Society as We Know It

by Comma Typer


Wealthy Struggles

The two steep mountains made beautiful scenery out of their surroundings. The valley below was filled with lush trees as a river winded through the forestry. Beyond the two mountains, the river went on and so did the forestry, with more mountains on the horizon.
On the side of one mountain was a carved, wide ledge. A smoothened and cleaned dirt path followed the ledge and ended at a large station. The station itself was painted with white and gold with hints of purple, as if it had had been a castle in years before. Sticked to one of the walls was a list of the day's airship schedule, listing the different classes of airships and their stops through Canterlot and even beyond; underneath the list of destinations, circled in blue marker was the word "Ponyville."
The crowd of ponies, young and old, were walking and moving here and there. Tickets were raised with the word "Late!" and the phrase "Not enough bits!" being thrown around. Tourists, made obvious by some because of their tacky clothes, came inside the station smiling. A few left with angry faces, one of them mumbling about how "ridiculous the prices are!" The Canterlot natives, on the other hand, had smiles on their faces before and after the station visit. Among them was Fancy Pants and his group of friends. They were standing on a concrete path near the edge of the ledge
A pink pony shouted, "What's that?!"
Many looked at where the pony was pointing to.
A magnificent airship floated its way to the stop on the cliffside. The purple and lavender colors on the large envelope had gold marks, making the vehicle look like a boat being carried on several wires by a purple whale or at least a big purple fish. The "boat" itself was the crew car of the airship, several ponies being on it. A burly pegasus wearing a hat was handling the steering wheel. The rest of the crew were running to their various places, pulling levers and pushing buttons. Finally, the airship stopped in front of Fancy Pants.
"I didn't know Fancy Pants was that rich," Neon Guard said.
The changelings stood near the crowd that did not notice them. They, even the very rich, were looking on at Fancy Pants and the ponies following him as they boarded the airship by the retractable stairway.
Then, the airship floated away.
"All those unicorns," Red Noise said. "They're going to pay hundreds of bits just to fly through the air for half a day. Look at us! We can fly for free."
"I think that's the point, Noise," Neon Guard said. "They can't fly. Maybe a unicorn who has very good magic skills can fly, but...the average unicorn doesn't have that ability."
"What a waste of money!" Red Noise shouted.
Some unicorns with fancy clothes looked at them. A couple was among them.
"Ha!" Jet Set yelled. He fixed his glasses with a hoof. "You think it is a waste of money?"
"You may have wings, changelings," Upper Crust said, "but flying on an airship is just...luxurious."
"It is a kind of flight that is completely different than what you are used to with those wings."
"I bet you're jealous of us 'cause we have wings!" Red Noise shouted.
The ponies around them gasped.
Neon Guard slapped Noise's face.
"Who needs wings when you can afford a clearly superior way of flying?" Upper Crust said.
Red Noise snarled and charged at the couple. His companions grabbed him.
"Come on, guys!" Red Noise yelled. He trashed around, struggling to be free. "They can't just go around and tell us that airships are better than our wings!"
"I knew it," Jet Set said. "You may not be evil and eating our love but you're still ruffians."
"Maybe you're not supposed to be in this place if you're ruffians who can't afford the airships, hmm?" said Upper Crust.
Red Noise snarled at the couple again.
"Sorry for this guy," Blue Alarm said through a grin. "He's very short-tempered!" He looked around. Rich unicorns (and the occasional earth pony) were standing in horror as they watched Red Noise stare and grumble, with an expression of hatred, at the couple who were smiling.
The changelings pulled Red Noise away as they walked.
"Sorry!" Blue Alarm shouted. The shout echoed through the valley.


