Pumpkin's Struggle (Part 4): The Darkest Hour

Nothing violent going on here

About a year ago, Pumpkin Cake, her family and many other Ponyville residents learned the secret shocking truth about Pumpkin’s bi-polar condition; but the fact is she wasn’t bi-polar, her body housed an ancient curse, one that feeds on her anger and causes her to lose her mind and go on rampages that endangered everyone around her. Thanks to Ruby Rose’s mother, Envy Rose, they now know exactly what they’re dealing with; but it’s not like it made their situation any better. Based on Envy’s information, it doesn’t matter whether or not Pumpkin stays happy and calm or gets angry, she’ll become dangerous either way. If she stays happy and calm, the inner anger will just build up and will eventually burst out and Pumpkin would no longer be in control of her actions. Pumpkin’s family and friends have made a promise to Pumpkin that they would stop at nothing to find a way to end this curse without allowing tragic events of the past from repeating itself; but that’s easier said than done.

So again… almost a whole year has passed since Envy’s selfish actions were discovered and Pumpkin’s curse was fully realized. Things have been seldom for quite some time, and Pumpkin and her brother had already graduated from the Ponyville schoolhouse, as well as some of their other friends like Minty, Ruby and Acer. Pumpkin and Pound were able to spend more time at their home to help out with the family business, but eventually found some new side things to do as well. Pound and Acer became partner buddies at flight camp in Cloudsdale, Minty Swirl was working hard at becoming an athlete, and Pumpkin… aside from continuing to deal with her curse with her family and friends’ support, was taking more private magic lessons from Twilight Sparkle apart from her regular class that she teaches. Doing this was suggested by Pumpkin herself for she didn’t want to risk hurting anyone with her curse ridden magic besides Twilight who was the teacher.

As for Ruby Rose, she has been attending Twilight’s regular classes as well to brush up on her basics and more. However, she also continues to practice her tea making skills that she was learning from her mother while she stayed at Minty’s house, and a few times every week she goes to the Ponyville prison center where her mother was kept at for the time being and spend time with her. It took Ruby a while to get use to this; due to the semi-dark surroundings, and some certain creepy prisoners who were looking at her intensely every time she was escorted by their cells observing her young filly body, but she soon got over the creepy atmosphere and eventually was able to go there under police supervision with no problem at all. Today was one of those days and Ruby was already on her way to spend time with her mother wearing a big smile on her face; she had a special surprise for her mother today.

“Oh, hello Ruby,” said the officer as the young filly came trotting towards the front desk, “Here to spend some time with your mother today?”

“I sure am,” Ruby responded with a bright smile, “I have something that I can’t wait to show her; it’ll totally surprise her!”

“Well… follow me.”

The prison house in Ponyville was not one of those dark, grim, dirty prisons that one would truly hate, it was actually quite clean and each cell room was a bit roomy. Sure, the prisoners there were there to still be punished, but being punished didn’t always mean being constantly tortured and abused. Envy Rose was presently inside her cell fast asleep trying to pass the time, but then she suddenly started to wake up when she heard cell door being unlocked. She looked up as the door opened and saw a police pony standing there with her daughter.

“Hello Miss Rose, your daughter is here.”

Ruby ran over to her mother and held her tight with all of her might, “Good morning, Mother!”

Envy just smiled while hugging her daughter back, “Hello there, Ruby; glad to see that you’re doing well; none of the other prisoners weren’t staring at your little healthy flank again, were they?”

“They still did,” Ruby responded, “but I put on a mean face and shot little fire sparks at them and it totally shuts them up!”

“Glad to see that my only child can still take care of herself,” Envy said with an amused smile.

Ruby suddenly jumped down and opened a bag that she had on her side and was preparing to pull something out, “Hey mom, wait until you see what I have for you!”

She pulled out a single cup that was covered securely so that none of its contents would spill out and handed it to her mother. Envy just looked at the tea inside and was wondering how well it would taste.

“Come on, try it!” Ruby said encouragingly.

Envy sipped the tea to sample it, but when she did, her eyes grew wide not from discomfort but from shock and she took another sip; she couldn’t believe it.

“Is this… Genseng tea?”

Ruby just wondered her eyes around while grinning sheepishly, “If by Ginseng tea you mean the tea that I kept failing at to make properly every time you tried to teach me… then yes, its Genseng tea.”

Tasting the special tea that Ruby made brought a tear to her eye; she then placed the cup down and gave her daughter another hug. The officer pony at the door almost felt like crying seeing this wonderful mother-daughter bonding moment.

“You’ve really out done yourself this time Ruby; I’m very proud of you.”

“Well… I was only able to do it because I have learned from the best herbal tea maker in all of Equestria!”

Her mother was laughing a bit while showing a little red on her cheeks, “Well I don’t know about the best; but I guess I am one of the best.”

Envy jumped back on her little bunk and then signaled Ruby to climb upon it in front of her; there was something special she wanted to tell her.

“By the way Ruby, I do have good news for you.”

“Ooh, what is it?” Ruby questioned.

“The Princess might decide to let me out of her a little earlier than 3 years for good behavior.”

Ruby suddenly jumped up on the bunk on all four of her hooves while smiling brightly and wagging her tail, “Wow, really; she said that!”

“Mm – hmm, that’s right.”

Ruby was really happy to hear this; she would be able to have her mother back all the time without having to come to the semi-dark prison with creepy inmates a few times every week. But that’s not to say that she would totally mind if her mother was to still serve her whole 3 years sentence.

“Well… it wouldn’t matter anyway, as long as I would still be able to spend time with you; that’s all that matters, right?”

“Indeed, my dear Ruby,” Envy responded as she kissed her daughter on the forehead.

