Society as We Know It

by Comma Typer

Natural and Pharynx

The breeze was cool as it sped past, providing its pleasant feel to the ponies who were there as they walked by. Ponyville in the morning was a sight to behold—the sun inching upwards slowly as it gives sunlight to the ponies down on the ground, the blue sky being the backdrop to the movements and the activities of the pegasi who were there, the buildings having the glimmer of the sunshine, the ponies smiling as they went about with what they did—they walked, they talked, they ate, they drank, they played, they ran, they sat down.

"I still can't believe you managed to convince Pharynx to change!" Twilight said to Starlight and Trixie who were walking beside her, smiling with glee as she did so. "It must've been hard to do it all outright, considering that Pharynx is...a tough changeling, to say the least."

"You can stop gushing about it, Twilight," Starlight responded, smiling a little nervously. "You've been talking about it almost non-stop ever since we came back to the castle!"

"Oh, it wasn't non-stop!" Twilight replied. "It was...according to schedule!" She grinned.

"Schedule, you say?" Trixie asked. "As if you didn't have the time to try the challenge yourself!"

"Of helping Pharynx change?" Twilight asked. "You know why I didn't go! That's because you two sneaked out while I was preparing breakfast with Spike!"

"It's not 'sneaked out,' Twilight," Trixie defended. "It's more of a 'convenient leave.'"

"It doesn't matter what you call it!" Twilight said, close to yelling. "You sneaked out or 'conveniently left' the place without my permission!"

"Uh, we didn't need permission, did we?" Starlight asked.

"I was assuming that you would stay," Twilight explained, anxiously looking here and there, slightly turning her head here and there, too. "Besides, it was one of the best breakfasts that I've ever thought of."

"And, look at what happened because we skipped breakfast," Trixie said rather haughtily. She stopped walking and pointed a hoof at herself; she smirked. "Starlight and I—the Great and Powerful Trixie!—"

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes.

Trixie's smirk faded away. "Fine! If I have to repeat myself—Starlight and I—the Great and Powerful Trixie!—met Thorax, met more of the reformed and good changelings, talked to Pharynx, helped him change and accept the kingdom—or, should I say, hive—for the good values that it upholds. So, you should be thanking us, Twilight, for doing what you've only thought of accomplishing even with your five close friends." Then, she looked up, closed her eyes, and smirked.

Twilight groaned. "Alright, Trixie! But, it's not completely my fault! I have things to do, schedules to follow to the letter, not to mention that I am a Princess who's being clamped with so many responsibilities and duties and calls and this and that!"

"Yes, we know, Twilight," Starlight said, placing a hoof on her. "We appreciate all the work you do for not just your friends but also for all of Equestria." She shot a mean glance at Trixie—who responded with a shy back down—before turning back towards Twilight. "Just...relax. It's good news, isn't it? Pharynx is now on the side of Thorax, the hive is safer now, the changelings are happy and in peace, spreading friendship and manifesting that friendship wherever they go. Most of the time, anyway." She grinned.

Twilight smiled. "Thanks for that, Starlight." She looked at Trixie. "So, let's say I treat you to some ice cream before I have to head off to Canterlot for some important business?"

"Ice cream?" Trixie repeated. "The Great and Powerful Trixie!" —she stood on her hind legs and, with her magic, produced fireworks that exploded around her— "is more than pleased to be with you and Starlight for some ice cream!"

Starlight giggled a little. "I think that's a 'Yes.'"

---

Quibble Pants and Party Favor sat in the bakery as Sugar Belle prepared a few pastries and other baked goods from behind the counter. The smell of the goods wafted through the room, bringing Party Favor to smell it with joy before he looked back at Quibble Pants who sat across the table.

"So," Party Favor said, "what you're telling me is...you want to buy some books. From me."

"Mm-hmm." Quibble nodded. "You see, what you have in those books is of invaluable worth to a fan of Daring Do such as I. A great swath of history is covered in those books that you have—history that is very much precious to me."

"OK," Party Favor responded, slowly rolling his eyes while keeping a straight face. "And, you're willing to pay a thousand bits for—what?—three books?"

"They're not just three books, sir," Quibble said, raising his voice a little, "they're super-high-quality books, not to mention that the editions you have are rare."

"Look, you must be mistaken," Party said; "I just bought these books when I was young, an older colt. There's no way that they could possibly be worth a thousand bits!"

"I've already checked the books," Quibble answered. "You've managed to keep them in tip-top condition despite not wrapping plastic around them, the pages have seen virtually no wear or tear. I don't know how you did it, but you did it. And that's without much interest in the books in the first place! I'm surprised."

