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

“What was up with that creepy pony? Was he really… telling me the truth; can he really be able to get this curse inside of me? Can I really trust him?”

All of these thoughts were going through Pumpkin’s mind as she was headed back to her home; she was contemplating over everything that the weird stallion she came across said to her, but she couldn’t make up her mind.

“This may be the only hope I have to end this whole ordeal forever; but… something about that pony just doesn’t feel right.”

She wanted her torment to end, but she didn’t want something that might be even worse than her predicament to happen; but could anything be anymore worse than that?

“I just don’t know; maybe I’m just better off dealing with this myself.”

Once she got back to Sugar Cube Corner, her mind felt weak trying to make this huge decision. All she wanted to do now was rest; but once she went inside, that would be a problem.

“Pumpkin!”

“Mi… M-Miss Cheerliee?!” Pumpkin gasped freezing in her tracks.

Pumpkin’s old teacher happened to be right at the other side of the door when Pumpkin walked in and she seemed relieved.

“She’s come back, Miss Mayor!”

Inside the place Pumpkin’s whole family was present, as well as Pinkie Pie, Cheerliee and the Mayor as she could clearly see. She suddenly felt confused as she looked all around her.

“W-w-what’s going on? Did something happen?”

Suddenly, she heard another voice that was music to her ears.

“Pumpkin, there you are!”

Up ahead approaching her, Pumpkin could see the colt that she was waiting to see all day. She came over in mid-run with tears in her eyes and tackled him in a big hug.

“Acer!” she cried, “Boy, am I glad to see you!”

“Sorry, I would have been here earlier,” said Acer, “but… things to do, you know.”

Pumpkin just shook her head, “No need to apologize, you can’t help it.”

As the family was watching the adorable sight, Cheerilee felt very sorry for herself to having to ruin it as she came up to Pumpkin.

“Pumpkin, you must listen to us. I hate to tear you down, but I’m afraid you’re in grave danger… well, more grave danger I suppose.”

Pumpkin couldn’t believe it; she just got out of one bad situation and now there was more.

“D-d-d-danger;” she said with her voice slightly trembling, “how could I be in more danger than I am now?!”

“We believe that… you’re being watched.”

“W-w-w-w-what…”

The Mayor approached Pumpkin to make sure she understood what they were about to say to her, “There’s somepony out there who wants that curse inside you to be unleashed upon us… or quite possibly all of Equestria.”

“What?!”

“The Mayor and I were a little worried that you weren’t present when we got here;” Cheerilee explained, “But we have to let you know that it’s not safe for you  to be out there alone anymore.”

“How do you know of all this?” asked Pumpkin.

“It was a dream I had…” the Mayor responded.

“… and it sounded nasty!” shouted Pinkie from the background.

“Yes, thank you Pinkie,” said the Mayor while rolling her eyes, “Anyway, we had a talk with Envy Rose about it and this was the hypothesis that we came up with in the end.”

Cheerilee looked at Pumpkin straight in the eyes looking totally serious, “Tell us Pumpkin, did you run into any suspicious pony while you were out just now?”

Pumpkin’s whole body was beginning to shake and some sweat came down her face. She knew that there was no doubt that they were talking about the mysterious pony that she ran into earlier, but she still didn’t make up her mind about that yet… and telling them about it might ruin any chance to get rid of her curse. She… she had to lie.

“No… n-no I did not.”

“Are you absolutely sure about that, girl?” questioned Minty.

“Yes,” she said raising her tone a little, “I-I promise you that I didn’t.”

Pumpkin’s brother, Pound knew something was up; he wasn’t about to let her lie about something again to not let anypony worry about her.

“Come on sis, we need to know;” he protests as he got into Pumpkin’s face keeping eye contact, “it’s really important that you tell us if you saw anything at all. Don’t hide anything from us.”

Suddenly out of frustration, Pumpkin pounced on top of her brother forcing him down on his back. His eyes were shaking a bit as Pumpkin was glaring at him intensely with her eyes faintly glowing red.

