Chapters Twilight walked down the stairs and toward the kitchen table, so she could have her daily tea. She started humming a cheerful tune. If everything went right today, it would be great. She could show all her friends the results of her newest spell. They'd learn that learning and studying got you to do amazing things. They might even start to like studying like her. Except Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Well, maybe not Pinkie either. Admittedly, it wasn't her best plan yet. But the spell's results should still be amazing.
She drank her tea slowly, loving every last bit of it. Tea was one of her favorite things, right behind her friends and her studies. Heck, if she had no friends and was illiterate, she would probably be happy enough with just tea.
After she'd finished up the rest of her breakfast, Twilight walked over to the section of the library she had cleared just for today, to try out her new spell. Spike and her had done it together last night. Spike wasn't very enthusiastic, but he still did it.
Turning something into a pony. Anything, even animals or inanimate objects. How has nopony thought of it before? How have I not thought of it before now? she thought. And although her test subject was an apple, it should work just as well as it would on anything. It would be a plus that it didn't have any memories or attachments, or it would cause a problem when changing it back.
Twilight was at the height of her concentration. This spell had to work. She had finally gotten all the variables right after months of working. This was going to be her best creation yet. Possibly the best creation of all time, maybe even better than Starswirl the Bearded's work.
"Spike, is everything checked off on the list?" Twilight asked. There were so many things that could go wrong with a spell to turn an apple into a pony.
"Yep, Twilight. The library has the closed sign out. All the doors are locked. There's no way anypony could get in."
"Did you get the new apple after you took a bite out of the other one last night?"
"Yeah. Sorry about that." Spike scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Stand back." Twilight leaned forward and used all the magic she could gather. She closed her eyes, imagined in her mind's eye of the apple turning into a pony. Her horn powered, and she felt the spell start to work.
"Hey Twilight!" yelled a voice out of nowhere that obviously belonged to a certain pink mare. "Whatcha doin'? I decided Gummy and I should drop by to visit 'cause--"
"Pinkie! Stop Gummy!" Twilight yelled at Pinkie, but it was too late. Gummy had started sucking on the apple and had gotten in the spell's way.
The spell hit Gummy, and it froze him to the spot, encasing him in a purple glow. He dropped his beloved apple out of his mouth. He started to float upwards. He stopped midway, stuck in the air. Then the spell was over. Gummy fell back to the ground. He then proceeded to walk back to the apple to enjoy it again.
"Ooooh, what was that? What's gonna happen to Gummy? Will he turn into a hoo.. hoo-meen? I think that's what they're called. 'Cause I visited Lyra, and--"
Pinkie was cut off by a very angry Twilight, "No, Pinkie. He won't turn into.... whatever you said. The truth is, I'm not even sure what will happen. He could get really sick." She was keeping her voice level, but just barely.
"He could?" Pinkie's smile faltered, and a look of worry came onto her face. It didn't look right on her, like a pig in Applejack's hat, which actually happened once. Of all the worst possible things you could do, guilt tripping Pinkie was the worst possible thing.
"No, Pinkie, I don't think so. I really don't think anything will happen, but I can't be sure."
"Oh, okay! You're such a silly filly, Twilight! I'm going to go home now, I just wanted to say hi! Oh, and sorry for messing up your science-y stuff!" Pinkie said, looking back as she trotted out the door.
"It's no trouble, Pinkie," Twilight sighed. It was part true, it shouldn't be as hard to remake the first version if she'd done it before.
"Now, Gummy, I know we had a really fun day today, and you're probably tired," Pinkie looked Gummy in the eye, "so that's why I'm putting you to bed early."
Pinkie watched Gummy nervously, waiting for any reactions. She thought he might disappointed or angry. Instead, he walked over to Pinkie and latched onto her tail for her to take him upstairs. She walked up the stairs, and at the top, Gummy let go and waddled over to his smaller version of a bed next to Pinkie's.
"Okay, story time!" Pinkie grabbed a book out of her hair. She proceeded to read the story to Gummy, who did not give too much of a reaction. "Once upon a time, there was a donut. His name was Craig. He rolled along all of Equestria, in search of the magical crown that the King of the Sticks wore. Then he found it. The end!"
Pinkie turned off the light and also went to bed herself. She would probably have to bake Twilight an apology cake because she messed up her weird spell thingy that didn't turn ponies to hoo-meens, or whatever Lyra had told her about earlier. Finally, Pinkie fell asleep.
Pinkie Pie's alarm went off, to which she responded with, "They're my waffles!" Then she realized she was talking to a clock. It was not out of the ordinary. She turned off the alarm and went to go back to sleep.
Suddenly there was a loud scream that wasn't Pinkie's. It was male, so definitely not hers. Why would somepony be screaming? I wonder where it's coming from, Pinkie thought to herself. That was until she realized it had come from right next to her bed.
She sprang up from her bed. She scanned the room. Her eyes froze on something that made very little sense, even to Pinkie, the master of spaz and random.
It was a young colt. He sat in front of a mirror, looking at himself in confusion. The colt was a light green, with a darker green 2 colored mane. He had odd purple eyes that weren't like anything Pinkie had ever seen. Except for on one other individual. He froze as her eyes shifted over him again and again, trying to confirm or deny her suspicions. She recognized those eyes, but didn't want to believe it. Pinkie turned to Gummy's bed only to find it empty.
Pinkie did the sensible thing. And fainted.
Author's Note
Hey! Just so you guys know, I love comments and advice. If you've got the time, please leave some! Thanks for reading :)
Chapter 2 - Double The Fun
Pinkie woke up. That confused her. Hadn't she already woken once today? Then she remembered the events that occurred after she woke up, and decided it must have been a dream. Gummy as a pony? How crazy was she?
That was, until she saw the colt sitting next to the bed, watching her carefully. "Um.... hh-hhi Pinkie," he stammered, this being only the second time he'd used his voice. Plus the fact of the whole situation.
Pinkie wasn't sure how to react. Apparently, the events had not been a dream like she'd hoped. She decided that jumping to a conclusion was her best choice with her Pinkie-logic mind. "Hi, are you Gummy?"
"Y-yeah. Twilight's spell turned me into a pony." Gummy looked like about your average colt, save his eyes.
"Oh, well that's nice," Pinkie said in a volume that would make Fluttershy proud. How the hay was she supposed to react to this? Was she supposed to try to take care of him? Pinkie took care of babies but knew next to nothing about fillies or colts. "I think maybe we should go see her?"
"Yeah," Gummy agreed.
They left Sugarcube Corner a few minutes later, and headed toward the library in town.
The whole situation felt awkward. Then, as they were walking, Pinkie jumped a few feet into the air and gasped in realization. A few passerby looked at her, then looked away. They were all too used to things like this. Especially since that one time when Pinkie rolled through town the entire day instead of walking.
"Gummy! I just realized something!" This got her several looks, which then led to ponies looking at the colt next to her in confusion. Pinkie got in front of Gummy before they got a good look. "If you're Gummy," she said, much quieter this time, "then that means you're the same old Gummy, and I'm the same old Pinkie, and we don't have to be all awkwardy pants!"
"Oh, good!" Gummy jumped into the air. "I thought I'd have to act like that forever!"
They both proceeded to hop through Ponyville to the library. As they walked, they saw many people they knew, and they both greeted them happily. They didn't see anything wrong with it, but other ponies didn't agree.
"Hi, Mrs.Cake!"
"Oh, hi Pinkie," Mrs.Cake replied, smiling at Pinkie as she walked down the street.
"Heya, Mrs.Cake!" Gummy greeted her, not noticing they had never technically met.
"Hi, P-- wait, did I just greet Pinkie twice? And what happened to her voice?" Mrs.Cake froze in her tracks and did a double take, and saw Pinkie hopping along with Gummy. "Oh... I didn't know she had a brother... or a son? Wait, Pinkie, come back, I have a question!"
"No time, Mrs.Cake! I have to go talk to Twilight about... secret magic sciencey-stuff!"
"Yup!" Gummy agreed happily.
Then Pinkie and Gummy hopped off, leaving many terrified ponies who had been watching and listening. For a few seconds, everyone was dead silent. Then there were many people saying things such as "Oh my Celestia, there's another one" and "Is that a brother or a son" and "Please just be visiting". After that, the town cautiously went on its normal way, although curious about who the hay the colt with Pinkie was.
"Twilight!" Pinkie yelled as she hopped into the library. She stopped hopping as she made it into the door.
"Hi, Pinkie. What are you here for? Need more books on how to upgrade your party cannon? If so, you can't have any more. They're banned because of last time you 'upgraded' yours." Twilight's gaze shifted to Gummy, who came out from behind Pinkie. "Who's the cute little colt? Wow, he's got quite the cool eyes and what a nice green coat. What's your name?"
"It's Gummy! Her got transformed into a pony because of the funky spell of yours he got in the way of!"
"He did?" Twilight looked harder at Gummy. She finally put two and two together, how his eyes were so odd and his mane color. "Do you know what this means? My spell WORKED!"
"That's nice, Twilight, but we need to get Gummy back into alligator form!"
"Yeah!" Gummy agreed, speaking up for the first time.
"That doesn't ma-- I mean, I guess any spell needs a counter spell, and I'd have to find it eventually anyway." Twilight started blushing slightly and ducked her head a bit. "I think I know how to do it. It might not work, but I can try. Step back, Pinkie."
Pinkie took a few steps back, and Twilight started to power up her horn. She leaned forward, and a beam of light came out of her horn, hitting Gummy. It bounced off him and did nothing.
"Sorry, Pinkie and Gummy. That is all I can try. I'd have to work for a while to figure out how to change him back. So, he's stuck as a pony for now."
"What's all the commotion?" Spike asked, stumbling down the stairs.
"Wow, Spike! You look as tired as a dog! You might as well be one!" Pinkie joked. "Gummy here turned into a pony from Twilight's spell."
"I don't want anything to do with it, and I promise not to tell anyone." Spike was already walking back up the stairs. He didn't need a snack anyway.
"Pinkie, it's required that all fillies and colts go to school. There's no way we can hide him well enough for nopony to notice." Twilight turned to Gummy. "How many people do you think saw you?"
"Hmmmmm..." Gummy sat and tapped his head in a very Pinkie-like way. "I think just about everyone outside at the time. But they didn't see my eyes too good."
"Great," Twilight groaned. "We'll need a cover story and a disguise..."
"Twilight!" Pinkie suddenly yelled, causing Twilight to turn to her. She was now wearing a mustache, widening her eyes and leaning forward.
"No, Pinkie, that won't be enough."
"Twilight!" Gummy yelled. Twilight turned to him, only to see he was wearing a mustache and doing the same thing as Pinkie. "You suuure a mustache won't work?"
"Mustaches work for everything!" Spike yelled from upstairs.
Twilight sighed. "No. We need something better. Everypony will freak out if they see you're a pony. They'll probably think it's some sort of crazy and rare disease that'll happen to every animal. First order of business, your cover story. You need a name."
"How about Lime Pie?" Pinkie suggested.
"That's great, Pinkie. What do you think, Gummy?" Twilight asked him. Gummy nodded. "Okay, Lime Pie it is. Now, a story. A son or brother is out of the question, even though you guys could probably pass off for it. Everypony would already know him. How about you guys are... cousins?"
"Okie dokie lokie!" Gummy and Pinkie chanted in unison.
"Right, next order of business. His eyes. Both his coat and mane are fairly average, but his eyes are way too odd. He needs something...."
Pinkie gasped and jumped up. "I know exactly where we can get some glasses!"
"Naw, naw, Pinkie. 'Sno problem. You can borrow a pair of my old glasses anytime, 's alright with me. I just don't get why." Vinyl scratched her head.
"I can't tell you, Vinyl!" Pinkie informed her in the most mysterious and creepy way possible.
"What Pinkie means is that her visiting younger cousin here, Lime, has really weird eyes. She thinks he might get teased for them. So we need some of your older glasses, so they'll fit," Twilight clarified in a much less terrifying way. The story was in part true, and not too far-fetched.
