Lyra had gathered a few patients together. It had been quite some time since she last tried a group session, but with so many new faces, it felt like the time to give it a new try. With a bright smile she waved to the table full of treats and drinks. "Welcome, everypony. Please, be relaxed, and let's go around the circle and introduce ourselves. I'll go first. You all should know me, but it's only fair. I'm Lyra Heartstrings, and it's nice to be here." She looked off to the left to the next pony in line.
The green earth pony in a dress cleared her throat. “I... I’m Amanda Worthington...” She glanced to the strange creature on her left, shying away with a disturbed expression. “I... uh... I’m sorry, but what are you?!”
The insect... pony... thing smiled politely and bowed slightly as if he had practiced the move a thousand times before. “At first I thought I was some sort of bug, but according to Lyra, and a few newspaper articles I was able to study since her mentioning, I’m a changeling.” He waited patiently for Amanda to continue.
“A...” Amanda blinked. “Aren’t... changelings the fairies from the old stories that stole babies and replaced them with their own?”
The changeling blinked. “I’ve… never actually heard of those stories. I didn’t think changelings had any parallel in the human world.”
“Oh, so you are a once human.” Amanda let out a sigh of relief as she sagged in her chair. “I was worried that... I’m sorry, I’m taking up too much of the time in this session.” She nodded politely at the creature, still keeping herself wearily distant.
Sensing that Amanda was done speaking, the changeling puffed out his chest, readying his speech. “I am Simon Turing, formerly a human entrepreneur from Earth, now a changeling entrepreneur… from earth. So far I’ve made the pedaling carriage, and now I’ve been finding some pretty interesting stuff out from changeling biology.” He pulled out a jar of bright pink gel.
"I guess that's my cue huh?" The batpony asked, shifting in her seat, "I'm Floyd! Former film student turned director, at least I hope. Oh um, I hope its alright Lyra but I brought a guest! Blue was curious and wanted to meet you."
Lyra looked around for this 'Blue' character, then a peek of a snout at the door. "Oh! Come in, come in. This is a friendly place, right? Um, are you also…?" She trailed off, rolling a hoof instead while trying to get a better look at the pony that entered, only for her eyes to widen. Canterlot royalty was not what she imagined!
"Hello Ms.Heartstrings, it’s a pleasure to meet you." Prince Blueblood spoke with a regal air before trotting over to Floyd and taking a seat next to her.
Simon gave the prince a look filled with uncertainty before he returned to his facade of polite neutrality. Amanda, on the other hoof, tilted her head in confusion. “Excuse me, but... who exactly are you?”
"Oh dear, please excuse my manners," the prince said clearing his throat, "I am Prince Blueblood but please, you can just call me Blue, I have been informed of the casual nature of these meetings and I would hate to disrupt that."
Lyra bobbed her head lightly. "Nice to meet you, your majesty, um… Everypony is welcome here, so long as they are polite and accepting. Everypony here has their own issues, even you, your majesty, and we're here to share and grow, together." She clopped her forehooves together. "Let's start with where we've already grown. Let's go around and discuss what we've learned or a challenge we've overcome in the last week. If you can't think of one, don't panic, that's OK."
Amanda rose a foreleg. “I learned that dragons exist.” She coughed into her hoof. “I also learned that apparently I’m insane.”
"I convinced Luna to be in one of my movies," Floyd spoke next.
Simon spoke last, having been disturbed by the mention of dragons, “As a former human, being a changeling was pretty confusing. Now I’ve finally found a few other changelings, and things are much easier to understand.”
Blueblood cleared his throat again, looking embarrassed. "I um...asked Floyd out on a date..."
“Aren’t... aren’t you both, um, stallions?” Amanda asked.
" I was a guy before, I'm not now," Floyd said shrugging, "Normally I'm not into anyone but Blue's been great and I figured I'd try it out."
The earth pony stared at them for a moment or two, her mouth flapping open and shut. Simon, on the other hand, didn’t even react, as if such things were as normal as the sun rising in the morning.
Lyra bobbed her head. "Very nice. So, if I may be so bold, I gather you're alright, you know, with being a mare?" She tilted her head a little. "It's different, I imagine." She trailed off, seeking the right words, but her eyes on Floyd.