Party Favor glanced at Sugar Belle. He bit his lip, his mouth quivering slightly. "Uh, Sugar Belle? Do you have the pies ready?"

"What?" Quibble asked. "Are you planning to throw a pie at me?"

"I wasn't!" Party said, holding up his hooves in self-defense. His horn glowed; the table also glowed.

Quibble looked at the table. "You're panicking, aren't you?"

Party kept his frantic look on his face. Then, he calmed down—the glows on both his horn and the table disappeared. The unicorn was close to hyperventilating—he was breathing quite fast.

"Look, Party Favor," Quibble said, "I'm not sure what your problem is. But, don't let that get in the way of this business." He placed a hoof on the table, his face becoming serious along with his tone. "Those first three books you have there are books I want to buy. Nothing more than that. So, I'll give you...not a thousand bits. I'm not that rich. But, let's settle with, I don't know, seven hundred and fifty. Huh?"

"You're asking me," Party Favor said, pointing to himself, "a pony who, now, doesn't care much about Daring Do—although I respect her contributions to literature and all. You're asking me to give you books that, to me, aren't worth a lot. And, you're willing to give me seven hundred and fifty bits? Don't you think it's unfair?"

There was silence between the two as Party Favor looked a little sternly at Quibble and as Quibble placed a hoof on his chin, looking at the table with the look of deep thought on his face—he narrowed his eyes, he tightened his lip.

"I say it's unfair!" a voice yelled from outside.

Party Favor and Quibble and Sugar Belle looked outside.

"Yes!" the changeling yelled. "I say it's unfair, but you should go with it, anyway! It's a bargain!" He jumped up in the air and did a few aerial tricks as if to prove his point.

"Uh, did you invite this changeling?" Party Favor asked. "Because, I'm not sure what you're trying to do here."

Quibble groaned. He looked at the changeling. "Hey!" he shouted. "If you're trying to secretly get those books, well, I got here first!"

"But, I want those books, too!" the changeling said, his voice now becoming sad.

"Well, find some other copies of the books!" Quibble shouted before slamming the table with a hoof.

Sugar Belle balked a little at the sound of the slam. Then, she went on with her baking, although the smile on her face was gone.

The changeling flew away.

---

"It's natural," Blue Alarm said.

"What is?" Humerus asked.

"What we've been doing for...a long time," Blue Alarm replied, looking off yonder to the distance—over there were birds chirping and woodlife flourishing in the green, lush forests beyond. The sky was blue, the clouds were few, and the buzzing sounds of changelings flapping their wings rapidly in the air completed the picture.

The ground was now filled with grass and shrubbery—all teeming with life, whether it had flowers, fruits, vegetables, or just leaves. There were still remnants of the thorns and the weeds of old—but, they were slowly diminishing as they were overtaken by the vibrant greenery.

A simple dirt path was there, curving its way slightly here and there while it was flanked by more greenery. A few butterflies flew over the path and Humerus looked intently at the pack as they stood near the entrance to the towering hive.

"We tried to be like the ponies," Blue Alarm said, "but...Thorax was right in the end. He pushed for a simple changeling home and that's what he had in mind since day one. And, here it is." He turned around and slightly pushed Humerus towards the hive. "There. We've seen this almost every week, and yet, this is one of the few times I've had just...being stunned how beautiful nature is."

"I want fires," Humerus said.

"I know." Blue Alarm patted Humerus on the head as Humerus kept looking on at the hive. "I know, Humerus. But, don't let that distract you. Who knows?" He sighed and turned back around towards the outside, beyond the boundaries of the hive.

"Just a recap of the situation," Blue Alarm said as he went on with his speech, pacing on the dirt path with Humerus watching him. "Equestria still gives us aid, but not that much—Thorax himself asked for the decrease of aid, not because he doesn't trust Equestria, but because he realized that we didn't need that much money. They still give us supplies, though—lower amounts. Gone are the pony-like buildings, gone are the pony-like streets—now, it's just us, trying to fit in, trying to integrate, trying to...be friendly to all." He smiled and stopped his pacing, looking at Humerus gleefully. "Doesn't that make you feel warm inside?"

Humerus rapidly flapped his wings and smiled. "I still like hearing about that!"

"And, that feels like a happy ending to it all," Blue Alarm mentioned. "But, of course, it's not all fun and games even today. There's still creatures to defend against, there's still relations to handle—and, of course, we still have to get used to friendship." He looked up towards the sky. "It's infinite, in a sense."

"What?" Humerus asked, his ears perking up.

"Friendship."

"Why?"

"Remember the Friendship Journal? That's not the entirety of what we can learn from friendship. From what I've heard, Twilight Sparkle and her friends still learn about friendship—and those are the poster ponies of friendship! So, what about the rest of the ponies who live in Equestria? And, those that aren't ponies, like us?" He pointed a hoof towards himself.

