//------------------------------// // Alligator Blues // Story: Perfect Companions // by Godzillawolf //------------------------------// Alligator Blues Warning! Spoilers for Getting Back On Your Hooves! Fluttershy trotted along towards Sugar Cube Corner, thinking over her meeting with Rarity. Who’d have thought the fashionista had once been poor? Or that Rarity had given up her Cuteceañera to help a poor little orphaned kitten? Even Fluttershy had had one… Once more the fluttering Pegasus was perplexed as to how little she knew about her best friends and their animals. They’d saved the world together (more than once), but there was still a lot about each other they didn’t know. “First Applejack and now Rarity…I wonder how Pinkie got Gummy…” she whispered to herself, thinking things out. Pinkie Pie was…random, there was no telling how she’d ended up obtaining her toothless baby alligator. Various ideas ran through the Pegasus’ mind from Pinkie simply finding him and taking him home to, somehow, fending off a group of poachers to rescue him using only her party cannon…and knowing Pinkie, both where likely options. Knowing Pinkie Pie, the true answer might be even crazier. Fluttershy slowly entered Sugar Cube Corner, the default meeting place for the group. Fluttershy actually hadn’t spent much time here, or in Ponyville in general, before she and the other five became best friends. Looking back on it, she realized just how much she’d changed. Now she came into Ponyville almost daily and didn’t feel one bit nervous…Well, most of the time. “Fluttershy,” called a rather hammy voice. The fluttering Pegasus jumped, then looked to see a now familiar blue unicorn trot up, wearing a magician‘s hat and cape, both deep blue with golden stars and trim, the cape interior purple. “Oh…hello Trixie…” she replied with a shy, but friendly smile. “Why hello, Fluttershy,” the showmare replied with her typical amount of over the top dramatics. Even when she wasn’t on stage, Trixie seemed to genuinely enjoy acting like she was. “Trixie was simply running an errand for the director, picking up some cupcakes for the crew.” Fluttershy nodded with a smile. She found Trixie’s habit of referring to herself in the third person rather strange, but when asked (by Pinkie, the timid Pegasus was much too…well, timid to ask herself), Trixie simply replied it was a mix of force of habit and simply believing it sounded cool. “How’s your new job at the theater going?…If you don’t mind…” Trixie gave a bright smile. “Trixie is having a very good time, thank you for asking. Stage Hoof is as well.” Fluttershy gave a nod as Trixie picked up the cupcakes. “You’ve certainly earned it,” she replied, recalling the conflict with Trixie’s insane sister with a shudder. Last Fluttershy heard, Checker had been put in an insane asylum, her mind completely broken by her inability to comprehend her own defeat and conviction for her crimes. Fluttershy wasn’t happy Checker was in that state, but even she had to admit there was a certain irony in the mare who sought to control others’ lives so completely and saw accepting help as a sign of weakness had been reduced to a state of needing another‘s help to so much as feed herself. Regardless, Fluttershy was just glad Trixie’s nightmare was over and she was finally genuinely happy. “Thank you, Trixie knows it was a rocky road…thank you for everything, Fluttershy,” the mare replied, giving Fluttershy a hug which was returned. “Well, Trixie must be going now, she wishes you a good day.” “You too, Trixie,” Fluttershy replied, watching her leave before turning to Mrs. Cake. “Hello, Mrs. Cake…” The older mare gave a smile. “Hello, Fluttershy, what would you like?” Fluttershy shook her head. “Um…nothing right now…I’m actually here to give Gummy a checkup…if that’s alright…” Mrs. Cake gave a nod. “It’s fine, Pinkie Pie is upstairs with Gummy, I think she was expecting you.” Fluttershy gave a nod. “Thank you…” The mare climbed the stairs to Pinkie’s bedroom. Now that she thought about it, she wondered why Pinkie lived with the Cakes instead of her real parents. Was there a deeper reason for it? Like there was for Applejack and Rarity? Or was it simply because she worked at Sugar Cube Corner and its was easier? Come to think about it, she had trouble remembering much about Pinkie’s family except they owned a rock farm that Trixie had apparently worked on for a period of time during her poverty. When she arrived, Pinkie was staring Gummy in the eyes. “Um…Pinkie?” Pinkie didn’t look. “One minute Fluttershy,” she replied in her typical bubbly, hyper tone. “Gummy and I have having a staring contest!” Fluttershy blinked, then gave a small smile. Pinkie was so random