The first few hours

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Jason gave a pained groan as the world around him became less blurry. He felt like complete shit. His head hurt, his eyes stung and he was pretty sure that he could taste vomit. Yeah, there was no doubt about it. Last nights party had really gotten out of control.

The twenty three year old groaned again, slowly standing onto his legs as best he could, only to find that he was unable to. Any time he pushed himself up onto them he fell back down onto all fours, like they were made of jelly. He grumbled softly, keeping his eyes closed for the majority of the time. They just wouldn't stop stinging! Hell, how much had he gone and drunk? Wasn't he supposed to be the 'responsible one' out of all his friends? At least Ash had decided to host the party at his house. He could imagine that the place was completely trashed knowing some of his mates.

Speaking of which, what kind of state were they in, he wondered? Knowing them they were probably in a shittier state than he was. On the bright side if that was true then at least it meant that he still counted as being the most responsible. At least according to himself. Still, it wouldn't hurt to call out, see if they were okay or at the very least responsive.

"Mike? Jack!" He called out as loud as his dry throat would allow. "Damn! What I'd give for some water!" He hissed to himself. "Hey Ash! You out there?"

"Jason? Thank fuck you're okay!" Jason heard from his left. Sounded like Jack. Dude was built like a tank and looked like the meanest son of a bitch to ever exist, yet he had the grace and charming personality of a delicate butterfly. Tough yet sweet as sugar. And at the age of twenty five was the oldest of their little group. "You've been out longest out of anyone! I'll be honest I was starting to worry man."

Shit. So much for his previous self centred thought.

"Oh please, Jason sleeps the latest out of all of us Jack! If anyone's lazy ass was going to wake up last it was his!" Now that was clearly Mike. If the sound of his voice didn't give it away, his attitude certainly did. One clear thing that could be said about the guy was that he could be a bit of a dick at times and was often sarcastic and short tempered, but there was no question about his loyalty to the group. Especially during one point he took a punch to the face for Jason at one point but that was a story for another time. He was twenty three and while not as strong as Jack, could certainly hold his own. Especially if his temper got him into trouble.

"Oh go fuck yourself Mike..." Jason groaned. "How's the others?"

"Craig and Ash are... steady." Jack slowly replied.

"We all are. Considering."

"Considering what?" Jason groaned, his eyes still closed. For a moment there was no reply. "Guys?"

"We're still here don't worry. It's just... well, maybe you should open your eyes. See for yourself."

"Uh, Jack? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Mike pointed out.

"Hey, we all managed to come to terms with it, he will too."

Mike scoffed. "Well we'll find out soon. He has to open his eyes at some point."

"Why? Is there something I should know?" Jason half asked, half demanded. The stinging in his eyes was slowly fading but considering what he was hearing from his friends, was hesitant to do so just yet. Mike spoke up.

"Let's put it this way. Either we've taken the most extreme hallucinogens know to man, or... we've transformed into a bunch of weird creatures mostly from mythology."

"I know which one I'm putting my money on." Jack commented.

Jason scoffed in amusement, believing that he had just caught onto what was going on. "Oh, okay. I get it now. You're just messing with me, aren't you? Mr. Responsible gets drunk once and you decide to fuck with him. Ha! Yeah, nice try guys but I'm not that gullible."

Jason opened his eyes and his cocky grin slowly faded into one of confusion and disbelief. For a moment he wasn't entirely sure what he was looking face to face at but standing in the spots where he had heard Jack and Mike speak from stood two strange creatures. One stranger than the other. The first one was what looked like a yak... maybe? With its fur the same colour as Jacks short ginger hair. This was the most normal of the two. The second being seemed to be some sort of weird horse mixed with an insect. With holes in its legs. And fangs. Jason blinked, unable to say a word. Surely these two weren't...

"Jason? You alright?" The yak spoke carefully while the bug gave a small yet awkward wave and smile.

He fainted in seconds. The two looked at each other then back to the body of their out-cold friend.

The bug-horse gave a playful smile. "Huh. Well at least he took it better than I expected him to."

The yak merely glared at him in annoyance.

././././././././././././././././././
THIS STRANGE WORLD
BY SWARMLORDABDONIS
././././././././././././././././././

When Jason Finally came to, again, he noticed that he was in a forest. Or rather right on the borders of one. The first thing he sensed was the warm glow of a fire. He turned to his left and saw quite the unique sight just mere feet away. A group of different animals were sitting around a small campfire. He instantly recognised the Yak and the bug-horse thing but the other two were new to him. One was a red feathered bird mixed with a lion, or to put it more accurately a griffon overall. The other was a blue lizard with wings with a pair of horns sticking out of its head. He listened to them talk.

"Seriously Jack, how in the hell are you not sweating with all that fur? Don't you feel even a little hot? Especially with the fire right there next to you?" The griffon asked in amusement.

"Hardly." The yak smiled. "The winds are enough to keep me from worrying about it."

"Yeah, thank fuck Ash can now breath fire otherwise I dunno what we would have done." The Bug-horse continued, causing the lizard to smile in pride.

"Hey, with powers like that, how can I NOT use it?"

"Guys, not to bring down the jolly mood but... can we address the elephant in the room?" The griffon suddenly asked.

"What, you mean Jack over here?" The bug -horse snorted, earning a harsh look from the yak.

"Yak, Mike. Not elephant."

"Yeah, a five hundred pound yak that shakes the ground with every step it takes."

"That's enough, both of you!" The lizard snarled, sensing an upcoming fight. "Besides, look who's up from his afternoon nap."

All eyes turned to the once sleeping Jason. Each one had either a friendly smile directed towards him or a look of relief. In order to cut the slowly growing silence, the griffon decided to speak first.

"Shit man. glad to see you're up and running."

"Yeah seriously bud, glad to see you're alright." The bug-horse nodded.

Jason couldn't find the correct words on what he wanted or needed to say. It didn't take long before his brain took in the group of strange beings before him and managed to force out a few words.

"Guys? How... what's going on?"

The beings turned to face the griffon who looked a little off out from the sudden attention. "What?"

"You're the one who knows what's going on better than the rest of us. You explain it." The lizard hissed.

"Hmpf… fine. I was going to explain it before you noticed Jason wake up but at least I don't have to be arsed explaining it a second time now." The griffon got up off of the grass and onto all fours. "Putting it in the simplest explanation possible for those with an extremely limited vocabulary..." He took a moment to look at the lizard before quickly continuing. "... We're in a cartoon."

"Or on drugs." The bug-horse added, getting a look from everyone that was either one of annoyance or confusion. "Well which one sounds more realistic to you, huh?!" He pouted before crossing his arms and sulked. "In a cartoon... of all the..."

"Anyway, as I was saying..." The griffon continued. "There's this show called My Little Pony, which I'm sure many of you have heard about at the least. I won't go over too many details since we could be here hours going back and forth but essentially according to what I've seen and what we've been turned into, my closest guess is that we've been somehow delivered, or transported if you will, into what I'm dubbing the MLP universe through unknown means. Usually the sort of thing you see happening in a fan fiction story."

"Uh huh." The bug horse mumbled. "And you claim that you're not on drugs. Fucking hypocritical idiot."

The griffon sighed. "Oh why do I bother with you?" He turned to Jason with a less irritated look. "Anyway that's the main theory we have so far."

"Also, even if we happened to be on drugs, would it even be possible for us all to be having the exact same hallucination?" Jack added.

Jason quickly decided to interrupt. He had more questions that needed serious answers.

"So... wait. Who is who. exactly?"

"You seriously can't tell from our voices?"

"Just please... answer the question."

"Mike." The bug-horse nodded.

"Ash here." The lizard continued.

"Jack." The Yak smiled.

"Which leaves me, Craig." The griffon waved.

"Fuck me..." Jason groaned in disbelief, looking down. A mistake he soon regretted as he noticed that his friends weren't the only ones who had changed. He quickly found that instead of having hands he now had two green hooves. Again, he looked to his friends for answers.

"Kind of surprised that it took you this long to notice, but..." Ash trailed off.

"Yeah, you're a horse." Mike picked up.

"Uh, pony. Not a horse." Craig stated strictly. "But then again in this case, you're more than that thanks to that horn growing out the centre of your forehead."

Jason checked the middle of his forehead with an experimental tap from his hoof and sure enough, he could feel the tough yet smooth horn protruding from him for all the world to see. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts. He could worry about his strange new body later when he had more knowledge on what was going on.

"Maybe we should move on to more important matters. Craig, I'm assuming you know most, if not everything about this... show? World? Whatever it is?"

"More or less a certified brony." Craig stated with pride.

"As long as you're not one of those crazy nutters who sleep with body pillows I don't care as long as it helps." Mike added on, causing the griffon to look away with a minor blush.

"So with that in mind, do you know what our next step is?" Jason quickly moved on.

"Yes, I have given some thought about it. Our best solution is to go down into the town not too far away from here." He pointed behind the group, showing a small town just a few hours walking distance away, causing Jason to press on with a somewhat critical matter.

"Wait, if it's just right there, then why are we here squatting over this mangy campfire like a bunch of homeless people instead of just going down and booking a hotel?"

"Hey dude, let's see how well you do blowing fire out your gob for the first time!" Ash quickly snapped at Jason's criticism on the campfire he made.

"Three reasons. One, when we all woke up it was late evening, and thanks to you fainting for a second time, we figured we may as well be better off here for the night. Two, we don't carry any bits, which is the currency of this land for those who didn't know. And thirdly, the most important reason, is because of him." Craig pointed directly to Mike who recoiled a little in surprise.

"What, don't they like black people?" Ash casually asked, earning him a look from all. Especially Mike.

"The fuck dude?! Where did that come from?!" The bug-horse all but yelled in anger.

"Guys, chill! Let Craig finish!"

"Thank you Jack. While racism does technically have a hand in it, I'm afraid its more to do with your species than the colour of your, uh... chitin. Right now, it's possible that we've ended up before Queen Chrysalis was overthrown by Thorax, the newly appointed king of the changelings, which is the name of your species Mike. Also if this time period is after the canterlot wedding then that means that most, if not all known species are highly sceptical of changelings, to say the least. Maybe if we're lucky, this is a time during Thorax's reign when all other species become more accepting of changelings. When first light breaks, we might be able to spot Princess Twilights castle which will indicate that the canterlot wedding has already come and gone, but that doesn't mean to say that we're out of the woods yet. Still, it'll be a good start."

…

"Is... something wrong?"

"You mean other than the fact that we didn't understand most of what you were fucking blabbing about? Of course not, please continue!" Ash replied.

"Yeah, I agree with Ash." Jack nodded. "Sorry Craig, I just don't speak nerd is all."

"Wait, so you're saying there's a good chance I'm going to be shot or something if I go down there?! Fuck that, I'm staying here where it's safe!" Mike added.

Craig sighed. "Okay okay, sorry. I guess I'll have to break things down more so for you all. And Mike, don't worry, ponies don't kill living sentient beings. Probably... Besides, I know a certain trick that will come in handy so that you won't have to worry about that. For now though, maybe we should get some sleep and worry about all of that in the morning."

"Thank goodness. I'm exhausted." Jack sighed happily, lying down on his back right away.

Everyone followed suite and made themselves comfy. However before they could get any rest from the bizarre events in store for them tomorrow, Jason still had one last question.

"Hey Craig?"

"Yeah?"

"In the case that this isn't just some strange dream, or Mikes stupid theory about us all being on drugs is also wrong, I don't suppose there's anything that could point to us finding a way home in this place is there?"

The griffon hesitated.

"I'm... not all too sure Jason, but I will say this. If we managed to get here in the first place then there must be a way out. And... in the case I'm not dreaming all this up too, I won't give up on it until we've exhausted every other option. I promise."

Jason smiled. Craig was a smart individual, and certainly the smartest of the entire group. Only twenty one years old, he was the youngest out of all of them, yet he was usually the most sensible after Jason. He was the type of guy who preferred to fight with his mind instead of his fists, not that he had ever been in a scrap before but he was certainly the sort of guy you could easily trust, so long as you didn't abuse said trust.

"Thanks man. Good night."

"Night dude."

Why the **** would I want to turn into a rock?

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Craig was the first and only one to wake up right as the sun peaked up over the land. He watched as the yellow orb soon reached high into the sky within minutes. The movement of the sun was slow, though not so slow that you couldn't see the massive star rise up into the air higher and higher until it reached the afternoon phase. The whole event had happened in just under a minute. Yet even though Craig knew the reason behind the sun going so suddenly from sun rise to afternoon, it still made him a little wary and surprised after seeing it. Just another reminder that everything that had happened last night was the real deal. Well, that and he was still a giant bird/lion hybrid. Shaking the thought from his head he quickly proceeded to wake the others up. Right now they needed to make sure that every hour they had would be used productively, and considering that today was going to be their first full day, there was much that he needed to cover before their trek into the town that sat waiting not so far away. Not surprisingly however, others took to being woken up better than others.

"Craig, will you fuck off? I'm still tired and right now I'd love nothing more than for you to shut that fat beak of yours!" Ash snarled, giving the griffon a look at his sharp teeth. They did not cause Craig to deter from waking his fellow friends up. If anything they actually fascinated him as he wondered if they were actually capable of slicing through gems like they were known to in the show. Of course in order to test that he needed Ash to be up and cooperative, as well as actually find some of said gems but for now, one step at a time.

"Oh, sorry Ash." He smirked. "I had only assumed that you wanted to learn more about being a big and dangerous dragon is all since, you know, you literally are one." Craigs somewhat subtle attempt at manipulating the overgrown lizard had the desired effect. Ash's eyes opened up immediately and his pupils were almost as wide as dinner plates.

"Okay okay fine, I'm up!"

"Good. Now come on, we've got a lot of work to do!"

By the time everyone, or rather every-creature according to Craig had been woken up, the griffon gathered them up and decided to start going over their trek into the town one by one. He started with the simplest of the bunch, which was Jason.

"Okay Jason, out of all of us, you're going to be the one who will find this whole trip the easiest. The town we're travelling to is made up almost entirely of ponies, so no-one should take a second glance at you. There are a couple of things that you are going to have to learn. You haven't exactly moved around all that much since we first ended up here so it would be good to practice walking on four legs BEFORE we enter the town. Otherwise you're going to look and act as drunk as you were during the house party."

That last comment caused a few snickers. Jason ignored them and tested out his new limbs by walking around, expecting to have the knack for it straight away. It took a total of 2.6 seconds before he accidentally tripped over his front hooves causing everyone to laugh louder. Eventually after a few tips from Craig, he managed to get the hang of it. Barely.

"Okay, that should be fine for now. Let's just hope that we don't have to run otherwise we're going to be better off just carrying you."

"Why would we need to run?" Mike butted in.

"Eh, plenty of reasons. Evil villains, monster attack, lord of chaos, and so on. Pretty much the standard norm for Ponyville." The griffon pointed out. He was going to continue until he noticed the uncomfortable, slightly horrified looks from everyone else. He quickly realised that his words weren't exactly comforting. "Oh, sorry. Did I forget to mention all that before?"

"YES!" Everyone snapped.

"So uh... one more question. Just one, no big deal but uh... WHY are we going to this place again?!" Mike argued, having more reason than most to stay behind thanks to Craig pointing out the strong possibility that his kind were feared and hated by pretty much everyone. The griffon was about to answer until someone cut him off.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you planning on living here right next to the forest for the rest of your life dipshit?" Ash snapped.

"Fuck you Ash! You don't have to worry about being thrown in jail for being a weird vampire looking horse thing!"

"Changeling."

"Like anyone cares Craig, shut it!"

"Right, okay. I was planning on going over this later for you but since you're acting like a big baby Mike-"

"A big ugly vampire baby." Jack added.

"-I might as well go over your abilities now."

Mike sighed. "Oh hold on, let me guess. I can suck blood, turn into a bat and live for a thousand years, right? I'm right aren't I?"

"Again, you're not a freaking vampire, idiot! You're a changeling!"

"Also, if you were a vampire then how are you standing out in the sunlight with the rest of us?" Ash pointed out, causing Mike to look up to the glowing orb in the sky then back at his own body which was clearly exposed to the sunlight. He didn't seem to be melting. Or sparkling thankfully.

"Touché."

"Now if I can continue without being interrupted, again... Mike, despite your stupid comments you were right about one of your abilities. Transformation."

"Into a bat?"

"Into anything theoretically."

"Wait, really?!" Mikes ears perked up in excitement.

"Guess that explains the name CHANGEling." Jason shrugged.

"Yeah. I mean, I think it depends on a few things and there's probably a limit, but yeah you could turn into all sorts of things. A dog, a tiger, one of us, some kind of monster or a rock."

"Um... a rock?" Mikes hyped up expression shifted into confusion at the last example.

"Yeah. A rock." Craig nodded.

"Why the fuck would I want to turn into a rock?"

Craig sighed once more. "I mean... it's just an example."

"No I know, it just seemed a bit weird considering all the other options you gave is all."

"Well a rock is just as effective."

"How? By sitting in the middle of a busy road and hoping that someone stubs their toe?" Ash countered.

"Think more along the lines of stealth. If the worst occurs and you end up being chased down by somepony, or something, you can just transform into a rock or a tree and let whatever's chasing you run right past you without them knowing it."