Humerus grabbed a hoofful of dirt and examined it.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"Picking up some dirt," Humerus bluntly replied.

"Why?" Blue Alarm asked, sounding confused and confounded, tilting his head a little.

"Maybe you would like to use this dirt as an example?" Humerus offered the lump of dirt to Blue Alarm.

"Nah," he said, waving a hoof.

Humerus slowly and carefully placed the lump of dirt back into the ground and patted it, flattening it.

"Then, what?" Blue Alarm asked, approaching his friend. "What will be the plan next time we go out of the kingdom? The hive is pretty much done—too bad we wasted lots of effort trying to reconstruct it. Who knew that just making it natural was the best course of action?"

"I didn't!" Humerus cheerfully stated.

"Well, me, too," Blue Alarm said, shaking his head as he smiled. "But, here we are. A place that's sort of in the middle of the forest but not really because we're also in the middle of the desert but not really. Eh, bad description, but what can I say?" He shrugged.

"Can we go back inside, now?" Humerus asked. "We're already late for the Feelings Forum!"

Blue Alarm giggled and snickered. "Ah, yes. The Feelings Forum."

Then, the two changelings placed a hoof on each other's head and smiled as they flew and looked towards the hive.

---

"How does it feel to be the ruler of all the changelings, Thorax?" Pharynx, a tall and dark blue changeling with purple eyes and carapace and red orange antlers, asked his brother. He had a gruff and rough voice. "Now that you actually have to care about what other leaders think about you."

"It's been...hard," Thorax replied.

The two were sitting in a secluded area inside the hive. The beautiful, flowery vines gave life to the craggy walls; the green shrubbery was growing in the corners here and there. The sound of changelings flying both outside and inside provided background noise to the whole talk. The poignant and delicious smell of food being cooked and prepared was, in this place, a scent, a faint scent.

"Talking to the Princesses of Equestria is the easiest part," Thorax went on. "They're always kind and understanding and happy about lots of things. And, it's not just the words—their actions speak for themselves: all that they've been donating and forwarding to us was more than enough for us. But, like I said, that's the easy part."

"What about the dragons?" Pharynx asked. "I overheard they finally got a new Dragon Lord after, what, several centuries? I sort of heard about it before, but it's only now that I've confirmed it all."

"Yeah, they have a new leader," Thorax replied. "Ember, Torch's daughter. She visited Ponyville—"

"Wait, she visited Ponyville?" Pharynx said in mild surprise, his pupils in his eyes growing. "How did she not destroy Ponyville?"

"She's many times smaller than her father," Thorax said. "About the same size as you and me."

"Oh." Pharynx looked away for a short moment. Then, he looked back, slightly smiling. "OK." Then, he put on a curious look. "So, how are we going with the dragons? I know it's not that bad since the dragons aren't invading us."

"We're on an OK relationship," Thorax said.

"OK as in 'we're definitely friends' OK?"

"Yup."

"Alright. Hmm." Pharynx placed a hoof on his chin. "The yaks?"

"Not much talk from Rutherford, but he's...complacent about us, to say the least." He grinned.

"So, he doesn't care."

"Nope."

"OK. What about the griffons?"

"Could be better."

"You make this sound easy," Pharynx said. "It can't be that easy, right?"

"No, it isn't," Thorax said. He looked down, looking sad and a little forlorn. "Chrysalis, though she was evil, had it easy for her. All she had to do was say something and every changeling would do that something. Every one of us feared her. There was no room for error, no room for deviation. Now that we're all free to be whoever we want to be, it's actually a complex system, a complicated thing to grasp. Some changelings want this, other changelings want that. What if they don't want the same thing? I have to be the arbiter, but who should I satisfy? Just because this group is right on one thing doesn't mean they'r right on others. And, what if there are personal problems behind it all—so it isn't just about which perspective or point of view is correct, but it's also about who wronged this changeling or who wronged that changeling as well. Should I give repayments or should I just let them forgive and forget? Should I teach them a harsh lesson and give them a stern punishment, or should I be kind to them and let them go free?" He sighed. He groaned. He placed his front hooves on his head, rubbing it as if to relieve some stress.

Pharynx inched closer to his brother. "Are you alright, Thorax?"

"Yes, yes, I'm alright," Throax said. "It's just that I don't think of this as an easy thing at all. It's an immense task, a responsibility that was just thrusted to me out of nowhere."

Pharynx patted his brother on the back. "You do know I'll be here for you, right, brother?"

"Yeah," Thorax said, smiling. "And, I'll be here for you, too."

And the two brothers hugged.