Society as We Know It

by Comma Typer

Breakfast

The twilight sky was purple and lavender in color. Several stars still persisted in the early morning. The sun was not out, yet. A few ponies were walking about at such an early hour.

One of them was Pinkie Pie who was happily going about the process of opening up Sugarcube Corner by gladly opening the doors and the windows, by gladly preparing the counters and the displays by placing in the right cakes and the right pies and the other right sweets, and by joyfully humming while she did all the above. And, there was that happy smile on her face.

She trotted merrily to her place behind the counter, smiling towards the door. "And, Sugarcube Corner's open for the day!" Bringing out her party cannon, she launched streams of streamers and confetti and even a few balloons, joyously celebrating the moment.

Then, she rushed her way to clean the party mess.

She ran back to her place behind the counter, still smiling.

Through the open saloon doors that led to the kitchen that smelled of sweet confectionaries, Mr. Cake appeared, a little dirty with baking powder on his apron and on his striped bowtie. "Er, Pinkie!" he called out. "Have you made sure that everything's OK?"

Pinkie saluted the baker and smiled. "Don't you worry, Mr. Cake! It's all going to be just fine!"

Mr. Cake let out a laugh of relief. "Like always, Pinkie Pie." Then, he stepped back into the kitchen, with Mrs. Cake trotting up to him.

Pinkie turned back to smiling towards the door.

And in arrived Half Baked Apple, complete with his brown hat and his slightly frizzy, slightly unkempt red and scarlet mane. He licked his lips, beholding the delectable and delightful desserts that did attract him.

"Half Baked Apple!" Pinkie yelled, waving at the stallion. "Good to see you! You're rather early this morning—what's the deal?"

As he trotted his way to the counter, he replied, "Ah' decided that mah' place is too far 'way to reach in time last night, so Ah just slept over at some of those benches 'round the park!"

Pinkie gasped. "You deserve better than that, Half Baked!"

"Aww, no need!" He stopped and stood at the counter. "We Apples can live anywhere, Pinkie!" He slammed a front hoof on the counter, noticing the shake he gave to the desserts on display. "Whoops!" He gave an apologetic grin. "Well, ya' know why Ah'm here!"

"Hmm..." Pinkie placed a hoof on her chin, eyeing the stallion supsiciously. "Do you want to meet up with a griffon?"

"Huh?!"

"Silly Half Baked!" she said, grinning. "You didn't tell me you wanted to have some breakfast with a griffon!"

"Uh, Ah didn't bring any griffon or even anypony with me!" he answered, shying away a little.

"Then, how do you explain Gabby?"

Pinkie gestured a hoof past Half Baked.

He looked back.

An ecstatic, overjoyed griffon was happily flapping her wings and hovering above the wooden floor of the bakery.

"N-no!" Half Baked yelled. "Who are ya'?!"

"Didn't I already tell you?" Pinkie said. "That griffon's Gabby, the mailgriffon!"

"Hi!" Gabby gladly greeted. "I'm just here to send the first and last mail of the day! It's for you, Pinkie Pie!"

"Ooh! For me?!" Pinkie shouted.

"Uh, what about mah' breakfast?" Half Baked interrupted.

"Don't worry, whoever you are!" Gabby reassured. "This nice, diplomatic letter is only going to take a few seconds of your time!"

And Gabby dashed her way to the counter, hurriedly opening her bag while doing so, and gave Pinkie a nice, neat scroll.

"Thanks, Gabby!" Pinkie responded while opening up the scroll.

While Pinkie was opening the scrolled letter, Gabby held her claws up to her face, smiling. "I can't believe I just gave my first mail to Pinkie Pie!" she muttered. She noticed the hatted Earth pony beside her. "Oh! Sorry for me interrupting your order!"

"Aww, Ah think it's alright, uh, Gabby!" Half Baked replied. "Mah' name is Half Baked Apple, proud member of the Apple family."

