"You live in the Changeling Kingdom?" the stallion asked, seated on a chair.
Blue Alarm, on the chair from the other side of the table, nodded.
"It's my first time having a real discussion with a changeling!" the pony said, placing his front hooves on the table and somewhat standing up, on his face a big grin. "There were some days when changelings would visit Ponyville, but I've only had ten-second conversations with them before they went away to some other place. Now, we can talk until the start of Twilight's book club session tonight!"
Blue Alarm looked at the orange, sunset sky. The sun shone its bright light onto Ponyville. He looked at the pony. "It's only sunset. It's not even night."
"Do you have errands?" he asked. "I undestand if you have errands to do."
"No, not really. I'm OK with having a talk. There's not much I planned to do today. Just to rest here in Ponyville, getting friendly with the friendly residents. We're not here for just the Equestria-famous ponies—you know, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her closest friends." He smiled. "Well, maybe Humerus—always excited for them. The rest of us are here to enjoy Ponyville for all that it has to offer—there are some storse and other sorts of services here in Ponyville that I didn't expect to see in other towns or, really, anywhere."
"What about Manehattan?" the stallion asked. "Or Trottingham? They're quite bigger than this town and you could have more things to do there."
"It's too busy to stay in those cities for a long while," Blue Alarm replied. He looked at the streets of Ponyville, occupied by ponies casually walking by. "Here, the ponies move at a good pace for us. We don't have much to worry about here."
The stallion nodded. "So, what is it like in the Changeling Kingdom? I'm...quite eager to know more about the Changeling Kingdom and the changelings."
"And, I'm quite eager to know more about Equestria and the ponies," Blue Alarm said. "I understand if you want to ask me about where I live and my fellow changelings. Books are really good to read, but talking to ponies about Equestria and themselves is a good experience."
The stallion smiled. "So, like I said, what is it like there?"
"It's undergoing some great changes," Blue Alarm said. "Thorax has a vision in mind to turn the Changeling Kingdom into something that is clearly a place where changelings live, but he also wants it to be a good kingdom that helps others. Now, he wants it to have lots of changeling culture, but we're having lots of trouble about that."
"What's going on?" the stallion asked, concerned.
"We...don't have much to make a culture about. We used to be under a militaristic and evil leader for such a long time that we don't have much else to write or sing or paint about. We could try writing, singing, and painting about our former lives as evil creatures, but we really don't want to do that. A lot of us changelings also wanted whatever ponies would create and sell. Then, Thorax was worried that we might just be consuming lots of pony items that we could be stifling changeling creativity and culture."
"So, what is Thorax doing now, specifically?"
"Thorax is making big changes, starting with how changeling houses and the like look," Blue Alarm said. "That's the first part of the plan."
"What about the other parts, the next steps of the plan?"
"Thorax himself hasn't thought about them yet. But, we know that whatever he's going to do, it's going to be awesome."
The stallion smiled. He looked at the sky.
"Are you checking for the sunset?" Blue Alarm asked.
"Yeah. It's always nice to see the sun set. Some ponies take pictures of the sunset and of the sunrise."
"Do you have some of them now?"
"They're back in my house." The stallion grinned. "I can show you my house! We can talk there!"
"I'm OK. Sitting here and seeing ponies live their lives is comfortable enough for me."
"Don't worry." The stallion looked at the streets of ponies again. "Well, what's the daily life of a changeling look like?"
"It's not an easy question to answer. Now, because of the plan that Thorax has for the Changeling Kingdom and us changelings, I might give you an answer that will be outdated by next week."
"I'll ask you another question. What about your friends? Do you have lots of changeling friends? Pony friends?"
"I have many changeling friends." Blue Alarm smiled. "I'm making more and more pony friends."
"I could be your friend."
Blue Alarm kept smiling. "We could start with the book club session at Twilight's castle since I think we both like books."
"Yeah!" the stallion shouted. "I have my first changeling friend! I wonder what we're going to be doing together!"
"We're going to be travelling a lot," Blue Alarm said, "so I won't be seeing you that often."
"I still have a changeling friend!"
"You're quite positive about it."
"Why wouldn't I be positive about it?!" Then, the stallion straightened himself up. "OK, what other questions could I ask you, Blue Alarm, about the changelings and the Changeling Kingdom?"
"There's our diplomatic position," Blue Alarm said. "We're currently in good relations with all of the nearby kingdoms that we know of. Equestria is a great kingdom and we are glad to now be friends with it. We changelings love what you ponies do. The Dragon Lands is good, although I don't know much about the customs and the culture of dragons. Thorax and Ember are OK with each other. That means that the Changeling Kingdom and the Dragon Lands are OK with each other, also. Yakyakistan is far away. However, Thorax wants to seek good relations with Yakyakistan."
"The Changeling Kingdom is a peaceful kingdom to live in," the stallion commented. "What about the general mood of the Changeling Kingdom? No changelings fighting each other?"
"No. There might be the occasional fight, but we usually don't fight each other."
"What about if I take a trip there?"
"It wouldn't be the best time," Blue Alarm replied. "All the construction efforts are going to bother you."
"Anything else?" the stallion asked. "I want to go to the castle already! I want to be early to the book club session!"
The spacious library room was abuzz with the chatters of ponies and the flipping of pages and the hoofsteps of more ponies as they chatted. Several ponies, either by using one of their hooves or by using their unicorn magic, were getting books off the shelves. Others were placing the books back on the shelves. More and more ponies were coming in, the big double doors of the library open.
At one table, there was Twilight Sparkle with Moon Dancer and the rest of her friends—Lemon Hearts, Minuette, and Twinkleshine. On the table were some books of various types.
