A/N: This is absolutely glorious. This is, without a doubt, the single best ending I've received yet.

"THE GAMES WE PLAY"

Alternate Ending #16

Guest Submission from Professor Piggy

"I'm scared," Mare Do Well whispered.

She had never sounded as young or as vulnerable as she did right then.

"It's going to be all right." Rainbow Dash found herself saying, in a tone far gentler than she'd even known herself capable of using. "I don't know how, exactly, but we'll figure it out."

Mare Do Well was no longer trying to pull away, so Rainbow Dash at last released her hold on the mare's forelegs, moving instead to cup her face.

She closed her eyes. Leaning forward, she gripped the cloth of the mask between her teeth and, with a swift movement, tore it away.

Then, eyes still shut, Rainbow Dash kissed her.

-----

This was it. After all the time spent trying to get the rainbow-maned pegasus to feel what he felt, all the time trying to win her love, this was it. Mare Do Well’s heart was racing in his chest as he watched Rainbow Dash move closer, as if in slow motion. He felt her warm breath on his snout and knew that now was the moment. He had to act.

Lunging forward suddenly he made contact with her muzzle, pouring all his passion and adoration into that one perfect moment.

-----

She hadn't been expecting this.

It was more of an assault than a kiss. Something clamped around her muzzle, squishy and wet but extremely strong - holding her mouth closed and cutting off her breathing. For just a few moments Dash was stunned - and then she jerked back violently, trying to shake off whatever Mare Do Well had thrown at her. But it was no use - it clung to her for dear life and refused to let go, occasionally sucking on her muzzle as if -

Her eyes snapped open as she realised what was happening, and she saw purple. A swimming sea of shimmering, shifting purple that seemed to go on forever.

Dash stared at Gummy. Gummy stared at Dash. Neither one spoke.

Slowly, the perplexed pegasus reached up a hoof and batted the alligator lightly on the nose. His reaction was immediate and terrifying - Gummy blinked at her, the left eye closing and the second following it a moment later. The sight sent a chill through Rainbow Dash and brought her crashing back to reality.

Moving very, very slowly Dash lowered her muzzle to the ground and slammed a rear hoof onto her nemesis’ tail, pulling her face away while keeping him held in place. The alligator clung to her for dear life, refusing to relinquish his prize.

Dash strained against the vice-like grip, a voice somewhere inside her reminding her that this just wasn’t possible - the tiny alligator had to have grown to four times the length to still be holding on as she rose to her full height, tearing herself away with as much force as she could.

Another voice told that voice to shut up and help pull unless she wanted to let a toothless baby lizard kick her flank. She narrowed her eyes, and Gummy blinked at her vacantly. Briefly the two, pony and ‘gator, were locked in a brutal contest of strength.

Dash proved the stronger a moment later, Gummy snapping backwards with a loud slurp, and she felt glorious air flow into her lungs again. For a moment Dash’s heart soared with the thrill of freedom and victory. And then, physics being physics, she toppled over backwards.

-----

Gummy watched the mare he loved topple backwards and crash into the ground as he did the same, his mind reeling in confusion and his tail throbbing with pain.

Had she changed her mind? No, it couldn’t be that - she’d been just about to kiss him when he had taken the initiative, and the Dash he had come to know so well wasn’t that flighty. Aggressive, temperamental, impulsive, arrogant, occasionally violent and sometimes a bit dense, but never flighty.

Had he done something wrong? He didn’t think so. He had followed all of his Pinkie’s advice - advice, he was sure, she would never have expected him to try to use to win the affection of the one she herself sought - and she was wise beyond any Gummy had ever known. Her words echoed in his head as he sat there, shocked.

-----

“And then Rarity and Applejack started discussing stallions and Rarity asked her if she likes anypony and Applejack got all embarrassed and mumbly wumbly it was so cute because it’s sooooooooooooooo obvious that she likes Rarity, but I guess Rarity doesn’t know that because she kept asking if Applejack likes somepony and I was gonna interrupt but then Applejack’s all ‘I ain’t met nopony who suits me yet okay’ and so Rarity starts gushing about how she’s done chasing stallions and how real stallions take the initiative anyway because mares love a stallion who takes initiative and I thought maybe if I took the initiative with Dashie I could get her to notice me even though I’m not a stallion so I’m not supposed to take the initiative but Dashie’s a mare so she loves ponies who take the initiative so maybe if I try reeeeeeally hard she’ll see how much I love her and realise she likes me back! What do you think, Gummy?”

-----

Gummy had approved of the plan, of course - and by the time he had seen it fail, it had been too late for him to drop his charade without blame being pointed squarely at his Pinkie. Of course if it had been possible to stop he would have, to avoid her being hurt. Of course he would have.

-----

Dash stood, glaring down at the tiny alligator as he stared blankly at nothing, anger building up inside her as she tried to figure out what in Celestia’s name was going on. She had had her. After all this time she’d had Mare Do Well right where she wanted her, and now she was gone.

Laying at her feet was the discarded Mare Do Well costume, whoever had occupied it having vanished in the few moments she had been distracted by Gummy attempting to digest her face. That wasn’t possible - nopony could have gotten out of the costume while Dash had her pinned down like that and without the costume itself even moving. It made no sense.

That alone would have told her who had been inside the discarded suit moments before, but the alligator that had just attached itself to her tail left her with no doubt at all.

The betrayal she felt, the sheer fury, escaped from her in one low hiss before she rocketed from the ground, dragging Gummy along behind her.

“Pinkie.”

-----

Gummy was watching as the beautiful streams of colour danced around him, arcing this way and that like lightning as Rainbow Dash tore through the sky. His eyes locked onto one - a striking strand of red that had somehow become interlocked with a vibrant, beautiful blue.

He wanted to lunge for it. To taste it. It would taste absolutely incredible. He knew, because it was so shiny, and nothing that shiny could taste anything but. But if he did he would fall. He didn’t quite remember how he had gotten quite so high in the air. He had been in an alley with Dash one moment and the next there had been a flash in the corner of his eye - a colour so vibrant he couldn’t resist it.

And now he was flying. That was not something he wanted to be doing - Gummy despised heights at the best of times, and right now his heart had just been torn asunder. But she had brought him along, he assumed - how else could he be here? - and so perhaps not all hope was lost.

The tiny alligator consoled himself with that thought as he tore through the sky, clinging to the tail of a rainbow and reminding himself desperately to focus on the colours and never, ever look down.

It was not as difficult as it sounded, all things considered.

-----

Dash raced over the back streets and alleys of Canterlot, narrowed eyes scanning every rooftop, every alley, every backstreet for a trace of the pony she had thought was her best friend. She knew she should have been confused, knew she shouldn’t be able to think straight, but it didn’t matter. In that moment, nothing mattered to Dash but finding Mare Do Well - finding Pinkie Pie - and...

Something. She didn’t know yet. The realisation only made her angrier. All she had done all night was lose - she had lost her cool at the party, lost her friends’ respect after what she had done to Traitor-Pie, lost the game that had consumed so much of her life in the past weeks. And now she had lost her best friend, all because she’d been too stupid to realise that Dash would have forgiven her.

Instead of just explaining herself she’d thrown an alligator at her and left her alone and humiliated in a dark alley. Her. Rainbow Dash. The one who both of Pinkie’s two faces had claimed she loved - before she tried to vanish mysteriously into the night. Dash’s heart was pounding in her ears as her speed picked up. She clenched her teeth, trying to convince herself the moisture in her eyes was because she was moving a little too quickly.

Not one part of her really believed it.

-----

Clinging onto Rainbow Dash for dear life as she picked up speed, Gummy wondered if perhaps he had been unclear when he had expressed his distaste for heights to his love that night so long ago. It seemed to him that his rainbow was either unaware of that particular problem of his, or she did not care.

Under normal circumstances he would have, ever the optimist, assumed the former. But given that she had just snubbed him without an explanation - without even a word - Gummy was afraid the latter might just be the case. The thought made him feel ill - a slimey, nauseous feeling that swirled around his equally slimey body before settling in his stomach.

