It was nighttime. The moon, still full, shone its light onto the roofs and the roads and the ground and the ponies that were still out. Yellow and white lights from the inside glowed through the windows. The hoofsteps of several ponies trotting and walking were quite pronounced—there was no other sound but the buzzes of some artificial lights.
A few ponies walked closer and closer to the Castle of Friendship nearby.
The castle's tall windows were lit with the yellow glow of its lights. The waterfall near it made the splashing sounds of water falling and hitting the surface. The water shone and twinkled the moon's white light.
Inside the spacious library, several ponies of all tribes and of all kinds were socializing and talking as they held books with their hooves. Some sat, others walked, still others stood somewhere in the room. They all were under the soft glow of the light hanging from above.
At the entrance, Princess Twilight Sparkle stood, beholding the wondrous sight of many ponies committed to the act of reading—while not being too committed.
She shifted her gaze to a faraway table. The ponies there had books on the table, but they did not open them. They talked, chatted, laughed as they sometimes gestured to the books.
Then, somepony spoke up to her.
"Hey! Do you see any Daring Do fans here?"
Rainbow Dash was stomping the ground rapidly while smiling at Twilight.
She smiled and looked around. "Well, I don't see anypony reading a Daring Do book here. Which is surprising. My copies of the books are available to anypony who wants them as long as they take good care of them!" She gestured a hoof towards the series of Daring Do books stacked together.
They were stacked at a shelf at the top, at the end of the ladder.
"Maybe not anypony," Rainbow Dash replied. "But, what about any changeling?" She pointed at two changelings at a faraway table who were calmly and quietly reading their books. The blue one was reading a book with that famous pegasus mare on the cover.
"Wow!" Twilight placed a smile on her face. "How could I've missed that one?"
But Rainbow already flew to the changelings' table.
"At least everypony's enjoying the book club night!" Then, she levitated a book from her shelf.
"I can't believe it! Daring Do's so good it even has changeling fans!"
Blue Alarm placed down the book. "It's nice to meet you Rainbow Dash!"
The yellow changeling beside him shushed him.
"Yeah, the one and only!" She gave him a daring smile while she pointed a hoof to herself. "Member of the Wonderbolts, the Element of Loyalty, saver of Equestria multiple times, and the biggest Daring Do fan in Equestria!"
"I think we've heard your credentials a couple times over already. Also, very arrogant just like we've heard."
Rainbow recoiled from the changeling. "What?! Arrogant?! What makes you think I'm arrogant?"
"'The one and only' Rainbow Dash wouldn't be Rainbow Dash without the arrogance, I guess."
"I can see you're great at observing." She rolled her eyes. "But, anyway, have you read 'Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny' yet?"
"I'm going through the series by book number, and, if I remember correctly, your book was number eighteen, second-to-last in the series so far."
Rainbow Dash struck him a mean look. "Ha-ha-ha-ha. Who says you need to read them in order? Besides, what about you take a look at its cover?"
"I know, you're there."
The changeling beside him shushed him again. Then, he returned to his book.
"Wow. Who's that? A friend of yours?"
"Got to be better friends after we turned into good changelings. His name is Solver. Back then, he was a great planner and organizer of the changelings, and he was almost always correct when it comes to guessing what was the enemy's next move. Now..." Blue Alarm slowly turned his head to look at him reading. "He's gone a bit crazy ever since."
Solver slammed the book to the table. "I'm not sure where you got that idea, but haven't I told you three hundred and twenty-two times that my name's a secret?!"
"It's already in the Canterlot Name Registers, Solver, so even if we tried to keep it a secret, somepony would know your name."
Rainbow Dash snickered at the conversation.
Solver groaned and returned to the book.
"I heard that you and your group of friends met every one of my friends—and, somehow, you didn't meet me, yet. What's the problem?"
"We were in a hurry. Urgent matter with the king at the time."
"I see..." Rainbow glared at Blue Alarm as he went on reading the book.
The pegasus took a seat. She looked at the changeling reading. She inched closer to the changeling. Then, her face was only a few inches away from the book.
"So, how do you enjoy the book?"
"It's fine."
Rainbow recoiled again from the changeling. "It's just fine?! It's the best series of book ever! What book is that?!"
"The first one."
"That explains it!" She smacked a hoof onto the book.
Blue Alarm flinched away.
