Society as We Know It

by Comma Typer

Better Friends

On top of a tall brick building, the stone rooftop was adorned with fancy tables and fancy seats. The tables were covered with white fabrics while the seats were decorated with a stately design. Various ponies ate in that dignified manner, while some hastily chewed their way through their small meals, one of them having just finished and was hurrying out the door, holding a briefcase.

Out the door went an orange unicorn, dressed in fancy uniform, levitating a few covered plates. He walked to certain tables, carefully placing the plates and opening them, revealing to the hungry customers what the food was. One plate contained a simple soup, another plate had a nice, tall, multi-layered sandwich, and another plate boasted of both soup and sandwich.

As he passed by tables and their customers, he also passed by the several colorful decorations above.

Finally, he arrived at another table.

He eyed the customers with a suspicious eye. He didn't smile. His face had a look of distrust as he looked at the customers at that table.

He placed down the two remaining plates and opened them.

On one plate was a bowl of corn soup and beside the bowl was a tall sandwich and beside the sandwich was a few apples and beside the apples was a muffin.

On the other plate was a bowl of corn soup and just a bowl of corn soup.

The waiter walked away.

The two changelings looked at each other. "I hope this trip to Manehattan is better than the last one," Nastic said.

"You're the one that made the trip short in the first place!" Long Winded replied, pointing an accusatory hoof at his friend.

And several ponies looked at them.

Long Winded noticed.

He lowered the hoof and ate his soup.

"I had to make it short because you were going around, ruining ponies' kites. I didn't want to make a bad impression, and I certainly don't want to spend some time in Manehattan when ponies are giving us bad looks."

Long Winded eyed him as he continued eating the soup. "Well, let's just hope that we have more fun this time around."

Nastic sighed and held his sandwich. "That's a better mood."

He looked at the scenery.

The tall buildings in the background gave the view an urban feel. The bustling streets filled with ponies and carriages were indeed loud but weren't noisy. Rather, they only contributed to the urban, city atmosphere of the place. Nastic looked at certain ponies. Some were rushing towards some place. Others were walking at a normal pace. There were other ponies standing, looking around just like Nastic was.

A few places had long lines of ponies waiting at the entrance. One of those places was a sandwich shop and there were many ponies in line for a sandwich. As the ponies went out, they held a paper bag or a sandwich. The line would get shorter, but, sometimes, a few ponies would enter the line. Some of the ponies that left the sandwich shop with sandwiches on their hooves looked happy. Others looked dull.

"Then again," Nastic said, eyeing one of those dull-looking ponies, "it's probably the same sandwich shop they go to everyday." He smirked. "Or, maybe the sandwich menu is the same everyday."

He looked back at the his food and took a bite of the sandwich.

Long Winded looked up and saw Nastic eat the sandwich. He smelled the smells of the restaurant—an aromatic mix of bold flavors and subtle scents.

"Are you going to eat all of that?" Long Winded asked innocently, pointing a hoof at the sandwich.

"You're the one who ordered just a bowl of corn soup, Long Winded." Then, Nastic took another bite of the sandwich.

Long Winded looked at the other tables.

The waiter wasn't there.

There was a table with several ponies around it. There was a stallion, a mare, and a few younger ponies. They all smiled as they ate their delicious food and drank their refreshing drinks, sometimes laughing. One pony would tell a story and the others would lean in to listen with intent. Another pony would tell a joke, and the resulting laughters were loud, though not too loud that other ponies would glare at them.

Long Winded sighed as he looked upon the happy family. "Such cheerfulness." Then, he smiled. "Of course, we could still have the same amount of cheerfulness in this trip!"

"What are you planning?" Nastic asked, adjusting his hat.

"I don't know!" Long Winded proudly replied.

And Rarity and Twilight Sparkle walked out the door.

"Keep your head down!" Nastic whispered. "Just eat."

"Why?" Long Winded asked, almost looking at the door.

"Just eat!" Nastic said.

"Why?"

Nastic sharply gestured a hoof, slamming the table. "Just eat! I don't want ponies to think we have a friendship problem."

"Was it because we were arguing about our first Manehattan trip?"

"I just want to relax," Nastic said, "and even if Twilight Sparkle and one of her friends are here in Manehattan looking for a friendship problem, I am not letting them ruin my relaxation."

"Your relaxation?" Long Winded eyed him with a suspcious look. "I thought this was our time to relax together!"

"I brought you with me because you're my friend," Nastic said, assuring Long Winded with a firm smile.

"OK, then why—"

Nastic shushed him. He glanced at the two ponies.

Rarity and Twilight Sparkle were talking to the family of ponies at a nearby table. The younger ponies were excited, smiling as they looked at them. The stallion and the mare talked kindly with them.

Nastic looked back at Long Winded.