Suddenly he wished very much that his Pinkie were here. She would hold him, kiss him. She would make it all better like she always did.

Except she wouldn’t, would she? Not this time. Not after what Gummy had done to her. He had broken her heart. Torn it apart in his tiny jaws like one of her less durable balloons.

If it was possible for Gummy to feel any worse than he already did, he would have in that moment.

He had come here to end the game, to end the pain he was causing his Pinkie - the one who had taught him to smile, to play, to love life and even to overcome his shyness and express himself fully to the ones he held dear. She had been crying, when he left her. He recalled that her tears had tasted surprisingly similar to sarsaparilla, when he had tried to kiss them away.

She had clutched him against her and reminded him for a thousandth time that night exactly why he didn’t deserve to be her Gummy anymore.

-----

A flash of movement in the corner of Dash’s eye caught her attention. Her heart jumped as she spun around in the air, only to find herself looking on as two cats did furious battle far below her, their war cries piercing through the night and cutting into her eardrums like a knife. She was enraged. She was furious. She was ...

Ugh. She was exhausted. A long sigh escaped her, taking with it the adrenaline and a large part of the anger that had been powering her for what had to have been hours. It was replaced by a sense of resignation and a strange apathy - Mare Do Well had escaped. Again. It didn’t surprise her, really - she had never been able to find her stalker when she decided to disappear. But this was ... different.

Before, when Mare Do Well had vanished, it had been Mare Do Well - vanishing mysteriously into the night was just what she did. Who she was. Dash was used to it, and the way the other mare had used it to escape her whenever she felt the need. Sure, it was annoying - but it had never hurt like this before. Never made her want to curl into a ball and cry like a baby before. But this was different. This time it wasn’t Mare Do Well who had abandoned her. Run from her. It was Pinkie.

Why had she run? Did she really believe Dash would hate her? Could she believe that? She couldn’t, could she?

Then again ... Dash had rejected her, pushed her away once already. And ... Pinkie didn’t exactly cope all that well when she thought she’d been rejected. A rock had told her so once, pretty convincingly. A chill ran through her at the thought.

Yeah. Pinkie could believe it, alright. Dash had to find her. Soon. But where had she run to? Did she really think she could delay ever being confronted just by running? She’d have to head back to the ... palace ...

If Dash had been on the ground, she might have slammed her face into her hoof as she was struck by the realisation her anger had kept her from. There was nowhere else Pinkie could have run to. Not for the first time the fastest flier in Equestria was glad to be in the air. She changed direction and took off towards the royal palace, a small smile of victory on her face.

She wasn’t going to lose Pinkie. Not for anything. She would get her answers, too. But right now all she wanted was to hug her friend tight and promise her it was alright.

And maybe afterwards, when she was sure her best friend wouldn’t leave her, she’d hit her. Just the once.

-----

For a moment Gummy had thought his ordeal was over. When Dashie had slowed to almost a stop, he had thought she would land. In a gesture of sincere thanks and affection he had begun batting at one of the hairs near him. Watching it swirl and twist in the night breeze, a shining point of light in an endless sea of black. Admiring how it glowed in the moonlight. Wondering how it would taste in his jaws. Would it taste as her kisses had? He couldn’t help but wonder.

And how had she thanked him, for his kindness and generosity? By suddenly accelerating to even faster than she had previously been

‘-bow Da-’

moving and that was his Pinkie’s voice. He would know it anywhere. And Dash hadn’t slowed down. Hadn’t heard. Didn’t know that his Pinkie was chasing them. Chasing Gummy and his rainbow.

-----

“I wish you coulda seen it, Gummy! It was so beautiful, the beautifulest most super amazing thing I’ve ever seen! It was just like CRACK and then all the clouds went away and they took saddy-waddy Pinkie too! I’d never seen a rainbow before - it was like the world smiling. A special smile, just for me! And I knew I just had to share that feeling with everypony - and then maybe I could make the world smile too!”

She had looked at him then, and kissed the top of his head. He had been very small then, but he remembered.

“So now everytime I see a rainbow I like to think I made the world smile.”

-----

Her rainbow. Dash had been her rainbow first, long before Gummy had even existed. He knew what he had to do. Blinking away the doubts and fears that he would lose both the mares he loved, he began to climb. He would just have to tell Dash to land himself. She loved him, he knew. She would listen.

-----

It is not often that the night sky is graced with rainbows. Even in Cloudsdale, where rainbows are born, this is true. Most ponies lived their entire lives without ever seeing a rainbow in the night, and those who did see it never forgot it. The streets of Canterlot were not empty that night - ponies went about their business as they always did - but the ponies lucky enough to be out and about that night were graced with just such a sight.

It is likely that those few lucky ponies would tell their grandchildren of the day a rainbow appeared in the night sky. How it was more vibrant and beautiful than any they had ever seen, with colours that seemed almost like an early dawn. How it was a moment in their lives when they felt anything was possible.

It is likely that very few of those few lucky ponies would add that the rainbow had been screaming threats at the top of its voice as it suddenly spiraled out of control. Or how a moment later it collided with the side of the Canterlot history museum, and then vanished as suddenly as it came.

None of them would likely mention the pink blur that sped through the city streets, chasing after the rainbow as though Discord himself was on its tail.

Some things were just that special kind of unusual that made them impossible to believe.

-----

Laying on the cold stone of a Canterlot street, staring up at the sky in something of a daze, Rainbow Dash was almost relieved. For the first time in she couldn’t remember how long, her thoughts were clear, simple. Sure, they were almost all along the lines of ‘ow ow ow ow why does my head hurt so much?’ or ‘How did that building get into the sky?’ but they were simple.

She watched as a shooting star trailed through the night sky, flying higher than she ever would. Probably thought it was better than her. Stupid star - nopony was better than Rainbow Dash. Especially not dumb pink traitor ponies. Dumb pink traitor ponies who dressed up in capes and sexy hats.

Dumb hats. She meant dumb hats.

A drop of something warm landed on her head and she reached up quizzically to find the source. This turned out to be a small scaly thing that was contentedly sucking on her ear. Dash supposed that was okay, for now. Dimly she was aware that she’d be angry when her head cleared a little, but right now it seemed like far too much effort.

It was far from the first time she had crashed. It wasn’t quite as far from the first time she had crashed headfirst into a building, but even then it was still pretty far from the first time. She knew the steps pretty well by now. Better than some of her own aerial stunts, even.

The thought made her chuckle. A stilted, pained sound, but a real laugh. First things first, she knew, she had to get up. That would probably be the hardest part. It always was. She positioned her hooves carefully and lifted herself, finding her feet a moment before some impossibly fast ambushing attack thing decided to slam into her side, sending her sailing through the air and she crashed into the ground for what felt like the thousandth time that night.

-----

Gummy was not entirely sure what had happened. As he sailed through the air, detached from the pegasus he had been whispering comforting words to not a moment before, by the sheer impact of the attacker targeting his defenceless Rainbow Dash, he replayed what had happened in his mind.

He remembered his heroic journey up Dash’s tail and across her back, conquering powerful winds and temptation - shiny, swirling delicious temptation - to reach her ear, whereupon he had whispered, ever so gently, that his Pinkie was after them.

Then there had been a lot of yelling, and some crashing. He was fairly sure she hadn’t meant it when she had threatened to skin him, for she was the most kind-hearted of ponies. He was almost proud that his words had had such an effect on her. So he hadn’t been mad for long.

Her ear had, he recalled, been delicious.

And now they were under attack. She would be hurt again and it was all his fault. Moving faster than he had believed himself capable, Gummy used his tail to push himself to his tiny feet so that he could identify his attacker.

His jaw dropped at the sight before him. There lay his Pinkie, face buried in Rainbow Dash’s chest, bawling her eyes out and speaking in a tone louder and more desperate than any Gummy had ever heard her use. Slowly, uncertain of his reception, the alligator stepped towards the only mother he’d ever known.

Scared or not, he would make it okay for her.