"I hear ya there, dude," Vinyl said, addressing Gummy. "Here's an old pair of mine." She levitated over a pair of smaller glasses that were, instead of purple, tinted light blue. They landed on Gummy's face, and fit perfectly. "You can keep 'em. I gotta admit, he looks pretty bada--"
"OKAY! Gotta go, thanks bye!" Pinkie cut her off before she could finish her sentence. Then Gummy, Twilight and Pinkie all ran off as fast as they could back to Twilight's tree.
They all burst through the door, and saw that Spike was now eating his dinner.
Spike looked up from where he was eating his food. He saw Gummy and his glasses "Gummy, you look awesome."
Gummy looked at Spike from where he was standing and gave him a wide smile. "Thanks!" Gummy walked over and high-hoofed him.
"So, that went well. We actually got the glasses," Twilight panted. "Now for the second matter. School."
"What?!" yelled Gummy and Spike.
"Twilight! How cruel are you? You can't send this awesome guy to school!" Spike complained. "Gummy is awesome!"
"Yeah!" Gummy jumped in the air, almost knocking off his glasses.
"Okay, first off, Spike and Gummy. Gummy has to go to school. It's a law that all colts and fillies have to go to school. He's technically a colt right now, so he's not an exception. I can probably get him in by tomorrow, since it's only around 4 PM.
"Second, try to refer to him as 'Lime' if you see him in public. Even around Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity. Especially Fluttershy and Rarity, I don't want two unconscious ponies in the library."
"Alright, I guess if it's the law..." Spike grumbled. "See you around, dude."
"Okie dokie lokie!" Gummy replied, hopping in place.
Twilight turned to Pinkie. "I think that's all for now, Pinkie. You guys can go, but don't tell ANYONE who he is, and try not to attract too much attention. Alright?"
"Sure thing, Twilight!" Pinkie said, hopping out the door with Gummy behind her.
"Bye!" They shouted in unison.
Once they were a few minutes gone, as Twilight was getting ready to go to the school to register Gummy, she realized something. "Oh my Celestia, what did I just do to Ponyville? There's two Pinkie Pies... one that will be at school all day and one that will be all over town all day. Nowhere and nopony are safe."
"Great job, Twilight, Pinkie and Gummy are cool, but they'll probably destroy Ponyville. This is priceless," Spike laughed. "And you just let them free on the town with vague instructions!"
"Great. I'll have to remember to warn Cherilee that they're related," Twilight groaned, walking out the door.
"Yay, this is great, Lime! We have about the next five hours to ourselves! Hmmm, maybe I should introduce you to my friends! Hmmm, but Fluttershy and Rarity are really smart like Twilight, so they might notice who you are."
Gummy and Pinkie were hopping down the street together toward Sugarcube Corner. As they entered the building, Pinkie and Gummy still kept on talking.
"Doesn't Rainbow Dash have a nap right now?" Gummy recalled.
"Oh yeah! Thanks for reminding me! That leaves Applejack! We can visit her in a few minutes! Hi Mr and Mrs Cake!" Pinkie yelled.
"Hi, Pinkie. Who's the little colt?" Mr.Cake asked.
"His name is Lime Pie, and he's my cousin from...." Pinkie looked to Gummy for help.
"Manehattan!" Gummy finished for her, smiling. It was one of the few towns he had remembered overhearing as an alligator.
"Well, hi there, Lime. I'm Mr.Cake, and my wife, Mrs.Cake is in the back."
"Nice to meet you formally." Mrs.Cake came out from the back room. She held out her hoof to Gummy and smiled down at him. He shook her hoof.
"Well, we just came to get something to eat and then I'm going to show him around Ponyville," Pinkie told the Cakes.
She went and grabbed some food from the back, and the Cakes had to go to the market to get some new things. Pinkie walked over to the table with two plates of food, with one on her head and one on her back. She slid the one on her head in front of Gummy, set the other in the seat across from him, and sat down.
Gummy looked down at his food. It was that moment that he realized something. Something important. Pinkie was wearing her mustache. That wasn't the important thing though, just the first thing he noticed. The important thing was he had no idea how to eat with hooves.
"Pinkie, I don't know how to pick up a fork or spoon," he stated finally, slightly embarrassed.
"Of course you can't, silly! Only unicorns can use them!" She shoved her face into her food and dug in to demonstrate. Bringing her head back up, she said "Also, put your mustache on while you're at the table, mister!"
Gummy gave her a wide smile. Within literally no time, the mustache was on Gummy's face. He shoved his face into his food and ate. After a few minutes, they finished eating and were ready to go.
They hopped through the town, happily. Pinkie looked like she wanted to sing a song, but probably didn't know if Gummy could sing or not and didn't want to embarrass him. To be honest, Gummy did too. He'd seen Pinkie do it in town and have other ponies join in, and it looked like lots of fun.
Since it was later in the day, there were less people around town and less people payed attention to Gummy or questioned his identity. It was weird for him, knowing just about everyone in Ponyville and having no one know him. He felt like a secret agent. Or a ninja. Or a cantaloupe.
"We're here!" Pinkie yelled when they got there, as though he could miss the barn. "I bet AJ will think you and your glasses and mustache are awesome!" When they got up to the door, Pinkie knocked repeatedly with her hoof. "Aaaappplllejaaaaaack!" Pinkie said in a sing-song voice. "It's Piiiinkiie Piiie!"
The door opened, and the farmer mare stepped out. "Why, howdy, Pinkie. Did ya have somethin' specific to come for, or did ya just want to drop by?"
"Both!" Pinkie jumped in the air in excitement. "I want you to meet my cousin! He's visiting Ponyville for the first time from Manehattan!"
"Hi!" Gummy gave Applejack a wide smile. "My name's Lime Pie!"
"Well, howdy, little one. You're a right handsome little colt, aren't ya? But what in tarnation are ya'll both wearin' mustaches for?"
"It's Pie tradition. Don't question it," Pinkie replied with much seriousness in her voice. "Although I just started the tradition today, I'm determined to make it catch on."
"Alrighty then, probably shoulda guessed that one," Applejack mumbled. "Well, do you guys want to stay for dinner or somethin'?"
Pinkie and Gummy were about to accept when Twilight Sparkle popped up between them, knocking them both off balance.
"Oh sorry, Applejack, but remember, Pinkie and Lime, we have that one thing we have to do?" Twilight 'reminded' them.
Pinkie didn't seem to get it, so Gummy said "Oh yeah! The, uh, thing! It's an important thing that definitely exists!"
"Yeah!" Pinkie agreed, finally getting it. Twilight teleported them all back to the tree.
"Well, that was weird as all hay," Applejack muttered. Suddenly, Apple Bloom popped up beside her.
"That kid with the awesome glasses was a blank flank! Will he goin' to my school? How long's he stayin'? Is he Pinkie's brother?" Apple Bloom questioned Applejack nonstop for the next 10 minutes.
"Ah dunno, but he seems mighty suspicious to me," grumbled Applejack under her breath.
Back at Twilight's library, two individuals were being questioned by an insanely angry one, with another individual laughing and commenting occasionally. It lasted a good thirty minutes until Pinkie Pie and Gummy could go home.
Pinkie and Gummy walked home feeling ashamed of what they had done. Even if Twilight hadn't told them specifically not to talk to or visit other ponies, they still should've known better. After a few seconds out of the door, though, they were hopping again.
"So G-- Lime, what do you want to do when we get home? It's 7 PM, so we have 1 hour left until I'm sending you to bed!" Pinkie kept hopping as she waited for Gummy to answer.
"Hmmm... I know! You could try to teach me how to sing! I've seen you do it, and it looks like loads of fun!" Gummy suggested.
"Great idea! I'll teach you as soon as we get back to Sugarcube Corner! Wait, we're already here!" Pinkie opened the door and held it for Gummy.
After they both got inside, Pinkie noticed a note on the table.
"Gummy! There's a note here from the Cakes!" She read aloud, "Dear Pinkie and Lime, there was some urgent family business, and we had to leave with Pound and Pumpkin for an indefinite amount of time. Pinkie, you can run the shop while Lime is in school, you've done it before. Signed, the Cakes."
"So they're not going to be back for a while?" Gummy asked.
"Nope!"
"...Do you know how to take care of a colt by yourself?"
"I have no idea! But I do know one thing, and that's how to sing! Let's go upstairs so we'll scare any passerby less!"
After a few minutes, Pinkie and Gummy were both upstairs. Gummy was sitting on Pinkie's bed while she was pacing back and forth.
"Okay, so just repeat after me," Pinkie instructed. She sang the most simple scale she knew that worked for anyone in just about any singing range. She stopped pacing and and looked at Gummy expectantly.
Gummy was surprisingly good for his first time singing and age. Not Sweetie Belle good, but still good.
"Wow, Gummy. You're actually good! It must run in the family even though we're not technically related," Pinkie said, not seeming to care how off her logic was.
"Thanks!"
"You'd still need to practice more if you wanted to do a whole song in front of people, but not too much! Right now, it's time to go to bed! You have to go to sleep early for school tomorrow!"
Pinkie read him another installment of the Craig the Donut books. She even had him read aloud a few pages to prepare Gummy a bit for school the next morning. Gummy could already read, since Pinkie had been reading him a story every night since she got him. He could also write because of the one time she had him help with invitations. The invites came out so sloppy that no one knew when or where it was, so not a single guest came. But he still tried.
Pinkie brought in a small spare bed from another room for Gummy. Where she got it from, he had absolutely no idea, but just decided to go with it.
He took off his glasses and mustache, set them on the ground next to him, and went to bed. He lie there for a while, wondering what school might be like. Finally, after about 20 seconds that felt much longer to Gummy than they actually were, he fell asleep.
"Waaaaaaaaaaake up, sleepyhead! Time for your first day of school!" rang Pinkie Pie's voice as Gummy woke up.
"Okay!" He jumped out of bed, put his glasses of awesome on, and started to walk downstairs. He was completely oblivious to how many directions his mane was sticking out in.
"Wait, silly colt! You have to comb your mane," she reminded him. This got her a look of puzzlement in return. "Oh. I guess you don't know that, because you used to be another species."
Pinkie took a few minutes to show Gummy how to comb his mane. She tried to do an example on herself, but her hair refused to agree with or follow the laws of gravity. He finally got it, and he looked more or less normal.
They ate breakfast together and talked for a few minutes, then it was time to go.
"Are you sure you don't want to be walked to school?" Pinkie asked for the second time, shifting her weight back and forth. It was kind of weird for her, being in charge of Gummy, because she had to be even more responsible than with the Cake twins.
"Yup!" Gummy hopped out the door with his saddlebags, sure he would be fine since she'd given him directions. "Bye!" he said before walking out.
"Bye!" Pinkie replied, happy she didn't have to be serious anymore. Gummy walked out the door. "Man, this adulty stuff is hard. I know! Maybe Twilight has a book on it!" she exclaimed.
Since the store didn't open for another hour or two, Pinkie decided to visit the library. Twilight might also want a check up on how the morning went.
She headed happily to the library, wondering what Gummy was doing. When she hit the library, she knocked with her hoof five times, which was something Twilight had instructed the two to do if it were about Gummy.
"Hi, Pinkie," Twilight opened the door and pulled Pinkie in. She closed the door behind them. "It's about Lime, right?"
"Yep! I need a book on parenting, 'cause I have no idea how to care of him! He's at school right now, he just left."
"Wait, you let him walk to the first day of school on his own? Are you crazy?!" Not even a full minute of Pinkie talking to her, and Twilight was on the verge of yelling.
"It's fine. Or at least it will be once I get a book on taking care of him!"
"You shouldn't let him out completely on his own!"
"I know that, but I'll know it betterer if I got a book on parenting!"
Twilight calmed down a bit. "Pinkie, if you need help taking care if that little colt, don't be afraid to ask. He seems like a handful."
"No, it's alright Twilight. Where are the parenting books?"
"...Okay, as long as you say you can take care of him. Just don't let anyone know about him." Twilight gestured to a section of the library, and Pinkie walked over and started browsing.
Until Fluttershy fell from the second floor.
