//------------------------------//
// Changelings at Starlight's Town 
// Story: Society as We Know It 
// by Comma Typer 
//------------------------------//

"Thanks, Quick Fast!" the two changelings yelled in unison as the pony sped away, pulling the carriage along into the rural landscape under the night with its dark, beautiful sky adorned with the stars and the moon.
The two changelings turned towards the town.
Many lights were on in the village, both inside and outside. The lights gave the only street of the town a nightlife feel, even if the feel was quite a subtle one. There were no loud noises, nor was there any loud music to dance to. The speakers on the street played calm, quiet music.
The ponies there were doing a variety of activities even though the town was small—a pink Earth pony was baking, a blue unicorn made balloons that entertained the younger ponies in front of him, a white Earth pony was teaching a green pegasus about skiing by showing him pictures and pointing to certain parts of those pictures. Meanwhile, a blue pegasus stood on top of a building's roof and took off—gliding in the night.
"This is a nice little village!" Eucalypti exclaimed, his shout echoing through the single street. "That's great for us because all the attractions and the interesting places are all in one...place! No need for directions—just walk up and down this street and we'll be fine!"
The pegasus stopped in mid-air, looked at them, and swooped down to them. She landed on the ground with a forceful gust.
The two changelings trembled a little by the wind.
The pegasus closed her wings. "Welcome to the village!" she proudly greeted. "Sorry, we still don't have a good enough name to call it. But, that shouldn't stop you from having a good time here." She looked at some of the ponies on the street. "No pressure. Take your time." Then, she flew off to the sky again. "If you need me, just give me a yell!"
Eucalypti watched her do some aerial tricks and loops. "This town is also home to such talent! Talent that surpasses my standards!"
"You weren't an expert at flying to begin with, Eucalypti," Hexapod said.
"Who said you could be the judge on who's the best flyer?" Eucalypti shot back. But, he regained his happy countenance. "Let's not think about that. For now, we have a town to grace!"
The two changelings walked into town.
The murmurs of the ponies hushed a little as a few ponies looked at the newcomers.
Several ponies waved at them. Others just looked at them, taking note of the changelings.
A few approached the two.
"I see that you are new to our place," the white Earth pony said, walking beside the blue unicorn and the pink unicorn. "I'm Double Diamond. This is Party Favor—" The blue unicorn waved at the changelings "—and this is Sugar Belle." The pink unicorn waved at them, too. "Do you want us to show you around?"
"Ah, absolutely!" Eucalypti heartily replied. He pulled Hexapod as he walked towards the ponies. "Come on, Hexapod! We are about to have a personal tour of this place by none other than the ones who live here!"
"Isn't that normal?" Hexapod asked.
"Not normal for us!"
And the ponies and the changelings were off, trotting on the only street in town.
The changelings looked around. Although the town was quite small, the liveliness of the place made it seem big. The casual discussions some ponies were having, a table filled with baked goods and pastries, several houses having their lights on showing the ponies inside and what they were doing like eating—the changelings looked at them and on their faces were expressions of mere wonder.
"Uh, Double Diamond," Eucalypti asked, "I know that this might seem out of place or out of topic, but where do you get your food?"
"We get it from other places," the pony replied. "Well, most of the food." He glanced at Sugar Belle, who giggled a little. "Sugar Belle is the town's baker. If you want any cakes or pies or anything else like that, you should ask her. Actually, that's the first place we'll stop by!"
And the ponies stopped.
The changelings stopped, too.
In front of them was a house that looked just like every other house in the village—a simple two-story house made out of bricks and a brown roof.
Sugar Belle entered first.
The changelings and the rest of the ponies followed her.
Inside, there were shelves filled with baking tools and baking ingredients, a blue oven, some pictures on the wall, a big blue display case, and a cash register. There were also some tables and chairs for customers to sit and to eat on.
On the display case was an array of baked goods, their culinary aromas wafting out of them to create a mixed smell inside that beckoned Eucalypti to float towards the food. There were apple pies, apple cakes, apple caramel cake, apple fritters, candied apples, caramel apples—all fresh.
"Starlight Glimmer really must've done something bad if you weren't able to do all of this before!" Eucalypti yelled.
The three ponies frowned—Double Diamond backed a little.
"Uh, Eucalypti," Hexapod spoke, "that's not how you speak about, well, Starlight in front of them."
Eucalypti turned around and saw the three ponies' faces. "Oh, uh, then I'm very sorry about what I just said! I know you're a forgiving group of creatures, but I really should've kept myself under control!"
Double Diamond grumbled a little, but he sighed and made a smile. "That's OK, uh, I didn't get your name."
"I'm Eucalypti while he's Hexapod!" He pointed to Hexapod who smiled at the ponies. "And we're the best changeling friends ever!"
Eucalypti rushed to hug his friend.
"Uh, that's...nice." Double Diamond shifted his eyes from left to right, having a nervous face. "So, uh, Sugar Belle, do you want to serve some of your delicious baked goods to these changelings?"
Sugar Belle nodded enthusiastically.



