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

Later that mid-afternoon, Envy Rose was back already at the Ponyville Prison center where she was back in her cell relaxing and sipping some more of her daughter’s tea that she kept warm. Being able to spend time with her daughter every other few days definitely took off some stress and allowed her to cooperate with her emotions for her daughter’s sake.

At one moment though as she was on her bed resting, she suddenly came to when she heard her cell door open and saw a police guard walk in.

“Miss Rose, you have a couple of visitors here who wish to speak with you.”

Envy just rolled her eyes as she stretched and yawned from being woken so suddenly, “Hmph, what pony in this town would possibly take the time out of their day to visit me?”

The guard just cleared his throat and answered awkwardly, “Um… the Mayor… and a Cheerliee… mam.”

Envy’s eyes lowered and made a huge sigh feeling a bit of unpleasantness drop upon her body.

“Just perfect.”

The guard led Envy down the corridor and eventually brought her into large meeting room where prisoners could talk to any friends or family that visited them under surveillance. However, the only ones present inside at this point were the two ponies that were waiting for her; the Mayor and Cheerliee. They both seemed to be a little tense as they saw Envy enter the room and walking towards them. Envy took a seat at the table they were at and were waiting for one of them to start a conversation.

“G-good afternoon, Miss Rose;” said the Mayor hesitantly, “I hope y-you’re doing well.”

“Not as much as I should be,” Envy responded smartly.

Suddenly, Cheerliee sat down a little basket filled with blueberry cookies on the table while smiling nervously; Envy knew something was up.

“H-here, I just thought that you might get a little hungry while we were here.”

“Gee, how nice of you,” said Envy solemnly as she calmly took one and took a bite out of it. But after she swallowed, she stared back at the two mares with much suspicion, “However, something tells me that you two aren’t here to just share blueberry cookies. So tell me, what brings you two here exactly?”

“Well… Miss Rose,” started the Mayor, “about an hour ago I… had what one would call a remembrance dream.”

“Really?” said Envy.

“Yes, and… it kinda… proves what you told… us about a year ago about giving me the message to deliver to the Cakes.” The Mayor was sweating a bit knowing how Envy might react to her comment, because she knew that it wouldn’t be wrong, “It seems that… you were… right about that after all.”

Envy just calmly grabbed another cookie out of the basket; but instead of eating it right away, she just held it up in her hoof and was fumbling with it while not looking directly at the two nervous mares.

“Ah, so let me get this straight. You’re saying that before you had this remembrance dream, all this time you still thought that my claim was still a lie;” Just then, she took the cookie she had and suddenly threw it against the wall so hard that it shattered on impact to many pieces, “Is that it?!”

Envy was glaring intensely at the two mares that were both sweating rapidly, and the some of the guards were on their guard just in case something came out of this.

“N-no, that’s not true;” said Cheerliee suddenly, “well… i-i-it was more like we didn’t fully believe it but was curious on the concept.”

Envy just calmed down as she laid back in her seat and scoffed, “And how is that supposed to be any different?”

“Look, we’re sorry that we doubted you for that, okay? We just came over to sort things out with you.”

The Mayor looked at Envy suddenly wearing a serious face, “But don’t think this changes the whole situation overall.”

“Like I would have a choice,” said smartly, “So what exactly happened in your dream?”

“Well… I do remember you walking up to me at my desk telling me your message; but then seconds later after you literally disappeared from in front of me, a second figure came up to me, but it was all shadowy.”

This conversation was suddenly beginning to grab Envy’s attention; it was definitely a bit bizarre yet so suspicious at the same time.

“A second figure; could you make out any features of it?”

“I’m not quite sure,” stated the Mayor, “it was hard to make out. However, the figure did appear to be pretty tall and it sounded a lot like a stallion. He also seemed to be wearing a cloak of some kind that covered most of its body.”

“Did he… say anything?” asked Envy curiously.

“Yes, I asked the figure who it was and what he wanted; but he responded to me by saying…”

‘My identity is of no concern to you; although in a few seconds, you’ll forget about this moment anyway.’

“I then remembered his eyes glowing at me and then everything blacked out… and that’s when I awoke from my slumber. Having that dream made me realized that it actually happened and it wasn’t just a dream… and that I… was wrong.”

Envy was suddenly pondering on this whole ordeal. Who was this mysterious figure and if the dream sequence was true, what were its intentions?

