Pinkie and Gummy walked home feeling ashamed of what they had done. Even if Twilight hadn't told them specifically not to talk to or visit other ponies, they still should've known better. After a few seconds out of the door, though, they were hopping again.
"So G-- Lime, what do you want to do when we get home? It's 7 PM, so we have 1 hour left until I'm sending you to bed!" Pinkie kept hopping as she waited for Gummy to answer.
"Hmmm... I know! You could try to teach me how to sing! I've seen you do it, and it looks like loads of fun!" Gummy suggested.
"Great idea! I'll teach you as soon as we get back to Sugarcube Corner! Wait, we're already here!" Pinkie opened the door and held it for Gummy.
After they both got inside, Pinkie noticed a note on the table.
"Gummy! There's a note here from the Cakes!" She read aloud, "Dear Pinkie and Lime, there was some urgent family business, and we had to leave with Pound and Pumpkin for an indefinite amount of time. Pinkie, you can run the shop while Lime is in school, you've done it before. Signed, the Cakes."
"So they're not going to be back for a while?" Gummy asked.
"Nope!"
"...Do you know how to take care of a colt by yourself?"
"I have no idea! But I do know one thing, and that's how to sing! Let's go upstairs so we'll scare any passerby less!"
After a few minutes, Pinkie and Gummy were both upstairs. Gummy was sitting on Pinkie's bed while she was pacing back and forth.
"Okay, so just repeat after me," Pinkie instructed. She sang the most simple scale she knew that worked for anyone in just about any singing range. She stopped pacing and and looked at Gummy expectantly.
Gummy was surprisingly good for his first time singing and age. Not Sweetie Belle good, but still good.
"Wow, Gummy. You're actually good! It must run in the family even though we're not technically related," Pinkie said, not seeming to care how off her logic was.
"Thanks!"
"You'd still need to practice more if you wanted to do a whole song in front of people, but not too much! Right now, it's time to go to bed! You have to go to sleep early for school tomorrow!"
Pinkie read him another installment of the Craig the Donut books. She even had him read aloud a few pages to prepare Gummy a bit for school the next morning. Gummy could already read, since Pinkie had been reading him a story every night since she got him. He could also write because of the one time she had him help with invitations. The invites came out so sloppy that no one knew when or where it was, so not a single guest came. But he still tried.
Pinkie brought in a small spare bed from another room for Gummy. Where she got it from, he had absolutely no idea, but just decided to go with it.
He took off his glasses and mustache, set them on the ground next to him, and went to bed. He lie there for a while, wondering what school might be like. Finally, after about 20 seconds that felt much longer to Gummy than they actually were, he fell asleep.
"Waaaaaaaaaaake up, sleepyhead! Time for your first day of school!" rang Pinkie Pie's voice as Gummy woke up.
"Okay!" He jumped out of bed, put his glasses of awesome on, and started to walk downstairs. He was completely oblivious to how many directions his mane was sticking out in.
"Wait, silly colt! You have to comb your mane," she reminded him. This got her a look of puzzlement in return. "Oh. I guess you don't know that, because you used to be another species."
Pinkie took a few minutes to show Gummy how to comb his mane. She tried to do an example on herself, but her hair refused to agree with or follow the laws of gravity. He finally got it, and he looked more or less normal.
They ate breakfast together and talked for a few minutes, then it was time to go.
"Are you sure you don't want to be walked to school?" Pinkie asked for the second time, shifting her weight back and forth. It was kind of weird for her, being in charge of Gummy, because she had to be even more responsible than with the Cake twins.
"Yup!" Gummy hopped out the door with his saddlebags, sure he would be fine since she'd given him directions. "Bye!" he said before walking out.
"Bye!" Pinkie replied, happy she didn't have to be serious anymore. Gummy walked out the door. "Man, this adulty stuff is hard. I know! Maybe Twilight has a book on it!" she exclaimed.
Since the store didn't open for another hour or two, Pinkie decided to visit the library. Twilight might also want a check up on how the morning went.
She headed happily to the library, wondering what Gummy was doing. When she hit the library, she knocked with her hoof five times, which was something Twilight had instructed the two to do if it were about Gummy.
"Hi, Pinkie," Twilight opened the door and pulled Pinkie in. She closed the door behind them. "It's about Lime, right?"