It was an average day for Fluttershy. She was taking her daily morning walk through Ponyville, when she walked by the library and saw Pinkie go into the building. Fluttershy thought maybe she should drop in for a visit.
She was about to knock, when she heard what sounded like arguing. That was odd for Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy decided to eavesdrop to make sure everything was okay. She flew up to Twilight's balcony and put her ear up to the door. She listened to the whole conversation, until she lost her balance and fell through the door to the first floor.
Pinkie Pie jumped at the sudden thud and turned to see Fluttershy on the ground. She instantly understood that Fluttershy must've been eavesdropping. The feeling of instantly knowing something confused her. She attributed it to spending too much time around Twilight, and decided to try and do that less.
"Are you bucking kidding me," Twilight swore, frowning.
"Well, it's your fault for yelling," Pinkie pointed out.
Twilight sighed and turned to Fluttershy. "What did you hear, and what do you think it means?"
"Oh, well, ummm... I heard you guys talking about a little colt, and Pinkie needs a parenting book, and you want him to stay secret... and um, well, I thought..." Fluttershy trailed off, ducking her head behind her mane and blushing.
Twilight's eyes widened, getting what Fluttershy thought. "Oh hay no, no, nonononono, by Celestia's invisible beard no, I mean... REALLY? Me and... nonononono. Never," she concluded.
"Oh, okay, good." Fluttershy still had her head down. "Then what were you guys arguing about?"
"Well, I don't know what the cupcakes you two are being are weird about, so stop. You're scaring me. Can I tell Fluttershy, Twilight? Pleeeeease?" Pinkie pleaded.
"By all means, go ahead, anything but what she originally understood."
Pinkie proceeded to explain the past two days to Fluttershy, with Twilight occasionally cutting in when Pinkie's story stopped making sense. Fluttershy seemed shaken up, but didn't react as badly as they thought she might. She actually took it quite well, considering everything. She promised not to tell anyone, and left to finish her walk. Pinkie left a minute later to go work Sugarcube Corner without getting any books.
"Not even a day and a half, and we already had to tell Fluttershy," Twilight grumbled.
"Hey Twilight, I heard everything you guys said, and I had a question," Spike said, coming down the stairs.
"What is it?"
"What did Fluttershy think?"
"Oh... um... well..."
Gummy was more excited for his first day of school than anything else he'd ever been excited for, which was a lot. Sadly, he couldn't show emotion when he was an alligator. But now that he was a colt, he could show emotion all he wanted. And that he did.
He hopped through town, a wide smile on his face. He wanted to break into a song, but probably wasn't good enough for public audiences.
When he got to the school, he sat there in front of the door for a second, looking the building over. It was a small red schoolhouse, with a play area in back. After a minute, Gummy decided there wasn't much to observe since it was a small piece of land. He walked in so he wouldn't be late and be pelted with cucumbers.
Or, at least, that's what Pinkie said would happen if he were late to school while they were eating breakfast together that morning.
There was an empty seat left in the front of the class, next to a filly who looked like Rarity. From what he remember overhearing at parties and being with Pinkie all the time, her name was Sweetie Belle and she was Rarity's little sister.
"Alright, class, we have a new student today." Cherilee smiled at Gummy and gestured for him to come up. Gummy quickly hopped up to the front of the class and gave everyone a wide smile. "Introduce yourself, don't be shy," Cherilee instructed. Gummy found this kind of funny, telling Pinkie Pie's cousin not to be shy. Nope, not shy, just the opposite.
"My name's Lime Pie!" Gummy jumped into the air and confetti fell from the ceiling at the same time he said his fake name.
"Well, that was quite the show." Cherilee looked slightly startled, and the rest of the class looked amazed and appreciative. Except, Gummy observed, a pink filly with a tiara who and a gray filly next to her. He wondered if the pink one was the queen of Ponyville or something similar. He had no idea why she'd be wearing a crown unless that were the case. "Class, feel free ask Lime any questions you might have."
He got all kinds of different questions from everyone in the room, except the pink and the gray filly. People asked things from where he was from to if he and Pinkie were related to if he was a blank flank. The latter caused the pink filly and the gray one to whisper, and for three other fillies to give each other looks then nod.
"I have a question," a pegasus filly with a blue coat asked.
"Yup?" Gummy replied.
"Your glasses are awesome," she stated, which gathered nods from everyone, even Cherilee. Except the two fillies that didn't seem to actually have feelings. Gummy decided that the pink was the robot queen and the gray one was a robot minion. That was the only logical explanation in his mind.
"Alright, that's enough for now, class," Cherilee chimed in after around 10 minutes of interrogation. Class went on as it would on a normal day, with only the occasional glance at Gummy or whisper. All of the work was fairly simple for Gummy, considering he'd never done any of it, but had had many books from the library read to him about each topic.
Finally, it was time for end of the day recess where Gummy could talk to other ponies and make new friends.
Pinkie had been working Sugarcube Corner for about six and a half hours when she looked up at the clock. Gummy would need to be picked up in about 30 minutes. Business was slow, so she decided to close up shop early. She was locking up the counter when Applejack walked in.
"Oh, hi Applejack! I was just closing up shop 'cause I have to pick up Lime in thirty minutes!" Pinkie greeted Applejack, smiling.
"Same for Apple Bloom. But, on the subject of that Lime fella o' yours. Why were you and Twilight actin' all twitchy 'round me yesterday? You guys aren't hidin' anything, right?" Applejack seemed to already know the answer. Being the Element of Honesty, she could tell when people were lying pretty easily.
"Umm... err... lookatthetimeIgottagoI'mgonnabesolatebyeitwasniceseeingyoupleasedon'tImeandodropbyagain!" Pinkie blurted. She had Applejack out of the door and the shop closed in two seconds flat. She sprinted across town to Fluttershy's cottage before Applejack even had time to register what just happened,
Pinkie jumped inside the door without knocking. This caused Fluttershy to give a small 'eep' noise.
"Oh, hi Pinkie, you startled me. What did you need?" Fluttershy said, calming down.
"No time to explain, I just need to hide here for the next little while! I'll leave in around twenty-five minutes to pick up Gummy, then go back to Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie yelled like it was the apocalypse and this was the safe house. Or she was playing "don't touch the floor, it's lava" and Fluttershy's cottage was a couch.
Fluttershy, being the Element of Kindness, wanted to help her friend. She also didn't want to argue with Pinkie, since she wasn't telling her what she was hiding from.
Pinkie sat under the couch, sipping some tea Fluttershy brought her, for the next twenty-five minutes. She finally left to go pick up Gummy, who was just finishing up recess.
Gummy walked out of class to go outside and have recess and make new friends. Class, he was sorry to say, was a bit boring and not quite what he had expected. But he had high hopes for recess, and he was sure they'd be right.
He was walking over to the swing set to play when three fillies popped up in front of him. They didn't startle him. After all, he lived with Pinkie Pie and could, in fact, defy the laws of physics as well.
Of course, he recognized and knew all the fillies, but also knew he shouldn't know what he did know because they didn't know what he did know and that he didn't not know it.
"Hi guys! What are your names?" he asked them.
"I'm Scootaloo!" the orange pegasus said.
"Ah'm Apple Bloom!" the yellow earth filly said.
"And I'm Sweetie Belle!" The white unicorn jumped in the air while saying this, and her voice squeaked at the end.
"Cool! Do you want to play tag?" Gummy asked. He'd seen the game played by other ponies before and knew the rules.
"Sure!" The fillies replied in unison. They played an intense game of tag for about 20 minutes until they were all tired out. They all sat down next to the fence.
Scootaloo had only been it twice, Apple Bloom five times, Sweetie Belle six times. Gummy had only been gotten once due to defying the laws of physics. He popped up behind people, in trees, and once out of Sweetie Belle's mane. He also had the advantage of height and strength over the fillies. Overall, it was a good game and everyone had fun.
After sitting for a few minutes, something caught Gummy's eye. The pink filly and the gray filly were talking to the blue pegasus who said his glasses were awesome. He saw an earth colt with a green coat sort of standing off to the side, awkwardly shifting his weight. Gummy strained his ears to hear what the pink one was saying.
"I mean, what does your cutie mark even mean?" she sneered. He looked at the pegasus's flank to see what she was talking about. The cutie mark there was a book with a smiley face that he could only describe as cocky. To be honest, he had no idea what it was either.
"The book's for being smart. The smiley face means that I'm funny and sarcastic at times. Get it?" the pegasus replied, speaking slowly with a hint of sarcasm. "But what I don't get is why you're poking fun at my cutie mark. A tiara and a spoon? Lemme guess, cosplay and overeating?"
"Maybe you should stop being so smart, smartflank," retorted the gray one.
"Well, that's quite the amazing insult you got there. I'll take it," the pegasus filly smirked. Although she was smiling, it wasn't insanely hard for Gummy to tell she was offended by what they had been saying previously.
Gummy turned to the three fillies sitting next to him.
"Why are they being mean to that filly?" Gummy asked the three, gesturing toward the spectacle.
They all looked off to where he gestured, then Apple Bloom replied, "Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? They're just bullies. They think it's funny to rid-- ridic-- be mean to other ponies."
"Hmmm... well, I know something funny." Gummy smirked. He stood up and walked over to the where the bullying was taking place. "Hey, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Wanna know something funny?" he said with fake cheer, pretending to be as clueless as Pinkie could be at times.
"Besides her cutie mark or the fact that you're a blank flank?" Silver Spoon sneered. This might've offended Gummy if he wasn't meant to be another species. He was pretty sure it was impossible for him to get a cutie mark.
"Oh, well, Pinkie taught me about something funnier! It's a nice little thing called... flour." All of the sweetness went out of Gummy's voice on the last word. He pulled a bag of flour out of his mane and held it over Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. "Are you guys gonna stop bullying her?" They nodded and he dumped the flour on himself.
He was right. He knew it was funny and he couldn't even see it. The bullies left and went to go home.
"Thanks, dude. They're stupid." The pegasus held out her hoof. Gummy shook it and smiled.
"No problem!" Gummy replied, and she walked off with the colt. He realized how oddly similar their cutie marks were, and assumed they must be old friends. As they were walking off, he heard them both cracking jokes about Silver Spoon using smart as an insult.
"Congratulations!" Scootaloo said from behind him. He spun around to see his three new friends standing in a row. "You now qualify to be the first male Cutie Mark Crusader!"
"You're also covered in flour!" Sweetie pointed out happily. Everyone just sat staring at her for a second while she beamed brightly at Gummy, oblivious to their stares.
"Oookay... right. Anyway, we Cutie Mark Crusaders are here to help blank flanks find their cutie marks! And since you have awesome glasses, you don't like bullies, and you're a blank flank, you could join! As our first official colt member!" Apple Bloom said.
"Okay, sure!" Gummy agreed.
"Great!" Sweetie Belle said happily. "Want to go to the clubhouse to brainstorm for things to do?"
"I'd have to ask Pinkie Pie first, or she might pelt me with cucumbers." This got Gummy looks of confusion from Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, but surprisingly enough, one of understanding from Scootaloo. He didn't really want to know why.
"Alright, I think Rainbow Dash is waiting for me anyway," Scootaloo said, trotting off toward the exit. "Bye guys!" Soon they all said goodbye and walked toward the road.
"Hey, Pinkie!" Gummy yelled when he saw her.
"Hi, Lime! We gotta get outta here fast, before Applejack sees us!" Pinkie looked back and forth like she stole something, killed someone, or accidentally bumped into another pony on the street.
"Why?"
"No time to explain!" Pinkie shoved Gummy onto her back, like she used to when he was still an alligator.
When they had finally made it to Pinkie's room in Sugarcube Corner, Gummy asked Pinkie about going to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse.
"Hmmm... you can... but I'll have to get you there--" she put on some sunglasses that, although cool, couldn't rival Gummy's in awesome "--Pinkie Pie style!"
Then there were some unidentified explosions in the back.
