Gummy hissed in protest and wriggled around in his doting mother's forelegs as she attempted to lower him into the sink for his weekly bath; it was all he could do to illustrate his displeasure as his large purple eyes never seemed to blink simultaneously, and his toothless mouth was incapable of conveying facial expressions. His usual way of displaying his pleasure, or lack thereof, would be to utilize a series of hisses, gargles, and groans.

Pinkie Pie brought his face in close to hers before she narrowed her eyes. “Don't you get snippy with me, Mister!”

Gummy silently gazed back at her, blinking that odd blink of his.

“Oh, wait - was that a sassy hiss, or was that an 'I love you' hiss that just sounded like a sassy hiss?"

Gummy attempted to point his nose down toward the gelid water as he hissed, to which pinkie would only reply with "I love you, too, my Gummy-wummy!" She gave him a tight hug and a peck on the nose before plopping him down in the frigid water.

The frustrated amphibian continued to hiss and grunt as Pinkie gently scrubbed his scales; if it were not for the prospect of hypothermia setting in, the ectothermic reptile may have enjoyed his bath. If only Pinkie's innate ESP included telepathy, her irate alligator may be projecting thoughts along the lines of: Oh, Celestia... Why do you hate me?

Pinkie Pie giggled mirthfully as she listened to Gummy's cute little hisses, to which her only reply would be, "No, I love you more!"

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie felt an odd sensation within her: Her back itched, her ears twitched, the muscles in her hind legs involuntarily tensed. Gummy took the opportunity to attempt an escape while his mother seemed distracted, but his attempts were fruitless due to his short legs hindering his retreat; he was still just a baby, after all. That, or his growth had been stunted from the over consumption of sweets and lack of proper cuisine his carnivorous body demanded.

Pinkie Pie gasped when she finally realized the meaning of the sensations she was feeling, her eyes shimmering and widening as they reflected Gummy's image back at him. She pulled him from the sink by the nape of his neck, set him on her back, and raced down stairs. Out of the bathroom, out from her bedroom, she descended the stairs, and into the bakery she flew, an after-blur of pink trailing in her wake, all while Gummy clung tightly to his mothers warm body, relieved to be out of the subarctic hell he knew as 'The Sink.'  

“Mrs Cake, Mrs Cake!” She called before coming to an instant stop that would have severed the cervical columns of even the thickest of necks from the speed she had just been traveling, which launched gummy across the bakery and into the open oven that had just been used to bake a fresh batch of Blueberry muffins.

“Somepony new is arriving in Ponyville today!”

"Oh, what's that, Dear?" Mrs. Cake responded as she turned away from the oven and tapped the door closed with her hind leg, inadvertently trapping gummy inside.

“Somepony new is coming to Ponyville today! He, or she should be here any minute now! Would it be okay if I prepared the floor for their Welcome-To-Ponyville party?” The manic mare leaped in the air, and in a physics defying act that would leave both God and scientists alike baffled to the point of reconsidering their raison d'etre - she stayed suspended above the ground as she anticipated Mrs. Cake's answer.

“Oh, I'm sorry, dear, but we have been terribly busy today. We were actually planning on closing the bakery early. I don't suppose it can wait til' tomorrow?”

Pinkie Pie's mane deflated, her eyes glazed, and she puffed out her lower lip as she slowly descended back to the ground where she remained anchored.

“I'm sorry, dear, but Mr. Cake and I are exhausted. It's been a busy day, and I'm sure your new soon-to-be friend will be here tomorrow.” The bulbous blue mare then pointed toward the middle aged stallion who was snoring in a pool of his own saliva on a nearby table.

“Okay,” Pinkie Pie responded somberly as she looked down and gently scraped at the floor with her hoof.

Mrs. Cake thought for a moment. “I have a good idea,” Mrs. Cake said.  “Why don't you go meet your new friend today, then you can invite them to a party tomorrow? Mr. Cake and I can even help you. You would even have time to invite more guests.”

Pinkie Pie's mane inflated as her wildly happy smile returned.

“That's a great idea, Mrs. Cake!” Pinkie's instant transition to her happy personality was contagious as the blue mare smiled back at her before she returned to the oven, curious over the source of a strange scratching noise that she thought she had been hearing for the past minute.    

Mrs. Cake opened the oven to reveal a smoking and panting Gummy.

“Oh Gummy, you're not a cupcake, you silly-billy,” Pinkie Pie laughed as she bounced over to the oven and took him affectionately in her forelegs. “You wanna come with momma to meet our new friend?” The doting pink mare asked rhetorically as she placed him on her back. "Oh," Pinkie remembered just as she was about to head for the door. “I can't go welcome a new friend without my rocket launcher!”

Mr. Cake's snoring came to an abrupt end as his eyes snapped wide open in horror.  The fearful stallion gazed at his wife, who returned a fearful look of her own.  

Pinkie Pie ran upstairs and instantly came back down with a flamboyantly decorated Panzerschreck rigged to her back. "Found it! Funny thing, though: It wasn't where I last put it." Pinkie took a moment to puzzle over a possible explanation as to how her new upgraded version of her party cannon could have just seemed to have sprouted legs and hid its self under the Cakes' bed.

“H-how did you know where to find it?” Mr. Cake asked nervously

“Pinkie senses!" She answered energetically. "But still, how did it get under your bed, Mr. Cake?”

