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

Twilight arranged the books in the library, levitating many books and moving a book here and moving a book there. She hummed a melody. It was a simple melody.
Spike, meanwhile, sat on one of the chairs. He rested his head on the table, holing his head with his claws.
Twilight kept humming while she arranged the books.
Then, the bookshelves were filled.
Twilight turned around.
She stopped smiling.
"Spike?" Twilight trotted her way to him. "Spike, what's wrong? Do you feel sick?"
"No, Twilight," Spike drowsily said, attempting to get a hold on himself. "I was just...thinking and remembering."
"Thinking and remembering what, Spike?"
"Thorax."
Spike rested his head again on the table.
"Aww, do you miss him?" Twilight asked.
"Well, what do you think?"
Twilight looked at him.
On his face was a scowl.
"Before you tell me anything about why he cannot be here most of the time, yes, Twilight, I know about why he cannot be here most of the time! He's a king of his own kingdom and I'm not regretful of that. He has his royal duties to fulfill, he has meetings to go to, he has summits to attend—and you're a Princess, so I can catch a glimpse of him once in a while and we could chat. But, of course, break time's always short before all the delegates and all the members have to convene again to talk about things that are way over my head." He sulked.
Spike sighed. "We had some great memories and times together. Even when he was 'Crystal Hoof,' when he was disguised as a pony, we had a few laughs, a few snacks, a few chats. It got a lot better after Cadance and Shining Armor accepted him. Back then, Thorax had no obligations, no royal duties to attend to. All that he needed to do was to make friends—and I was already his friend. OK, he didn't live in Ponyville—he lived in the Crystal Empire—but, thanks to you, I could go there sometimes and meet him. Thorax would tell me some things about the Changeling Hive, but...I understand why he didn't wanna talk about it much." He paused, the scowl on his face becoming a frown. "We ate together, we played games together. It was fun."
Twilight patted Spike. On her face was a frown, too.
"Then, Chrysalis returned and captured all of us. When I saw Thorax again...he was different. I was happy when I realized that all of the changelings are now free, free to do good. But, I also realized that Thorax was now the king of the Changeling Kingdom—and I knew what that meant. I knew that the Changeling Kingdom needs some work to get back on its hooves, and I knew that whoever is going to lead that kingdom was going to have a lot of work. And, when I realized that Thorax was going to be the king..."
Spike sniffed.
Twilight hugged him.
A tear went down Spike's face.
And then, another a tear.
And then, another.
And another.
Twilight patted Spike while she hugged him.
"Spike, you don't have to sob," Twilight whispered. "You know that you can always go to the Changeling Kingdom."
"But, even if I do go there," Spike whined, "what if one of the changelings tells me that he's busy, that he's currently occupied with some royal work?!"
"I can always ask him what his schedule is," Twilight answered. "I'm sure that by being prepared, you could then go spend some time with him. And, besides, there are times when Thorax goes here, remember?"
"Yeah, but, usually, they're either for royal duties or for his new friends." Spike sulked again, now scowling.
"You mean Discord, Starlight, and Trixie?" Twilight said, slightly balking away from the baby dragon. "Oh, I didn't know that—that they were—that Thorax would be—" She gasped and breathed quickly. She glanced at the library doors. She looked at Spike. "I should've recognized that, if I grouped Thorax with the friends he has now, that I would be exempting you!"
"At least he's OK with the friends he has," Spike said nonchalantly. "At least...he's happy." He sniffed again.
"Spike, I'm going to amend this!" Twilight declared.
"How? Thorax is a king, and he's probably a king who's busy with all the work that he has."
"Oh, I wasn't considering that." She paced the room. "Well, not to worry! With enough planning, this can be solved once and for all!"
"Twilight, friendship cannot be quantified!"
"I know that, Spike," Twilight said before making a light-hearted laugh. "I just need to think about when you could spend time with Thorax! Thorax is, of course, busy and occupied, but that doesn't mean he's going to be busy and occupied all the time! What about you go and join Thorax and Starlight when he arrives in Ponyville. Try taking an active role, Spike!"
"Well, when's the next time he's going to be here, Twilight?" Spike asked, holding a claw as a gesture.
Twilight giggled. "Today, later this morning?" She grinned widely.
"What?! I gotta go to the train station now!"
And Spike hurried off.
"Spike, wait! What about the snacks?!"



