//------------------------------// // Is it not normal to watch someone as they sleep? // Story: This strange world // by SwarmLordAbdonis //------------------------------// By the time the sun had risen once again, only Craig and Jack had managed to fight the strong urge to get up out of their small yet incredibly cosy beds. The two greeted each other in the hallway and chose to spend the time walking along the long hallways and explore more of their surroundings, lest they ended up lost in the endless maze that was the school. They couldn't exactly depend on Twilight or anyone else to just simply lead them all to their rooms and back like they were a bunch of children so getting to know and memorise the place seemed like the best use of their time. The two passed the dorms that the dragon and changeling were sleeping in before chatting. Jack started off the conversation. "Craig, I've been thinking..." "Oh? What's up?" "I know you said that we would be spending a lot of time researching for a way to get home but... there's also the matter of buying food too. I mean we can't just be completely dependant on the ponies who run this place, can we? We ought to pay them back for what they've done for us so far. Especially since we don't know how long we're going to be trapped here for. Days, weeks, maybe even months. We need to plan for that sort of possibility now while we still can." Craig gave a moment to stop and think. "I can see what you're getting at Jack. Got anything in mind?" Jack chuckled. "You're the brains of the group. I was kind of hoping that you would be able to come up with something." "So... you're being dependant on me to find a way to be less dependant to the ponies?" Craig gave a second to ponder on that trail of thought. "Does that count as irony?" Jack shrugged. "Well, anyway I'll have a think about it and see. Maybe I can talk to Twilight about becoming janitors or something of low tier work for a school. Least we'll be earning a living for a bit." "Janitor work?" Jack puzzled. "Ash is not going to like that. Remember the incident with the Subway he worked at?" "Boy, do I." Craig laughed, remembering that day all too well. "That's what happens when you take so much shit from a shitty boss." "Yeah well, I say we wait until we get something before we tell him, if we get anything at all." "Good call. I'll try and look into it later if I get the chance. For now, let's talk about researching the library." "Shouldn't you save that for when we're all up and awake?" Jack asked. "Not really. Ash and Mike won't be up for another few hours and Jason will probably be sneaking into one of the dorms for a proper nap, if he hasn't already. We'll fetch them after lunch when they're more alert and less cranky. For now though it's just me and you-" Craig got cut off as a sudden, yet all too familiar sounding scream echoed through the hallway, reaching their ears. "WHAT THE FUUUUCK?!" This was followed by a lot of angry yelling from a very familiar voice. Jack looked over to Craig, who seemed a little worried from the sudden outburst. "And a loud angry bug-horse apparently..." "Think he just had a nightmare?" The yak reasoned, knowing all to well who had screamed. "I don't think so." Craig rushed before galloping back down the way he came. Jack ran after him, just as worried. ./././././././././. Unknowingly to Craig or Jack, Mike had been woken up the moment they had walked past his door, the loud ass bastards. Mike screwed his eyes shut in discomfort as their voices had disrupted him from his sleep. He did NOT plan to get up just yet either! The beds were far too warm and soft for that. Thankfully the voices faded as they walked off and he was left to enjoy the silence once more. However being already awake, he did not take long to open his eyes. Not to mention that the sunlight from the window was shining right in his face making it difficult to relax. Strange considering that he had shut the curtains tightly last night. The changeling sat up and inspected the room, his face frowning as he realised that he was not in bed. His own bed, back on earth. At this point he'd have been turning on his xbox after shaking off his sleepiness, but unfortunately ponies had yet to create such a device. Matter of fact, the room lacked nearly all of the technological wonders humanity had created. All there was that was worth noting was the lamp, the drawer it rested on, the wooden chair in the corner, the weird yellow pony in the other corner and the rug that laid in the middle of the room. At least it was better than sleeping outside like Jason was... probably... … Hold on. Mike looked back at the far left corner, certain his eyes were messing with him. Nope. Sitting right there in the corner was a yellow pony. Or at least something