“Didn’t you hear me; I already told you that I didn’t!”

Everyone there jumped out of shock and Acer quickly came over to Pumpkin and pulled her off of Pound before something bad happened.

“It’s okay Pumpkin, we believe you; no need to get upset.”

Pumpkin was continuing to stare at her brother while panting heavily; and then she calmed down after a few seconds. Pound calmly got up and didn’t say a word; he wanted to believe her sister, but he knew that there was something that she was hiding from them.

After calming down, the Mayor continued, “Anyway Pumpkin, you can’t go out on your own anymore; it’s too risky. You must have somepony with you at all times; do you understand?”

Pumpkin lightly nodded her head, “Y-yes Miss Mayor, I understand.”

“You promise?” asked Acer.

“I… I promise.”

“Well, I do believe that our work here is done,” said Cheerilee, “But please Pumpkin, you must heed to our word; we must keep this curse at bay for as long as we can.

The Mayor and Cheerilee waved at everyone there as they walked out the door, “Thanks for your cooperation, cake family; we’ll leave you to the rest of your day.”

After they left, Pinkie had a huge grin on her face she got in front of Pumpkin whose head was slightly drooping down, “So… want a Pinkie cake?”

“No thanks,” Pumpkin responded sadly, “I’m not hungry.”

Pinkie suddenly gasped out of shock, “Not hungry for Pinkie cakes?!”

“Relax Pinkie, you can’t force her,” said Pound.

Pumpkin’s friend, Minty noticed what time it was and then took her leave of them as well, “Whoops, I gotta bounce; family duty calls. See ya tomorrow, Pumpkin.”

“See ya, Minty.”

Acer just sat there looking at Pumpkin just to give her a little space. Seeing how she was still feeling a bit down he asked her, “Are you feeling okay, Pumpkin?”

“Of course I’m fine;” she said while wiping her eyes of tears, “never felt better.”

“Your brother told me all about your nightmare from last night.”

Pumpkin suddenly picked her head up and awkwardly looked at Acer who was looking at her with a straight serious face.

“So let me tell you this… that is never going to happen.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” said Pumpkin putting her head down again.

“And I really mean it! Curse or not, I know that you don’t have the will to do something like that.”

After everything that she experienced, Pumpkin she knew that one day she would have to straightforwardly face with her curse; or she could trust that mysterious pony to get rid of it himself. She still didn’t decide yet, but she was planning to use that tactic for a last resort.

Pumpkin looked at Acer showing a slight smile and softly saying, “Well… d-don’t worry; you’re right. It’s never going to happen; that I can assure you.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Acer giving her a light noogie on her head, “keep on thinking positive.”

“Hey Pinkie,” Pumpkin called out suddenly, “on second thought I’ll have one of your cakes.”

Pinkie got all happy again and grabbed Pumpkin up in a tight hug, “Yes, I knew you couldn’t resist!”

Once again Pound was just sitting there staring at his sister who enjoying a Pinkie cake with Pinkie; contemplating over strange behavior. Acer saw him deep into his own world and called out to him.

“Aren’t you going to have one too?” asked Acer.

Pound snapped out of his deep thoughts and looked over at Acer, “Huh, oh yeah; what about you?”

“I’m good; I ate before I got here.”

Pound went over and grabbed a Pinkie cake, and then went back over to where he was last sitting continuing to stare at Pumpkin. Acer walked up to him feeling a sense of concern.

“Hey, something bothering you man? Seeing that you’re Pumpkin’s twin and all, you still sense something suspicious within her, right?”

“I don’t know, Acer;” Pound sighed, “I trust my sister but sometimes I can’t help but think that she’s trying  to hide something from us. If she is, she’s only hurting herself.”

Acer understood how Pound felt because he felt that he had some kind of bond with pumpkin too. However, he knew that constantly worrying about her would do them any good.

“All we can do right now is continue to be there for her and stop worrying about this too much; it’s basically the only thing we can do for her now.”