Pinkie and Gummy were all geared up and ready to go. They were in black spy suits that covered their whole bodies, had night vision goggles on even though it was only around 5 PM, and they had belts with cucumbers strapped onto them in case of any Applejack run-ins. Gummy accidentally ate a few to compensate for not having had dinner.
"Alright, you ready?" Pinkie whispered although they were alone in the shop.
"One second, I gotta get this book," Gummy replied. He strapped a Craig the Donut book onto his belt along with the cucumbers. His plan was to throw the book at Applejack, so that she'd have to stop to read it. It was foolproof. "Alright, let's go."
They snuck through town, doing things often such as popping up behind objects they weren't even near, popping up out of food stands, and Gummy's personal favorite, coming out of other ponies' manes. They finally made it to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. They popped into one tree and out another repeatedly, and surprisingly, they still went unnoticed. Finally, they made it to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse.
Gummy did a flip through the open window and Pinkie rolled through the door while yelling "Nobody move!"
Gummy gave Pinkie a funny look. "We're only supposed to yell if Applejack comes, remember? She's not here," he whispered.
He was right. There was no one there but the false cousins and three terrified fillies,
"You suuuuuuure?" Pinkie leaned over and examined Apple Bloom really closely. "This one looks suspicious!"
"They're sisters." Gummy gave Pinkie Pie a deadpan look. Pinkie backed away from Apple Bloom.
"Hmmm... I guess you're right... I just really wanted to throw cucumbers at AJ. I guess Apple Bloom is close enough." She proceeded to throw one cucumber at Apple Bloom, then flip out of the window. As she left, she yelled back "Be home by eight!"
After a few seconds of awkward silence and Apple Bloom rubbing her head, Scootaloo spoke up. "...What just happened?"
"Nothing," Gummy replied quickly, setting his spy suit and book down in the corner. "So, what did you guys want to do today?"
"Before we can do anything, you need to become an official Cutie Mark Crusader," Scootaloo said.
Sweetie Belle got on a podium and the other two stood off to the side. Sweetie Belle started to read. "We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Lime Pie to join us as a sister, friend--"
"Wait! Lime can't be our sister! He's a colt!" pointed out Apple Bloom. "The whole list is kinda gender based. Scootaloo would have to rewrite it."
"Yeah, I guess he's a guy, and can't get the usual ceremony. Let's just have a vote. All in favor of making him a Crusader, raise your hoof!" Sweetie raised her hoof up really quickly and to the point where she was nearly jumping in the air. Scootaloo raised her hoof and so did Apple Bloom. "Alright, you're an official member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders now!"
"Yay!" they all yelled, then Scootaloo high-hoofed Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle high hoofed Gummy.
"What should we do first?" Gummy asked. They all sat down to think in a circle. They sat there quietly thinking for a few minutes. Suddenly, Gummy jumped up and threw a random cucumber from his mane at the wall. He scared everyone there.
"I know!" yelled Scootaloo as she jumped into the air. "We could get our cutie marks in pranking! Rainbow Dash loves pranking!"
"So does Pinkie!" exclaimed Gummy.
"Applejack likes a good laugh too," Apple Bloom agreed.
"Rarity hates pranks, but I support this notion anyway!" Sweetie Belle said.
"So, what are we waiting for?" Gummy gave a mischievous smile.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders all giggled and all shushed one another, which in retrospect made no sense. They sat behind a bush, watching Big Macintosh take a nap. They had styled his hair in the way a Canterlot mare might, and put him in one of Rarity's dresses. They also put a fake horn and wings on him. Lastly, they gave him makeup for good measure.
Gummy threw a cucumber at him to get him to wake up. He mourned its loss, but it would be worth it.
"Huh? Wha?" Big Mac slowly got up, and stretched his legs. As he was stretching his front legs, he noticed the costume. He looked in the mirror they had set there for him. He sat uncomprehending for a second, then squealed in delight.
"Oh my Celestia! My dream came true! Ah'm a princess! Now Ah can have that tea party with Smarty Pants we been plannin' so long! Eeyup!" Big Mac squealed in delight a second time, then skipped toward the barn.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat there in silence for a full minute, all four of them staring off where Big Mac had run to.
"Let's pretend we never saw that," Gummy suggested.
"Agreed," the other three concurred. All four of them then looked at their flanks, and unsurprisingly, saw them blank.
"It's around 7 or so, and I gotta get home by 8," Gummy told them. "We should probably get heading back the the clubhouse."
"Okay!" the others said at once. They all headed back to the clubhouse.
Today had been a fun day for Gummy. He had gotten to meet new friends, go to school for the first time, and go crusading for his cutie mark. He also hadn't seen Applejack even once.
He was scared of being found by her; he wouldn't be able to explain to her why he was here or who he was like he could with Fluttershy. Fluttershy wasn't a particularly outspoken pony, and wouldn't bother doing anything. They couldn't be sure how a pony like Applejack or Rainbow Dash might react.
"Wait, Lime! Before you leave, there's something we need to give you!" Sweetie Belle held out a cape to him. "The official Cutie Mark Crusaders cape! Except since you're a boy, you get an all black one!"
"...That's from all of us? I don't remember asking Sweetie to make him a cape," Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom.
"Neither do Ah. Ah think she did it with her own time," Apple Bloom replied.
He put on the all black cape. With that and his glasses, he looked pretty awesome right in that moment. Suddenly, they heard a yell from outside.
"Apple Bloom, what're y'all still doin' in there? I told you to get home by 7:30, and Rainbow Dash told Scootaloo the same! I bet Rarity's worried sick too!" Applejack yelled.
"Oooh buck," Gummy swore under his breath. He heard heavy hooffalls coming from the direction of the door. The door was just opening to reveal an angry Applejack when Gummy came up with a plan. He did the logical thing, and jumped out of the window. He could get his spy gear tomorrow, and besides, Pinkie had more.
"What in tarnation?" Applejack looked over as he jumped out the window. "Who was that?"
"Oh, he's our newest Cutie Mark Crusader, Lime Pie! He's Pinkie's cousin!" Sweetie Belle informed Applejack.
"Is that so? Did you guys notice anythin'... funny 'bout him?" Applejack asked suspiciously.
"Nope!" All three Crusaders said.
"Right... Ah guess Ah'll be leavin' then. But Ah still have one question. What's all this spy gear for? And the book and the... cucumbers?" Applejack nudged Gummy's things with her hoof.
"That's Lime's. He's related to Pinkie, ya know. He can't be all normal," Apple Bloom said without a hint of humor in her voice.
"Ah guess. Well, party's over for now. Time for everyone to go home," Applejack announced. Her suspicions weren't gone. She just didn't want to ruin having a new Crusader and friend for the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Everyone headed home, tired even after just a short duration of Crusading. Gummy, apparently, tired everyone out.
"Where is it?! Where is it?!" Twilight yelled, throwing books left and right.
"Um, Twilight? You've been trying to come up with a spell for Gummy from the moment Pinkie left without stopping. Maybe you should take a break? You're starting to look like that time you didn't get a letter in to Celestia on time." Spike looked genuinely frightened.
"I am not! I'm absolutely fine! Aha! Here it is!" Twilight gave the most terrifying grin possible and held a book in front of her. "My precious..." She clutched the book to her chest and rocked back and forth.
"...That says it's a cookbook, Twilight."
"Yes! And it's also red. Anyway, if we bake him into a pie, nopony will know he existed!"
"Except for that he said nearly every living thing in town saw him, he's gone to school, Pinkie will miss him, Fluttershy knows, the other animals know him, cannibalism is illegal..." Spike listed.
"Oh. Right. I'm going to go to bed." Twilight blushed, having come to her senses and realized she was sleep deprived.
"So am I."
"...Yeah, so I won't be needing this cookbook, since I'm not cooking anypony or considering it ever again," Twilight levitated her book back to the shelf.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Gummy ran home as fast as he could, hoping not to run into Applejack or any of Pinkie's friends. He ran out of Sweet Apple Acres, and through the streets of Ponyville. It was a good thing that Pinkie had taken him out often as an alligator, or else he would be lost. In that case, he'd probably just roll on the ground in the middle of town until he was noticed.
"Almost... there!" he puffed out. He was running faster than he'd ever seen anything ever go, which meant next to nothing since he didn't really pay attention to that kind of thing.
He finally made it into the bakery. He slammed and locked the door behind him. Gummy was sitting down to take a break when he heard Pinkie's voice.
"Lime? Is that you?" she asked.
"No, it's Tom the Rock," he replied sarcastically.
"Right, I'll get the bunny suit and the cheese!" Pinkie yelled back.
You know, I don't know, and I really don't want to, Gummy thought to himself. "No, it's me, Lime!" he yelled back, unsure if there was anyone else here.
"Oh, okay!" Pinkie replied.
Gummy trotted up the stairs toward Pinkie's room. As he entered, he remembered that he had left all the spy gear Pinkie lent him at the clubhouse. He was also now wearing a new cape in addition to his glasses.
"Whoa! Where'd you get the cape from? And what happened to the spy-y stuff?" Pinkie asked, observing him closely.
"I got the cape from the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, and I had to leave the stuff there," he replied vaguely, wanting her to ask him more.
"Huh?" Pinkie seemed really confused, which made sense.
He told her the story of his whole day, from start to finish. He didn't bother omitting the parts she was there for, just in case she needed a recap.
"...And that's how Equestria was made?" Pinkie asked. Gummy replied with a curt nod. "Okie dokie lokie! Sounds like it was fun! Especially the part where you escaped through the window!
"But I noticed something, Gummy. You're technically new to Ponyville, since it's the first time you have lived here as a normal resident. You know what that means?" Pinkie said quietly.
"Pinkie, I've lived here for a little over a year and have come to all of your parties! Of course I know--"
"IT MEANS YOU GET A PARTY!" she yelled, not wanting to ruin the moment. "I can probably do it this weekend or something!"
"Alright!" Gummy jumped up. Having been around Pinkie his whole life, there was no way he couldn't get excited about a party.
"I'll probably just invite the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity, and Dashie," Pinkie listed off. "Applejack is being scary right now."
"Wait, but you have to invite her. Somepony will notice you didn't. Plus, you should just invite her to be nice. Even if she thinks I'm some sort of mysterious colt spy who wants take over Ponyville with cucumbers," Gummy pointed out.
"You're right! What was I thinking, thinking about not inviting Applejack?"
"...I think you were thinking about not inviting Applejack when you were thinking about not inviting Applejack?" Gummy suggested.
"Wow, Gummy, and I thought I had a crazy imagination! That's the silliest thing I've ever heard!" Pinkie exclaimed. "But right now, it's time to go to bed, Mr.Green-Colt-With-Blue-Awesome-Glasses!"
The two headed upstairs. Gummy took off his glasses and cape and set them next to his small bed. He took out another installment in the Craig the Donut series.
"You want me to read it to you?" Pinkie offered, unsure of his reading skills.
"No, I need the practice. Right, let's read this!" He started reading.
"Mr.GumNum-NumNums! There's a portal in my toilet again!" Wiggles McGiggles yelled. He knew Mr.Gumnum-Numnums wasn't actually real, but he thought he might be lonely and need talking to anyway.
"A distress call! Craig the Donut.... AWAY!" Craig rolled over to the scene of the crime of the portal toilet. He got there after about 10 minutes of nonstop rolling. A new record for him. "You! Peasant! What's the trouble?"
"There's a portal in my toilet again!" Wiggles replied.
"This is a job for none less awesome than me!" Craig said. Wiggles helped shove him into the toilet.
Apparently, this was an interdimensional portal. He was sent to a world where he saw lots of monkeys jumping around in circles and giggling. Then, suddenly, a giant smiley face appeared.
"Bow down to the Singing Smiley Face!" it sang. Suddenly, Craig knew what he had to do. He ran up, and started to sing his favorite song.
"I'm a happy little donut
"Yaaaay!" the Singing Smiley Face said. Then it exploded.
"Yes! This is the fragment I need to get to the next dimension!" Craig cheered, holding up a fragment of the Singing Smileyface. He disappeared with a pop, and went to the next dimension.
"Craig the Donut books are awesome," Gummy set his book down and yawned. Finally, he went to sleep.