"Who's that?" Long Winded asked. "Are you talking about the family? They're not agents or anything. Don't be like Solver, Nastic." He smiled. "Solver's ideas are just crazy thoughts!"

"I'm not talking about Solver!" he replied gruffly. "I'm just telling you to eat and to just eat!"

"I want to know why I have to just eat," Long Winded said. He extended a hoof towards the scenery. "Am I not allowed to be in awe of what Manehattan has to offer?"

"You're allowed to look there, but not at the tables," Nastic replied. He pointed a hoof at the scenery. "Good idea, Long Winded. You look over there, be in awe of the scenery, observe what the ponies are doing, and be amazed by the wonder of Manehattan. And just eat."

"Why, is there a friend that's here already?" Long Winded said. "I have many changelings I could think of."

"No, it's a pony!" Nastic said.

"OK, I don't get what you're trying to tell me." Long Winded looked at his friend, confused. "Are you referring to one of my pony friends?"

"I don't have to tell you! Now, just eat like a normal changeling and don't mind the reason!"

Long Winded turned his head.

Nastic placed his friend's head onto the bowl of soup. The bowl spilled, bringing soup all over the fabric of the table.

A few ponies looked their way. One pony gasped.

Nastic was still holding his friend's head. He made an awkward, anxious smile. "Uh, how was the corn soup? Was it delicious? Was it great? Good thing I have a bowl of corn soup!" He looked around.

The ponies were still looking at him with uneasy faces.

Long Winded struggled to get out of his friend's grip.

Nastic glanced at the two ponies.

They were still talking gladly with the family of ponies at the nearby table.

Nastic removed his grip from his friend.

He hastily placed his bowl of soup right in front of Long Winded.

"Sorry," Nastic said, glancing again at Rarity and Twilight Sparkle, "but I don't want those ponies to be bothering our rest day. If they do get to us, they might go asking about our problems, they might bring us on a trip through Manehattan that we don't want to go through, and we might end up missing a lot of other landmarks because they're going to go look for specific places, and they might be trying to hurry."

"Who are 'those ponies,' Nastic?" Long Winded asked. "You seem very distressed over just a few ponies. Are they some of the royal guards?" He gasped. "Did you do something bad?!"

"No, I didn't commit a crime!" Nastic said. "Well, probably ruining your meal, but that's not a serious crime!"

Long Winded looked long on his now empty bowl. He held up Nastic's bowl of soup. "I have you to thank for, at least. I now have a new bowl of soup!" He hugged Nastic with one hoof while holding the bowl of soup with the other.

He eyed the bowl. "You might drop that bowl, Long Winded. It's going to fall to the sidewalk." He glanced at the two ponies. His face became uptight, troubled.

"Is that the cue for me to eat normally?" Long Winded asked, still hugging his friend.

Nastic quickly smiled and nodded rapidly. "Yes! Just don't look at any pony on this floor, eat the soup, and you'll be fine!"

"Does this mean we're in trouble?" Long Winded replied, letting go of his friend and placing the bowl of soup on the table. "I hope it's just the police. If the royal guards of the Princesses are after us, then that's clearly not good."

"Long Winded." Nastic held out a hoof. "Just trust me. We're not in that big kind of trouble. It's just, there are some ponies looking for some other ponies and if they end up asking us, we might end up being stuck on a journey that's undesirable. Am I clear?"

Long Winded nodded. Then, he ate his soup.

Nastic sighed. He looked at his food. His sandwich only had two bites. Much of it was still left intact.

"Hello!"

Long Winded looked up from his bowl of soup. He looked beside him.

There was one unicorn and one alicorn.

"Rarity and Twilight Sparkle?!" he screamed. He gasped. He looked at Nastic.

He hugged him again.

"Thank you for this surprise, Nastic!" he yelled.

Now, more ponies were looking at the two changelings, halting their eating and their bonding with each other to witness this hug.

"Uh, what surprise?" Nastic asked, worry in his voice.

"You managed to invite Rarity and Twilight Sparkle here! I didn't you know you maintained close ties with the Princess and her friends!"

"Uh, he doesn't," Rarity bluntly said. "We're just here to look for a friendship problem to solve."

"Maybe the changelings are the ones with the problem," Twilight suggested.

Rarity placed a hoof on her chin, looking towards the blue sky. Then, she smiled and opened her mouth. "That's a great idea, Twilight!" She looked at the changelings, still smiling a wide smile with her wide open eyes.

Nastic sighed. "This is what I was afraid of, Long Winded."

Long Winded became jittery, smiling, making sounds that emanated a sense of pure cheer and delight.

---

"I knew it!" Nastic groaned. "I knew it all along!" He stomped on the sidewalk. "All I wanted was a day, one single day, and what do I get? An interruption by none other than the Princess of Friendship herself!"

"What is he muttering about?" Rarity asked Long Winded as they walked.