"Oh. Well that's also another good reason I guess." Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment from not realising that himself.

"Yeah that is one option... OR I could just turn into some kind of hideous monster and scare off anyone trying to harm me." The changeling stated obviously.

"That seems a bit extreme, doesn't it?" Jason noted.

"It's better than being a goddamn rock!" Mike defended. "Look, maybe we should argue about this later when we're, you know, certain on whether or not I don't have to risk getting arrested any time I show my face."

"Well now that we've got that out of the way..." Craig interrupted. "Lets get back to you Jason. There's only one other thing we really need to look into. Your magic."

"I have magic?" Jason spoke in awe.

"No, you actually just have a dildo stuck to your head genius." Ash hissed.

"Ash, zip it or I'll just skip you and your abilities."

Ash just huffed.

"Anyway, yes Jason. Your horn is what produces your magic, like other unicorns. Now I don't know the limit of this magic but you should be able to do simple levitation at the least."

"Awesome!" Jason exclaimed excitedly. "How do I do that?"

"I have no idea."

"Really None?"

"Forgive me, I was never a unicorn in my previous life. Your magic is just something that you're going to have to figure out on your own. Mike, that goes with your transformation too."

"Aw!" Mike moaned in disappointment.

"Okay, Ash. You're next."

"About time!" The dragon smiled.

"As you demonstrated yesterday, you already know how to breathe fire. And since flying will involve training three of us including myself, the only other few things that I can remember about dragons are their ability to eat gems and their extreme resilience to incredibly high temperatures, enough for you to swim in lava if you chose to."

"Whoa! I like the sound of that last one!" Ash grinned.

"Of course you would, you're a fucking lunatic." Mike smirked, earning a glare from the dragon.

"Dragons are something of a rarity in Ponyville, but there is one that lives there without being feared by the locals so as long as you don't do anything stupid like start a fight or act rudely, you'll probably be fine." Craig then looked over to the ginger yak. "And all that leaves is you Jack."

"What you got for me man?"

"Nothing as magical sounding as the others I'm afraid, but I can say that you're now extremely strong and very resilient. Enough to go toe to toe with most dangerous creatures in the forest here. Heck, you mind be able to take down a building if you went all out!"

"Oh cool. Strong back home, stronger here. Sounds good to me." Jack smiled.

"Now I'm fairly certain that you'll be fine walking the streets of Ponyville but just in case, just keep to yourself. Yaks aren't usually subtle or quiet but I'm fairly confident that ponies wouldn't mind if they were. Remember, we don't want or need any extra attention."

Jack nodded.

"So what's our next step now?" Jason asked.

"We head closer to the town. It's a few hours away remember so it'll be a good time for you and Mike to practice."

"What if I don't learn how to change form before then?" Mike pointed out.

"If you don't manage to learn in time then we can't risk bringing you into Ponyville yet, so if you don't have any luck after say, an hour and a half maximum, head back to the camp and we'll return for you after we've established whether changelings are welcome or not."

Mike nodded.

"Okay, let's set off then."

Everyone began moving off, heading down hill slowly and carefully. Jason seemed to be a bit more cautious with his movements. While he was certain that he wouldn't trip over his own hooves a second time, he still preferred to take precautions. Everyone else on the other hand had no such problem. After ten seconds of walking had passed, Jason suddenly realised this himself.

"Hold on! You lot can walk perfectly already?!"

Indeed everyone else was able to walk on all fours no problem, with the exception of Ash who merely stood upright on two feet.

"Oh, yeah the rest of us already practised last night." Jack filled in.

"Yeah, you know. When you fainted? Twice?" Mike teased before trotting down with the others leaving a slightly annoyed Jason.

"Fucking pricks..."

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

During the long walk, Craig continued to talk on and on about everything he could inform his friends on relating to Ponyville and a little bit about their goal of finding the library, or in the case that it's not there the crystal castle. From there they could hope to find maybe even a smidge of relevance to their situation. At least, that was the best that the griffon could come up with. While most bronies would be somewhat happy to be in the merry land of Equestria it wasn't as though they prepared for such a highly unlikely event. Or rather, Craig most definitely hadn't.

On a more positive note, Mike seemed to be having a little bit of luck with teaching himself how to transform. Every now and then there was a flicker of green which surrounded his curved horn signalling progress. At one point he managed to actually succeed, as everyone else figured out quickly enough due to him screaming after seeing himself suddenly become encased in green fire for a second. When the flames died out a German Shepard stood where Mike had been. It didn't take much longer until he reverted back into his original form. When asked how he had changed he admitted that he wasn't really sure other than picturing a dog in his head and concentrating, though that was what he had been doing the entire time with no luck up until now. After getting over both his pride and shock he soon realised that he also now needed to learn how to maintain his new form for extended periods of time.

Jason and Jack seemed to focus more on the future problems that they may be forced to face, such as finding a way to pay for food and shelter. Finally, Ash just took in the scenery not really bothering to do anything else.

By the time they had reached the minimum safe distance, Jason turned to Mike.

"Okay buddy, how's your changing holding up?"

The changeling frowned. "Not so good man. Ever since turning into that dog I've had no extra luck. Sorry guys."

Craig nodded. "It's alright Mike. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in time."

"Let's hope we can find a way home by then." Ash reminded them.

"One can hope." Craig responded quickly. "Sorry Mike, guess you're not coming with us after all."

Mike nodded. "No problem. I'll just stay here, wait for you all to return."

"Not alone you won't. I'll stay with you Mike." Jack stepped forward.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course dude. Besides, I'm probably way too big to fit through any of the doors down there anyway. Not to mention the chance that a group of too many different creatures could draw too much attention. Craig did say it was a near full pony population after all."

"Good call." Craig noted. Better to be safe than sorry. "Alright, the rest of us will find out what we can in the library, as well as look into the most recent events of the land to ensure Mikes safety."

"Safe trails, bird brain." Jack joked.

"Same to you, mobile carpet."

The yak and changeling merely watched as the group separated from them, giving them the chance to talk.

"Hey, now that I think about it..." Jack spoke up. "...Why do you have holes in your legs?"

"The fuck are you asking me for dude? You should have asked Mr. Expert before he left!" Mike shot back.

"Yeah, guess so." A moment of silence passed and a smirk grew on Jack's face. "So, what kind of cheese are they made of?"

"Fuck off!"

What the hell kind of name is Pinkie Pie?

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When Craig had first gone over some of the details of Ponyville to the remaining members of the group, they weren't entirely sure what to expect, other than what they could see from standing outside the fairly sized town. They pretty much pictured it like every other town they had ever seen. Small, quiet yet full of all sorts of colourful characters. They were right in more than one way as they figured out themselves. Upon seeing the first actual lifeform of this strange and bizarre world, which happened to be a unicorn stepping out of what seemed to be some sort of jewellery shop, the gang couldn't help but stare, including Craig. He personally still had trouble believing that all of this was real, yet the evidence was presented right there before him. A real life pony in the cartoon flesh! Despite being the most prepared, the griffon was the last of the three to stop staring. Thankfully the unicorn had not noticed the extra attention and carried on with her day. Ash soon broke the silence.

"Holy... fuck." He near whispered.

"That's not something you see every day." Jason added in almost the exact same tone, not exactly realising at that moment that he was the exact same creature.

Craig quickly snapped back to his thoughts and cleared his throat. "Okay guys, let's perhaps stop staring before it gets creepy. You remember what we're here to do, right?"

Jason nodded while Ash shook his head, much to the annoyance of the other.

"Really Ash? We went over it thirty minutes ago!" Jason snapped.

"Come on man, you know me. I'm a talker, not a listener."

"We're here to find out any information that may list or hint how we ended up in this world and through that, a way we may be able to escape. We also need to check on the most recent major events so that I can establish what season of the show we're in." Craig pointed out quietly.

"For Mike, yeah?"

"Well that and each season had its own dangers so if we can figure out 'when' we are then I may be able to predict and steer us round the more serious events so that we don't get caught up in them."

"Right, got it. Mostly."

"Come on then, let's get moving before-"

"GAAAAAASSSSSSP! OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH!" Somepony quickly and suddenly yelled out not so far away, making the three jump. Whoever it was seemed to have a sweet, if not loud voice. Upon seeking the sudden commotion all three creatures found themselves staring at a pink mare with an even pinker mane and tail staring at them with a smile so large it covered most of her face. The enormous blue eyes covered the rest. As they stared in worry, neither the green unicorn or the blue dragon noticed as their red griffon friend mouthed the words 'aw shit'. This... pony, who was standing perhaps more than thirty feet away from the group wasted no time in running over at an unnaturally fast pace until she was right in their faces. Normally the group would have said something at this point, especially Ash who would have probably made a comment about personal space, but none of them could. The sudden interaction mixed with the insane speed of this pink thing had caught them all off guard. Instead, they waited for the mare to speak.

"You wouldn't happen to be new here, would you...?" She asked in a suspicious yet playful manner. Craig, knowing all too well who this was and what she would do was about to explain that they were just passing through, least until Ash collected himself and spoke first.

"What gave it away? The fact that we're the only non-pony creatures out and about?" He challenged, ignoring the griffon as he furiously shook his head and signalled for him to shut up, but it was too late. The damage was done. Right away the mare beamed happily yet again, emitting a short yet loud 'EEEEE' noise before running off, leaving the group in a cloud of dust. After a small coughing fit, they collected themselves.

"Uh... What the fuck just happened?" Jason asked after a brief pause.

"Riiight…" Craig painfully smiled. "... So, turns out I may have forgotten about one small thing."

"Oh really Craig?" The dragon hissed. "Did it by any chance have something to do with the pony on cocaine we just met? Just a hunch! Correct me if I'm wrong, please."

The griffon sighed. "Her name's Pinkie Pie. Shes-"

"Pinkie pie? What the hell kind of name is Pinkie Pie? That's rather on the nose. Do all ponies have such ridiculous names?" Ash then pointed to a green pony. "Oh oh, hold on, let me guess! That one's name is greeny sundae, isn't it?" He mocked with a smile.

"Actually that's lyra Heartst-"

"Craig?" Jason cut in. "Let's just cut to the chase here. Is she going to be a problem for us?"

"Oh no she won't. At least not intentionally. Although now thanks to Ash and his fat trap it won't be the last we'll see of her either."

"Eh, don't worry about it. If she tries anything I can always just set her tail on fire. Hell, I might do that anyway. Could you imagine how funny that would be?"

"Dude, that's kind of fucked up." Jason cringed.

"Come on, just think about it for a few seconds, you won't regret it." Ash pushed on.

"No!"

"Pft. Your loss dude."

"Craig, which direction are we heading anyway?"

"The other end of the town. If my hunch is correct, reaching it should give me all the information we need."

Craig urged the group to keep on moving right away, despite their commotion on the town. Craig would have thought that scouting out the area would have been far more important to focus on the task at hand rather than merely gawk at the scenery, no matter how bright and colourful it may have been compared to the dullness of earth. Something that Ash did anyway and occasionally brought up every minute or so, complaining about it over and over again, with Jason actually agreeing saying that everything looked as though his eyes had been dipped in sugar. As the two moaned and groaned, Craig sighed. He was sure that Jack and Mike didn't have to worry about arguing over something so pointless and pathetic.

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

"Really!? Again? There's no way you're not cheating at this game!" Mike snapped at a calm and amused Jack.

"Oh really? Then tell me Mike, how exactly does one cheat at noughts and crosses?"

"You tell me! You obviously found a way to! Seriously, how have I not won a single game yet?"

"Maybe because you have no strategy."

"Strategy? It's a game where you draw O's and X's! Who the hell is sad enough to come up with a strategy for something so simple?!"

"What, sadder than loosing fourteen games in a row?"

"Oh my god... At least Craig and the others don't have to put up with this bullshit..."

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

Then again, he could be wrong. Jack and Mike were usually great friends, but boy do they like to annoy the hell out of each other every now and then. Thankfully the walk to the other side of town only took them nearly fifteen minutes, though for the poor griffon it felt like so much longer thanks to his companions still pointing and complaining about every single thing they could find. However his aching ears turned out to be worth it as he looked past the edge of town to find what he had hoped to find. An enormous purple and golden castle with an interesting design. It looked as though it was being held up by an equally enormous crystal tree. However it was more the building slightly to the right of it that put many of Craig's fears to rest This one looked to be partially merged with the hills that sat behind it, while several streams of water shot down from a handful of the buildings sections and into a stream which surrounded the front of it. While there looked to be several entrances, the most noticeable and unique one was a pathway that parted the stream and led to the main door.

"Well, at least we've got something to be happy about." Craig said to himself, loudly enough for the others to hear him.

"Yeah, I guess we found the castle but... now what?" Jason added. "From the looks of it, someone very important lives there. Probably the ruler of the town. Should we just... knock on the door, introduce ourselves and hope they're in?"

Craig shook his head sternly. "No, that's the last thing we want to do."

"Why? Couldn't they help us out?"

"Let me put it for you this way Jason." Ash spoke up, apparently siding with Craig. "Say we do it your way, we knock on the door and just ask the mayor-"

"Princess."

"Tomato tomatoh! Point is, what do you think they're going to do? Just openly agree to help us after we inform them that we're from another world or universe or dimension or whatever the fuck this place is? We'll be lucky if they don't lock us up for sounding insane!"

Jason slowly turned to Craig. "Will they?"

"I'll admit a lot of weird shit happens from time to time here. However saying we're from another universe will most likely be a stretch too far. For now we keep that information to ourselves unless we have no choice."

The dragon and unicorn both nodded.

"Now our next step is to head back to the others and inform them that they're in the clear."

"Because we saw a random castle?" Ash deadpanned.

"Well technically it's because of the school. I'll explain once we get back to the others. Come on."

The three did not wait around to head back to the rest of the group. They passed through the town a second time, thankfully without being suddenly harassed by a crazy pink pony, though Craig kept his eyes out just to be on the safe side. Still, he managed to keep handing out plenty of tips about Ponyville and even its history, just in case of the extremely rare possibility that somepony happened to stop and bring something up about it. The griffon was not taking any chances. He had forgotten about Pinkie Pie funnily enough so it was up to him to make sure that they weren't caught off-guard a second time. Once they were finally out and away from the town it took them a long forty five minutes before they met back up with their changeling and yak friends. Only, there was one minor complication upon seeing them, or rather upon seeing Jack. For some strange reason he had a small pink rectangular piece of paper impaled on one of his horns.

"The hell happened to you guys?" Jason asked.

The two looked at each other. Mike nodded and Jack turned back to the group.

"We're not entirely sure but... I think we got attacked by a pony made of cotton candy."

Craig paled a little.

"Well, not exactly attacked... but more like she just appeared out of nowhere and stuck one of these on our horns." Mike corrected showing off another pink piece of paper, which Ash took and silently read.

"Why does Jack still have one on his horn?" Jason couldn't help but ask.

"Because my legs are too short to reach my face and SOMEONE is too sore a loser to do it for me!" Jack glared at Mike who merely stuck out his tongue at the yak.

"What does it say Ash?" Craig asked, ignoring the others as they bickered.

"This is going to sound weird but... it seems like we've been invited to a party...?" Ash's face screwed up into a confused stare.

"Craig? Any idea what this is about?" Jack turned to the griffon who nodded reluctantly. It seemed that the castle would have to wait just a bit longer.

"I do. You lot might want to sit down. This is going to take a while to explain..."

Lets go party at the school of friendship!

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"Okay so let me get this straight..." Mike spoke up once Craig had gone over all he could on the pink pony that they had all encountered. There was something that he really needed to get off of his chest concerning todays recent events. "This Pinkie Pie character, a local that we've all encountered and is apparently a major celebrity here, wants to throw us a party because she wants to become friends with a bunch of random creatures that she has never met before, and on top of that hopes to introduce us to the entire town, which may I add would be a serious problem since you claimed that attracting attention to ourselves could be bad for all of us?"

"Blunt, but accurate, yes." Craig nodded.

"So... you didn't think that maybe it would have been helpful to inform us of all that earlier so that we could, you know, have come up with a plan to avoid her?" The changeling frowned.

"Trust me, she would have learned of us eventually. Besides, I said I was sorry! I was kind of distracted by being in a world of fantasy that shouldn't even exist!"

"I thought you said she was one of the main characters of the show? And that you're supposed to be an expert of said show? Kind of hard to imagine that you'd forget to mention something so obvious." Mike finished with a glare.

"Mike, knock it off!" Jack stepped in for the griffon. "He's doing the best he can given the circumstances, which is more than can be said for the rest of us! Besides the damage is done so lets salvage what we can from the information given and work with what we've got."

For a moment neither of the two said anything but instead glared at each other. It hadn't even been a whole day and they were already at each others throats. Weren't they all supposed to be friends? Right now they all seemed more interested in accusing each other of even the slightest mistake. They needed to be better than this. Oddly enough, the changeling was the first to actually realise this. His glare on Craig carefully softened and he sighed.

"Shit, I guess you're right." He admitted before turning to his griffon friend, looking sencere as he apologised."Sorry Craig. Guess I'm just a little stressed given the short time we've had to mentally prepare for everything that's happened to us. Hell, what's still happening to us."