At the simple train station, three creatures stood on the platform. It was a cool morning, the sun shining in the clear sky as a few pegasi were flying.
"There must've been a mistake!" Discord grumbled. He brought up a little watch. "According to my clock, the train is supposed to be here hours ago!"
Starlight and Trixie looked at him. "Hours, Discord?" Starlight asked, giving Discord a pensive look. "You do know that trains arrive every fifteen minutes or so."
"What do you know about trains?" He threw a miniature toy train at her.
"Hey!"
"I could always teleport that train here." Discord laughed.
"And then cause chaos for all the other trains who are on a schedule that is dependent on every train being on time, not being too early or too late?"
"I'm the master of chaos, Starlight! I may be reformed, but that doesn't mean I couldn't have a little of my own kind of fun now and then!" He made a fist out of his claw.
"Oh, what if I told Twilight that you were about to hurt Starlight with your magic?" Trixie spoke.
"Trixie," Discord said, "she would just tell me to apologize and to clean up the mess that I made. It's not much of a deal to me, to be quite honest with you."
"What, are you telling me that you really want to hurt me?!" Starlight yelled.
Then, the loud whistle of the train.
"Finally, a train that arrived on time," Discord complained. He checked the little watch. "This watch is probably useless considering the second hand isn't even moving."
"Discord!" Starlight yelled.
"It's called a joke, Starlight," Discord said. "Cheer up!"
And the three watched as the train approached the train station, slowing down until the wheels stopped and the train whistled loudly again.
The train's doors opened and many ponies walked and trotted out of the train, some of them carrying bags and baggages and luggages. One changeling exited the train.
"Thorax!" they yelled as they ran towards him and gave him a hug.
"Aww! You don't have to do that—do we have to do that every time we meet each other?" Thorax looked around.
The other ponies there were watching them hug. A few ponies muttered and murmured among themselves.
They stopped hugging.
"Any plans for today, Thorax?" Discord asked. "This time, let's just leave Ponyville and take the next train to wherever it's going to take us! You won't have to choose between the options you have here in Ponyville!" A map appeared and Discord showed it to him. "There are so many places in Equestria to have some fun!"
"We could go to the Changeling Kingdom!" Thorax said.
Discord remained smiling, blinking a few times before he closed the map and scowled at him. "Any place within Equestria, Thorax."
"You let him decide, Discord," Starlight said, standing up to the draconequus.
"Oh, alright!" Discord took a seat and grabbed a bag of popcorn.
"I suggest Manehattan!" Trixie yelled, raising a hoof and jumping up and down. "It's a city with endless activity, and there's going to be something that you will enjoy there! Like the parks!"
"Yeah, the parks," Starlight said, smiling. "I have a kite with me, Thorax. I can teach you how to fly a kite, if you want to, that is." She avoided Thorax's look, nervously glancing at other places.
"Don't be silly, Starlight," Trixie said.
"Yeah...what is a kite?" Thorax asked.
Starlight and Trixie gasped. "You don't know what a kite is?!" Starlight shouted, shocked and placing her front hooves on to her face.
"Here, this is a kite!" Discord yelled, holding a string that led to a kite that was flying in the sky. The kite was a simple, diamond-shaped kite.
Thorax looked up.
"So, what do you do with it?" Thorax said. "Do you check the weather? Is it like a detector of wind? Or, is it a toy? Is it part of a game? Do lots of ponies use kites or are only the ponies in Ponyville knowledgeable about kites? Is there some sort of kite-flying competition?"
Starlight patted Thorax's shoulder. "Heh-heh-heh-heh. That's a lot of questions for a kite, Thorax!"
And a baby dragon stumbled and fell and tumbled on to the wooden platform. He landed with a thud.
Spike groaned as he recovered and regained his balance and dusted himself. "I made it!"
"Made it to what, Spike?" Discord said, giving Spike a glass of water. "Are you in hot water or something? Because, if you are, here's some cold water to douse the trouble!" Then, drums appeared and Discord performed a quick and funny drum beat.
Starlight, Trixie, Thorax, and Spike looked at him weirdly. Spike shook his head. "Really, Discord? Is that the best you got?"
"And, why are there drums?" Thorax asked. "Does it make it funnier?"