Pound could see his sister smiling again and talking with Pinkie, but he could still sense some kind of discontent in her soul… and it really bothered him.

“Let’s just hope that whenever it finally emerges, if we even let it… we’ll be able to save her.”

A few days has passed from that day and things have been going fairly well with Pumpkin so far. Her curse seemed to hold back recently, but her… that was usually too good to be true. Pumpkin kept doing her usual routine while spending time with her friends, her coltfriend and her family. She even found some time to try and practice some magic with Twilight; she figured better safe than sorry.

But despite trying her best to look on the positive side of things, Pumpkin knew that one day the inevitable might happen and she would use all of her strength and will power to keep it from happening. If something did happen that was unavoidable, she could always resort to trusting that stallion that she met inside of the Everfree Forest. Although she still didn’t know if that was a good idea since he might be the one that the Mayor and Cheerilee warned her about; but then again she also knew that it might be her only chance to save herself and everypony else.

As for Pound, he continued to be very curious and suspicious of his sister’s weird behavior at times. He trusts his sister completely, but he knew that she always had a case of keeping secrets from everyone… even him. He felt a little guilty doubting his sister, but he was going to keep a close eye on her for as long as he could.

Unfortunately to Pumpkin… a dark day would soon be upon all of them one day thank to a certain Alicorn stallion. He could tell that this exact day was the day that he would finally gain what he always wanted, and he was going to do it all thanks to Pumpkin.

However, there was another individual in the Everfree Forest who was very aware of this stallion recently and had overheard the conversation he had with Pumpkin. It was the native zebra inhabitant, Zecora. She knew who he was and she knew what he was up to and was planning to prevent his plan from succeeding.

On this very day, the dark stallion, Shadow Star had suddenly found himself tripped up in a strong woven net with a few spell seals that she created herself for such an occasion. They were supposed to keep him contained long enough for her to take care of him, but unfortunately he smiled as he easily broke through the seals and got himself free of the strong confinements of the net.

Zecora came over to the scene from behind and was totally shocked; but perhaps she shouldn’t be too surprised. Shadow Star sensed her presence and turned himself around to her and flashed a dark evil smirk.

“Nice try zebra freak, but unfortunately for you it will take a whole lot more than a strong net with some cheap spell imitations to stop me.”

Zecora was standing on her guard and lightly scowling at the dark stallion prepared for whatever he might do, “Look who is calling who a freak; do you judge me of being helpless and weak?”

Shadow Star was well aware of what Zecora was trying to do, and he wasn’t at all worried. He removed his cloak and revealed his wings that rose up in the air over himself and his horn glowed magnificently.

Zecora’s eyes went terrifyingly wide as she witness of what this pony was as she thought to herself, “What… he’s an Alicorn?”

“The stage has already been set,” said Shadow Star, “and there’s no going back. This world will be doomed by that filly eventually; I’m just helping by speeding up the process.”

Zecora finally realized that she was right about what he was planning, but it didn’t make any sense to her. Why would someone do something this foolish and what was his motive behind it?

“Idoit,” she shouted, “you are nothing but a fool! Do you fail to realize that you will be destroyed too?!”

Shadow Star just chuckled under his breath, “I’m hardly planning on letting that happen. Once my part is done, I plan to use the curse’s power to for my own means! This moment is exactly what I was waiting for… for all these years, and no pony or any other weakling will prevent me from my domination goal!”

“I had heard rumors of a pony seeking for a source of power;” Zecora responded, “one who has lived long and a spirit gone sour. But now that I have seen you with my own eyes, I will not allow you to make that filly cry!”

Shadow Star thought that she was spitting out useless words; to him she was all talk and no action.

“Such strong words,” he taunted, “how are you going to back them up?”

Suddenly, after he took a few steps towards the patient zebra, Shadow Star found himself to being completely frozen. He gasped while looking under him and seeing some kind of barrier around his hooves.

“Wh-what the hell… what kind of trickery is this?!”

“What you have noticed is no trick you see;” Zecora chuckled, “just a simple mild spell I whipped up for plan B.”

