"Pinkie Pie, can we have a word with you?"
Pinkie Pie immediately recognised the voice of Mrs Cake calling her from downstairs.
But it was past closing hours. Why would Mrs Cake need her now? She'd already scrubbed the tables, the floors, and helped put away the clean dishes.
Pinkie Pie shrugged. Whatever it was, she was happy to help, even if it was so late.
The Sun had began it's long descent down from the sky, sending beautiful bursts of orange and yellow all over Equestria.
Pinkie Pie bounced down to the bottom floor, expecting to see Mr and Mrs Cake in the kitchen. However, they were instead sat down on a table, their faces blank as they caught sight of Pinkie Pie.
"Pinkie Pie, please sit down." Mr Cake pointed at the spare seat laid out for the pink mare.
Pinkie Pie suddenly grew concerned. Mr Cake didn't sound like his usual jolly self. In fact, he sounded downright stern.
That was the very tone he used when Pinkie Pie was in trouble.
Pinkie Pie gulped and slowly trotted over to the table, her heartbeat picking up the pace a little bit. As soon as she sat down, she began to speak.
"Did I do something wrong? Did I accidently give a cupcake to the wrong pony? Did I miss cleaning up one of the tables? Did I forget to make that superduperdeliciouschocolateandcookiecake for Dinky's birthday tomorrow? Did-"
"No, Pinkie Pie," Mrs Cake raised a hoof to stop her from talking, her rapid pace getting a bit hard to follow as usual, "none of that. This isn't about your job. It's about..." Mrs Cake took a deep breath, "Gummy."
Pinkie Pie grew puzzled.
"What about him?"
Mr Cake sighed.
"Well, remember when you first found him and bought him here? Well... he has grown a little from that time, don't you think?" Mr Cake asked.
"Well... yeah, but I told you, I promised to keep a good eye on him, and not feed him as much sugary treats so his stomach doesn't make those horrible digestion noises that annoy you!" Pinkie Pie replied.
"I know, Pinkie, I know and I remember it perfectly... but remember two days ago? You left to attend the annual Canterlot Cake Contest and we had to run the place without your help?"
Pinkie Pie simply nodded, growing a bit more nervous about where this was leading up to.
"...We took a few pictures."
Mr Cake nodded at Mrs Cake and she raised a few pieces of paper. She pushed one towards Pinkie Pie and the pink mare gazed down at it.
It was something in the kitchen. It had a tray of cupcakes in it's mouth and it was tipping them in like a funnel.
'What a waste of stock!' Pinkie thought to herself.
She then took a moment to look at the something eating the cupcakes.
It was large, scaly... and it had no teeth.
Pinkie Pie's mouth dropped open.
"Is that... Gummy?" she stuttered, finding it hard to take in what was before her eyes.
Mrs Cake nodded.
"He had somehow snuck downstairs while we weren't looking and had began to eat all of our stock."
"But... he wouldn't... Gummy wouldn't do that! Your pranking me!" Pinkie Pie yelled.
Mr Cake sighed again and Mrs Cake pushed another photo towards the pink party pony.
It wasn't Gummy though. It was instead a photo of a wrecked table.
"You may of noticed how one of our tables went missing," Mrs Cake pointed at a bare spot in the corner where indeed, a table used to sit.
Pinkie Pie's pupils shrunk.
"...But... Gummy... he doesn't even have teeth!" she boomed, "your lying!"
"He still has a mouth and his claws, and because the table was so caked in scratches and alligator saliva, we had to get rid of it... Pinkie, please calm down!"
Pinkie Pie sniffled a bit and tried to steady her heavy breathing.
She was shocked. How would Gummy do something like that?
He was usually so sweet around her.
She'd never known him to act so... wild.
"So..." she sniffed, wiping away a single tear, "what does this all mean? I'm sure he didn't mean it..."
Mr Cake raised a hoof.
"We know, Pinkie. And we really do appreciate you trying to make this work out. But Gummy is such a big creature and... he needs the wild outdoors. He can't be cooped up in here all day... Me and Mrs Cake been talking and we've come to a decision..."
