Chapter 4: Gum On Over
It wasn't long before our party of four arrived at Sugarcube Corner. As soon as they approached the town square, they were immediately able to identify the building by its eccentric design. The chocolate colored roof with the frosty white border, the cupcake- shaped tower that was built just high enough to peek out over the Ponyville skyline, the color palette that consisted mostly of various shades of pink... it almost looked like something out of a fairy tale.
"Y'all sure that this is where Gummy hangs out?" asked Winona.
"Positive," said Tank. "This is where Pinkie lives, after all."
Without a moment of hesitation, Angel bounced up to the front door, gripped the knob and gave it a good, hardy pull. It refused to budge. He tried pushing it open, but this proved to be fruitless as well. In a fit of frustration, he grabbed the knob with both of his paws and started rattling it violently, which worked about as well as you would imagine.
"No good, guys," panted Angel. "Door's locked."
"Well, there must be another way in," said Owlowiscious. With that, he began scouring the exterior of the building, looking for a point of entry. Tank and Winona quickly followed suit.
"You know, I really don't know why we're even bothering with this weirdo," grumbled Angel.
"Oh, hush," chided Winona. "Rule number one of hangin' with Winona is that we don't leave nobody out."
"Hold up," said Tank. "I thought that rule number one was-"
"Found him!" exclaimed Owlowiscious, hovering by one of the second story windows. He spied Gummy on the floor of the room, staring catatonically at the wall. The other three immediately huddled themselves together under Owlowiscious's shadow. "He's in Pinkie's room."
"Lemme take a look," said Tank, revving up his propeller.
"NO!" cried Owlowiscious. "I mean... I appreciate the offer, Tank, but I think I can handle this one myself."
"Yeah, I wouldn't try it if I were you," Angel sneered. "You've already broken one window today."
The worst part is that I've actually broken two, thought Tank.
Owlowiscious carefully cracked open the window and fluttered inside. "G...Gummy?" he said timidly, perching himself on one of Pinkie's bedposts. "May I speak to you for a moment?"
Gummy didn't answer. He didn't even turn around, and his gaze didn't budge an inch from its position. He simply continued to stare at the wall, refusing to acknowledge Owlowiscious's presence.
"You may be wondering what brings me here," Owlowiscious continued, as if Gummy was actually listening. "You see, my friends and I have decided that tonight we're going to get together and have ourselves a..."
"Owlowiscious!" called Tank from outside the window.
"In a minute, Tank!" Owlowiscious called back. "Anyway... Gummy, we've decided that we're going to have a private little gathering. A pets' night out, if you will. And we were wondering if..."
"Owlowiscious!"
"I said I'll be down in a minute, Tank!...sorry about that, Gummy. As I was saying, we were wondering if you would like to join us. No pressure, though. I apologize for telling you about this on such short notice, and I'll understand if you're too busy to..."
"Owlowiscious!"
"Oh, for Celestia's sake..." Owlowiscious turned away from the silent alligator and shoved his head out the window. "WHAT?" he squawked.
"We have Gummy," said Tank. "You can come down."
"But that's ridiculous!" Owlowiscious cried incredulously. "I was just talking to him a sec-"
And then he saw it. Owlowiscious was rendered speechless as soon as he caught a glimpse of the small, green figure seated comfortably next to Tank's shell, blankly staring up at him.
"Wha- but he- but I-"
Owlowiscious briefly glanced back over his shoulder, only to find that Gummy had vanished from the room. At this point, all he could bring himself to do was throw up his wings in exasperation and scream, "HOW?!"
Tank narrowed his eyes at Owlowiscious, watching his nervous breakdown with a combination of concern and bemusement. "So are you gonna come down, or what?"
Owlowiscious sighed defeatedly. "Well, yes, I suppose I might as well," he muttered. With that, he glided out the open window and slowly lowered himself to the ground. Upon landing, he immediately met Gummy's thousand- mile stare with a pointed glare. "You are a piece of work," he snapped, sharply poking Gummy in the snout. Gummy just blinked at him.
Although his expression was as blank as a fresh sheet of paper, Owlowiscious couldn't shake the feeling that he was mocking him.
"So how many more breaking and enterings are we going to have to stage before we can actually start having fun?" Angel asked pointedly.
"Just one, actually," responded Tank. "Now that you're here, and Gummy's here, and Owlowiscious's here, and Winona's here, the only one we have to pick up is...
"*gulp*...Opalescence."