Gummy had felt it for a while.
Was it the blue skies? The trees bursting into blossom, petals falling on his snout? The way his fluffy pink abomination of an owner seemed even bouncier than usual, gibbering at a pace that made his scaly head throb in agony?
No.
It was none of these reasons. The truth was imbedded deep inside of Gummy, as part of him as the smooth green scales he was covered in, his unblinking purple eyes.
Spring filled him with a buzzy yearning, not because it was sweet or pretty, or whatever incomprehensible words ponies used to describe it, but because it was alligator mating season.
And this year, his heart had belonged to one mare, and one mare only..
Filled with burning desire, especially down low, he swam as quickly as he could up to the light, not even pausing to blink the soapy water out of his eyes.
Twilight Sparkle twitched her ears and wrinkled her snout, watching as Pinkie Pie poured what seemed like all the bubble bath in Equestria into the enormous porcelain tub.
"Pinkie, you do know I have my own bathtub, right?"
Pinkie gave a giggle. "Oh silly Twilight, I know you have a bathtub! Everypony has a bathtub! I mean, maybe not everypony, since some ponies seem to like showers, but I think baths are waaay better especially when they have cupcake scented bubble bath in them which actually isn't made of cupcakes and tastes awful but smells really nice-"
"Then why are you so insistent on giving me a bath?" Twilight cut in, "I have a gigantic bathtub. You don't have to worry about me taking a bath."
"If you get all clumsy-wumsy with some cupcakes, and drop them on one of your bestest friends, you have to give them a bath!" Pinkie replied.
Twilight wrinkled her muzzle again as more pink frosting dripped onto it. She was covered with frosting, to the point where her lavender tones had been obliterated by the sticky pink stuff.
Her mane was plastered into rigid, strands, her horn had turned into a column of the frosting, and her wings were coated with it. She never wanted to see another cupcake in her life. There was no point mentioning that to Pinkie, though.
"Pinkie, as much as I'm grateful to you for wanting to keep me clean, I really have to get back to the libr-um, the uh...castle. I have to get my spare checklist now that the original is covered in frosting, and I really have to schedule Spike's next dental appointment-"
A pitiful groan was heard, muffled behind the thick bathroom door.
"I heard that!" Twilight shouted. "See Pinkie? I've got so much to do, I can't just take an unexpected detour into your bathtub."
"Twilight," Pinkie said solemnly,"I understand."
Twilight's jaw dropped. Was Pinkie really going to be mature and responsible for once?
"But Twilight..."Pinkie continued.
"Yes?" Twilight said, raising her eyebrows.
In one split instant, Pinkie swept Twilight off her hooves, launching her into the bathtub with so much impossible strength that water ricocheted off the walls.
"P-pin-Pinkie!" Twilight gasped, struggling not to choke on the foamy mountain of cupcake-scented bubbles that cushioned her. "What was that?!"
"Had to keep the story moving along!" Pinkie said with a wide grin.
"You al-almos-almost killed me!" Twilight gurgled.
"A main character can't be killed! And even though I really, really, really, love giving ponies baths, and sometimes I just ask random ponies to take a bath in my bathtub which Rainbow Dash says is kind of creepy but the water really relaxes her wings when they're all tired out from flying but I don't think it's creepy and they seem to like it-"Pinkie gave a dramatic gasp of air," It's really important you take this bath.
Twilight sighed, and stared at the flecks of frosting rising to the surface of the bathwater. "Fine. Just fine."
"I knew you'd love it!" Pinkie squealed. With a gravity-defying bounce, she bounded out of the bathroom, and slammed the door shut.
"Hey, Spike!" She greeted the dragon waiting in the hallway, who was trying not to pass out from boredom, and barely succeeding.
"Hey Pinkie. How long's Twilight gonna be in there?"
"Oh,"Pinkie giggled,"I don't think you'll have to wait much longer."
"Well, that's good news. But at least now I can tell Twilight exactly how many scales I have."
Pinkie gave a smile, and bounced down the hallway.
"See you later, alligator." She whispered under her breath with a small smile. Her work here was done. Time to make more cupcakes!
Twilight lay back, and slowly began to relax in the warm water. Closing her eyes, she spread her wings, and slowly drifted underwater.
How in Equestria does Pinkie have a bathtub that's as deep as a swimming pool? It didn't look very deep...
Eh. It was Pinkie Pie. She twirled in the water, her hair billowing behind her like a sea pony's.
For a moment she opened her eyes, the water stinging them. Thorugh blurry vision, she saw shafts of light dancing through the water, a few bubbles, an alligator-
An alligator?
Twilight whipped around, and found herself snout to snout with a certain green reptile, eyes still unblinking.
Giving a scream muffled by the water, Twilight headed toward the surface in a flurry of limbs, churning the water as she passed by, going faster every second.
He was faster.
He was a creature of water. It was his element.
And he was filled with a terrible need, a desire. Sure, she wasn't his species. And yes, he liked them cold and reptilian. But what choice did he have? His fevered hormones told him that his one true love was Twilight Sparkle.
Like an arrow from it's quiver, he shot up toward the panicked purple mare.
Engaging in the playful romantic practices of his kind, he bit down on a rather sensitive area, his jaws latching on powerfully despite a lack of teeth.
And he bit hard.
Twilight exploded from the depths of the tub, skidding onto the bathroom floor.
Panting and gasping, she lay on the floor, a wet heap.
She was safe. That...creature of Pinkie's, that thing she called a pet couldn't hurt her here. She was saf-
A split second of burning pain shot into her, instantly widening her eyes.
With a deafening scream, she shot out of the bathroom, nearly banging the door off it's hinges.
Spike had seen Twilight do many things. He had seen her read obsessively an entire night until her eyes turned bloodshot. He had seen her blow up her bedroom when she was little with nothing but a foal's chemistry set and an unhealthy amount of curiosity. He had even seen her slowly drive herself to the brink of insanity by a stupid friendship report.
But he had never before seen her run howling through the upstairs of Sugarcube Corner with an alligator happily attached to her butt.
He could only stare, dumbfound, as she raced by.
The sound of horrifying screams drifted down to the kitchen, where Mr. and Mrs. Cake glanced at the ceiling.
"Pinkie," asked Mrs.Cake" Do you have to do with this?"
Pinkie sighed, abandoning her cupcakes to the burning, cupcake-ruining-if-you're-not-careful heat of one of the ovens.
"If it's not the fourth wall suddenly breaking, which would kind of make sense at this point because I think I broke it too hard last time and I only fixed it with frosting and some duct tape, I think it's Gummy." She said quietly, to the confused Cakes.
"And he was doing so well, too!" She cried out.