"Yep! I need a book on parenting, 'cause I have no idea how to care of him! He's at school right now, he just left."
"Wait, you let him walk to the first day of school on his own? Are you crazy?!" Not even a full minute of Pinkie talking to her, and Twilight was on the verge of yelling.
"It's fine. Or at least it will be once I get a book on taking care of him!"
"You shouldn't let him out completely on his own!"
"I know that, but I'll know it betterer if I got a book on parenting!"
Twilight calmed down a bit. "Pinkie, if you need help taking care if that little colt, don't be afraid to ask. He seems like a handful."
"No, it's alright Twilight. Where are the parenting books?"
"...Okay, as long as you say you can take care of him. Just don't let anyone know about him." Twilight gestured to a section of the library, and Pinkie walked over and started browsing.
Until Fluttershy fell from the second floor.
-----
It was an average day for Fluttershy. She was taking her daily morning walk through Ponyville, when she walked by the library and saw Pinkie go into the building. Fluttershy thought maybe she should drop in for a visit.
She was about to knock, when she heard what sounded like arguing. That was odd for Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy decided to eavesdrop to make sure everything was okay. She flew up to Twilight's balcony and put her ear up to the door. She listened to the whole conversation, until she lost her balance and fell through the door to the first floor.
-----
Pinkie Pie jumped at the sudden thud and turned to see Fluttershy on the ground. She instantly understood that Fluttershy must've been eavesdropping. The feeling of instantly knowing something confused her. She attributed it to spending too much time around Twilight, and decided to try and do that less.
"Are you bucking kidding me," Twilight swore, frowning.
"Well, it's your fault for yelling," Pinkie pointed out.
Twilight sighed and turned to Fluttershy. "What did you hear, and what do you think it means?"
"Oh, well, ummm... I heard you guys talking about a little colt, and Pinkie needs a parenting book, and you want him to stay secret... and um, well, I thought..." Fluttershy trailed off, ducking her head behind her mane and blushing.
Twilight's eyes widened, getting what Fluttershy thought. "Oh hay no, no, nonononono, by Celestia's invisible beard no, I mean... REALLY? Me and... nonononono. Never," she concluded.
"Oh, okay, good." Fluttershy still had her head down. "Then what were you guys arguing about?"
"Well, I don't know what the cupcakes you two are being are weird about, so stop. You're scaring me. Can I tell Fluttershy, Twilight? Pleeeeease?" Pinkie pleaded.
"By all means, go ahead, anything but what she originally understood."
Pinkie proceeded to explain the past two days to Fluttershy, with Twilight occasionally cutting in when Pinkie's story stopped making sense. Fluttershy seemed shaken up, but didn't react as badly as they thought she might. She actually took it quite well, considering everything. She promised not to tell anyone, and left to finish her walk. Pinkie left a minute later to go work Sugarcube Corner without getting any books.
"Not even a day and a half, and we already had to tell Fluttershy," Twilight grumbled.
"Hey Twilight, I heard everything you guys said, and I had a question," Spike said, coming down the stairs.
"What is it?"
"What did Fluttershy think?"
"Oh... um... well..."
-----
Gummy was more excited for his first day of school than anything else he'd ever been excited for, which was a lot. Sadly, he couldn't show emotion when he was an alligator. But now that he was a colt, he could show emotion all he wanted. And that he did.
He hopped through town, a wide smile on his face. He wanted to break into a song, but probably wasn't good enough for public audiences.
When he got to the school, he sat there in front of the door for a second, looking the building over. It was a small red schoolhouse, with a play area in back. After a minute, Gummy decided there wasn't much to observe since it was a small piece of land. He walked in so he wouldn't be late and be pelted with cucumbers.
Or, at least, that's what Pinkie said would happen if he were late to school while they were eating breakfast together that morning.
There was an empty seat left in the front of the class, next to a filly who looked like Rarity. From what he remember overhearing at parties and being with Pinkie all the time, her name was Sweetie Belle and she was Rarity's little sister.
"Alright, class, we have a new student today." Cherilee smiled at Gummy and gestured for him to come up. Gummy quickly hopped up to the front of the class and gave everyone a wide smile. "Introduce yourself, don't be shy," Cherilee instructed. Gummy found this kind of funny, telling Pinkie Pie's cousin not to be shy. Nope, not shy, just the opposite.