-----

She knew it was wrong of her to think it, but Dash couldn’t help feeling that it was kind of nice, laying here in the dark with Pinkie cuddled into her. Running a hoof through her mane, drinking in her warmth. Somehow, despite everything - the chaos, the treachery, the aching in her head - she felt safe. She’d have happily stayed right there. She knew it was wrong. Knew she should be furious.

Atop her Pinkie was still speaking, an endless stream of words Dash was having a little trouble focusing on at the moment. She exhaled slowly and closed her eyes, trying to make the words sink in.

“ - saw you in the sky and yelled to you but you didn’t hear me and I chased you but you kept running and I thought maybe you were running from me then -” The flow of words was briefly interrupted by a painful sob. “- then you crashed and I saw you and then there was just nothing and I thought you were hurt again and it was my fault and you were going to die and leave me and please don’t leave me Dashie please I need you I know you don’t love me but we’re still friends please say we’re still friends please answer me talk to me please!”

No. She couldn’t be angry. Not right now, looking into the tear filled eyes that had just locked onto her own. All she could do - all she wanted to do - was make it okay. Arguing would wait. She argued better when she could think properly, anyway. So instead she reached up, wrapped her forelegs around her best friend, and whispered to her.

“Shhh. It’s okay, Pinkie. I’m okay. I’m here. I’m not leaving you. I promise.” The words sounded far away, to her. But she was fairly sure she was the one who had said them.

Pinkie was silent then, apart from her sobbing. Dash didn’t know if that was good or not. She hoped so.

After a few moments, her friend spoke again. “I’m really glad you’re safe, Dashie.”

Dash just smiled at her. And then almost jumped in fright as Gummy dropped out of seemingly nowhere, landing squarely in the bed that was his owner’s straight pink locks. Pinkie didn’t miss a beat, reaching up a hoof and running it gently along the alligator’s scaled back. “Hi, Gummy. I missed you, too.”

Her hoof stopped moving suddenly, and it was only then that her head snapped up, the expression on her face one of total confusion.

“Gummy?” Pinkie’s voice was soft, and still quivering. “What are you doing out here?”

-----

If someone had asked Gummy twenty seconds ago how his plan to cheer up Pinkie had gone, he would have explained - with much pride and sparing no detail - that it had been a success of truly remarkable proportions. His Pinkie had sensed him coming, of course - he had known she would, clever as he was, and cut short her conversation with Rainbow Dash to greet him. The warm glow of his mere presence, his gentle stroking of her mane, had been enough to make her tears cease. It had been, he would have claimed, a job well done.

If someone had asked him right this moment, however, his answer would have been quite different. The pink mare who had raised him since birth had, ever carefully, taken him from atop her head and now held him in her hooves, gazing into his eyes. His eyes, he knew, would shine with nothing but adoration ... and perhaps, just possibly, a touch of guilt.

In contrast, the bright blue orbs that had been his first sight held nothing but pain and doubt.

The gears in his brain spun rapidly, trying desperately to find the right words to fix things - to win a hug from his Pinkie. And her forgiveness. But none would come. All he could do, all he really wanted to do, was tell her the truth. The petrified gator could only hope she would understand.

Inwardly, he cursed his tendency to wear his emotions on his sleeve.

He opened his jaws, intending to confess everything, when suddenly he dropped to the ground, watching for the second time as one of the ponies he loved tumbled backwards. It was not, however, simple physics this time that had brought Pinkie Pie down.

Rainbow Dash stared down at Pinkie, eyes narrowed and face twisted into a scowl.

-----

Pinkie Pie still lay where Dash had shoved her, staring up at her with wide, frightened eyes. Dash didn’t care. All of the sympathy she felt for the lying little traitor had vanished in a heartbeat as she had said those words. Asked that question. Lied to her. Again.

“Dashie ... ?” The party pony was on the brink of tears, again. And she knew it was her fault, again. But maybe that was too bad. Maybe, just maybe, she deserved to cry a little after what she’d put Dash through. Was still trying to put her through.

“Dashie, are you okay?” And that had to be what she asked. Of course. She couldn’t just have gotten angry. Screamed and yelled and lost her temper. No, that would be too simple. She had to make sure Dash was okay. Guilt tore through Rainbow Dash, and she turned her head away. She could hear her friend struggling to keep her voice under control. Struggling not to break down.

“Why are you still pretending?” Her voice was harsher, angrier than she had expected. Angrier than she wanted.

“Pretending ... ? I’m not pretending anything, Dashie, I don’t know what you mean.”

Dash whirled on her frightened friend. “I’m not stupid, Pinkie Pie! I know you and everypony else thinks I am, but I’m not! I know it was you! Why are you lying to me!? Just tell me the truth!”

Only when Pinkie flinched away from her, tried to scurry backwards, did she realise she was shouting.

“Please Dashie don’t yell I don’t know what I did please don’t yell at me I just want to help.” She was shaking, and Dash was ashamed. But it was too late. It was pouring out of her now - all the fury and frustration that had been building up over the past weeks. Every slight, every insult, every defeat and every mistake.

“Mare Do Well!” she heard herself scream in a voice she could barely recognise. “I know you’re Mare Do Well!”

“What? No, Dashie, no, I’d never -”

“Why did you run? I was ready to forgive you! I didn’t care who was under that stupid mask anymore! I just wanted to be able to look you all in the eye without wondering! Without wondering every minute which one of you was lying to me - which of my friends I couldn’t trust!”

“Stop it stop stop stop stop stop ... ”

“And you know what’s worse? I wanted it to be you! I wanted to open my eyes and see you there! I wanted to be able to tell you, honestly, that I ... ” Here she faltered, just for a moment “That I forgave you! That I understood! And you throw your stupid alligator at me and run off again! You say you love me but all you do -”

“Stop it! Stop yelling at me!”

If Dash had been yelling, Pinkie’s voice was like thunder given verbal form. With every word she stepped closer and closer, forcing Dash to back up until she was pressed against the wall, with nowhere to run as her friend screamed in her face. For all her shock, she couldn’t help but notice the tears running down Pinkie’s face.

“You don’t get to yell at me! You pretend to care about me just to hurt her and then you disappear without telling any of us where you’re going! You make me blame myself for the way you play with my feelings and toss me aside when you don’t need me anymore! You make me chase you through the dark for hours! You almost -” A sob interrupted Pinkie’s assault, and she took a step back.

After a moment she continued, voice much softer. “You almost die - almost leave me alone again - and all you can do is accuse me of stalking you? You treat me like I don’t matter at all for weeks, ignore me for somepony new, and now you try to make it all okay by hurting me some more?” Pinkie turned to face Dash, and the expression on her face was like nothing the pegasus had ever seen.

The party pony was angry, true, but beyond the anger there seemed to be ... nothing. No disbelief, no confusion - just fury and hurt and ...

Acceptance.

“Pinkie Pie, I -”

“No!” The baker’s tone was sharp, defiant. “I know what you think of me, Rainbow Dash. I know you want to blame poor crazy Pinkie Pie for all your problems, but guess what? I’m not the problem, Dashie, you are! I’ve done nothing but try to help you, nothing but try to make you smile, and all you’ve done is throw it in my face!” They were nose to nose now, and Dash had never been so afraid.

“But you know what, Rainbow Dash? I forgive you. I forgive you because I love my friends. Because I love you. Even if you hate me.” Pinkie spun away from her and began walking away. “I’m glad you’re okay, Dashie.”

“Pinkie Pie, please don’t g-” Dash did not beg very often. It didn’t matter, considering how quickly she was cut short.

“I’m not Mare Do Well, by the way. See, I care about my friends. I want them to be happy. But I guess you wouldn’t know a whole lot about that, would you?”

Dash recognised her tone, now. The false calm, slowly giving way once again to rage. The pleasantness belied only by the many insults being thrown her way. She knew what she had to do.

Pinkie froze for just a moment when Dash intercepted her and threw her arms around the pink pony’s neck. Whether in shock or anger, the pegasus didn’t know. So she did what she had always done when she was afraid - she made her mouth start working and hoped it would cover her doubts.