"It's fine Mike, really. I suppose I have to take responsibility too for adding more wood to the fire."

"Are we still good?" He held out his hoof. Craig looked down at it and smiled before shaking it.

"We're good."

"Thanks man. So, what's our next move?"

"Thanks to our mutual pink friend, it's likely that everypony is going to know about us by..." Craig paused to take a look at one of the invitations he was holding in his claw. "...in three hours time... SO, we just need to play along for the moment and attend."

Ash decided to bring up a second option. "Or we could just not go." Jason passed the dragon a dumbfounded look.
"Dude, did you forget what she was like when we first met her? I honestly thought we were going to get attacked! And don't forget that she somehow managed to track down Mike and Jack like that." He tried snapping his fingers to emphasise his point, only to quickly realise that he didn't have any fingers. This embarrassing moment caused him to groan in irritation but he managed to continued on. "She found them almost right away! So what's to say she won't find us again when we don't show up? God only knows what she'll do to us!"

Craig wasn't sure whether to mention to Jason that the most the pink bubbly mare would probably do was merely demand an apology. Probably. But for the sake of his sanity he decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Shit. Okay then, forget what I just said." Ash sighed in defeat.

"Allow me to explain. We tried to keep to ourselves which clearly backfired, and most of us didn't exactly consider the fact that we need to think about finding food and shelter." Jack and Jason both became smug at the mention of Craig words since this was something that they had discussed earlier. "So if we go to the party, we'll at least get a bite to eat, maybe a bed for the night. It's worth the effort to try."

"Then we'll be trying the castle tomorrow I'm guessing?" Jason asked.

"Yes. Hopefully they'll have a library and we'll get the answers we need. I hope..."

"And if we don't?"

"I'm... not sure."

Nobody was able to avoid a low sinking feeling in the stomachs after hearing those woeful words. None of them, not even Craig himself was sure what he would do if they were trapped here forever.

"Gotta admit... that wasn't the answer I was expecting to hear." Ash chuckled weakly.

"Always expect the worst Ash. That way you won't be as disappointed if things go to shit." Jack passed on.

"Always expect the worst? What kind of dumbass would do that? You'd be moody and depressed for your whole damn life if you followed that bullshit rule!"

Jason cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "Guys, as much as I'd love to continue on with this clearly riveting discussion, perhaps we should focus on what's set in stone."

"Right, of course." Craig nodded as he asked everyone to listen up. They were going to need another plan. "Let's take what we already know. We have a party to attend, we need food and shelter, and we also need to gain access to the castle library. So how do we complete all three of these objectives in one move?"

He paused for a moment, interested to hear if anyone had their own plan that they would like to share. When nobody spoke up, he answered for them.

"With the magic of friendship!"

The uttering of those five words left an awkward silence to hang in the air for a moment. The four listeners cast an unsure glance at each other.

"Wow. That couldn't have sounded cheesier." Mike sarcastically droned. Craig continued with his talk.

"Before, I believed that the best course of action was to avoid drawing attention so that we wouldn't have to worry about being found out about what we actually are. But if we want to survive, the opposite is what will be our salvation, meaning this so called disaster..." He showed them the invitation. "Is actually a chance for us to get exactly what we need! So yes, we essentially do need to go and we ALL need to be on our best behaviour."

Four heads turned to face the fifth.

"Why are you looking at me?" Ash snapped.

"Because your big mouth is the reason that we're in this position in the first place." Jason answered, remembering far to well how he responded to Pinkie when she confronted them in Ponyville.

"But... isn't that a good thing? Considering what we've just been over?"

"Yeah, it is now! But it wasn't when we were supposed to be keeping a low profile."

"Yeah, and no disrespect buddy but you ARE the most uncontrollable out of all of us." Mike included. Ash was about to defend himself, but stopped before he could and thought about the changeling's words. A few seconds later he shrugged.

"Yeah, that's fair."

"So Craig, where does it say we're supposed to be going for this party?"

"Let's have a look, it's at..." Craig paused as he read the location again, sure that he had made a mistake. "...The school of friendship...?"

"These lot have a school of friendship? The heck is that all about?" Jack asked tilting his head in confusion like a dog, almost accidentally whacking Mike with his enormous horns had the bug-horse not stepped back in time.

"It's a long story."

"Right, so where exactly is this 'school of friendship?" Jason asked, air quoting as he spoke the last few words.

"Well, do you remember the building that was next to the crystal castle? That's it."

"THAT'S the school?! Fuck man, wish my school looked that cool when I attended!"

"Are... we missing something?" Mike asked. He and Jack were the only two who had not seen this school yet. Ash held up to of his fingers as he soon informed both the changeling and the yak of one very important factor about the school that needed to be addressed right away.

"Two words Mike. Waterfalls."

"The school has waterfalls?! What, you mean going down the building? That's awesome!"

"Now that is something I'd like to see!"

"You guys are aware that waterfall is just one word, right?" Jason included and was ignored.

"Despite the amount of free time we have before this party, we should get moving right away." Craig spoke up. "We can spend our time getting familiar with the key locations of the town before heading on over to the school."

"Speaking of which, does anyone else find it a bit weird that this pony is throwing a party at a school of all places for a bunch of strangers? Seems a bit odd."

"Yeah, I picked up on that too Ash. There may be a reason behind it, but not one that I can think of right now. Maybe you can ask our gracious host when we get there."

"I'll pass. That mare was creepy enough the first time round."

"Yeah, no kidding..."

The group hoped that this whole walking back and forth would not be a regular thing for them as they moved towards the town yet again. Ash suggested that it would be easier to fly over since most of them had wings, leading to Craig reminding him that none of them had the time or knowledge to learn how to fly as well as Mike informing the two that it would also mean having to carry their two flightless with them and that even with all of them combined they would be unable to carry Jack's heavy ass up off the ground. This comment earned him a smack on the head from the annoyed yak.
Thankfully no further bickering or terrible suggestions were brought to light and the group managed to reach the town easily enough. Craig kept his word and indeed pulled the group around the town to the places that he knew of, acting like their own personal tour guide. For the first proper time since becoming a part of this world, the five friends actually found themselves enjoying the tour, including the more stubborn individuals For a short while it felt more like being tourists on vacation. The only difference being that tourists aren't usually forced to become a multitude of different creatures indigenous to the place they visit.

Craig took them all over. To Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville Hospital, Town Hall, even a small shop named Quills and Sofas. By the time they had visited each of these places, Craig reminded them that now would be the best time to head over. The once smiling faces shifted into nervous stares, unsure exactly what to expect. Craig had to ensure them all that they would all be fine. Curiously enough they had only encountered a handful of ponies who seemed to be okay with their presence, including Mikes, allowing him to feel a little bit less tense compared to when he first entered the lovely little town. They took almost no time reaching the outskirts of the town and could now see both the castle and the school in all its glory. Once they reached the edge of the lake, they stopped. The school stood on the opposite side of the crystal clear pool.

"Well, I guess that this is it, eh?" Jason opened his mouth.

"I guess so." Jack nodded.

"So Craig, any final tips before the inevitable?" Mike turned to the griffon.

"Other than try not to make complete asses of ourselves? Just remember our objectives and well be able to buy ourselves a few days at the least. That should be our overall goal."

"And to think just last night we were getting shit faced at our own party." Ash smiled.

"Well when we figure a way to get back home, I'll host the next one at my house." Jason laughed.

"I'll be sure to hold you to that." Mike also laughed.

The entire group joined in on the infectious laughter for a few seconds, allowing the sudden tension and nervousness from before melt away. Craig smiled. Maybe they were going to be alright after all.

"Welp, I never thought I'd ever say this. But guys? Lets go party at the school of friendship!"

What, no alcohol?

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The group confidently approached the doors of the school and halted right outside them. There was no doubt about it, the next couple hours were going to be... interesting to say the least. God only knew what was on the other side of the door waiting for them to enter. Craig took a deep breath. They were all about to meet a probably large group of sentient ponies. Something nobody in the history of humankind has ever done or experienced before.

'Yeah, no pressure there...' The griffon thought what a hint of bitterness.

"So... do we knock or...?" Ash hinted, unsure of whether they were meant to merely stroll on in like they owned the place or simply wait to be invited in.

"I guess so... maybe?" Jason responded, also unsure.

Jack decided to boldly make the first move, carefully pushing past the others and gently knocking on the door three times with his hoof. They waited for a short amount of time until after what felt like minutes, the doors opened automatically. The collection of creatures were introduced to three long and empty corridors. One that led to the right, one to the left and the other straight ahead. The cobblestone floor was partially covered with long purple carpets that ran down the length of each corridor as did tall and thin stone pillars. It was safe to say that it was unlike any school they had seen before. Yet despite the incredible design, the thing that caught everyone's attention was the silence and lack of life.

"Um... are we in the right place?" Mike questioned.

"Why, do you know another school of friendship nearby?" Ash taunted.

"Great. Which direction do we even go?" Jason asked.

Jack spoke up next. "Maybe we shoul-"

"And please don't say split up! We're in My Little Pony, not fucking Scooby Doo."

"I vote straight down the middle. That seems the simplest route." Craig suggested. Everyone else slowly agreed and headed forwards slowly. A couple of them were preoccupied with looking behind them every few moments, certain that something may try sneaking up on them.

"You don't suppose that this is a trap, do you?" Jason asked Craig.

"I don't see why it would be, we haven't exactly done anything wrong. Still, where is everyone?"

The five continued to travel down the long thin hallway, currently viewing the artwork or busts positioned on or next to the walls. Most of the art they passed featured the painted images of the creatures they had all become, including the headshot of a pink fierce dragon and a changeling holding some kind of staff. Just as well that it was a bright sunny day outside because viewing these paintings at night would have been so much creepier. Eventually they managed to reach a large room capable of holding perhaps more than two hundred people. On each side of the room was a single row made up of tables that ran along the room, covered in purple cloth, lighter than that of the carpet. On them were the sort of things you would expect at a party. Punch bowls, sweets and sandwiches on trays, red plastic cups and fizzy pop of some kind. It was enough food to feed them all fifty times over. And yet Ash still managed to find something to complain about.

"What, no alcohol?"

"It's a school Ash, not a pub." Mike sighed at his friend's lack of enthusiasm. "Well on the bright side it looks like we're in the right place."

"It does, but where is-"

"SURPRISE!"

Before Craig had the chance to finish, several dozen ponies had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, pulling themselves out from where they had been hiding. Under the tables, through the large door at the other end of the room, there were even some flying right above them. The sudden reveal of them all, combined with the combined shout was enough to trigger swears from most of the group. Swears that should never be used in a school. Thankfully the ponies were too loud to actually hear any of them.

"-Oh, okay then never mind..." The griffon finished, surprised that he hadn't seen this coming. Again. What he did see coming now however was a familiar pink pony bouncing their way as most of the ponies surrounding them began to get the party started and enjoy themselves.

"Surprise!" She almost squealed with her bubbly smile, halting in front of them only for her momentum to continue moving herself forwards, causing her to balance herself on her front two hooves for a short second before tilting back and landing on all four hooves. "I hope you didn't mind waiting so long for your party but I've never really planned all that many parties for a whole group of ponies before, or rather a group made up of a pony, griffon, changeling, yak and dragon before. It's nice to meet all of you! It's great to make new friends! Of course, it's always great to meet new friends! Especially if they're in a group like you guys, then you already know that they're probably super best friends, kind of like me and my friends, and..."

The pink pony seemed to drone on and on and on without the slightest hint of running out of things to say. Or running out of breath either as she didn't seem to stop to take a gulp of oxygen. Jason instinctively mouthed the words 'What the fuck' as the rest tried either look put on a polite but forced smile or quickly lost interest of what she was going to say. Thankfully, Craig gently cut her off.

"Oh no, we didn't mind the wait at all, thank you so much for throwing this whole party just for us!" He smiled.

"Yeah, thanks for throwing it in a school too, like any 'normal sensible' being would." Ash added, causing the mare to laugh.

"Oh, you're welcome! Oh! I never even introduced myself!" She giggled before holding out her hoof! "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Ponyvilles official Party Planner, Shindig Expert and Box Social preparerator!"

"Offical party planner? The hel-" Craig tossed a quick glare at Mike, clearly warning him to watch his tongue. "-The heck does that work?" The question caused the pink pony to giggle again as well as release a small snort.

"Wellllllllll… it all started when I was but an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny Pinkie winkie Pie! You see, I used to work on a rock farm and..."

Mike cursed himself, as did everyone else as she started up once again. At this rate the party would be over by the time they finished talking! By the time she finished, Ash had nearly fallen asleep standing up she had taken so long. Eventually she caught them off guard as she asked a question of her own.

"...And that's how I got my cutie mark! Say, yours looks fun! How did you get it?"

Jason was quick enough to snap out of his stupor. Everyone else did too hearing the green unicorns voice, or rather any voice that didn't come from Pinkie.

"Cutie... mark?" Jason quizzically asked.

"Yeah, you know! Your special talent! Like mine represents how good I am at throwing parties!" She showed her cutie mark to them which seemed to be a trio of balloons tattooed on her flank. Jason, not knowing this drew a blank as he had never actually checked, thanks to Craig not pointing out yet ANOTHER important detail. He was going to give the griffon some shit later after this party.

"Uh... it's a long story..." He quickly fabricated, not daring to look back at his mark and cause suspicion, plus there was no way in hell he was going to ask any of his friends to check out his ass! He needed to switch the topic quickly. Thankfully, one such ingenious idea came to him right away. "So, uh... Speaking of cutie marks, Ash here told me that he was interested in pony culture."

Ash upon hearing his name managed to snap back to the world of the living. "Huh? What was that?" Jason continued on.
"Yeah, he said he wanted to know about the uh... the history of Ponyville! In detail! I don't suppose you'd be okay to..."
Pinkie gasped excitedly. "I'd love too!" She beamed and stared at Ash, who wasn't entirely sure what was happening thanks to his lack of listening.

"What is... Why is she looking at me like that?"

"Okay, so... have fun Ash, bye!" Jason darted off, happy to be anywhere away from the mare. The others sensing the same opportunity backed out, making up their own excuses.

"I'm going to go grab some punch real quick!"

"Hey, are those lollipops over there? Those are my fav!"

"I also need to go. Good luck Ash."

Before Ash could object, Pinkie Pie had started up once again and his friends had already buggered off. Being unable to escape her wrath, all the dragon could do was grin and bear while one malicious thought surfaced in his head.

"Jason, you are so FUCKING dead!"

./././././././././.
CRAIG
./././././././././.

Craig couldn't help but chuckle at Ash's misfortune as he walked away. In truth he wouldn't have minded listening to Pinkie, or anypony really, go over the history of Ponyville. It would have been likely that he would have learned a couple of new things too that the creators hadn't mentioned in the show. Still, at least Ash would suffer for a bit. Served him right for nearly dozing off too. He and Rainbow Dash would probably get along well. Then again if he remembered later he could always ask the pink mare later.

Holding that thought, he made his way over to the nearest punch bowl and poured himself a cup. He took a small sip and tasted the contents. It was rather fruity and sugary, almost too much so. It put him off a bit but at least it would parch his thirst for now. He looked around to see if he could spot the others. Despite what they had discussed before the party, he genuinely hoped that they would have a good time while they were here. Unfortunately he could only see Ash still listening to Pinkie Pie. Funnily enough, he seemed to be talking back as well! That brought a smile on the griffons beak.
That reminded him, maybe he should try and start up a few conversations himself instead of just standing there like a complete loner. This party was thrown for him and the lads after all.

Oddly enough, that's when someone spoke up right next to him.

"So, you're the one this party's for huh? Well, that and the rest of your friends."

Craig turned to his right and looked slightly up. He locked eyes with a young blue griffon flying just above him. Probably the only other Griffon for miles around, Craig realised. He believed he now understood why Pinkie had thrown the party at the school of friendship. Not exactly easy being the only one of your kind in a town full of ponies, he would think anyway.

"Yep. Barely been a day and already they're throwing a party for us. Not bad." He joked, trying to loosen up a bit and give off a sense of griffon attitude. "Name's Craig."

"Craig? Never heard of a griffon named Craig before." The blue griffon smirked.

"Guess that'll make it easier to remember who I am then."

"Good point. Name's Gallus."

"Nice to meet you. You study here?"

"Eh study, goof off, whatever passes the time."

"Yeah, school's boring. Heck, I barely survived it myself."

"Really? Where'd you go? Cause there ain't exactly all that many schools in Griffonstone. Or much of anything else really..."

"Oh uh... I went to the um... flight school in Cloudsdale."

"Oh cool! So you know Gilda then?"

"We were... in different classes, so not all that well, no."

"Huh. Well in that case, you're probably a good flyer then, right?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Heh. You know you kinda remind me of one of my professors. She went to Flight school, as she mentions time to time whenever she's telling one of her stories."

"She wouldn't happen to have a rainbow mane does she?"

"She does actually, yeah! You know her?"

"Kind of hard to forget one of Equestrias biggest heroes."

Craig continued to chat and talk with Gallus for quite a while longer. Neither of the pair seemed to run out of things to say. Unfortunatley on the other side of the room, a particular changeling wasn't in as chatty a position.