Around them were skyscrapers all displaying billboards both traditional and digital. Colorful posters advertising this product and that product, promoting this brand and that brand, cluttering and beautifying the urban atmosphere of Manehattan. In front of them was a humongous intersection, a wide space of asphalt where carriages in a disorderly yet systematic fashion carried on their ways, on their routes to somewhere.

The Bridleway theater proudly showed its latest play, "The Grand Adventure." Its poster displayed a nice, greenland scenery with a few ponies looking yonder to the background.

Crowds of ponies jammed the sidewalks, sometimes pushing each other, though there was not much of a fight. Rather, there was the sense of getting to the next destination, as there were some ponies that pushed and budged others, moving their way to some place.

The individual chatters and talks of the many ponies there combined to create a cacophony of words that wasn't annoying. It only helped build the feel of being in a big city. There were also the loud stomps and hoofsteps of the running carriages and the occasional whiste of a police pony as they guided the traffic.

"He's just irritated," Long Winded said, a smile still on his face. "So, you arrived here to solve a friendship problem, right?"

"Why, yes," Twilight replied. "Wait, do you want us to solve your friendship problem?"

"Uh, if we have one, then, of course!" He nodded rapidly, still smiling.

The two ponies looked at Nastic.

He adjusted his hat and looked away from the ponies. He glanced at his friend.

"I guess we already solved the problem of actually looking for a friendship problem," Rarity said. She faced Long Winded. "Now, did you have an argument lately? Did you get into a fight? Do you have a conflict of interest?"

Long Winded looked up towards one of the skyscrapers. "Well, we went here for the first time some weeks ago. Then, Nastic had to bring me out of Manehattan for some frivolous reason."

"He was disturbing the peace!" Nastic yelled out from where he was.

Then, they stopped at the intersection.

In front of them was the vast road with streams of carriages from certain roads going past each other. The sounds of the hoofsteps of the ponies running the carriages were loud.

And Rarity beheld the many ponies there, looking at the carriages, at the action and the life that the ponies exhibited. She squealed a little.

"There she goes again," Twilight commented. She turned towards Nastic and Long Winded as they were surrounded by a sea of other ponies, chatting and talking and waiting as they stood there. "So, what exactly did you do that made Nastic have to drag you out of Manehattan?"

"He ruined some ponies' kites, that's what!" Nastic shouted.

"Nastic, if it happened weeks ago, why are you still angry about it?" Twilight asked. "I want to hear the story from his side, not just from yours. Maybe you did something that ruined the experience for both of you, souring your friendship into something terrible." She smiled. "Hopefully, we'll be able to fix it together." And, she glanced at Rarity who was still stunned by the sights and wonders of Manehattan, looking here and there, smiling. "And, by together, I mean with Rarity, too, of course."

---

Between several tall buildings, a building stood out with a sign that depicted a fountain and a checkered square.

The glass windows displayed a variety of fountains and a variety of board games.

The fountains were many—some were almost as tall as the room, others were miniature and were to be held on one's hoof. Some were traditional in design and in material—created and crafted in stone. Others were wackier—there were the plastic fountains, and then there were the fountains that had lots of squares in its design. Some were already active with flowing water, others were just on display. All of them had a corresponding price tag.

The board games were like the fountains—there were lots of them and there was a big variety of them. Some were simple board games like Chess or Checkers. Others were unconventional like a hexagon Chess board. There were some that boasted of great size, others were very small. Like the fountains, they had their price tags, too.

As the ponies and the changelings entered the shop, a bell rang.

Rarity looked up.

There was a bell above the door.

"Welcome!" a mare clothed in casual sweater and bunned mane greeted, walking towards the customers. Beside her was a stallion wearing a checkered suit and laidback mane. Both had no wings nor unicorn horns.

"This is the Fountain and Board Games Shop!" the stallion declared, smiling at the customers. "I'm Trick Track, and she's Decor Lavish. We're the number one place to fulfill your fountain and/or board game needs!"

"We have antique fountains, we have modern fountains," she informed, "we have classic board games, we have new board games!"

"And we're willing and happy to help you find the right fountain and the right board game!" he told.

The two ponies and the two changelings looked at each other.

"Can you tell me how this shop is going to help us?" Nastic asked, gesturing bitterly.

Long Winded smiled. "Maybe the plan is to make us bond over a board game and talk about our perspectives and then we forgive each other and then we buy a fountain!"

The four ponies looked at him. On their faces was confusion. "Oh, is this one of those friendship problems of yours?" Trick Track asked Rarity.

"I was thinking that a trip to your shop could spark some ideas," Rarity said. "And, maybe we already got one?"

Trick Track looked at the changelings. "Changeling! You, the one without the hat!"

"Me?" Long Winded asked.

"What's your idea again?"

