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

Above the gray, dark, and raining clouds was the blue sky with a yellow sun shining in the distance, setting with its yellow and orange rays. Several pegasi were watching over the clouds; a few of them went through the clouds and into the storm.
"Rainbow Swoop," a yellow pegasus mare with a mane and tail of different hues of blue said as Rainbow Swoop tended to a certain area of clouds, "this taking care of the clouds is making me hungry." She hovered over the clouds. "It's too bad we can't buy anything down there for now. Anything we try to get will end up getting soggy."
"Plastic bags," Rainbow Swoop said without turning his gaze away from hid clouds. "Isn't Canterlot advanced enough to sell food in plastic bags?"
"Only the rich restaurants would do that," the yellow pegasus said. "Open Skies told me that he went to one of those fancy restaurants that require to schedule a breakfast and to wear a suit as well. And, even that wasn't fancy enough for plastic bags!"
"Let's just go with it," Rainbow Swoop said.
"Do I look like I'm the kind of pony that could afford a meal from those establishments?" the yellow mare said, pointing a hoof towards Canterlot down there.
Rainbow Swoop shook his head.



A blue-green pegasus stallion with violet mane and tail landed in stormy Canterlot. He looked around.
The intersection was void of any carriages. The few ponies that were on the sidewalks were hurrying their way to wherever they were headed to. Some covered their heads with their bags, others brisk walked their way while holding umbrellas with either their hooves or their magic. One had a nervous and tense face as he looked at his surroundings while holding a damp newspaper over his head. He was also wearing a fancy suit. A couple merely tilted their heads upwards as they walked haughtily and calmly—no panic at all in their step or in any of their other movements—as they trusted that their fancy hats would protect them from any splash or from any other source of fashion crime.
"This is a massive torrent," the pegasus stallion said as he walked, creating little splashes on the concrete as he walked. "The downpour should've been expected, though. I wonder why the ponies here requested for the storm to be delayed 'till now?"
He walked by a clothes store. He stopped.
He walked inside.
"Stop right there!" the unicorn yelled from behind the counter. "Dry your hooves on the mat first!"
"Alright, alright!" the pegsaus said as he stepped his four hooves on the mat. "You don't have to treat me like I'm an intruder or a criminal."
"A fashion criminal you might be!" the unicorn said.
The pegasus sighed as the cold air of the air conditioners filled the air.
Then he walked towards one of the chrome cabinets inside the fashion store. He opened it. "Can I say something?" the pegasus asked.
"What is it?" the unicorn said, his speech sounding impatient.
"Why are the clothes all hidden inside the cabinets?"
"It is style and surprising the ponies who come inside," the unicorn explained. "When they see this fashion shop, they will think, 'Oh, there are clothes on display here; I wanna see what looks good on me.' Then, when they come here, they will be surprised!"
"They might leave and think that you're misleading them or something. Doesn't sound very professional to me."
The unicorn harrumphed. "Are you the boss here?"



Another pony passed by the clothes store but he did not stop to visit. Rather, he kept walking, walking on the wet sidewalk, minding the puddles.
A flash of lightning and the roar of thunder.
However, the pony kept walking unfazed.
His horn glowed and he brought something out of his bag.
It was a picture. Though the raindrops splashed on the picture, dispersing themseleves there, the picture itself remained unstained, undamaged.
"That's what I get for getting pictures with great materials," the unicorn said, smiling.
The picture showed several colorful changelings posing for the camera. There was no changeling who was conservative with their pose—all of them had their own sense of wackiness when it came to looking interesting for the camera. One changeling made a funny face, two were bumping each other's hooves, another pretended to be sleeping, and another decided to smile but not at the camera—at one of his friends. Overall, it was a chaotic moment—no sense, all disorder. Unless, of course, that was the intention—to have a disorderly picture for the record.
The pony, with his magic, floated the picture back into his bag. "Jogging my memory," the pony said as he continued walking on the sidewalk.
He passed by a guard in full armor—helmet and two other pieces of armor, one for the front of the body and one for the back. The guard eyed the unicorn with a bag. The unicorn did not look back at him.
The guard stood at his post at the corner of the sidewalk. Ponies freely walked through the streets. The guard sighed.
Then, amidst the downpour and the thunder and the wind, a buzz.
The guard immediately glanced left.
The changeling landed right in front of him.
"Name's Arthropod," the changeling said. "And, I'm here to just enjoy the weather."
"Weather doesn't seem all that nice," the guard replied.
The changeling inched closer to the guard.
The guard looked sour—his eyes narrowed a little. But, he kept his composure. "What are you trying to do here?"
"I'm here to enjoy Canterlot under the rain, that's all. You could say that I'm under the weather."
The changeling grinned.
"Of course, you are under the weather," the guard said, sounding a little more exasperated and a little more tired with each word. "Everypony except the pegasi who go over the clouds are under the weather."
"You don't get it?" the changeling said. "It's a pun."
The guard was silent as his eyes darted here and there, making facial expressions that expressed thinking—his eyes narrowing, his mouth staying closed.
Then, the guard's eyes widened.
"I must go! I have an appointment to catch!"
Then, the changeling flew away.
"Arthropod!" the guard yelled. "Why did you make that joke?!"