“Can you make anything out of this, Miss Rose?” asked Cheerliee.

Soon, Envy came up with a possible solution, “Perhaps whoever this was did some kind of memory erase spell to make you forget about what I told you; and if so, for what reason?”

They all suddenly started to think real hard of many possible reasons of why this could’ve possibly occurred. But just then, Cheerliee gasped out loud; it seemed that she came up with something.

“What is it, Miss Cheerliee?” questioned the Mayor sounding troubled.

“Maybe whoever did this wants the curse to take over Pumpkin; whoever it was probably wanted this curse to abrupt earlier than it should so it could cause devastation!”

It did seem a bit weird to imagine someone who would actually try to release the curse on purpose, but to the Mayor and Envy… it did seem possible.

“So, somepony actually wants the young filly to lose it completely,” stated Envy, “Why am I not surprised?”

“If that was the case almost a year ago, do you think the one responsible could be still here somewhere near Ponyville?” asked the Mayor in a worried tone.

Envy decided to forget about the whole not believing her story situation; this situation to her was more important than her anger and she needed to make a decision.

“That is hard to say, Mayor, but now that we know of this, you two must warn the Cakes. Right now it is possibly no longer safe for that filly to be out anywhere alone; somepony has to be with her at all costs!”

Sometime earlier back at Sugar Cube corner, Pumpkin Cake was lightly moaning on the couch as she was finally waking up from being knocked after going on a mild ragging rampant. Her brother Pound and her friend Minty were still there with her and were relieved to see her wake without any signs of the curse in her eyes.

“Alright, looks who’s finally awake,” said Minty in a cheery tone.

Pumpkin had her eyes all the way open and looked around and realized that she was back at her house; she wondered what happened in between being outside and being in her house on the family couch.

“Are you feeling okay now, Pumpkin?” asked Pound with a sense of worry.

“Y-y-y-yeah, I’m alright,” Pumpkin responded, but winced a bit holding her hoof to her head, “However… m-my head feels a b-bit sore.”

“Sorry, that was me,” said Minty nervously, “I accidentally knocked you out so you wouldn’t have hurt me.”

That didn’t bode very well with Pumpkin; there was only one explanation for that, “So I did lose control again!” She suddenly buried her head into one of the couch’s pillows, “I just don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

Minty went over to her and laid her hoof on her and said, “Not to worry, we’re all here for you, girl.”

Pound went over to his sister and picked up the pillow that was over her head. When he looked at her, surprisingly she wasn’t crying but rather she was just sulking a bit trying to get rid of any sorrow she had in her mind.

“Are you still worried about the whole… you know, the thing?” said Pound hesitantly.

“Maybe… a little,” said Pumpkin as she slowly sat back up and gain her composure, “but don’t worry, I’m not planning on letting my nightmare come true; not if I can help it.”

“That’s right Pumpkin,” shouted Minty, “show that curse who’s boss!”

Pound was overjoyed to see that his sister was back in her right mind again… for now; but just like Pumpkin was never gonna give up on herself, Pound wasn’t gonna give up on her.

“How’s your mind,” he asked, “is it perfectly clear right now?”

“Not 100%,” Pumpkin said with a smile, “but its fine for now. But no matter how bad it gets, I’m determined to show everypony that I can control this curse whenever I want to.”

But suddenly, she noticed that someone was not present, “Wait; where’s Mom and Dad?”

“They’re just doing the usual working around the shop;” Pound responded, “They asked Minty and I if we could stay here and watch over you, and we didn’t mind one bit.”

“I just hope they’re not worrying too much about me;” said Pumpkin feeling worried “it might affect how they work.”

“Don’t worry about them,” said Minty, “you just focus on keeping that curse at bay, okay?”

“Okay, I will.”

All seemed to stay calm for Pumpkin at that moment, but then suddenly Pinkie Pie jumped into the room without any of them noticing and shouting happily out loud.

“Who’s up for some PINKIE CAKES?!!!”

She gave all of them quite a scare…

“AHHHHHHHHH!”

… but unfortunately, being scared so suddenly like that caused something to trigger in Pumpkin’s emotions and her eyes glowed red as she suddenly fired a huge aura beam that went right at Pinkie. But luckily she gasped and dodged just in time and the beam swept over the platter of Pinkie’s little cakes instead; now they were nothing but a pile of ashes.

