Society as We Know It

by Comma Typer

Nighttime Activities

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Long Winded asked.

The two changelings lay on the grass, facing the sky. It was a hue of dark purple blue. The moon, surrounded by the stars, shone its soft light on to the land, giving the lake nearby a slight white glimmer. Crickets chirping, owls hooting, a few birds still going. The far lights of Ponyville was nearby with its faint sound of ponies talking.

"Lying down here, gazing at the stars, admiring what Princess Luna does every night. She does this every night?" Then, he breathed a sigh. "I have newfound appreciation of her!"

"Took you that long," Nastic blurted out.

"Well, if Princess Luna was mad at you, she might as well not give you a night," Long Winded said. "She's not pummeling you down or something—aren't you happy about that?"

Nastic groaned. "Just stay quiet and let me think."

Long Winded blinked. Then, he turned back to the sky.

A lone cloud slowly went by, drifting through. A pegasus sat on it, watching the landscape pass.

Then, the sound of fireworks in the distance.

Long Winded quickly stood up and faced Ponyville.

There were several colorful fireworks in the sky—one of them showed the face of a unicorn with a hat before it disappeared. Then, more fireworks—one of them showed the face of another unicorn; this one had no hat.

"Hey, it's Trixie's magic show!" Long Winded said. He went to his friend and poked him. "Do you want to see it?"

"I thought you were the guy who wanted to relax on the grass and just look at stars," Nastic shot back.

"Oh." Then, he slowly lay on the grass again, facing the sky. He placed his front hooves behind his head and smiled.

"I didn't want to go there, anyway," Nastic said. "Magic tricks don't interest me."

A few more moments of silence passed by between the two as they stared at the sky with its twinkling stars and its bright moon.

The air around them was cold. The trees swayed a little under the wind's movements and so did the rest of the plants. The faint talk of Ponyville grew a little louder as it became a roaring cheer. The mountains and hills far away gave a sense of surrounding safety—though not too much since they weren't that tall.

Nastic sighed. "Is that it? What's the use of being here on the ground just looking at the sky other than to relax?"

"We could talk," Long Winded replied. "Just talk. Talk about anything. We could talk about what board games we should get."

A pause.

"I've never played a board game. Have you? Because I want to try out those board games—there's chess, there's checkers and I'm sure there's more. I want to start with checkers—they say it's easier than chess because it has only one kind of piece while chess has multiple kinds to think about."

Nastic remained silent.

"And, the strategies for checkers, if I remember correctly, are simple. There's not much thinking and theorizing and other kinds of mental activity to get yourself deep in. In chess, there's lots of complex factors going on and they seem to have a name for every kind of beginning, middle, and end of a chess game and the advantages and the disadvantages of each one. I'm not ready for that, Nastic. Are you?"

Nastic sighed. "I don't know, Nastic. I've only seen games of chess—didn't understand one bit."

"Money?"

Nastic sighed again. "It's an expression, Long Winded. It's amazing you've made it this far and still don't know what 'one bit' means."

"And I learn something new!" Long Winded said, smiling. "And it's courtesy of you, Nastic! Aren't you proud of that?"

"Why would I be proud of something as simple as that?"

"Looking at the bright side of things, Nastic!" he responded. "With me by your side, I've already lightened up a lot of our days and you can't run away from that fact! Admit it, Nastic—it's always been a better day with me, right?"

"It's also been a better day with me keeping you safe from doing dumb things," Nastic said. "You're being optimistic, I'm being safe and keeping you OK from danger."

Then, Long Winded raised his head a little. "I know that, Nastic! And, I'm always happy to have you by my side. It's not just about me, it's about you, also!"

"As long as you don't go crazy and insane about the Wonderbolts or whatever, then we're going to be fine. Now, if you claim that this is relaxing, why don't you let me relax as well?"

Then, Nastic closed his eyes.

Long Winded looked at his resting friend.

Then, he fully lay down on the grass, placing his front hooves back on the back of his head, and looked at the sky.

"Dreams are fuzzy," Long Winded said.

Nastic's eyes were still closed.

