//------------------------------//
// Enthusiasm 
// Story: Society as We Know It 
// by Comma Typer 
//------------------------------//

The four changelings sat around the table. The noise of ponies talking at their tables was there. The smell of sweet food was there. It was a cheery atmosphere.
"Where have you been?" Red Noise asked. "Probably the Crystal Empire! I'm wondering why you're there. Wanted to visit the Prince and the Princess of the Crystal Empire?"
"Not just that," Blue Alarm said, looking at his friends while he decorated his words with gestures of a hoof. "Sometimes, I just want to see Equestria, to just enjoy whatever Equestria has to offer, to observe the ponies who live there."
"Looks like that observation skill of yours is proving quite useful even when you're just travelling," Neon Guard said. "Wait, is that Pinkie with our food?"
The changelings looked at Pinkie.
Pinkie Pie was gladly walking towards the table, carrying a couple plates of food. Then, she quickly brought the plates to the table. "Have a good time!" she said. Then, she happily walked away.
On the table were plates of cakes, pies, and candies.
"This has to be good," Red Noise said. "We're going to be having a full sugar meal today!"
And then Humerus grabbed a quarter of a cake and placed it on his plate.
Red Noise laughed as he watched Humerus eat his cake. "You must be really eager for this, Humerus!"
Humerus stopped his eating and looked at Red Noise. "I am eager!" Then, he went back to eating.
Neon Guard sighed. "Well, now we're together, what's going to be the plan? We can go out of Ponyville right after the meal. Or, we can stay here and see what we can do."
"There's Twilight's castle," Blue Alarm said.
"What are we going to do there?" Red Noise asked. "It's great to meet a Princess, but what else are we going to do?"
"We can have dinner there," Blue Alarm replied. "We can eat dinner and talk with Twilight and her best friends. That would be a good way to spend the day."
"It's not close to dinner," Red Noise said. "It's just the afternoon. It's early afternoon."
"We could stay at the castle while waiting for dinner."
"And, what, read several books if Twilight's friends aren't there? She's probably busy with her royal duties!"
"Then, we find out," Blue Alarm replied.
"OK, what happens if we find out that Twilight is busy and her friends aren't there?" Neon Guard asked.
Humerus went on eating his cake.
"We just go to other places in Ponyville until it's time for dinner," Blue Alarm replied.
Red Noise raised an eyebrow at him, somewhat angry. "What other places are in Ponyville? I know the places, but how are we going to spend our time together if we go there?"
"We could talk to each other near the clock tower," Blue Alarm said. "It's peaceful there."
"Yeah, there's not much to do there," Red Noise replied gruffly.
"Well, if you want, there's always the town hall," Blue Alarm said.
"What are we going to in the town hall? Are we just going to watch signings of papers?"
"It would be interesting to see what exactly they're signing."
"For you, it's interesting. What about the rest of us?"
"Let's not get into arguing already," Neon Guard said, placing a hoof in front of each of the two changelings. "Let's agree on what to do, alright?"
"Alright," Red Noise answered, annoyed.
Blue Alarm nodded.
Humerus kept eating his cake. He grabbed a slice of one of the pies.
"So, we're not going to go to Twilight's castle since Red Noise doesn't want to stay there. We're probably going to go there for dinner, but not now."
"We haven't asked Humerus, yet," Blue Alarm said. He noticed Humerus still eating his food. "What are your thoughts about where to go after this, Humerus?"
Humerus kept eating, munching loudly and noisily.
"I'm pretty sure he's going to be OK with almost any place we go to here," Red Noise mentioned. "Humerus isn't going to mind much. I, on the other hoof, want something active, something that we can do, not just talk about!"
"Red Noise!" Neon Guard called out, staring at him with a stern face. "Let's not bring this any further!"
Red Noise sighed.
Blue Alarm took a slice of one of the pies. "We might as well start eating. The food might not be that fresh anymore."
"Blue Alarm's probably right," Red Noise said as he got his slice of one of the pies while looking at Neon Guard. "We might have better ideas when we have full stomachs." He laughed before he took a bite of the pie.
Neon Guard took his slice of a pie. "That's better."



The four changelings walked on the street, passing by the humble buildings of Ponyville and passing by the cheerful ponies. Humerus was reading a comic book as he walked with his friends, immersed in the world of the comic as his eyes were focused on each action and on each line of the characters there.
"He's very proud of owning a comic," Neon Guard said as they walked. "Is it too much? Maybe. I don't know. He's keeping himself in line, so he's allowed. Recently, he has collected quite a collection of comics."
"It's getting to the point where he can talk with the pony fans of the comics," Red Noise added, "and he actually fits in! Humerus is very knowledgable about the comics' worlds, characters, storylines, even minor details like the favorite foods of the main characters! The only thing I know about the comics he reads is that there are good ponies fighting bad ponies."