“The Cakes gave each other another concerned glance. “Well, m-maybe...” Mr. Cake stuttered as he managed to fabricate his white lie. “Gummy hid it... I thought I saw him playing with it the other day.” Mr. Cake chuckled nervously.

Pinkie Pie let out a panicked gasp before snatching Gummy from her back and bringing him eye level with her. “That's a bad Gummy! You don't play with momma's rocket launcher! You could put an eye out!”

Gummy wriggled and hissed weakly in response, but anyone familiar with the language of alligators would translate his hisses to: ”Mr. Cake, I swear on the millions of years my ancestors have walked this planet, you will pay for this egregious accusation against me!”

“Um, Dearie?” Mrs. Cake nervously addressed the now-armed Pinkie Pie. "Do you really need that thing just to welcome a new pony to town?"

“Well, duh!” The pink mare chortled. "Of course I do! This baby fires eighty eight millimeter custom made confetti and fireworks shells! It would almost be a crime to not use it. Or did I load the incendiary shells that it originally came with? Oh well. I guess I'll find out!" And with that, she was out the door, giddy with the anticipation of making a new friend, and excited to try out her new toy.

The Cakes gave each other one last worried glance before going about their business, trying with all their might to put their worries aside.  

Braeburn stepped down from the train station platform and surveyed his new surroundings. This small, quaint little town of Ponyville seemed like a metropolis compared to his hometown. He beheld this strange place that would be his home for the next four months. He smiled as he scanned the area. He'd never seen so many restaurants, shops, booths, and ponies just walking about so casually. The closest thing he'd ever see to this kind of  hustle-n'-bustle where he was from was when a tumbleweed blew through its single dirt road. This new town was so animated, so alive, he'd bet that they even have that fancy-schmancy new thing that he heard was all the rage...

What was it called? Plumbing?

Braeburn's train of thought was interrupted when he heard a familiar name spoken in a not so familiar, but sweet and bell-like voice.

“Is that him, Apple Bloom?”

Braeburn turned his head toward the source of the voice, but he saw no pony in particular interest who would be looking for him.

“Down here, Braeburn!”  

Braeburn looked down and his eyes met the gaze of his young cousin who seemed to be in the company of two other fillies who's acquaintances he had not met yet.

In a random, aggressive act of affection, Apple Bloom took one bounding leap, threw her forelegs around Braeburn's neck, and applied pressure that would have any grown stallion tapping the canvas in a wrestling match. Braeburn winced as he struggled to stay on his hooves.

“Y'all Inherited... Your sister's... Strength,” he managed to let out behind his clenched teeth as his eyes bulged from their sockets, his face becoming a darker shade of blue with every passing second.

The white filly cleared her throat loudly, as if to remind her Apple Bloom of their presence.

“Oh, Ah'm so sorry, cuz,” said Apple Bloom. “Ah forgot to introduce the crusaders.” She skipped toward the two fillies and joined them in what appeared to be a practiced and well-synchronized triangular formation.

“That's Sweetie Belle.”

Sweetie Belle whipped her head around and flicked her mane while doing her best to imitate the seductive smile her sister had taught her. “The beautiful one,” the ivory filly added with a flutter of her eyelashes.

Apple Bloom then gestured toward the orange filly. “Here, we have Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo fluttered her small prepubescent wings as she struck a pose that seemed reminiscent of a Crane Stance. “The awesome one!” the gamboge-colored filly added enthusiastically.

“And then we got me - assuming Ah don't need no introduction.”

Apple Bloom crouched in front of them and struck a dramatic pose that would make Captain Ginyu proud, raising her forelegs in the air which formed a V-for-Victory. “And we are—“ she paused for dramatic effect, then they all spoke in unison.

"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!"

Braeburn was not sure if he actually saw what he was seeing, or if it was from the near-asphyxiation effecting his oxygen starved brain, but he could almost swear he saw a rising sun symbol behind them as a photo-realistic ocean roared in the background.

“That's certainly an amazing introduction,” Braeburn choked as he rubbed the newly formed bruises on his neck.

“You really think so!?” All three of the fillies asked excitedly, their eyes shimmering like hopeful little diamonds as they looked back toward their flanks.

Braeburn's curiosity was peaked when he saw how quickly their smiles turned to disappointed frowns.

Scootaloo was the first one to break the silence after rolling her eyes. “What would a cutie mark in 'introduction' look like, anyway?” The two crusaders mumbled among themselves in agreement.

“Hey, cuz,” Braeburn interrupted. “Ah'm elated to make your friends acquaintance, an' all, but could ya show me the way to Sweet Apple Acres? Ah never traveled there from your train station before.”

“That's actually why we came straight to the train station from school,” Apple Bloom explained. "Big Mac and AJ are making add-ons to the fence; you know, since the perimeter has expanded? So they had me come get ya.”  

Braeburn smiled warmly at his cousin before he took one last pause to appreciate the new sites and sounds that encompassed him.

“Right, then, should we be off?” Braeburn paused for dramatic effect, lifted one hoof to the sky, and playfully mimicked their highly energetic introduction.”Cutie Mark Crusaders?”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle giggled while Scootaloo gave the stallion that stood before her an approving nod, appreciating the stallion for his enthusiasm.

Braeburn collected his saddle bag, lashed it to his flank, and they exited the train station platform together. Next Chapter: Pinkie's impulsive entrance Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 49 Minutes