"Oh, right!" she yelled. "I should've known that you were an Apple family member since your hat has something that looks like an apple and that cutie mark of yours definitely looks like a baked apple to me and—" She gasped "—Wait! You're related to Apple Bloom, am I correct?!"

"Yeah! Apple Bloom's a real Apple family member! And—"

"And, you mean the Apple Bloom, the Cutie Mark Crusader?!"

"Yes're, that's right!"

The griffon picked up the Earth pony and hugged him. "Not only do I get to send my first mail ever to Pinkie Pie, but I get to meet a relative to Apple Bloom all in the same day!"

"That's real nice!" Half Baked shouted. "Now, please get me outta' here 'fore ya' start hurtin' me!"

"Hey!" Pinkie Pie announced, dropping the letter. "I didn't know Thorax is coming here!"

Gabby looked straight at Pinkie Pie and dropped Half Baked Apple to the floor.

Half Baked landed with a thud.

Gabby nodded. "And, did you check the time that he will be arriving at?"

"Hmm..." She picked up the scrolled letter. "It says that he's going to be arriving at around sunrise."

And, as the sun rose in the sky, bringing with it all its sunlight and its sunshine onto the land of Equestria, bringing light and warmth to the ponies of Ponyville, bringing a full, triumphant morning blue color to the sky, a tall and regal changeling glimmered under it all, standing right at the entrace.

"Hi, Pinkie Pie!" Thorax said, waving a hoof. "I finally decided to give myself a day-off!"

"Wow!" Pinkie expressed. "I'm having an Apple family member, a griffon, and the king of the Changeling Kingdom all as my first customers of the day!" She turned towards the kitchen and shouted, "Mr. and Mrs. Cake! You won't believe who's our first three customers of the day!"

Mr. and Mrs. Cake rushed out of the kitchen, stained and dirtied with baking powder and other baking and confectionary ingredients. They looked at the creatures in front of their counter.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Half Baked Apple happily said, waving a cheerful hoof at them, not noticing the surprised expressions on their face.

Mr. Cake laughed a little. "Nice to meet you!"

Mrs. Cake laughed a little, too. "Uh, hope you have a lovely day here!"

Then, they rushed back into the kitchen.

Pinkie turned towards the customers in front of her. "What about you all eat around the same table?!" she loudly suggested.

"Uh, OK!" Half Baked Apple agreed.

Gabby jumped up and down, still smiling.

Thorax showed a small smile. "What better way to start off the morning?"

"What about starting off the morning just the same except with a dragon?!" Pinkie suggested again, pointing a hoof past all of them.

The hatted Earth pony, the excited mailgriffon, and the regal king changeling looked at the entrance.

"I'm not just here in Ponyville for food," Ember said.

---

Seated around the round table were four creatures—a pony, a griffon, a changeling, and a dragon. On the table were a few plates—on one plate was a tall chocolate cake, frosted with thick helpings of chocolate frosting and decorated with chocolate pieces. On another plate was another cake, this one a simple cake—not much frosting, but the cake itself was yellow. On yet another plate was a baked pie, with steam still being emitted out of it. And, on yet another plate was a helpful of colorful lollipops, both big and small.

Beside the plates were glasses, though none of them contained water. Half Baked Apple's had apple juice, Gabby's and Thorax's had soda, while Ember did not have a glass at all.

"Come on, you won't believe who was the next customer!" Pinkie shrieked.

And, Mr. and Mrs. Cake once again arrived behind the counter. With a quick smile, they quickly left and went back to the kitchen.

The four customers looked back at each other.

Half Baked Apple took a bite of the chocolate cake as he eyed Thorax.

Thorax eyed Ember as he took a bite of the same chocolate cake.

Ember eyed Gabby while she took a bite of the same chocolate cake.

Gabby darted her gaze between her three companions, munching on all the food that landed on her plate.

Half Baked Apple looked at his second slice of cake. He looked back at the creatures around him. "Well, Ah reckon that this is not a usual day for me!"

Not much of a response appeared from them, other than Gabby continuing in her quest to eat more while having fun.

