Society as We Know It

by Comma Typer

Considerations

The blue sky was peaceful. A few clouds were drifitng by. The sun was bright and brought forth a warm light. Several pegasi flittered through the clouds, all of them looking down.

Closer to the ground, pegasi and changelings were carrying sacks, wagons, jars, and other sorts of containers. Looks of amicable, friendly camaraderie were all around. Laughs were spread around, lightening up the atmosphere of the moment.

At the ground, there were broken houses. Debris of destroyed homes were scattered, littered. The streets were filled with more and more debris, more and more pieces of ruin, evidence of desolation. The grass was now brown, parts of it even a burnt gray, some of it still emitting trails of smoke. Rocks, furniture, pictures—all were strewn about in this destructive mess, displaying a manifestation of disastrous chaos and disorder that defied the harmony of things.

All the while, ponies and changelings were gathering the trash and the debris, bringing other changelings to safer places, and hastily bringing in construction materials of steel bars, concrete, among others.

And a lot of them were smiling. Not all of them, but a lot of them.

Thorax stood on an open street that was cluttered with chunks of rocks forcibly removed from houses and homes. As he walked through his kingdom, he turned his head around as he saw changelings and ponies pass by him, happily going about the important work of helping each other.

No complaints were heard. All Thorax heard from their mouths were words of encouragement, even a few jokes amidst the devastation around them.

And, there was the shouting of a lone changeling as he stood on top of one of the few buildings that remained untouched by disaster.

"Is this what you want?!" the lone changeling yelled, bellowing to the passers-by from his position. "This is what you get for dealing with the ponies in the way they want you to! Do you dare ignore me?!"

Thorax took a few steps closer.

"I stand for what is left of what I know of us!" The lone changeling took a sweeping view of the demolished city before him. "Do you not understand the deception that you've been placed under?!" He stretched out a hoof, beholding all that was laid in front of him and gracing the view with a face of terror. "If you want to live your life as if there was not a single thing that was wrong, then you are only lying to yourself! The smiles that these ponies show for you—they will smile when they see you following their standards, their rules, their plans, their ideals! Look at the structures that you have constructed! They are just like the houses of ponies except made with local materials! Is this truly a kingdom of changelings?!"

Thorax took a step closer.

"Is it?!"

And those two words echoed.

Changelings and ponies walking, flying, running beside each other in front of a backdrop, a background of catastrophe. On the broken streets, on the burnt grass, past the ruined buildings.

"Recognize that, whether you like it or not, you will be defeated! We will all be defeated! They will not fight us with weapons! They will fight us with words and meetings and friendships, all under the guise of a kind attitude!" The lone changeling glared at a changeling that was passing by, happily walking his way on the destroyed street that contained much rubble. "They say that it's for our good! Behold what 'good' their deeds have brought to us!"

Thorax took another step closer.

"It is a barrier, a barricade! A barrier to what?! To true changeling growth! They will only fill our minds with what has been invented by ponies, with what has been created by ponies, with what has been liked, adored, and cherished by ponies! What do we like?! Do they not care about that?!"

The lone changeling looked around him, his face still displaying his anger with his arched, narrowing eyes and a menacing frown.

"The ponies will continue to be nice to us when we're still useful to them! When they no longer need us, then you will see the true nature, their true motives! You will see me not as a crazy changeling! You will see me as the only changeling who saw the truth! It will be too late when you do realize that!"

Then, the lone changeling flew away.

A door appeared in front of Thorax.

A look of surprise appeared on his face. He looked around.

The changelings and the ponies went on assisting others and carrying things.

The door opened.

Thorax looked behind him.

The desolate landscape, the demolished city and its ruins, ravished.

Thorax went through the door.

---

It was blue and purple and violet. Ethereal, mystical, mysterious. Spheres of light travelled.

Thorax gawked at the place. He turned his head around, seeing everything.

Then, the door closed.

There was no sign nor indication of a door anymore.

"Where am I?" he asked as he walked on the invisible floor. "Is...this all a dream? Was that just a dream?"

"Yes, it was, Thorax."

He turned around.

The Princess of the Night with her flowing, ethereal blue mane and tail stood. She smiled a slight smile. "However, dreams do not occur for no reason," she said in her calm yet regal voice. "I detect that this is not just a random dream or a sudden fear, is it?"

Thorax scratched his head. "Well, where are we, Princess Luna?"

She closed her eyes. "The dreamscape." She opened her eyes. "Another dimension where one can travel from dream to dream. I use this dimension as my means of fulfilling my duty of being in the dreams of ponies throughout Equestria and even beyond. And, recently, my duty has been expanded to also watching over the dreams of others such as changelings."

Thorax looked behind him again. "But, that...that dream was...it's like I was actually there and the Changeling Kingdom was actually in big trouble and—"

"Dreams are such," Luna interrutped, extending a hoof out at him. She returned the hoof. "Dreams feel real, for where do they take their inspiration from other than the real life that you live in the real world?"