“Wow, now that was a doozy,” said Pinkie shaking slightly, “And look at my Pinkie cakes, they’re all soot now.”

Pinkie had a disappointed look on her face she dumped the ashes on the floor.

“Maybe suddenly surprising the confetti out of somepony with a curse inside them is not a bright idea,” said Minty after catching her breath.

“Hmm, perhaps you’re right.”

After Pumpkin came too, she realized what she almost did to Pinkie; the proof for her was the ashes on the floor. She was literally sweating and became dreadfully worried.

“I’m so sorry Aunt Pinkie, it… i-i-it was just so sudden!”

“Not to worry,” said Pinkie with a bright smile, “I can just make more!”

“That’s not what I meant; what if I hit you instead of those cakes?!”

Pinkie knew what she was talking about, but she was still trying to humor the situation, “Well… I guess then you would have to start calling me… Holey Pie!”

Pound just facehoofed himself and shook his head.

“Holey Pie;” said Minty, “is she for real?”

Pumpkin was glaring intensely at Pinkie with tears in her eyes; it’s like she was treating her situation like a complete joke, “IT’S NOT FUNNY!!!”

She suddenly held her head down and groaned immensely as she felt a sudden twinge of pain, “Ugh, dang it; I felt so calm and un-agitated, and yet… it just happened without warning.”

“Come on Pumpkin,” said Pound nervously, “you were doing fine until that one moment. Just take a deep breath, relax and it’ll be fine. It’s not that big a deal, okay?”

Pumpkin suddenly glared at her brother with red slightly fading in and out. She went over to him and stared him straight in the face and stated, “Says the one who’s not suffering and feeling guilty about it.”

She then walked away from him and was heading out of the family room.

“Smooth move, Pound,” said Minty sarcastically.

Pound went after his sister and Pinkie and Minty were right behind him. They suddenly saw Pumpkin slowly opening the door and was about to step outside.

“Wait, Pumpkin,” shouted Pound, “I’m sorry that I said that; but in any case, where are you going?”

“The Everfree Forest;” she responded with her voice trembling slightly, “There I can clear my head out more without endangering anypony; and it if any of you knows what’s good for you, you will not follow me.”

She suddenly left them slamming the door behind her.

“Heh, heh… don’t worry,” said Pinkie laughing nervously, “that was just the evil, murderous curse inside her talking.”

“Are you sure none of us should follow her?” asked Minty.

“Don’t worry,” said Pound, “she has gone there to release some stress before; she’ll be back.”

Pinkie suddenly perked up her attitude with a big smile and started bouncing up and down, “And in the meantime, I’ll make some more Pinkie cakes!”

As Pinkie bounced off towards the kitchen, Mr. and Mrs. Cake suddenly rushed into the main room and noticed their surroundings; mainly the gaping hole in the ceiling.

“Pound,” said Mrs. Cake sounding very worryingly, “any reason why there is a giant burnt hole in our ceiling? And wait… where’s Pumpkin!?”

“Sh-sh-she’s fine Mom, she just went out to that forest to… release some sudden stress, that’s all.”

Pound was trying to sound fine like his feelings were left unhindered, but his parents weren’t fooled; they knew that in a way, he was suffering himself.

Mrs. Cake held on to her husband and softly said to him, “Still think that we shouldn’t worry?”

When Pumpkin Cake came towards the forest, she kept in her magic as she went as deep into it as she wanted to; she figured the further she was away from the town, the better.

“Damn, I hate coming in here, but… at least there’s no ponies around here to endanger. Oh man, why is it that I’m suddenly having less control over this curse; I can’t allow it… to consume… me.”

Pumpkin suddenly stopped where she was and fell to the ground feeling a major strain in her head. She was struggling all she could to keep herself controlled, but she knew that it wasn’t going to let her win so easily.

‘What does all of your resistance supposed to do for you, in the end you’re only prolonging the inevitable.’

“Be quiet…” Pumpkin responded in a pissed manner as she slowly rose to her hooves, “I’m… getting sick and tired… o-of you; always… messing with my mind, controlling m-my actions. If you’re planning to make me do the same thing that you made my Great Uncle do all those years ago… y-y-you can… f-forget it!”

The demon was once again enjoying the young filly’s constant determination to fight back, but lately it knew that Pumpkin’s hold on it was gradually weakening. Her inner mind was filled with doubt and fear and that allowed it to torture Pumpkin easily.