At another table, there were Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pants and a few other ponies who were wearing clothes similar to that of Daring Do. The ponies there argued and slammed their hooves on the table, holding up a Daring Do book or two to prove a point or to counter a point from another pony.
At yet another table, Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie were reading a book together. On the book was the title, "Party!"
Beside that table was another table, one where Blue Alarm and the stallion were seated at. Blue Alarm was holding a book. The stallion was holding one, too.
"Anyway, how's your friends?" the stallion asked. "Are you alright with them? No problems or anything?"
"The best friends a changeling could ever have." Blue Alarm nudged the book aside. "They've been with me for much of my life. Before Thorax arrived to show us the better way, we were together in the same group of changeling soldiers. We were never really friends, but we did share some good times."
"Stealing love from ponies?" the stallion said, somewhat terrified as he slowly recoiled from the changeling.
"We were desperate," Blue Alarm said. "Where else could we get love? We were hungry, starving for love! Nopony and no changeling told us about sharing love with others."
"Then, Thorax arrived and you became good."
"Yeah. The first thing I did after all of us changelings became good was to look for Neon Guard—he was our leader of our group. And, after we got together, we decided to travel Equestria. We had some cool events and occasions, but we had no big adventures or anything like that."
"And, isn't it cool you're able to be here?" the stallion asked.
Blue Alarm raised an eyebrow, puzzled.
"That it's cool to be in this place where ponies aren't scared of you, that they aren't concerned that you might steal their love?"
"The Princesses themselves helped. The speeches assured the ponies that we're not evil anymore. They assured us, too—it meant that we didn't have to face lots of ponies trying to run away from us when we visited their towns and cities. Well, usually that was the case. Some ponies are still scared of us. There are a few who even have some conspiracies in their heads, thinking that we have captured the Princesses. But, you know that isn't true."
"Yeah," the stallion replied. "That's a crazy idea, right?"
"For us, it's crazy," Blue Alarm said. "For them, it's the only idea, the only story, the only explanation that makes sense. I do not want to convince them that we're not involved in that sort of evil plan—too much of a hassle for me."
"Mm-hmm." The stallion looked at the table where Twilight Sparkle and her friends were.
They laughed.
"How does it feel like to live near the Princess?" Blue Alarm asked. "Along with the rest of the Elements of Harmony who have saved Equestria several times? Along with Discord, too? Do you get nervous or excited?"
"Don't forget nervouscited!" Pinkie interrupted before heading back to the table where Cheese Sandwich was.
The stallion giggled. He turned towards the changeling who was looking and watching the two ponies read their book.
The changeling looked back at him.
"It's...great. I've been here in Ponyville for some time, before Twilight arrived here. To have the heroines of Equestria living in the same town you live in—it is exciting and nervous for a while, but it's been months, even years. Sooner or later, you get used to having Twilight and her friends fight some evil creature or having Discord sometimes make a joke by breaking our schedules."
"So, you're OK with it, just living a normal life in Ponyville?"
"I don't want to say 'normal,'" the stallion answered. He glanced at some ponies who were passing by the table. They were carrying some books and were talking to each other. "Life in Ponyville is never normal. Almost everyday, something out of the ordinary happens. Pinkie Pie sometimes throws a party to celebrate some random holiday that I've never heard of. Twilight makes visits with Mayor Mare to talk about Ponyville and how it's going so far—and, somehow, that's not ordinary. Discord—you know, Blue Alarm. Discord's going to teleport here and there, trying to have fun by ruining our day, although we know it's just him being Discord. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are now going across town, helping other colts and fillies get their cutie marks or to understand what their cutie marks mean. The Crusaders are usually engaged in some adventure to help ponies like them. Starlight Glimmer is trying to be active in making friends, and she occasionally slips up and uses magic to speed up the process—it never ends well. That's not everything, Blue Alarm." He laughed a little. "Ponyville life is very out of the ordinary. Trust me—I've lived here for several years."
Blue Alarm smiled. "What do you think of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?"
"And, you'll tell me what do you think of King Thorax?"
"Why not?"
"Princess Celestia was the Princess most of us grew up with. We've seen her Summer Sun Celebrations. She's so kind! We never thought that she had a sister—we always thought that the 'Mare in the Moon' was just a fictional character, part of the tale. So, when Princess Luna returned, I thought that it was crazy! We were all scared—she used to be Nightmare Moon! She was trying to make the night last forever! Then, Twilight showed us that Princess Luna wasn't that evil anymore. And, from there, we accepted her and we adore her as much as we adore Princess Celestia."
"My turn to answer your question."
The stallion smiled.
"Thorax is a good king. He's shy, he's new to being a king, being a ruler to an entire kingdom. But, he's doing his best. Thorax is quite active in making the Changeling Kingdom a good place to live in and making ponies and other creatures think that it's a good kingdom. Thorax needs guideance, however. I think Thorax sometimes making trips to either Twilight or Celestia and Luna is a good step in that way."
There was laughter.
The changeling and the stallion looked.
Twilight Sparkle, Moon Dancer, and their friends were laughing.
"What about we go to them?" the stallion said. "We can talk to them, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich—there's lots of ponies in this book club. Science, mathematics, mystery books, adventure books, Daring Do, reference books—there's also so much to read and to talk about here! So many topics to discuss—it's amazing that Twilight started this book club session!"
Blue Alarm stood up. "You're right."
The stallion stood up.
The chatter of ponies talking to each other filled the room as many ponies read their books. The arguing from Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pants's table was still loud. Blue Alarm and the stallion walked towards the table of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.