I really, really love Gummy! He’s the best gator… no, scratch that! Best pet anypony could ask for! I remember when I got my little Gummy.
I bought him from the local pet shop with my first paycheck from working at Sugarcube Corner. That and a few pieces of cake, but that’s not that important! There were sooo many animals to choose from! There were rabbits, and mice, and those birds that mimic everything you do! I was so tempted to get me one of those birds, but I didn’t. I mean, can you imagine two Pinkies running around the place? Or maybe three? Four? Like, twenty Pinkies! Now that I think about it, that would have been neat!
However, another pet caught my eye. A lively little gator named… well, I’ll get to that in a second. He was such a cutie! Those green scales and those large, purple, wandering eyes staring at me! He was good at it, too. I tried staring at him for an hour, and guess what?
I won! But he sure did put up a good fight! At that point, I knew he was the perfect pet for me! When I went up to the cage to greet him, I gave him a big ol’ smile, which he returned slightly. But what I saw was kinda odd. He didn’t have pearly whites! He didn’t even have sharp, yellow teeth. No, his teeth were… pink! No, they weren’t pink teeth! They were gums! He was a toothless gator. That almost made me sad. That meant I would never get a chance to see his toothy grin. But that was alright, because he was trying to smile, and that was good enough for me.
So after I got him out of his cage, he tried to chomp on my flank! Silly gator. Didn’t he know that he didn’t have teeth? It didn’t even hurt really. It was just gummy.
And then it hit me like a snowball colliding against your face, which is really, really cold! I had a name for him. The perfect name! GUMMY! It was the perfect name! I also thought up of Chewy, Gatie, and Mister Chomp-A-Lot, but Gummy sounded more reasonable. Don’t know why. It just did! Anyways, I took my new pet Gummy to the counter to buy him while he was dangling on my tail. He’s a very persistent little gator! So I put the bits on the counter to purchase him, but the shop owner asked me something strange.
“Are you sure you want this pet? I think you would be happier if you chose another. We were… just about to take him out of the shop.”
Why would they take poor Gummy out of the shop? Was he sick? Were they going to give him medical attention? He didn’t look sick to me! He looked rather happy! So I couldn’t understand why he was so eager to convince me not to take him home.
Maybe he was an intern. That would make sense. I remember when I first worked at Sugarcube Corner, I told a customer not to buy one of those minty double-chocolate-white-macadamia-nut-chip brownies. Mmmm, yummy! I ended up eating the entire batch before the customer could buy it! Granted, I lost my paycheck for the week because of that, but it was so worth it!
But no matter what the guy said, I bought Gummy anyways! He shrugged and let us go on our merry way. I was so excited to have a new pet, I couldn’t stop talking about it for a week! I even threw Gummy a “Happy First Day of Being My Best Pet Ever” party. There was cake, and music, and punch, and cake, and confetti, and the Cakes! Did I also mention there was cake?
Gummy has always been the laid-back one. At first, I thought that was because he didn’t like me. In fact, I almost cried when Gummy wouldn’t talk to me. I was like, “WHY WON’T YOU TALK TO ME, GUMMY?” But I soon learned that Gummy wasn’t a talker. He was a listener. Every time I had a rough day, he’d sit there and listen, maybe blinking and chomping every few minutes. Nopony else ever had the time to listen to me before, especially not the Cakes. Oh no, don’t get me wrong! I understand why Mr. and Mrs. Cake couldn’t listen to me much. They are a busy bunch after all. It is nice to have somepony to listen to you, though. But hey, I got better than somepony. I got somegator! He was like my personal diary, except I didn’t write into him with a pen! That would be silly!
One time, I told Gummy about my childhood. Believe it or not, I didn’t have too many friends when I was a little filly. I was always working on the rock farm. Nopony ever gave me the light of day. They would call me dirt girl, filthy filly, and even bug eater. Though that last part was partially true. One time, I did eat a bug! I thought it was a gummy worm. My sister told me it was! I should really talk to her about that.
But yeah, I didn’t have a very happy childhood, though I’m still grateful for my Momma and Papa! Only a few ponies know this. The Cakes, my parents of course, and Gummy. Yeah, I know Gummy isn’t really a pony, but he’s my little gummy friend, and that’s close enough to a pony friend for me.
But Gummy isn’t just a good listener! He’s also a good friend! He never complains about anything I do. I could coat the house with flour, and he would just sit there and watch me enjoy myself! He’s awesome like that. He even takes bubble baths with me! It’s just so funny watching Gummy splash around in the soapy suds! He’s such a cutie when he goes underwater. His purple eyes just wandering, bubbles popping out of his snout! I even tried to do what he did. It was fun! I actually got soap up my nose! It kind of hurt, but it was still fun!
And that’s the best thing about Gummy! He knows how to have a good time. Like one time, we had a midweek party to celebrate another paycheck! Gummy ended up swimming in the punch bowl without telling me. AND I DRANK IT! That Gummy. Always the prankster. One time, he hid in my giant strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting, and poked his head out to surprise me! I was all like, “AAAGH!” when he did that. He knows how to party! And I don’t mean like regular parties. I mean, he knows how to PARTY! Giant bouncy houses, cake binges, and even dance parties with my friends!
