Society as We Know It

by Comma Typer

Another Trip

It was a sunny morning. The sky had no clouds.

Smiles were everywhere in the Changeling Kingdom. A few changelings wore green hats as they cleaned and sweeped the fields and the raods and the sidewalks, brushing away all the confetti and the streamers and the trash. Several more changelings flew in to help, collecting the trash with their own hooves.

The news changeling, donning his cap, shouted once again, holding up a colored newspaper with big headlines.

Nastic threw a few bits his way and grabbed a copy.

The smell of fresh ink. He recoiled from it.

Among all the other changelings that chatted and talked, he fixed his hat and read the front page.

"'First Wonderbolts Performance in Changeling Kingdom,'" he read aloud. There was a sigh.

---

Nastic walked inside.

The sunlight that reached the room gave a beautiful atmosphere to the room. The endless chatter of the many changelings outside was drowned out by what was in front of him.

"So, Nastic," the changeling said, "I've heard you're great at fixing up this new house, but..."

"What is it, girl?" he replied with gruffness in his voice. A smile still lingered on his face. "I'll fix all rooms and make it a nice place for your money."

He took a look behind him.

A lot of cardboard boxes stood on the front yard.

---

Nastic stood in front of the house. It was painted with a yellow color. The furniture and the potted plants that could be seen made the house alive and complete. The changeling inside waved from one of the second floor windows.

"It's beautiful!" the changeling yelled. "Now, I'm going to place up all the Wonderbolt things I bought yesterday! I'll place them all over the walls, both here and on the ground floor!"

"That's good to know!" Thorax yelled from beside him. He looked away and whispered, "As long as nothing gets changed, everything will be alright."

"What did you say?" Nastic asked.

"Well, um—"

"You don't need to answer, King Thorax." Nastic bowed down. "Sorry I forgot to revere you earlier."

Thorax sighed. "That's unnecessary, Nastic." He gazed at the yellow and orange sunset sky.

Nastic looked up, too.

They kept looking up.

Sunny Perky went inside.

Clouds passed by. The sun moved. Now, the sky was no longer yellow and orange. It was now a dark blue. The night sky was now dotted with stars and decorated with the moon.

The many lights that weren't already on throughout the kingdom turned on, brightening the place.

Thorax and Nastic glimmered differently in that light.

"So, your last work day of the week, Nastic." Thorax turned his towards him. "What are you going to do now? You can, uh, go throughout Equestria for a few days with your friend Long Winded."

Nastic gave him a smile. "That's actually a good idea, Thorax."

Thorax smiled, too. He nodded. "You need the rest. Why not make it the best rest you'll ever have?"

---

His footsteps echoed. The green lights gave their soft glow to the wide room. Nastic could see through many of the shelves. Most of them were empty as they stood in their place.

The two changelings kept walking. "Why are we going here before we go?" Long Winded asked, complaining.

He placed a hoof on one of the bookshelves. "It's something to remember." He glared at his friend. "You will behold the abundance of literature in Equestria. Before that, you must look at our lack of literature." Nastic gestured towards the sleeping changeling behind the four-sided desk in the middle. "Even Arthros the bookkeeper isn't competent enough for the job!"

"Shh!" He whispered, "You might wake him up!"

Nastic kept walking.

Long Winded kept walking, too.

---

"Why, I didn't expect anypony to buy cherries this late!" Cherry Jubilee exclaimed.

"Well, I didn't expect ponies can fix their mane like that!" Long Winded said.

Nastic groaned and stomped on the dry desert ground.

"It's not something any regular pony can do, changeling!" She picked up basketfuls of cherries.

Nastic nudged Long Winded.

"Yes, Nastic?"

"We don't want to be delaying by complimenting ponies about their mane late at night!" he whispered. His eyes were wide open. "This is just supposed to be a five-minute stop and then we're out of here!"

"Here's your cherries! A bit for each basket and ya' better stop that before it becomes a fight!"

Long Winded gulped. "Oh, we're sorry, Cherry Jubilee!" He picked up a few baskets. "I guess we're going, now!"

Nastic groaned again. "Thank you, Cherry Jubilee! Bye!"

Then, they ran off.

---

"We'll have our next stop at Ghastly Gorge, everypony!" a pony in yellow uniform yelled as he walked through the carriage.

The scenery with its grass and its trees was lighted up by the moon. A few ponies pointed out their windows, claiming and exclaiming that there was Princess Luna behind the trees. The pony in uniform raised a hoof and said, "Calm down, everypony! Now, it would be nice if Princess Luna is actually there. However, it's very unlikely that she is there."

Long Winded sat on his cushioned seat. He looked out the window, too. "Princess Luna's sky is always amazing." He looked at Nastic. He was sleeping.

He nudged him awake.

Nastic rubbed his tired eyes. "What is it now, Long Winded? Are we at Ponyville? Or the Rock Farm?"

"Just waking you up to see the night sky, that's all."

Nastic took his pillow and went back to sleep.