"Waaaaaaake up, Gummy!" Came Pinkie's voice what felt like only minutes later.
Gummy opened his eyes, only to see a pair of giant blue eyes right in front of his face.
"Gah!" He yelled. Pinkie fell on the floor laughing. "It's not funny," Gummy complained. But after a few seconds, he was on the floor laughing, too.
After they pulled themselves together, Gummy went into the bathroom to comb his hair. He came out, put his glasses on, and went downstairs.
"Hi Pinkie!" He tried to hop while walking down the stairs. Considering he wasn't even entirely used to walking down the stairs, that was one of the stupidest things he could've done. He fell down the stairs, landing at the bottom with a thud.
"Gummy, are you okay?" Pinkie ran over to him. He jumped up and nearly hit his head on the ceiling, due to his lack of regard for physics.
"Yup, I'm fine! Awesome as an... awesome thing!" Gummy happily walked over to the kitchen. He got himself some cereal, ate, and got ready to go.
"Bye, have a nice day at school!" Pinkie yelled to him as he trotted away from Sugarcube Corner.
"Yup! Bye!" He yelled without looking back.
The school day went on normally for Gummy. He had some trouble reading, but not enough that it could be he never officially learned due to being another species. He got in trouble for talking to Sweetie Belle once too, but got off easy for being new.
After six and a half long hours of work, recess finally came. He was looking forward to playing with the other Crusaders.
As he hurried out of the schoolhouse and into the playground, he was stopped by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
"Hi guys! What did you want?" he asked them hurriedly, trying to locate the other Crusaders on the playground. He was worried they might be waiting for him.
"You know the Cutie Mark Crusaders? The loser blank flanks you hang out with?" Diamond Tiara asked. He really didn't care about what they had to say, but did care about tag and hide-and-seek. He thought about running past them, but realized they were circling him.
"They're not losers, but I get what you mean, yeah," he replied.
"Silver Spoon and I were thinking, and we thought it would cooler for you to be part of our group!" Diamond Tiara cheered. Gummy was taken aback; he had expected teasing, not their twisted version of an offer of friendship.
"It doesn't matter that you don't have your cutie mark, because what you did yesterday shows that you're cool enough to be friends with us," Silver Spoon chimed in.
"The Cutie Mark Crusaders are losers. I mean, a wannabe Rainbow Dash, a dictionary, and a poor farm pony?" Diamond Tiara laughed.
"Yeah, what she said," Silver Spoon said, really adding to the conversation.
Gummy had had enough of them making fun of his friends.
"No. You guys are just jerks. The way you try to get me to be your friends is by insulting my best friends and telling me to ditch them? I'll have you know that I'm an official Cutie Mark Crusader too! You don't say anything about my friends, or anypony else for that matter! You got it?" Somewhere in the middle of this, Gummy felt an odd feeling on the top of his head, as though all his hair went flat. Then he recalled what happened to Pinkie on her birthday one time. She got so angry her hair lost its life, along with her.
"I'm sorry. But the answer is no," Gummy repeated simply, much calmer this time. The two fillies slowly backed away from him, remembering how he had pulled a flour bag on them last time.
Gummy slowly walked over to where the other Crusaders were, his hair still flattened.
"What took you so long?" Scootaloo questioned him. "And what happened to you?"
"Nothing," he replied slowly, bitterness in his voice.
"So... wanna play freeze tag?" Sweetie Belle suggested.
"Yup!" Gummy jumped up in the air, his hair spiking up again when he heard his favorite game mentioned.
From then on, the week went normally, with no Applejack Attacks, outbursts from Gummy, or words from Diamond and Silver. They mostly ignored him, with the occasional weird look and whispering. He went crusading with his new friends every day.
That was, the week went normally until the party.
Gummy adjusted his glasses while looking at himself in the mirror. He smoothed his cape on his back. He spiked his hair. He adjusted his glasses. Gummy knew he had to look awesome for his first real party. There was the party for his first birthday, but that didn't really count for anything since he was an alligator at the time. The only part he would truly miss was sitting in punch bowl while guests tried to drink it. He would've said hiding in the bucket while ponies bobbed for apples was his favorite, but Rainbow Dash had tried to bite him.
That was another thing. He had to make sure he made a good impression on the ones he didn't officially know yet. Fluttershy would be insanely easy, since he wouldn't need to lie around her. Rarity would probably just flip out over how cute he was or something and not give him any chance to speak. Applejack, he would really have to work hard to get on her good side, since she already thought he was something like a ninja/spy/potato/melon of Discord.
Rainbow Dash. Now her, he wasn't sure. She might not react quite the same as with Applejack, since AJ already had an opinion of him. Dash was completely unpredictable, so he'd have to do his best to stay away from her.
"The party starts in five minutes, Gummy!" Pinkie yelled from downstairs.
"Coming!" Gummy called back. After making sure his hair was spiked perfectly, he came trotting down the stairs. He was careful to watch his step and not fall this time. When he made it to the last step, he looked up.
What he saw amazed him completely.
He saw himself, everywhere. Gummy's face was on pictures on the wall, on banners, and pretty much anywhere else possible. He looked at the cake, and saw a surprisingly good rendition of his face on it. His cake self had a wide smile on his face, and was wearing Gummy's signature glasses.
"Do you like it? I did it all myself," Pinkie said.
"Yeah, this is awesome! But I'm not sure whether to be scared or amazed at how detailed everything is," Gummy responded truthfully.
"That's what everyone always says! But anyway, both!"
Suddenly, there was a few loud knocks on the door. Gummy walked over and opened it to find Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash.
"Hey, kid. It's Lime, right?" Rainbow Dash greeted while she and Applejack entered. Gummy nodded in response.
"Howdy, Lime." Applejack tipped her hat to him. She kept a neutral face the whole time.
"Hi!" Lime gave her the widest smile he could manage, which she returned the tiniest smile at. His plan to win her over into not wanting him run out of town was working.
Gummy recalled having seen Fluttershy at the door, but she hadn't entered. He turned to the open door, only to see Fluttershy looking at him with wide and surprised eyes. She had every right to be surprised; she had been his nurse, vet, petsitter, and had played with him as an alligator countless times.
He gave her a pleading look, and she realized she was staring. "Oh, um, hi, um... Lime. Nice to, um, meet you," Fluttershy stammered as she trotted in, going for casual and failing completely.
Applejack's tiny smile faltered. She looked between the two, Fluttershy awkwardly shuffling away, and Gummy looking at Fluttershy like he wanted to facehoof through his face, the wall, all of Ponyville, to Manehattan, and back around the other way. Applejack's miniature smile finally disappeared.
Thankfully, before anyone had a chance to say anything, there were more knocks on the door. Gummy hurried over to the door, while Pinkie was being an amazing help by jumping in circles.
"Hey, Lime!" Twilight greeted, with Rarity, Spike, and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders behind her.
"Hey guys! Thanks for coming to the party!" Gummy greeted. He noticed Rarity holding something with her magic. "What's that?"
"Oh, I got, or rather made, you a small gift, dear." Rarity set the box down on the table.
"Cool, thanks! Can I open it now?" Gummy directed the question to Pinkie, who looked like she was about to lick the cake, but stopped.
"Sure!" Pinkie and everyone else gathered around to see what it was, except Rarity, who just sat slanting slightly sideways at the sidelines, smiling smugly.
Gummy ripped open the present. At first, he wasn't sure what it was. It looked like a lump of burnt cloth. He pulled it out, and held it up.
It was an awesome looking suit. It had a pair of black slacks, a white button-up shirt, a tie, and a black jacket. It also had two vests, one black and one that matched the darker half of his mane. Lastly, there was a black fedora. There were even little designs and details that matched his personality and made it look completely awesome. As if it weren't already.
He knew he'd only wear it on important occasions, not every day. But it was still the coolest thing he'd ever gotten, which wasn't saying much. But all the others at the table were amazed by it too.
"Wow! This is awesome! Thanks so much!" He ran up and gave Rarity a hug.
"Oh, it's nothing, dear," she said. "There is only one other like this in all of Equestria."
"Who has it?" he asked, and stopped hugging her.
"I can't seem to remember. I think it was a pegasus filly, which was odd, but each to her own," Rarity recalled.
"How did you get the measures so exact? And how'd you match up my personality with it without having met me before?" Gummy still sat looking in awe at the suit. He wondered if she had followed him around or something similar before they met.
"Oh, Sweetie Belle helped me with that. She got a colt around the same size as you to model it." As Rarity was saying this, Gummy smirked at Sweetie Belle and mouthed "got?" at her. She shot him a glare in return, but he could see she wasn't really mad. She gave him a small smile afterwards.
Rarity hadn't stopped speaking, and was oblivious to what was going on around her. "...friend of the filly I made the other suit for. Anyway, Sweetie also helped with the personality pieces. I wanted to try to base one of the vests off your eyes, but she said she didn't know the color."
"Actually, Ah was wonderin' about that. Why don't ya take off your glasses so we can see what your eyes look like?" Apple Bloom suggested. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight exchanged glances and then all looked at Gummy, worry obvious in their faces.
Applejack leaned forward expectantly.
"Um, no thanks," Gummy replied hurriedly.
"Not even just for a second? You can just put them right back on after," Scootaloo said.
"I can't... because... I have to... try on this suit! Right now!" Gummy bolted up the stairs at record speeds with the clothing.
"...He's real excited about that suit," Applejack said, sarcasm obvious in her voice.
"Yes! And I'm glad for it." Rarity didn't seem to detect the sarcasm.
Upstairs, Gummy was throwing the suit on as fast as he could. He threw on the jacket, pants, collared shirt, and tie. He hurried back downstairs.
"That looks so cool!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Rarity! Do you have any moving to Ponyville presents for me?"
"Pinkie, you already live here. You're not new," Rainbow Dash pointed out.
"Yes! Exactly! That means she's hiding it! It must be... in her mane!" Pinkie started to search Rarity's mane for presents.
Rarity jumped back, producing an 'eep' that would make Fluttershy proud. "Uhh... no Pinkie. No gifts in my mane, I'm sorry to say. But I could make you something if you would like something."
"Who said I wanted something, silly? Now let's get this party started!" Pinkie turned on the music, cut the cake, and popped over to her friends. She seemed to have done all three at once.
Gummy grabbed a piece of cake and went to sit with the other Crusaders at a table.
"Hey guys!" Gummy greeted his three friends.
"Hi Lime! This is an awesome party!" Scootaloo looked amazed, but the effect was ruined by the cake her face was completely covered in.
"Yeah! You look really cool in your suit, too," Sweetie Belle said.
"Thanks!" Gummy replied through a mouthful of cake, losing some of it. Just as it looked like Apple Bloom was going to have something to say, Fluttershy walked up.
"Oh, um, Ll-Lime? I was wondering if I could, um, talk to you for a few minutes? If that's alright with you guys, I mean..." Fluttershy looked at the Crusaders. They looked at each other and nodded.
Gummy followed Fluttershy to another part of the room, out of the other guests' earshot.
"You're actually... Gummy?" Fluttershy seemed to be doing her best to keep her voice down, which was kind of pointless for her.
"Yup." He put it bluntly, but gave her a small smile.
Immediately, he could see that tons of memories of him and her were flashing through her mind. Gummy being sick and Fluttershy taking him in, his birthday, them playing together, everything they ever did together. It all flashed on her face at once, leaving her looking hollow and confused. Like Spike when he learned that the fridge was out of snacks.
"Don't faint though. If you do that, then we can't have the party!" he complained. "Oh, and the other guests might notice," he added. To his relief, Fluttershy didn't faint.
"I've got so many questions about being an animal to ask you some time! Oh, um... if that's alright with you."
"Sure! Maybe we can talk some other time!" Gummy gave her a smile and hopped off. He sat back at the table with the other Crusaders.
Meanwhile, the other guests had been having their own conversations at the party... obviously. They weren't just going to sit there.
The other Cutie Mark Crusaders all sat in silence for a few seconds after Gummy left, until one of them spoke up.