similar to a pony. Whatever it was reminded Mike of Ocellus, only bigger... and yellow. It merely just sat there, looking right at him with a smile on its face like the bizarre situation was completely normal. Mike met its stare with one of his own, only his was a confused, frozen mish-mash of uncertainty. As though attempting to communicate, the strange creature, with its 'friendly' smile never leaving its face lifted up one of its front hooves and waved in the gentlest, most non-threatening way it possibly could. As any sensible being would, Mike responded to this motion in the most inane way one would from discovering an uninvited guest sitting in the corner of your room watching you as you slept for god knows how long. "WHAT THE FUUUUUUCK?!" He seemed to take it well enough. The yellow pony thing on the other hoof did not as it flinched at the sudden outburst and seemed worried that it had done something wrong. The changeling managed to jump from his bedsheets onto the floor and pressed his rear against the wall furthest away from the yellow thing, yelling all sorts of questions and accusations as he did. This was soon followed by his door was slammed open by a red griffon and a ginger yak. Both looked concerned but had not noticed the stranger just yet. "Are you okay man? What's wrong?!" Craig blurted out at once, half expecting his friend to be in danger. Mike pointed to the corner of the room that held the clearly unwanted visitor, still clearly shaken from their sudden appearance. "THAT is what's wrong Craig!" The griffon followed his friends hoof to indeed find the strange creature, still sitting there and now looking rather startled by the appearance of more creatures. "The hell?" Craig muttered out loud. He didn't take his eyes off of the yellow creature but his next question was directed to Mike. "Where did it come from?" "I don't know but it was right fucking there in the goddamn corner when I woke up! So it wants to either kill me or kidnap me and fuck me!" "Kidnap you and... what...?" "Hey, that's what happens back on earth man!" "Oh please." Jack huffed. "Who would want to fuck you? Especially when you look like that?" "Alright, enough!" Craig snapped before turning his attention to their still silent guest. Craig decided to go on the assumption that there was a completely logical explanation as to why what was clearly to him a reformed changeling was in the corner of one of the best friends room watching him sleep. Despite the creepiness of the situation, the griffon seriously doubted that it had any intentions for anything sinister. "Care to explain yourself?" The changeling nodded carefully with a still worried look on its face and spoke. "H-hello." It tried speaking in a friendly feminine tone. "My name is Firefly and I assure you, I mean no harm." "Oh yeah, sure! That's why you were in my room staring at my sleeping body hmm?" Mike accused. As Craig looked back he noticed that the changeling had grabbed a fair sized object as a means of protection as though he expected the reformed changeling to suddenly rush right at him. Unfortunately that object happened to be his pillow. Yet the more interesting thing that had caught Craigs attention for a slightest second was that Mike had used his horn to hold it in a telekenetic grip, though it seemed that he hadn't noticed that yet due to being too on edge. Craig would be sure to ask how he had managed to use magic later when things were under less intense conditions. For now though, the reformed changeling, aka. Firefly responded. "Oh. Is that not considered... normal among other species?" She asked uncertainly to the Griffon next to her. "Not considered- Are you having a laugh right now?!" Mike asked bewildered, instinctively lowering his guard at the sheer ignorance or stupidity of the stranger. "Not where we come from. Still, that doesn't explain why you're here in Mikes room in the first place." The reformed changeling perked up slightly. "Ah! Well, last night King Thorax received a letter from Ocellus stating that she had found an un-reformed changeling here at the school of friendship, so he asked if I could see if it was true!" "Well, congrats! You found me!" Mike hissed. "Now that that's done could you please, you know, fuck off?" Firefly tilted her head slightly, most likely trying to figure out what the word 'fuck' meant, though she didn't seem confident enough to dare ask. Luckily for her, Craig filled her in. "He means you can return to whence you came." He bluntly droned. "Oh. Well, um... I'm afraid I can't just yet. You see, King Thorax also asked if I could also bring him along so he could meet him himself. And also possibly reform him." "Of course he did..." Craig groaned. He had only been up for twenty minutes and already the day had decided to