Society as We Know It

by Comma Typer

The Ability to Change

Long Winded looked at the fancy unicorn who sat down on the bench beside him amidst the bustling sidewalks that were outside the park. Over there, several unicorns along with a lot of other ponies were headed towards a certain way; some were carrying signs. The overall noise was quite cheery, although it felt subdued as if most of the ponies there were anticipating something huge.

The park itself was quite empty, almost void of anyone except for the changeling and for the unicorn. The grass was well-trimmed and clean, the trees were tall—not towering over the ponies, but tall enough—and the bushes decorated the place with their natural style.

The unicorn took off his monocle and fixed his bowtie. "Say, Long Winded, are you expecting someone?" he asked in his fancy and formal voice.

Long Winded nodded. "I'm expecting a friend. A changeling friend. Best friend I ever had."

"Is his name Nastic?" the unicorn further asked.

"Yes," the changling replied, nodding again. The smile on his face grew. "Do you know where he is?"

"Of course, Long Winded!" The unicorn made a smirk. "I definitely know where he is!"

"What?!" Long Winded exclaimed in shock. He went off his bench and assumed a defensive stance. "How do you know where my friend is? How do you know my name? Have we met before?"

"We have met before, Long Winded," the unicorn said. A green aura surrounded him. The aura then went away, revealing the gray changeling—wearing a hat—before him.

"Nastic!" Long Winded yelled. "You're not supposed to be surprising me like that! I get scared when I think that some nasty pony has taken you away or something like that!" He approached Nastic. He budged his friend. "You should know better!"

"Well, I can still change," Nastic said. "So, why not? I'm not going to go around conning ponies here and there, but it's still fun to do that once in a while."

"Once in a while?" Long Winded repeated. "Once in a while?! The reason why I don't change my form is because I don't have to!"

"Unless you want to join the arts," Nastic said. "Acting turns out to be more than fitting for us changelings. The Method Mares may be one of the best acting troupes in the history of Equestria, but could they change forms in a snap?"

"But—"

"I don't think so, Long Winded," Nastic said. "What about conning the conponies? That would be fun. They would never know what hit them." He clasped his front hooves together and smiled. "Think about it: the changelings who fight crime by disguising as ordinary ponies. When Plan A fails, we just go to Plan B and disguise as other ponies. Or, we don't have to be ponies—dragons or yaks or griffons or zebras would do just as nicely when I see fit."

"But, Nastic—"

"And, comedy?" Nastic said, looking up towards the sky. Then, he looked back at the concerned Long Winded. "We do hvae a place in comedy. Maybe impersonation is one. The good kind of impersonation."

"Nastic!"

"What is it, now?" Nastic asked, frustrated and annoyed in his tone, his smile now gone.

Long Winded flailed his front hooves around. "I don't want to do all that changing stuff!"

Nastic sighed and adjusted his hat. "If it's your point of view, fine. But, don't let that get in the way of other changelings who are quite comfortable doing that."

Long Winded gulped. He was now shivering a little. "Are you...going to do that?"

"Not as part of a full-time job, Long Winded," Nastic said. "Hey, it might rival your position as a Wonderbolt trainee—if you were one, that is, Long Winded."

"Hey!" his friend shouted, pointing an accusing hoof at him. "You know I love the Wonderbolts! You know that you shouldn't be taunting me like that! What happened to the friendship lessons? What happened to the Friendship Journals we bought for ourselves just a few days ago? What happened to all of that?!"

Nastic grabbed a hold of his friend with his two front hooves. "Listen, Long Winded! I don't want to delve into petty arguments about lessons and journals and days gone by! Do I enjoy reading those lessons in the journal? Yes!"

"Then, why are you like that, Nastic?" Long Winded asked, close to whimpering as he was still in his friend's hold.

Nastic looked around. His front hooves trembled. Then, he released his grip and stood on his four front hooves. "This isn't going to sit positively with anypony who witnessed that."

"Good thing they're all busy with...whatever is going on there!" Long Winded pointed at the small crowds of ponies at the sidewalks. Then, he took a look at the crowds. "Wait, are the Princesses there?" He gasped. Then, he flew. "Wait for me!" he screamed.