"That we bond over a board game, talk about our perspectives, and forgive each other?"

"And buy a fountain?"

"Yes! Looks like I forgot that one."

Decor Lavish smiled. "Then, we'll be happy to help you with that!" She looked at Trick Track. "Honey, go get one of the board game tables!"

---

"Are you sure about this?" Twilight asked, standing beside Rarity. "We haven't even given them any of our suggestions!"

"I say that we have a hoofs-free approach for this friendship problem," Rarity said. "We usually solve these problems by involving ourselves deeply into the situation and interacting a lot with the ponies in question. Well, with this set-up, when you have a changeling effectively solving the problem on his own, then what we must do is not interfere a lot."

"OK, then why did the Cutie Map call us here at all?" Twilight gasped. There was a smile on her face. "Unless, the Cutie Map didn't want us to interfere a lot with the changelings in the first place. Maybe all they needed was a nudge in the right direction!"

Rarity smiled. "Maybe that's all they really needed!"

"Sorry, girls, but you have to stay quiet or you'll shatter the experience for them," Trick Track said.

"Oh, right." Twilight smiled awkwardly.

And she and Rarity looked at the two changelings.

They sat across the table. Between them was a board game. It was Chess. The pieces were set.

"Now, talk!" Trick Track shouted.

Twilight looked puzzled. "What? I thought we were supposed to be playing a game of Chess?"

"The point of it was to solve whatever friendship problem they were having, right?"

Twilight groaned.

Nastic looked at Long Winded. "OK, great idea. Any other great ideas you have?"

---

The fountain beside them was a beauitful fountain. The details were impressive, showing the skill of the ponies who made it. The water that flowed did so with elegance, grace, and style. It was a magnificent piece of decorative art.

And Long Winded leaned on the fountain while looking at Nastic.

"Your idea of reconciling with me by using a fountain," Nastic said. "I am amazed by your creativity. OK, being honest, I don't see how this is going to help our friendship." He turned towards Rarity and Twilight Sparkle who were standing there, observing them. "You're some of the Elements of Harmony, experts on friendship. Give us some advice, some way to be friends again. I've heard enough stories about this, so just do whatever you need to do and just let us go and relax already!"

And the two ponies in question looked at each other. "That was unusual," Twilight said. "So, uh, how is your generosity going to help the two?"

"Hmm." Rarity placed a hoof on her chin and looked at the changelings that were looking back at her. She smiled. "How about being generous with each other and learnign how to accept one another because of their flaws. That's what makes your friends unique, different, and fun to be with!"

"Wait, so you didn't need our help?" Trick Track asked.

"I thought we could solve this friendship problem with you!" Decor Lavish said, irritated.

"We might've solved it in a rather inefficient way," Rarity went on, "but, at least we think we have the problem solved."

Twilight walked forward to the changelings. "And, Rarity's right. None of my friends are perfect, but do their flaws make me not like them? Actually, over time, they made me like them more. So, Nastic, what makes you annoyed with Long Winded?"

"That he's too happy all the time and that he's often causing trouble," he bluntly replied.

She faced Long Winded. "And, Long Winded, what makes you annoyed with Nastic?"

"That he's still too serious about things, even though I know he's trying to be better," he cheerfully replied.

"So, Nastic—" She faced him "—that's a good effort to lighten up, but if Long Winded was just like you, wouldn't he be a duller friend? And, Long Winded—" She faced the other changeling "—please try to be more considerate of others, but, if Nastic was just like you, you would be causing more trouble and annoying even more ponies and changelings and other creatures. So, like Rarity said, what you need to do is to be generous with each other."

Long Winded hugged Nastic. Nastic recoiled a bit, looking at his friend with frustration.

"Does that mean you're best friends again?" Rarity asked, anticipating.

---

As the two ponies walked on the sidewalk, they looked back at the shop. There was the noise of the city—the chatter of the ponies, the hoofsteps of the carriages. There was the smell of different foods emanating from different eateries.

"With our cutie marks glowing, I think that means the friendship problem is solved and two changelings are best friends again!" Twilight said confidently. "However, I feel that we didn't really do much. Your idea about us not needing to interfere a lot is probably right."

Rarity smiled.

"I should be reminded that there are many friendship problems and that, sometimes, not all of them require us having to talk to them a lot and having to do a lot of things for them. Maybe just the right word or the right lesson is what they need to become better friends. Now, that's a lesson."

"And at least we helped a few changelings," Rarity said, "and that we learned something. However, I do feel a little sorry about bothering Trick Track and Decor Lavish. They were certainly unhappy about it."

"Isn't that why we bought some of these fountains?" Twilight replied, holding a few miniature fountains. She smiled.

Comments

[Xanderfox]

I liked this chapter, and I think Nastic may have changed his opinion of the elements some what experiencing a "light touch" solution to a friendship problem.