sometimes. Finally, the pink earth pony blinked and giggled. “Aww! You win again! You’re really good at this, Gummy!” The pink pony then bounced over to Fluttershy. “Hey Fluttershy! You here to see Gummy?” Fluttershy nodded. “Yes…if that’s ok…” Pinkie gave a contagious grin. “No problem at all!” Fluttershy was always surprised with the sheer amount of energy the pink mare always had. Twilight theorized that was why Pinkie could eat her own body weight in sweets every day (sometimes multiple times) and not get fat; all the sugar went straight into energy to fuel the hyper active party dynamo that was Pinkie Pie. And Fluttershy shuddered when she thought about the time Pinkie had drank coffee. Fluttershy went over to the tiny alligator, looking down at him as he just stared back with his purple eyes. She carefully examined the baby reptile, looking him over from snout to tail. She checked inside his mouth as well. While she’d always been perplexed about his lack of teeth, he seemed perfectly healthy without them. Pinkie kept him well fed and…well, with Gummy, it was hard to tell, but Fluttershy assumed he was happy. While Fluttershy had no problem understanding animals, Gummy just didn’t talk much, simple as that. Though the one time he had talked to her he’d said something about calculating space time convergence…So yes, Gummy was as much an enigma as his owner. Still, Fluttershy could tell they got along well, and Pinkie loved her baby alligator dearly. As shown by the fact she’d thrown him a birthday party and an after birthday party that she put priority over remembering it was her own birthday. In a way they complimented one another well. On one hoof you had the bubbly, bouncy mare who typically was difficult to get to stop talking, and on the other the silent, strangely intelligent baby reptile. Fluttershy pet Gummy lightly on the head and looked to Pinkie. “He’s doing very well, you’re taking good care of him.” Pinkie gave Gummy a hug. “Thanks! I’m just really surprised, I mean REALLY surprised that ponies, and the audience, think him not having any teeth is my fault! I’m not that irresponsible!” Fluttershy blinked. “How did he lose his teeth? I’ve always wondered that…Not that I think its your fault…” “He didn’t! He was born without them, silly!” Pinkie replied, as if that should be common knowledge. Fluttershy cocked her head, then gave a slow nod. So it was a birth defect, that made a bit of sense. That was one question answered…but still, there were plenty of questions about the tiny gator that filled her mind…would it hurt to ask? “Um…Pinkie Pie…” Pinkie gave Fluttershy a curious look. “Yeah, Fluttershy?” she asked, ignoring the fact Gummy was now hanging from her mane by his jaw. “What is it? Do you want to have party for Gummy’s checkup turning out well? That’d be so fun! There could be balloons and streamers and punch and…” Fluttershy hesitated, but finally her curiosity overcame her timid nature. “Um…actually…um…do you think…maybe…you could tell me how you got Gummy?” she asked, hiding behind her mane. “I-I mean if you want to…If you don’t want to, I understand…” Pinkie stopped listing party possibilities and gave an excited gasp, jumping into the air and somehow staying there for a few moments. “Of course! I was wondering when you’d ask!” Fluttershy blinked in surprise. “You…you were?” Pinkie nodded. “Yeah! That’s what this story is about, isn’t it?!” Fluttershy cocked her head in confusion. “Um…I guess…” Pinkie zoomed off and came back with popcorn which she gave to Fluttershy, then picked her up while leaping into the air herself and pulling a row of theater seats out of nowhere and sliding it beneath them so they landed in it. Pinkie then pulled Gummy close. “Um…what’s this for?” “To watch the flashback, silly!” Fluttershy cocked her head. “Um…ok…” Fluttershy had given up trying to understand half of what Pinkie did after finding out about her Pinkie Sense and that even Twilight couldn’t explain it. “Alright, lets get started!” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Well, I grew up on my family’s rock farm, and there was no talking, no laughing, no smiling, only rocks…but I already told that story! So long story short I earned my Cutie Mark thanks to Dashie’s Sonic Rainboom inspiring my first party! Then things got really, really fun!” Pinkie Pie, her mane and tail their normal puffed out selves despite being a filly, hopped over to a rock as one of her sisters lodged a stake in it, letting the brighter colored Pie sister buck it, shattering the rock at which point the three siblings passed the rocks along to each other to their parents, all having a good time at it. “After I earned my Cutie Mark, I wanted to make things happier! So we started having fun with our work!” “Like Applejack and her family?” “Exactly! Only we started playing games with the waste rocks when we had spare time too!” Pinkie and her siblings looked at a layout of rocks, Pinkie picking one up to reveal a charcoal drawing of their father. She then picked up another one to reveal the same picture, a match. “We tried a version of Monopony, but that didn’t work so well when all the buildings were rocks…Anyway there was one thing that always put a smile on my face! Ok, a lot of things! Including when Granny Pie visited! But it still made me happy when our cousins came to visit!” The younger Cakes got out of a carriage and hugged Pinkie’s parents with a smile. “Well, things seem a lot…brighter, around here,” Mr. Cake said, looking around, not wanting to insult his cousins, but noticing the change. Pa Pie patted Pinkie on the back. “That’s thanks to Pinkamenia, here, she’s made things a lot happier for all of us,” he said with a bit of pride in his voice. Pinkie smiled ear to ear. “Yep! I got my Cutie Mark! Look!” she exclaimed, turning to show it. The Cakes both smiled and gave the filly a hug. “We heard, we’re here to celebrate it after all.” Pinkie chuckled. “Oh! I almost forgot! I set up the party and everything!” she announced, hopping over the silo and opening it to reveal a party all set up. “So the Cakes are actually your cousins?” “Yeah! They were always so nice! And they always brought such good food! All we had to eat were rocks!” “You…ate rocks?” “Mom knew how to make them edible, they aren’t bad actually. We did a lot of things with rocks actually, like carve things out of them and grow gems and stuff inside of them…Anyway, time skip!” “Huh?” Pinkie was about a year younger than she presently was, her sisters with her. The lighter gray sister now had a rock spike for her Cutie Mark and the darker had a rock split in half containing gems. The darker sibling, Inkie, looked around, finding a rock and pointing to it while the lighter, Blinkie, put a spike in it, and Pinkie drove the spike in with a well placed buck, splitting it in two to reveal it was full of gems. Pinkie, however, gave a sad sigh, her hair straighter as she went about her work. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I…I just didn’t feel right…” Pinkie admitted, in a rare moment looking saddened, mane going a little straighter. “I don’t want to say I was bored…I was just…I didn’t feel like I belonged anymore…” Fluttershy blinked, then looked sympathetic and gave Pinkie a hug. “I think I know how you feel…after I earned my Cutie Mark…I just didn’t feel right in Cloudsdale…I felt like I belonged somewhere else.” Pinkie nodded slowly, returning her friend‘s hug. “Yeah…thanks, Fluttershy.” “What are friends for?” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “That’s exactly right, I just felt…sad…My dad noticed it too…” “Pinkamena!” called Pa Pie. “…Can I talk to you for a second?” Pinkie nodded, trotting over to her father with a sad sigh. “Yes, dad?” she asked, looking up to him respectfully. The stallion put a hoof on her shoulder, a serious look on her face. “We all love you being here, you’ve done us all a lot of good…but I’d be blind not to see that you’re not happy here anymore.” “No! I’m fine…I’m fine…” she replied, her mane going a little straighter as she tried to sound convincing. “No, you’re not…you’re getting more miserable every day, and everypony can see it…” Pa Pie said, a saddened look on his face. “Pinkie…Your sisters’ talents are for rock farming, yours isn’t. You can’t be yourself here anymore than Octavia could be on her parent’s rock farm.” Pinkie whimpered, eyes tearing up. “But…I don’t want to leave…” Pa Pie sighed. “Pinkie…I want a Pinkie Promise you‘ll answer me truthfully, ok?” Pinkie sighed. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” “Now are you happy or not?” Pinkie lowered her head, tears in her eyes. “…I’m not…I…I just feel lonely…well, kinda…” “You feel like you belong somewhere else, don’t you?” Pinkie nodded slowly, tears going down her face. Her father pulled her in and hugged her. “You’re in the wrong place for you, Pinkie…It ain’t good for a pony to have to keep a part of themselves bottled up just to stay in a place they’re not happy.” “But…but who will help farm the rocks?” “Don’t worry none, we got your sisters to do that.” “But…who’s going to throw parties?” Pa Pie put a hoof on her shoulder. “You’ve taught us plenty on how to do that. We might not make them as good as you can, but we can make do…I’ve set up with the Cakes for you to stay with them…I would’ve gotten Granny Pie to let you stay with her, but…well, after last time you went