"Why did you do that, Red Noise?!" Neon Guard whispered.
"Why wouldn't I do that?" Red Noise replied.
"Ssh!" the unicorn on the platform said. "This auction is supposed to be done in a quiet manner. If you want to stay here and watch, you have to keep quiet."
Red Noise groaned.
"I'll take that as a 'Yes.'"
The unicorn picked up his gavel.
The room's checkered floor was the least artistic thing. The lights above were covered in arrays of glass. The majestic paintings on the wall depicted various landscapes, various ponies, and various other items. There were paintings done rather realistically, others were abstract with shapes and lines placed in the places where they should be in order for the paintings to be of the greatest form of art. Plaques decorated the paintings above them, telling the observer basic information about the painting.
On columns stood many artifacts. There were jars, vases, weapons, metals, manuscripts from centuries ago. A plaque in front of one particular piece of pottery boasted that it was created before the time of Equestria's founding as a state. "Archaeologists have debated whether this jar was created by Earth Ponies whose descendents would co-create Equestria or if it was created by pre-Crystal-Empire Crystal Ponies." The jar itself was plain brown and dusty.
Two unicorns and a floating and glowing ornate, silver tray arrived. On the tray was a dusty old book.
"Make way for the next item to be auctioned, everypony," Golden Gavel said as he stood on the platform.
The changelings moved to the left.
The crowd of ponies made way with hushed words and guesses about what this book was. The two unicorns carrying the tray and its book with their magic moved with form, their eyes constantly on the tray.
The tray floated to the empty column beside Golden Gavel.
"This book, as you can see, has no title engraved on it," Golden Gavel said, pointing towards the book. "The book is one hundred and fifty years old. Its state of constitution is quite normal for a book of its age—it is mostly intact, with the only items that tell of its age being the dust on the cover.
"The contents of this book detail the history of the E.U.P. Guard—short for the Earth, Unicorn, Pegasus Guard—from the time of its conception up until recent years—'recent' being recent to the author. The book contains descriptions of the events leading to the E.U.P. Guard's creation, the disorganized organization of the Guard's early years, descriptions of ponies and other creatures important to the Guard throughout its history, and listings of battles along with their listings of who participated in them, how many troops were present, and a descriptive timeline of the battles' events.
"The book's original manuscript is contained in the Canterlot Archives, which makes the manuscript the property of the Princesses. Unless the Princesses are willing to sell such a valuable piece of Equestrian history for money, nopony else is going to get it."
"When is this guy going to stop talking?" Red Noise said.
"Ssh!" And Neon Guard gave Red Noise an angry expression.
"However, this is the closest one can get to the original," Golden Gavel continued. "This is the first copy that went off the press. The story goes that this copy was actually not supposed to be sold in a bookstore. It was sent to a dear friend of the author. Without much of the details, this copy was kept by this friend and was then passed down by his descendants. The pony who gave us the copy was quite willing to pass it on since they can already buy copies of the book in the local library; he said that his great ancestor's friend would respect the decision."
Everyone was looking at the book in awe.
"It's just a book!" Red Noise whispered.
Neon Guard slapped him again.
"Hmph." Golden Gavel walked to the platform's edge. "What if I told you that this book has the seal and signature of Princess Celestia?"
Everyone glared at the changelings. Red Noise was chuckling loudly, sweat going down his face.
"I take back whatever...I-I said!" he said.
Golden Gavel looked at the red changeling.
"So, let's begin with an opening bid of a thousand bits, hopefully with no interruptions."
Humerus raised his hoof. Everypony looked at him. Every other changeling glared at him.
Blue Alarm slapped the hoof down. "What are you?!" he whispered. "We don't even have two hundred bits on our hooves!"
Humerus looked around, ignoring Blue Alarm.
"If you are supposed to bid for the book," Golden Gavel said, "proper etiquette would require you to at least say how many bits you want to give."
Humerus kept on looking around, ignoring Golden Gavel as well. He lowered his hoof.
Golden Gavel sighed. "Let's just continue with the auction. An opening bid of a thousand bits."
A young, well-dressed pony raised his hoof. "I'll have it for a thousand and two hundred bits!"
"One thousand and two hundred bits from Dummy Bid!" Golden Gavel said.
A couple of ponies glared at the suited Dummy Bid. Then, they glared at their bags.
"One thousand and five hundred!" a mare yelled.
"One thousand and five hundred, unicorn mare with the green dress!"
The mare grinned and took out of her bag a glass jar with many gold coins inside.
And on the auction went. Ponies were raising their hooves, the bid rising and rising. Displays of wealth in bits were shown. The commotion rose, the noise and the shouts and the calls got louder. The book's carriers stood beside the book, their eyes darting to wherever trouble could strike. Golden Gavel called out bids with the names or descriptions of the bidders. All the while, the book laid there on its silver tray on its own column.
"Is this safe?" Humerus asked. "I wanna eat."
"Yeah," Red Noise said. "This is way too much for a book."
"Maybe it is," said Neon Guard. "Let's go." He looked around. "Where's Blue Alarm?"


"So, this jar looks sturdy. This jar...what else can this jar be? It can hold things, it's a container. It's old, yet the description tells me that it's been sold to the museum for three thousand bits. What importance does it hold? Did it win a battle that was very significant? Was it an important pony's jar? Did it hold gold in the past? There's no decorations, no markings, no indications, not even a handle. Just a jar."
"Blue Alarm!" Red Noise yelled.
An old mare shushed the changeling.
"I know," Red Noise said, "museums are supposed to be quiet."
"Then be quiet!"
The old mare walked on.
"Where did you go, Alarm?!" Red Noise said.
"I was checking the jar," Blue Alarm said. He did not turn his eyes away from the jar.
"You don't have to stare at it like that!" Red Noise said.
"Look, Blue Alarm, we're gonna go," Neon Guard said.
Blue Alarm turned around. "All right."
The three changelings went out of the museum.