"My name's Lime Pie!" Gummy jumped into the air and confetti fell from the ceiling at the same time he said his fake name.
"Well, that was quite the show." Cherilee looked slightly startled, and the rest of the class looked amazed and appreciative. Except, Gummy observed, a pink filly with a tiara who and a gray filly next to her. He wondered if the pink one was the queen of Ponyville or something similar. He had no idea why she'd be wearing a crown unless that were the case. "Class, feel free ask Lime any questions you might have."
He got all kinds of different questions from everyone in the room, except the pink and the gray filly. People asked things from where he was from to if he and Pinkie were related to if he was a blank flank. The latter caused the pink filly and the gray one to whisper, and for three other fillies to give each other looks then nod.
"I have a question," a pegasus filly with a blue coat asked.
"Yup?" Gummy replied.
"Your glasses are awesome," she stated, which gathered nods from everyone, even Cherilee. Except the two fillies that didn't seem to actually have feelings. Gummy decided that the pink was the robot queen and the gray one was a robot minion. That was the only logical explanation in his mind.
"Alright, that's enough for now, class," Cherilee chimed in after around 10 minutes of interrogation. Class went on as it would on a normal day, with only the occasional glance at Gummy or whisper. All of the work was fairly simple for Gummy, considering he'd never done any of it, but had had many books from the library read to him about each topic.
Finally, it was time for end of the day recess where Gummy could talk to other ponies and make new friends.
-----
Pinkie had been working Sugarcube Corner for about six and a half hours when she looked up at the clock. Gummy would need to be picked up in about 30 minutes. Business was slow, so she decided to close up shop early. She was locking up the counter when Applejack walked in.
"Oh, hi Applejack! I was just closing up shop 'cause I have to pick up Lime in thirty minutes!" Pinkie greeted Applejack, smiling.
"Same for Apple Bloom. But, on the subject of that Lime fella o' yours. Why were you and Twilight actin' all twitchy 'round me yesterday? You guys aren't hidin' anything, right?" Applejack seemed to already know the answer. Being the Element of Honesty, she could tell when people were lying pretty easily.
"Umm... err... lookatthetimeIgottagoI'mgonnabesolatebyeitwasniceseeingyoupleasedon'tImeandodropbyagain!" Pinkie blurted. She had Applejack out of the door and the shop closed in two seconds flat. She sprinted across town to Fluttershy's cottage before Applejack even had time to register what just happened,
Pinkie jumped inside the door without knocking. This caused Fluttershy to give a small 'eep' noise.
"Oh, hi Pinkie, you startled me. What did you need?" Fluttershy said, calming down.
"No time to explain, I just need to hide here for the next little while! I'll leave in around twenty-five minutes to pick up Gummy, then go back to Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie yelled like it was the apocalypse and this was the safe house. Or she was playing "don't touch the floor, it's lava" and Fluttershy's cottage was a couch.
Fluttershy, being the Element of Kindness, wanted to help her friend. She also didn't want to argue with Pinkie, since she wasn't telling her what she was hiding from.
Pinkie sat under the couch, sipping some tea Fluttershy brought her, for the next twenty-five minutes. She finally left to go pick up Gummy, who was just finishing up recess.
-----
Gummy walked out of class to go outside and have recess and make new friends. Class, he was sorry to say, was a bit boring and not quite what he had expected. But he had high hopes for recess, and he was sure they'd be right.
He was walking over to the swing set to play when three fillies popped up in front of him. They didn't startle him. After all, he lived with Pinkie Pie and could, in fact, defy the laws of physics as well.
Of course, he recognized and knew all the fillies, but also knew he shouldn't know what he did know because they didn't know what he did know and that he didn't not know it.
"Hi guys! What are your names?" he asked them.
"I'm Scootaloo!" the orange pegasus said.
"Ah'm Apple Bloom!" the yellow earth filly said.
"And I'm Sweetie Belle!" The white unicorn jumped in the air while saying this, and her voice squeaked at the end.
"Cool! Do you want to play tag?" Gummy asked. He'd seen the game played by other ponies before and knew the rules.
"Sure!" The fillies replied in unison. They played an intense game of tag for about 20 minutes until they were all tired out. They all sat down next to the fence.
Scootaloo had only been it twice, Apple Bloom five times, Sweetie Belle six times. Gummy had only been gotten once due to defying the laws of physics. He popped up behind people, in trees, and once out of Sweetie Belle's mane. He also had the advantage of height and strength over the fillies. Overall, it was a good game and everyone had fun.