./././././././././.
MIKE
./././././././././.

When Mike had left Ash on his own, he honestly had no idea what to do next. Despite what Craig had said about his species he was still receiving looks of discomfort from any pony that came within a short distance of him. Part of him wanted to wander up to them and go 'it's because I'm black, isn't it' as a joke, but that would probably end up making things worse. Thankfully not all too many ponies stared at the changeling but enough for him to decide he'd be better off keeping to himself. Spying the nearest row of chairs, he trotted on over and parked his keister on one of the many wooden pieces of furnature provided and chose to observe rather than mingle like the rest of his friends were probably doing. There was no point in denying it, this party looked pretty tame compared to most parties he had been to. Similar to a kids party rather than a crazy or even sophisticated one. In fact, he was certain that a bunch of ponies were playing pin the tail on the donkey not too far away from his location. He wasn't sure if something so simple and harmless in a world of quadrupedal equines was considered racist. Despite their friendly faces, his welcoming wasn't exactly warm.

"Um... excuse me?" A shallow timid voice spoke up. The changeling turned his head and noticed some other manner of creature staring up at him with shy eyes. Eyes that were blue and without pupils, much like his own. The little being had blue chitin and some sort to red husk clinging on her back. Her tail resembled something similar to a dragonfly's wing. Despite the odd appearance, Mike's face softened a little realising that this strange being was a kid. Or rather it looked young enough to be one. Still, he seemed to speak his next few words with a bit of an unintentional authorative tone.

"Yes, can I help you?"

His slightly harsh voice did not go unnoticed as the little creature flinched. Still, she managed to continue on. "My names Ocellus. I'm a student here and... would like to welcome you to the school of friendship?"

She didn't sound exactly too sure of the words that came out of her mouth herself as she stammered a little, yet it didn't stop her from raising her hoof up in order to shake the changelings hoof. Mike met her halfway and gently shook her hoof.

"Pleasure to meet you Ocellus. I'm Mike." He introduced himself, trying to sound as polite and as non-threatening as he could. It was enough to calm her down a little as she managed a smile.

"Mike? I don't think I've heard of a changeling called Mike before." She tilted her head.

"And I've never heard anyone named Ocellus before. Guess we're both learning something today."

Mike chuckled a little at his own comment and went back to the party, expecting the little... whatever she was would head off. She seemed a little... afraid in his opinion. Something that made him feel a little bit cold inside. Literally too as it felt like ice was beginning to form in his stomach. It made him feel a little uneasy. There was also the fact that Ocellus was still right there at his feet, hardly moving from the spot were he had first noticed her. It was only when she spoke up a second time he realised this.

"Can I ask you something?"

Mike did his best not to sigh. Right now he really preferred to be alone yet this little girl did not seem to get the hint. But she was after all just that, a little girl so Mike couldn't bring himself to be too annoyed. Especially since she had already given him a warmer welcome than most others so far. He supposed that he could at least humour her for a bit longer. Then he'd need to move on and see who he could persuade to give him and the others to give them a room for the night.

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

She hesitated again. "Why... why do you still look like that?" She almost whispered out, as though worried she would anger him. Instead it was his turn to tilt his head to the side.

"Come again?"

"Well... it's just that... I thought that every changeling had reformed, but... you're still..." She found it difficult to carry on when Mikes face slowly shifted to friendly to unamused.

"So, what you mean to say is my appearance frightens you?" Not surprising. He had been receiving looks ever since he came to this place. Ocellus said nothing but looked down ashamed. That was clearly a yes. Seemed that he would need to teach her a lesson.

"Listen, Ocellus was it?" she nodded her head. "Yes, I may not be the most pleasant individual to look at. Yes, I seem frightening and dangerous close up. But that's all on the outside. Do you know what lies in here?" He tapped his chest with his hoof. "My emotions. I can laugh, I can cry, feel anger, sadness and love like any other being here. Do you know what I feel when everybody looks at me because I'm different? I feel hurt. I've only been here a day and already and I can see in everyone's eyes that they've judged me on appearance rather than what makes me me. That alone can turn so-called monsters like me into victims and so-called victims into monsters. Fear can turn into anger so very easily."

Truthfully, Mike did not believe that these ponies had it in them to become violent towards him. At least not without reason. He had just made up most of that speech up as he went along but a part of him was glad to have said it all. And again, it didn't hurt when they seemed wary of him. If anything it just annoyed him a little. Still, maybe this little one will be able to take an important lesson to heart and teach the rude bastards a lesson they sorely needed.

Ocellus absorbed the information given to her. By the end of Mikes talk she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.

"I'm sorry... I didn't meant. to..." The puppy dog she gave the changeling was almost enough to melt his heart. Almost. But it did make him smile once more.

"It's alright. As long as you take to heart what I said, there's nothing to be sorry for."

Mike watched as Ocellus smiled back and, to his surprise decided to sit next to him. She soon decided to change the subject to something a little more uplifting.

"So, how did you and your friends meet?"

Mike shook his head. Now that was an interesting story. Guess having a little bit of company wouldn't be all that bad after all.

Did you know that C*** means Best Friend in dragonese?

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"So let me get this straight. Neither of you didn't ask anyone, anyone at all about staying somewhere for the night after I asked you to do so?"

Craig gave an annoyed stare to the two beings that now stood before him. Mike and Jason, who in turn either smiled sheepishly or shrugged as they turned up empty handed, unable or unwilling to answer. Where Ash and Jack were, the griffon had no idea but unlike the two dunderheads before him, at least they would have the common sense to... actually, just Jack really would have the common sense to ask if there was somewhere that they could stay for the night instead of just sleeping outside in the cold for the second night in a row!

"Unbelievable. You guys are complete nitwits, I hope you know that!"

"Hey, in my defence I had to deal with a small blue, slightly racist pony thing for the last half hour!" Mike shot back.

"You mean a colt or a filly?"

"No! Whatever she was, she didn't have any pupils and had some sort of weird translucent tail! I think she called herself Oculus."

"What, like the virtual reality headset?" Jason asked.

"No idea."

"Oh, you mean Ocellus!" Craig realised.

"Eh, Ocellus, oculus, opera singer, like it matters! Point is, that's what I've been doing, alright? Answering the questions of a fifteen year old girl about why I look the way I look! Among other things."

"For half an hour?"

"It would have been much longer if I hadn't excused myself!"

"Okay, I can actually believe that. And what about you Jason, what's your excuse?"

"Well..."

"He was sitting in the furthest corner of the room looking like he was going to wet himself." Mike exagerated.

"...Should I even ask why?"

"He doesn't trust anypony after his encounter with Pinkie Pie. He think's each and every one have the exact same personality as her."

"Oh for gods sake, Jason! Really?"

"Did you just say anypony?" Jason pointed out to Mike, ignoring Craigs lashing out.

"No."

"I'm pretty sure-"

"Well you heard wrong so zip your lip before I do it for you!" Mike snapped.

"Guess you picked something up from your little chat with Ocellus, huh?" Craig teased.

"Okay, well what about you dick cheese? Huh? You're the one nagging us about begging for a room like a bunch of bums so what did you do about it?!"

Judging from Craig's drooping feathery ears, Mike and Jason assumed that he was in the same boat as they were, the bloody hypocrite.

"Okay, well... I may have been just a teeny tiny bit distracted with... things."

"What kind of things?" Jason pressed.

Craig spoke very carefully and deliberately. "I was talking. With a celebrity."

"Celebrity huh? I'll be the judge of that." Mike hissed.

"He's another griffon like me, only younger. Did you know that he and his friends, including the same Ocellus you met earlier, saved this worlds magic from being absorbed into another dimension by a little filly who wanted to use friendship and power?"

"And... we should care why?"

"Also, what does that have to do with not getting a place to stay for the night?"

"I was mesmerised by meeting a celebrity! I didn't have time to talk about anything else."

"You were mesmerised by a young kid? That's... kind of fucking creepy dude."

"Mike, could you not twist my words like that?"

"Like what? I'm only clearing up what you're telling me that you're fan-boying over teenage kids. That's what you said, isn't it?" Mike playfully grinned.

"Okay look! I didn't get round to asking anyone, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

The pair nodded.

"Yep."

"Pretty much."

"Great. So our hopes rest on Jack then."

"Not Ash?"

"Well what do you think?"

…

"Yeah, fair point."

"Ah, speaking of which, look who's coming this way!"

The group turned round in time to see a large ginger rug heading their way.

"Hey there Jack. How's the party?" Mike asked.

"Not bad not bad. These ponies can be quite friendly I'll give them that. They're happily able to make room for me whenever I walk around. Not everyone does that at a party."

"Um, Jack? I think that may be because you're one of the biggest and heaviest creatures here." Jason cleared up.

"At least he didn't sit in the corner like a big weirdo, Jason!"

"So Jack, how did it go?" Craig asked quickly before the others could begin arguing.

"How did what go?"

"Asking about places to stay for the night."

The yak thought for a second before his face went from confused to surprised to disappointed.

"Yeah, so... I may have spent a bit of time at the buffet, instead of... instead of doing that." He slowly admitted, emitting a loud groan from the others.

"Seriously? You're thinking of food at a time like this? Aren't you fat enough as it is?" Mike spoke.

"Sorry man, I haven't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon. I had to eat something."

"Well, it's not like we're leaving the party anytime soon I guess... but come on guys, just a little bit of effort would be nice."

Unknown to them, Ash had managed to escape the grasp of the pink menace and began to make his way over to greet them.

"Hey guys. What are you all up to?" He spoke in a surprisingly happy manner. Jason responded back.

"Hey dude, just talking about how much we suck. How about you?"

"Good actually, considering that I got us four beds for the night so... yeah, you're welcome."

The group slowly looked right at him in disbelief. "You? You got us a place to stay? How the fuck did you manage that?"

"Did you threaten to eat someone?"

"Burn them to a crisp?"

"Smell your dirty feet?"

"Ha ha. Nope. I asked like a normal human being. You know the pink pony from before? I just decided to ask right away- well, when she actually decided to stop talking at least. Good god that girl does not run out of oxygen. Anyway, she said that we could stay here in some of the unused dorms for as long as we need."

Craig smiled. Guess there WAS such a thing as miracles after all.

"Wow Ash, nice work! That's going to make things so much easier for us!"

"Yeah, way to go buddy!"

As good as it was to hear, Jason quickly realised something that no-one else seemed to pick up on. "Wait. You said four beds?"

"That I did."

"There's five of us."

"Oh I know." Ash's smile did not falter.

"So... are you going to fill us in or...?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because, who's the asshole who left me all alone with that chatterbox for thirty minutes, hm?"

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh! Don't worry, you'll be sleeping comfortably tomorrow but for tonight... well let's not spoil the surprise." Ash grinned evilly. While Jason huffed, the rest of the guys were just thankful that they didn't need to worry about Ash coming for revenge against them too. After all, Jason was the one who got him into that situation but they didn't exactly stay around to help out.

"Well now that that's sorted, what now?" Jack asked.

"Uh, enjoy the party that's being thrown for us maybe?" Mike replied sarcastically. "Unless you want to just go to bed now."

Craig reinforced Mikes answer. "Yeah, Mike has a point. We have a roof over our heads and we have food, which means that we need to focus our efforts on the library, which can wait until tomorrow."

"So in other words...?"

"Get the fuck out of my sight."

Everyone chuckled at the griffons response and giving into his wish, Jack Mike and Jason headed off to check out the rest of the party while Craig and Ash remained behind to chat for a bit longer.

The five friends, though hesitant at first actually found themselves enjoying their time, or rather more than they expected to despite the 'steady' theme of a children's party that had clearly been set up. As the hours quickly rolled by they had already met a fair portion of residents and students that lived both in Ponyville and took up temporary residence at the school of friendship. It seemed more like a social gathering rather than an actual party, which only caused both Ash and Mike to secretly discuss sneaking in alcohol for the next one, providing that they were around long enough to witness a second party. Other than those few events, very little else happened in terms of friend making and partying.

When the party finally began to come to a grinding halt and ponies were starting to head home, four of the five friends managed to find each other. The fifth one seemed to be nowhere in sight.

"Hey, where's Craig?" Jason asked, looking around at the now near empty room. Apart from a number of balloons and streamers, the place wasn't all that messy.

"No idea. He can't be far away though, right?"

"Maybe he went to the toilet."

"Actually I saw him going to chat to a purple pony a few minutes ago." Jack clarified.

"Who?"

"No idea. She had wings and a horn though."

"Okay... and that's supposed to mean something?" Ash crossed his arms.

"I think so, yes. Did any of you see another pony with both a horn and wings?"

Nobody responded. Instead they all looked at each other uncertainly, prompting Jack to continue.

"I thought so. Until Craig returns, I'm going to go on a whim here and say that that pony is someone either very important or very useful to us."

"Yeah, that's one possibility." Mike added on. "Or he's geeking out over being able to meet characters that are supposed to only exist in a t.v. show."

"Or that, yes. Thank you Mike."

Ash spoke up quickly. "Well you can always ask him yourself. Here he comes, and by the looks of it he's brought a friend."

Indeed the Griffon was walking up to them, chatting to the same purple pony that Jack had mentioned earlier. True enough, she did have a horn and wings. Only when they were close enough did they hear what they were talking about.

"- Again, thank you. It means a lot that you would do this for us. If there's anything we can do to repay you, please don't hesitate to ask."

The pony giggled. "Oh you don't need to worry about that. If Pinkie hadn't already offered you spare rooms I would have happily done so myself." When she was but a few feet away from the small group of creatures staring at her, she turned her attention to them and offered a warm smile. "Ah, you must be Craig's friends! Welcome! It's a pleasure to meet all of you." She greeted kindly, taking the time to shake the hooves and claws of everyone. Jason took a look at his hoof in confusion, unsure exactly how she had managed to 'grip' his hoof, which went unnoticed by everyone else.

"Nice to meet you as well miss." Jack greeted back with a gentle smile. Ash nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it's nice to talk to someone else instead of the same cunts over and over again."

Everyone looked at the foul-mouthed dragon in either shock or anger, other than the purple pony who seemed more confused than anything else. Ash realising his mistake quickly tried to fix it.

"Which of course means... best friends in dragon culture!" He calmly cleared up.

Craig face-palmed.

The purple pony on the other hand, clearly having never heard the dirty word seemed to begin to buy into it. "Really? I've never heard a dragon refer to other dragons like that before. Of course, very few dragons would consider another creature a friend at all, let alone a best friend. Maybe I could ask Smolder about it. This simple advice could lead to expanding friendships throughout the dragonlands and... Oh uh, sorry! I'm sure you're all eager to find where you'll be sleeping for the night rather than listening to me ramble on."

"It's quite alright miss. Happens to the best of us." Jack replied. Twilight smiled.

"Please, call me Twilight."

"Twilight? Nice name." Mike complimented.

"Thank you. I've only met your friend Craig but I've yet to hear your names?" She hinted innocently.

"I'm Mike."

"Jack."

"Ash."

"Jason."

"Interesting. Well if you'll follow me, I'll happily show you where you'll be sleeping."

Everyone seemed to be onboard with that idea and happily followed the pony they now knew as Twilight, through various halls, twists and turns until they reached one that contained a dozen doors lined up on both sides of the hallway.

"I hope you don't mind sleeping in these rooms. They're the best we can do on such short notice."

"They'll be enough we're sure. Again, thank you." Craig reassured her. Twilight turned to Jason with her friendly smile.
"Oh, and Jason? I managed to ask a friend of mine and she's set up your accommodation for the night."

"You have...?" Jason asked in a not-so-enthusiastic tone.

"Of course! I must admit, it's curious that anypony would choose to sleep outside rather than inside, but then again I've never exactly done much camping myself so who am I to judge?" Twilight went from facing Jason to the rest of them and politely spoke. "Well, I wish you all a pleasant night. I hope you find what you're looking for during your stay here and in time consider me to be a cunt like you do each other."

It took a lot of willpower for almost everyone to keep from bursting out laughing. Thankfully Ash managed to squeak out a reply.

"Only time will tell." He managed to say before Twilight, unaware of them holding their breaths left them for the night taking Jason with her. When the group was sure she was out of earshot, the hallway went from silent to ear-splittingly loud thanks to the laughter coming from three of the four creatures. Craig sighed.

"Really Ash?"

"Oh come on, it was funny!"

"Okay well, when you're done acting like babies I'll see you in the morning."

The three remaining creatures eventually managed to calm down and after a quick squabble between them on who got which room, even though they were all the exact same size and layout, fell asleep quickly enough and waited for the morning where they finally expected to find a way back home to where they belonged. Little did they actually know that in eight hours time, things would start going from bad to worse.

Is it not normal to watch someone as they sleep?

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By the time the sun had risen once again, only Craig and Jack had managed to fight the strong urge to get up out of their small yet incredibly cosy beds. The two greeted each other in the hallway and chose to spend the time walking along the long hallways and explore more of their surroundings, lest they ended up lost in the endless maze that was the school. They couldn't exactly depend on Twilight or anyone else to just simply lead them all to their rooms and back like they were a bunch of children so getting to know and memorise the place seemed like the best use of their time. The two passed the dorms that the dragon and changeling were sleeping in before chatting. Jack started off the conversation.

