This strange world

by SwarmLordAbdonis

New developments

The griffon and the changeling king decided it was best to give Mike some space for now and chose to do the only thing they could really do and talk. Craig figured it was better than sitting round and waiting around in glumness and Thorax really looked like he needed a bit of comfort anyway. It didn't help that the mood wasn't exactly in high spirits either. Not only from them but every changeling nearby seemed to be somewhat dull and sad as they shuffled round the room with unhappy expressions plastered on all of their faces, even those that weren't present during the play. Craig wondered if it had something to do with their king being upset and they could sense his emotions? If the circumstances were different he would have been asking all sorts of questions on it.

"Oh, I knew I should have started with the Feelings Forum first." A dejected Thorax lamented, his ears drooping down.

Craig chewed the inside of his cheek. An impressive trait considering his avian beak held no teeth to chew with but like most things in this world he simply moved it up to cartoon logic.

"Honestly I don't think it would matter too much. Mike can be a little... challenging when it comes to expressing himself. Trust me, the best thing we can do is give him some time." He sighed.

"Do you think it might help if we threw him a Changeling Glorbfest?" The king asked hopefully.

"I somehow doubt it." Craig honestly admitted despite not knowing what a glorbfest was meant to be outside of a celebration. The last thing Mike probably wanted right now was some huge party unless there was booze involved but somehow he doubted that would be the case here. Besides, there was something he was suddenly tempted to ask. "Thorax, don't get me wrong but I'm kind of curious here. Why do you want Mike to change? At least bad enough that you had a whole day planned out for it? You don't have something against how he looks do you? Because I think that's what Mike is sensing."

Thorax looked rather hurt from the griffons questioning. "Of course not! I love all my subjects regardless of how they look! And as their king I want to do what is best for them."

"So the reason behind bringing him down here was because...?"

Thorax sighed. "I suppose it's only fair that you know. You are his friend after all. You see, before the changelings uh... changed, we weren't exactly all that nice."

"Yeah, I kind of figured. You were ruled over by an evil queen after all."

"Um, actually I meant on a more personal level. Back when I was a drone, every changeling was cruel, distant and were always fighting even between themselves. We've never seen it since we all changed our ways but back then..." Thorax shuddered. "It wasn't exactly well, fun. Least of all for me."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it." Craig shrugged with a hint of relief expecting the king to tell him worse. "I've known Mike for a long time, and yeah he's a dick half the time but he's a great pers- uh, changeling to be around."

Thorax looked confused and looked directly at the griffon. "Wait. You've been friends for years?"

"Uh, yeah...?" Noticing the look now plastered on Thorax's face he wondered if he had just said something wrong. Thorax's big beaming face however suggested different.

"That's incredible! How did you solve the starvation problem?"

Craig blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"His hunger issue! We changelings used to be almost always hungry back before our metamorphosis, which was the reason we were generally so cranky all the time. Tell me, and please be honest, has Mike drained anypony of their love since you first met?"

"No...?"

Thorax smiled wider. "That's amazing! Normally a changeling would succumb to starvation in two weeks without love! I mean, we were always starving, but even with the love we collected, our bodies would slowly eat themselves! I mean, those holes we had weren't exactly a fashion statement. Without love however, our bodies would eventually become husks devoid of life, kind of like skeletal remains. but if what you say is true then this changes everything!"

"Oh... that's... good to know..." The griffon weakly responded. His mind beginning to race. "Would have been great to learn that sooner but thanks for telling me now..."

"I mean, thankfully it's never happened, but we knew our limits back then. This is wonderful news! If what you say is true then I've been worrying over nothing this whole time!"

"That makes one of us..." Craig replied with a rather strained voice and rather uncomfortable looking smile.

"I mean, I know I've seen calm most of the time but inside I've been shaking like a leaf! I mean, hearing that one of your subjects might slowly be starving away is not good for your stress."

"Can't imagine what that's like..."

"You know, I have to admit I'm relieved you-"

"Hey you know what?" Craig very suddenly cut Thorax off." I'm just going to go find Mike and check he's okay."

"Um... didn't you just say it's best to leave him on his ow-"

"Alright bye!"

Without another word Craig very calmly walked away. At least until Thorax was out of sight and then proceeded to have a minor heart attack, as anyone would upon learning that their friend was slowly starving to death. It most certainly didn't help that Mike very likely had no idea how to siphon love either. That was a bit of a problem.