Blue Alarm smiled a subtle smile, taking a quick look at Humerus enjoying himself with the comic he was holding. "At least he's happy. That's a good thing."
Neon Guard sighed. "Of course it is, Blue Alarm. There's no hassle now about having to scramble for the next mission to invade or to attack this or that town. We can all stay quiet, stay peaceful, and be alright without having to hurt any pony." His expression changed into a less happy one. "Uh, have you thought about where to go next? We're just walking around on the streets."
"We don't have a map," Blue Alarm said. "But, Ponyville is a popular enough place. We can revisit some of the landmarks."
"What about we go to a place where we haven't been to yet, Blue Alarm?" Red Noise asked.
"Not this again," Neon Guard said. "Guys, handle this the quiet way!"
A few ponies looked at them.
"OK, this is not looking good," Neon Guard said, glancing nervously at the ponies looking at them.
"Let's just walk," Blue Alarm said, walking already. "They're not going to notice us that much if we keep on walking."
Red Noise hurriedly went back to walking at a normal pace.
Neon Guard did so.
Humerus followed, still reading his comic book.
"We can talk about the history of Ponyville," Blue Alarm said.
"What about we talk about where to go?" Red Noise asked.
"Will you stop that already?" Neon Guard said, almost yelling. "How many times are we going to be talking about that?"
"It's an insurmountable topic until we talk about it," Red Noise replied. "Delay it as much as you can, but you can never avoid it!"
Neon Guard sighed. "Alright. Let's just delay it."



"Here are your utensils!" the pony behind the stall announced to the ponies passing by. "Here are your utensils! We've got the finest around! They are guaranteed to bring you the best dining experience!"
A few changelings walked up to the stall.
The stall was decorated with groups of arranged spoons and forks.
"Ah, some customers!" the pony proudly declared. "I take it that you're changelings, right?"
"Yes," Blue Alarm replied. "I'm Blue Alarm and these are my friends, Red Noise, Neon Guard, and Humerus." He looked at Humerus who was still reading his comic book, happy with his activity. He looked back at the pony behind the stall. "So, what else do you sell other than spoons and forks?"
"I sell not a thing other than spoons and forks, Blue Alarm!" the pony responded with grand volume. "We have a great variety of spoons and forks!" He pointed to a group of spoons. "These are of regal quality!" He pointed to a group of forks. "These are of amazing value!"
"How am I supposed to know which one should I buy?" Blue Alarm asked.
"It's your choice!" the pony replied loudly, smiling. "Choose the spoon or fork that's good for you! You'll never be sad!"
"Sad about what?" Blue Alarm asked.
"Uh, sad about having chosen a spoon or fork that turned out to not be right for you!"
"What if I just want a spoon or fork?" Blue Alarm asked.
"Then, just choose!"
"Uh, Blue Alarm," Red Nosie said, nudging Blue Alarm, "what are you trying to do?"
"Trying to find a good bargain," Blue Alarm replied. He turned towards the pony. "Thanks for your products, but it's maybe not the best place for me to buy something."
"Oh, that's alright, Blue Alarm!" the pony said.
Then, the changelings left.
They walked, passing by ponies, some of them carryings bags that had food and other things. There were many stalls and carts with ponies selling their produce.
"Teach Humerus to not be so involved with his comics," Red Noise complained.
"I don't think he's that dedicated to comics," Blue Alarm responded. "He still has good skill in combat, so he's not going to lose just because he's reading a comic book."
Red Noise sighed. "What if he bumps into a pony?"
"If he bumps into a pony, then we'll start talking to him."
Humerus bumped into Fluttershy.
Humerus fell to the ground, dropping his comic.
Fluttershy took a few steps back, gasped, and ran towards the changeling. "Are you hurt? Sorry, I didn't see you there. I was just looking at the stalls to see if they have enough ingredients for my animals' salad."
Humerus rubbed his head, groaning in pain.
"Oh, no." Red Noise eyed Humerus. He glanced at Fluttershy who was looking at them. "Hi, Fluttershy! How are you?"
"I'm doing fine!" Then, he looked at Humerus. "Are you sure you don't need help? Here, I'll bring you up." She lifted Humerus and brought him back on his four hooves. "There, now, Humerus."
Humerus then hugged Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy!" Humerus yelled. "It's great to see you again!"
Fluttershy sighed. "I should've known," Fluttershy said. "You're the changeling that bothered me and my friends."
Neon Guard sighed. "Uh, we bought him some comics."
"It looks like that's not going so well," Fluttershy replied.
Humerus stopped hugging her. On his face was a great smile. "Fluttershy! I'm excited to have dinner with you and the rest of your best friends in Twilight's castle!"