‘You’re right Pumpkin, I’m not; what I have in store for your precious town is far crueler than what I did all those years ago.’

“What do you m-mean,” shouted Pumpkin boastfully, “What are you plotting?!”

‘I’m afraid that I can’t reveal that to you yet; it’s all part of the fun.’

The demonic curse was taunting her, teasing her, and smiling amusingly at her. Pumpkin was feeling really frustrated and demanded to know more of what it had planned.

“TELL ME!!!”

Suddenly, Pumpkin heard some rustling sounds nearby and was on her guard. She then heard low growling sounds as well as saw a little pack of wolf-like creature coming out of hiding from the front staring at her with glowing eyes and sharp teeth with drool constantly coming from them.

She stood there with wide eyes shaking in fear, “T-t-t-t-t-tImberwolves?!”

She started to slowly back away; not daring to try and make a run for it. But then she stopped when she heard the same sound behind her. More Timberwolves were coming from that side as well. Pretty soon she was completely surrounded; it was pretty clear that she was about to become a fresh tasty meal.

They all started to close in on her baring their fangs and their claws out, and Pumpkin was in the middle of that area cowering and looking all around her.

“S-s-s-stay back; I said stay back! Leave me alone!”

The wolves could sense her fear and then they all took a leap at her ready to tear her open and dine on her body; but then her eyes suddenly fully turned crimson red and her horn started to glow. The Timberwolves then found themselves hovering in the air by Pumpkin’s magic, and they all started to whimper in fear as the young filly stared at them with a murderous gaze in her glowing eyes.

“I warned you,” she said in a demented, crazed tone, “I warned you all.” Then she mashed up all of the wolves together in a tight sphere and then showed off a psychotic smile, “So now… you will all die!”

The sphere started to compress inward and it was getting smaller and smaller until the wolves’s bodies couldn’t take the pressure anymore. A huge painful howl was heard throughout the forest and then the sphere shattered their bodies into many wooden pieces.

Afterwards, Pumpkin came too and was catching her breath; and then she noticed all of the broken pieces of wood all around her. It was clear to her what happened and she was happy to still be alive; but she still couldn’t help with what she had done and the fact of how she did it.

‘Excellent, very excellent;’ The curse was very pleased seeing Pumpkin using her power to  make mincemeat out of those Timberwolves, ‘Just imagine if you were  inside your town… bloody bodies everywhere.’

The images of her horrendous nightmare were coming back into Pumpkin’s mind and she just broke down on the ground sobbing and screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

Just then as she was having her seizure fit, she heard a voice nearby…

“Having a troubled time, little filly?”

It was deep, intimidating and a bit ominous; she perked her head up hearing it so close to her. She looked all around her wondering who was nearby.

“Who… wh-wh-who’s… there?”

The voice spoke again, “It must be quite a heavy burden carrying a curse such as yours.”

At this moment, Pumpkin’s patience was wearing thin and this time, she spoke out sounding more intimidating herself, “I said who’s there; show yourself… NOW!”

Right at that moment, a tall, shadowy figure showed up behind Pumpkin and she quickly sensed it and turned around ready to defend herself if needed. However, the figure did not seem to pose a threat.

“Now, now, no need to threaten; I’m not here to hurt you. In fact, I’m here to do the exact opposite.”

After coming closer to the filly, Pumpkin confirmed the figure as a pony; a really large-sized stallion pony who was also a unicorn; sporting a dark purple coat and black mane. Although she couldn't make out the rest of his body or even see what his possible cutiemark was because it was all mostly covered by a black cloak that he was wearing.

His very presence made her feel a bit uncomfortable; but she became a bit curious about his knowledge of her problem.

“Wh-who are you, and what d-do you know about my curse?” she asked in a shaky tone.

“The name is Shadow Star,” he answered, “and I have been watching you and observing you for a while now.”

Pumpkin suddenly became weary of what the stallion just said; he has been watching her for who knows how long without her even knowing. Knowing this now made her feel violated.

“You’ve been… watching me?!” she strongly questioned, “What are you, a stalker?!”

“Well aren’t you being cute;” said Shadow Star, “but no I’m not stalking you; it’s more like… keeping an eye on you at a safe distance.”

Pumpkin wasn’t deeming this stallion to be very trustworthy based on what she already knows about him now. Her eyes faintly glowed red and her horn was steadily glowing as she staring him down… not that she could literally stare him down.

“What business do you have with me?”