"Who wants to try and figure out what Lime and Fluttershy are saying from here?" asked Scootaloo.
"Sure, why not?" Apple Bloom shrugged. They all leaned toward where Gummy and Fluttershy were and tried to figure out what they were talking about.
"You're acting like... tummies?" Sweetie Belle guessed from what she saw, doing her best Fluttershy imitation.
"Cup," Scootaloo replied, lowering her voice a bit to imitate Gummy's.
"Dons paint though. If you do that, then we can't laugh the tardy!" Apple Bloom did her best to cover her accent up and lower her voice.
"Oh, and the other tests might know this," Sweetie Belle took a turn again, except this time in the worst male voice impression possible.
"Eyes got so many objections about being a cannibal to ask you some Lime! Oh, um, if that's alright with you," Scootaloo did an amazing Fluttershy impression.
"Sure! Babies' tea can walk some other Lime!" Apple Bloom read from Gummy's lips.
By this point, they were all completely confused. Thankfully, Gummy walked over to them so they could ask him.
"What was that conversation with Fluttershy all about? With the cannibals, and the tummies, and the babies' tea walking on some other Lime and stuff?" Scootaloo questioned as Gummy walked up.
"Huh?" Gummy was just as baffled as they were for a second, until he realized this was a case of misunderstanding. He bust out laughing, and fell onto his back. He couldn't get up for about thirty seconds, or look at any of them without laughing again.
Once he'd regained his composure, he explained to them they had just misheard. When they asked what they had been talking about, he knew he had to lie. He said he and Fluttershy had been talking about Manehattan and the different plants and animals from Ponyville.
"Yeah, you won't be getting your cutie marks in lip reading any time soon." Gummy was still suppressing laughter. But just to be sure, they all checked their flanks, and found them very blank.
"Awwwwww," the Cutie Mark Crusaders all whined at once. Gummy started laughing again, and after a few moments the other Crusaders couldn't resist. Half a second later, they were all on the floor laughing.
"Howdy, Rainbow and Rarity." Applejack walked over to where she saw Rarity and Rainbow Dash sitting.
"Hey, AJ," Dash greeted. "Wanna have some cake with me and Rarity here?"
"It's surprisingly good, but I refuse to try the punch because of," Rarity paused to shudder, "last time."
"Ah'm not really hungry, but thank you kindly for the offer," Applejack grumbled.
"Whatever is the matter, dear?" Rarity leaned forward, worried for her friend.
"Ah dunno." Applejack sighed. "Ah just think that Lime kid is actin' a little weird 'round everyone. Ah mean, did ya'll see the way Fluttershy was actin' when she saw him?"
"AJ, I think you might be overreacting a bit. Fluttershy hasn't always been one to like meeting new ponies, y'know." Dash smirked at Applejack.
"Ah know, maybe Ah am. But the way he acted when we just asked him to take off his glasses... where did he get those anyway? Aren't those Vinyl's from when she was just a little filly?"
"That is strange, but it's entirely possible she gave them to him as a moving in present," Rarity pointed out.
Their conversation was interrupted by their younger sisters, and one surrogate younger sister, laughing with Gummy on the floor.
"See? He seems to be a good, normal, colt. He's obviously related to Pinkie, getting his friends on the floor laughing that quickly," Rarity said.
"Yeah, and what could even be wrong with him? He's Pinkie's cousin, she's known him his whole life. They even look related, too. She has a fluffy mane, and is light pink with a dark pink mane. He has a spiky mane, with a light green coat and a dark green mane," Dash said. "Scratch that, being related to Pinkie doesn't give him points. But if Pinkie trusts him, and he's just a kid, what could be wrong with him?"
"Ah dunno, what if they're not related? It sure looked like they were lyin' when they were talkin' to me, and Ah'm the kinda pony who'd notice lies," Applejack muttered under her breath. She sighed and got a piece of cake to eat with them.
This whole thing's a lie. The party's a lie. The cake is a lie, she thought bitterly. "This is a great party, Pinkie! And it was a good idea too, so everyone gets to know Lime," Twilight smiled, dancing to the music.
"Thanks!" Pinkie was also dancing, while eating a piece of cake. That resulted in her face being mostly green. She smeared more green frosting on her face, and dark green frosting in her hair. "Look! I'm Lime!" She giggled, imitating Gummy's voice.
"Ummm... ooookay then," Spike said.
"Do you wanna be Lime too?" Pinkie didn't give Twilight a chance to answer, and rubbed the cake in her face and mane. She used the mane frosting to spike Twilight's hair like Gummy's.
"Gee, thanks," Twilight deadpanned, while Spike giggled behind her.
"No problem!" Pinkie hopped over to go be the DJ.
After the Cutie Mark Crusaders composed themselves, they all sat down at the table again.
"What should we do now?" Scootaloo looked around at the rest of the Crusaders.
"Hmm... you can request songs for karaoke. Scoots or Sweetie Belle could do that?" Apple Bloom suggested.
"No!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle yelled at once.
"Why don't... you do it, Apple Bloom? You're pretty good," Scootaloo exclaimed.
"No, no, no. Ah can't. Why doesn't... Sweetie?"
"Oh no. I can't sing in front of a crowd." Sweetie hunched over a little bit, as though trying to become invisible. "Why doesn't... Lime?"
"Sure!" Gummy grinned, much to the other Crusaders' surprise. He had had lessons with Pinkie all week, and was ready for public ears without causing them to bleed. He looked at Pinkie at the DJ booth and nodded. She nodded back.
He used Pinkie physics to put on his fedora and black vest, and to put his jacket in his room. He did this in less than a second. He hopped over to the front of the room in his new clothes.
"Hey, everypony! We've got Lime Pie here, going to sing 'Swing! Tavi Swing!' by Joaftheloaf!" Pinkie announced.
There were cheers from Fluttershy, Twilight, Spike, and the Crusaders. The other guests just raised their eyebrows in surprise that Gummy was going to sing. Everyone turned in their chairs to watch.
Gummy wasn't even nervous. Pinkie had taught him a great lesson on how not to be nervous in front of a crowd. Just pretend they're all in cucumber suits. It was simple for him, like he'd been doing it his whole life.
The music started, and Gummy started to sing (for anyone do doesn't know 'Swing! Tavi Swing!' , click here and listen before reading. Or you can listen at the same time) .
If it’s groove you’re looking for Then you’ve come to the right place Octavia can’t you see, Classical is not the type for me
Now don’t you look the other way, 'Cause this music’s here to stay Now wipe that grin right off your face 'Cause it’ll all be gone when you step into this place
So put down that cello and go grab the bass, 'cause we’re swingin’ Here tonight, this ain’t no fancy music place. You just gotta let it go, from everything that tells you no Even if this is not your type of show, your type of show...
Gummy got really into the song, dancing and all. At this point, every guest was amazed by Gummy's talent, even Pinkie, although she taught him. They were all dancing, even Applejack. No living thing could resist a good song, especially not one sung by a mysterious green colt with an obsession for cucumbers.
A certain white unicorn filly also happened to join in the song and come to the front of the crowd, making it a duet.
Maybe you’ve learned a thing or two, About how fast these hooves can groove Now c’mon just take a chance, These beats will put you in a trance
Now these things you can’t forget, It would only bring regret But there’s one thing you must know We can’t stop this crowd from stomping on the floor
So put down that cello and go grab the bass, 'cause we’re swingin’ Here tonight, this ain’t no fancy music place. You just gotta let it go, from everything that tells you no Even if this is not your type of show, your type of show.
Now the whole crowd was cheering, and every guest was smiling and dancing wildly to the music. Gummy and Sweetie were also dancing in the front of Sugarcube Corner.
So put down that cello and go grab the bass, 'cause we’re swingin’ Here tonight, this ain’t no fancy music place. You just gotta let it go, from everything that tells you no Even if this is not your type of show, your type of show Just let it go.
There was a second of silence, which was really awkward. For a second, Gummy thought they were going to pelt him with cucumbers, which would be especially odd because he was still imagining the audience in cucumber suits.
Suddenly, the silence ended, and the cucumber ponies all, unfortunately, turned back to normal ponies. Everyone cheered for him and Sweetie Belle, except Applejack, who just had the tiniest smile ever on her face.
That uplifted the whole mood of the party. Everyone was participating in activities, even Applejack. People now loved the karaoke. Scootaloo also tried karaoke, much to every guest's silent misery. But no one could top Gummy and Sweetie's performance.
After a few hours, it was getting late and the party would have to end in a short while. Suddenly, Spike spewed out a letter from Celestia, right onto the floor.
"Eeeeewww!" all four Crusaders yelled at once.
Twilight gasped. "It's a letter from Celestia!"
They all gathered around while Twilight read it out loud.
"My dear student Twilight Sparkle, there is some urgent business that I need you and the other Elements of Harmony for immediately. It is nothing dangerous, just important. I need all of you at once, but Spike must stay behind. Sincerely, Princess Celestia," she read.
"That's all it says." Twilight looked up at her friends' baffled faces.
"Ah guess we better go then." Applejack sighed. Even she had been having fun at Gummy's party.
"Wait! What ever do we do with the Crusaders and Spike? And our pets?" Rarity asked.
"They can probably stay at Sweet Apple Acres for however long we're gone. Big Mac'll take care of 'em. The pets can probably just go to Fluttershy's cottage," Applejack offered.
"If that's alright with the foals?" Fluttershy looked over at the Crusaders and Spike, and they all nodded.
"Okay, so now that that's all done, we'd better get goin'," Applejack said.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SLEEPOVER-ERS, YAY!" the Crusaders yelled, deafeningly loud. Everyone said goodbye to their younger counterparts.
"You sure you'll be okay here on your own, Gummy?" Pinkie whispered.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied, smiling.
"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie smiled and hopped over to the rest of her friends.
Gummy gathered everything he'd need, which was just a suitcase of cucumbers, and headed with the other Crusaders, Spike and Applejack to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack dropped them off, explained the situation to Big Mac, and hurried to meet the other Elements at the train station.
The girls were assigned to stay in Apple Bloom's room, and the guys were assigned a spare room.
"Sooooo... what do we do now?" Spike asked.
Chapter 6 - Gummy's Big Race
"Ah think that right now, ya'll should be gettin' to bed," a deep voice said from behind Spike and the Crusaders. They all jumped and turned around to see Big Mac chuckling.
The Crusaders exchanged glances, remembering the princess prank from earlier that week, and Big Mac's reaction. They would've laughed if Big Mac wasn't right there, and if the situation had been less traumatizing. They quickly regained their composure and tried to act natural.
For Gummy, that included dancing and humming to himself, only because he wasn't sure what normal ponies did when sitting idly.
"Oh, hi, Big Mac," Scootaloo grumbled. She had been just a scared as the rest of them, and was annoyed that everyone saw it.
"Eeyup. Who's the new colt in your club?" Big Mac asked the Crusaders. Applejack had explained the situation to him, but didn't go into detail. She had been in a hurry, and all she'd said was to keep a close eye on him and how the other Crusaders and Spike acted around him.
Big Mac wasn't sure why, but he assumed it was just better to listen to his sister and practically stalk and spy on the young colt.
"My name's Lime Pie. I'm Pinkie Pie's cousin visiting from Manehattan!" Gummy fell down from the ceiling and held his hoof out to Big Mac, beaming at him. He knew he had to make a good impression on the rest of the Apple family, and displaying some of his disregard for physics wasn't too bad of an idea.
"Howdy. Ah'm Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Applejack's older brother." Big Mac took Gummy's hoof and shook it.
"Speaking of Lime visiting Ponyville, how long are you staying?" Sweetie Belle asked, turning to Gummy. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom exchanged glances Gummy couldn't decipher, then looked to him.
"I dunno, I'll have to ask Twilight," he replied, barely even thinking.
"Huh? Why do you have to ask Twilight?" Scootaloo had voiced what everyone was thinking. They all looked at Gummy in confusion, except Spike, who just shook his head in disappointment.
"I said Pinkie," Gummy lied.