“Ugh, you little…” growled Shadow Star while scowling at her intensely.

“I’m not one to resort to violence acts, but I will end you here for potting behind everypony’s backs!”

Shadow Star still chuckled and stayed calm thinking she was bluffing, “You can’t kill me; I bet that you can’t even do it, foolish creature.”

Just then, he noticed Zecora pulling out a little small pouch with some weird shiny dust; he could tell that she was planning something.

She placed some of the dust on her hoof and held up in Shadow’s view wearing a small smirk, “With one swift blow of this magic susbstance, it will surround your body and begin to combust… and then you my dear friend will be turned into dust.”

“Enough with your excessive bad rhyming,” Shadow Star protested in anger, “I’m not afraid of your hocus-pocus!”

“A pony that cowards and then fights without his or her own power is nothing but a heathen, so to this I say… FAREWELL DEMON!”

Without hesitation, Zecora blew the dust at the barrier that withheld Shadow Star and it all started whirl around his body. The last possible thing Zecora saw before the dust completely engulfed its target was Shadow staring at her with a hateful glare, and then… huge an explosion ignited right in front of her.

The explosion was powerful; Zecora had to hold her hoof up to her eyes to avoid any debris that might have flown in her direction. Once the smoke settled, Zecora saw that there was nothing left where Shadow Star once stood; a satisfying smile came unto her face feeling relieved.

“So long Shadow creep; may your spirit rest in peace.”

She turned away and was walking away proudly from the burnt crater that her spell left behind. But then… she heard something behind her that she didn’t want to hear.

“My my, that was some impressive spiritual magic.”

“What!?”

Zecora quickly turned around and saw that Shadow Star was still alive; a bit scathed and a few bloody wounds on his legs, but alive and still standing strong.

He shook himself off and even licked some of the wounds to lessen the pain, and then stared at Zecora with a maleficent stare, “I admit if I didn’t plan ahead, I would be dead.”

Then without warning, he used his magic to grab a hold of Zecora and suspended her in the air. Zecora struggled and was trying to get out of it but she knew that it was useless.

“Too bad for you,” said Shadow Star smiling evilly.

He then casted a spell that sent a huge electrical surge throughout her body and caused her to scream out in pain. After being tricked by her, Shadow Star was quite satisfied making the tables turned and watching her suffer so. Afterwards, Zecora just hung limp up in the air with red bruises all over her, and then Shadow threw her down on the ground once he was done with her.

Zecora tried to get back up on her hooves, but her body was too heavily damaged and she couldn’t even stand up properly. She groaned from the pain and lifted her head as she saw Shadow Star standing over her flashing an evil grin.

“As I told you before…” he said, “you cannot stop me, nor can you outsmart me.”

He turned around from Zecora and began to walk off to leave her there to soak in her constant pain, “I’ll let you live… for now; I’ll give the curse’s power the privilege of finishing you off as payback later.”

Zecora couldn’t believe that she failed at stopping Shadow Star and that what she was trying to avoid from happening was going to happen. She continued to groan in pain as she struggled to take a couple of steps towards the dark pony.

“Y-y-you wil g-gain nothing taking adv-vantage of that filly’s deepest f-fears; f-for you… your whole plan will end in t-tears.” And at the end of her sentence, she collapsed and was out like a light.

Shadow Star walked away into the darkness with a foreboding evil smile looming upon his expression imagining his dream finally coming true.

“Soon, all of Equestria will bow down before me; and no pony will ever again defy me.”

Things didn’t seem to be going very well this day, and it may turn out to be even worse than what it already is. Fluttershy was suddenly seen running through the streets of Ponyville sweating heavily as she was galloping towards the library tree. Why exactly was she freaking out so much; whatever it is, it definitely didn’t seem good.

“Twilight, Twilight!” she cried out as she was banging on the front door, “Twilight, please answer; it’s an emergency!”

Suddenly, the door opened and Spike was there looking at her frighten face, “Whoa, Futtershy? It was you banging on the door; this must be serious.”