Staying aware of what state Pumpkin was in at the time, Shadow Star gave his explanation, “I was just waiting for the right moment when no pony was around and that my presence was not at risk to be seen; because about your curse… I have the power to take it out of you.”

Suddenly, Pumpkin’s body became still and her eyes became clear; her magic went away and she became totally lost for words. She stared at the dark-purple stallion with wide eyes and stated…

“Wait, d-d-d-did you just say… you can take this curse out of me?!”

“That is correct young filly,” Shadow said with a smirk, “I’ve been aware of this curse for a while now and I was hoping to figure out a way to finally rid this world of it one day. I’m sure you would be awfully happy to finally be rid of that curse once and for all, right?”

Pumpkin suddenly felt very lucky; a stranger pony comes out of nowhere and he claims to have the power to all of her suffering.

“My curse… finally… gone?” she said with a light smile, “No more worrying over my friends and family; that would be… greatest moment of my life.”

“Indeed it would; indeed it would,” Shadow Star responded.

But suddenly, reality started to hit Pumpkin in the head as she thought of something, “Wait, wait; why on Equestria would something like this just show up out of the blue? This all seems too good to be true.”

“What are you saying, child?” said Shadow Star with a questionable look.

“I’m saying that all hope seemed lost for me, that I was doomed to kill, murder and destroy everypony that I know and love. Now all of a sudden a dark, mysterious character like you shows up and expects me to believe that he can destroy a powerful curse that not even the ruler of Equestria could defeat!”

Pumpkin’s horn started to glow again as she slowly crept towards the dark pony, “So tell me; why should I even trust you to begin with?”

Shadow just just made a small chuckle to himself and said, “”I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with Blackberry the 2nd?”

Pumpkin gasped and magic disappeared yet again as she stared at the stallion blatantly, “Huh, you know about him?”

“Know him,” Shadow said with a smirk, “I’ve met him… at least for a few minutes.”

(Flashback)

‘Just like you are right now, the curse was at the peak of its abruption. The young colt was suffering quite greatly and he was about to give up hope. However, when I ran into him, I gave him my same offer as I am giving you; but… he refused and said that he couldn’t trust me. He also said that he could handle things himself; yet look where that got him. And the worst part was even though he wasted his own life, but doing that didn’t even destroy the curse; so his sacrifice was all for naught.’

“So tell me… do you really want things to come to that… just because you can’t trust me?”

After hearing everything Shadow Star explained, Pumpkin became semi-confused of what to do. This stallion knew Blackberry the 2nd and just thinking of the possible outcome that could happen just brought more shivers down her spine. But if she did believe him and went with his request, what if it was a trap; a trick to somehow take advantage of her? But then again, why would someone trap her with the cursed power she possesses?

“I… I don’t…” Pumpkin began saying, “I mean… what I’m saying is… I’m just not so sure; I need more time to think about this. Please, just give me a few days to think about it.”

Shadow Star still couldn’t believe why she wanted to think on it rather than just accepting his offer and rid her of the curse forever? But sill, it was a much better outcome than what he had with Blackberry.

“Very well young foal,” he responded, “I’ll give you time to think about it. Just be aware that you may not have too much time left before its too late. If you agree, you know where to find me.”

“Of course, thank you,” said Pumpkin with a little bow, “B-b-but don’t think I don’t believe you or anything; I should actually be thankful, and… you have somehow… made me feel better; like you’ve given me hope for my life.”

Shadow Star solemnly smiled at the young filly saying, “I’m glad to hear you say that.”

Pumpkin really did feel a little better and the curse did felt like it had settled down some, but she knew that didn’t mean much of anything.

“Well, I better get back home,” said Pumpkin with a little smile, “my family is probably worried about me and I really shouldn’t leave them hanging.”

“Just remember young filly,” Shadow Star suddenly said, “you can’t tell anypony that you saw me. If they knew about me about me and what I was capable of, they would hunt me down in an instant and your possible chances of hope will be gone.”

Pumpkin had to think about it for a second, but she understood and nodded in agreement, “Of course; I completely understand. See you later mister Shadow Star.”

Shadow Star just sat there as he watched the yellow filly run off towards the edge of the forest near Ponyville. Seeing what he accomplished, a small, mischievous smile came upon his face as the dark magic inside him was just itching to reveal itself.

“Heh, heh, foolish little filly; foals these days will believe anything you say.