, she’s the one. No colt here dares to be her coltfriend because they’re worried that they may do something that might bring her other side out somehow.”

“Is that so,” Acer replied.

“Yep; but don’t worry; I’m sure she’ll be just fine.”

Acer thought he felt something familiar when looking at her and that was it. He felt that maybe having a coltfriend was exactly what Pumpkin need in her life.

“I think I’m going to go over there and meet her,” Acer said with a pleasant smile. He started to walk towards the direction of that group, and Ruby’s eyes went shockingly wide.

“What; but aren’t you afraid of her, after hearing what’s she’s like and what she has done?!”

Acer turned towards Ruby with an arched eyebrow; but he knew well enough that she was probably just jealous.

“It’s no big deal, Ruby; I just want to talk to her. Besides, I feel that having a coltfriend is something she needs to help her feel calm and safe to be around; somepony that will always be there for her besides her family.” He started walking forward in that direction again, and then he stopped and looked over at Ruby, “So, are you coming?”

Ruby had her head down and her ears drooped. She just laid there on the ground with her hooves crossed and said, “No… I’m good.”

“Okay,” Acer responded, “but don’t beat yourself over it.”

Poor Ruby; Acer had left her there to brood to herself and feel rejected.

Pumpkin, Pound and their friends were playing a simple game of kickball, and for Pumpkin it was a good distraction to keep her from thinking about her troubles. At one point, one of the fillies kicked the ball a little too hard and it went soaring right over Pumpkin’s head.

“I’ll get it,” said Pumpkin as she raced after the ball. But then she suddenly halted when she saw the new student in their class suddenly flew up and caught it himself.

“Allow me,” Acer said as he held the ball and spun it on his hoof.

He flew back down on the ground and gave Pumpkin a little friendly smile as he threw it back to her. She caught it, but barely as it fumbled a bit between her hooves and then completely still. She looked at him and blushed slightly along with a sweet smile.

“Wow, n-nice… catch,” said Pumpkin hesitantly.

“Thanks, you too,” Acer responded, “Although, you might want to work on yours.”

Pumpkin blushed a bit more and stuttered a bit while partially looking down and up at him, “Oh… y-yeah, I-I-I do.”

All of the ponies that Pumpkin was playing with were all surveying the cute little scene in front of them; each of them trying to get a good view.

“Well well, what’s going on here,” said Minty with a smirk.

Pound was looking at the scene very suspiciously as Acer sat in front of his sister trying to get her full attention.

“So your name is Pumpkin Cake, right?” asked Acer.

“Ye-yes… yes I am,” said Pumpkin after slowly lifting her head up to the young colt’s view.

“Well I hope you don’t mind… but I have heard about your condition; it must be very difficult to deal with.”

Pumpkin’s eyes suddenly got wide and she took a few steps back from Acer feeling a bit uncomfortable, “Oh, y-yeah. I’m… I’m pretty used to it by now. I can’t force you, b-but… please, don’t be afraid of me.”

Pumpkin was worried that he was since he did know about her, but the next sentence that Acer spoke was going to make Pumpkin become almost to shocked to respond.

“So… I’m guessing that you don’t have a coltfriend; am I right?”

Pumpkin literally tripped over her own hooves after hearing that question. Her heart started to pound in her chest, “U-Um… n-n-no! I mean n-no I don’t but… where are you going with that statement?”

“I know it may seem a little sudden; seeing that we just met, but would you like to let me be yours; that is if you want one.”

Pumpkin started to sweat constantly; she wasn’t quite sure whether to say yes or no, but he was being so polite.

“I-I-I don’t know,” she said while rubbing her head out of worry and frustration, “Other colts here are willing to be my friend, but they don’t want to be my colt… friend.”

“Well, would you mind if I try to be the first? I’m up for a good challenge.”

Pumpkin face became the brightest shade of red it could be; she did think he was cute, but would it really work out between them. She looked at him as he sported a pleasant smile waiting for her to answer.

“We-well… maybe…”

Suddenly, Pumpkin’s brother popped up beside them, “Hello there.”

Both Acer and Pumpkin jumped and were startled by his sudden appearance. Pumpkin glared at her brother feeling a bit annoyed.

“Pound, do you mind?!”