Thorax smiled. "Sorry for the awkwardness, heh-heh-heh-heh." His smile grew awkward. "Let's say that I didn't expect the Dragon Lord to have breakfast in Sugarcube Corner. I'd say that it's not typical for a dragon to be eating sweets this early."

Ember groaned, grabbing another slice of the chocolate cake. "Princess Twilight Sparkle called us to gather for an informal gathering of the leaders in and around Equestria," she said. "Not as glamorous as the Grand Equestria Pony Summit, but I bet it's something more important."

"Wait, really?!" he blurted out. "I had scheduled today to be my day-off!"

"Short notice," Ember replied. "Looks like Twilight got disorganized lately. Maybe it must've something to do with that 'friendship talk.'"

Thorax laughed nervously.

"Speakin' of friendship talks," Half Baked said, "Ah was there mah'self! Ya changelins' got wonderful sceneries and buildins' with arch'tecture that's unique and changin' all the time!"

"Really, you went there?" Thorax responded, beaming. "How was it?"

"It was mighty great in noise," he went on, "and Ah liked the partyin' that went on!"

"Partying?"

"Yeah!" he yelled. "Your changelins' goin' here an' there an' everywhere else in the area, an' then there were groups 'round each of Twilight an' her friends, an' then there was also the food, an' then Ah went to Ponyville after a while, then Ah' slept in one of the benches, then Ah' arrived here, then now we're here!" He took another bite of the chocolate cake. "Ya' must be proud o' yourself there!"

Ember looked at Thorax. "Now, I wonder why Twilight Sparkle hasn't thought of friendship talks for my kingdom, hm?"

Thorax chuckled even more nervously.

"Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are returning to Griffonstone with their friends soon!" Gabby declared. "I wonder what they're going to do there! Maybe they might bring the Cutie Mark Crusaders with them, too, so they can learn from them, too! And, with me as a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I will also—"

Thorax spat out the soda from his mouth and onto the slice of cake on his plate. "You are a Cutie Mark Crusader?"

"Why, if Ah'd never known 'bout it!" Half Baked said, gazing at the griffon.

"Just more surprises, I guess," Ember stated.

"Isn't that exciting?!" Gabby shouted. "I'm the first ever griffon member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders! What do you think?"

Half Baked Apple, Thorax, and Ember just looked at the happy griffon, mouths open in surprise. Then, they went back to eating.

"That's OK!" she expressed. "Maybe we can talk about it later!" She went back to eating her food as well, eating loudly and hurriedly, though on her face was a smile.

The pony looked up from his food. "So, now that we have me, ah pony, eating with three different creatures at the same time an' at the same table, what's yer' thoughts?"

Thorax took a sip of his soda. "Unexpected." He looked at the creatures around the table. "I was just planning to eat and spend my day-off in Ponyville, that's all. Never thought that I was going to have breakfast with a pony, a griffon, and a dragon."

"I'm just waiting until the afternoon," Ember responded. "Being here early means establishing a good image among the ponies here in Equestria. Also, if I act nice and kind enough during my waiting time in Ponyville, that means ponies will be more accepting of us dragons."

"And, I'm just so excited to have all of you around!" She grabbed all three of them into a group hug. "We still have lots of things to talk about! I can talk about Griffonstone and also, have you tried Gustave le Grand's eclairs? I always liked how he cooked those eclairs and—"

"Hey!" Pinkie said right in front of the table. "You know Gustave le Grand? I met him before!"

"You did?!"

"Oh, no," Ember blurted out. "Not another sappy, friendship story incoming."

"Aww, don't worry about it, Ember!" Pinkie joined the group hug. "That's how the friendship stories and lessons go! They're all sappy! Well, not all of them."

"I'm trying to eat here."

"Whoops!" Pinkie let go of her grip and the group hug was over. "Just remind me if you want to order any more food!" Then, she trotted away.

Half Baked Apple immediately went back to eating his breakfast.

"How was your day?" Thorax asked Ember as Half Baked and Gabby kept eating.