Thorax gulped. "That's...amazing."

Luna nodded. "It is, most of the time. Then, one gets to the dreams that are similar to yours: bad dreams, dreams that haunt them, dreams that are no longer dreams—they are the nightmares that you may have overheard from a pony."

Thorax looked around the place again before looking back at the royal Princess in front of him. Then, he looked around the place again, seeing the shifting colors and the abstract shapes that they form, shifting constantly with no true, definite form as spheres of light continue to float around seemingly randomly. Then, he looked back at Princesss Luna. "Am I in trouble or something?"

"You are not in trouble nor in danger at all, Thorax. However, the dream that you have just experienced is a sign, or, rather, a culmination of something." Luna paced around in the mysterious dreamscape. "This something is, no doubt, related to the kingdom you hold." She looked at him straight in the eye. "Do you fear its fall?"

"What ruler doesn't fear it?"

Luna continued pacing around, keeping her gaze on Thorax. "Has there been any recent disaster in your kingdom? Or, is there anypony warning of such a disaster to arrive?"

"I don't think so." Thorax looked around, still beholding the strange place.

"Then, what is it?" Luna asked, stopping her pacing. "You can be open with me, not just as fellow rulers but as friends."

He looked at her, lifting his head and his eyes.

"I am not here to discuss projects and issues. I am here to help you. I do not want this nightmare to make you restless, to create in you an uneasy feeling." Luna took a step forward. "So, can you tell me what has been troubling you as of late?"

Thorax gulped again. "W-well, there's the growing sentiment among a few changelings."

Luna arched an eyebrow. "Can you clarify?"

Thorax glanced at his shifting surroundings. "There are the few changelings who don't want me and the rest of the changelings to go and make treaties and agreements and friendship talks and things like that with the ponies. They think that, in doing so, we're just turning changeling society into something very close to a pony society. At first, I thought they were just being very paranoid. Then, I keep seeing many changelings just going crazy over ponies!" His voice became exasperated. "I like you and your sister and everypony and Equestria, but...I realized that the 'paranoid' changelings were not as wrong as I thought they were. They were so caught up in pony culture, no changeling bothered to contribute to changeling culture, or maybe even to changeling society." He sighed.

Luna stood there, watching him.

"I want my kingdom to become great, to become something good and not something bad. I don't want to rule this kingdom like Chrysalis did. I want to be benevolent to my subjects, and I don't want to even call them 'subjects.' They certainly aren't like subjects to me, in a good way." He sighed again. "I don't want to be conflicted. It's as if the Changeling Kingdom will become better the more we accept pony culture and pony-made things, but in doing so, what happens to our identity? I want the changelings to be changelings; I don't want them to be copying ponies. But, I don't want to disappoint a lot of my citizens. The changelings clearly love ponies and what they do. I cannot just simply take that away from them. What about reducing them? They'll get angry at that, too."

Thorax sighed again. He looked up, seeing Princess Luna. "Sorry if I got so tired and spoke too many words there. But, it's hard to keep it inside your hair, only confiding it to a select few changelings and Equestrian royalty. What if they think that I'm not really a good ruler if I publicly announce to the changelings about it? They wouldn't see me as a good friend, either."

Luna walked towards the changeling king. "It is not easy to rule a kingdom, Thorax. Indeed, many citizens might want something that their rulers may not want. Doing one thing can please many groups but not all groups. However, do you think what you are doing is right, good, and beneficial to your citizens in the long run?"

Thorax was silent for a while. "I think so."

"Then, why are you afraid to do what is right for them? It doesn't matter if it's viewed as an annoyance." Luna paced around again. "Besides, how would you truly know if the changelings will not like your plans? Maybe they like pony culture so much that they ignore their own culture and maybe also their own society because you haven't revealed to them a better option."

"I tried, but it isn't working," Thorax complained. "Whenever they try to make a changeling play or a changeling book or something like that, they would do a horrible job at it."

"Maybe it's because you still need to find the better option," Luna said. "And, maybe the answer lies in a friend or two." She smiled.

---

Thorax stood on the rocky, rough, brown ground. The dirt was hard, dry, and slightly cracked. The path was in front of him—made obvious and apparent by the smoother surface and by the several changelings that travelled there.

The changelings that passed by him all took a bow of some sort and yelled "Hail, King Thorax!" Thorax himself smiled, though he moved a hoof nervously as more and more changelings passed by and as more and more changelings said "Hail, King Thorax!"

He eyed the hat of one changeling.

The hat was a normal-looking hat. It was blue, looked like a cap fit for a sports game. On the front of the hat was an impression of a pony—a pegasus with rainbow mane and blue coat.

Beside that changeling was another changeling who was also wearing a hat. As they talked to each other and laughed, Thorax eyed the other changeling's hat. Its type was the same as the first one's. This hat was yellow and pink and it also had an impression of a pony, specifically a pegasus with pink mane and yellow coat.