Still, even though Gummy is a complete party maniac, he’s a gentle soul! He never tries to attack me, or snarl at me, or even make an attempt to bite me! Of course, it wouldn’t hurt, it would just be squishy and tingly. Now that I think about it, it would be kinda fun to have Gummy bite me! I bet it would tickle! He’s such a sweetie, that Gummy. I’m really happy I didn’t take that silly store clerk’s advice and leave him there. Gummy is the best pet there is!
Though, recently, he’s been acting kinda strange. I don’t know... he seems... distant. I have to feed him his meals now because he refuses to eat them by himself! Maybe he got a little lazy over the years. Or maybe he’s just all tuckered out! I wouldn’t blame him. We have had like a bazillion parties in the past three months, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s all pooped from the excess parties. So I don’t mind him being a little lazy, chubby cheeked gator. However, I expect Gummy to get ready for Mayor Mare’s Anniversary as Mayor. Hear that, Gummy? You better show up!
But yeah, Gummy did give me a scare. About two weeks ago, I took Gummy with me to a picnic with my friends, and when I did, he was acting all sorts of funny. Like, he would topple over and not move! It startled me so much! I actually sat there, pressing against his belly and trying to bring air into him! I was hyperventilating so hard I could barely breathe! Thankfully, Gummy twitched and kicked, and I gasped like, “AAAAGH!” It was the loudest gasp I’ve ever made in my entire life! I wonder what made him fall over like that? Maybe he was choking on something. He does try to eat big chunks of food at a time. I really need to keep him from doing that.
However, Gummy isn’t the only one acting strange. Recently, the Cakes have been looking rather sad every time they see me with Gummy. It’s really weird of them to be sad about me being happy with Gummy. They even suggested that I get rid of Gummy the other day, and that this isn’t “healthy.” Why would they want me to get rid of Gummy, and what do they mean, “This isn’t healthy?” Do they think Gummy is sick? Do they think he has rabies? That’s a silly thought! I’ve held Gummy in my mouth many times before and he’s never given me rabies! I should know. I go to the doctor monthly, and they say I’m squeaky clean healthwise! I mainly go for the free lollipops. I even went to take Gummy to the vet to make sure he didn’t have rabies, but they didn’t take him in! They told me to stop coming back with him! How rude! I thought the vets were supposed to help. Has everypony in town gone loco in the coco?!
Even my friends have been picking on Gummy! My friends, of all ponies! Twilight made a very unfunny joke about him, too! Remember when I nearly panicked when Gummy wasn’t breathing and then he kicked? Twilight told me that she made him twitch so I wouldn’t be upset at the picnic, and that Gummy didn’t make it. That wasn’t funny at all! In fact, I would say that was rather mean of her! And now all my friends are looking at me like I’m in the wrong! Why is everypony picking on Gummy? It’s not fair to him. My friends were never that mean to Gummy before. This just doesn’t seem right. If it were their pet, they wouldn’t like it!
Oh well. I’m sure they’ll come through soon. Gummy doesn’t seem to mind. He’s such a strong-willed gator! He just sits there and listens to all of Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s negativity and brushes it off. Well, he doesn’t actually brush it off, but you know what I mean. Still, I can’t help but feel bad for Gummy. Taking in so many bad messages from my friends and bosses. I have to do something to make him feel better.
I know! I’ll throw him a “I Appreciate You, Gummy” party! It’ll just be me and Gummy together in our room, partying the night away! I’ll make his favorite cake for him. Ooh, I’ve always wanted to surprise Gummy with a chocolate cake with mint frosting. Mmm! Oh, and balloons! Lots and lots of balloons for Gummy to try to pop! He loves trying to chomp on balloons. Oh, that Gummy! Such a silly billy!
I hope he has enough energy for it. I won’t force him to have fun if he doesn’t want to, but I really, really hope he parties hard for me on this one. I’ll make it one of the best parties I’ve done for him. Better than his birthday parties, and I rarely top his birthday parties! Oh, I’m so excited I could burst!
But that’s for another day, hopefully a day real soon. It’s late, and I’m starting to get tired. Another night cuddling against my favorite gator in the whole wide world. He’s been real cold recently, but I guess that’s just because he’s cold-blooded. Doesn’t matter. Good ol’ Pinkie Pie will keep him warm! I just hope I don’t wake up with dried tears again. I think that might be scaring Gummy. I honestly don’t know why I keep crying in my sleep. Maybe I’m having nightmares or something. I should really talk to Mr. and Mrs. Cake about that.
Hopefully I don’t have such nightmares tonight. With Gummy keeping me company, I’m sure I’ll have better nights! He is a really good gator. One of the best friends I’ve ever had.
And I’m glad I have him with me. A friend to party with. A friend to talk to each day. A friend who never judges me. That’s Gummy in a nutshell! My best friend in the world!
Well, I’m sleepy now. I think I should get some shut-eye. Don’t want to wake up cranky. Gummy wouldn’t like me when I’m cranky.
Night, Gummy. I love you.