distract them from their main task. Again! At this rate they'd be lucky if they got within fifty feet of the damn library! "Uh, what do you mean 'reform'? Could you define that a bit?" Jack questioned. Firefly smiled and nodded. "Of course!" She turned to Mike. "I hope that despite first introductions, you know I mean no ill intent. I merely wish to take you back home to the hive and teach you the benefits of sharing love." As he heard the final part of Firefly's sentence, Mike paused for a moment and his eyes widened in mild worry, feeling unsettled. He opened his mouth to say something but suddenly shut it, deciding not to speak at all. Unsure how to respond, he not so subtley waved Craig over. Once the griffon was close enough he whispered into his ear. "Did she just ask if we could fuck?" Craig sighed. This was going to take some explaining. "Jack, could you take our new friend here and leave us alone for a moment please?" Jack shrugged and did what he was asked. Firefly voiced some concern but Craig quickly assured her that everything would be fine. Besides, it was rather tough to explain how a changeling works to a fake changeling, especially with a real changeling watching. Once the two were out of sight, Craig closed the door calmly and turned to Mike who finally stopped pressing himself against the wall and now sat on the floor waiting patiently for a reasonable explanation. "Okay, first things first." Craig sat opposite Mike. "When that changeling mentioned 'sharing the love', she didn't mean it in a romantic lustful way. More a friendly relationship." "Like us then?" "Oh god no! If they were anything like us the whole species would be fucked! Think more playful, like a bunch of cartoon characters designed for a kids t.v. show." "Right. A bunch of sissies then." "Ehh… I guess that's more accurate?" Craig pondered uncertainly. "Keep in mind that my knowledge on these guys is very limited so I can only answer so much." Mike nodded. "Speaking of which, you mentioned that this firefly was a changeling, right?" "That's right." "How can that be? I though you said that I was a changeling." "Well remember that whole share the love thing I was just talking about?" "Yeah?" "That's what happens when they do that. They transform from what you currently look like now into what Firefly is." "A pony that walked through a rainbow?" "Pretty much." "Well in that case I'll just stick to looking like this..." "No argument here." "So what do they want with me? I'm not exactly well known here!" "Actually you might be..." Mike blinked. "What do you mean?" "Right now, there's only supposed to be a single changeling here at the school of friendship. That blue bug pony you met yesterday, Ocellus, she's supposed to be that changeling. Once she learned of you, well, like Firefly said, she wrote a letter which in turn got sent to the king. If she had even briefly mentioned you in your unreformed state, the king would have taken notice right away Hell, he clearly has if he sent someone to look into it!" "Yeah, someone who likes to break into dorms and stare at their target while they sleep." Mike added begrudgingly. "Not to mention that they'll want to take you back to the hive to convince you to turn into one of them." "Why would they so that?" "Well, all changelings once looked exactly how you do now. They were also cruel and hungry every waking moment of their lives which eventually led to the invasion of a major pony city, causing the entire species to be feared all across the land. One changeling years later found a way to show the world that changelings were not the monsters ponies thought they were and managed to overthrow the tyrant queen of the hive, thwarting a second invasion. He managed to transform into what Firefly looks like, sort of, and the rest of the hive followed! Ever since their transformation, the changeling race no longer felt hungry or starving like they did before they turned and were soon able to make piece with their former enemies. They probably just want to help you see things the same way they do." Mike took in the information offered to him. He quickly formed his answer. "So it's because I'm black, in other words." Craig groaned. "Yes, it's because you're black..." Mike frowned. "You know, for a childrens t.v. show, this place can be surprisingly racist!" "Oh believe me, you have no idea. Wait until you hear about what happened in the first season." "Okay, well we can get around this, right? All we have to do is convince this firefly changeling that I'm not a charity case! We have enough grub to last us a while since we're living under this roof, right? Plenty of cupcakes and rainbows and whatever the hell ponies eat here! This'll be a cinch!" Craig sheepishly drummed his talons against the floor. He slowly spoke