"He did," Spike chimed in. Striding over next to Gummy, Spike continued "I mean, it's not like he isn't Pinkie's cousin or something. It's not like you've known him for a very long time and just have never had the chance to talk him."
"Uh, yeah, what he said!" Gummy agreed. Having been raised by Pinkie, he couldn't quite tell that what Spike said wasn't the right thing to say at all. Big Mac looked completely confused at this point. The other Crusaders believed Spike completely, being young fillies. They all nodded in understanding.
"Eeee... suuurrre..." Big Mac mumbled, while Apple Bloom gave him a worried look at the lack of his signature word. "Um, ya'll should probably be headin' on to bed now."
"Good night, Big Mac!" Apple Bloom said as she walked up to the stairs with the other Crusaders and Spike.
"Eeyup," he replied, distracted by his thoughts.
He wasn't sure what to make of Gummy. He acted oddly, and Spike acted oddly around him too. Big Mac couldn't place what was wrong with Gummy. At first, he had thought Gummy reminded him of when he was a colt, with his height and the strength of the hoofshake they'd shared. After speaking to him for a few seconds, he'd noticed a kind of... nervousness, and slight insanity.
After the thought of Gummy possibly being a bit crazy, Big Mac realized something. "He's related to Pinkie Pie! Ah should've thought of that first. If them two are related, I can't rightly expect anythin' normal from him! Ah guess that's why AJ wanted me to keep an eye on him, to make sure he don't cause as many crazy problems as Pinkie does. He sure is as crazy as her. There are some crazy ponies in this town." He chuckled. "Now Ah gotta go have tea with Smarty Pants."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike all hurried up to their rooms. They were all exhausted from the party, and didn't feel like trying to stay up late.
"Good night, Crusaders," Gummy said to the other Crusaders. They nodded in response.
After going up the stairs to the spare room he was sharing with Spike, Gummy took off his suit and threw it into a corner of the room. There were two mattresses against one wall, and two blankets next to them. Gummy looked over to Spike, pointed at the mattresses and raised his eyebrows. Spike didn't seem to understand what he was asking.
"Can you help move these to opposite sides of the room, or should I do it?" Gummy clarified.
Spike puffed out his chest. "Of course I can help!"
After a few moments, Spike was doing a feeble job at pulling a mattress to his side of the room with his hands, while Gummy was doing it effortlessly with his mouth. He grabbed his blanket and had already set his glasses down next to his makeshift bed, when Spike saw he was already done.
"How is that even possible? I'm a dragon and you're a pony, and dragons are much stronger!" Spike complained.
Grinning, Gummy replied, "Former alligator. Really fast, really strong, with especially strong jaws. Not to mention, awesome eyes! Plus, you're a baby dragon."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it now," Spike muttered. "Speaking of being an alligator, do you know who your mom is?"
The question was sort of out of the blue and random, but Gummy wasn't one to question randomness. "Nope, not really. I always thought of Pinkie as my mom, because she's awesome and has always taken care of me. Plus, I act a lot like her and stuff."
"Oh, okay." Spike seemed to be in deep thought, and the answer seemed to have cheered Spike up slightly somehow. Gummy was happy he'd said it. He certainly wasn't Pinkie Pie, but making people happy still made him happy. Cucumbers also made him happy.
The rest of the time they worked in silence. Gummy dragged Spike's mattress over to the opposite side of the room, while Spike got the blanket ready. After saying good night, they went to their separate beds and lay down.
Gummy didn't go to sleep, though. He lay looking at the ceiling, thinking about all the things he'd done since he'd been turned into a pony. He'd gone to school, been scolded by Twilight, escaped Applejack by jumping out of a window, met four friends his age, and had even been able to attend his own party.
Then there was the fact of being turned into a pony itself. He was finally able to leave buildings on his own, make decisions, voice his opinion, and speak to others. His favorite thing was finally being able to talk, after more than a solid year of silence. Having a personality similar to Pinkie's, that was torture. He didn't know if he could go back to it. He didn't want to go back to it. But he had to.
Finally, his thoughts stopped. He drifted off into sleep.
"Wake up! Or we won't be able to do anythin' fun today!" Apple Bloom yelled while her and the other Crusaders jumped on Spike. He didn't seem to be waking up.
They had tried tons of things; yelling at him, setting Winona on his face, kicking him, even throwing some of Gummy's cucumbers at him. They had cut their options into pieces, and decided that jumping on Spike was their last resort. They asked themselves 'Would it be wrong? Would it be right?' because they knew Spike had been exhausted last night. Then they decided it was a really good idea, and all pounced on him.
Still, he didn't seem to be moving. "We should probably just wake up Lime," Scootaloo said, sighing.
Spike heard this in his subconscious, and jumped to his feet in an instant. "I'm awake!"
"Great! You can help us get Lime up, in case he's worse than you at waking up." Scootaloo shot Spike a look.
"Hey! I was really tired from yesterday," Spike argued in his defense. Suddenly, Spike remembered why he was so quick to wake up. Gummy didn't have his glasses on. He needed to take them off to go to sleep so they didn't get broken if he moved. A sensible pony in Gummy's situation might have prepared, or remembered to keep their eyes closed when they woke up. Knowing Gummy, he probably didn't prepare, and would be in the fillies' faces talking about cucumbers, with his eyes wide open, seconds after being woken up.
Just as he saw the three fillies getting ready to wake his friend, Spike jumped in front of them. In a hushed tone so as not to wake Gummy, Spike said, "Oh, uh, you can't wake Lime yet! He, uhhhh... doesn't like being woken up? He'll probably be up on his own in a few minutes."
"Uh, you sure 'bout that, Spike? He looks plum tuckered, Ah think we should wake him. To be sure he gets up." Apple Bloom peered around Spike at Gummy.
"No, no, I'm sure he'll get up on time. Just... go downstairs and have breakfast without us, I'll wait for him." Spike seemed pained by the thought of delaying anything to do with food or eating for even a few seconds.
"Okay!" the other Crusaders chanted at once, walking out of the room. Gummy shifted slightly and mumbled something about 'a very adventurous and Dashie-level awesome donut' named Craig, which made Spike wince. He was just glad the girls hadn't woken his new friend.
After the three fillies were safely downstairs, Spike hurried over to where Gummy was asleep, and nudged him.
As Spike guessed, Gummy jumped up and was in Spike's face, his tangled spiky hair almost touching Spike's face."Is it time for breakfast? Cool! What are we having? Are we having cereal? I usually have cereal, and Pinkie takes the heads off of suckers and puts them in, and it tastes sooooo good, and so if that's we're having then that's AWESOME, but if it's not that's cool too. I just hope we aren't having donuts, because I don't really like eating donuts because--"
"Dude. Calm down." Spike had taken a step back at Gummy's amount of Pinkie-ness at that moment. Somewhere during his monologue, he also seemed to have put on his mustache. "Put your glasses on. And yes, we are having breakfast, and no, I don't know what."
"Right. Sorry." Gummy remembered how other ponies usually reacted to Pinkie, and went to his usual hyper, but non-rambling state. He grabbed his glasses. "One minute."
He hopped over to the nearest mirror in the room, spiked up his hair how it usually was, and straightened out his glasses. He did a double check for any hair out of place and to make sure his glasses were clean. He knew it wasn't the most masculine thing to do, but it had to be done if he didn't want to look like an idiot. He heard Spike stifling a laugh from behind him, and turned.
"What's wrong, Spike?" Gummy asked, knowing fully well what was wrong. He just wanted to hear Spike try and say it to him. He stood up tall in front of Spike and looked down at him in the eye.
"Uh, nothing. I was just thinking about how... awesome cucumbers are." Spike knew it was a terrible lie that made no sense, but Gummy bought it.
"They are awesome, I understand completely. Now let's get downstairs."
The two boys hurried down the stairs to find Big Mac, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle already eating at the table. They were having pancakes for breakfast.
"Cool, pancakes. Who made them?" Gummy expected it to have been a team effort from the other Crusaders, but got an answer that was unexpected.
"Big Macintosh. He said Applejack taught him to cook," Apple Bloom informed Gummy.
"Eeyup." Big Mac didn't even slow eating his food to look up at Gummy or at the mention of his name, and still looked down at his food.
For some reason, Gummy got the feeling Big Mac hadn't been taught by Applejack how to cook, and had taught himself. He pictured Big Mac teaching himself how to make tea and biscuits in a pink apron and an alicorn costume. But that was just his theory, one that Gummy didn't want to think about any longer than he had to.
He grabbed some food and quickly glanced over the table to find an empty seat. He was slightly embarrassed to find that Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had noticeably taken less care on how they looked that morning than he did.
Gummy sat down between Spike and Sweetie Belle and across from Scootaloo. They all ate their breakfast, which was surprisingly good, and debated on what they should do today.
"Maybe we should get farming cutie marks. Farming lemons," Sweetie Belle suggested, wanting to go for a safer idea.
"That wouldn't be cool enough... what if they were combustible lemons?" Scootaloo offered.
"Ah think it's a good idea, but don't it take a long time for fruit to grow?" Apple Bloom pointed out.
"You're a farmer, can't you just make it grow faster?" Scootaloo argued, giving Apple Bloom an annoyed look.
"It don't really work like that, you see--"
"Okay, so that's out." Sweetie Belle knew this would turn into another heated argument between the two. "Lime, what do you think we should do?"
Gummy just sat back and watched the whole time. He had been around them for nearly a week now, but he wasn't totally accustomed to how quickly everything could devolve into an argument, no matter how simple the matter was. He usually just waited it out.
"Hmm... we could try doing a race, and get racing cutie marks? And Spike could race too even though he can't get a cutie mark, so that we're all having fun." It seemed like a safe enough idea, there's not much that can go wrong with a race. Gummy looked around at everyone else at the table to see if they approved. The other Crusaders approved, but Spike didn't.
"I can't really race well, since I'm a dragon and have short legs and all. But I can keep track to see who wins in case it looks like a tie. I'll have to borrow Scootaloo's scooter though." Spike looked to Scootaloo, who nodded in agreement.
"Ya'll can have this race you're talkin' 'bout, but since AJ's gone, Ah'm gonna need some help on the farm today. Ya have to help after this race." The younger ones there all groaned, but agreed. They shoveled the rest of their breakfast down and hurried outside.
Spike rolled up to the starting line in Scootaloo's scooter, looking happy he didn't have to walk anywhere for a while. He was having a little bit of trouble steering it since Scootaloo's wings are what usually direct it, but he still managed to get around.
"On your mark... get set... GO!" Spike barked, and all the Crusaders took off at once. Spike sped along on the scooter, keeping up with who was in the lead.
The race started off equally, with all the Crusaders at about the same speed. Not far in, Sweetie Belle unsurprisingly started to fall back a bit. She took it well, and still kept her best up. Spike yelled words of encouragement at her which helped her only slightly. After the others were out of sight, along with Spike who had to keep up, she trotted at her own pace to the finish line.
The rest of them kept pounding up the winding path through Sweet Apple Acres, leaving large quantities of dust in their path. One of them would get ahead, and the other two would catch up within seconds. It went on like this for a while, until Apple Bloom tripped on a rock and fell down. The other Crusaders stopped and turned to see if she was okay. She got up, and looked herself over for any cuts or bruises. She deemed herself okay, and nodded for the race to keep going. She ran as hard as she could, but couldn't recover from the fall, and soon fell back. After a few moments, the other Crusaders were out of sight.
In the end, it came to Scootaloo and Gummy racing. They were almost equal racers, and neither of them were making any progress. Gummy squinted to see ahead when the dust cleared for a second, and saw the finish line ahead. He knew he had to find a way to pull ahead without cheating, or else it would end in a tie. He pushed his legs as hard as he could, and got in front of Scootaloo. He had the advantages of height and strength, and put every ounce of strength he had into each kick of his leg. This depleted his energy faster than he expected, and Scootaloo started to catch up again. At the last second, Gummy concentrated all his energy into his back legs. He paused for a fraction of a second, and jumped over the line. Scootaloo seemed to have the same idea.