Acer looked at him and chuckled a bit, “Oh, your name is Pound. So I take it that you’re her brother?”

“Twin brother,” Pound replied while giving Acer a stern look, “So… you’re really interested in my sister, aren’t you?”

Pumpkin was pouting a little with her cheeks puffed and her eyes narrowed, “Pound, stop; you’re embarrassing me.”

“Don’t worry; it’s nothing like that,” said Acer out of amusement, “But… it is really awesome to meet you two. So how is your wing treating you after your operation?”

“Wait, you know about my wing surgery?!” shouted Pound.

“I know all about you two and what happened more than 8 years ago; news about that got all around Equestria, remember? When I heard about it when I was 7, I sorta… had a secret crush on your sister and didn’t tell anypony; mainly because I felt sorry for her and dealing with something that dangerous.”

“He… h-he had… a crush on me?” Pumpkin thought to herself while continuing to blush.

“Being her… protective brother,” continued Acer, “are you okay about me being your sister’s coltfriend?”

Pound thought about it for a second. To him it was rather strange to finally meet a colt that took interest in his sister and actually sound sincere. He looked up and gave him an amused smirk.

“Oh who am I kidding, you’re alright, Acer.” He then gave Acer a bro-hoof, “If you want to be with my sister that’s fine with me. Just make sure that you don’t break her heart. You’ll regret it; trust me.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Acer chuckled. Then he turned his attention back to Pumpkin, “So, what do you say, Pumpkin. Remember, you don’t have to accept it if you don’t want to; but friend or coltfriend, I promise to give my share of support for you.”

Pumpkin felt a little uneasy about the decision, but she couldn’t stop looking at him and seeing how cute he was to her. A lot of her inner anger seemed to go away in her heart and she fell into a state of calm and serenity. She finally looked at him with a bright smile and nodded her head.

“Okay… sure; I’ll accept it.”

She bravely walked up to him and gave him a little smooch on the cheek. A huge ‘dawww’ reaction came from the group of students who were watching. Minty came up beside Acer and gave him a little nudge to the side.

“Smooth move, lover boy; you’re alright. Just make sure that you don’t disappoint my friend, you hear?”

“Yeah, I hear,” responded Acer with a chuckle.

Suddenly, everyone there jumped when they heard loud voice shout out nearby, “Alright; GO PUMPKIN!!!”

“What the…” shouted Pumpkin. She knew that voice all too well. She looked at their surroundings using her horn’s magic; and then used it to part away a pair of bushes. Pumpkin saw who was obviously behind the bushes and couldn’t believe it.

“Pinkie; what are you doing here?!”

Pinkie blushed from embarrassment; it seemed that her cover was blown.

“Oh, hi Pumpkin, Pound; I was just passing by and… and then I was just… gonna… oh look at the time; gottagobye!” And with that she quickly ran off away from the school grounds.

“Who was… that?” ask Acer feeling a bit weirded out.

“That’s just Pinkie Pie,” Pound responded, “She works and lives where we live at Sugar Cube Corner. She helped take care of us ever since we were born, so she’s like an aunt to us.”

“Well, she definitely does seem pretty bizarre for an earth pony,” said Acer with an amused smirk.

“So Acer,” said Pumpkin, “care to play a game of kickball with us?”

Acer nodded his head in agreement, “Of course; I would love to.”

As Acer joined Pumpkin, Pound and the others to their kickball game, Ruby Rose was near on the sidelines continuing to contemplate on everything she just saw. A deep emotional feeling of jealousy began to fill up inside of depths of her heart.

“I… I can’t believe it! I can’t believe he chose that… that freak of a filly over me! Why would he do that, and what’s wrong with me!”

Whatever doubts or second thoughts she had of her mother’s plan to get Pumpkin back to that psychiatric ward suddenly disappeared from her mind and was all for it 100 percent.

“Alright, I wasn’t sure about sending her back to that psychiatric place,” Her eyes suddenly started to fill up with angered tears, “But now… it’s personal.”

Comments

[kanothepegasus44]

Ruby u r a jealous bitch who cant take no for an answer

[walters host]

ossim story is ossim.
Plz continue...

[Dimension Tripper]

Ruby is a yandere in a war