"Oh its different alright but I'm alive and happy and that's all that really matters right?" Floyd asked with a smile, fixing her wings.
“It most certainly is not!” Amanda blurted finally. “Uh, I mean--If being happy comes at the cost of putting others in bad situations or, or, at the cost of your own morality--which I’m not saying that this does,” she backpedaled quickly, “it’s just that if happiness is the only thing you’re concerned with you’re just... not going to live a very fulfilling life, right?”
Simon scrunched his muzzle. “Wait, where did that come from-- Oh!” He paused. “Amanda, does a soul have a gender?”
Amanda sighed. “I... look. If you two... actually make it work, that’s your business. I’m just... I...” She trailed off, wringing her hooves.
"I take it you’re religious?" Floyd asked, looking at Amanda.
“I have a firm faith, if that’s what you’re asking,” the earth pony replied. “But...”
She sighed. “When I was a little girl, I thought that because God was good, everyone who followed him was good. I thought people who weren’t... who didn’t believe were all evil monsters. And then, one day, I was in a history class and... and we learned about the crusades.” Her hoof tugged at her mane. “The idea that people who claimed to be christian could... could do such horrible things.... I had a bit of a crisis of identity.”
After a moment, the earth pony looked up. “Look, I know what I believe. But I also know that at the end of the day, the whole point is that... that everybody is flawed, and the only way to be saved is Jesus. And... and if I decide to treat people like dirt just because they do things I know are wrong, I’m going to convince them that christians are hate-filled people and drive them away. So... like I said. If this works out, that’s... your business. I’m not going to throw rocks through your windows or anything, and I’d... still like to be your friend. I just....”
"Actually Amanda, there is no one truth, there are many truths," Floyd started. “We're in a multiverse of infinite possibilities and.."
Lyra held up a hoof quickly. "Woah there, hold your horses." Pun intended or not, she didn't say. "We're not here to challenge each other's faith, um, Amanda, forgive me, but I don't know much about yours? Maybe you could explain it to me, uh, later. It sounds like a private affair." She flashed a bright smile. "Let's move on. I'd like to hear challenges we faced, where we can help each other out in dealing with them in the future."
"I wasn't gonna insult her faith..." Floyd pouted, "I was just gonna point out that there aren't any incorrect faiths cuz multiverse."
“That’s the same as nihilism,” Amanda replied. “Basically, because infinity, there’s no morality. That’s what you’re saying.”
“I agree with Lyra.” Simon spoke up. “Whether or not anyone’s opinion is right, or wrong, or mutually exclusive, isn’t what this meeting is about. We should just let people keep to their own faiths and get to know each other as friends. After all, religion is one of the three things you’re not supposed to talk about at a friendly gathering.”
Floyd was about to speak again but a stern look from Blueblood kept her quiet.
Lyra pointed to Simon. "Let's start with you. What is the most vexing challenge you've had this week?"
Simon cleared his throat. “Well, as I said, being a changeling was confusing, but to find out anything more about what I am, I had to find another changeling. Sure, newspaper articles and talking to ponies helped some, but there was too much nopony knew. So, since I couldn’t find any changelings just wandering about, I... found some documents detailing where the changelings would have been flung off to, and strategic positions where they might have gathered.”
“Wait, flung to?” Amanda interrupted. “What are you talking about, were they all... thrown by dragons or something?”
Simon shook his head. “No. According to what I could find, a unicorn named Shining Armor and an alicorn named Mi Amore Cadenza literally flung--”
“What’s an alicorn?” Amanda interrupted again.
“Oh, it’s a horse with both wings and a horn,” Simon clarified.
“Oh, you mean a pegacorn,” the earth pony said, nodding in comprehension. “Pegasus unicorn. I suppose that makes sense, pegacorns were always supposed to be monsters and I can see one of them convincing an unsuspecting unicorn to help in some sick game of tossing people around.”
Simon tilted his head in confusion. He was too baffled to add on to her statement.
Lyra looked surprised at this. "I didn't even know there were alicorns where you came from, but the ones we have here are our rulers, kind and generous. Celestia is the controller of the sun, and Luna, the moon and dreams too." She tapped her forehooves together. "Then there's Cadance, princess of love, and Twilight Sparkle, princess of friends."
“...Wait, WHAT?!” Amanda shrieked. “You have pharaoh ponies?!”