"You mean yesterday?" She took a bite of the simple cake.

"Yeah."

"We just got another set of carts and carriages with food and other amenities from the ponies. I'm still kind of happy over scaring the delivery ponies, but they're starting to be wary of the pranks."

"Anything you built?" Thorax asked. "Like, houses or maybe libraries?"

"Really, Thorax?"

Thorax nodded.

"We dragons live in caves and volcanoes. I don't think that the lack of buildings in the Dragon Lands is a serious concern among us dragons."

"Maybe you'll live better lives if you build houses!"

Ember groaned again, growling even. "Even if we did try to build houses, we need lots of materials which require lots of bits, and, before you even say 'What about selling your gems for bits?', we also eat gems and other precious stones, so don't even think about asking that question."

"OK, then," he said, laughing nervously before returning to his food.

---

More ponies entered the Sugarcube Corner, noticing the desserts and other sweets but also noticing, rather more obviously and blatantly by the surprised expressions on their faces, the table with its four wildly different customers all chatting in their different ways, eating the same food. A few ponies recoiled at the sight of it, but most of them kept walking on to the counter or to another table—though some of them kept their eye on that table.

As Pinkie Pie exchanged places with Mr. and Mrs. Cake, with her now in the kitchen and Mr. And Mrs. Cake now behind the counter, taking orders and serving customers, the table with its different customers still had its different customers.

Thorax looked out the window. "What time is it, anyway? I don't think it's even near noon."

"Ah think it's mid-mornin'!" Half Baked proclaimed.

"Like that's going to help us," Ember said.

Gabby kept drinking her glass of soda. She placed it down and yelled, "Can I have another glass of soda?!"

"How many glasses did you have?" Thorax asked. "I've lost count after eleven!"

Ember looked startled. "Eleven servings of soda?"

"Ah'm sure that's gonna assist her mail job!" Half Baked interrupted.

"From what I've observed," Ember began, "that griffon has been jumpy and excited ever since I've met her and that's without any sugar." She eyed Half Baked with a menacing look. "So, I don't want to know what would happen after Gabby drinks another soda."

"Good question."

Ember looked surprised. "Question?"

"If yer' a fire-breathin' dragon, then what do ya' drink?" Half Baked asked. "Do ya' get thirsty?"

"Yes, there are times when we drink things like water—"

"Then what happens to yer' fire abilities or somethin'?"

"Yeah, Ember," Thorax added, "if you drink water, then what does happen to your fire abilities?"

Ember growled. "Can we talk about this later?"

Mr. Cake rushed in with a bottle of soda and poured its contents into Gabby's glass. "Is that alright, Gabby?" he asked, exhausted.

"It's alright, Mr. Cake!" she replied, smiling.

Then, Mr. Cake rushed back to the counter.

"How long are we gonna stay here?" Half Baked asked. "Are we gonna stay 'till lunch?"

"Why, any problem?" Ember asked back with a threatening voice.

"Uh, n-no!" he replied shakily.

---

With Gabby leaving, Half Baked Apple was the only one left at the table. As Pinkie Pie grabbed all the dirty plates and glasses, she happily asked, "So, how did it go?"

"Better than Ah' ever expected, Pinkie," he replied. He smiled. "Thank ya' for accommodatin' us, even though it was probably quite early for ya'."

"Aww, why thank you!"

Then, Pinkie took his hat and placed it back on his head, patting the hat afterwards.

"Pinkie Pie, thank you."

"Welcome!" she happily responded.

Half Baked, still smiling, looked at his surroundings. There were still many ponies in the building, all talking and eating, most of them smiling, too.

---

Half Baked Apple walked out of the bakery and into the morning outside. Birds were flying and chirping, adding to the cheery atmosphere of the time. Along with the birds, there flew, rather clumsily and haphazardly, a bubbly gray pegasus mare with yellow mane and tail. Adventuring through the sky, she managed to regain and to retain her balance in the air.