Gummy lay on the ground for a second, eyes closed. He opened them slowly, to see he had passed the finish line and Scootaloo hadn't. He turned to her and said, "Good job, Scoots! That sure was close!" She didn't respond. Her eyes just kept widening and widening. Spike rolled up on the scooter to the equally confused pair.
"Good job, Lime! You wo--" He stopped himself short, his eyes widening. "Uh, dude, your glasses... the ground..."
Gummy's eyes also widened in response. He looked on the ground to see that to see the glasses Vinyl had given him in front of him. "Oh, ponyfeathers." What kind of idiot had he been, pulling a stunt like jumping? To win a race? He slipped on the blue shades, and gave Scootaloo a nervous smile.
"Y-your eyes... look exactly like Gummy's... who wasn't at the party... and Applejack asked us if they was anything weird... just what the buck is going on here?" Scootaloo spoke quietly until the last phrase. Gummy flinched at the fact he'd made her angry enough to swear.
Gummy looked to Spike for help. "Just tell her," Spike replied.
"Err... well, Twilight was doing a spell, and Pinkie and I got in the way, and now I'm a pony. And yes, I am Gummy." He decided it was best to put it simply. He kept his voice quiet to make sure the other Crusaders, who were still on their way, didn't hear it.
"B-but...you said you were from Manehattan... Pinkie threw you a... and Sweetie has a... and Twilight was there... and Spike knows... wait." Scootaloo stood up in realization. "Who else knows? You're living on Applejack and Big Mac's property, do they know? Rarity gave you that suit as a present, does she know?! Does Rainbow Dash know?! Or are you just lying to everypony?!" Scootaloo was now in Gummy's face, wings flared, but still trying to keep her voice at a normal volume.
"Um, well... no. Only Fluttershy, Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike know. You can't tell anyone else, especially not the Crusaders or Applejack. As soon as Twilight can figure out a counter spell, I'll be back to a brainless, silent alligator, and out of everyone's lives forever. Done causing problems." Gummy had a hurt look on his face. His spiky hair looked like it had been popped by a pin, and straightened.
I really am just a problem, aren't I? All I've done is cause problems for everypony. Twilight has to waste her important time trying to figure out a counter spell for me. Pinkie has to take care of me. Rarity felt the need to waste her time, material and fabric on me. Fluttershy is probably traumatized by the fact an animal can be turned into a pony. Applejack is worried for the safety of her friends, and wants to know why I'm lying. Rainbow Dash is probably confused about all her friends' behavior, and why they act strangely about me. I'm lying completely to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. And I'm nothing more than a useless pet, what right do I have to do this to everypony?
"No, I didn't mean it like that--" Scootaloo was cut off by the sound Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle trotting up. She sighed and turned to her other friends. She tucked in her wings so they wouldn't notice her anger. "Hey guys."
"Heya, Scoots. Who won the race?" Apple Bloom trotted up, looking like she hadn't done anything but sit around, and hadn't just run a race. Sweetie Belle was just the opposite, and looked like she had been forced to run in place for a week straight trying to catch a cucumber on a string.
"Lime did!" Spike answered for Scootaloo. "You should've seen him! They were almost tied, then he did and amazing jump right over the finish line, landing on the ground in front of it! Scootaloo was right behind him."
"That sounds awesome!" Sweetie Belle cheered. Apple Bloom displayed a similar look of amazement and appreciation on her face. This didn't cheer Gummy up much, but it was enough for him to give him a small smile and his hair to spike itself back up.
"It does, but we should probably get to seein' what Big Mac wants us to do." Apple Bloom pointed out. All the Crusaders and Spike set off to the barn to find him.
Big Mac had been bucking the trees when he saw Scootaloo, Gummy and Spike speeding to the finish line. He chuckled at their antics. He was slightly disappointed that Apple Bloom wasn't up there with them, but was interested in how the race would end anyway. He walked over to the edge of the trees to the path to watch the end of the race.
The two Crusaders ran faster up the path than Spike was going on Scootaloo's scooter. Big Mac wished that Smarty Pants could be here to see the end of the race. It was truly amazing. They were both pounding down the path faster than Pinkie had rolled through town that one day. At the finish, they both jumped for the finish line. Due to Gummy's strength, he made it over the finish line, while Scootaloo didn't. Big Mac noticed that Gummy's glasses had been knocked off, but couldn't see his eyes from his angle.
What happened next made very little sense to Big Mac. He saw Scootaloo's eyes widen in confusion as Gummy turned to her. Spike arrived on the scooter, but stopped short, and told Gummy something. Big Mac was too far to hear what the were saying, and if he got any closer, they'd notice he'd been watching them. Gummy slipped on his glasses. Scootaloo continued to stare at him, and they seemed to be having a conversation. Scootaloo stood up, a look of anger on her face, and her wings flared. She started walking toward Gummy and got in his face. She yelled something at him, that seemed to hurt him a lot.
The next things that happened made the least sense to Big Mac. Gummy said something that made Scootaloo take a step back and a look of regret cloud her face. Gummy's hair became flat against his head. Scootaloo said something to him, but was cut off by the other Crusaders. They spoke for a minute, and cheered Gummy up.
They headed back toward the barn, so Big Mac did the same, except at a faster pace. As he was galloping, Big Mac thought more and more about how odd Gummy was and began wondering what the real reason was Applejack wanted him to watch him.
As the Crusaders and Spike all walked back to the barn on Sweet Apple Acres, there was almost complete silence. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle knew there was something wrong between Scootaloo and Gummy, but they couldn't place it. Spike knew exactly what was wrong, but didn't say anything, knowing it would only make things worse. Gummy was depressed about what Scootaloo had said, and Scootaloo was too angry at Gummy for lying to say anything. So they just walked in silence.
They finally hit the barn, and found a tired-looking Big Macintosh waiting for them outside of it. "Are y'all done with your race?" he asked awkwardly, even though he could clearly see they were done.
"Yeah," Spike replied, being the only one of them who felt much like speaking. "Lime won, because at the last second he did a really far jump over the finish line! It was awesome!"
"Alrighty then," Big Mac replied apathetically. "Ah need help buckin' the apple trees and collectin' the apples. Scootaloo and Lime, ya'll should probably help me buck the trees. Apple Bloom, Spike, and Sweetie can collect the apples afterwards. Any questions or complaints?" Big Mac looked around at the children surrounding him, and saw they were all shaking their heads. "Well, then get started."
They all hurried back into the apple orchard, and got to work. They rarely spoke, as there wasn't really much to talk about. Gummy and Scootaloo would often look at each other, then look away, remembering what Scootaloo had said to him and memories of him as an alligator. Gummy was still slightly sore over the time the Crusaders had tried for critter-sitting cutie marks. Scootaloo was still annoyed about the time he attacked Rainbow Dash's face. She hadn't been at the party, but that had been Watch Rainbow Dash Day, just like every sixteenth of the month.
The other workers often gave Gummy surprised looks as he worked. He had definitely gotten the most work done out of the young ones, and could normally buck the trees harder than a colt his age should be able to. Add that he was frustrated, and he could buck them almost as hard as Applejack. None of them commented, so he just went about his business, bucking the trees faster than Sweetie could catch the apples.
As Gummy was about to buck another tree, he was interrupted by the sound of whooshing air. He looked upwards to see Ponyville's mailmare coming in for a landing in the middle of the orchard. She trotted over to Big Macintosh and handed him what looked like a flyer. After giving a wave and a warm smile to the Crusaders and Spike, she took off galloping down the path in the middle of the orchard. She opened her wings and flew out of their sight in seconds.
The Crusaders and Spike were over there in a flash. Instead of running, Gummy used his power to screw physics to fall from a tree above Big Macintosh. He landed on the older stallion's back. He grabbed it from him, jumped off his back, and began to read out loud. "Dear colts and fillies, the Ponyville school will be hosting another talent show this year. We hope to help our foals grow and learn more about their talents and what they love--"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever! Get past the namby-pamby stuff and get to the important things!" Scootaloo yelled out, managing to looked bored and excited at the same time.
"Yeah, it was becoming a run on sentence, anyway," Sweetie Belle added. This got her quizzical looks from Spike, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, which she didn't notice because she was too busy waiting eagerly for Gummy to start speaking again.
"Okie dokie lokie! Blah, blah, blah, cucumber, blah... here!" Gummy continued, "It will be a comedy show, and the prizes for the first place winner(s) will be jesters' hat(s) and medal(s). The first and second place will get medals of varying colors. We hope all the foals in our school participate! It will be hosted tomorrow at five in the afternoon.Remember to have fun!"
"Hmm... comedy... Ah guess we never really did try for comedy cutie marks like we said we would, did we?" Apple Bloom rubbed her invisible beard with her hoof in thought.
"Nope," agreed Big Macintosh. At this point, he was trying to back away so he didn't have to critique whatever ideas they came up with. He hadn't been able to make it to their last performance, but Applejack had given him a summary. He slowly backed away until he was out of sight and ran off. Spike didn't want any part of their plans either, and did the same.
"What's up with them?" Scootaloo gestured with her hoof toward where Spike and Big Mac had disappeared.
"No idea," replied Apple Bloom. She and Gummy were also staring in confusion where they had run off. Sweetie Belle was staring off into space.
"We should get back to the clubhouse and brainstorm ideas," Gummy suggested. This got nods of approval from all present.
They all galloped as fast as they could toward their clubhouse in the forest. They managed to weave through the trees without hitting a single one. Okay, maybe they hit one... or two... or seven. The point is, they got there in one piece.
They gathered in a circle under their thinking spot. "Hmmmm... we could try doing some sort of show?" Sweetie Belle looked around to the others to see what they thought.
"Nah, I don't think any of us can act. Besides, we don't know how to write a script," Scootaloo pointed out.
"We could do a song, like you guys did last time." Gummy didn't notice the stares he got from his slip until someone decided to speak up.
"How the hay do you know that we sang a song last talent show? Now that Ah think about it, how do you know so much about Ponyville?" Apple Bloom questioned. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at him, wondering how he was going to answer this question.
"Uh... on of my friends at my school in Manehattan...uhh... Babs, uh, Seed! Yeah!" he said, thinking of the first name that came to mind. He had heard she was from Manehattan and had visited Ponyville before, so he used her. He felt as though there was something wrong with saying he knew her, but couldn't place his hoof on what. He decided it was the usual guilt from lying. "She, uh, told me all about Ponyville!"
Scootaloo looked at him and quietly facehoofed.
"Babs? You mean my cousin from Manehattan? You know her?!" Apple Bloom had such a big smile on her face that it looked like she might burst. Gummy finally realized that everyone here had already met her before. He hadn't ever heard of ponies with the same name before, so he had to go with it.
"Er, yeah! Her!" Gummy smiled and nodded his head vigorously.
"Well, shoot! Maybe Ah should see if she can come over this weekend, since we all know her!"
"Nah! Even though Babs is cool, we're going to be working on our talent show all week. We won't really have much time to talk to her or hang out with her," Scootaloo pointed out, trying to help Gummy's situation. Gummy sent a thankful look in her direction.
"Yeah, Ah guess you're right." Apple Bloom sighed. "We got kinda off track there. Let's get back to workin'!"
The Crusaders all got to work. They brought out the toy piano, got things to make props, and set a place to practice choreograpy. Apple Bloom did the choreography again, Scootaloo did the props, and Gummy and Sweetie worked on the music. After sorting everything out, they got to work.
It's been a full year since I've given an update. Quite a while, huh? It doesn't feel like that long. Well, here's the update.
I really haven't had time for this story in over a year now. My life has been really hectic recently with a whole bunch of changes that are causing me stress or caused me so much that I couldn't work before (realizing I was/coming out as gay, more workload, helping friends, and loads more stuff and things). If I ever get some free time soon, I'll try to get some work done on this but I still have not much to say here. One thing I can say is I ain't giving up yet.
Also, I'm a much different person than when I began this story. Like I said, been through a lot of changes. I haven't gotten to write much recently, so I don't know if my writing style will even be the same or if the comedy will be the same silly upbeat stuff. Sorry, bros, but I really don't know what's for the future of this story for now.