up. "Mike, changelings don't eat normal food like the rest of us do." Mikes confident smile slowly made a 180 turn. "They don't?" Craig shook his head. "So what do we eat? Please don't tell me it's something gross!" "Love." "What?" "You eat love." "Eat love? The fuck does that even mean?" Craig found himself getting frustrated. At this point in time they could be finding the first step to getting home instead of dicking around about biology. It was only now beginning to show. "It means you eat love! Do I have to draw you a diagram?" Mike started to become equally agitated. "Yes! Clearly you do! I mean, whenever I'm feeling even slightly peckish am I expected to go into the streets at night, find a lonely pony and going up to them saying 'ten dollar me love you long time'? Hmm?!" "No, you just siphon it with your magic, like some sort of emotional Dracula!" "Oh goody! Well thanks for telling me this NOW when I'm five minutes away from finding out myself!" Despite the tense atmosphere in the air, Craig did have to admit that the changeling did have a point. He should have brought it up sooner when he had the chance. Realising this caused him to calm down a little and he responded with a calmer tone. "Look, I didn't think you needed to know! What's done is done so can we just drop it? Please?" Mike gave an unamused huff. "...Fine. But don't think I'm going to just drop the subject so easily this time!" "Okay okay, I got it." Craig was about to continue until Mike interrupted him. A worried glance covered his face. "Wait, I've just had a thought." "On what?" "What about the others? I mean, we've been at this school for a night and already I've managed to gain the attention of a damn king! What about the others, are they at risk of being in the same situation?" The griffon gave a quick thought on Mikes surprisingly wise words. He hadn't assumed any of them to unintentionally attract the attention of a powerful leader after all, yet here they were. "Jason's a pony so he'll blend in fine despite his slight awkwardness. Ash is luckily the best candidate out of all of us to be a dragon, he certainly has the right attitude. And Jack..." Craig trailed off. His face fell. "What? What is it?" "Yaks in this world are usually hot headed, serious and like to smash things! Oh, and they talk in third person!" "So?" "SO! When is Jack any of those things?!" Mike eventually realised the merit to Craigs words and nodded. "Yeah, fair enough. So wait, is that seriously going to be enough to attract unwanted attention to himself?" "Honestly I'm not sure. Ponies and Yaks aren't usually seen together so I doubt anyone will notice, hopefully. The biggest problem for him is running into the only other Yak at the school. As long as that doesn't happen, we won't be completely fucked." "You mean more so than we already are?" "Yeah thanks for reminding me." ././././././././././././././././. Jack and Firefly continued to walk down the hallway, away from Craig and Mike. As they did the two found themselves exchanging small talk. Oddly enough, Jack found it surprisingly easy to open up to what could technically be considered an alien. Still, his first interaction with her was finding the changeling in one of his friends rooms uninvited so he wasn't exactly trusting of her. "So... you don't have doors at this hive at yours?" He asked, clarifying what Firefly had just told him about the structure of the kingdom she had come from. She nodded in response. "We do not. Nor do we have those strange clear squares you have perched on your walls." "... You mean windows?" "Possibly." She chuckled nervously. "I'm not very familiar with the customs of other creatures. Though, I could tell you every detail on the hive if you wish?" "Maybe another time. So... is that what changelings do if they want to speak with someone, just wait until they wake up?" "Indeed. It is considered rude to wake another from their slumber unless for an emergency." "Uh huh." Jack said nothing else on the matter. He wasn't sure if questioning that sort of behaviour was considered offensive among their kind. Most likely it wasn't but a nagging sensation at the back of his mind told him not to risk it. Besides, he noticed someone else coming down the hallway. Curiously enough it was a second yak, though this one was much smaller than Jack, yet she was still big enough to match an adult pony in height. As she passed, Jack offered a polite smile. "Good morning to you miss." He greeted before going on his way past her. Unfortunately he failed to notice the young yak look back and raise an eyebrow at him. Before he could get too far, she spoke up. "Um, pardon Yona but..." Jack turned round carefully to give the young bovine his attention the second he realised she was talking to him. "...What is yaks name?"