“I’m sorry,” she heard herself start. This surprised her - it was a phrase she had only uttered a handful of times in her life. Still, it seemed fitting. “I believe you. I know you wouldn’t lie to me. And I know I’ve been kind of a jerk to you ever since ... ” Hesitation. Right when it was least needed. Yeah, that seemed about right. “Since you kissed me. I didn’t want to. I just didn’t want to lose you. I don’t want to lose you.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, the mare in her arms seemed to be relaxing. She took that as a good sign.

“I know you’re not her. I guess ... I accused you because I kinda ... ” Well, no going back now. She might as well blunder in as usual. It was what she was good at, after all. “I wanted you to be. Her, I mean. Mare Do Well.”

She felt a sharp intake of breath from a body not her own, and then a question - soft, scared, but not without an edge to it. “Why?”

Dash couldn’t help but hear a “So you didn’t have to feel bad for treating me like I was nothing?” where there wasn’t one. That was okay, too. She deserved it.

“I ... I’m not sure yet.” Oh, way to go Dash. Because there were so many things she could’ve said to make it okay, but why be boring? Pinkie already hated her, right?

“Dashie?”

“Yeah, Pinkie Pie?”

“I meant it. When I said I forgave you. It’s okay, if you want things to go back to how they were before.”

“I know. But ... ”

“But what?”

“I ... don’t think I want that.” She heard herself gulp. Heard the hitch in her voice. Felt Pinkie tense once more.

“But ... but I ... ” A steadying breath “Then what do you want, Dashie?”

“I think ... I think maybe I ... ”

“Wait.”

Dash ... had not been expecting that. Nor was she expecting Pinkie to detach herself and wander over towards where Gummy sat, gazing at the two - or maybe simply gazing, it was hard to tell - with what Dash could only assume was curiosity.

Or would have been. If the alligator was capable of conscious thought.

She was quite impressed with herself when she managed a rather squeaky, “Huh?”

“You said Mare Do Well threw Gummy at you, right? So why don’t we ask him? I mean, she couldn’t have been sneaking around the palace dressed like that, and he was with me so she must have taken him from there, which means she couldn’t have been in costume yet and he must have seen her face!”

Pinkie seemed amazingly proud of her idea. Dash was less impressed. But, still slightly stunned from the interruption and not able to bring herself to hurt Pinkie again so soon, she simply nodded her head. “Sure, Pinkie. It’s gotta be worth shot.”

The two mares fixed their eyes on Gummy, and Pinkie spoke:

“Gummy? Can you tell your Auntie Pinkie Pie who's been stalking Dashie?”

-----

She didn’t know. The realisation struck Gummy like an angry pegasus, and suddenly it all made sense. Rainbow Dash had run not because she didn’t return his feelings, but because she hadn’t known - hadn’t seen - that he was the one who had claimed her heart. Not only that, but she believed that the one who had been wearing the mask was his Pinkie.

Perhaps that was for the best? If Gummy lied, claimed ignorance, he could still end this now. Mare Do Well could disappear, and nopony would ever see her again. His Pinkie could have her Rainbow, and he ...

He would still have Pinkie. That was something. And she would hold him, and stroke him, and tell him he was brave and good and wise as she had always done. But Gummy was not wise. No, Gummy was not wise at all. He was not good or brave. He was very handsome, and he had excellent taste. But somehow such things brought precious little comfort, now.

No. He knew that was not an option. Not after what Rainbow Dash had done - casting her pride to the wind and admitting her mistakes. Letting Pinkie judge Dash - the truth of Dash - as she saw fit. For him to even consider lying again would dishonor her.

Gummy gazed up at the rainbow-maned pegasus, seeing her once again in an all new light. This was not the same pegasus he had begun wooing so long past. That pegasus did not make mistakes, did not have failings - or so she would have had everypony believe. Had this moment, this confrontation, between her and his Pinkie happened back then, Dash would never have claimed fault. Never have entertained the possibility she had been wrong, treated his Pinkie badly.

When Dash had towered over his Pinkie, attacking her with sharp words and loud voices, Gummy had tried to defend her. He had pulled Dash’s tail, attacked her - he had actually tried to do her harm. And now he was ashamed. She had proven herself a better pony than he ever could have believed, owning her mistakes and helping his Pinkie more than he could have hoped for. His gaze held nothing but admiration for the one he loved.

He could not, however, focus overlong on Dash. His Pinkie had asked him a question and he meant to answer it. All he had done - his deception of not only the pegasus he had fallen for but also of the one who had raised him, the only one who truly knew him - was unforgivable. But perhaps, if he followed her example as he had so often followed Pinkie’s, he would at least have a hope of forgiveness.

And perhaps, if he was lucky, Rainbow Dash would forgive him as well.

And so, staring into the eyes that had greeted him when he had first struggled from his egg, Gummy told his tale. He told of how he had seen the joy the rainbow one brought her, seen the spark her will had forged in the very soul of the pony that had been his whole world. How his earliest memories may have been of Pinkie - but they were the work of Rainbow Dash.

He told how he had watched her, seen the way she acted - the way she ignored his Pinkie and acted as though he didn’t exist. How it had cut him. Even the yellow one - he couldn’t remember her name - had acknowledged Gummy. She had even danced with him once. It had been his first slow dance, but he digressed.

As he spoke he watched the expression on his Pinkie’s face change. It went from pure, unrelenting love to puzzlement to shock and then to something Gummy had never wanted to see directed at him - hurt, anger. He watched as the one pony in all the world who really cared for him realised the depth of his betrayal.

And when he moved to comfort her, she pulled away from him.

-----

Pinkie Pie and Gummy were talking. Admittedly, that in itself wasn’t particularly odd - she talked to Tank all the time, and if someone had called her crazy for it she wouldn’t have been pleased. What was odd, however, was that it didn’t appear to be Pinkie doing the talking. No, the party pony was pressed flat against the ground, staring intently into Gummy’s blank, staring eyes, listening intently as the alligator ...

Remained perfectly still and looked for all the world like he didn’t know she was there. Every now and again he would blink, and Pinkie would make a sound. So far she had done a lot of mm-hmming, and a couple of ‘ooooooohs’ had slipped out. At one point she had let out a snort of laughter and and giggled uncontrollably before apologising to the alligator profusely and asking him politely to continue.

It had been less than two minutes. Rainbow Dash could feel her patience wearing thin.

She creeped forward, fully intending to poke Pinkie Pie in the side, and remind her that Mare Do Well wasn’t going to find herself and sitting in an alley being ... well, Pinkie Pie, wasn’t going to help anything. And maybe to see how far in the air she’d jump. That was always funny, and Dash needed cheering up.

She never got the chance. Suddenly her friend pulled back violently, putting at least two feet of distance between herself and the little lizard, and let out a loud, shocked gasp. Dash blinked, confused, and opened her mouth to ask what the hay was going on. Then she saw the look in Pinkie’s eyes. Shock, betrayal - an expression she was becoming all too comfortable with, all too used to seeing on a face that should be smiling, with bright eyes and wonder written all over it.

This time, at least, she wasn’t the cause. At least, she hoped not.

Pinkie Pie sat, balanced on her rump, one hoof pointed straight at her pet. The position would have been adorable if not for the apparent gravity of the situation. Dash bit back a small smile, before Pinkie spoke.

“You’re lying. Tell me you’re lying, Gummy!”

Right. Well. Maybe not so much gravity after all. Still, she knew she should probably say something.

“Pinkie? You know he -” She was cut off - yet again - by the pink pony. Or more specifically, by the hoof the pink pony had just shoved into her mouth. It tasted like dirt. Some part of her had time to be disappointed her friend hadn’t been eating caramel that day, while the rest of her simply stared flatly at Pinkie.

“Dashie.” The tone was quiet, angry, and completely, frighteningly serious. “Gummy is Mare Do Well.”

