“Okay, Gummy, let’s go through it one more time.” Pinkie pointed the small, wooden platform with her hoof. “First, you’re gonna get a good running start and jump—” Pinkie leapt high into the air to demonstrate “—for the platform!” She slapped the platform with her tail on the way back down, and the spring beneath it released. She grinned as the platform shot up a foot, waving gently from side to side. “That’ll send you flying through the air, where you’ll somersault through these three hoops, and then land in this tub of water!” Pinkie tipped one side of the tub up so that Gummy could see into it. Grinning, she splashed a little of the water around, just in case he hadn’t noticed. “Okay, you ready to try again?”
Gummy blinked.
“Good!” Pinkie pulled out a stopwatch and a clipboard. “Okay… Go!”
Gummy stared off into a corner.
Pinkie found a relatively clean spot between several of the doodles that littered her score sheet. Nodding, she make a check mark there. “Hmmm. Okay, what if there’s a scrummy treat in the pool?”
Gummy blinked again.
Pinkie tossed aside the clipboard and laid down on her stomach. Sometimes it helped to see things from his perspective. “Aw, come on, Gummy! The Precocious Pets of Ponyville talent show is next week. Don’tcha wanna take first place?”
Gummy twitched with enthusiasm. Either that, or he was itchy. One of the two.
“C’mon, Gummy! Strut your stuff! Show those ponies what you’re really made of!” Pinkie flopped over onto her back, tipping her head to stare at her alligator upside down. “Which I guess is scales and bones and stuff, and they probably know that already, but still!” Pinkie batted at the swaying platform, enjoying the way it bobbled back and forth. “Fluttershy probably knows a whole bunch of acrobats, but you’ll be Equestria’s first acrogator!”
A thin line of drool crept from the corner of Gummy’s mouth. It dangled for a moment before breaking and falling to the floor.
Pinkie’s brow furrowed. “Is this about the cupcakes? It is, isn’t it?” Flipping back onto her stomach, Pinkie wiggled her way back over to where Gummy stood. “Fluttershy says your cholesterol is a little high, and that I can’t give you any more cupcakes. You never ate them, anyway. They always got all stale, which was okay, I guess. They made good cupcake trail mix when they got all crunchy like that, but I guess it’s the thought that counts.” Pinkie’s eyes lit up. “Oh, hey! What if I draw you a nice picture of a cupcake? Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Gummy curled his tail to the right.
“I have a fresh box of crayons!” she added in a sing-song voice.
Several long seconds ticked by before Gummy slowly closed one eye, and then the other. A moment later, they opened in the same order.
Pinkie rolled her eyes and rested her chin on her hooves. “Gummy, you drive a hard bargain, you know that? Okay, how about one piece of original Pinkie Pie cupcake art, and three Gummy treats before—huh?”
Pinkie didn’t lay on the floor this way too often. While it was a nice floor, and she really appreciated the job it did for her, it just wasn’t as bouncy and soft as her bed. It was generally more of a walking sort of thing, rather than a laying around kind of place for her. But it was from this rare vantage point that something beneath her bed caught her eye.
Crawling forward, Pinkie scooped out several large dust bunnies and tossed them into a box marked ‘Fluttershy.’ Her friend always made the funniest face whenever Pinkie brought them over, but she didn’t the slightest clue how to take care of them. Twilight’s library book on zoology hadn’t been any help at all, and so she’d tossed it—
“—Under the bed! Oh, no! I forgot all about it!” Pinkie dove for the book. Pulling the book out, she blew a thick layer of dust off of the cover. She flipped the book open and pulled out a worn library card from a pouch glued to the inner cover. There is was: Her signature. Right next to tomorrow’s date.
Pinkie’s eyes widened, and she leapt up. Rushing to the window, she stared out at the blackened ruin of the old library. “Without a library, I can’t return the book. And Twilight takes book returning super seriously, Gummy!”
Gummy slowly made his way toward the pool of water.
“No, this is bad, Gummy!” Pinkie clutched the book to her chest. “I was late with my last one, and she gave me this really disappointed look. It was all frowny,” Pinkie ears drooped, “and it makes me really sad to see other ponies upset. Especially when they’re upset with me.”
Turning away, Pinkie paced around the course she’d set up for Gummy. “Okay, need a plan. Gotta think. What would Twilight do?” Pinkie tapped her chin. “She’s probably have several cross-referenced calendars with alarm clocks taped to them, all set to go off three days before the due date. Then she’d return it early. I’ll do that!” Pinkie took two skipping steps toward her alarm clock before her grin collapsed. “Oh, I can’t do that! There’s still no library. I-I don’t know what Twilight would do if there wasn’t a library to return the book to. She’s probably get all twitchy and forget to comb her mane again.”
Trotting to her mirror, Pinkie mussed up her mane and let her eyes drift apart. “This isn’t working, either!” she said after several eye-straining seconds.
Glancing out the window again, Pinkie stared at the ruin. She still couldn’t believe the library was gone. She could almost see Twilight out on her balcony still, reading a book. Pinkie giggled and covered her mouth. That balcony had been a great place to watch Twilight learn how to fly. She’d lost track of the number of times Twilight had ended up crashing into the fountain. Pinkie sighed. “I wish Twilight would get back from Canterlot already. I’d just give the book to her.”
Pinkie gasped. “That’s it! If Twilight’s not here to take this book back, I’ll bring it to her!” Throwing open her closet door, Pinkie tossed her saddlebags onto her bed and shoveled several rolls of streamers and packs of balloons into it. “Then she won’t be all frowny when she gets back. All I have to do is get to Canterlot by tomorrow.” Grinning, Pinkie closed her suitcase and clasped the latches. “Easy Peasy.”
Pinkie checked herself in the mirror. She looked resolute. She looked determined. She was book-returning machine! Nodding to her reflection, she galloped from her room.
Several seconds later, she galloped back and threw her saddlebags over her back. “Oops!” As she galloped past her mirror, her reflection looked a little less resolute and a little more sheepish.
A minute later, her door flew open again, and she skidded to a stop. Pointed ignoring her reflection, Pinkie scooped up the library book and stowed it in her pack. Then, with a wave to Gummy, she left for what she hoped would be the final time.
~~~
Notes: Applejack is coming into Sugarcube Corner with Apple Bloom for a special treat. Pinkie runs into her and they discuss Pinkie’s panic. Applejack tries to alleviate Pinkie’s fear, but Pinkie is having none of it. She’s in a such a state that Applejack decides to go with her, telling Apple Bloom to let Big Mac know she’s going to be gone for a day or two.