Pinkie Pie's heart skipped a beat.
"About what?"
Mr Cake took a deep breath. It took a while for him to open his mouth.
But Pinkie wished he never had.
"Pinkie Pie... we want you to get rid of Gummy and return him to the bog... where he belongs."
Pinkie Pie froze.
...Getting rid of Gummy. Return him back to where he belonged.
Mr and Mrs Cake wanted her to get rid of him?
Pinkie Pie felt her eyes water. That water became tears, and those tears soon became waterfalls spilling down her cheeks.
"You... you *hic* want me to get rid of him? But... he belongs *hic* here, with me!" she shouted through her sobs.
"Pinkie, he doesn't. We know you love him very much, dear, but he needs the great outdoors. He needs the bog water where he can swim and roam around freely. He doesn't deserve to be locked up in a bakery all his life."
Pinkie Pie looked down, her tears dripping onto the table.
...They were right. Gummy had been kept in her room for months now, the only water he ever saw being the baths he got, and even then, they were usually quite short.
He didn't fit in his old bed anymore and couldn't even fit under Pinkie's. He required more food to keep him happy and healthy and it was costing Pinkie Pie most of her wages.
But then Pinkie Pie came up with a problem.
"But... Gummy *hic* doesn't have teeth!" she howled.
Mrs Cake took an object from the under the table. They looked like it was made out of some sort of metal, and they looked quite sharp.
"I travelled to a metalworker in Manehatten yesterday while you were asleep. He made these metal teeth for Gummy. Find a way to attach them to his gums, and he'll have teeth once again."
"But *hic* that will hurt him!"
"The metalworker said he won't feel a thing."
"But..." Pinkie Pie was running out of excuses...
So she simply screamed.
"I don't want him to go!"
Another burst of tears fell from her eyes. Mrs Cake stood up and began to embrace the pink mare.
"Pinkie... it's ok. I know this must be hard for you Pinkie Pie, but we only want what's best for you, our bakery... and Gummy. Do you really think he'll be happy living here for the rest of his days?" Mrs Cake asked, calmly but comfortingly.
Pinkie Pie looked up and shook her head slowly.
As Mr Cake joined the group hug, Pinkie Pie nodded.
"Ok, I'll get rid of him... I'll *hic* send him off... but can he at least stay here for *hic* one more night?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Mrs Cake nodded.
"Of course he can."
Pinkie Pie returned to her room, tears pricking the corners of her eyes.
Gummy looked up at her with his big eyes. She smiled and wiped away her tears.
"No, Gummy. Nothing's wrong. Pinkie just had a rough day," she stuttered.
Gummy scuttled over to her and began to rub his snout on her leg. She grinned.
"Oh Gummy. You always know just what to say," Pinkie Pie petted his scaly head.
She sat down with him.
However, it was getting harder to look at him as minutes passed, for she knew this night would be their last together and it was painful to think about.
"Gummy... could I maybe... sleep with you tonight?" Pinkie Pie asked eventually.
Gummy stared at her and blinked twice.
"No reason. I just feel... like I want to spend some time with you, that's all!" Pinkie Pie lied, forcing a big smile.
Gummy sat there with no response for a few seconds, until with one big turn of his tail, he had Pinkie Pie wrapped up in his grasp. He closed his eyes and lay his head on the ground.
Pinkie Pie grinned lightly.
"Thanks Gummy. Goodnight, my super duper party pet."
A few minutes later, Gummy's breathing began to go a little heavier, a sign to Pinkie that he had fallen asleep.
"...I love you, and I always will..." she whispered, wishing that she could fall asleep as quickly as he could.
However, Pinkie Pie just lay there wrapped in Gummy's tail for what seemed like hours. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get any sleep.
Not because it was uncomfortable or anything like that, but she just couldn't believe that tomorrow...
She'd have to put Gummy back. He'd be alone in the murky bog without her to turn to.
Who was going to rub his favourite spot? And who was going to feed him doughnuts from time to time?
Pinkie Pie gazed down at her giant reptile friend.