Nastic groaned, held on to his hat, and took flight amidst the rumbles of the crowd.

---

The ground was gray blue, the walls were rough and edged and the sunlight poured into the hive in the form of vibrant sun rays, giving the place a calmer look. Grass and other plants were growing on various rocks and inside the holes of the walls and on parts of the ground. The smell of freshly-cooked breakfast wafted through the air, attracting not a few changelings towards its source.

A few changelings in simple armor flew around inside, smiling.

Thorax, that kingly changeling, was sitting down alongside many other changelings in front of a rock covered in grass. Beyond that, there was the open space that was outside the hive—the green landscape of plants overtaking the desolate, arid features that used to dominate the area. The morning sun shone its rays on to the rock, giving the changelings who were on it an elevated look, as if they were using the rays of the sun as their spotlight.

On the rock, there were three changelings on stage: a green one, a yellow one, and a blue one.

"But, what did we ever do to you?" the yellow one asked, gesturing wildly with a hoof. He looked at the two other changelings. "I've never ever done such a thing...ever!"

"What we do know is that you"—the blue changeling pointed a hoof at the yellow one—"were there when the dust settled. You were there!" He growled at the yellow changeling.

The yellow changeling stumbled and landed on the rock. He was shaking, stuttering a few syllables but no comprehensible word came out of his mouth.

The green changeling grabbed the blue one and took him aside. "Hey, we're supposed to be getting him to buy some ice cream for us, not make him cry!"

"Does it matter?!" the blue changeling yelled. "It doesn't matter! All that he has is money, and if there is money, then I won't be playing along for a long time—I'll be stealing that money sooner or later!"

"Don't!" the green changeling shouted. "You don't have to do those bad things anymore! We can just have a happy ending—an ending where everyone laughs while we eat ice cream. Then, we might choke on the ice cream because we laughed, but that's besides the point! The point is that we're already OK—you're the one who keeps causing trouble by continuing to steal money here and there!"

"Then, convince me!" the blue changeling shouted, escaping his friend's grasp. "Convince me that just going out with the both of you and eating ice cream at some small town somewhere in Equestria is going to give me a better life than constantly getting money off of creatures like you!"

The green changeling took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes. "Do you feel guilty?"

Then, the fierce attitude and look on the blue changeling's face became one of terror. He held his head with a hoof. That confident smile faded away—disappeared. He bit his front hooves in fear. He nervously glanced to the left, towards the natural background of the outside.

Then, a hoof on his back. "There, there. You still have a second chance, sir."

The green changeling hugged the shivering blue changeling. He slowly but surely hugged back, his front hooves still shaking a little.

The blue changeling cried.

His cries could be heard across the entire room. He sobbed.

Lonely tears went down the faces of several changelings. A few sniffled at the sight and at the sound of it.

The sun continued shining down on the acting changelings, giving the scene a redemptive atmosphere, a sense of hope. Amidst the cry of the changeling was the desire for freedom. And, he cried on.

And he kept on crying.

The green changeling patted his friend.

The yellow changeling stood up and walked slowly towards the crying changeling.

"Do you want a helping hoof?" the yellow changeling asked, a little hesitant in his voice. "I d-don't want you to suffer anymore of...what you're going through. I promise I'll help you!"

Between the sobs, the blue changeling managed, "And, can we have ice cream? Please, f-friend?"

He extended a hoof towards the yellow changeling.

The yellow changeling shook his hoof.

The green changeling smiled.

And a few other changelings covered the scene with a makeshift curtain made out of leaves. They held it in front of the actors for a few moments. Then, they moved away.

The actors were now facing the audience, though the blue changeling still had a wet face. They bowed before the audience.

The audience roared in loud approval as they cheered, shouted, hollered, howled at the actors with great applause and positivity.

The actors smiled.

A changeling even threw a couple of plates filled with food at them. The green changeling hurried to gobble up what was there, yet the crowd was still cheering.

"That was a good play," Thorax said as he approached the actors. "I didn't expect the twist about...the ice cream." He scratched his head, tilted it a little in confusion. He looked at the yellow changeling. "Where did you get the idea for that?"

"I just write the script as it comes to me," the changeling replied confidently, closing his eyes and subtly pointing at himself. "Why stop to check if it makes sense all the time?"