Long Winded admired the glittery sky. The stars twinkled, the moon shone—all while trees sped by in the foreground, the foliage becoming thicker in its leaves and branches. The air became cooler, attaining that fresh forest scent. He took in a breath, a whiff of the natural aroma—and he let out an "Ahh!" of refreshment.

Inside, several ponies sat on their cushioned chairs. While some minded the changelings, a few of them drowsed their way to a quiet sleep. Others chatted but only in hushed tones. Many of them, the rest of them, just looked at something. Some observed the brightly-lit passenger carriage they were in—with all of its contrast to the dark outside. Some others admired the night, reminded of Princess Luna and her nightly work of beauty that remained no matter where anypony went until the sun would rise.

The creak of the brakes screeched.

A few sleeping ponies jolted awake.

Nastic stayed asleep.

---

"Ponyville!" Long Winded shouted as he hovered his way out of the wooden train station, holding Nastic with a hoof. "We're going to have a great night tonight, Nastic! It's going to be fantastic!"

The lights of the homely cottages were still many, the noise of ponies talking in the night was still there. The dirt paths and the peaceful fields of grass that surrounded the village held, indeed, a lively town.

A brochure was hoofed to Long Winded.

He looked at the pony.

"Hello, there, changelings!" the spotted pony shouted. He adjusted his cap. "As student pony president, I want to let you enjoy all that Ponyville has to offer!"

And three fillies zipped to his side.

"We'll be your tour guides around Ponyville!" Apple Bloom shouted.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and the colt smiled at them.

"OK, that's nice of you," Nastic said, wearing a smile. "However, just don't make this tour too long. I don't wanna miss out a single hour of this vacation."

"Right!" Long Winded happily nudged his friend. "When did you start lightening up?"

He whispered, "I'm just accommodating them."

"Does that mean you're going to take the Ponyville tour?" Sweetie Belle asked. She motioned a hoof towards the bright, noisy town. "We have lots to cover! You guys might even meet Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

"Yeah," Nastic replied, "I'd like to talk with her." He yawned. "Just don't keep me waiting."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders jumped to the air and bumped their hooves. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Tour Guides!"

The colt took a small bow. "I'm glad that you're going to visit this nice place. Sorry to forget to introduce myself—my name's Pipsqueak!"

Nastic flew on. "OK, let's start this tour already."

---

"And, our next stop is—"

The door in front of them opened.

The stallion in his nice blue and white clothes looked at the changelings there.

The noise of ponies chatting and laughing went on in the background. Lights were still on, providing a nice mood to the place. The changelings gleamed in the light as one of them smiled while the other didn't smile so much. The Cutie Mark Crusaders grinned at the stallion, while Pipsqueak smiled professionally, holding a set of brochures with one hoof.

"Ah!" Davenport recoiled.

"What's wrong?" Apple Bloom asked, worry in her voice.

"Did we scare you?" Scootaloo followed.

Davenport breathed in and out heavily and slowly, heaving.

The colt, the fillies, and the changelings looked on him, not saying a word as he kept on breathing and heaving.

He took a smile. "So, I guess this is the tour around Ponyville that you've been talking about, right?" he asked rather nervously.

"Yeah!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted together.

"Come on, guys!" Scootaloo caled. "Time to witness all the wonderful...uh, quills and sofas!"

And they rushed in, including Pipsqueak.

Davenport inspected the changelings. A shaky smile was on his face. "Please tell me you're trustworthy! Princess Celestia told me that you're actually good! I don't know if you brainwashed her or anything, but please keep me OK!" His voice was choking; it was almost a sob. His hooves trembled, his eyes darted left and right, his mouth was shivering.

"Uh, OK," Nastic said.

Long Winded bumped a shy, reluctant hoof from Davenport. "Must be really excited to meet us, huh?"

"Just please go inside and enjoy yourselves!"

The two changelings flew in.

---

Under yellow and white lights, the happy ambience of Sugarcube Corner was heightened by the presence of a jittery Pinkie Pie throwing plates of cakes and pies and donuts and other sweet pastries. Ponies ducked for cover, but the plates never crashed onto them. All of them landed on the round table; though there were wobbles here and there, none of the food fell off their plates.

Long Winded and Nastic dived under their table.

Nastic looked behind him.

"OK, I can tell that Pinkie has good aim."

"Very risky, don't you think, Nastic?"

Then, they stood back up and took their seats.

And Pinkie Pie was in front of them, smiling all the more.

"Hi! I haven't seen you in Ponyville before! You must be even more changelings!"

"Look, Pinkie Pie," Nastic said, gesticulating with his hooves as he spoke, "I just want to have a sweet dinner and then head off to the Castle of—"

"—Friendship!" she screamed.

Long Winded almost fell off his chair.

"You mean the one where Princess Twilight Sparkle lives?! You mean the one where the Cutie Map resides?! You mean the one where there's all those nice colorful lights on the ceiling?!"

Nastic grumbled. He eyed Pinkie with half-open, serious eyes. "Yes."

Pinkie then burst out into laughter. She fell to the floor, punching and slamming the wooden floor.

The rest of the ponies looked at her.

Nopony else made a sound as they observed the hysterical Pinkie Pie.

