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“Are you excited to meet your new friend?” asks Parker, who kneels next to an obviously excited Lemonade at the back door, trying to get the harness on their squirmy fluffy.
“Yus yus, Daddeh!” Lemonade bounces and wiggles against Parker, making it difficult to do anything. “Wemonabe suu ‘cited tu meet nyu fwen’! Gon’ wun an’ pway in back yawdies! Am su funsies!"
Parker finally held Lemonade still to get his harness on him, squishing him down a bit, but Lemonade either didn’t mind or didn’t notice with how excited he was. “Hold on, buddy boy, I need to get your harness on before we go outside.” With a few clicks, the clips were fastened, and the harness was secure around him.
“Siwwy Daddeh. Nu nee’ haw-ness to pway in back yawdies! Onwy pway in gwassies, nu go fo’ wawkies!”
Parker laughs a little, then rubs Lemonade’s head. They always liked the feeling of Lemonade’s horn between their middle and ring finger. “I just want to make sure you two get along first. Then you can play all you want, okay?”
“Yus Daddeh! Gon’ be su gud fwens wif nyu fwen’!” Lemonade taps his front hooves in excitement, making little patting sounds on the shoe mat. He giggles as Parker picks him up. “Whee! Gud upsies!”
“Okay, now we’re ready to get outside!” They kiss the top of Lemonade’s head as they open the back door. Lemonade sang a loud and happy song on the way down the steps.
“Gon’ hab nyu fwen’ tu pway gamsies wif~ Wun awounb an’ pway baww an’ pway chasies~ Haf su much funsies in back yawdies wif nyu fwen’~!”
Parker sighs, but lets Lemonade sing his little heart out. They set him down on the grass and hold onto their leash. “Jenny should be here soon with your new friend, okay?”
Lemonade bounces around the grass, getting Parker tangled in the leash. “Nyu fwen’ nyu fwen’!” he chants excitedly. “Wan’ nyu fwen’ nao! Wemonabe am weady!”
“You gotta be patient, Lemonade.” Parker couldn’t help but laugh while untangling themselves. “They’ll be here any minute now.”
Jenny walks through the gate with a pet carrier as Parker spins in circles, and she chuckles at the sight. “We’re here! Hello, Lemonade! Hi, Parker.”
Lemonade gasps when he sees Jenny, running to her until he reaches the end of his leash a few feet away. “Nice wady Jen-nee! Wemonabe am weady tu meet nyu fwen’!”
“Whoa, hold on Lemonade!” Parker walks over to Jenny, which allows Lemonade to hug her leg and babble to her while the humans talk to each other.
Parker says, “Good to see you! How was your first day with your new fluffy?”
Jenny smiles down at Lemonade as he continues to babble at her but speaks to Parker. “It was interesting. I’m not sure he’ll get along with this cutie here, but I want to see what happens.”
“You don’t think they’ll be friends?” Parker asks with some confusion. “I find that hard to believe.”
Jenny looks up at Parker, inhaling deeply. "I adopted a smarty. So probably not. At least not yet.”
“Wait, why?” Parker asks, even more confused. They look down at the carrier, only able to see a bit inside. They wonder why the fluffy is being so quiet.
“I’ll tell you later. I think little Lemon wants to meet his new friend now, huh?” she says, her pitch climbing to get Lemonade even more excitable.
Lemonade rubs his cheek against Jenny’s leg, then runs around excitedly. “Yus yus yus! Wan see nyu fwen’! Wan pway!” He runs out of leash and stops. “Uff!”
Jenny sets the carrier down on the pavement by the steps. “Silly boy. Your new friend is named Bubblegum, but he can be a little sassy, so I want you to step back, okay?”
“Otay nice wady Jen-nee! Wemonabe stay backsies.” He scoots back approximately a millimeter before hurrying over to the front of the carrier. Parker scoops him up before he can get too close.
“Whoa, hold on, buddy.” Parker pets Lemonade’s head. “Jenny said to stay back, remember?” They were apprehensive how this would turn out, but with them and Jenny both agreeing on the fluffies being on leashes, they felt better about the situation.
Lemonade squirms in Parker’s hold, his eyes not leaving the carrier. “Nyu fwen’, nyu fwen’! Wan’ meet nyu fwen’!”
“Patience, my guy.” Parker pats Lemonade again.
Jenny kneels to open the carrier, grabbing the leash resting at the front and guiding a turquoise fluffy with a pink mane and tail out. The new fluffy has a collar and muzzle on, which explains why he was so quiet in the carrier. He already looks around the yard, at Parker, and at Lemonade, who was just ecstatic and wiggly. Jenny walks her fluffy to the grass.
“Bubblegum,” Jenny begins, “good fluffies are nice to new fluffies. Will you be a good fluffy?”
Bubblegum is only able to grunt in response, feeling the grass under his hooves as he walks.
Parker sets Lemonade down, and the little guy zips over to Bubblegum and reaches the end of his leash. Parker makes sure there was a comfortable distance between the two fluffies.
“Hewwo nyu fwen’! Am Wemonabe! Wan pway? Back yawdies hab suu much woom tu wun awoumb!"
Jenny kneels again to take the muzzle off Bubblegum, and he looks up at her with a scowl.
“Humph! Nu nee’ dummeh nu-tawkie facie fing. Bubbewgum am smawty! An’ dis am smawty wand nao!” Bubblegum looks back to Lemonade, pointing at him with a hoof. “An’ yu am pawt ov Bubbewgum hewd nao!”
Lemonade sits, tilting his head to the side in confusion. “Bu’…dis am Wemonabe’s back yawdies. Am fo’ ebbyone, an’ tu hab funsies wif nyu fwen’.”