Half Baked walked on, beholding and admiring the rural, homely scenery of Ponyville. The white and pink and yellow cottages provided a peaceful mood to the walk, but what made the town lively and bustling with the right amount of energy was the ponies, all amicable in their talk and in their actions, even the ponies that were carrying a sofa while Bon Bon and Lyra oversaw the sofa carrying.

Half Baked headed his way towards the Castle of Friendship.

---

"So, another friendship problem?" Fluttershy asked, seated around the crystal table with its projection of Equestria and some of its surrounding areas. "What is it gonna be this time?"

"Considering that everypony except Rarity is here," Twilight answered, eyeing the only empty crystal seat at the table, "I'm guessing that it has something to do with...I'll be honest, any guess I'll make is probably going to be far-off."

Then, the doors swung their way open. "I'm here!" Rarity shouted. "I'm here! Is the Map going to take us to Manehattan again? Ooh! If we're going to Manehattan, maybe we can stop by Rarity For You just to check on it!"

Twilight chuckled. Applejack chuckled, too. "We'd better see the look on yer' face when ya' realize where you're goin' with Fluttershy!" Applejack said rather happily.

Rarity galloped her way to the table, not even minding to sit on her chair. She looked at the map.

Rarity's and Fluttershy's cutie marks were glowing and hovering above a busy-looking city.

"Ooh!" she yelled. "We're going to Manehattan today! We're going to Manehattan today!" Then, she sang, "We shall go to Manehattan, oh lovely, lovely Manehattan—"

Rarity stopped and eyed all her friends who were staring at her.

"Oh, y-yes, right. There's a friendship problem to solve and a few poor ponies to cheer up! That's more important."

Twilight chuckled again.

Rarity grabbed Fluttershy. "So, Fluttershy, let's go!"

"W-wait. What about the bags?"

She looked awkwardly at the pegasus. "Oh, yes, the bags. I almost forgot that we need to keep our belongings and our items safe." She grabbed Fluttershy again and trotted away. "We'll get the bags on the way to the train station! See you all, girls, and farewell!"

---

Half Baked Apple walked up the grand steps that led to the grand double door of the tall, towering, sparkling castle. He held his gaze towards the castle. "That's big, alright! Now, let's see what an Apple family member like me can do 'round here!"

The doors swung open and Half Baked was thrown away, tumbling onto the grassy ground.

He got up. Two mares were moving, one running while holding the other one. "Ya don't see that everyday!" He looked at the open doors. "Wow! That's fine nice that they opened it up just for me!"

---

Half Baked Apple looked around, seeing the immensity and the grandeur of the regal hallways, carpeted with exquisite carpets of splendid design and decoration, adorned with windows that soared almost to the ceiling—and, of course, there was Princess Twilight Sparkle, who looked somewhat exhausted.

"Oh, hey!" Half Baked greeted cheerfully, waving a hoof. "Ah' think ya' saw me goin' 'bout at the friendship talk yesterday!"

Twilight, meanwhile, looked on towards the outside for a short while. Then, she looked at the stallion. "Hi! Sorry for ignoring you there. Rarity and Fluttershy are just off to another friendship problem." A pause. "So, what brings you here? Wait, are you a member of the Apple family?"

"Why, Ah' sure am!" he replied heartily, bowing down to the Princess while taking off his hat in an honorable gesture.

Twilight chuckled a little. "Well, isn't that lovely? Applejack's inside, if you wanted to talk to her."

"Ah'm not lookin' for her or anythin', but it'd be quite alright if Ah'd go an' talk with Applejack!"

Twilight smiled. "Yes, that would indeed be quite alright, but you better not stay for too long, because we're going to have an informal meeting with the leaders of the nations around Equestria."

"What for, Princess?"

"The usual being up-to-date about everything. Also, it's a nice opportunity to spread friendship around starting from the top then going to the citizens of each nation and kingdom. We're going to have Prince Rutherford, King Thorax, Dragon Lord Ember all attending—"

"Wow! I just met them earlier for breakfast!"

"Wait, what?!"