The changeling snickered as he went up, approaching the rainy clouds and going against the direction of the rain. The raindrops splashed on him and the thunder blared, but Arthropod kept going.
Then, he made a sharp turn away from the clouds and back towards Canterlot.
"Who else to tell a joke to?" the changeling asked as he neared the ground of Canterlot. "Telling a joke to any of the Princesses would be such an achievement for me. They're going to talk about it in the news! 'Changeling Tells a Joke to Princess Celestia!'"
Then, he passed by several tall and royal-looking buildings and landed on the ground. In front of him was a donut shop.



"And, we're done," Nastic said as he finished his donut and threw the empty paper bag to the trash can right beside the door with ease. He hovered from his seat and faced his three friends around the table. "Are we going out or what, guys?"
Joe waved at the leaving changelings. "Have a good day and I hope I'll see you soon!"
Eucalypti, who was in front, opened the door.
"Did you have a good meal? A donut meal?" Arhtropod asked.
"Arthropod?" Eucalypti asked.
Nastic groaned. "Oh, no."
"I do not want to annoy you, but let's go back and eat some more donuts." He grinned again.
"And you left your job for what?" Nastic demanded. "For this?"
"Making all the creatures I meet a little happy with my brand of humor is my thing!" Arhtropod said. "I couldn't handle a library that had very few books—well, from us. We had lots of books made by ponies, but not by us. Let's walk and see the sights—the source of my puns are everywhere!"
"I guess it would be nice to lighten up," Hexapod said. "Let's go to the place where the Princesses are. I bet that it would be great to visit them this time of day."
"Yeah," Arhtropod said as he walked. He looked back. "Why are you just standing there? Come on!"



"And that's a table!"
"When is this going to stop?!" Nastic snapped.
"I'm not going to stop until I stop."
"Let him be," Hexapod said. "I find genuine humor in his jokes."
They were walking up the stairs and towards the grand entrance doors of the white and purple and yellow building with so many floors and so many features.
"'Genuine humor'?" Nastic repeated. "That is a very cheap form of humor, a form of humor that deserves to be placed as a footnote in a book of humor!"
"Really, I like the jokes," Eucalypti said. "They're quite fine to me."
"Yeah, Nastic," Long Winded said. "You should learn this lesson that we should learn from all kinds of humor—from the complex jokes to the simple jokes, from the jokes that take a long time to tell, to the jokes that only take a simple look and a simple statement, and every one of us has to enjoy the humor by our fellow changelings and also by other creatures—the ponies, the griffons, the dragons, the yaks, among others—"
"I did not ask you to philosophize about humor!" Nastic yelled. "Do you want to know what I want?!"
"To be under arrest?" a voice said.
The five changelings looked at the guards who were now in front of the entrance doors.
Nastic gulped. "I guess I spoke too soon."
"Uh, I cannot make a pun out of that, Nastic," Arhtropod said. "I want you to rephrase that, alright?"
Nastic groaned.



The hallways were magnificent in their royal decorations—there were the carpets, there were the banners, there were the tall windows that depicted important events. In some of them were the depictions of the Princesses either fighting a villain or doing something good for Equestria. In others were the depictions of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends either fighting a villain or doing something good for Equestria.
All of these things made the changelings feel small in this grand building as the guards, all looking similar in their white coats, their blue mane and tail, and their armor, escorted them.
"We caused a disturbance," Nastic muttered. "Now, we're going to be placed here. I don't think the Princesses are irrational to the point that they will imprison us for a few years, but I'm going to be wasting precious hours, precious days if that's how serious this is!"
"You can blame it on security, then," Arthropod said.
Nastic sighed. "I don't want to."
"Or, they're probably taking us to the Princesses themselves!" Long Winded said. "I can't believe we'll negotiate with the Princesses about our release from prison!"
"We haven't even been there yet, Long Winded!" Nastic shouted. "Now, let's at least keep ourselves quiet!"
"Says the changeling who wasn't quiet and ended up landing all five of us in this situation," Hexapod mumbled.
"I heard that!"
"Keep quiet!" one of the guards commanded.
Nastic sighed. "If only I could've just blamed this on maladministration or something similar! On the guards or maybe even the Princesses acting wrongly. But, no, it had to be one of us—no, it had to be poor Nastic."



Then, the double doors opened.
The guards walked the long way to the end of the hallway.
Then, the guards stopped.
They bowed down to the Princesses who weren't sitting on their thrones but just were standing there. They even heard some casual chatter from the Princesses, although it was in whispers.
The two Princesses giggled.
"Oh, no," Nastic said. "What are the Princesses up to now? I hope they're not making jokes."
"We are not trying to make jokes," Princess Celestia said in her calm voice, approaching the guards and the changelings they brought.
Nastic sighed.
The Princesses smiled at them. "What brings you here?" Princess Luna asked the changelings.