"'Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone' is a great book, but the books after that get even better! You should start with the latest one! Or, the second-to-the-last one, 'cause it has me in it!"
"I thought the latest one also has you in it?"
"Well, it has me plus somepony else I met at the Daring Do convention." She looked up at one of the windows near the ceiling. "Which was today." She looked back at the changeling. Rainbow gasped. "How come I didn't meet you there at the convention earlier today at Manehattan?!"
"I left early," Blue Alarm said. "I noticed that most, if not all, the ponies there were fans of the series already. Why go to a Daring Do convention if you weren't a fan of Daring Do? I had my reasons—curiosity, it was an exciting event all by itself. But, I'm new to the Daring Do series, so I didn't really enjoy everything the convention had to offer."
"But I was there almost the whole day! How could you miss me?"
Blue Alarm smirked. "Maybe we just happened to not bump into each other. Also, Zephyr Breeze was there. I have reports that say that Zephyr likes to be with you."
Rainbow balked at the statement, gawking at the changeling. "Zephyr Breeze also likes Daring Do and went to the convention? Good thing I didn't meet him there."
"I thought you'd say that."
"Can you please keep quiet?" Solver asked angrily, raising his front hooves. "Everypony might know that I'm here, and they might start asking me questions, and they might undermine all of us!"
Rainbow pointed a hoof at him while she looked. "Uh, are you OK, Solver?"
"No, I'm not OK, espescially in the midst of ponies!"
The pegasus scowled at him. "Hey, we saved you!"
"For what purpose? There must be an ulterior motive behind it all!"
"'Ulterior?!' I didn't know you read the Daring Do books, too!"
"I read other books, you know!"
Blue Alarm stepped in front of the arguing duo. "Uh, let's please stop this fighting. We're attracting a lot of attention already."
The three looked at the rest of the ponies there. They were all looking at them—even Twilight Sparkle, who was glaring at them.
"They're onto us!" Solver yelled. "Fly away!"
He grabbed Blue Alarm by the hoof and blasted out the library.
"Why did you have to leave in such a hurry?" Blue Alarm asked as the two flew in the dark, cool night which was somewhat brightened by the several lights that were still there in Ponyville.
Only a few ponies were walking around. Those few looked up and stared at the changelings as they flew by.
"We can't let one of the Princesses know that we know what they know!" Solver gasped. Then, he slapped himself mid-flight and shushed himself. "No!" he then whispered loudly. "I have to keep myself quiet! You must keep yourself quiet too."
Blue Alarm just eyed him with a blank face."Is this another one of your conspiracies where ponies are taking advantage of us beause we're now not a militaristic group of creatures sapping love out of anyone we see fit?"
"It's a conspiracy, but it's true!"
The buildings were now far out. Over them was a dirt path and the grass beside it.
It was dark and cold outside.
"Anyway to prove the conspiracy, Solver?" Blue Alarm asked as they went on flying through the land. "If you want to convince me, you might as well give me some evidence."
"Why are the Princesses—all four of them—keeping a close watch on us changelings?" Solver glowered at him. "Now, how do you explain that other than that they're keeping track of us, to make sure that we don't stray from their agenda!"
"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna said it themselves that the agenda was to make the Changeling Kingdom prosper with peace and not with fighting."
"Hah!" Solver pointed a hoof at Blue Alarm, giving him a face of contempt as they kept flying in the night.
The only other sound that was there was the buzzes of their wings as they flapped rapidly.
"That's what they want you to think! They're the Princesses—they can say whatever they want and get away with it all!"
"Well, what's the agenda according to you, Solver?"
Solver laughed. "We're getting to the good part, Blue Alarm. The agenda is to take us over! To replace everything changeling with everything pony!"
Blue Alarm rolled his eyes.
"Come on! It's true, you know! Many ponies are still afraid of us even though we're good and innocent creatures now! So, what to do with those fears if you're one of the leaders of Equestria? Exploit those fears. If they don't want changelings, you can't move them out. That would be way too controversial. The next best thing to do is to make sure every changeling follows the pony way—so that we would be acceptable to the ponies. Of course, if that doesn't work and the ponies still don't want us—Hah! They want to destroy us!"
Solver pointed at a faraway tree. "For example: That tree! You know what they do to trees?!"
"They either take care of them or bring it down to use it for their furniture or houses."