“Never mind that,” she protested, “where’s Twilight?!”

“I’m right here,” said Twilight coming from behind Spike.

She ended up hearing Fluttershy’s cry and came to see what was wrong. When Fluttershy saw her, she zipped past Spike so fast it caused him spin around like a top and became dizzy. Twilight almost fell over when her Pegasus friend grabbed on to her.

“What in the Equestria is going on, Fluttershy?” questioned Twilight.

“Oh Twilight it’s terrible, just terrible! The forest animals, they’ve become so restless.”

After Spike got himself back together he asked, “Restless how?”

“They’ve all been running out of the Everfree Forest and have gathered together all around my place! I mean… I don’t mind the company and everything, but there are so many animals around that now I have to literally fly over them just to get to my cottage… ‘sigh’ where even more of them have gathered.”

Twilight knew that animals like Fluttershy and all, but for so much of them to be at her place at once was too strange.

“Wow, talk about no vacancy,” said Spike.

“A bunch of animals leaving the Everfree Forest?” wondered Twilight, “I know it’s not the safest place but… that’s seems a bit out of the ordinary.”

“And that’s not even the weirdest part,” said Fluttershy, “I saw some of the more… bizarre creatures come out too. I literally saw two cockatrices fly out of the forest and they’re not even doing anything to disturb the others!”

“Now that is definitely not normal,” Twilight responded, “Did any of them say anything to you?”

“Not much, they were all too scared and terrified to tell me anything. But some of them did say something about a strange evil presence roaming around inside the forest.”

“Evil presence?” wondered Twilight.

Spike just shuddered upon hearing those words, “Oh man, why did I have a suspicion that she was going to say something like that?”

“Twilight,” Fluttershy continued, “I sense that something bad is going to happen in that forest, but I just don’t know what! I would check it out myself, but I’m too terrified to try and find something that even cockatrieces are afraid of!”

Twilight understood that this was a serious matter and that it needed to be looked into fast; because if nopony does, Ponyville could be in danger.

“So what now, Twilight,” asked Spike trembling a bit, “are you going to check it out?”

“Of course I am Spike, this is serious business! Besides, this might have something to do with the letter Celestia sent me about a weird feeling she’s been having.”

“Princess Celestia?!” Fluttershy gasped.

“Yeah, she sent me a letter about a few minutes ago stating something about feeling a familiar dark presence that could be lurking around Ponyville, but thanks to your info I now know where to search first.”

Fluttereshy took a huge sigh of relief knowing that she could rest easy, “Oh thank you Twilight, I feel much better now that you are going to investigate this.”

“Sorry Fluttershy, but you’re coming with me too.”

“Wh… wh-what?!”

“I know you’re scared Fluttershy, but you know more about the forest than I do; I’ll need your guidance. Besides, you don’t have to worry, I’ll be right there beside you; okay?”

Fluttershy just sighed knowing that she couldn’t argue out of this one, “Okay, I’ll go too… i-i-if it’s really necessary.”

“I just hope this has nothing to do with what’s inside the Cake’s daughter,” Spike added.

“From what I heard, Pumpkin is at home dealing with her curse again,” Twilight siged, “and just when she felt relaxed during the past few days.”

Twilight grabbed a bag with a few necessities inside and placed it on her back before heading out with Fluttershy, “Oh well, whatever is in the forest is probably nothing compared to what she has to deal with.”

Meanwhile… back at Sugar Cube Corner, what Twilight heard about was true. Acer was making his way to the front entrance getting prepared for hanging out with Pumpkin. He opened the door and walked through the doorway wearing a pleasant smile on his face.

“Good afternoon Cakes… and Pie.”

“Hello there Acer,” Mrs. Cake responded, “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Hiya, Acer!” shouted Pinkie.

“’Sup, Acer,” said Pound.

Acer was looking all around in the family room and the main room looking for Pumpkin, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. Maybe if he asked her family they’ll tell him where she is.