"Craig, I've been thinking..."

"Oh? What's up?"

"I know you said that we would be spending a lot of time researching for a way to get home but... there's also the matter of buying food too. I mean we can't just be completely dependant on the ponies who run this place, can we? We ought to pay them back for what they've done for us so far. Especially since we don't know how long we're going to be trapped here for. Days, weeks, maybe even months. We need to plan for that sort of possibility now while we still can."

Craig gave a moment to stop and think. "I can see what you're getting at Jack. Got anything in mind?"

Jack chuckled. "You're the brains of the group. I was kind of hoping that you would be able to come up with something."

"So... you're being dependant on me to find a way to be less dependant to the ponies?" Craig gave a second to ponder on that trail of thought. "Does that count as irony?" Jack shrugged. "Well, anyway I'll have a think about it and see. Maybe I can talk to Twilight about becoming janitors or something of low tier work for a school. Least we'll be earning a living for a bit."

"Janitor work?" Jack puzzled. "Ash is not going to like that. Remember the incident with the Subway he worked at?"

"Boy, do I." Craig laughed, remembering that day all too well. "That's what happens when you take so much shit from a shitty boss."

"Yeah well, I say we wait until we get something before we tell him, if we get anything at all."

"Good call. I'll try and look into it later if I get the chance. For now, let's talk about researching the library."

"Shouldn't you save that for when we're all up and awake?" Jack asked.

"Not really. Ash and Mike won't be up for another few hours and Jason will probably be sneaking into one of the dorms for a proper nap, if he hasn't already. We'll fetch them after lunch when they're more alert and less cranky. For now though it's just me and you-"

Craig got cut off as a sudden, yet all too familiar sounding scream echoed through the hallway, reaching their ears.

"WHAT THE FUUUUCK?!"

This was followed by a lot of angry yelling from a very familiar voice. Jack looked over to Craig, who seemed a little worried from the sudden outburst.

"And a loud angry bug-horse apparently..."

"Think he just had a nightmare?" The yak reasoned, knowing all to well who had screamed.

"I don't think so." Craig rushed before galloping back down the way he came.

Jack ran after him, just as worried.

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

Unknowingly to Craig or Jack, Mike had been woken up the moment they had walked past his door, the loud ass bastards. Mike screwed his eyes shut in discomfort as their voices had disrupted him from his sleep. He did NOT plan to get up just yet either! The beds were far too warm and soft for that.

Thankfully the voices faded as they walked off and he was left to enjoy the silence once more. However being already awake, he did not take long to open his eyes. Not to mention that the sunlight from the window was shining right in his face making it difficult to relax. Strange considering that he had shut the curtains tightly last night. The changeling sat up and inspected the room, his face frowning as he realised that he was not in bed. His own bed, back on earth. At this point he'd have been turning on his xbox after shaking off his sleepiness, but unfortunately ponies had yet to create such a device. Matter of fact, the room lacked nearly all of the technological wonders humanity had created. All there was that was worth noting was the lamp, the drawer it rested on, the wooden chair in the corner, the weird yellow pony in the other corner and the rug that laid in the middle of the room. At least it was better than sleeping outside like Jason was... probably... …

Hold on.

Mike looked back at the far left corner, certain his eyes were messing with him. Nope. Sitting right there in the corner was a yellow pony. Or at least something similar to a pony. Whatever it was reminded Mike of Ocellus, only bigger... and yellow. It merely just sat there, looking right at him with a smile on its face like the bizarre situation was completely normal.

Mike met its stare with one of his own, only his was a confused, frozen mish-mash of uncertainty. As though attempting to communicate, the strange creature, with its 'friendly' smile never leaving its face lifted up one of its front hooves and waved in the gentlest, most non-threatening way it possibly could. As any sensible being would, Mike responded to this motion in the most inane way one would from discovering an uninvited guest sitting in the corner of your room watching you as you slept for god knows how long.

"WHAT THE FUUUUUUCK?!"

He seemed to take it well enough. The yellow pony thing on the other hoof did not as it flinched at the sudden outburst and seemed worried that it had done something wrong. The changeling managed to jump from his bedsheets onto the floor and pressed his rear against the wall furthest away from the yellow thing, yelling all sorts of questions and accusations as he did. This was soon followed by his door was slammed open by a red griffon and a ginger yak. Both looked concerned but had not noticed the stranger just yet.

"Are you okay man? What's wrong?!" Craig blurted out at once, half expecting his friend to be in danger.

Mike pointed to the corner of the room that held the clearly unwanted visitor, still clearly shaken from their sudden appearance. "THAT is what's wrong Craig!"

The griffon followed his friends hoof to indeed find the strange creature, still sitting there and now looking rather startled by the appearance of more creatures.

"The hell?" Craig muttered out loud. He didn't take his eyes off of the yellow creature but his next question was directed to Mike. "Where did it come from?"

"I don't know but it was right fucking there in the goddamn corner when I woke up! So it wants to either kill me or kidnap me and fuck me!"

"Kidnap you and... what...?"

"Hey, that's what happens back on earth man!"

"Oh please." Jack huffed. "Who would want to fuck you? Especially when you look like that?"

"Alright, enough!" Craig snapped before turning his attention to their still silent guest. Craig decided to go on the assumption that there was a completely logical explanation as to why what was clearly to him a reformed changeling was in the corner of one of the best friends room watching him sleep. Despite the creepiness of the situation, the griffon seriously doubted that it had any intentions for anything sinister. "Care to explain yourself?"

The changeling nodded carefully with a still worried look on its face and spoke.

"H-hello." It tried speaking in a friendly feminine tone. "My name is Firefly and I assure you, I mean no harm."

"Oh yeah, sure! That's why you were in my room staring at my sleeping body hmm?" Mike accused. As Craig looked back he noticed that the changeling had grabbed a fair sized object as a means of protection as though he expected the reformed changeling to suddenly rush right at him. Unfortunately that object happened to be his pillow. Yet the more interesting thing that had caught Craigs attention for a slightest second was that Mike had used his horn to hold it in a telekenetic grip, though it seemed that he hadn't noticed that yet due to being too on edge. Craig would be sure to ask how he had managed to use magic later when things were under less intense conditions. For now though, the reformed changeling, aka. Firefly responded.

"Oh. Is that not considered... normal among other species?" She asked uncertainly to the Griffon next to her.

"Not considered- Are you having a laugh right now?!" Mike asked bewildered, instinctively lowering his guard at the sheer ignorance or stupidity of the stranger.

"Not where we come from. Still, that doesn't explain why you're here in Mikes room in the first place."

The reformed changeling perked up slightly. "Ah! Well, last night King Thorax received a letter from Ocellus stating that she had found an un-reformed changeling here at the school of friendship, so he asked if I could see if it was true!"

"Well, congrats! You found me!" Mike hissed. "Now that that's done could you please, you know, fuck off?"

Firefly tilted her head slightly, most likely trying to figure out what the word 'fuck' meant, though she didn't seem confident enough to dare ask. Luckily for her, Craig filled her in.

"He means you can return to whence you came." He bluntly droned.

"Oh. Well, um... I'm afraid I can't just yet. You see, King Thorax also asked if I could also bring him along so he could meet him himself. And also possibly reform him."

"Of course he did..." Craig groaned. He had only been up for twenty minutes and already the day had decided to distract them from their main task. Again! At this rate they'd be lucky if they got within fifty feet of the damn library!

"Uh, what do you mean 'reform'? Could you define that a bit?" Jack questioned. Firefly smiled and nodded.

"Of course!" She turned to Mike. "I hope that despite first introductions, you know I mean no ill intent. I merely wish to take you back home to the hive and teach you the benefits of sharing love."

As he heard the final part of Firefly's sentence, Mike paused for a moment and his eyes widened in mild worry, feeling unsettled. He opened his mouth to say something but suddenly shut it, deciding not to speak at all. Unsure how to respond, he not so subtley waved Craig over. Once the griffon was close enough he whispered into his ear.

"Did she just ask if we could fuck?"

Craig sighed. This was going to take some explaining.

"Jack, could you take our new friend here and leave us alone for a moment please?"

Jack shrugged and did what he was asked. Firefly voiced some concern but Craig quickly assured her that everything would be fine. Besides, it was rather tough to explain how a changeling works to a fake changeling, especially with a real changeling watching. Once the two were out of sight, Craig closed the door calmly and turned to Mike who finally stopped pressing himself against the wall and now sat on the floor waiting patiently for a reasonable explanation.

"Okay, first things first." Craig sat opposite Mike. "When that changeling mentioned 'sharing the love', she didn't mean it in a romantic lustful way. More a friendly relationship."

"Like us then?"

"Oh god no! If they were anything like us the whole species would be fucked! Think more playful, like a bunch of cartoon characters designed for a kids t.v. show."

"Right. A bunch of sissies then."

"Ehh… I guess that's more accurate?" Craig pondered uncertainly. "Keep in mind that my knowledge on these guys is very limited so I can only answer so much."

Mike nodded. "Speaking of which, you mentioned that this firefly was a changeling, right?"

"That's right."

"How can that be? I though you said that I was a changeling."

"Well remember that whole share the love thing I was just talking about?"

"Yeah?"

"That's what happens when they do that. They transform from what you currently look like now into what Firefly is."

"A pony that walked through a rainbow?"

"Pretty much."

"Well in that case I'll just stick to looking like this..."

"No argument here."

"So what do they want with me? I'm not exactly well known here!"

"Actually you might be..."

Mike blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Right now, there's only supposed to be a single changeling here at the school of friendship. That blue bug pony you met yesterday, Ocellus, she's supposed to be that changeling. Once she learned of you, well, like Firefly said, she wrote a letter which in turn got sent to the king. If she had even briefly mentioned you in your unreformed state, the king would have taken notice right away Hell, he clearly has if he sent someone to look into it!"

"Yeah, someone who likes to break into dorms and stare at their target while they sleep." Mike added begrudgingly.

"Not to mention that they'll want to take you back to the hive to convince you to turn into one of them."

"Why would they so that?"

"Well, all changelings once looked exactly how you do now. They were also cruel and hungry every waking moment of their lives which eventually led to the invasion of a major pony city, causing the entire species to be feared all across the land. One changeling years later found a way to show the world that changelings were not the monsters ponies thought they were and managed to overthrow the tyrant queen of the hive, thwarting a second invasion. He managed to transform into what Firefly looks like, sort of, and the rest of the hive followed! Ever since their transformation, the changeling race no longer felt hungry or starving like they did before they turned and were soon able to make piece with their former enemies. They probably just want to help you see things the same way they do."

Mike took in the information offered to him. He quickly formed his answer.

"So it's because I'm black, in other words."

Craig groaned. "Yes, it's because you're black..."

Mike frowned. "You know, for a childrens t.v. show, this place can be surprisingly racist!"

"Oh believe me, you have no idea. Wait until you hear about what happened in the first season."

"Okay, well we can get around this, right? All we have to do is convince this firefly changeling that I'm not a charity case! We have enough grub to last us a while since we're living under this roof, right? Plenty of cupcakes and rainbows and whatever the hell ponies eat here! This'll be a cinch!"

Craig sheepishly drummed his talons against the floor. He slowly spoke up. "Mike, changelings don't eat normal food like the rest of us do."

Mikes confident smile slowly made a 180 turn. "They don't?"

Craig shook his head.

"So what do we eat? Please don't tell me it's something gross!"

"Love."

"What?"

"You eat love."

"Eat love? The fuck does that even mean?"

Craig found himself getting frustrated. At this point in time they could be finding the first step to getting home instead of dicking around about biology. It was only now beginning to show. "It means you eat love! Do I have to draw you a diagram?" Mike started to become equally agitated.

"Yes! Clearly you do! I mean, whenever I'm feeling even slightly peckish am I expected to go into the streets at night, find a lonely pony and going up to them saying 'ten dollar me love you long time'? Hmm?!"

"No, you just siphon it with your magic, like some sort of emotional Dracula!"

"Oh goody! Well thanks for telling me this NOW when I'm five minutes away from finding out myself!"

Despite the tense atmosphere in the air, Craig did have to admit that the changeling did have a point. He should have brought it up sooner when he had the chance. Realising this caused him to calm down a little and he responded with a calmer tone.

"Look, I didn't think you needed to know! What's done is done so can we just drop it? Please?"

Mike gave an unamused huff. "...Fine. But don't think I'm going to just drop the subject so easily this time!"

"Okay okay, I got it." Craig was about to continue until Mike interrupted him. A worried glance covered his face.

"Wait, I've just had a thought."

"On what?"

"What about the others? I mean, we've been at this school for a night and already I've managed to gain the attention of a damn king! What about the others, are they at risk of being in the same situation?"

The griffon gave a quick thought on Mikes surprisingly wise words. He hadn't assumed any of them to unintentionally attract the attention of a powerful leader after all, yet here they were.

"Jason's a pony so he'll blend in fine despite his slight awkwardness. Ash is luckily the best candidate out of all of us to be a dragon, he certainly has the right attitude. And Jack..." Craig trailed off. His face fell.

"What? What is it?"

"Yaks in this world are usually hot headed, serious and like to smash things! Oh, and they talk in third person!"

"So?"

"SO! When is Jack any of those things?!"

Mike eventually realised the merit to Craigs words and nodded. "Yeah, fair enough. So wait, is that seriously going to be enough to attract unwanted attention to himself?"

"Honestly I'm not sure. Ponies and Yaks aren't usually seen together so I doubt anyone will notice, hopefully. The biggest problem for him is running into the only other Yak at the school. As long as that doesn't happen, we won't be completely fucked."

"You mean more so than we already are?"

"Yeah thanks for reminding me."

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

Jack and Firefly continued to walk down the hallway, away from Craig and Mike. As they did the two found themselves exchanging small talk. Oddly enough, Jack found it surprisingly easy to open up to what could technically be considered an alien. Still, his first interaction with her was finding the changeling in one of his friends rooms uninvited so he wasn't exactly trusting of her.

"So... you don't have doors at this hive at yours?" He asked, clarifying what Firefly had just told him about the structure of the kingdom she had come from. She nodded in response.

"We do not. Nor do we have those strange clear squares you have perched on your walls."

"... You mean windows?"

"Possibly." She chuckled nervously. "I'm not very familiar with the customs of other creatures. Though, I could tell you every detail on the hive if you wish?"

"Maybe another time. So... is that what changelings do if they want to speak with someone, just wait until they wake up?"

"Indeed. It is considered rude to wake another from their slumber unless for an emergency."

"Uh huh."

Jack said nothing else on the matter. He wasn't sure if questioning that sort of behaviour was considered offensive among their kind. Most likely it wasn't but a nagging sensation at the back of his mind told him not to risk it. Besides, he noticed someone else coming down the hallway. Curiously enough it was a second yak, though this one was much smaller than Jack, yet she was still big enough to match an adult pony in height. As she passed, Jack offered a polite smile.

"Good morning to you miss." He greeted before going on his way past her. Unfortunately he failed to notice the young yak look back and raise an eyebrow at him. Before he could get too far, she spoke up.

"Um, pardon Yona but..." Jack turned round carefully to give the young bovine his attention the second he realised she was talking to him. "...What is yaks name?"

Can't we just find a security guard and kick her a** out? Hopefully permanently?

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"Are you absolutely sure about that?"

"Yes Craig, I'm sure!" Jack repeated his answer for what was now the fifth time. "There's only one yak-"

"Other than yourself." Mike interrupted.

"Other than myself, thank you Mike, that resides in this place! I think it's safe to say that it was this Yona character that you mentioned."

Craig cringed at the obvious yet unfortunate reply. Like Mike, the only other member of his species at the school had come into contact with the hairy bovine. A young female yak who went by the name of Yona. If she had noticed that Jack was also unfamiliar with usual yak customs and traditions, it could result in yet another member of royalty sticking their nose where it clearly was not wanted or needed.

"Aw for the love of... Alright, so what did she say? Anything that might possibly lead to the same situation that we're in with Mike right now?"

Jack shook his head carefully. "Uh... Can't really say. All she did was ask my name and where I came from."

"Okay, and you said... what exactly?" The griffon pressed.

"That my name was Jack and... I come from London?"

"Anything else?"

"No, she was surprisingly blunt, simple and talked in third person for some odd reason." Jack pondered for a moment on his last statement.

"Yeah, yaks do that. And before you ask, no I don't know why! Maybe they think it makes them sound more important or something."

Mike decided to step in and give his own opinion. "Look guys, whichever way we spin this doesn't matter so we may as well just face the truth. Right now there's very little that can be done about it. The best we can do is weather the storm if it hits."

Craig reluctantly nodded after giving the idea some thought. "Mike has a point. If we try anything now, it might seem suspicious and make matters worse. Besides, perhaps it would be best to deal with our current situation at hand..."
As if on cue, a knocking sound came from the other sound of the door.

"Would it be alright to come in yet? We need to return to the hive before the end of the day and we really should be on our way." Came Firefly's voice, slightly muffled and concerned.

"Yeah yeah, be right out." Craig called back in a less than enthusiastic and caring tone.