Ruby suddenly got up and hopped down on the ground and started wiggling with excitement, “So, what do you want to do with our time today, Mother; I can think of a few things!”

Envy smiled as she got down and placed her hoof on top of Ruby’s mane and was rubbing it a bit gently, “Why don’t we just… enjoy a nice little stroll through the park.”

Ruby did seem fine with that decision, “Sure, okay!”

Before long, Ruby and her mother, Envy, were out walking around the Ponyville Park with a police pony escort walking and watching them nearby. Envy thought that this was the perfect moment to ask her daughter some questions.

“So… Ruby, are you keeping up with your studies in Miss Sparkle’s class?”

Ruby smiled and nodded, “Yeah, I am; Miss Sparkle is really nice but she can be a bit optimistic sometimes. Nonetheless, she’s really yearning to get us learning. Th-that’s what she told us anyway.”

“And Minty’s family is continuing to treat you well?” Envy added.

“Like I’m one of their own; no need to worry about that, Mom.”

“And you and Acer are getting along much better now, am I right?” Envy asked.

Ruby blushed a little, “Y-yeah, we seem to be able to hang out with just the two of us now; I guess he has completely forgiven me for what I did to him and Pumpkin last year. I know that we’re only going to be friends and that he doesn’t feel the same way to me as he does to Pumpkin, but… I’m just glad that he’s finally leaving the past and focusing on the present and future.”

Envy was glad to hear that; little by little Ruby and Acer’s friendship bond had been building back up, and now that bond was back and fully restored. But there was something else she wanted to know too.

“And… what’s the latest going on with… the Cakes?”

Suddenly, Ruby ceased walking and was just standing there finding herself to be almost speechless.

“W-w-well, um…”

Envy could tell that Ruby knew something was wrong but was afraid to say it; she could tell just by the troubled look on her face.

“Is something serious going on?” Envy asked.

“E-e-everything thing is okay for now,” said Ruby as she turned back around towards her mother, “but… I have been visiting Pumpkin and her family for quite some time now; you know… to build up my trust with them. But lately… she has been under a lot of stress; a lot more than usual. And I heard from her brother that she has been having some terrible nightmares that to her seem so… real.”

“Nightmares; of what kind?” asked Envy being curious.

“I don’t know,” Ruby lamented, “I didn’t dare to ask; but I’m sure that they’re not good. But not only that, she sometimes has these hallucinations that make her sometimes see things that aren’t really happening; she literally makes others uneasy when this happens.”

Hearing this made Envy feel a little uneasy herself; those were sure signs of the same thing that happened all those years ago to happen again.

“It’s quite obvious to why she must be having these nasty dreams and gaining such hallucinations; but the question is… why now? The evil entity inside that child is up to something.”

“Mother,” said Ruby in a sadden worry tone, “do you think anypony will ever be able to find a way to get rid of this curse inside Pumpkin without sacrificing her?”

“It’s… hard to say,” Envy responded, “but I fear that the inevitable will happen nonetheless.”

Ruby turned her head away and lowered it down towards the ground feeling a sense of fear and worry; if they had to end up taking Pumpkin out permanently, she along with others would probably not be able to forgive themselves.

“However,” Envy continued, and her daughter perked her head back up and looked at her mother again, “after witnessing the relationship between Pumpkin and her family, I do have faith in them. Their bond as a family is stronger than anything I’ve ever seen before. If there is a way and if there is anypony who can figure out a way to beat this curse, they will.”

“Well, don’t forget Acer; he’ll be there for her… and… and so will I.”

Suddenly, Ruby went up to her mother and gave her a very tight hug, “But you know, if it ever came down to it and the curse within Pumpkin came after you, I would protect you with my life.”

Envy was suddenly startled by her daughter’s comment and was thinking that she was joking, “What; don’t be silly, Ruby. It quite obvious that this demonic curse is way too powerful for you to take on now; and besides, that role should be the other way around.”

“I don’t care!” Ruby shouted with a slight tear in her eye, “I would do it because… you’re my Mom, and I d-don’t want you to leave me… like Dad did.”

“And if you got killed, how do you think that would make me feel?” Envy took a deep breath and pulled Ruby off of her and placed her in front of her view, “But you know what, let’s just hope that it never comes to that. After all, if Pumpkin lost complete control over her curse, there’s would be no telling of who would survive.”

Ruby smiled and nodded and hugged her mother again and Envy hugged her back to calm her nerves down; and again, the guard who was escorting them looked like he was about to cry from the sweetness.

All of a sudden…

“Ruby!”

… Ruby heard someone call out to her. She looked behind her and saw her former classmate Minty Swirl running over to her… and she seemed pretty troubled.

“There you are Ruby, I was wondering where you were! Oh, and good morning, Miss Rose.”

“Minty, are you okay?” asked Ruby in a worried tone, “What’s going on?”

While she was catching her breath, Minty responded, “It’s… Pumpkin; I… just heard from her brother that she had another one of those… nightmares… and it’s the worse of them all!”

“Oh no,” said Ruby while shaking, “that doesn’t sound good.”

This suddenly peaked Envy’s interests as she looked down at Minty intensely, “Please, tell me… do you know of what the dream was?”

Minty nodded, “Yeah, I-I do; but I’m afraid that you may not like it.”

Envy bent down as Minty whispered everything that she knew about Pumpkin’s recent gruesome dream. Suddenly, Envy’s eyes became filled with fear and deep worry; like all hope had went away from her body.

“Mom, you look pale,” said Ruby as she noticed her mother’s frighten expression, “I don’t like it.”

Envy held her head and was trying to calm down and keep herself together, “This is exactly what I feared might happen. I’m afraid that… we may not have much time left after all.”