"SHIT SHIT SHIT! Where the fuck did he go?!" He squawked before running off deeper into the hive.

././././././././././.

Ash did not feel in a comfortable spot right now. Here he was face to face with the headmare of the school herself with only a wooden desk to separate them. Considering it was no doubt to talk about his 'scuffle' with one of the students he did not feel all to optimistic about the outcome. With Twilight's gaze boring into him he decided to start up the first sentence.

"So..." Ash began awkwardly. "I would like to start off by saying I apologise for what happened in the classroom, even though it was one hundred percent your students fault, and I am willing to accept the burden of responsibility for whatever repercussions are to come from it." He hoped that would be enough to perhaps ease whatever punishment was coming his way.

Instead, Twilight merely sighed a sad sigh. "Normally I would be upset about this. Well, more so than normal. However I need to remind myself that things aren't as simple as they seem. Fighting's in your nature after all."

Ash felt a cold sweat. "Pardon?"

"I know that the dragon lord's been trying her best to get dragons to be more accepting of friendship, but I suppose it's going to take more than a few speeches and lessons before your kind can adapt."

"Oh! I see! Uh, yeah it'll take a loong time before... that." Ash agreed despite only getting the gist of what she was saying. His mind somewhere else for a moment.

"It's also a bit upsetting considering how well Smolder has been doing with her friendship lessons. As you've seen yourself she can be a handful but for her to do this is... surprising, to say the least. Hopefully her own friends are helping her realise exactly what it is she's done.

The dragon nodded giving a somewhat serious expression as though to agree with Twilights words.

Twilight's gaze hardened a little. "However, fighting on school grounds is not something I can just overlook I'm afraid."

Ash audibly gulped. He knew he was about to get thrown out now. "I... I understand." He submitted.

"Which is why I've written a letter to Ember and asked if she could come down and help resolve this matter."

Ash blinked. "Who's Ember?"

Twilight looked at the dragon in confusion. "The dragon lord. Your ruler?"

Ash's eyes widened. "OH! Her! Of course I know who that is!" He practically yelled with a not so convincing smile until something hit him. "Wait. Why do you need the ruler of dragons down here to settle a fight against two... non-ruler dragons? I mean no disrespect but doesn't she have more important things to do? Also isn't it your job to solve this matter, not hers?"

Twilight folded her front hooves and decided on how to best tackle the question. "Ember's just as new to friendship as any other dragon. Hopefully coming here and talking to both you and Smolder will give her some experience she can take back to the dragonlands. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh of course not! Just a casual visit from royalty itself, nothing to be all too concerned about."

"If all goes to plan she'll be able to solve this matter by the end of the day. Until then I'd appreciate it if you could stay on school grounds.

"Hold on, the end of the day?" Ash butted in a little befuddled. "That's a bit sudden for the ruler of an entire kingdom to come down and solve isn't it? Especially since the problem she's supposed to be solving didn't even exist until half an hour ago!"

"It is a bit sudden, I know." The alicorn admitted with a kind smile. "But considering her duties are dull and boring according to herself, I'm sure that Ember will likely be willing to deal with any sort of situation including your own. This way, everyone is happy."

"Uhuh."

"Well, I won't keep you. I'm sure you'll be wanting to get ready for her arrival, and I need to have a talk to a certain student about why we don't punch substitute teachers in the face."

Ash nodded weakly. "Well in that case, thank you for the heads up." He spoke as he sat up from the chair he had been sitting on. "I'll uh... catch you later, I guess."

Twilight waved him goodbye. A gesture that Ash managed to return before exiting the room, unsure what to tell Jack and Jason, or how they'd react to the news of a dragon queen coming to the school to talk, possibly yell at him.

At least those were his thoughts until he found himself standing in the hallway all on his lonesome. Looking down both corridors he saw no sign of wither the yak or unicorn and mumbled.

"Seriously guys, you couldn't wait five minutes? Impatient bastards..."

Author's Note:

Sorry, this one's a little short. Next one should be quite a long one so hopefully that'll make up for this one.

Comments

[yakopak]

Looking forward to next chaoter

[Killjoy1221]

Ember: visits the school
Twilight: "Hey, cunt!"

[KaptainJay]

Really enjoying this story. The more sarcastic, cynical wold view of your OCs interacting with the Mane 6 and other characters really clicks with me. Any news on when the next chapter is updated?