After sitting for a few minutes, something caught Gummy's eye. The pink filly and the gray filly were talking to the blue pegasus who said his glasses were awesome. He saw an earth colt with a green coat sort of standing off to the side, awkwardly shifting his weight. Gummy strained his ears to hear what the pink one was saying.
"I mean, what does your cutie mark even mean?" she sneered. He looked at the pegasus's flank to see what she was talking about. The cutie mark there was a book with a smiley face that he could only describe as cocky. To be honest, he had no idea what it was either.
"The book's for being smart. The smiley face means that I'm funny and sarcastic at times. Get it?" the pegasus replied, speaking slowly with a hint of sarcasm. "But what I don't get is why you're poking fun at my cutie mark. A tiara and a spoon? Lemme guess, cosplay and overeating?"
"Maybe you should stop being so smart, smartflank," retorted the gray one.
"Well, that's quite the amazing insult you got there. I'll take it," the pegasus filly smirked. Although she was smiling, it wasn't insanely hard for Gummy to tell she was offended by what they had been saying previously.
Gummy turned to the three fillies sitting next to him.
"Why are they being mean to that filly?" Gummy asked the three, gesturing toward the spectacle.
They all looked off to where he gestured, then Apple Bloom replied, "Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? They're just bullies. They think it's funny to rid-- ridic-- be mean to other ponies."
"Hmmm... well, I know something funny." Gummy smirked. He stood up and walked over to the where the bullying was taking place. "Hey, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Wanna know something funny?" he said with fake cheer, pretending to be as clueless as Pinkie could be at times.
"Besides her cutie mark or the fact that you're a blank flank?" Silver Spoon sneered. This might've offended Gummy if he wasn't meant to be another species. He was pretty sure it was impossible for him to get a cutie mark.
"Oh, well, Pinkie taught me about something funnier! It's a nice little thing called... flour." All of the sweetness went out of Gummy's voice on the last word. He pulled a bag of flour out of his mane and held it over Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. "Are you guys gonna stop bullying her?" They nodded and he dumped the flour on himself.
He was right. He knew it was funny and he couldn't even see it. The bullies left and went to go home.
"Thanks, dude. They're stupid." The pegasus held out her hoof. Gummy shook it and smiled.
"No problem!" Gummy replied, and she walked off with the colt. He realized how oddly similar their cutie marks were, and assumed they must be old friends. As they were walking off, he heard them both cracking jokes about Silver Spoon using smart as an insult.
"Congratulations!" Scootaloo said from behind him. He spun around to see his three new friends standing in a row. "You now qualify to be the first male Cutie Mark Crusader!"
"You're also covered in flour!" Sweetie pointed out happily. Everyone just sat staring at her for a second while she beamed brightly at Gummy, oblivious to their stares.
"Oookay... right. Anyway, we Cutie Mark Crusaders are here to help blank flanks find their cutie marks! And since you have awesome glasses, you don't like bullies, and you're a blank flank, you could join! As our first official colt member!" Apple Bloom said.
"Okay, sure!" Gummy agreed.
"Great!" Sweetie Belle said happily. "Want to go to the clubhouse to brainstorm for things to do?"
"I'd have to ask Pinkie Pie first, or she might pelt me with cucumbers." This got Gummy looks of confusion from Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, but surprisingly enough, one of understanding from Scootaloo. He didn't really want to know why.
"Alright, I think Rainbow Dash is waiting for me anyway," Scootaloo said, trotting off toward the exit. "Bye guys!" Soon they all said goodbye and walked toward the road.
"Hey, Pinkie!" Gummy yelled when he saw her.
"Hi, Lime! We gotta get outta here fast, before Applejack sees us!" Pinkie looked back and forth like she stole something, killed someone, or accidentally bumped into another pony on the street.
"Why?"
"No time to explain!" Pinkie shoved Gummy onto her back, like she used to when he was still an alligator.
When they had finally made it to Pinkie's room in Sugarcube Corner, Gummy asked Pinkie about going to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse.
"Hmmm... you can... but I'll have to get you there--" she put on some sunglasses that, although cool, couldn't rival Gummy's in awesome "--Pinkie Pie style!"
Then there were some unidentified explosions in the back.