-----

Gummy looked on as Dash attempted to consume his Pinkie, wondering not for the first time why the ponies insisted on performing this ritual whenever they wished silence from one another.

He heard his Pinkie whisper words he could not hear to the cyan pegasus. Saw her rainbow mane whip through the air as her head jerked towards him, eyes wide and staring. Watched as she turned to face his Pinkie, placed her forehooves on her shoulders.

Listened as she burst into gales of laughter, using his wounded aunt for support and struggling to keep herself upright as tears streamed down her face.

He didn’t understand. Why was she laughing? He knew his Pinkie had told her the truth - it was written all over her face. He had expected anger. Hatred. Sadness. Confusion. Anything other than laughter. Was she happy? Pleased that he felt for her as he did? His small heart leapt at the thought, but Gummy knew he couldn’t afford to assume again.

He strained to understand the words that could occasionally be heard between fits of laughter.

“Pinkie Pie, you are SO random!”

-----

Pinkie Pie was frightened.

Of all the things she had been expecting Dash to do, laughing was maybe last on this list - or maybe second to last, because it hadn’t really seemed all that likely at all that Dashie would suddenly decide she loved Twilight and serenade her while juggling flaming books, but then again, who knew - if anything was gonna impress Twilight, it was books and she lived with a dragon so, duh, of course she loved fire.

Or maybe it was third to last, because where would she have found a flamingo and a robotic replica of herself at this time of night? But it was definitely no higher than seventh to last! She had definitely been expecting Dashie to push her down again more than she had been expecting her to laugh like she’d just heard Pinkie’s superterrificmazingtasticist joke, mhm.

And it wasn’t even the right laugh - Dashie’s laugh was loud and strong. It was the kind of laugh you couldn’t hear without wanting to laugh too, although when she thought about it, who didn’t want to laugh? Then again maybe she understood that because she was sick of having to laugh all the time too but anyway, this wasn’t a Dashie laugh at all, it sounded more like Rarity did when Pinkie had borrowed all her gold silk to make a big ball for Gummy’s birthday and then brought it back all drooled on and soggy, and Rarity had decided she’d miss her deadline and gone into a big panic.

It was a bad laugh, she decided. High pitched and constant and with no happiness in it, and all laughter should be happy.

Dashie, Pinkie decided, was hysterical. And when somepony was hysterical, there was only one thing a pony could do or at least one thing she knew of but there had to be others and she really didn’t want to do that anyway, so she decided to try something else and see what happened.

She shook Dashie gently, and when Dash just kept laughing, she tried hugging her and whispering in her ear. “I’m serious, Dashie. Please believe me.”

She was amazed by how un-Pinkie she sounded.

Dashie didn’t stop laughing, and Pinkie could hear her gasping for breath as she held her, feel the spasms in her chest. That, she decided, wouldn’t do at all. And so she did the only thing she could think of.

Pinkie pulled her hoof back and smacked Dashie hard across the face.

-----

Her head hurt.

To be fair, that had been true for quite some time before Pinkie had slapped her. But even still, it was even more true now. Dash wasn’t mad, though. If she was anything, she was relieved. She didn’t know what had come over her. Why she hadn’t been able to stop laughing. She didn’t even know what she had been laughing about in the first place. All she knew was that she hadn’t been able to breathe.

If she had been anything - if she had felt anything - she supposed she’d be grateful. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? She didn’t feel anything. She was too drained, too tired to care about anything more than breathing slowly and steadily in and out.

Gummy. Pinkie said Gummy was Mare Do Well. Gummy. The little alligator was barely capable of moving, and Pinkie was telling her that he’d ... what? Magically transformed himself into a pony - a girl pony - so that he could stalk Dash around and try to show that there was more to him than he let on? Make her fall in love with him so he could catch her by surprise and slowly digest her over the course of weeks, or months?

It wasn’t possible. Then again, maybe it was. She’d seen a lot of things she didn’t think were possible - she’d had her wings stolen by an evil statue donkey, done battle with a pony princess and manifested a magic doom rainbow. She - and only she - could ... what had Twilight called it? Oh yeah ... shatter the sound barrier and paint the sky in her own image just by being really fast.

Normally, she’d have walked away as soon as Pinkie had made the suggestion. Normally she’d have thought Pinkie was trying to throw her off, hide her own identity as Mare Do Well. Normally she’d have decided she was insane for even entertaining the idea. But tonight was not a normal night. If nothing else she believed Pinkie, when she said she wasn’t the one who’d been stalking her. And what other leads did she have?

She owed Pinkie. And if her friend wanted to try and convince her that her pet alligator was Mare Do Well ... Gator Do Well. Gummy Do Well. Gum Do Well. Yeah. Gum Do Well. If Pinkie thought she knew the secret identity of Gum Do Well, the least she could do was give her the chance to explain. What did she have to lose, after all?

Apart from her self respect. But she was pretty sure she had left that lying in an alley next to a superhero costume.

-----

Gummy watched as Rainbow Dash lifted herself slowly off the ground, face impassive, and stared blankly at Pinkie. Watched his Pinkie slowly wave a hoof back and forth in front of her friend’s face, winning an annoyed grunt from the pegasus.

Listened, and tried to contain his excitement - and his fear - as she spoke.

“Okay, Pinkie. Let’s say that all this time your alligator’s been dressing up in tights and chasing me through the city. What’d be the point? What’s Gum Do Well’s interest in me? Convince me, Pinks. Please. Because I really don’t want to think you’re crazy.”

He watched as Pinkie nodded, then turned to him with fire in her eyes. “Here’s how it’s gonna go down, Gummy. You’re gonna tell me exactly why you did this to Dashie - and why you did it to me - and you’re gonna make it good. I’m gonna tell Dashie what you’re saying and if you don’t tell the truth, you’re gonna be in big trouble, mister!”

Pinkie pressed her nose against his snout. “Be in big trouble big time!”

Gummy blinked, mentally steeling himself for what was about to come, and started to tell his story.

-----

His whole life had been built around rainbows.

From the day he hatched, an orphaned alligator and the lone surviving egg from his brood, all he had known was Pinkie Pie. All he had known was love, and laughter. She had raised him. Taught him everything he knew. When he had hurt the yellow one, she had taken his teeth out so gently and taught him how to survive all over again. She had loved him, and she was his world.

His world had been pink. But that pink had been born of a rainbow.

She had told him, when he was only a few days old, about the day a rainbow had cleared away the clouds in her heart and brought sunshine to her smile. Told him how that rainbow meant more to her than anything. How that one moment had defined her life.

He had seen her friends, of course. He had never paid much attention to them, except in the broadest sense - they were the stars, and he was gazing at them from his own world. Except for the yellow one. His Pinkie had always taken him to the yellow one, for as long as he could remember. He didn’t know her name but she mattered, too. Once upon a time Pinkie had told him she was his mummy and -

-----

“Woah, woah, woah. I don’t care what your alligator thinks about Fluttershy. I want to know why he’s been stalking me.”

In truth, Dash was slightly disturbed by the way her friend’s eyes had rolled back into her head and outright unnerved by the way her tone had shifted, sounding frighteningly close to her. Or him. Whichever. Mare Do Well.

The pink pony blinked, seemingly disoriented, and there was a silence before she answered. “Gummy says it’s important, Dashie. He says you need to...uhm...appreciate the context and see things from his perspective so that you can properly grasp the seriousness of the situation and the reasons that he undertook his endeavour.”

Right. Of course he did. There wasn’t really a whole lot she could say to that, was there?

“ ... Whatever. Keep talking.”

-----

He had never paid the rainbow one any more heed than the orange one, or the one who wasn’t allowed in the same room as him because he was slimy and she smelled good. But then one day things had changed. His Pinkie had raced into the room, scooped him up and held him as she bounced around the room, even more excited, more exuberant, more alive than he had ever seen her.

“You won’t believe it, Gummy, do you remember me telling you about how the world smiled for me and then I was happy and oh what am I saying of course you do you’re such a good little gator well today I found out what made that smile, what made me, and it’s been under our noses the whole time well under my nose, I mean, you don’t really have a nose but it was under your snout so don’t you worry, Gummy, you don’t need a nose to be perfect!