"If you were aiming for something strange, then you were alright," Thorax commented. He faced the rest of the cast. "And, you were good, too, guys! You made our heats pound!"

"Glad to be serving you in this way, Thorax," the blue changeling said in a rough, interrupted voice. "Uh, I need some water right now." Then, he jumped out of the rock and ran out of the room.

Thorax walked towards the green changeling. "And, that leaves you. Who knew you had it in you to act so realistically? Well, as realistic as it could get, considering the story and all." He grinned awkwardly.

"It's just a matter of abstraction," the green changeling said.

"Abstraction?" Thorax asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't focus on the details," he answered. "I just do what I am told to do. Then, I act." He made a pose of a changeling who was about to leap into a swimming pool. "Just like this."

Thorax smiled even more. Then, he turned around and faced the audience whose cheer had finally disappeared; they were now just looking at Thorax with anticipation. "So, that's the end of our theater time for today! I hear that one of you is already planning out the story for next week's theater time! So, uh, have a nice day!" Then, Thorax dashed off and flew out.

The changelings dispersed as they talked to each other about the play they had just watched. Most of them were smiling, commenting on the play with critical thought and playful style—yet, behind it all, some of them laughed, just enjoying the memories of what they had just witnessed.

---

"Green," Red Noise muttered as he sat on the ground beside a green bush. He heard the noise of Humerus flying around inside the room while Neon Guard was sleeping. "Green. Green just like you, Humerus, isn't it?" He stood up and sighed.

"It's going to be fun!" Humerus said, stopping in mid-air and facing his annoyed friend. "We get to sweep the floor, and then we get to plant plants, and then we can go outside again! Why don't you try smiling, Red Noise, huh?"

"I am trying to smile!" Red Noise responded with his gruff voice, snarling at him.

Humerus shuddered, moaning slightly and quietly. He hovered over the floor and then landed.

"I have nothing to do," Red Noise said. "I'm bored. That's it: bored."

Humerus looked up. "Do you smell that?"

Red Noise inhaled the air. "Huh. I don't recognize this." He eyed Humerus. "What is it?"

Humerus's ears perked up. "They're cooking something new! And, new food is always good!" He hurried off out of the room. "Wait for me, chefs! I'm coming for you!"

Red Noise groaned and placed a hoof on his face. "And, here I am. Bored."

"Try sleeping," Neon Guard tiredly said from his bed of leaves and twigs. "Should pass the time. Feelings Forum won't start until later tonight."

"That's what I'm excited for," Red Noise stated, pointing a hoof at his sleeping friend. He paced around the room, looking at him sleeping. "Over there, changelings get to talk about one another with everyone listening—not everyone literally, but you know what I mean. The stories you get to hear of the day—and, now, I sound like Blue Alarm." He stopped his pacing and looked around. "By the way, have you seen him?"

"He's off travelling again," Neon Guard said. "On his own."

Red Noise moaned and slammed his face on the wall. Then, he straightened himself up. "Right. Tell me where he is currently. Ponyville? Dragon Lands? Yakyakistan? Griffonstone?" His voice got more irritated with each location.

"Some place with rainbow waterfalls or something like it," Neon Guard was able to say from his bed. "Was it Winsome Falls?" He turned around, his eyes still closed while he still lay on the bed.

"Nopony lives there," Red Noise mentioned. He glared at the sleeping Neon Guard. "You're telling me he's out there in the middle of nowhere?!"

---

The sound of a crashing waterfall. The trees with their pink flowers and the grass that was vibrant with lively color. The mountains in the distance with their snowy peaks. Then, there were the clouds that spouted out straight rainbows down to the ground—the rainbow falls of Winsome Falls.

Blue Alarm sat down in front of a lake of fresh water. It was crisp. He took a glass and scooped up some of the lake water. He drank it.

"Clean," Blue Alarm said. "Fresh. Very cold, but that's understandable. It's a bit high up in the elevation scale." He was silent for a while as he observed the beautiful scenery that was Winsome Falls.

"Should I relax?" the blue chagneling said. He smiled. "Yeah, I should definitely relax."

Then, he lay on the grass and closed his eyes.