to stay with her…” Pinkie whimpered. “I just don’t know what went wrong…” “What happened? Um…if you don’t mind.” “Granny Pie is a prankster, she just loves making ponies laugh, she’s kind of like Miss Helena. So when I stayed with her…well, we threw a big party and she was the clown and…well, remember why you all were so afraid of me and Bubble Berry throwing our mega party when we went to the gender flip world?” “Y-yes…sorry about that…” “Well…that’s kind of what happened…How was I supposed to know that much partying would disturb a fault line?!” “I know, Pinkie…just try it, ok? If you’re not happier there, then you can come back in a month or two, ok?” Pinkie hugged him and nodded slowly, a few tears in her eyes. “Pinkie Promise you’ll visit?” Her father gave a warm smile. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” he replied, going through the motions, getting her to smile. “I knew dad was right, I wasn’t happy there…So I moved to Ponyville.” Pinkie hopped off the carriage with her saddle bags, looking around Ponyville. “Wow! It’s so…bright!” she exclaimed, hopping around and looking at all the colorful buildings…Then she saw the ponies and looked like a deer in the headlights. “I’d never been away from the rock farm before and we didn‘t get many visitors outside of family. The only ponies I’d ever really been around where my family, I was kind of scared…” “You were nervous?” “Yeah! I know, ironic huh?!” Pinkie slowly trotted through Ponyville, looking at the ponies around her with a nervous expression on her face, eyes batting around at all the ponies. As a pony approached her, she zipped into a bush, looking out after they’d passed by. “It’s fine, Pinkie…nothing to be worried about…they’re just ponies…” She got ready to step out, but jumped right back in afterwards. “I was so nervous, because I didn’t know what things were like, what I was supposed to do, or how I was supposed to act! I just felt like everyone was watching me! You know?” “Yes…that’s how I feel a lot…” “And that wasn’t the only problem. It wasn‘t that I didn‘t want to make friends…it was that I didn‘t really know how yet. The rock farm was in the middle of nowhere, we were the only ponies for miles! There weren‘t any ponies to make friends with! In fact, I had NEVER ever seen THAT many ponies in the same place at the same time before!” “Wow…no wonder you were nervous.” Pinkie cooked in the kitchen at Sugar Cube Corner, peaking out slowly at the customers longingly, but hid when one looked her way. Mrs. Cake looked worriedly at her. “Pinkie, what’s wrong? You don’t like the other ponies?” Pinkie gave a lonely sigh. “It’s not that…I want to I’m just…I don’t know if they’ll want to be my friends…I’ve never tried making friends before.” “It’s easy, just start talking with somepony, I know you’ll do great…” Pinkie sighed. “But what do I talk about? No one here’s going to be interested in rock farming…” Mrs. Cake tapped her chin, then gave a smile. “…Well, I think I’ve got something for you to do. Can you set up a party for tomorrow?” Pinkie jumped excitedly. “A party! I’d love to! There can be streamers, and balloons, and cake, and…” Pinkie recited, hopping around jubilantly, then stopping in mid air. “What kind of party?” “Oh…a welcome to Ponyville Party! Someone very special just moved here.” “So I worked really hard setting up the biggest, bestest party I could! It really took my mind off how nervous I was! And besides, who doesn’t love a PARTY?!” Pinkie looked up at the decorations for the party she’d put her heart into setting up. Everything was perfect. The pink pony retreated upstairs, knowing the room would soon be filled to the brim with ponies. She set down at her window, looking in the direction of her parent’s farm with a lonely sigh. “Mom…dad…Inky…Blinky…I feel better here…but I still don’t like I fit in…What do I do?” she asked, looking a little homesick. “…You were lonely, weren’t you?” “Yeah…I had Mr. and Mrs. Cake, but…I was so nervous I was afraid to ask the other ponies to be my friends…I was scared…It was like when I threw my first party and thought at first my parents didn‘t like it…” “…I know exactly how that is, Pinkie.” “Thanks…And maybe a part of me did want to go back to the rock farm and that had something to do with it…But then! Then something really, really, REALLY neat happened!” Mr. Cake slowly walked up the stairs, his wife beside him, a gift package on his back. “Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie blinked, looking up at them. “Yeah?” “We got you a welcome to Ponyville present,” Mr. Cake said with a smile, his wife taking the present a putting it in front of Pinkie. Pinkie’s face lit up like a Hearth’s Warming