It was Rainbow Dash! She’s the one who made the world smile for me, Gummy! Can you believe it? I finally found her and she’s been here the whole time.” She had paused then, his Pinkie, and the next words had been calmer, more measured.

“I always knew I wanted to make the world smile, Gummy. But now I know why. I want the world to smile because then she’ll smile, and she deserves to smile. Everypony deserves to smile!”

And then, after a moment’s pause. “And everygator too of course. C’mon Gummy, lets see that smile!”

He had smiled, of course.

-----

Dash couldn’t help but notice the story she was hearing didn’t have a whole lot to do with Gummy. Still ... there was no real reason to interrupt it quite yet, was there? It was a good story, after all, and she was enjoying hearing it. She didn’t say a word.

-----

Knowing that she was the one who had planted such a spark of life in his Pinkie had made Gummy take more notice of the rainbow one. He hadn’t known her name then. He had just watched, at first. Seen how she always brought a smile to his Pinkie’s face. How she moved. When she was around, his Pinkie was happier, and that made him happier.

In time, it had become Dashie - he had learned her name listening to his Pinkie, so to him she was Dashie - herself that brightened Gummy’s world. He had come to love the smell of her, the way she moved. The way the air tasted around her. But most of all he had come to love the sound of her voice, and the calm.

His Pinkie did not know calm, and so neither had he. Although he would later learn that by normal standards Dashie was quite aggressive, to him she had always seemed relaxed. It was soothing. Like the yellow one, but with none of the smothering he so detested. He admired her drive, her passion to show the world what she had and her refusal to bend before it.

Gummy did not push back against the world often. Rainbow Dash never stopped pushing, testing, striving. Gummy loved it. And in time he loved her. But when he spoke, she refused to hear him. She refused to acknowledge his words, his attempts to know her. For so long he had tried to get her attention, even - in a moment of foolish bravery from an alligator drunk on the excitement of his first birthday party - kissing her once.

Still she had ignored him. The brave alligator had taken solace in the embrace of the punch bowl, washing his sorrows away - however briefly - into a drunken haze.

-----

“Kiss me!?” Dash was incredulous. “He tried to eat me!”

Pinkie’s voice was free of its edge now. Dash could have sworn a small, sad smile had appeared on her face as she spoke. “Gummy says you were his first kiss, Dashie. He’ll get better with practice. He promises.”

“Wait, what? Practice!? Does he really think i’m going to -”

“Gee, I dunno, Dashie. Maybe if you listen to him instead of interrupting every five seconds you’ll find out!”

Dash was not pleased. But she took the hint.

-----

He had suffered in silence. Suffered for so long, waiting for her to notice him. Poor little Gummy. So lonely. So handsome, and clever, and patient.

-----

Dash rolled her eyes. But she couldn’t stop a small grin from appearing on her face.

-----

Until that fateful day. The day Pinkie had first donned the mask. He hadn’t understood, at first. Why they insisted in stealing away Rainbow Dash’s well-deserved praise. But he would come to, later. Her arrogance would be her downfall. Her foolish pride would lead her to become dependent and needy where before she had lived for nopony but herself.

Plus, she had kind of been a jerk. I mean really, really been a jerk. In fact, he would go so far as -

-----

“That’s not funny!” Dash fumed as she watched her friend roll around, translating between giggles. “Stop laughing at me, Pinkie! It’s not funny.”

“I’m sorry, Dashie, but he’s just sooooooooooooooooo right!” The laughter bellowing from her friend brought a real smile to Dash’s face, and a minute later she was laughing too, one foreleg slung around the party pony’s shoulders.

She could have sworn that Gummy’s mouth had curled up, ever so slightly, into a smile.

-----

His Pinkie was doing it for Rainbow Dash. Gummy knew this. Knew she would never have deceived the pegasus without some higher purpose, be it the learning of a lesson or the honour of being pranked by the world's premiere pink pranking party pony. But even she could not deny the slight thrill she got from hiding her brightness from the world and becoming the night.

The way that, after returning from a successful rescue, she would almost always be glowing. Radiant. Her bright blue eyes glowing like the endless depths of the ocean on a summer’s day, and her voice exuberant. “Nopony laughed at me, Gummy! Nopony thought I was just a big joke, no siree Bob - that’s you, Gummy, you’re Bob - and everypony took me seriously! Can you even imagine if it’d been Pinkie in that construction site, Bob? Everypony woulda thought she was crazy and nopony would’ve listened to her warnings or let her help them even though they all know about her Pinkie sense because she’s just so silly and she could never be serious nope nope!

But I wasn’t Pinkie Pie today, Bob, no siree Gum, I was Mare Do Well and I swept in and I saved them all and you shoulda been there, Gummy, you shoulda seen the way they were looking at me but of course there’s no way I could carry you around and not give away my secret identity and you couldn’t fit into one o’ the costumes but I’m sure if you wanted Rarity will make you your own superhero costume and then you can be Bob, Alligator Avenger, but really you’ll just be -”

-----

“I get it, Pinkie!” Dash laughed, suppressing a giggle at the way Pinkie was delivering her own lines - not as Pinkie, but in a voice Dash could only assume was supposed to sound like Gummy’s impression of Pinkie - a coarse, high-pitched falsetto tone that sounded somewhat like a clown who had inhaled too much helium. “Slow down! It’s hard enough keeping up with you when you when you’re the only one talking like that, but when I have to listen to a story too, I can’t focus!”

The pink mare giggled. “Oops! Sorry, Dashie. I gotta keep up with Gummy, y’know? When that gator starts talking, he just never stops and even I have trouble understanding him sometimes! I’ll ask him to -”

“Wait a second! If this is really all true and Bob here’s the one who’s been following me around all this time, then how come it’s only now I can’t understand him? Sorry, Pinks, but that kinda doesn’t add up.” If it had been ten minutes ago Dash’s voice might have been raised, her mouth twisted into a frown, but now there was only a grin on her face and her voice was gently teasing.

Pinkie, she decided, was crazy. There was absolutely no way around that. But here she was sitting in an alleyway listening to - allegedly - an alligator tell the story of why he was in love with her, in the middle of the night after attacking her best friend. So maybe she could deal with crazy. And even if Pinkie was making this all up - well, her friend had made her laugh, made her smile and made things okay again. Dash could forgive her, just this once.

At her question, Pinkie had looked confused and was now conversing with the alligator in hushed tones. Or rather, she was whispering in hushed tones to the blank-faced alligator, pausing every so often and staring at him intently.

The party pony turned towards her, face grim.

“Gummy says that it’s because you don’t listen right.”

Dash blinked. “... What?”

“I dunno, Dashie. That’s all he’ll say. Maybe he had an enchanted mask or som - oh!”

She paused and tilted her head. “He says that he’s frankly shocked you haven’t asked how he fit it into the costume! He says that’s a much more fun story.”

“... Fine. How did he fit into the cost-”

She was cut off by the gravelly voice of Gum Do Well, emanating from the little pink pony and demanding her full attention. Her eye twitched, ever so slightly, as the words washed over her.

-----

But not every day was the same. There was one day that his Pinkie had returned, mane flat and eyes downcast. Those days she had told him of sadder things. Of how she was tired. Tired of never been taken seriously. Tired of being ignored, and looked down on. How she wanted people to look at her, just sometimes, the way they looked at Mare Do Well. With respect. With admiration. And how she didn’t think it would ever happen. Nopony would ever look at silly ol’ Pinkie that way. Rainbow Dash would never look at her that way. She -

-----

Pinkie’s face had fallen, and here she let out a choked whine. Dash took a step closer to her, earlier annoyance forgotten, and silently rested her head against her friend’s neck. After a few moments the pink pony began again, nuzzling Dash as she spoke, ever so gently.

