Gummy
Geez Louise and peas.
She's been getting so much better about it, too! All she had to do was say "no" one time and shut the door on that darned solicitor's face, and we'd be done with all of that. I wouldn't have to get so irritated with her about the whole thing. "But he's just doing his job!" she says. Puh-leeze. He can do his job somewhere else. If you don't want a, what did he call it, vacuum cleaner, then he should be able to accept that. She didn't have to spend two hundred bits on the thing!
And no, I'm not saying this because the darned thing was so unexpectedly loud. Nope. Not at all. This is all about my frustration of her being a stupid pushover. Again. For no reason.
Aggressive ponies can just sense that she's somepony they can take advantage of, I suppose. It's like sharks smelling blood in the water.
Huh. Why do I know that about sharks? Ponyville is landlocked. The things I pick up living with her...
I push thoughts of sharks and unnecessarily loud vacuum cleaners pushed on my owner by unnecessarily pushy solicitors out of my mind and hop down a small path near our house. It leads to Ponyville at some point, but I've never gone that far without Fluttershy. Not because I'm scared, but because I just don't feel the need to! Ponies would see me hopping around without Fluttershy and come up to me and ask me where she is, or start cooing at the cute little bunny. I hate being cooed at.
I go through a small bush and come to the edge of the nearby wooded area close by our house overlooking a lush, green field. The sun is starting to go down a little bit, so the sky has turned a little more purple than the blue it was earlier today.
Wait...
Wait...
Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, her coat and mane are purple, and the sky...
Oh, now I get it. Funny. Real cute.
Sheesh.
I hop onto a tree stump and slap down on it with one of my hind legs. It doesn't make a hollow sound, so I can gather that it's not rotted too much. Content that my perch is steady enough, I settle down on it and look out into the clearing. It's pretty peaceful. Not at all loud.
So maybe half of my anger is from the vacuum being loud, okay?! Fine. Sue me.
I idly poke at a stray splinter sticking out of the stump as I watch the wind gently move through the grass, and my mind registers a bit of green next to me. I frown and turn my head to see the little toothless alligator that the pink one keeps around as a pet.
He's just... kind of standing there, staring out at the horizon. He's not even blinking. I rotate on my stump to face him directly.
Hello.
He doesn't respond. I really should have figured. I don't know if I've ever heard him talk during our pony playdates. Which is fine, really, because that airhead Winona talks enough for all six of us.
Well, figuring that we're not going to have a rapid fire conversation, I turn back to look out at the field. I guess I can use the company, even if he's just standing there.
Do not despair. All is well.
I whip my head around, looking for the source of the unknown voice. I haven't heard it before. I mean, it couldn't have come from...
I look down at Gummy who, to my utter lack of shock, has not moved an inch. If I didn't know better, I'd say a cockatrice got to him. I smirk and lean down closer to him.
Did you talk?
He blinks one eye, then the other.
You are agitated. Do not despair. All is well.
I throw my paws up. The lizard has graced us with his worldly wisdom! Any more platitudes?
I am not a lizard, I am an alligator. You are agitated. Fluttershy's actions displease you?
I cross my forelegs and glower at him. I don't really like that question. What makes you say that? Why does me sitting here on a tree stump looking out at a field just scream 'I'm agitated about Fluttershy?'
Gummy blinks again. I have been watching you since you arrived. Before you sat on the stump. You did not seem pleased. I noted a frustrated anger. Fluttershy frustrates you.
I roll my eyes at him. Okay, genius. You got me. She let somepony talk her into buying something she didn't want or need. She knew she didn't want to, but she let herself get talked into it anyway, then gave herself a weak justification for it. I scowl and begin poking at the splinter again. She's been getting better, too. I glance back over at Gummy. I mean, imagine if your owner just gave in to everything that other ponies said. She'd be wasting potential that you've seen over and over again, and the worst part is that, as her pet, you can't do anything about it.
I am not Pinkie Pie's pet. I am her friend.
I snort at that. Uh-huh. Right. You may see it like that, but I guarantee you that she doesn't. I mean, we're all pets. Just last play date, Applejack called Winona her pet.
Applejack is mistaken. Winona is not her pet. She is her friend. Tank is not Rainbow Dash's pet, he is her friend. You are not Fluttershy's pet, you are her friend.
I roll my eyes again. I see. And what makes you think that us and our owners are all buddy buddies? Yeah, I know they all love us and whatever, but that doesn't make us not pets.
Gummy blinks once again, although this time, he slowly shakes his head. No. I am not a pet. Pets are subordinate. I am not subordinate to Pinkie Pie. I come out here to watch the sunset every evening, yet she does not fear. She trusts me. She believes that I know what is best for me, and would not do anything to hinder that. She is my friend.
Now I'm frowning, and I'm fully facing Gummy on my tree stump. So maybe Pinkie does. But not Fluttershy. She'd never let me do this every night.
Perhaps, though she might if she knew you were safe. The sun continues setting, making more of our surroundings darker. Even if she sees you as a pet, you know that you are her friend. You wish what is best for her, and you are concerned for her when she makes mistakes, or when she finds life difficult. Pets wait around to be fed and made comfortable.
I shrug a little. Well, I guess if you want to think of it like that.
We don't talk as we stare at the horizon, watching it change colors as the sun sinks lower and lower. It's kinda like watching fireworks, in its own weird way.
This is peaceful. I like it.
I glance over at Gummy again, and see that he has that goofy little gator "grin" on his face. I carefully nod and look back out to the sunset.
Yeah, I guess it is.
I love Pinkie Pie, but her high energy can be tiring, don't you agree?
I snort and allow myself a bit of a grin. And here I thought you never said anything obvious.
That's why I come out here. To re-charge. I get some time to myself and a few moments to see something wondrous.
Makes sense.
Gummy blinks again. Though I would not mind your company, should you wish to speak to me every now and again. Pinkie says I'm a good listener, and I imagine that you never really get anyone to speak to about your troubles.
I giggle a little at that. A good listener? Sheesh, dude, I think you've talked more in the last five minutes than you have in the last year.
Gummy doesn't respond to that one, and I would think that I've offended him if I thought he could be offended by anything at all. Still...
Yeah, I say slowly. Yeah, I guess that maybe it would be kinda nice if I could talk to someone every now and again. Get some advice on how to get Fluttershy to pony up and say no to ponies who want to take advantage of her.
You are indeed her friend, as I said. You care for her beyond the eleven o'clock lunchtimes.
I sit up straight at that. Wait, how do you know when my lunchtime is?
The sun chooses that moment to go down enough that our little gathering spot is bathed in darkness, and I can barely make out the outline of the silly little lizard. I see him move for the first time since I got here. He's walking away.
Hey, where are you going? I ask, hopping off of the tree stump.
The sun has gone down. The sunset is over. I must return home. He stops and turns his head to look at me. I think. You may join me for tomorrow's sunset to talk again, if you wish. Or you may join me to watch the sunset. I do not mind either way. Regardless, remember that you are Fluttershy's friend. Not her pet. Even if she does not see it that way.
I guess. I frown and tilt my head. So what happens next time when she starts getting pushed around?
Gummy turns his head away again. I do not know for sure. Perhaps get involved? If there's one thing that I've learned from knowing you, it's that bunnies, despite their fluffy exterior, can be rather bothersome creatures.
I giggle at that as I watch him resume waddling away, pondering that maybe he's right, and tonight's sunset wasn't really all that bad.