Tree and she rushed over to it. “Really! Really! For me?! Thank you thank you thank you!” the excited mare exclaimed, pulling the bow and with some difficulty pulling the top off, falling on her flank. She then blinked, looking at the package and noticing there were air holes in it. “What is it?” Little purple eyes peeked out at her, blinking slightly. “Hello?” Pinkie asked, looking back, approaching. “It’s ok, no reason to be scared, come on out.” The tiny baby alligator slowly poked his head out, looking at Pinkie Pie with a cock of his head. “It’s a baby alligator. We noticed you were lonely, so we thought we’d get you a friend. We found him at an animal rescue center yesterday and thought he‘d be perfect for you. He was born without teeth, so he’ll take a lot of care,” said Mrs. Cake, seeming a bit uneasy about that last part. “Think you’re up to it?” Pinkie blinked, looking at the baby alligator, then just staring at him for about a minute before finally blinking. “Wow! You’re really good at staring contests!” she exclaimed, picking up the baby alligator, who lightly gummed her nose, seeming to be more play biting than anything else. “Aww! He’s so cute! I think I’ll call him Gummy!” Pinkie lightly hugged the little reptile. “Gummy! You’re my first friend in Ponyville! I think this calls for a PARTY!” Mr. Cake smiled. “Come on downstairs, there’s something we’d like you to see.” Pinkie blinked, following her cousins down stairs. The moment she stepped foot in the main room, she noticed the lights were out. “Huh? What happened to the lights?” They suddenly turned on to reveal a room full of ponies. “SURPRISE!” Pinkie jumped in surprise, keeping hold a Gummy. She looked around, noticing underneath the welcome banner she’d put up another one had been hung. It now read ‘Welcome to Ponyville Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie gasped, looking around. “I…I planned my own welcome party?” The Cakes nodded. “Just wanted to make you feel welcome in Ponyville.” Pinkie gasped, looking around at all the smiling ponies, a big grin slowly working its way onto her face. “All those ponies, they were there just for me! They wanted me in Ponyville! They really did! I’d spent so much time being nervious, I hadn’t thought Ponyville might want to be my friends as much as I wanted to be theirs! I can’t describe what that felt like!” “Yay.” “Thank you thank you thank you!” Pinkie exclaimed, hopping around gleefully. “Oh! But can it be for Gummy too?” The Cakes and everyone blinked as Pinkie looked at the baby alligator. “It’s his first day in Ponyville too!” The Cakes gave a chuckle. “So it is…” Pinkie picked up Gummy and hugged him. “Its our first day here!” Pinkie sung, shaking hooves with ponies, Gummy on her back. “We were kind of nervous before But there was no reason for a scare! We’re not afraid anymore! Now we’re welcome in Ponyville today! I see so many friends, its true! And I wouldn’t have it any other way! Welcome to Ponyville Gummy…and me too!” Another banner was added, it now read ‘Welcome to Ponyville Pinkie Pie and Gummy.’ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “So…Gummy was your first friend in Ponyville?” asked Fluttershy, looking at the tiny alligator as he stared off into space. Pinkie nodded. “And I don’t know if I’d be the same way without him! Having one friend made it easier to make more! And having more makes it easier to make new ones! I was able to talk about having pets and make friends with some of the other ponies at the party because I had him too! And that’s how I got my cutie mark!” Fluttershy blinked. “Wait…what?” she asked, then remembered this was Pinkie Pie. “…Never mind…is that why you always throw welcome parties for new ponies?” Pinkie nodded. “Yep! I felt so super duper extra happy when I got a welcome party that I wanted to make everypony I could feel that way when they came! After all, everypony needs a chance to make friends! And what better time than at a party!” Fluttershy gave a small smile. “Well…everyone seems to like them…I think you’ve succeeded…” Pinkie giggled. “Well, I’ve got a party to plan for Gummy’s checkup turning out good! Hope you’ll make it!” Fluttershy chuckled, happy her random friend had her closest companion. Pinkie had had trouble making friends? It was the exact kind of random past one would probably expect from the pink pony. Still, who would’ve guessed? And Gummy had been the one to open the door for her. She was right, it was easier to be open to others when you had a friend with you…speaking of friends… “Pinkie…I think I might have another party for you to do first…if you don’t mind.” Pinkie stopped in midair. “Really?! What kind of party?!” “…A Cuteceañera…”