-----

She would always be a joke, to everypony. And most of the time that was okay, because his wise and kind Auntie Pinkie loved to make ponies laugh, but sometimes it made her sad. As Mare Do Well everyone could see that other side of her - brave, dependable, trustworthy. All the little pieces of herself that were overlooked every day, by everypony. Even the ones she loved the most.

She spoke of this, and Gummy comforted her. And listened. At first he resisted. For a long time he resisted, struggled against the temptation growing within him. The terrible, festering hunger that would slowly come to consume him, spreading through his heart like a dark army marching across an enemy nation, bringing with it thoughts and dreams our stalwart hero had no right having.

Long he fought, and valiantly, but in the end -

-----

“Enough with the melodrama! Ugh. You have no idea how to tell a good story, Bob.”

Dash patted the gator on the head, before freezing on the spot, caught somewhere between terror and shock. Dash and Pinkie stared at each other, neither saying a word.

Dash had been talking to Gummy.

“I ... that is ... you ... we ... I meant -” she stammered, desperate to justify herself, but Pinkie just shook her head slowly, gracing her with a tiny smile.

“It’s okay, Dashie! I’m not gonna tell anypony you’re a crazy pony! I mean, you’re not a crazy pony - don’t get me wrong - but I’m not gonna start telling ponies you are. And usually they don’t listen to me anyway, so even if I did you’d have nothing to worry about! Pinkie Promise!”

“Thanks, Pinkie. I think.”

“You’re welcome!”

-----

Gummy - who was, in addition to his other fine qualities, a master wordsmith and a storyteller superior to the object of his affections - lost his fight. When he first donned the mask he told himself his motives were good. He would take the guise of Mare Do Well and lead Dashie to believe that the one beneath the mask was his Pinkie.

It was like a game. Let just enough slip to tweak her suspicions, then when her heart was won, tell his Pinkie everything. Gummy told himself he was a clever Gummy, a good and caring Gummy, but deep down he knew he was wicked. Manipulating Dashie, and using his Pinkie’s feelings as a mask for his own.

But once he had begun, he couldn’t stop. He spent weeks trying to win her heart, eventually even coming to view the one who mattered most to him - his Pinkie - as competition, a rival to be beaten. He got the one he craved hurt so badly, and tore both his world and his rainbow apart. And even as he tried to pull away, he fell more and more in love with the rainbow mare. And hated himself more and more for harming his Pinkie.

He couldn’t stop. He loved her too much. Needed her too much. She was perfect. And delicious.

Had he mentioned she tasted like sunshine and wonderment? He didn’t remember. She did, though.

-----

“Sooo ... what you’re trying to tell me is that everything you just said came from Gummy?” Dash’s tone was skeptical. Amused, and without the hint of the steel it had held earlier, but skeptical. Her expression matched it perfectly.

The party pony beamed at her, wide and cheerful. “Yup! Every word. Well, most words.”

At the last part Pinkie looked down for just an instant before glancing back at Dash, blinking innocently.

“Pinkie ...”

“Well ... it all came from Gummy. It was his story and everything and all true, but I maybe kinda had to degummify it a little bit here and there.”

“ ... What?”

“Degummify! Sometimes Gummy uses big words, Dashie, and I dunno what they mean. And sometimes he gets sidetracked a little bit but sometimes ... ” She turned a slightly darker shade of pink, leaning closer to whisper in Dash’s ear. “Sometimes he doesn’t make any sense. I think maybe cause he’s small, his scaly little head doesn’t work quite right yet, but when he explains it I always know what he means so I just, y’know, degummify it. But don’t tell him I said so, okay? I don’t want to hurt his feelings.”

Yep, Dash decided. She was definitely insane. For just a minute she had almost allowed herself to be drawn into the story, almost allowed herself to believe it. If that didn’t certify her to be locked up right along with Pinkie, nothing would.

“Dashie?” Bright blue eyes were locked onto hers, the question asked in a tone of concern.

So what did that leave? Did it mean Pinkie really was Mare Do Well and believed that she could get away with it by pinning the idea on whoever had happened to be closest? Dash doubted it, somehow. If that had been the case, Dash suspected the peculiar pony would have jumped on her after she’d confessed - almost confessed - her true feelings for the mysterious mare. That would have been pretty aw - no, bad Dash! Focus!

“Dashiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie?”

She was vaguely aware of something being waved in front of her face, but it wasn’t important. Not more important, at least.

Was Pinkie covering for Mare Do Well? No, that didn’t seem likely. Her friend had been genuinely hurt by a lot of what her stalker had done - a lot of what Dash had done. Besides, Pinkie had promised to help her find out, and even if she was a bit ... generous ... with loopholes sometimes, Rainbow didn’t believe she’d lie to her. She trusted her friend. So that left her other friends.

“Gummy, help me!”

The echo on the edge of her mind was shriller now, more insistent. She ignored it. Pinkie’d be fine.

It wasn’t Fluttershy, she knew that for sure. And she was willing to say it wasn’t Pinkie either. Rarity? Maybe. It seemed possible, for sure. She’d known about the flowers, and it wouldn’t exactly be the first time she’d manipulated people into doing what she wanted. Or tried. And Dash couldn’t really argue that Rarity could have depths she didn’t know about - of all her friends, she saw the least of - ow.

Something had just rapped her on the nose. Not hard, but with her already aching head it was enough to earn a grunt of pain from the proud pegasus and send her world spinning. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. Breathing in, and out.

A rough, deep voice muttered something, and she heard Pinkie answer.

“This is serious Gummy! We broke Dashie! We gotta fix her!”

Another remark she couldn’t quite hear, and this time that voice almost oozed mockery. It was so familiar, and yet she couldn’t place it.

“She’s not fine! Look at her! Y’know, you’re really mean sometimes, Gummy! I thought I taught you to be nice to ponies!”

A brief pause, and then a mutter that sounded almost ...

Mare Do Well! That was her voice! And she was ... pouting?

Her eyes snapped open as she realised what was happening, and she saw purple. A swimming sea of shimmering, shifting purple that seemed to go on forever.

Dash stared at Gummy. Gummy stared at Dash. Neither one spoke.

Slowly, the perplexed pegasus reached up a hoof and stroked the alligator’s head gently. His reaction was both comforting and terrifying - Gummy smiled at her, mouth curling up just barely. If she hadn’t been looking, she wouldn’t have noticed it at all. The sight sent a shiver through Rainbow Dash as her world came crashing down around her. It was true. It had to be.

The mysterious masked pony who had been stalking her for so long - the pony whose presence she had come to find a comfort, and then almost a necessity. The mare who had dragged her through Tartarus for what felt like years and made Dash need her ... was an alligator. A male alligator. It didn’t make any sense. Like, at all. But it was true. And so was what he had said. Dash had never taken him seriously - she hadn't even believed that Gummy could think, let alone could think that way. About her, of all ponies.

But he hadn't let that stop him, had never given up. He had pursued her and pursued her and now here he was, before her. Forcing her to see him as he really was - not a creature comparable with any rock in the street, but a cunning, romantic beast. One who had given everything to win her heart. Risked everything. One who had tried so hard just to make Dash notice him.

And succeeded.

Somewhere, deep in her brain, some small part of Dash came to understand that she had fallen in love with an alligator. That part of her brain began screaming. The rest of her turned to face the pink pony who had just laid a hoof on her shoulder, and drank in the small, genuine smile she saw on her friend’s face.

“Dashie? Do you ... do you want me to leave you two alone?”

Rainbow Dash, fastest and most fearless flier in all of Equestria - all of anywhere - shook her head slowly, feeling somewhat dazed.

“No. No, not yet.” That seemed a good place to start. She took a gulp of air and looked deep into Pinkie’s bright blue eyes, wet with unshed tears. “I...” A pause, as she searched for words. “This is big, Pinkie. You know that, right?”

A nod was the only answer she received. Her friends eyes were searching, hopeful.

“Okay.” She had to be careful. Not careful would be bad. Heck, for her, normal would be bad. But that was okay. This time all she had to do was be honest. She just had to do it gently. “Pinkie, I’m in love with your alligator. I thought I loved you because I thought you were Mare Do Well - I wanted you to be - but you’re not. He is, and it’s Mare Do Well I fell in love with.”