Ever since Jack had returned to Mikes room and let Craig know about his run in with Yona, the griffon had asked Firefly if she could step out into the hallway for a couple of minutes while they hold a private conversation. That had been ten minutes ago and the guys had only just gotten off the yak subject. Now they had to move onto what to do with the unwanted bug horse. Mike was quick to share his thoughts and ideas.

"You know, she DID sneak through my window. That means she's technically trespassing. Can't we just find a security guard or something and get her ass kicked out? Hopefully permanently?"

While Craig did not agree with the blunt and needlessly aggressive idea, he soon managed to give a small smile. Mike had just unwillingly handed him a possible solution to a previous problem brought up by Jack on financial gain.

"Well now that you mention it Mike, security is rather lacking around here. I mean, how long ago was it that a little filly was trying to drain magic from the whole of Equestria from the basement of this very building? Sounds to me like a few extra hooves could be rather beneficial."

Jack snorted in amusement, catching on to what his friend was suggesting. "You think that the headteacher is just going to allow several random creatures that just recently showed up to just be given jobs that probably don't even exist or need to exist at this facility? How are you going to manage that?"

"By doing what I do best. Pointing out the key points of why this building needs security and how 'several random creatures' can enforce safety."

"Even though none of us have ever had a job in security before?" Mike pointed out. Though it didn't dampen the griffons smile.

"You let me worry about that. I'll inform Twilight about it before we set off out."

"Set out? To the library?" The changeling questioned cautiously.

"Nope. To the hive."

"Whoa whoa whoa! I'm sorry, we're doing what now?" Mike blurted out, clearly not as enthusiastic on the idea.

"We need to settle this matter with these changelings as soon as we can and if we don't go, that might make them more suspicious and create further problems." Craig reasoned. Mike couldn't find himself able to argue against his logic.

"Fucking hell. So what now, myself and whatshername just take a road trip to fuck knows where and just roll with whatever shit rolls my way?" The changeling ranted, throwing a hoof up in the air for emphasis.

"Nope. I'll be coming along too." Craig smiled as Mike paused and tossed him a look.

"Why are you coming? Don't they only want me?"

"You may look like a changeling Mike, but how much so you actually know about them? You're going to need help, even from someone with limited knowledge."

Mike grumbled under his breath. "Okay fine. I guess we don't have any other choice in the matter do we?"

"If we did we'd be at the library. Look on the bright side, maybe it'll be fun."

"For you! I'm just going to be harassed by giant bugs for the whole day!"

"Well chances are that many of them haven't seen a griffon either so I'll be in the same boat."

"Oh well ain't that just peachy?" The sarcasm dripped from Mikes fangs.

Ignoring his friends tone, Craig walked on over to the door and opened it up for Firefly. The moment she realised the thin piece of rectangular wood had opened up for her she immediately went from anxious to relieved. The poor bug horse had probably been expecting for the door to never open up for her. Though if Mike had his way it probably wouldn't have.
"Ah, excellent!" She smiled. "Have you reached a conclusion?"

"We have." Craig nodded. "Mike and myself would be happy to come along to the hive, right Mike?"

Mike sighed. "Yeah... Fucking ecstatic…"

"Oh! That is very pleasing to hear! Though... may I ask why you wish to come along?" Firefly puzzled. She had expected to return with Mike only.

"Mike asked if I could. You've probably noticed that he isn't too joyful about going somewhere alone with a complete stranger, no offense, so I agreed to go with him to make things easier. I hope you don't mind."

Firefly nodded. "Very well then. I'm sure that King Thorax won't mind. Are you ready to get underway?"

"I'll need to inform the headmare first. She did help set up our party and offer us accommodation so I imagine that she'll want to hear about this first so we haven't just flown the coop."

Firefly nodded. "Understood. But then we must be underway."

"Uh... so what about me? What should I do?" Jack asked, clearly no longer a part of the conversation.

"Take Jason and Ash to the library and stick to the plan. We've wasted enough time as it is and this distraction isn't helping." Craig responded, not caring if Firefly took any offense to being considered a distraction. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Are you sure about that?" Mike butted in. "I mean unless this place is just a hop skip and a jump away, we're going to be away for quite some time."

"Maybe not."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see. Come on, let's get going." Was all Craig said before leading the way back through the long hallway. As they passed the doors to the dorms, one opened up to reveal a tired-looking blue dragon. He gave a quick yawn and rub of his left eye before noticing a couple of his friends walking past his room with a strange alien-looking pony. Ash opened his mouth to speak.

"Uh, did I miss something? Who's that?" He pointed to Firefly.

"I don't want to talk about it." Mike droned clearly unhappy, not even bothering to look at Ash as he walked on past him.
"Jack will fill you in." Craig spoke next, leaving the dragon and Yak to have a nice and long, if not complicated chat.

It took several twist and turns and a lot of asking for directions but the group was eventually able to arrive at the doors of the Headmares office. Craig gave a gentle knock, hoping that Twilight would be in. His wish was granted and they heard her voice granting them entry. Craig quickly asked Firefly if she could wait outside once again, to which surprisingly she agreed to. Mike was curious to ask why the griffon wanted her to wait outside but didn't question the decision. If anything he was pleased that she was going to be separate from him, even if it was just behind a sturdier door.

As the two creatures entered, they noticed that Twilight was at her desk on the far side of the room. She looked to be dealing with what looked like dozens, if not hundreds of forms that probably related around school business. As they made their way forwards they took a glance around the room. It looked a lot more like a section of a library than a headmares office. There was even a set of stairs on the right side of the room that travelled up to a second floor. Safe to say it looked nothing like a headmasters office back on earth but it did take up an excessive amount of space. Still, this was a princess as well as a headmare so perhaps that came into play as well. Once Craig and Mike were close enough, she broke her gaze from her latest group of papers and offered them a smile.

"Ah, Craig and Mike! I hope your rooms were suitable enough for you?" She smiled kindly.

"They were, thank you." Craig responded a little quickly. Whether it was from wanting to speed things along or was worried that Mike would make any form of complaint, no-one knew or thankfully noticed. "We were actually hoping to have a quick talk about a couple of things. I mean since you were kind enough to offer us accommodation, I think it's only fair that we repay that kindness if you would be willing to hear us out."

Twilight chuckled a little. "You don't have to do that. It was my pleasure!"

"Please, we all insist. It's only fair after all."

"Yeah, it's the least we can do." Mike weighed in.

Twilight thought about their offer for a moment. A few extra hooves sounded very helpful. Plus she had to admit she was greatly curious about how such a group of unique and different creatures had become such good friends! She had thought that her school had been the first to achieve such a remarkable step in the history of friendship, but now with the strong possibility of an older group made up of different creatures filled her mind with limitless questions and no answers. How did they meet? How did they cope? Was this friendship tested to its limits like she had sometimes with her own group of friends and what challenges did they face upon forming this bond? These and so many questions couldn't go unanswered! The more she thought about it the easier it was to accept their offer. Though despite this beacon of knowledge at her hooves she managed to maintain her composure and replied in a calm, yet slightly excited voice.

"Well if you really mean it... I may have a couple of requests."

"Oh... well, we'd be happy to hear what you have to offer Headmare." Craig stumbled a little, having expected for the young alicorn to dig deeper into what they had to lay down on the table. It seemed that a role of janitor or security were for the moment tossed aside.

"As the princess of friendship, spreading the magic of love and companionship is one of my many valued duties. One that I enjoy and find most rewarding too. I believe that you and your friends could help me with that here, at the school of friendship."

Craig and Mike tossed each other glances.

"Sure. What have you got in mind Princess?" Mike asked.

"How would each of you feel about giving lectures in classes? Say something like, twice a week?"

"Lectures?" Craig puzzled.

"You'd be happily compensated of course." Twilight added quickly with a slight break in composure. "All you'd need to do is explain from each of your perspectives on how you became friends and how it affected you all before and after your bond developed."

"That seems... surprisingly vague and simple." The changeling replied.

Twilight nodded and tried to explain. "I know it doesn't sound like a big deal to you two, but the truth is... very few groups like yours exist, pardon me for saying. Until the school of friendship opened, nopony thought that a griffon, a changeling, a pony, yak, hippogriff or dragon would be capable of becoming such a close group of friends! Now we know of two groups. A group of students here, and yours! Uh, minus the hippogriff of course." Twilight smiled sheepishly. "I believe that if you were happily willing to share your experiences, it may allow other creatures to open up more to all the other cultures and creatures that live within this great land of ours! Of course, the choice is yours to make if you would like to take me up upon it."

Craig gave the idea some thought of his own. Mike on the other hand was comfortable either way, though that may have had something to do with being forcibly dragged to a changeling hive being more on his list of priorities. A few seconds was all it took before Craig gave his answer.

"I'll need to let the rest of the guys know about this before I can give a definite answer Princess, if that's alright. But from me personally, I would be happy to help spread the magic of friendship."

Mike nodded, also signalling that he was onboard with this sudden job assignment. The alicorn was practically bursting with glee at the answer.

"That's amazing! Thank you two so much! You don't know how much this means to me or my students!"

"Of course Princess, it's our pleasure. However before we can check with the rest of our friends, there is one other matter that we need to discuss."

"Well I'd be happy to help in any way I can."

Craig smiled and turned to the door on the far side of the room.

"Firefly, you can come in now!" He called out. The addressed changeling entered at once and reached the desk in record time. The sudden appearance of the random changeling caught the princess offguard for a second until Craig continued.
"Would you be able to teleport us just outside the changeling hive please? Seems that there's a slight emergency involving Mike here, I'm sure you understand."

Password please?

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Mike took a second for his brain to register the fact that he no longer stood within the main office of the School of friendship but was now instead in the middle of what was basically a giant garden, filled with all sorts of weird and colourful plants he had never seen before. Of course, he was perfectly aware that the headmare had just teleported him and his friend to this location as per Craig's request, as ponies could apparently just do that. But experiencing it, especially for the first time threw him for a bit of a loop, as it did his griffon pal too. The only one who was completely fine with being suddenly transported across what was no doubt a very long distance was Firefly who literally buzzed with excitement upon seeing a large naturally rocky structure covered in just as much plant life as the area surrounding it did. It was basically a giant tower-like structure and seemingly the only building for miles around.

"Goodness! I didn't expect to reach the hive so quickly! Thank the king that your headmare agreed to help us out!" She beamed happily.

Craig managed to quickly snap out of his trance and agree with the excited bug-horse. "Yes well, I suppose it was the least she could do for us considering what we agreed to."

"Come. We must inform king Thorax of our arrival at once!" She almost raced ahead as though she was a kid heading into a theme park. Were she any happier she may have just burst with happiness. Jason tapped Mike on the shoulder snapping him out of his own trance and signalled for him to follow. The changeling nodded slowly and obeyed.
As they walked, the pair surveyed the area and quickly formed their opinions of the environment. Mike simply brushed it off as 'nice' while Craig was more in awe at the sight of plants and flowers that he never expected to exist, at least not on earth. Seeing this scenery in the show was one thing, but experiencing it was another thing entirely. Here he could actually touch and smell it. He happily did so too, smelling every exotic plant he could spot. One he enjoyed in particular was what looked like a purple three foot tall tulip which curiously enough smelled like lemon. Mike merely rolled his eyes everytime Craig did this and paid more attention to the hive as it grew bigger and bigger with each step taken towards it. He then looked to Firefly who had calmed down a little and was now merely content with being home as her giant dragonfly wings carried her up into the air by a few feet with little effort needed. He sighed. This was going to be the most awkward trip he had ever experienced. Actually, maybe the second most awkward now that he thought about it but he'd have to wait and see. The slightly sagged look on his face didn't go unnoticed by the yellow pony-insect hybrid.

"You seem nervous." The reformed changeling noted as she turned around. Mike looked back at her noticing her concerned look. "Is... something amiss?"

"No. I'm fine." Mike responded tiredly. The reply did not seem all that convincing to the yellow bug-horse as she pressed the subject.

"Are you sure?" She asked flying that much closer to the changeling. "Returning back home to the hive cheers up any-ling who has been away for such long periods of time. Oh! That does remind me. How long have you been away for, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I do mind, actually." Mike answered, sounding no less annoyed.

"Oh. My apologies." Firefly innocently replied, slightly crestfallen from the hostile reply. However she quickly perked back up as she attempted to change the subject. "Still, I do hope you enjoy yourself while back home. I know the king will be happy to see you, and most likely your griffon companion."

Mike grumbled in response. Firefly seemed to take the response as 'I'm happy to see the king too' and turned back round, now making humming and chirping sounds. Mike, given the lack of anything else to do listened considering the noises to be some sort of tune the changeling was singing. It sounded uplifting enough to be possible. Still, it didn't bring any comfort that they were now almost right outside the hive entrance, which happened to be nothing more than a large three metre tall hole guarded by two giant skittles with spears. Aka more reformed changelings. Not the most creative design it seemed. Mike focused more on the guards and their bright blue and green chitin. He suppressed the urge to sigh. He was certain that his eyes were going to hurt so much if these changelings were all different colours. Firefly passed the two guards with no fuss from either of them. The unreformed changeling tried his luck next and other than a passing glance, they didn't move to stop him from entering. Craig stepped forth next.

"Halt!"

The two guards reacted right away, though thankfully they simply held a hoof out each to block him rather than point their spears at him. Still it didn't make Craig any less confused or surprised. He looked on over to the two changelings that had passed on through no problem in confusion, unsure what the issue was. Had they never seen a creature with feather before or something? Mike quickly acted and spoke to Firefly.

"What are they doing? Aren't they supposed to know that he's with us?" Mike replied in a noticeable hot-headed tone.

"Oh, well... Due to some safety measures installed by Pharynx, all non-changeling beings are asked to supply a password before entering the hive, so as to know that they've been invited and harbour no ill intent towards the hive" She looked to the surprised griffon. "Nothing personal." She apologised.

"Alright then, what's the password?" Mike rushed.

"I don't know."

Mike looked at the yellow changeling dumbfounded. "What do you mean you don't know?!"

"Whenever a single changeling leaves the hive, they're given a single word each to use as a password, usually for these exact circumstances. One password for one changeling. Though, you already know this, don't you? I mean, didn't the guards supply you with a password before you left the hive?" She puzzled.

The changeling looked back at Craig hoping he could help out. However the giant bird seemed to no longer be paying attention to him or Firefly and was now trying to guess the password in hopes that he guessed correctly.

"Bananas? Marzipan? Open sesame? … Chimicherrychanga?"

Safe to say he was having no luck whatsoever as the guards didn't so much as budge for his guesses. Mike turned back to Firefly, almost forgetting that she had asked him a question.

"I forgot it." He made up, hoping that such a weak excuse was enough to speed things along. Funnily enough, Firefly actually bought the lame reply. Clearly she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, much to his luck.

"Oh I see. How unfortunate. Well if that's truly the case then your friend will have to wait out here until we've sorted things out with the king."

"Um, excuse me?" Mike hissed, clearly not happy with the response. "Until we've sorted things out with the king? That'll take forever!"

"We'll be happy to provide refreshments to your friend in the meantime." She looked over to Craig again. "Though I'm not entirely sure if we have any meat or fish... How do you feel about vegetables?" She asked as nicely as she could.
"I mean, I guess that's fine." Craig responded, keeping a smile on his face. He could understand the reasons behind the whole password thing. Guess that made sense in some ways. Though it didn't make the whole situation any less disappointing, considering that he was actually looking forwards to exploring the hive. Maybe if the guards would let him he could explore the plants outside a little more.

Mike however wasn't having any of it and pushed his way back through the two guards with surprisingly easy effort and stood between the griffon and the other changelings before facing the larger party.

"If Craig isn't going in then neither am I. Simple as that!"

"Mike, what are you doing?" Craig whispered, quietly and cautiously so only his changeling friend could hear him.

"Don't worry, I have this. Trust me."

The two guards merely exchanged looks while Firefly had the face of someone who looked as though they had just been told that Christmas had been cancelled.

"But- but you can't!" She panicked. "What about king Thoarax? He's expecting you!" The two guards seemed to look at each other in slight worry and confusion of their own upon hearing that this changeling was expected personally by their leader. Maybe they thought that they would be blamed since they were technically the reason they delayed what was presumably an important meeting. Still, Pharynx would more than likely tan their hides if they let the griffon in without a password anyway so despite their nervousness they still refused to budge.

"Guess he's going to be disappointed then." Mike shrugged, clearly the calmest of every-creature surrounding him. "And it's not like we can wait all day for this to be resolved so really it would make more sense for us to head back to the school of friendship-"

That last part seemed to make Firefly worry even more as she blurted out. "Wait! Please, allow me to explain the situation to Thorax! Maybe we can work something out!"

The unreformed changeling yet out a sigh. "Well, I guess we can spare a couple of minutes. But after that..."

That was all the encouragement Firefly needed to speed through the tunnels of the hive, leaving the two outsiders alone with the guards. Craig merely watched as Mike simply sat down and waited patiently before turning to Craig.

"You might as well sit down bud. She's probably going to be a while."

Craig took the invitation and sat down opposite Mike.

"You really think that little bit of trickery is going to work?" Craig pondered, a little impressed with Mikes unusual quick thinking.