"I don't remember if I did have my first dream or if it was just something crazy I thought of. But, I want to dream. They say it's nice to have dreams—an imaginary adventure or just a made-up experience." A second of quiet. "I want to see Princess Luna in my dreams. Humerus already had her in his dreams. Why can't I? Is it something rare? Can Princess Luna shift to other dreams fast?" Then, he sighed. "If only that were true. Then, I could get a few minutes with Luna. It would be an honor to hvae her inside my dream. What would I do, though? If I only had a few minutes—does she know my name? There's a lot of us changelings and I don't expect to know all of our names along with the names of her pony subjects. But, wouldn't it be cool if Luna would go inside your dream and say your name? 'Long Winded,' she would say."

He yawned.

Then, he closed his eyes.

---

A gray pegasus mare walked up the grassy hill and towards the two sleeping changelings. They were all facing up towards the sky—one was snoring loudly.

She stood right there, observing them as they breathed slowly and as they slept. She budged one of them with a hoof. He turned slightly and continued his sleep unfazed.

Derpy flittered back to Ponyville, the cheers becoming louder and closer. Several streamers were scattered around on the ground along with a few deflated balloons.

The crowd of ponies was still there, anticipating the return of Trixie and Starlight Glimmer on the now-curtained stage. The cheering had now died down to a cluster of cheerful murmurs.

She hurriedly went to the window on one house and planted her face on it.

Derpy saw a family of ponies at the table—a stallion, a mare, and a few young ponies: one colt and one filly. On the table were pies of different flavors—apple pie, blueberry pie, pear pie, and strawberry pie. There were also a few muffins.

She licked her lips at the sight of the muffins.

Then, she flew back to the main event with its massive clump of ponies.

"I knew Trixie would become more popular," a voice said, "but I didn't know crowds like this would turn out for her!"

Derpy looked around. She saw Twilight Sparkle and her friends walking towards the stage.

"I wanna join in the next act!" Pinkie said, raising a hoof. "Please pick a pony, please pick a pony, please pick a pony! But, what if I don't have the right kind of magic?"

"Pinkie," Twilight said, smiling, "if you want to be a volunteer, you don't need unicorn magic."

"I hope she's changed her wardrobe," Rarity said. "Don't you think the ponies will get bored of the same old costume? Unless they like her that way—if that's the case, I shall not argue with it. I will not meddle in such affairs."

"She still wears the same robe and hat," Twilight said.

Then, they passed by Derpy.

Derpy flew over the crowd of ponies, brushing past a few other peagsi who were hovering over the crowd as well. She went over the stage, heard a few muffled words, then went back to the crowd and landed right beside a stallion who was wearing a hat just like Trixie's.

He turned to Derpy. "I don't know about you," he began, excited, "but I never thought that I would love Trixie's performances until now! Ever since she became nicer, she's been a better pony. Now that she's learning actual magic from Twilight's very own pupil, who knows what's her potential?" Then, he waved a blue flag and shouted at the stage. "Trixie! We're waiting for you! I know that it's going to be awesome, Trixie!"

Derpy slowly walked away from the rabid stallion.

A bump and she fell to the ground.

Another mare fell, too.

The two recovered their stance, the other mare picking up her glasses. Derpy, dizzy, teetered, almost losing balance. Then, the other mare supported her with a hoof.

"There, Derpy," Mayor Mare said in her lightly elderly voice. "Are you alright?" she asked with a tinge of concern.

"Yeah," Derpy said, nodding her head. Then, she gasped. "You're the pony I'm looking for!"

"Why?" Mayor Mare asked, taken aback while she adjusted her glasses. "Is there something wrong?"

"There's some changelings, uh, asleep in the middle of nowhere!" Derpy said, taking a few glances towards the hills. "I don't know if it's a magic spell they're under or if they're lost but—"

"I'm sure they're safe." The mayor placed an assuring hoof on Derpy's shoulder. "They're more than capable of fighting off any thief if they do get attacked in their sleep, Derpy."

The pegasus nodded. "Thanks, Mayor Mare!"

She flew away.

Mayor Mare waved at her. "Now, where was I going?" She looked at the crowd of ponies gathered at the stage.

She walked to it.

---

Under the same night sky was the multitude of royal and fine architecture that made up most of Canterlot's buildings; spires and towers adorned the city. The streets were lit up by both the street lights and the building lights. Carriages zoomed by, hurrying towards some place.

Princess Celestia, startled, looked at her sister who was at the balcony. "Time to take a break, Luna?" she asked.