“So… where’s Pumpkin;” he asked, “We were going to go to the theatre today. There was this neat movie that we were going to watch… and don’t worry, it’s PG.”

“Oh yeah, about that…” said Mr. Cake, “I’m afraid she’s up in her room trying to relax her mind. She’s been up there for a while now; I think her curse is acting up again.”

“Really,” Acer said feeling a little down, “well there goes our little outing today.”

“Don’t you mean your date?” Pinke teased.

“Aunt Pinkie, don’t;” Pound protested, “this is not exactly the time to be all cheery.”

Pound seemed to be brooding to himself and feeling a little down; but it was to be expected while his sister was going through something like this.

“Perhaps maybe I could go up there and see if she’s doing alright.”

Upon hearing Acer say that, Pound perked his head up and looked over at him with a worried expression, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. What if she’s in the middle of being in a… you know… psycho-state?”

Acer just shrugged his shoulders, “Well… it really wouldn’t matter up to this moment, now would it?”

“I say let him go,” said Mrs. Cake, “he has been pretty lucky to calm Pumpkin down so easily. Just be careful dearie; who knows what she could be doing up there.”

Acer was full of confidence; he wasn’t planning on letting Pumpkin’s family down, “Don’t worry about me Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I’ll be fine; and that goes you too Pinkie and Pound.”

As he went upstairs, Pound was staring at the stairs very hard feeling very nervous of what might happen up there. He was about to make his way up there to see for himself, but he was quickly stopped by Pinkie Pie who suddenly jumped in front of him.

“Ah ah ah, hold it right there, Pound. No need to try and spy on them.”

“But… what if something happens?” said Pound with a bit of worry in his tone.

“Have a little faith in Acer why don’t ya,” Pinkie responded, “I’m sure Pumpkin is fine; Acer will see to it that she is.”

Suddenly, Pound heard his mother call out to him, “Pound, honey, could you come and lend a little hoof to your Father in the kitchen please?”

Pinkie looked down at and lightly smiled as she pointed her hoof towards the kitchen where he was called to. He lightly groaned while turning away from the stairs and answered, “Coming, Mom.”

Upstairs, Pumpkin was in her room sulking once again trying to calm her mind and keep the curse within her at bay. She was doing everything she could, but it seemed that the curse was almost ready to make its last move… or was it just toying with her?

“Get out of my freaking head,” she shouted at it, “I can’t stand you any longer; why don’t you just get on with possessing my mind already and having your sick fun?!”

“But I am having fun, watching you torment yourself over when you’ll finally lose control over me and cause destruction to your home. I’ve never felt so satisfied in my entire existence.”

Pumpkin was getting sick ‘n’ tired the demon’s taunting, it was making her head hurt. She was  burying her face in the covers of her bed holding on to her head and trying to keep the magic inside her horn contained.

“D-d-damn… you; if I could strangle you with my own hooves I would. I’m n-never going to g-give into you, you hear me?!”

Unfortunately, the demon wasn’t phased at all by her threats, it just continued to taunt her and play with her mind. It was its most favorite thing to do.

“Ahh, once I do take over your mind and cause destruction, whose blood should I shed first? Perhaps your cute little colt friend, or maybe your parents; maybe I’ll kill your best friends first, or perhaps somepony like your old teacher or the Mayor or the Elements of Harmony. So many targets to slaughter, but who to do first… who to do first?”

A bit of the crimson red color was starting to appear in Pumpkin eyes due to her anger rising towards her curse that was threatening her family and friends, “You… y-y-you stay away from them; you will do no such thing, I won’t allow it!”

Suddenley, Pumpkin picked up the sound of her room door opening, and she suddenly calmed herself as her eyes went back to normal. She quickly turned around and saw that Acer was standing in her doorway. She felt a little shocked and a bit embarrassed at the same time.

“A-A-Acer; what are you doing in here?”

“Are you okay, Pumpkin,” asked Acer, “Are you having any struggles?”

Pumpkin blushed a bit as she just stayed on her bed to her relax her body, “Well, maybe a little, but I can handle it; no biggie.”