"Exactly!" Solver beamed, looking up at the night sky with its stars and its moon. "That's the other agenda if the first one isn't true! They'll just use us for their benefit! They'll make us slaves! They'll make us the manual workers! They'll just sit there and watch us sweat and toil and who gets the credi in the end?! Ponies!"
Blue Alarm turned his face to look at Solver in the eye.
As the two buzzed along, the grass rolled on, the dirt path went on, although a few wooden signs were appearing here and there. The sound of the changelings' buzzes were loud and clear in the background of silence and a few crickets.
Blue Alarm sighed. "How do you know that? Do you have proofs?"
"Some ponies are talking about plans to have a pony lead us instead of a changeling—they say for at least a few months because, according to them, we cannot handle ourselves properly in a civilized nation of our own." Solver pointed a hoof at Blue Alarm, striking an arrogant pose. "What does that tell you?"
"That they're bad at suggesting things?"
"That's because they are bad!"
Blue Alarm smacked a hoof onto his face. "You're just spouting out ideas and using everything as evidence. That's not how logic works, Solver."
"That's the logic of ponies! I use the logic of changelings!"
Blue Alarm smacked a hoof onto his face again. "The logic of changelings says that if an apple is there, an apple is there. The logic of ponies say the same thing."
Solver grabbed Blue Alarm with a hoof and turned Blue Alarm's head forcefully to look at him. "OK, maybe the logic of ponies and the logic of changelings are the same. I will admit that. However—"
Solver inched his face closer to Blue Alarm, his face bearing a rude and dangerous anger.
"I'm afraid the ponies must have gotten to you!"
Blue Alarm groaned. "Uh, no, that just means that I got more friendly and sociable to them. Besides, don't you think that stealing love is a bad thing anyway?"
The two flew on. A loud laugh resounded through the open fields of grass and a few trees.
"Do you want to know why so many of us changelings immediately became good in the first place?"
"Because we realized Queen Chrysalis was a bad and horrible queen. It's that simple."
Solver laughed again as they flew on.
He removed his grip from Blue Alarm.
"You're wrong! It's not that simple. It's because of our constant starvation! I'll tell you, there will come a day when some of us will rise up and demand that we—"
Blue Alarm sighed very loudly.
The two changelings flew on in the dark, cold night.
Back in the rocky room of the four changelings, two of them were sleeping. Neon Guard stood guard, watching out of his door and looking and beholding all the activity that still went on even at this time of night. Under the soft green glow of the lights above, the changelings went about and chatted with each other. There were still the sounds of bits going around and being exchanged as changelings bought and sold things from and to each other. On a few soapboxes, a few changelings stood up and delcared to their fellow changelings what they wanted to say. Some of them nodded, others shook their heads. Above and among all of them, several changelings wearing armor stood and flew about, observing every changeling and every spot of the area. On their faces were smiles. A few of them waved at Neon Guard as they passed by. He waved back at them.
"At least we'll have a happy ending for now," Neon Guard said to himself. "I'll sleep happy." Then, he looked back at the room. Two beds had sleeping changelings in them. The other two beds did not. "But, where's Blue Alarm?"
Noting all the changelings in front of him as he looked back at the throng of changelings in front of him going around and about, he looked out one of the several holes. Past the hole, he saw the dark-blue-purple color of the yonder above.
Then, two changelings arrived through the hole. One was blue, the other was yellow.
"Are you sure spending time with him is a good idea?" Neon Guard asked as they stood on the ledge overlooking the many changelings below and above and in front.
"I need to make more friends, right?" Blue Alarm asked. "I need to start with maintaining the close ones I made throughout my life, starting with you guys and then going to the friends after you. Solver has been a great changeling to us back...then. Now, I want to see him go around and at least contribute to the kingdom, but—"
"You know exactly what's hindering him." He shot a hoof at the yellow changeling flying about talking and moving his mouth as he flew into his room a few rooms away. "His position was to plan and to anticipate for the changelings. After the entire species change happened, he couldn't do the job anymore—no attacks are being planned, and he doesn't want to do anything other than plan." He sighed.
"But, maybe I could get him back or something." He looked up to Neon Guard.
"Maybe you want him to be your friend so badly, it's blinding you." Neon Guard glanced at the room. "I can still hear him rambling on about how to justify a battle against ponies."