Mike laughed. "Oh please, you heard that yellow annoyance. The king is looking forward to seeing me so I doubt after 'coming all this way' they're going to suddenly cancel just because one of my best friends aren't allowed in. Especially after seeing our guides reaction."

"And if they don't approve? If Firefly came back and told us no exceptions?"

"Then we head back to the school and study at the library. Either way its a win-win scenario."

"Huh. Good thinking." Craig marvelled.

"I have my moments." Mike smiled. "Now all we have to do is find a way to pass the time."

"How about noughts and crosses?"

"Ugh... you're not going to cheat are you?"

"Cheat? How the hell does one cheat at noughts and crosses?"

"Trust me I know someone who does... Okay fine, guess there's little else we can do anyway."

"What about the guards?"

Mike took a look back to see the two guards watching them, partially in fascination as Craig drew several lines in the dirt with a talon. Guess guard duty wasn't exactly all too exciting for the pair. At least they weren't angry, which Mike took as a good sign.

"Well unless you're drawing on sacred ground, I think we're okay."

The griffon smirked. "Alright then. Your move first."

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

Meanwhile at the school of friendship, Jack had followed Craigs instructions to the letter and had managed to round up the others for a trip to the library. Needless to say that both the pony and the dragon were mildly annoyed having to, in their own words 'waste their time' muddling through god knows how many books for something that would be unlikely to be mentioned to their situation. Thankfully the yak did not allow the negativity of his friends to dissuade him and managed to get them to the library the moment they had finished breakfast, despite Jason's complaints that he hadn't had seconds. This was rewarded by a sudden butt from behind by Jacks thick heavy horns. The painful experience got him moving faster than either Ash or Jack had ever seen.

Now here they were, standing in the library of the school. It was rather large, enough to support a second floor and looked rather decorative. Rows upon rows of large wooden shelves were lined up in the centre of the room, stretching up and down the length of the room easily supporting thousands of books. It looked nicer than any library the three of them had ever seen before. It kind of made the ones back home look... boring, or rather more boring than you'd expect being in a library.

"Alright!" Jack near bellowed, startling the two beings next to him. "Since this is going to take a while, we'd be best off splitting up and covering a section of the library each."

"We're seriously searching every single book here?" Ash asked in astonishment as he viewed what may as well have been a hundred feet tall shelves in his opinion. "There's like a billion books here! We'll be old as fuck before we even make a dent!"

"Yeah, isn't there an easier way to do this?" Jason spoke up next, sounding tired after a 'rough' nights sleep. This early in the morning with so little sleep, the poor pony was more or less on automatic mode.

Jack gave a moment to think. The two did have a point, even if they overexaggerated it a little bit. One idea did come to mind.

"Maybe there is. What if we all checked a different genre of book that links with our... predicament?"

Ash and Jason looked at each other in confusion before shrugging. "I don't follow."

"Same."

Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he explained what he meant, all while keeping his voice down just in case anyone happened to be listening in. To him there was no such thing as being too careful. "Look, for whatever reason we've been pulled from our world and have ended up here in this... strange place, so there may be a link to that that's covered by a science book, a history book, heck maybe even something from fiction! It's a start at least."

"You realise that even then there's still an extremely short possibility of this working out in our favour?" Ash deadpanned with a very unamused expression. Whether he was being serious or wanted just to go back to bed, the yak wasn't going to let him off easy.

"Yeah well right now it's our only shot, so unless one of you two can summon a portal that can get us home lickety-split..." Jack tossed a book into Ash's claws, of which he barely caught. "...Study up. Oh, and I'm taking the fictional section."

"Aw for fucks sake..." Jason whined.

Who's the moose?

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By the time Firefly had returned, Craig seemed to be gaining the upper hand in yet another game of noughts and crosses against the now clearly irritated changeling. The smug look on the griffons face was wide enough to see from all the way down the enormous tunnel she had come from. Mikes frown even more so. As she flew closer she noticed that even the two guards had taken some slight interest as they viewed the ongoing match. Rather than interrupt the two she decided it would be best to let them finish, lest she wanted to seem rude. Although perhaps it would be best to say something considering Mikes face. The sudden sound of irritated breathing and angry expression did seem worrying, despite anger being the only emotion she had witnessed the original changeling to show during her entire time in his presence.

"So are you going to move or should I come back tomorrow?" Craig asked keeping his amused grin.

Mike passed him a glare but said nothing in return. After a few moments of careful thinking, he made his move and stamped out the ongoing game in frustration, causing the griffon to laugh. It was clearly obvious that Craig was going to win this match and they both knew it.

"You my friend, are not one for strategy." He mocked.

"Oh you want to talk about strategy?" Mike snarled. "How about I show you the strategy of placing my left hind leg right up your-"

Before the changeling could finish he caught the yellow horse bug in his peripherals and turned to see her with a timid smile on her face. Upon realising who it was his mood stayed the same, but sighed as he turned back to his friend and uttered a few simple yet grumpy words.

"Sunshine's back."

Craig looked over to see Firefly smiling politely at the two. His grin vanished and took on a more serious expression, curious to hear what she had to say. While the griffon was hoping to be let in, Mike was praying that they'd be denied entry and thus leave. The yellow being wasted no time once she noticed that she was the centre of attention and informed them of what news she had.

"After explaining your situation, king Thorax has decided to graciously welcome your friend Craig into the hive since you're so willing to stick by his side." She smiled, sensing the joyful expression radiating off of the griffon. However the changeling was giving off an ice cold feeling, suggesting that his mood has soured even further. Unsure why he felt this way, she attempted to cheer her 'hivemate' up with a few kind words and a genuine proposal she had hoped to offer at a later time.

"May I also add, your loyalty towards your friend is very commendable. Perhaps you could teach some of us at the hive a few helpful pointers during your stay here if you'd be willing? It would mean a lot to those of us still curious and interested in learning about friendship. Especially since you've obviously spent some time outside the hive unlike many of us." She asked gently in a way that reminded Craig of Fluttershy. Nervous and overly polite. Considering the large glimmering eyes she was giving, her entire being looked somewhat adorable to him.

Mike on the other hoof didn't bat an eye. "I'll pass. Let's just get this over with so we can get back with Jack and the others."

Firefly cringed a little at the harsh response and appeared crestfallen, but quickly composed herself. "I see. My apologies. In that case if you both would please follow me?"

Leaving the guards and the entrance behind, the three travelled down the tunnel where all sorts of colourful vines bushes and even mushrooms grew covering half of the tunnels natural formation. As Firefly led the way, Craig gave Mike a small shove with his claw. The changeling turned to notice the angry look he was giving him and raised an eyebrow.

"What's up with you?" He shrugged.

"Seriously?" The griffon deadpanned. "You're being a complete jerk to her man."

"So?"

"SO, maybe ease up on her a bit? Maybe be a little nicer?"

"Oh I'm sorry, is the fact that she's ruining everything for us not bad enough for you?"

Now it was Craigs turn to look confused. "Ruining everything? What are you going on about?"

"Think about it man! She broke into my room and tried to convince me to come with her to this place, only to convince you instead and force me along anyway which gets in the way of our whole looking for a way to return home plan, which is everyone else's top priority in case you forgot!" Mike snapped. "And now she's trying to get us to stay longer just because I stuck by your side. Of course I'm going to say no to any side quests. You may be having a good time enjoying and fantasising over what's supposed to be a t.v. show, but it doesn't mean I have to!"

Craig softened his expression. There was more to it than what Mike had suggested. Being a brony he was able to pick up on a couple of important things on the changeling species. Perhaps it would be best to share them now.

"Mike. Remember what I said about the changelings being evil once and becoming what they are now?" Mike nodded. "Well despite their new friendly attitudes, a lot of them still have a tough time fitting in with the other species in Equestria. Not everycreature is willing to forgive them so easily for their past. Why not teach them a lesson in friendship and help them out? It would mean a lot to them."

"Lets see... um... maybe because there's an entire school based on friendship next door to their country?" Mike replied mockingly. His attitude not improving in the least. "They want to learn friendship so bad? Go enrol there and learn from the experts. Besides, I'm a terrible teacher."

"According to who?"

"Jack. And Ash, when I tried to teach them how to chug a bottle of beer at arms length perfectly without choking."

"When was that?"

"The night when we got zapped here." The changeling spoke bitterly. "Point is, it's not happening."

Craig narrowed his eyes. "Wow Mike. I know you can be an asshole at times, but wow."

"Oh don't be overdramatic! This is a kids show so everything will probably turn out fine for them in the end. And anyway since you're whining about it so much, why don't you teach them?"

"Well they'll probably be more tempted to listen to one of their own for a start." Craig suggested hotly. "Plus if an unreformed changeling is capable of learning about friendship then it would give them a bit of a morale boost."
Mike rolled his eyes. "Okay fine. I guess you have a point. I'll make a point to mention something about friendship for them."

Craig gave a mental sigh of relief, thankful that his friend was willing to listen to reason for a change. "Thank you!"

"Oh, wait! Actually I don't think I can. Now that I think about it, there's something that's preventing me from doing so."

"What's that?"

"Its just, oh what was it again...? Ah, right. I DON'T GIVE A FUCK!"

"Okay, you know what-!"

"We're here!" Firefly's voice announced, catching the two arguing creatures behind her to fall silent. They noticed that they were now standing before a large dark blue hole, most likely some sort of doorway Craig figured that would lead them to another part of the hive. Eerily, the hole seemed to slightly shrink and expand repeatedly at a slow pace as though it was somehow breathing slowly, but otherwise seemed harmless.

"Wait, already?" The griffon asked. "That was barely two minutes!"

Firefly nodded. "Well, since your friend has yet to reform-"

"IF I choose to reform, thank you." Mike stated clearly, having no actual intention to do so.

"- Thorax believed it would be wise for you both to meet him away from the other changelings and talk to him in private in hopes of making you feel more comfortable."

"Aw, and here I thought we were going to the throne room." Craig pouted.

"Oh, we can go there later if you would like."

"Sweet!"

"Um, quick question." Mike spoke up. "That hole in the wall, um... is it meant to be moving like that?"

The yellow changeling looked to the hole which continued to expand and shrink, then back to Mike and nodded. "It is, yes. Why do you ask?"

"Other than the fact it's creepy and disturbing? No reason. Just another thing to add on the list of reasons why I hate this place."

Craig quickly stepped in, concerned that Firefly might try to press the matter. "He's kidding!" He hastily explained with a fake smile on his face before turning to the unreformed changeling and speaking in a slightly harsher tone. "Right buddy?"

Mike rolled his pupil-less eyes. "As long as its safe, fine. Whatever."

Thankfully the hole was close enough to the ground that both Craig and Mike were able to step their way into the next room without needing to use their wings. Though at one point the griffon almost tripped on the very edge of the hole as it shrunk in diameter. At this rate learning to fly was looking more mandatory Craig thought as he watched Firefly buzz her wings and pass through the hole without any issue before landing gracefully. The part of the hive they now found themselves in was small and semi circular in shape, big enough for perhaps thirty other changelings though there was only Mike, Craig, Firefly and someone new who seemed to have been waiting for their arrival.

He carried many similarities to other changelings but had equally as many differences. He was more than a head taller than a regular bug horse and had mostly yellow chitin covering his head and limbs while the rest was green or dark purple, and upon seeing all three newcomers beamed brighter than the sun itself. Craig tried his hardest not to burst out in just as large a smile, knowing he was about to interact with yet another popular character from the mlp universe. As for Mike...

"Who's the moose?"

Thankfully he had whispered this to the griffon, though it didn't make Craig any less shocked.

"We're in the KINGdom of the changelings, Mike." He whispered back. "Who do you think we'd come across in the KINGdom, hm?!"

The changeling took a few moments to stare at the much larger being standing not too far away.

"The court jester?"

"Oh Jesus Christ..."

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

Jack flicked through yet another library book hoping to find even the slightest hint of anything suggesting magical portals, other dimensions and more other worldly theories. Unfortunately just like the other twenty, there was nothing. In his frustration he slammed the book back onto the shelf he head picked it up from. However thanks to his increased strength he ended up breaking said shelf in two with a loud snap catching him off guard. It took him a few seconds to realise what he had just done before sighing.

"Great. That's the third one today."

"So, I'm guessing that you're having no luck either?"

Jack looked behind him and found Jason staring at him with an amused grin, most likely just witnessing the accidental destruction he had just caused.

"Could be better." The yak agreed.

"You know, you could probably do that back home too. You know, slamming a book through a shelf five inches thick. Kind of scary to see you do that here without even trying or paying attention though."

"Yeah maybe. For now maybe it would be best to watch myself. I don't exactly want to break the entire library, which I probably will if I keep this up!"

"Well it has been a couple of hours. Maybe we should have a rest. Neither myself or Ash have come up with anything yet."

"Speaking of Ash, where is he?"

"Sweeping a pile of his namesake under the rug right now."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Why...?" He asked cautiously, yet in an annoyed tone.

"Well, you know what happens when a dragon sneezes?"

"Ah." The yak nodded in understanding, calming down at once. "So it was an accident then."

"Eh... technically, yes."

"...Elaborate."

...
...
…

Jack sighed. "Tell me what happened, Jason."

"Well-"

"Ah, good morning, Jack and Jason is it?" A third voice gently interrupted. The yak and unicorn turned to find a new pony smiling at them. An orange mare, an earth pony to be more precise, with a blonde mane and tail, freckles and a brown Stetson hat resting on the top of her head.

"Oh, hello there." Jack greeted, turning his attention away from Jason for the time being. "Sorry, we aren't in your way are we? One of the joys of being a giant walking carpet I'm afraid." He joked in good humour.

"Nah, y'all are fine where yer standing." She responded with a noticeable southern accent, at least from what the two friends could tell. "Twilight told me plenty bout your lil group. That yer lookin teh earn an honest living?"

The conversation with Craig from earlier replayed itself in Jacks head. "Uh, yes. That is the case miss..."

"Applejack. Pleasure to meet y'all. Or rather just the two of you ah suppose." She chuckled. "Ah don't suppose yer other friends are around are they? I got a bit of a proposition for y'all."

Jack and Jason looked at each other curiously.

"Best get Ash." The yak muttered to his pony pal. He had a feeling that what this cowpony had to say was going to be... interesting.

My choice to make. Not yours.

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To Mike this new creature, despite its colourful appearance looked more than capable of doing some serious damage with those horns of his, and after Craig whispering into his ear that said being also happened to be the king of the hive he felt that possibility to be even more likely. His 'court jester' comment hadn't exactly been soft spoken. He wasn't any less annoyed about the whole ordeal he had been forced to deal with since this morning but for a moment the unreformed changeling became slightly unnerved and was certain that he was about to be thrown in the dungeon, assuming they had one for his sharp tongue. He was convinced, given what he knew about royalty back on Earth that this guy was most likely tough, serious, and most certainly did not tolerate being referred to as a fool.

Every single one of these thoughts dissipated the moment the king gave an enormous smile and spoke.

"Ah, you must be the changeling I've heard so much about!" He spoke with a voice that didn't exactly scream king. It came off as nasally and goofy. The silly smile did not help either. "I'm so glad that Firefly managed to get you here! Is there anything I can get you?"

Mike blinked and allowed the gears in his head to turn for a moment. Out of all the responses and personalities he had expected, an enormous giddy prat had certainly not been one of them. "Uh... no. I'm- I'm good." He replied slowly before Thorax turned to the griffon next to him.

"How about you, umm..."

"Craig, my king." Firefly quickly filled in for her leader, still beaming away, though not with as large a grin as the taller changeling.

"Craig. I'm not all that certain what griffins really eat since... since we've never really had one here before, but I'm sure we can scrounge something up!" He replied quickly, his smile turning sheepish on his last sentence.

Craig shook his talon. "That's alright king Thorax." He addressed politely.

"Please, just Thorax."

"As you wish… Thorax." Craig tried his hardest not to break out in an even bigger grin. Talking to one of his favourite characters on a t.v. show tended to have that effect on most people. Unfortunately his changeling friend did not share his enthusiasm.

"Oh for gods sake..." Mike muttered before clearing his throat. "When you two ladies are done braiding each others hair, can we get to the reason we've been dragged here?"

Thorax blinked for a moment before his brain caught up to speed. "Oh, right! Of course. Sorry. I'm sure you'll want to undergo change right away!"

"There it is." The answer came without delay. "And no, not really."

"Splendid! In that case if you would like... to …" The large multicoloured moose slowed down. His friendly look turning to one of confusion as he realised that the answer he had just received was the exact opposite of what he had expected. To say he was shocked was a bit of an understatement. An audible gasp even managed to escape Firefly's mouth which earned her a sideways glance from the black changeling, but otherwise said nothing. How she had not picked up on his reluctance was odd. You'd have thought the sour mood and attitude he had carried since meeting her would have been a dead giveaway. Craig merely just observed and was ready to watch the scene unfold. He doubted his voice had much power in this conversation.

Thorax quickly found his voice. "Sorry but... did you say no?"

Mike nodded calmly. "Sure did. I like how I look."

"But- but I don't understand! don't you want to end your hunger? You don't have to continue to consume love forcefully anymore!"