He saw the occasional bags on a few changelings. Most of them were simple with either one or multiple colors. However, some of the bags had impressions of ponies on them. The wearers of those bags were smiling and happy.

Thorax looked at the newstand. There was that hatted changeling advertising the newspapers on his hoof through shouting at the changelings that passed by. Changelings gave their bits, the news changeling gave the newspapers, and the cycle went on.

Walking past the changelings that said "Hail, King Thorax!", he observed the newspapers on the newstand.

Names of newspapers appeared in their unique and distinct fonts—from the bold yet simple style to the elegant and cursive look and everything in between. There was the "Canterlot Daily," the "Ponyville Chronicle," the "Ponyville Express," and even the "Foal Free Press" was there—and that issue of the "Foal Free Press" had a graph on it. A changeling, after exchanging a single bit, obtained for himself a copy of that newspaper.

Along with the newspapers were the magazines and the comics—in contrast with the black and white newspapers with a splash of color from their images, the covers of the magazines and the comics were colorful, vibrant with different hues. Standing proudly and prominently with a special, shiny label was the "POWER" comic, depicting the heroines and the sidekick battling the villain of the issue.

Thorax gulped at the sight of it. He gulped again when a changeling bought that comic. He wiped the sweat off his face as he watched the changeling hastily open the comic book.

Then, Thorax frowned. Though more changelings passed by and more changelings said "Hail, King Thorax!" to him in that affectionate and respectful manner, he didn't smile. His frown didn't leave.

Then, he smiled.

---

The sound of wings buzzing in the air resonated as Thorax flew. The grass and the trees whizzed by past him. The wind and the breeze was cool.

And the cottages of Ponyville were getting nearer and nearer.

His flight slowed down to a hover, and then he placed himself on the ground.

As ponies were going around, walking and talking and eating and drinking all while sporting smiles and attitudes of cheer, Thorax inhaled a breath of fresh air.

A pale yellow pony with raspberry mane and tail walked up to him, holding a basket of flowers. "I see that you like our flowers!"

Thorax took a step back. "What? I thought I was just smelling the air!"

The pony giggled. "The air's even better with these flowers!" She held out the straw basket filled with flowers of different, differing varieties. There were lilies, sunflowers, and roses, among the other flowers there. "My name's Rose! I'm glad that you could visit our humble town!"

"I don't think 'humble' is the word for the home of the ponies that embody the Elements of Harmony," Thorax answered, laughing a little after. "By the way, have you seen Twilight Sparkle around?"

---

Inside the Hay Burger, the smell of delicious, fresh hay burgers filled the cool air. Plates and trays rattled, orders were taken, food was eaten, talks were everywhere, and Princess Twilight Sparkle was munching quite loudly on a burger taken from a cardboard-like container with a small bag of horseshoe fries laid haphazardly on the wooden table.

Thorax beheld the paradox in front of him—a royal and noble Princess eating sloppily.

Twilight wiped the ketchup off her mouth with a burger. "So, why were you looking for me, Thorax?" She smiled. "It's not everyday that the king of the Changeling Kingdom would be looking for me."

"I just wanted to know your thoughts about something, Twilight."

Twilight arched an eyebrow. "In the Hay Burger?"

Thorax glanced at the ponies eyeing the royal conversation. "Why, is it too dirty for you?"

"No! It's the perfect place to talk right now!" Then, she took another bite of the burger.

Thorax grabbed his bruger and took a bite. His smile grew, widening to a grin.

"See?" Twilight levitated another burger in front of her. "I knew you'd like the Hay Burger! Is that what you want to talk about?"

"No," he replied shyly, scratching his head. "Rather, I'd like to talk about some kind of...redesign?"

"What will you redesign, exactly?" Twilight asked.

"Changeling Kingdom architecture?"

Twilight opened her eyes wide. "Why?"

"OK, maybe not total, complete redesign, but something like it."

"What's wrong, Thorax?"

The ponies around them kept eating and drinking their fast food and their fast drinks, some of them still watching the conversation from their wooden seats and tables.

"In case of a diaster," he explained, "let's build houses and...buildings that promote and evoke the feel of the changelings."

"Like the caverns in the tower?" Twilight replied.

"Something like that..." Thorax took another bite of his burger. "And, what about bringing Starlight Glimmer and the rest of her friends to the Changeling Kingdom to help you teach me and the rest of us about friendship?"

Twilight placed a hoof on her chin. "I might as well place some thought to that. Anyway, it would be nice for you to meet up again after some time. It's been a long time since you've last met, right?"

"We just met yesterday."

"Oh." She placed on a nervous smile. "Back to the topic on hoof, what about two events? We'll have the friendship talk, while we can have Starlight and her friends have their own friendship session or event with you!" Anxiety was in her tone.

Thorax looked around.

More ponies were looking at them.

Thorax looked back at Twilight. "That sounds nice. Do you have any other plans?"