“Nu cawe!” Bubblegum huffs and stomps his hoof on the grass. “Dis am smawty wand, and yu du wha’ smawty teww yu, dummeh! Gon’ giv yu sowwy hoofsies fo’ bein’ dummeh!” He lunges at Lemonade, who cowers closer to Parker.
“Nuu! Why gib huwties tu Wemonabe? Onwy wan’ pway!”
Bubblegum hacks a few times as he felt the pressure around his neck from the collar, flailing his front hooves in the air in front of him. “D-Dummeh! Yu nu wisten to smawty!”
Parker scoops Lemonade into their arms. “Okay, that’s enough.”
Jenny easily grabs Bubblegum and slips the muzzle back on him. “You’re a bad fluffy, Bubblegum! That’s not how good fluffies act around other fluffies!” Jenny looks over at Parker. “I’ll take him home real quick. Then I’ll explain.”
Parker watches Jenny pack Bubblegum back up into the carrier, then leave the yard to her house across the street. Lemonade was crying softly, his little huu-huu’s breaking Parker’s heart.
“It’s okay, buddy. You’re okay.” They sit down on the steps to their back door and take off Lemonade’s harness. Lemonade curls up in Parker’s lap.
“Huu huu, why nyu fwen’ su meanie? Wemonabe onwy wan pway.”
Parker pets Lemonade’s back gently, fluffing out the mane on his back. He sighs. “Because he’s a smarty, and smarties like to be mean.”
Lemonade gasps and hops off Parker’s lap, looking up at him with concern. “Bu’-bu’-bu’, Wemonabe am smawty tuu, an’ nu am meanie! Can du gud poopies in wittabox, and awways fankies Daddeh fo’ nummies! An’ wuv pway wif fwens at pawk!”
Parker laughs and leans forward to pet their fluffy, then picks him up to sit him back in their lap. “Yes, you’re very smart, Lemonade. And a very good boy.” They smile seeing Lemonade beam with pride.
“Fank yu, Daddeh! Wemonabe wuv Daddeh and wuv make Daddeh happies.”
Parker continues, “But being smart and a smarty are different. Smarties think they’re better than everyone else and are bullies to get their way.”
Lemonade gasps again, this time in shock. “W-Wemonabe nu am smawty, den! Am gud, onwy smawt fwuffy. Nu smawty.” He taps his hooves on Parker’s legs nervously.
“I know, Lemonade. I don’t think there’s a mean bone in your whole body.”
Lemonade giggles when Parker tickles their side. “Daddeh! Dat tickwes!”
Both lift their heads up when they hear the gate open and close. Jenny walks a few feet to the steps, sitting down beside Parker. “Okay, Bubblegum is in time-out now. I hope he learns his lesson from this.”
“Yeah,” says Parker, going to ask Jenny a question, but Lemonade interrupts them.
“Jen-nee!” Lemonade pats her legs and looks up at her. “Daddeh say Bubbewgum am smawty, and big meanie! Bu’ Wemonabe am smawt an’ gud fwuffy! Can make gud poopies in da wittabox an’ awways fank Daddeh fo’ nummies! Wuv be gud fwuffy fo’ Daddeh!”
Jenny laughs and pulls Lemonade into her lap to cuddle and rub his cheeks. “Oh yes, you’re the best fluffy ever! You sweet cuddly boy! I wish my fluffy were like you.”
Lemonade giggles happily. “Wub Jen-nee, tuu! Gib bestes’ huggies!”
“So,” Parker finally continues, “why adopt a smarty, then?”
Jenny boops Lemonade’s nose, and the two giggle. She pets his head as she says, “To be honest, I was planning on getting a regular fluffy, but as soon as he saw me in the store, he was making demands and it really got on my nerves. Like it activated some part of my brain that I can’t quite explain. Hey, don’t give me that look.”
“Am I giving you a look?”
“Yes, you’re giving me a look.” Jenny sighs. “Look, I’m treating this like a project. I want to see if I can make a good fluffy out of a smarty.
“That’s really hard to do, Jenny.”
Jenny shrugs. “We’ll see. I’m using stern discipline and firm rules. If he’s as smart as he says he is, he’ll learn, and I’ll have the best behaved fluffy on the block. Well, aside from this perfect boy~” she rubs Lemonade’s back, then continues. “If not,” she shrugs again, “I can always go back and adopt one that isn’t a smarty.”
Parker’s brow furrows and they frown slightly. They weren’t sure they liked Jenny’s mindset, but there wasn’t much they could do about that. “I hope it works…”
“I do, too.” Jenny pets Lemonade more as he hugs her and coos. “But come on, Parker. Smarties are basically lost causes. Can’t be any harm in trying to make them better. If anything, it just wastes my time, and I’ve got way too much of it anyway.
Parker looks at Lemonade, giving him a scritch behind his ear. “Well, if it works, Lemonade will have a friend. Right, Lemonade?”
“Yus! Wan’ fwens! Wan’ pway wif fwens!”
Jenny smiles and tickles Lemonade’s sides. “If I have my way, you’ll have a good friend in no time!”
“Eee! Nu tickews!” Lemonade giggles and jumps off Jenny’s lap to run around the yard, and Jenny jumps up to chase after him.
“Get back here! I’m not finished tickling you yet!”
Parker laughs and joins in. “Hey, don’t think you can leave me out of this!”
The three laugh as they run around the yard, enjoying the bright Sunday morning together.
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Author's Note
Literally every time I write something I question whether it’s good or not but then I exhaust myself because oh my god just post the damn thing 
Hope you enjoy two dumb ponies in the yard.
Also you don’t need to read Bubblegum’s story to enjoy Lemonade’s story and vice-versa. They will connect at points but I’m writing them in a way where you can enjoy one without needing the other.