Society as We Know It

by Comma Typer

Thinking

In the store, Davenport, in his blue and white clothes, paced and walked. He looked at the windows, not saying a word. He moved between the beds and sofas. Wooden shelves held quill of various kinds and colors.

"I cannot let any of the changelings get to me!" he whispered to himself, having on his face an uneasy expression. "If the ponies don't believe me, then I'll hold on to this place at all costs if I have to!"

There was a knock on the door.

"Who's there?!" he screamed.

The door opened. Pinkie Pie was smiling there.

"Oh, h-hi, Pinkie," Davenport said. "I didn't know it was you."

Pinkie bounced her way inside. "What about a sofa and a quill today?"

Davenport smiled at her. "Well, what kind of sofa and quill do you want?"

---

Solver sat on his stony chair in front of his rocky table.

Books, scrolls, papers of all types were stocked and scattered throughout. A few pieces of paper even fell to the floor as he moved his hoof around the table, looking for something.

More papers and books and scrolls fell.

Solver didn't complain. He didn't grumble. He still looked and fumbled for that paper.

The soft light above illuminated the room as he went on.

"Hi, Solver."

"Ah! Blue Alarm!" He turned around, shivering and trembling as he faced the blue changeling at the entrance. "Y-you disturbed me! I was just seeking information that will prove without a doubt or dispute that the ponies do not have our best interests in mind but only their best interests!" He laughed. "It's proven, already in my head!"

Blue Alarm sighed and shook his head. "Look, Solver. This is not how it's going to work out. Even if they don't have our best interests in mind, we might as well make the best out of it, right?"

Solver slammed the table with a hoof and hissed at his friend. "It's not that simple, Blue Alarm. The world and its politics is complicated and complex. The Princesses of Equestria only want domination of everyone they see. That explains all the events that have been happening not just in history but also in recent times, too!"

Blue Alarm stepped inside the room. "This needs to stop. You're getting quite a bad reputation around here because of your—"

"So, what if I get a bad rep around here? I'll stand for what I think is right!"

Blue Alarm stepped further. "Are you sure it's right?"

A dragon peeked through the entrance.

"Hah! Hah!" Solver pointed. "You're an accomplice! They've threatened you to submission! They have brought Spike here, the assistant to Princess Twilight Sparkle—it only makes sense now! You're supporting them because they got you!"

"Wow. This guy's crazy," Spike blurted out. He looked at Blue Alarm. "You have weird friends on your side."

---

"Bye, Pinkie!" Davenport yelled as he waved at the bouncing Pinkie carrying a quill and a small sofa.

He closed the door and locked it.

He scanned the room. "No changelings have entered secretly or not secretly. They won't hear of my plans, they won't hear that only I, Davenport, know what's really happening!"

He trotted to one of the open windows.

There were ponies walking around and playing under the bright blue sky.

"They might be spying on me any moment, maybe now!" He clattered his teeth.

Davenport closed the windows.

Now, not much sunlight was in the room.

He rushed to one of his beds. "OK, at least they haven't stolen any of my beds or sofas or quills. They're not so cruel to stoop that low."

---

"Just wait until Solver meets one of the Princesses!" Humerus yelled from his bed. "He's going to realize how lovely and happy and good the Princesses and the rest of the ponies are!" The changeling smiled from his place.

"Like I already said, Blue Alarm, Solver just cannot handle not planning things like attacks or invasions. Remember when he constantly asked King Thorax about any wars in the making?"

"In public, no less?" Neon Guard added. "Brushing that one aside, I think it's best that you leave Solver alone until he gets better. Just watch and monitor him from time to time to see if he's getting into any serious and real trouble. We don't want him to cause an incident."

Blue Alarm nodded. "But, what about making more friendships and maintaining the old ones?"

"Maybe now's the time to make more new friendships first."

The blue changeling sighed. "OK. I understand." He looked out their room's doorway or hole.

Changelings and more changelings filled the area. More and more purchases, more and more music, more and more speeches, more and more activities. Around them and amidst them, guards in their armors flew and walked around.

---

There was another knock on the door.

"Who is it?!" Davenport yelled.

"Oh, um..."

"Fluttershy?"

He opened the door.

The yellow pegasus was there.

"Apologies, Fluttershy. I didn't know you were out there!"

"Uh, sorry for not telling you earlier, Davenport." She peeked around. "Why is the room dark? Is it closed?"

Davenport shifted his eyes. "Oh, uh, I was resting. All this selling is making me tired and sleepy!"

Fluttershy looked up towards the sky. "It's only noon."

"Uh, siesta?"

---

Blue Alarm and Red Noise stood on the field of grass.

Changelings of all colors were flying and playing. However, others were on the ground. Many of them, either flying or walking or standing, talked to each other.

Spike stood beside the two.

"Exactly why are you here, Spike?" Red Noise asked.

"Day-off. Twilight said so!" He grinned.

"Wanna head off to the Changeling Convenience Store?"

"If it's going to make you two happy," Red Noise replied. "I actually wanted to go there."

"That's good," Blue Alarm said.

---

Davenport slammed the door and locked it again.

He looked at the windows. "It's all closed. It's all OK. It's all safe here! Hopefully, nopony knocks on the door! I must think about what the changelings are planning, what their ultimate goals are. It must be evil, it must be so since they're...changelings." He laughed and laughed behind the door. "They'll never see me attacking them! They'll never see me being the new hero of Equestria! I'll have stained glass window right there in Canterlot, honoring my heroism against the evil changelings!"

Then, there was another knock on the door.

Davenport grumbled.

"Davenport? Is that you?"

His eyes went wide open.