Discord grumbled and threw the drums away. "Well, then, it looks like, according to you, I have to undergo some comedy school! But, let's sweep that away and just think about the day. First, let's ask about why Spike is here?" Discord flew to him and pointed a claw at him; Spike was slowly stepping back with each inch that Discord moved. "Are you trying to spy on us? Did Twilight send you? Because if she did, then tell her that, no, we're not going to be doing anything dangerous." Then, Discord stood on the platform. "Relatively speaking, that is."
"I'm here to just spend time with Thorax," Spike said.
Thorax walked towards the baby dragon and smiled. He nervously scratched his head. "Hi, Spike!"
Spike glanced away from him—then, he looked back at him, smiling though his eyes were a little watery. "Hi, Thorax!"
And he ran to him and hugged him.
"I miss you, too, Spike!" Thorax shouted with joy. "It's good that I managed to get some free time, a day off! And then, you arrived! I'm sure you'll make this day even better and even more awesome!"
"What is Spike going to contribute to our time, anyway?" Discord said. "He's just here to drag us down because, well, he's short and all!"
Then, the train's doors closed and accelerated away, later disappearing in the horizon.
Discord sighed and straightened his tie. He grabbed a hat and placed it on his head.
"Why are you wearing that?" Thorax asked.
"I'm just initiating my backup plan, my royal changeling king," Discord said. Then, he snapped his claw.



They appeared.
The noise of the ponies walking on the sidewalks was almost deafening as the many carriages on the streets only helped increase the sound of the city. Tall buildings surrounded them, lining up the streets. Billboards and other forms of advertisements dotted the place, some of them on the rooftops of the buildings. The ponies themselves were quite varied—a unicorn pony wearing fancy clothes passed by an Earth pony in a normal businesspony's attire who then passed by a pegasus pony wearing no clothes who then passed by another pegasus pony who wore a simple shirt.
The smell of the road was a strange smell.
It was a clear sky.
"Welcome to Manehattan!" Discord announced.
Thorax and Spike were frightened, jumping back from the stream of ponies walking here and there on the sidewalk.
"This is too much!" Thorax shouted, his voice shaky. "Where do we even start with all these ponies moving around so fast?!"
"Hey, step away!" a pony yelled as he rushed his way. "Out of the way!"
Starlight was quickly looking around, taking in the new surroundings. "Discord, you should've warned us that you were about to teleport!"
"It wouldn't be that fun if I did tell you," Discord argued. He straightened his tie again. "Now—" A map appeared and Discord grabbed it "—there are various landmarks in Manehattan that would just captivate you just by being there. There's the ice rink, there's the parks like what Trixie said, there's the top of almost any skyscraper, 'Rarity for You?!' Nah!"
"We should ask a proper tour guide," Thorax said, shaking a little as he watched the ponies walking and running on the sidewalk, some of them carrying bags, others holding foods and drinks. "We might get lost here!"
"I'm Discord, remember?"
"Thorax is right," Starlight said. "We shouldn't split up."
"What about me?!" Spike yelled, jumping up and down as he pointed to himself.
Thorax picked Spike up and placed him on his back. "You're going to be my buddy for the trip, Spike!"
And Spike and Thorax bumped their forelimbs—Spike's claw and Thorax's hoof.
"That's nice," Trixie said, "but we still don't know where to begin? I don't even know where we are exactly in Manehattan!" She smiled, giggling. "However, we're in Manehattan!"
"You don't require a tour guide to see all the sights here," Discord said.
"Actually, you do."
Everyone looked at the source of the voice.
Outside the line of ponies walking the sidewalk, there was an Earth pony with a blue suit. His coat was green. "I'm Trip Taker, your local tour guide for the day!" He offered a hoof.
Discord slapped his hoof. "Manehattan can't be that complex to traverse in."
"It is," Trip Taker said. "I don't care if you're the spirit of disharmony or whatever, Manehattan is a maze to anypony who hasn't seen the streets and the layout of the city. I've been here for my entire life, so you better trust me." He looked at Discord and his friends. "Wait a minute, this is right in the middle of the city and you managed to get yourself here? I didn't see you enter! Don't remember seeing you at the train station or any of the bridges."
"Discord teleported us here," Trixie said, pointing an accusatory hoof at the draconequus.
Discord smiled nervously as he waved his paw at Trip Taker.
"Since we're right in the middle," Trip Taker said, "I might as well tell you all about the districts we have here in Manehattan later."