"Breakfast at Sugarcube Corner, if ya' needed mor' information!"

"That would explain why they're here early," she said. "All we need to do is to wait for Prince Rutherford then we can get the meeting rolling! Hopefully, it's going to turn out just fine."

"Actually, Ah' was here to see if Thorax an' Ember are here."

Twilight looked at the stallion, wearing a surprised face. "Seriously?"

"We ate breakfast together. Ah' think that means that Ah' can get to interact with them well!"

Twilight chuckled hesitantly.

Applejack walked out of the room and into the hallway. "Half Baked Apple?!"

"Cousin!" he shouted, happily waving a hoof again. "How have the days gon' by for ya' at Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Since the last Apple Family Reunion? It's been goin' swell!"

---

"So, this is the library." Ember turned her head around, seeing all the long shelves filled to the brim with books, books, and more books. "Isn't it dangerous to let a dragon inside? Twilight's going to be mad if she sees all her precious books burned up."

"As long as we tread carefully, we're going to be fine," Thorax said across the table.

Hoofsteps.

Ember and Thorax looked towards the double doors.

There was Twilight Sparkle. "Hi! How are you doing so far in the library?" Her grin brightened up. "Have you found a book to borrow for a while? Because I'd love to have the honor to provide books for changelings and dragons—although the dragons might need to take caution about books. You know, they're made out of paper and leather and all." She smiled awkwardly. Then, she walked her way to the table.

"Where's Prince Rutherford?" Ember asked.

"Oh, I got a letter from him. He'd said that he will be arriving at the scheduled time, which is around seven hours from now."

"Seven?!" both Ember and Thorax yelled out in unison.

Twilight's horn glowed and so did a few books. Those books levitated their way to the table. "While waiting, we can grab a good book and chat about how it's been going!" She took a seat. "We're going to have some bonding time!"

"Really?" Ember asked. "You basically invited us to essentially a diplomatic meeting and we're going to be reading books for seven hours before the actual meeting begins?"

"We're going to chat, of course, Ember!" Twilight responded happily. She eyed the empty seat at the table. "It's going to be a great seven hours with you! Don't worry about food and drinks! Spike's going to be serving up some lunch and snacks later on."

Thorax picked a book and opened it. He looked at Ember.

She looked bored, gazing at the cover of a book.

Thorax opened that book. "We can read at the same time, Ember. Let's have a great time just like Twilight would want!"

Ember brushed off Thorax's hoof. "Thanks for the help, but I'm not going to spend several hours reading books and chatting all day long. I've arrived here just to see how our lands are doing, see if there are some agreements to agree upon, and then leave."

"But, don't forget the friendship," Twilight reminded, waving a hoof at the Dragon Lord. Then, she gladly went back to reading her book, two hooves on her face.

Ember sighed and looked back on her now open book. "OK, might as well improve my friendship skills," she said gruffly. "Thorax, which book do you want to read, first?"

Thorax pushed a book. "Here's the first ever book in the Daring Do series! 'Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone'!"

Ember looked sternly at the elated changeling. "I arrived here for the betterment of the Dragon Lands and you suggest that we read an adventure novel?"

"Maybe that means that you want another kind of book!" Thorax pushed another book. "Here's one of the books for 'The Adventures of Shadow Spade'! Detective books!"

"What about something a little more practical, Thorax?"

Thorax pushed another book. "'The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide'?"

"Are you serious?" Ember asked, sporting an annoyed face.

"It's not a novel, at least. Also, it's not fiction!"

Ember sighed again. "Can you tell me what are we going to learn from that book, Thorax? How is that going to help our diplomatic meeting later?"

"So we can understand the ponies more."

"Exactly how?"

"History lessons. We can be more approachable to ponies when we understand the rich history that they have!"

"I already have more than basic knowledge about the Elements of Harmony through my correspondence with Twilight, so I don't think I need to read that book."

"You're free to read it, Ember," Twilight said before going back to reading.

"Wait, what happened to the chatting part?" Ember said.