He unlocked the door and swung it open.

Princess Celestia was there.

Davenport gulped, shaking in his hooves. "Uh, h-hi, Princess Celestia!" He bowed down to the Princess. "It is an honor for me to provide you my wares!" He lowered himself further. "What do you need? A quill, a sofa, or both, my dear Princess?"

"Not much. I was just checking on Ponyville and how it's doing."

Davenport stood up. "Please take something from the store! It's the least that I could do for you, Princess Celestia!"

"You don't need to resort to begging, Davenport."

The Princess calmly entered the store.

"Why is it dark here? It's only afternoon. Not even close to sunset, yet."

Davenport gulped. "Uh, I was just sleeping and resting."

"Hm?" Celestia looked at him. "Is there something wrong? You don't sound OK to me."

He gulped again and scratched his mane. "I'm completely alright and OK, Princess!"

She looked down on him. "That doesn't sound OK. Do you need something?"

"Uh, no!" He backed away from the Princess. "It's a-alright here! I'm alright!"

"Are you sure you're not hiding anything from me?"

Davenport bumped into a wall. "No!" He shook his head. "There's not a thing I'm hiding from you!" He grinned at Celestia.

"That's a sign that you are hiding something." She chuckled. "It's about the changelings, isn't it?"

He sighed. "How did you know?!"

Celestia opened the windows with her magic.

Davenport closed and covered his eyes.

"I was standing right in front of the door when you were rambling about how you, apparently, know the truth behind the changelings and how you were supposed to lead the battle against the changelings and that you would become a hero." She paused. "Isn't that right, Davenport?"

"Uh...uh...how?"

She chuckled again. "I understand your fears, Davenport. The changelings were horrible and evil creatures for such a long time that I knew there will be a few ponies that won't adapt to the new and reformed changelings so easily. It turns out that, sadly, you're one of them." She smiled a faint smile at him. "I won't force it upon you to change your ways overnight. It's you who has to enable that change, Davenport."

"Uh..." He stuttered. He contemplated all the was in front of him and around him—the beds, the sofas, the quills under the bright and shining light of the sun; the Princess of the Day, Princess Celestia herself, standing in her stately form right in front of him. He stammered and stuttered even more.

Celestia chuckled again. "I'm sorry that I had to surprise you like that." She looked at the open door. "Well, I was surprised, too, when I heard you talk like that."

Davenport stopped stuttering and just looked at Celestia.

"And, no, Davenport, the changelings are good. They aren't hiding some elaborate plan to pretend that they're good in order to catch us by surprise. I've seen them before and I can tell you that they are changed."

Davenport still looked at the Princess. His mouth was wide open. His eyes were wide open.

He stood up slowly. "Uh...I'm...I think I'll go to sleep first, Princess Celestia."

In a haggard way, Davenport walked towards another room.

---

The air-conditioned convenience store still had its nice and cheery and happy changelings behind the counter. They all said sweet things to the customers that went in and the customers that went out, all in a pleasant and lively tone.

Spike slammed down another cup that used to have a softdrink.

The two changelings in front of him just looked at each other and back at Spike, wearing surprised expressions on their faces.

The dragon saw the changelings staring at him. "What's wrong, guys?"

"You drank ten cups of softdrinks," Red Noise. "You dragons must be really thirsty." He snickered. "Quite strange, since I thought a cup of softdrink is going to make you sick since you...well, since you have fire inside you, right?"

"It's more complicated than that."

Blue Alarm placed a hoof on the round table.

"So, how did you and Solver meet?" Spike asked.

He sighed and gazed upon the tall tower that stretched to the sky.

"We met formally at my first ever changeling attack. I was assigned as a scout to check the areas ahead of us while we did our attack and infiltration. Solver was chosen as the planner for the entire attack. He was very dedicated to it. That's when I realized that he was so committed to his talent of planning those attacks and invasions. From then on, Queen Chrysalis kept giving him the planning role in many changeling attacks and changeling infiltration missions. We were good friends...well, as friends as changelings could be at the time."

Red Noise groaned.

Spike leaned in closer towards Blue Alarm.

"Then, one day...you know that day, Spike. Chrysalis was defeated and ran away, Thorax was crowned as our new king, and everything was brighter since then. I suddenly remembered Solver, so I kept asking my friends where he was. I kept searching for that changeling. I was wondering why he was hiding."

He looked back at Spike. "Then, I finally found him. He was sitting down on the ground, mumbling something. I tried to get him up, but he just couldn't stop mumbling and talking about his job, about the ponies, about us changelings. We got him back to his room, but...now, he became the changeling he is now." He sighed. "Some of us could never recover so fast from that."

Spike burped.

Blue Alarm arched an eye at him. "That's what you get for drinking ten cups of softdrink, Spike."

"Alright, sorry!" He laughed.

"Maybe you'd want to order another," Red Noise said.

"I think he's had too much for one day," Blue Alarm answered.

---

"Spike, how's the day going so far?"

The changelings and Spike walked on the sidewalk. As they passed by the unique, hole-ridden buildings, Spike noticed them. As they passed by the numerous changelings that walked and flew, Spike took a look around and smiled.

"It's going well for me and you, I suppose."

Thorax nodded. "It's an optimistic perspective. You think that all is going well in this kingdom." He sighed and showed a smile at Spike. "Right now, I'm trying to make every changeling here accept pony culture and ideas while, at the same time, making sure that we produce our own culture—our own books, our own music, our own games, our own art. It's not that simple, Spike, but every changeling's trusting me to do the job well."

Spike patted Thorax. "You've come so far, buddy!"

Thorax stopped. He smiled.

"Thanks to you, Spike."