Trixie bounced up and down and raised a hoof. "Are we going to the Mare Statue?"
Trip Taker giggled. "Of course, the symbol and icon of Manehattan itself. A tourist's dream." He sighed in awe. "Let's get all five of you to the Mare Statue with no teleporting." He eyed Discord. "I'm looking at you, Discord. I'm not afraid of you."
"You dare threaten me?"
"Ask any Manehattan resident here and the answer will always be 'Yes,' so get a move on!"
Trip Taker trotted off and Thorax and his friends followed him.



The breeze was windy, the air was cold, some ponies' clothes bended and flapped by the wind, and the view was astounding.
A heart-shaped telescope was there.
"Here's the view from the top of the Mare Statue!" Trip Taker said.
The five creatures hurried towards the windows.
Trixie gasped. "It's more amazing than I had ever thought of!"
"It's...a beautiful sea!" Thorax yelled. "What if I take some pictures of it so I can show the rest of the changelings? I bet that would bring in more visitors to Manehattan!"
"Manehattan's already a popular tourist destination," Trip Taker said. "It would make me happy to be able to help more tourists if that was the case."
Thorax took the camera and snapped some pictures of the view.



"And, here is the park!"
Thorax and his friends stepped on to the park's grounds.
Trees dotted the place as ponies walked around in the park. Ponies sat on the grass, some of them eating at picnics. Several ponies sat on the seats at the tables, talking to each other as they ate the food on the table. Some ponies were flying kites.
Starlight levitated a kite with its string from her bag.
"Looks like somepony's a kite-flyer!" Trip Taker commented before Starlight galloped off towards some of the other kite-flying ponies.
"Starlight, wait for me!" Trixie yelled before she ran off to follow her.
"Spike?" Thorax asked, turning around to see him on his back. "Are you OK?"
Spike nodded. "I cannot wait to hear what Twilight has to say about it!"
"Well, what can I do, Trip Taker?" Discord asked, exasperated and annoyed. He took out a chair and sat on it. "I would turn one of those trees into a candy tree, but then the police might try to arrest me. Then again, I could teleport!"
"Telling us about your evil plan isn't going to be helping you," Trip Taker said.
"Then, I might as well just sit here and wait!" Discord said. Then, he brought out a watch. Then, he took it away.
Trip Taker faced Spike and Thorax. "Tell the girls that you better meet me here when they're done! There's a lot more to Manehattan than this park!"
"Alright!" Thorax yelled as he trotted off towards Starlight and Trixie, having Spike on his back.



As they walked on the sidewalks, passing by numerous other ponies in their own routes throughout Manehattan, Trip Taker was talking.
"We have several districts here in Manehattan. We refer to them rather unrigidly, since we're not so strict on what the boundaries are."
As Trip Taker was talking, Thorax looked at Spike. "You know what, Spike? I miss the times we had when I wasn't the ruler of the Changeling Kingdom."
Spike stopped smiling.
"We were so free. Nopony told me that I had to do this or that I had to do that. I was the one who decided what to do, and I'm glad I could have you as a friend. But, when we saved the changelings, I was given the task to lead the rebuilding efforts of the Changeling Kingdom. I became the king. I knew that I would not have enough time to spend with you, Spike. So, even just some time here in Manehattan is good, and it's even better now that you could also spend some time with my other friends as well, even if you're already familiar with them."
Spike smiled. "Thanks, Thorax."
"Anything else you want to say, Spike?"
"Why?"
"Because Trip Taker stopped walking."
Spike looked at Trip Taker.
"Who wants to take a break at the sandwich restaurant?!"
And Trip Taker went inside along with Thorax and his friends.
The air was cool as the sound of ponies behind the counter moving around and operating cooking machines filled the air. The smell of freshly-made sandwiches was sumptuous. Ponies, both enthusiastic and bored, lined up as ponies took their orders. Some ponies sat on the chairs in front of the counter, others sat on the chairs at the tables. All of them were eating a kind of sandwich. One pony was eating a simple sandwich with lettuce inside. Another pony was eating a tall sandwich with multiple layers and was using a knife to cut it properly.
A few ponies gasped. "Discord is eating here?!" a pony shouted.
"Just stay calm," the pony beside him assured. "He isn't planning anything bad right now."
"How do you know, anyway?"
"Trust me. He's just going to eat with his friends. Nothing wrong."