Suddenly, Acer walked in her room and shut the door behind him; all while keeping a fixated stare at the trouble filly.

“You know… I never realized just how… attractive you’ve gotten lately.”

“Wh-what?!” Pumpkin was now blushing even more, she had no idea why Acer was suddenly being romantic on her like this, “Um… d-don’t flatter me Acer, you’re embarrassing me.”

Acer slowly walked over to Pumpkin’s bed and hopped onto it, and then he lowered his face so that it was on the same level with hers. Pumpkin was suddenly feeling a little nervous; she had a feeling that something wasn’t right here.

“Um… Acer, wh-what are you doing?”

“Pumpkin, you trust me, right?”said Acer semi-seductively.

Pumpkin looked at him for second and then quickly nodded her head, “Well, y-y-yes I do trust you… I trust you completely.”

Acer then walked over to her flank and placed his hoof on her back that suddenly made her jump a bit, “Then do me a favor… and hold still for me.”

Pumpkin wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that, but she felt that Acer wasn’t being himself. Then much to her horror, Acer suddenly climbed over her and laid himself on top of her; caressing her in his hooves.

“Acer, no… w-w-wait, what are you trying to do?!”

“Don’t resist me, Pumpkin,” said Acer in a bad boy tone as he nipped on her ear, “You trust me completely, remember?”

As Acer inched himself forward, Pumpkin could suddenly feel something poking on her from behind; something that was forcefully trying to penetrate her… Acer was trying to mate with her!

“Acer, please… y-you’re hurting me!”

Pumpkin had tears in her eyes feeling a slight pain from Acer trying to rape her. She knew that she couldn’t do this yet, nor was she prepared for it. But the more she resisted, the more Acer seemed to hold her down in an attempt to slide into her.

“Please stop!” she continued to scream in pain, “Get off of me… get off!”

Pumpkin was getting fed up with it; why was Acer doing this to her against her will? Coltfriend or not, she was getting pissed off. The Crimson color came back in her eyes as her anger was rising and then shouted in a demonic distorted voice.

“I said… GET OFF!!!”

Pumpkin bucked him off in the air with her hind legs, and then she quickly turned around and blasted him into a wall with her magic. After that, she was panting and catching her breath feeling relieved that the worst case scenario didn’t happen. But once her eyes changed back and her mind was back in place, she noticed Acer on the ground groaning in pain and blood was dripping from his nose. He suddenly looked up at her with a slight discontent in his face.

“P-P-Pumpkin, what did you do that for? I just asked you if you were alright, but then you were acting all weird and I came over to you to try and calm you down… and then you just… blasted me.”

Suddenly, it finally hit Pumpkin; everything that was happening to her… what Acer had done… none of it was real, it was another illusion caused by her curse. Pumpkin’s eyes grew wide and sorrowful tears filled them up seeing Acer badly wounded once again… because of her.

“Pumpkin… are you sure that you’re okay?”

That was the final straw for her, she hurt her coltfriend… again, and she wasn’t in control. She wasn’t going to wait any longer; she knew what she had to do now. It was the only option she had left, and she didn’t want any more ponies to get hurt. She darted towards the door with streams of tears trailing behind her and Acer was trying to get up to stop her.

“Pumpkin wait, don’t go! I-i-it’s not th-that bad; I can still stand.”

“Stop trying to make me feel better, Acer!” she shouted at him, “Just face it, I’m never going to be able to stop this curse from hurting everypony around me like this! I’m going to go and end this right now, and don’t try to stop me!”

As she went out the door, Acer tried to get up, “Pumpkin, wait for… ugh!” But his body was badly hurt from Pumpkin’s unintended attack and it caused him fall back down on the ground with his wings cramping up, “My wings sprung; I guess she really did do a number on me.”

Pumpkin was already gone and he wouldn’t be able to catch up to her now.  This was definitely becoming a sucktastic day for both of them, “I’m suddenly having a bad feeling about this.” And it was only going to get worse.