Nastic adjusted his hat as he stood up from his chair. He gave Long Winded a look and he stood up as well.

Pinke Pie still laughed.

"We're going to eat this cake and donut outside, Pinkie," Nastic said, looking at her while she wasn't looking back. "It's colder outside."

She instantly stopped laughing and opened her eyes wide open at the changeling. "What about we give you our fridge cake?!"

"Fridge cake?"

---

Long Winded held the sack with his mouth as he followed Nastic through the dark yet cheerful streets of Ponyville. Passing through the beams of light from both inside the buildings and outside, their carapaces gleamed and glittered, catching the attention of not a few ponies.

Finally, near the outskirts of the town, they stopped and hovered in front of the grand white steps towards the double door of the huge, towering castle.

"I didn't know Pinkie has a cake that's literally the shape of a fridge!" Long Winded commented.

"I thought it was colder cake."

The double doors swung open.

Princess Twilight Sparkle stood surprised in front of the door. The colorful lights inside shone a vibrant and hued glow onto her.

"More changelings? And cake?"

Nastic glanced at his friend. "Long Winded! Why are you holding the cake out?!"

"It's a nice gesture, really," Twilight Sparkle began, "but you didn't have to." She smiled. "Besides, I just had dinner."

"That's nice to know, Princess Twilight Sparkle," Long Winded said.

She nodded.

Silence went between them for a short while as they looked at each other.

Twilight grinned an awkward grin and veered her view from here to there and then back at the changelings. "So, what's the occasion here? What brings you to the Castle of Friendship?" Then, her eyes went wide open. The grin went even wider. "Ooh! Maybe you have a friendship problem?"

Nastic held his hat. "What do you mean—"

"It's going to be great! It's going to be revolutionary!" She jumped up and down on the nice, clean floor as her tone became more excited. "I and my friends have always solved the friendship problems of ponies! We did solve a friendship problem for a griffon, and a few for dragons, and probably one for the yaks if that counts as a friendship problem—" She ran to Nastic "—but we haven't solved a changeling's friendship problem!"

Long Winded took a step forward. "Well, Princess, we don't currently have any friendship problems right now."

She then went up towards Long Winded. "Not on the surface!" Her voice became more ecstatic and disconnected. "Maybe it's going to be like Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail!"

"OK, who are they?" Nastic asked in an annoyed voice. "And why are they relevant?"

---

"Any idea why she laughed?" Sky Stinger, the cerulean pegasus with straight, lightning sea green mane, said. He looked at his friend sitting beside him in front of the round table, another pegasus but with light green-gray coat with windy, similarly-colored mane.

"Maybe it's because a changeling wearing a hat like any other pony is funny," Vapor Trail answered.

"That's funny?" He took a bite off his frosted donut.

"Well, she is Pinkie Pie." She considered the pony while she hummed a tune, serving behind the counter as a line built up in front. "She probably knows something about humor that we don't know about."

Then, Pinkie Pie popped up in front of the table. She waved a hoof happily. "Hi! You look familiar!" She rubbed her neck with a serious, comprehending hoof. "You must be..." She raised a hoof to the air and smiled. "You must be pegasi!"

Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail gawked at the pony. Sky Stinger twitched an eye.

"Heh-heh." Vapor Trail looked around here, avoiding the sight of the pony. "You're correct," she said in a nervous, uncertain fashion.

"What's your point?" Sky Stinger asked, firmly placing a hoof on the table.

"Just being good and friendly with my new friends!" Pinkie said.

Then, she hugged them, carefully averting their food with her hooves.

"OK, Rainbow Dash told me Pinkie was weird, but not this weird!" Sky Stinger struggled to get himself off the friendly hug.

"Let's just go with it, Sky Stinger," Vapor Trail suggested, her voice weakened by the power and the grip of Pinkie's hug.

---

As the alicorn and the changelings walked the spacious and decorated hallways of the castle, Twilight Sparkle looked at Long Winded, gazing at him with a smile.

"What kind of friendships do they have in the Changeling Kingdom?!" she asked crazily, close to shouting in front of his face. "Well, maybe I should rather ask, 'What kind of friendships do changelings have?' This is just the beginning!" In went levitating batches of paper and notebooks and couple of ballpens. "Let's start off with you and your friend!"

And she stopped her walk right in front of the big double doors. "Before we get into the library, let's interview the both of you."

"How much longer do I have to endure this?" Nastic asked. "I didn't come all the way here to get irritated by a pony who wants to know my life story!"

Twilight blinked. "Wow." She smiled again. "You're such a good guesser!"

Nastic placed a hoof on his head while he sighed. "I wasn't trying to guess what you're doing!"

"It's good enough for me, then!" She rushed off to Long Winded. "So, what's your name? Oh, wait! It's Long Winded."

He took a bow. "Nice that you—"

"How was your childhood?!" A notebook levitated close to her face.

"My entire childhood?"

"Yes!" Twilight yelled, shaking her head up and down.

"Can we take a break and rest in the library?!" Nastic shouted. His shouts echoed through the corridors, the hallways.