Well. That had gone about as well as expected. The party pony turned her head away and took a step back, clearly fighting tears. Then she spun back, her voice high and uncertain.

“But you kissed me, Dashie! I thought maybe you … why? Why did you do it?”

Dash couldn’t meet her eyes, then. Couldn’t bring herself to look into them and see the fear and pain and desperate clutching hope in them. Part of it was that she couldn’t bear to see that glimmer of hope fade away - to watch how deeply her next words cut. What she was about to say could easily cost her Pinkie’s friendship and trust. Could destroy Pinkie, if she wasn’t careful - and she’d proven to herself more than once tonight that careful was not a word that should be in the same sentence as ‘Rainbow Dash.’

But another part, just one more thought that she tried to ignore, whispered that the reason she couldn’t meet her friend’s eyes was that she knew her next words weren’t entirely true. But they had to be said. She couldn’t let Pinkie keep clinging to the hope that they’d be together. Even if she herself doubted - just a little, in the back of her mind - that Mare Do Well was the one she wanted.

“I told you before I wanted you to be Mare Do Well.” Her own voice sounded shaky in her ears - trying to reassure somepony else was one thing, but trying to convince herself was something else altogether. Under the circumstances, trying to comfort Pinkie was about a hundred times worse. “I meant it. I … I was so sure. I felt so much for you. And so much for her. And she reminded me of you, when she - or he, whatever - wasn’t being all fake and snooty!”

She looked up, willing herself to look into those sad blue eyes. It didn’t matter. Pinkie wasn’t looking at her anymore - her eyes were downcast, and she seemed to want to look anywhere but at Rainbow Dash.

“Pinkie, I … I had a lot to drink.” The glare she suddenly found herself facing spurred her on, words spilling out of her faster than she could think them through. “I know that’s no excuse but I was so sure! I convinced myself it was you, and I thought if I kissed you - if I showed you it was okay, that I cared about you - you’d tell me it was. Then I could love you, and be with you like you wanted.” She sighed - a small, shuddering breath. “I wanted to love you. Because I know with you I’d be happy. But afterwards all I could think about was how Mare Do Well would feel - whether she’d hate me. Whether you’d hate me for kissing you when you were trying to win my heart. And ...”

Here words failed her, just for a moment. She knew she’d made mistakes - a lot of them - but this was one of the things that made her wonder if she really was just a terrible waste of a pony. “And I wanted it to hurt her. Because of how much she’d hurt me. But then I realised it’d be hurting you and I’d never want that. It was dumb. No - it was horrible. Both.” She waited, hoping for some reaction from her friend, but none came.

“I’ve been a terrible friend, Pinkie. I’ll understand if you never forgive me. I doubt I ever will. But I’m not going to lie to you anymore. I don’t love you, Pinkie - not how you love me. No matter how much I want to.”

Her friend sat, staring downwards with dark eyes and an expression Dash couldn’t read. She was shaking, ever so slightly.

“Okay, Dashie. I understand.” The words were hollow. Empty. “And of course I can forgive you, silly. I love you, remember?” A long pause. “I think it’ll take a while, though.”

Dash didn’t think anything had ever hurt her like that did. She hoped, fervently, that nothing would again. She knew she should say something, but no words came. After a long pause, Pinkie turned and started to walk away from her, head downcast and with none of her usual vigor. “We should probably get back to the palace, Dashie. The girls were real worried when you disappeared. They’ll be happy to see -”

The party pony blinked up at the pegasus that was now blocking her path, before turning her face away and starting to speak again. Dash cut her off. She couldn’t leave it like this. She had to make it okay. She could make it okay - she was Rainbow Dash! She could fix anything. And then it’d all be awesome, the way it had been before all this. Except better.

Words had never been easy for Dash, but one thing she was good at was tactless, guileless honesty. And maybe, just maybe, that was what she needed to help her friend be happy again.

“Pinkie, don’t you dare think that any of that means you’re not the most important pony - or ... not pony - in the world to me, because you are!” She put a hoof on her friend’s cheek and turned the mare’s face towards her, staring into her wide, scared eyes.

“You mean it?” her best friend whispered, voice barely audible.

“You listen to me, Pinks. Just because Bob over there swept me off my feet doesn’t make him better than you - I barely know him, and this whole time he’s been lying to me ‘cause he was too scared to even talk to me! He’s cool and all, but next to you? Please - there’s no comparison!”

“But why?” She sounded desperate again, and maybe just a little hopeful.

“Because you’re you, Pinkie. And do you know what? You’re the coolest pony I’ve ever known!”

“I am?”

“Heck yeah! You’re the kindest, funniest, most awesome friend I’ve ever had. Nothing’s cooler than hanging out with you - I’ve never just enjoyed life as much as I have since I met you, Pinkie - you just make everything seem so much brighter. And you know what? That’s not me overstating things - I swear when I’m with you, everypony around me is happier. And I don’t mean the way I see them - you make those ponies happy. Not because you’re always smiling and laughing and being crazy, but because you love them - you care about them, and knowing that makes them so much happier!

Pinkie shook her head “No. No, I don’t. Ponies don’t like me, Dashie, not the real me. They all think I’m crazy!”

“Some of ‘em do. And you know what? Too bad! The ones who think that way, do they know you? Know you really?”

“I ... I dunno. I guess not?”

“Exactly! They just see what they wanna see and decide there’s nothing more to you, but they’re wrong! You’re like the best friend ever, Pinkie. Except not just to me - to the whole world! There’s nopony else like you. And you know what?”

“What, Dashie?”

“Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me. I don’t mind if you’re not always smiling, not always laughing, but you gotta promise me something, okay?”

“Promise what?”

“No matter what happens - no matter what anypony says - you have to keep being Pinkie Pie. Not everypony will like you, but there are a whole lot of ponies who don’t like me -” Dash couldn’t help but be a little pleased when this won a gasp from her friend. “- and that’s too bad. I don’t need ‘em. But I do need you.”

For the second time that night Dash was tackled to the ground by a bright pink blur. For what had to be the billionth time she hit the ground. For the however-many-would-never-be-enoughth time, she felt her friend’s forelegs around her neck, squeezing her happily.

It was, however, the first time tonight she had heard the words her favourite pink blur uttered a moment later.

“I promise, Dashie. I promise.”

-----

Gummy would, at any other time, have been annoyed at having been knocked from his perch atop Dash’s muzzle. But this time, he would make an exception. After all, the alligator mused from his new resting place, nestled between the two ponies he loved best in all the world, it was a small sacrifice to make to see his Pinkie happy. And his rainbow, too. His Rainbow.

It was a good thought.

He knew it would take time for the relationship between he and his Pinkie to truly heal. Knew that his claim to Rainbow Dash would take time to cement and grow. Knew that both journeys would be long, and difficult. Idly, he wondered if his Pinkie would now find room in her heart for poor Rocky, who had pined for her so patiently for so long, ever since the day a lonely little filly had built him to fill a void in her heart. Ever since the day of the Rainboom. Gummy didn’t know. But he knew that he would succeed. He had come this far, after all, and he couldn’t help but feel that both of his ponies seemed, on the whole, happier than they had before he had come along.

He was certainly happier. He watched as a strand of vibrant green entangled itself with a strand of brightest pink. The hairs held one another like lovers, moving and dancing as one - swaying in the gentle breeze of the calm Canterlot night. It would taste divine, he knew. He could tell, because it was them. And he had worked so hard. Come so far. Surely he deserved a little treat?

Gummy leapt for the hairs, clutching them in his toothless mouth, and tried to pull them free. For as long as they lived, nopony who had been out and about that night would forget the sight of a tiny alligator scurrying through the streets, dragging a swearing rainbow and a giggling blur of pink behind him.

End Next Chapter: Alternate Ending 16 Cont'd: Her Rock to Stand On (Guest submission from Professor Piggy) Estimated time remaining: 53 Minutes