But the rest of the changelings that were flying along and walking along did not seem to mind as they talked, sold, bought, guarded. Under the soft light, they went on, under the night. Although, now, there were fewer changelings than there were minutes ago.
"Come on, let's go to sleep already," Neon Guard said as he walked back to the room. He yawned. He turned around to see Blue Alarm.
He was standing and facing the crowds of busy and noisy changelings in front of him.
"OK, just don't sleep too late, Blue Alarm."
Then, Neon Guard went inside the room.
Blue Alarm was alone by himself in the crowded place. The constant noises of the crowd rang through the cavernous place. There was that echo that sounded and resounded even to the rooms, yet the changelings inside slept soundly, although a few booming snores reverberated out.
"Yes, we know you're in the Daring Do covers twice in a row, but you don't have to rub it in," Twilight said as she sat on the seat across Rainbow's.
A few other ponies were there, all having at least one Daring Do book sitting on the round wooden surface. A few mares and a few stallions were there, along with an orange pegasus filly eyeing and admiring the one and only. On her head, there was a rainbow-colored mane wig.
There were still more ponies in the library, still talking and smiling at each other and at their books.
"So what?" Rainbow crossed her front hooves while she gave them a sly smile. "I get to spend two adventures with Daring Do herself!"
Twilight meanced her with a look.
Rainbow grinned while she scratched her mane. "Well, in the novels, that's what I mean. I didn't meet a pony who was actually Daring Do, 'cause that was just a great character made up by the great A.K. Yearling!" She shot a hoof to the air, still grinning at everypony there. Then, she smacked the hoof down to the slam. "You know what I mean, right, everypony?!"
Everypony said their affirmations and nodded their heads.
"Of course, Daring Do isn't real," Twilight said, eyeing all the ponies around the table. "It would be ridiculous if she was, although if she was real, that means that the events that happened in the books actually did happen and that there is an Ahuizotl running about trying to rule the jungles."
A stallion spoke up. "And that would also mean that there is a Mr. Caballeron with—"
"Doctor Cabelleron, to you," Rainbow Dash interrupted.
The ponies there laughed.
"So, I heard that there were two changelings here in the library earlier tonight," the same stallion said.
"Yeah," Rainbow said, waving a hoof about, " they were kinda weird, but one of them likes Daring Do." She smiled. "He's new to Daring Do so I'd love to help him through the entire series! Especially the last two books, of course." She grinned a sly grin at everypony.
"If he doesn't like the Daring Do books, then don't force it on him," Twilight said. "Different strokes for different folks."
"But, who doesn't like the Daring Do books?!" the filly yelled.
Everypony outside the table shushed the filly.
"Sorry!" she whispered. Then, she looked back to the ponies there. "I don't remember anypony who doesn't like those books! Rainbow Dash is even in those books!"
"Well, Fluttershy doesn't like the Daring Do books, Scootaloo" Twilight said.
"Probably because they're too action-y for her," Scootaloo blurted out.
"My favorite books aren't the Daring Do ones," another stallion spoke up. He had brown, frizzled mane and tail, wore a brown, bushy mustache, and wore a red visor and a khaki shirt with autumn leaves imprinted on it. He wore, with a strap, a camera. "I'm more of a non-fiction kind of a pony when it comes to books."
"Like textbooks?!" Rainbow Dash then gasped.
"Nah, travel brochures. I think my clothes should've told you that." He smiled and fixed his shirt with a hoof.
"How do you think that travel brochures are way cooler than Daring Do?!" Rainbow Dash complained, being very expressive with her hooves.
Twilight placed a hoof onto Rainbow's head and looked at her. "Remember, Rainbow Dash: Different strokes for different folks."
"Well, at least I'm the number one fan of Daring Do!" She grinned.
Twilight groaned. "What about me? I've read most of them before you got into the series."
"Should I go away now?" the stallion with the camera asked, eyeing the two ponies nervously as the two glared at each other.
The rest of the ponies on the table slowly backed away from the table.
Rainbow Dash, the pegasus, and Princess Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn, stared into each others' eyes with the looks of anger.
Then, Twilight smiled. "It's alright to be the be the number two fan, I guess."
"Hah!" Rainbow pointed a hoof at Twilight. "I won without a fight!"
Twilight placed a hoof to her head.