The table was now filled with plates that had crumbs. Eucalypti slammed a hoof on the table, shaking the plates. Hexapod took hold of the plates and quickly brought them to the display case. Then, he wiped the sweat off of his face.
"Eucalypti!" Hexapod shouted. "You could've broken those plates!"
"I was just being thankful to the chef!" Eucalypti responded, gesturing a hoof towards the nervous baker who was watching from behind the counter. "I am sure that she is proud—if not fully proud, then somewhat proud!"
"What are you trying to say?" Sugar Belle asked, having a suspicious tone.
"Uh, let's get moving!" Party Favor interrupted, stepping in between Sugar Belle and the changelings. "This isn't the only place in this town, you know!"



"I know that there aren't that many establishments here," Eucalypti said, "but this must have some place to crash and to relax so we can say 'Ah! This is a good place to stay in!'"
"What about you try and let the ponies who actually live here get us to where they want us to go?" Hexapod whispered to his friend. "They already know that you want to be at the best places in town—you told them that twenty times already!"
"Don't you worry, friend!" Eucalypti proudly replied. "I shall promise you that I will be quiet until the moment is there when I need to not be quiet!"
Hexapod smiled.
"There's, well, some choices for you to choose from," Party Favor said. "There's the clotheshop over there—" He pointed a hoof towards a house that had a sign that looked like a shirt "—or, you could try the market over there." He pointed towards a house that had a canopy and a few wooden stalls of fruits and vegetables. "Or—" Party Favor grinned "—you could go to my place!"
"And, what are we going to do there?" Eucalypti asked.



"There's so many balloons here!" Eucalypti shouted.
The room contained a bed, a carpet, and a shelf that had a few books and a picture of Party Favor, Sugar Belle, Double Diamond, and the blue pegasus hugging each other, smiling. Balloons of different colors and of different shapes were tied around many different things in the room. Some balloons were tied to the bedposts, others were tied to the window, still others were tied to the shelf, and there was even a blue balloon that was tied to the framed picture of Party Favor and his friends. "If you were wondering why the picture is not flying off," Party Favor explained, "it's because I had to tape the picture to the shelf." He grinned.
"So, your talent is related to balloons?" Eucalypti asked.
"Specifically, making balloons?" Hexapod added.
"That's correct, my friends!" Party Favor yelled. He took many balloons, rapidly tied them together, and showed a balloon depiction of a changeling—it was colorful and the changeling seemed to be smiling. He hoofed it to Hexapod. "You can take it home! Show your friends! I'm sure they'll be impressed!"
Hexapod looked at the ponies who were now in the room. "You, Party Favor, are good at making balloons, Sugar Belle is good at making baked goods, and Double Diamond—" He looked at the pony in question. "What are you good at?"
"Skiing!" Double Diamond replied.
"Uh, there are no places to ski here," Hexapod said. "I don't see any snowy mountains from here."
"That's because it's night!" the pony responded. "They're not nearby, but, if you go along a certain way, you'll see some great places to ski."
"Now, let's see you ski!" Eucalypti said.
"Uh, skiing at night? It's better to see it in the morning, when you could better see everything."
"That makes sense!" Eucalypti commented. He turned to see Hexapod. "Well, that's two places of interest that we've been to! Now, where else?!"
"Uh, are you sure about that?" Double Diamond asked.
The other two ponies looked at them with awkward looks.
Balloons floated slowly in the room.
"You do know that this isn't a big place," Double Diamond continued. "You don't really need us to tour you around—we just wanted to make you feel comfortable here, to accomodate you. We don't want to force you to go to this place or to that place."
The two changelings stayed silent.
"Then," Eucalypti said, "let's just eat at Sugar Belle's bakery again! We can talk about our friendships together! Isn't that right, Hexapod?"