"What? Twilight didn't tell me we were going to have dinner there."
"Then, I'll tell Twilight about it!" Humerus yelled as he flew towards the castle.
"Hey, don't go away!" Red Noise yelled as he flew and followed Humerus.
Fluttershy looked at the two flying changelings. Several other ponies looked at them as well.
She looked at Neon Guard. "What happened?"
"Humerus looked very excited about his comics!"
"He's still very enthusiastic about us," Fluttershy replied. "This is not good. I already told him about it, yet it turns out that Humerus hasn't learned."
"What about we chase him?" Blue Alarm asked. "You go with us to teach him that lesson."
Fluttershy looked at the stalls. Then, she looked at Blue Alarm. "Alright."



"So, any news about the next Daring Do book?" Rainbow Dash asked, happily flying around in the library room. "Because, I'm really excited if A.K. Yearling is actually writing the next one! Of course, we know that A.K. Yearling is actually Daring Do, so maybe we should go over to her house and ask if she's done an adventure already?"
"Rainbow!" Twilight called out, frustrated. "We're not supposed to be interrupting her daily life! Besides, the journey to her house is very long and very tiring! I don't want to walk all the way there just to ask that kind of question!"
Rainbow floated down to one of the seats at Twilight's table. "Well, I just want to read the next Daring Do book! I've been waiting for days!"
"What about you try reading another book?" Twilight suggested. She levitated a book on the table. "Here's a book about a detective!"
"I don't really like mysteries," Rainbow repliedl. "I'm into an adventure!"
"You've been reading only Daring Do books!" Twilight complained. "How are you going to learn the other types of literature out there?"
"I don't need to learn about other books," Rainbow said, smiling. "The Daring Do books are the only books that I read."
"Other books are good, Rainbow! They have different kinds of stories to tell! Even the non-fiction ones are good to read!"
"I'll still read the Daring Do books!"
Twilight brought the book down to the table. "OK. You have your own interests and I have mine. I'll not let this become a serious argument."
Rainbow smiled.
"How's the weather?" Twilight asked. "Did you clear all the clouds?"
"Yeah!"
"Was it easy?"
"Of course!"
"Was it really easy to clear the clouds?"
"Yes!"
"Alright," Twilight said. "There's not really much on my schedule, so, you can borrow any book you want from the library."
"Alright!" Rainbow yelled. Then, she flew towards one of the books, grabbed a Daring Do book, flew back to one of the tables, and opened the book.
Twilight sighed. "You really like the Daring Do books, don't you?"
Then, the doors opened.
"Twilight!" a voice yelled.
Twilight looked.
Two changelings were flying around in the room, one trying to fly away from the other.
"Why are you flying in the library?" Twilight asked. "This is not the place to fly around in!"
"I'm just excited to meet you again, Twilight!" Humerus yelled as he flew.
"You're irritating me again, Humerus!" Twilight yelled. "And, is that your friend, Red Noise?!"
"I'm trying to stop him!" Red Noise yelled.
Twilight groaned. He flew towards Humerus.
Rainbow looked up from reading her book. Then, she flew towards Humerus, also.
The scene was rapid and fast-paced as the flying ponies and Red Noise zoomed in on Humerus as he flew around, shouting in elation as he took a few glances at Twilight and at Rainbow before he focused on the task of just flying. He flew right beside the books, moving them a little by the wind. Humerus dodged Rainbow, Twilight, and Red Noise before he flew right above the tables.
Then, Humerus landed on the floor.
Red Noise tackled him.
"You have to stop that!" Red Noise yelled at him. "This is not a game! You're annoying a Princess!"
The doors opened again.
"OK, what happened?" Neon Guard asked, analyzing the situation as he walked inside beside Blue Alarm and Fluttershy.
"I flew with Twilight and Rainbow Dash!" Humerus yelled as he was being pulled up by Red Noise.
Red Noise glared at him.
Humerus stopped smiling and shyed away from him.
Twilight stomped her hooves on the way to Humerus, staring at him with a fierce look. "Humerus!"
Humerus shuddered, trembling. He stepped back from the enraged Princess.
Twilight sighed. She looked at Rainbow and then at Fluttershy. "Girls?"
They looked at her. They walked towards her.
The silence in the room was tense. The rest of the changelings eyed Humerus as he continued trembling. With each step of the mares, his shuddering became more obvious, more apparent. On his face was an expression of fear.
"OK, I didn't expect my heroines to be dreadful!" Humerus yelled, shaky. "I don't want punishment! I don't want punishment from you! I know that you could imprison me in stone!"
The three mares looked at him.
Rainbow laughed. "Do you seriously think that we're going to do that?!" she said in surprise.
Humerus nodded his head, still having a scared look.