When she rescued him 10 years ago, he was just a little hatchling. He had all sorts of nasty scars on his body. He'd been attacked by other creatures and couldn't defend himself because his jaws seemed non-existent.
The Sun had completely dipped into the horizon now, and stars filled the entire sky as moonbeams gleamed all over Equestria. Pinkie Pie looked outside at the beautiful scenery as she pondered.
The Cakes had a point though... Gummy might just get bigger, and he'd be all the more difficult to handle.
He'd snuck out of Pinkie's room and had began to cause havoc by eating the stock and destroying one of the tables.
What if he ended up eating all the stock? Or destroyed all of the tables?
Pinkie Pie sighed. She took one last look at Gummy before her eyes filled to the brim with more tears.
"I'll miss you Gummy... I'll miss you so much."
At last, it was the next day. Pinkie Pie managed to get some sleep, but not much as she woke up in the middle of the night and only got back to sleep an hour before sunrise.
Pinkie Pie helped the Cakes get ready for opening. They gave her one last hug, and told her that she was doing the right thing.
The pink mare was now walking down the path with Gummy. She'd gone early to make sure that there were hardly any ponies around to get spooked, a lot of ponies now afraid of Gummy due to his large size.
It took what seemed like forever, but Pinkie Pie and Gummy finally reached Froggy Bottom Bog.
Pinkie Pie looked down at Gummy and he stared back up at her, obviously confused.
Pinkie Pie couldn't help but well up with tears and within about twenty seconds her sobs were in full swing.
Gummy scuttled closer to her. She looked down at him and sat close.
"...G-Gummy..." she stuttered, "when I was away at Canterlot, Mrs Cake took a few pictures of you... eating the stock and a table you destroyed. It got us all thinking..." Pinkie Pie let out a deep, raspy breath, "Gummy, you won't be happy or comfortable there. Your just too big... I made a choice and it was the hardest choice I've ever had to make, but Gummy..."
Pinkie Pie let her sobs out for another 5 seconds.
"You have to go."
Gummy tilted his head.
"I know, it's hard to understand... but... this is for the best Gummy. You can go and live a free life with all the animals of the bog, and you can be way happier there than in the bakery trapped 24/7... but I will miss you so... so much, Gummy."
Gummy looked up at her and began to press his snout hard on her leg. Pinkie Pie gave a smile within her waterfalls of tears.
"Thanks Gummy. I will always remember you too... but..." Pinkie Pie sighed, "there's always room for one last play, right?"
Gummy stayed still for a second, before he swished his tail and some mud flicked onto Pinkie's neck. Pinkie Pie laughed.
The next twenty minutes were spent with them goofing around in the mud. They threw mud and rolled around in it together like little pigs.
Pinkie Pie wished they could carry on forever, but she knew that she would have to get back to the bakery.
Gummy turned his head towards the bog, then back to Pinkie Pie.
She looked at his gums and remembered something.
"One more thing Gummy."
Pinkie Pie put her hoof behind her back and in cartoonish fashion pulled Gummy's new metal jaws from nowhere.
"It's your goodbye present... hold still for a second."
It took about 3 minutes, but Pinkie got the teeth onto Gummy. They looked rather nice, and Gummy swished his tail around as to say about how much he liked them.
"I'm glad you like them Gummy... you finally have teeth! Your a true alligator now... a Gumigator!" Pinkie Pie laughed but it didn't last long as her tears came quickly once again.
She smiled down at him.
"Well Gummy... I guess this is goodbye."
Gummy blinked up at her.
A few seconds later, he stared towards the bog and put one foot into the squishy mud.
He looked back at her.
"...Go on Gummy... it's ok. I'll miss you... good luck my super duper party pet..." she nodded at him.
He looked back at the bog and in about a minute, he was in fully and swimming away...
He swished his tail one last time, a sign like he was waving goodbye.
There were a few ripples, until he was finally out of Pinkie's sight forever.
Pinkie Pie was still crying hard, but she was smiling all the same.
And this time, it wasn't a fake one.