"Yes, it is," Luna said with a nod. She turned towards Celestia.

The room was circular; it was white and yellow. There was a single large bed in the room with two blankets and one pillow. There were many windows, allowing the cool night breeze to flow freely within.

"Whose dreams did you visit?" Celestia asked as her sister approached her.

"Met a young filly," Luna said. "Zipporwhill. A pegasus. She dreamed a simple dream—nothing of the ostentatious sort. It was a plain dream where she played with her dog: playing fetch, running around." Then, she smiled. "I did give her quite the surprise when I revealed myself to her from behind the bushes."

Celestia giggled, covering her mouth with a wing. "I always like it when you tell me their reactions to seeing you."

Luna giggled as well. "For nopony suspects me being present. And, it is always a good action to take—to greet your subjects as they are busy in their dreams. You never know what imaginary adventures a random pony might be having even right in this present moment."

Celestia nodded. "Indeed, sister." Then, she raised an eyebrow. "How's your venture into other creatures' dreams?"

"It is a strange yet familiar realm," Luna replied. She paced the round room. "It made me understand the thoughts of others more—why they do what they do. It is quite a benefit to have, considering that they usually will not tell you what's deep in their mind."

"But, it's all good, right?" Celestia went on.

Luna nodded. "There are limits, however. Some may deem it unfair—I am intruding into their minds without their permission, after all. This is why I'm entering the dreams of the calmer creatures first—such as the changelings. I've already met dozens of changelings in the dream realm and most of them were very...happy to see me."

"How happy?" Celestia giggled again. "I think it's hugs and screams of excitement."

Luna nodded again. "It is as if they are admirers of us, sister. Although, I have gotten used to it, already; coupled with their now mild attitude towards me, visiting their dreams is manageable."

Celestia looked at the bed. Her horn glowed yellow. She fixed the bed, straightening it out and keeping the blankets flat, arranging the pillow to be parallel with the blanket. Then, she yawned—she covered her open mouth.

"You don't have to be awake now, Celestia," Luna said, walking towards the balcony. "Go to sleep, sister. I'll take care of our subjects."

Celestia nodded. "Alright, Luna." She walked towards the door. "Have a good night."

"Have a good night, too." Luna waved at her leaving sister.

Then, the doors went shut.

Luna disappeared into the dream realm.

---

Thorax stood on his wooden throne.

It was surrounded by moss and other green plants. Several vines had crept into it. Leaves had sprout on its branches at the top. The rocky wall that surrounded it and the space around it gave the place a walled yet safe feeling. A few changelings looked up beside him at the night sky, all sounding out their awe. Their eyes glimmered under the moonlight and so did their carapaces.

"This late night activity is—" Throax yawned and covered his mouth "—making me tired." He looked at his subjects. "Do you wanna sleep, yet?"

"No, Thorax!" a changeling protested with a happy tone. "I'm getting inspiration for my next masterpiece!"

"You're going to splatter white paint on a black canvas again?" Thorax asked.

"Exactly, but better!" the changeling proclaimed. "It's going to be infintely better than the last few pieces of art I've done. Everyone is going to be so jealous at tomorrow's arts and crafts time!" Then, he went back to staring at the sky.

The changeling beside him smiled and looked at Thorax. He pointed a hoof at the changeling. "I wanna follow in his hoofsteps, Thorax! Maybe I'll become a great user of art like him!"

"'Great user of art'?" Thorax asked, stepping down from his throne and approaching the changeling. "Don't you mean 'artist'?"

"'Great user of art' has a nice ring to it," the changeling said. "Makes me sound professional."

"Just because you have a fancy title doesn't you're fancy yourself," Thorax said. "Now, why don't you go to sleep? It's getting too late already. Even I'm getting tired."

"No!" the changeling around him yelled in unison.

Thorax stood there surprised and shocked. "Uh, OK. I'll, uh, let you be. I'll still, uh, watch you—in case something bad happens. Pharynx will be at the ready when that happens, alright, guys?"

The changelings nodded.

Then, he sat on his wooden throne again.

Thorax sighed. Then, he smiled. "I've never seen changelings this dedicated to this before."

Then, after a while he stepped down from his throne again.

He looked at his subjects.

"What about something else?" Thorax asked. "Like, sleeping?"