Fluttershy smiled. "You haven't done anything seriously wrong, Humerus. You were just being extremely annoying, that's all."
Twilight smiled, lightening her expression. "I understand that you're very, well, excited about us. I understand that, since we've saved Equestria several times, there's going to be some fans sooner or later. However, that doesn't make it OK to just intrude our lives."
Humerus stopped shuddering.
"It's OK to like us because of our heroic deeds," Twilight said. "Just remember that we're also normal ponies who have everyday lives. We have our own jobs, we have our own hobbies. We don't live everyday trying to save Equestria."
"Well, I appreciate a bit more approval and honor from my fans," Rainbow interrupted. "I have a fan club! But, I think Twilight's right. You're not supposed to be annoying me when I'm reading my Daring Do books!"
"Does that mean Humerus is alright?" Blue Alarm asked.
"Oh, he's alright," Fluttershy said. "We just really want him to change."
"I'll make sure Humerus won't bother you," Neon Guard said.
"That's good to hear." Fluttershy looked at Humerus. "Don't be so worried, Humerus. We're not that angry at you."
Humerus smiled.



The sky had several clouds and a few pegasi flying. One of them was a gray pegasus with yellow tail and mane. She landed on the ground, on the street.
She walked on, looking at each pony she passed by and greeting them by smiling. She passed by a few changelings, also, smiling at them.
"Who's that?" Neon Guard asked.
"That's Derpy," Humerus said as he brought out his comic book from his bag. "She's a mailpony."
"How do you know their names?"
"I'm just that excited about ponies and Equestria!" Humerus cheerfully replied. "When your heroines live in this town, you're going to end up knowing more about the inhabitants of the place at some point!"
"And you even know the name of the mailpony?" Neon Guard asked.
"Well, I know her name!"
"The intensity of your enthusiasm is astounding," Blue Alarm said. "It brings you to memorize ponies' names. Well, what about that pony over there?" He pointed a stallion with brown coat and black mane and tail. His cutie mark was two cherries.
"That's Cherry Fizzy," Humerus responded. "I talked with him once and he said that he actually saw Twilight right before she got her cutie mark. He was the one pushing the cart with the dragon egg. Spike was from that dragon egg."
"Are you going to end up telling us about what he does everyday?" Red Noise asked, exasperated.
"It's a nice endeavor! I'll go try!"
"I wasn't being serious!"
"OK, what about that pony?" Blue Alarm asked, pointing to another pony.
"That's Half Baked Apple," Humerus answered. "Member of the Apple family, which means that he's a cousin to Applejack. He's not from Ponyville, although I'm not sure where he lives."
"How am I supposed to know if you're not lying to us?" Red Noise asked.
"What about we go ask him?" Humerus said.
Then, he trotted off towards Half Baked Apple.
Half Baked Apple, holding an apple pie, looked at the approaching changeling.
"Good afternoon!" Humerus greeted. "What's your name?"
"My name's Half Baked Apple!" he replied. "Why are ya' here?"
"I'm just asking about your name."
Half Baked Apple looked confused, eyeing the other changelings approaching him. "Uh, what is this about?"
"I heard it!" Red Noise yelled. "OK, but one pony is not enough!"
"What about Cherry Fizzy?" Humerus said.
"Wait, I don't get it!" Half Baked Apple protested.
"Humerus knows the names of a lot of ponies," Neon Guard said. "Sorry to bother you!"
"Aww, that's OK! It's not somethin' ordinary to meet a changeling!"
Then, the changelings left.
Cherry Fizzy, wearing a bag, was headed towards Sugarcube Corner.
Humerus approached him. "Good afternoon! What's your name?"
Cherry Fizzy looked at him, surprised. "My name is Cherry Fizzy." He eyed him. "What do you want to talk about? Do you want to talk about the day? Or, do you want to talk about your favorite food?"
Humerus turned around and faced his approaching friends. "See! He's Cherry Fizzy!"
"This isn't a friendly conversation?!" Cherry Fizzy shouted. "You don't event want to introduce yourself, maybe tell me your name?!"
Humerus turned around and laughed nervously, somewhat enlivening the mood of the conversation. "My name's Humerus! I'm a changeling and these—" he gestured towards his friends "—are my friends! I'm a nice guy, and I'm really honored to meet you!"
"Uh, what did I do?"
"You were the one who pushed the cart with the dragon egg!"
Cherry Fizzy placed a hoof on his chin, thinking and wondering. "You mean what I used to do at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns?"
"Yes, Cherry Fizzy!" Humerus yelled.
"And, why? What's there about pushing the cart with the dragon egg for a test?"
"Because you helped Twilight Sparkle find her cutie mark!"
Neon Guard placed a hoof in his face, disappointed.