"Well considering that I've never EVER had to take love forcefully, I think I'm doing alright for myself." Mike gestured to his griffon buddy, thankful that Craig had gone over the whole hunger issue earlier so at least he had some clue of what Thorax was bleating about. " Don't believe me, ask Craig here! He can vouch for me."

"That's true. He hasn't." Craig back Mike up with a careful nod.

"There you go." Mike smiled, happy to resolve this pain in the ass issue, at least in his own short and simple way. "Now since that's all we came here for, we'll be heading back to the school of friendship."

Believing he had now dealt with this minor hiccup, the still unreformed changeling, with a smirk turned round a full 180 degrees and headed back confidently the way he came. Or at least he would have had the all too familiar yellow chitin covered brat hadn't blocked his path with her own body.

"Can't you at least hear him out? We only want to help. Is that really so bad?"

She looked upset. More so than Mike had seen her, though that might not have been saying much. Almost as though she was upset for him rather than at him. The black changeling rubbed his temple with his hoof. This mare was not easy for him to like, even a little bit.

"Look, Firefly." He started calmly, trying a more diplomatic approach. "I don't know why you're so caught up on this, seriously I don't. But whatever that reason is, you need to understand that at the end of the day, whether or not I want to change or reform... or whatever the hell it's meant to be... but bottom line, it's my choice and no-one can change that." He looked the still upset bug horse in the eye seriously. "You understand that, don't you? My choice to make. Not yours and especially not your kings. You wouldn't want me to make you change into me would you?"

Craig quickly realised that Thorax had been unusually quiet about this ordeal. Hadn't Ember told him to be more assertive about this kind of thing? Maybe it had something to do with Mike actually giving a decent reason instead of flat out being aggressive and rude (too much) about it like those renegade changelings he mentioned in that one episode where he visited Spike. Whatever the reason, the griffon said nothing.

The question Mike had asked was rhetorical but Firefly found herself slowly shaking her head. Thinking he had managed to get through to her, Mike let a ghost of a smile slip and parted with a few kinder words.

"You're a nice mare Firefly. A bit stalker-y for my taste but I guess you mean well."

Craig also couldn't help but smile. That was without a doubt the nicest thing he had said thus far to her. Not that there was any competition but anything without venom in his voice or the sound of sarcasm was a major improvement. And what more it seemed to work as Firefly, slowly but surely stepped aside. Mike couldn't help but toss a small thanks her way before turning to Craig.

"Come on Craig. We're done here." His voice left no room for argument and Craig decided to oblige. Once he was right next to him, Mike whispered in his ear. "I don't suppose you know if changelings can teleport like unicorns, can they?"

"I don't think so."

"Figured as much. Guess we got a long walk ahead of us then." Mike twisted his neck and shoulders in a stretching manner.

"If I may?" Thorax suddenly called out gaining their attention. "You could take a chariot back if you'd like. It would be much faster than walking I can assure you."

The two friends looked at each other and shrugged in mutual agreement.

"That's very generous of you. Thank you ki- uh, Thorax." Craig offered a smile.

"Though... it will take until tomorrow for it to be ready. It's kind of new." The king chuckled nervously. "Especially since we don't have the same quality materials as most other lands... But we'll have it ready by tomorrow afternoon! Promise!"

Craig didn't need to look but he could imagine the smile vanishing off of the changelings face. Unfortunately it wasn't the only bad news either.

"And since you'll be needing to spend the night here, cause goodness knows you don't want to go out there with a maulwurf about..."

Mike looked to Craig for answers.

"Think of a really really big mole."

"Ah."

"... perhaps you would like for myself and the hive to show you the benefits of sharing love?"

"What?" Mike hissed out angrily. "Sorry, did you not hear the whole my choice speech I explained not two minutes ago? Did I express my thoughts just for them to be outright ignored?"

"We did! We did!" Thorax assured him. "But what kind of king would I be if I willingly allowed one of my subjects to take a path when a better one may await him? All I ask is that we show you the other side of the fence. See if the grass is greener if you know what I mean."

Mike glared at the king, almost wanting to tell him that he was not actually one of his subjects if it didn't cause more problems down the road.

"If you still prefer to remain as you are afterwards, I promise I won't bring it up again, nor will the rest of my subjects." He looked to Firefly for a second, making sure she had heard him. If she did she didn't acknowledge it.

Mikes facial features scrunched up as he thought about it. He even looked to Craig for support and, to no surprise found him nodding. The changeling sighed.

"Fine. But I'll do it for you, not them. And don't expect my answer to change either cause it won't."

Craig threw a claw around his friends back. "That's all I ask." He winked before turning back to Thorax. "We accept."

The king moose was thrilled, to say the least. "That's wonderful news! I best make sure that everything's set up! I'll be back in an hour!" He immediately flew off, leaving the two, and Firefly on their own. Mike looked to Craig.

"Make sure everything's set up?" He parroted in confusion.

"Guess he's going to give you one heck of a tour." Craig guessed.

"Terrific..."

For a moment they said nothing, unsure what to chat about that wouldn't result in venting frustration. However Mike managed to surprise Craig as the changeling muttered 'fuck it' under his breath before turning and trotting over to Firefly. The yellow changeling had parked her keister on the floor, sitting down. Ever since Mike had chatted to her she had remained silent and almost like a statue. It was only when he was right in front of her did she move, looking up at him with his gruff expression. The male changeling then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"So listen, that thing you said earlier about giving you and some other pointers on friendship? Well... I may have been a bit too quick to shoot that idea down. So, after giving it some proper thought... I decided, since I'll be here until tomorrow I could give you a few tips. You know, if you're still up for it."

Mike had barely enough time to blink before he found himself caught in a warm tight embrace. A few stunned seconds passed before the black changeling carefully pried her off and discovering the happy smile she was more accustomed to wearing on her face.

"Yeah, okay. You're welcome." Mike grumbled. "But friendship lesson number one, don't hug someone unless they're your friend."

Firefly blinked in confusion as her face saddened a little. "You wouldn't consider us friends?"

Mike tried and failed to not huff in amusement. "Firefly, I only met you this morning, which on top of that you broke into my room and scared the shit of me. Forgive me if I'm not performing cartwheels."

Firefly nodded in understanding. Mike wasn't finished yet.

"However, come tomorrow who knows? Maybe you will be."

The changeling looked hopeful "Really?"

"Really really."

Fireflys smile returned once more before she too left, promising that she would be telling her fellow changelings about this and that she'd return in time for the tour. Mike merely nodded lazily, already heading back to Craig and noticing the big shit eating grin on his face.

"Well well well." He chuckled. "Care to explain what that was about?"

"Hey man, we're gonna be here to tomorrow so I might as well pass the time somehow."

"Well either way, that was very nice of you. Even from over here I could tell that Firefly appreciated it."

"What can I say, I'm nice once you get to know me." He grinned twistedly.

"More like tolerable." Craig joked making the pair laugh.

"Besides, I think a few of my lessons might be... life changing, if you get my drift."

Craigs smile faltered. "What do you mean?"

Mike said nothing. The only reaction to the birds words was his growing grin.

"Mike..." Craig asked dangerously. "What do you plan on teaching them?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Mike!"

"You know, this place is quite big. Think I'm gonna take a short walk. See you in oh... about an hour?" Mike chuckled before walking away despite Craigs protests.

Subjects of friendship

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It didn't take long for Jack Jason and Ash to find themselves being led away from the library by the farmer pony known as Applejack. It only took a few minutes of chatting and probing to realise that the mare was one of the professors that taught here at the school of friendship. Upon learning that important piece of information Jack made sure to pass Ash a glance that warned him to be on his best behaviour. After getting to know each other the conversation turned towards the reason they were now following the country pony. A sort of proposition according to herself.

"So Miss Applejack." Jack started off formally. "I don't suppose you could give us any more details on what you have planned for us, do you?"

The farm pony chuckled. "Ain't no need for the Miss there sugarcube. Just Applejack is fine and dandy."
Jack nodded warmly while the other two said and did nothing.

"To what ah hear, all five of you are gonna be sharing a few stories about friendship to some of our classes."

"We're doing what?" Jason asked out loud, quickly silenced by Jack nudging him.

"What he means is that we weren't informed about receiving such a generous offer." The yak smoothed over.

"No? Huh. Ah guess your friends had to skedaddle off to the changeling kingdom quicker than a pig jumping into mud if they didn't have time to share that news. I was hoping to talk to all of you at once, but no hassle. I'm sure I can get a minute of their time when they return."

Jack agreed. "I'm sure that'll be no problem for them at all."

"Anyway, I suppose it's best to get right on into it then. Considering what I just said, how are all of y'all at speaking in front of crowds?"

Each answer was different.

"Not too bad."

"Could be better..."

"I've never done it before."

Applejack hummed at the answers from each creature. "Fair enough. Well ain't nothing a little practise won't fix."

Ash was about to press further until he noticed Applejack take a sharp right into one of the many doors that covered the walls of the hallway they were heading down. They all followed. As the three creatures stepped inside, with Jack barely squeezing his way through the narrow door, they realised that they were now standing inside of a classroom. One filled with fifteen students that sat patiently at their desks. Jack and Jason seemed a bit taken back by this as surprisingly Ash was the one who managed to put two and two together before anyone else.

"Oh, I see." He exclaimed with a nod of his head as he rested his hands on his hips. "So this is basically like an interview to make sure that we're suitable to this line of work."

"In a way, yeah." Applejack nodded.

"Okay, cool. No problem." The dragon smiled before looking back to the others and mouthing the words 'we're fucked' to them.

Jack and Jason ignored the overgrown lizard and looked over the class of students. The majority of them were ponies along with one of their own kind each, a changeling, a griffon and something similar looking to a griffon but neither were sure what species it was. Applejack broke the silence.

"Right. Now that you're here I'll go over what this here is all about. What I'd like is fer each of ye to go over a different subject of friendship in front of the class here. It'll only take y'all five minutes each to say yer piece before switching to the next speaker."

"Subject of friendship?" Jason questioned.

"That's right, subject of friendship. Ya know, Honesty, generosity, kindness and what not. T'aint no trouble, is it?"

"Not at all." Jack responded before anyone else could, despite the tightness in his chest. "Though I don't suppose we could have a couple minutes to talk it over do you?"

"Course not. I wasn't expecting y'all to know exactly what to talk about right away so take ten minutes to think about it. Especially since this is the first you're hearing of this opportunity Twi's offering y'all. I'll hold the fort in the meantime."

Jack gave a thankful nod and ushered the others outside, failing to spot the distrustful look from the student yak at the very back of the classroom. Once the door was shut ensuring that no-one could hear them, the talked amongst themselves in hushed tones.

"So... how the hell are we going to pull this off?" Ash asked a little worried of failing and possibly being kicked out of their only refuge.

"It'll be fine, all we have to do is pick a subject of friendship, first time I've ever heard that before, and just talk about it for five minutes. We can do that." Jack reassured his friend before Jason took the lead.

"Plus she just gave us some of said subjects. Honesty kindness and... um..."

"Generosity." Jack reminded the unicorn.

"Yeah, that."

"Really wishing Craig was here right now." Ash sighed. "He'd know everything about these subjects and how to go about it. No offense Jack." He apologised to the yak who was clearly doing his best to organise and address the issue at hand. A job normally entrusted to the missing griffon.

"None taken."

"So continuing on, we have our three subjects. Who wants to tackle what?"

"I'll take generosity." Jack pronounced.

"Honesty seems to work for me. Least more than the other choices." Ash muttered half heartedly.

"Okay so that leaves me with kindness. No problem. Now how are we going to go over them?"

"Well that's probably easier than you might think." Jack chimed in with a relaxed grin. "All we have to do is make up a scenario that relates to each of them. You know, like when you're at a proper job interview and you're asked what experience you have working in teams? It's kind of like that."

"So make shit up as you go along then." Ash confirmed.

"Yeah, that's what I do when that happens."

"Well I'd think considering that we have a few minutes you can think up something now while you have the chance, don't you think?" Jack added in.

"I'll try my best. Any other tips?"

"I guess try asking some of the students in there what they think about our specific field of friendship? Their answers might give us a bit more of a clue on what to go over."

Jason and Ash nodded, not able to come up with anything themselves.

"Okay then. We have our subjects and ideas. All we have to do now is execute them flawlessly."

"No pressure there." Jason frowned.

"Also if we manage to pull this off, let's hope Craig and Mike don't fuck up when it's their turn." Ash reminded the group.
"Well, Craig will probably ace it. But Mike... we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

The next few minutes passed quicker than the three expected. It was a productive few minutes so at least it wasn't spent in vain. Each creature managed to think up their own ways of going about their own lectures in the very limited time they had, hoping that there were enough to impress the professor. When the earth pony reopened the door, Jack agreed to go first. At least that way the other two had more time to think and, with all honesty they needed the extra time. The other two had no issues with this and waited patiently for him to return while putting on their own brave faces, at least until the door closed once more. The yak no separated from his friends soon found himself standing in the front of the classroom just behind the desk where more than a dozen pairs of eyes watched him. This was certainly going to be an interesting experience.

"Welp, no time like the present I suppose." He thought before beginning.

"Good afternoon!" Jack started after clearing his throat. He made sure to sound loud so as to capture the attention of the entire classroom. "My name is Jack, and I will be going over the benefits of generosity for the next few minutes." He wanted to glance at Applejack to see her reaction, whether she was interested or suspicious that he went for one of the 'subjects' she had picked from her example. Unfortunately doing so might have caused her to be even more suspicious so he kept going. "Now the way I am going to show you these events is to portray a few scenarios and have you point out what you think the best way to show or express generosity."

From what he could tell the students listening were either intrigued, bored out of their minds or just plain tired. Least they weren't talking over him or attempting to wind him up like some students back on earth most certainly would. That thought in mind immediately made things easier to bear.

"Now, I would like all of you to picture two... ponies who have decided to buy a uh, a sandwich each. They decide to wait ten minutes before settling down to eat them. However before one of them can take a bite, the sandwich falls onto the ground in the dirt. They're upset about it. The other pony still has their sandwich, still completely uneaten. What could this pony do to help their friend out?"

Two hands, or rather a claw and a hoof raised up into the air. One from the changeling and the other from the pink griffon-like creature. Jack decided to go with the latter first, mainly due to her constantly going 'ooh ooh, I know this one' and similar phrases sounding and acting like a very excited child.

"Silverstream." She responded with a smile sweet enough to melt even the coldest heart. "The pony with the sandwich should give their friend the sandwich."

Jack nodded his head slowly acknowledging the answer before reviewing her answer in front of the class. "That is an option, yes, and a very generous one too. But it's a bit too generous. While it is good to give the other pony the sandwich, there would be nothing left for the first one. Does anybody else want to have a guess?"

The changeling from before shot her hoof up just as fast as the first time. Since she was the only one too Jack went with her.

"Ocellus." She introduced before Jack could ask, having picked up on the fact that the yak was new to teaching and most of them. The yak upon hearing the name recalled Mike mentioning it last night before they headed to their dorms sounding somewhat annoyed upon bringing it up, though the reason why that was he couldn't remember. Hopefully she wasn't going to be trouble. "I would think that the first pony should buy the other pony another sandwich. That way the first pony would keep his sandwich and the other would have fresh non dirty food." She answered confidently.

"Again, a very generous offer, but not the answer I'm looking for."

The little blue bug horse looked disappointed in getting the answer wrong, but said nothing else as she took a pencil in her... mouth and prepared to scribble down the proper answer. Jack looked round the room, waiting for a third arm to rise.

"Anyone else wanting to guess?" He asked, making sure those at the back could hear. No-one else dared to have a go. "No? Very well. While it is important to be generous to your friends, it is important not to be too generous. If you are you may miss out yourself or others may take advantage of it. This is why the first couple answers were, while not entirely wrong, not the best choice." Truthfully Jack had no idea if he was hitting the nail on the head here since most of what he was saying was based on his own opinion of generosity. But at least he was displaying confidence and keeping everyone focused on him. Something that not every teacher could manage. "The answer I'm looking for is for the first pony to simply give half the sandwich to the other. That way both are able to enjoy a delicious meal."

Jack made especially sure to say 'the answer I'm looking for' instead of 'the correct answer is' since he had no idea if it really was the right answer, if there even was one. At least that way he wasn't giving them any wrong information. The entire question was based around his belief, nothing more. He wondered if Applejack had picked up on that.

For the remainder of the time, Jack decided to include each and every student in the second part of his teaching method and had them stand up one at a time and give a short few sentences on an example of generosity. By the time he got round to the last student the professor stepped in, thanked Jack for his time and asked the class to thank him for his time, which they did verbally and with the stamping of their hooves or clapping of claws. Jack bowed his head, expressed his thanks and then left the classroom where the dragon and pony waited patiently. Applejack followed him out the room.

"Not too shabby." She noted. "You knew what you were doin I'll give you that, and I like how you included the kids having them give their own answers. I know Twilight would approve."

"Well, good to know one of us passed at least." Jason joked.

"No need to fret there fella. Twi told me y'all will be giving your own stories on friendship when your buddies return. Nothing more nothing less. Ain't no pass or fail here."

"Wait, didn't you say this was an interview when I asked?" Ash cut in.

"I said it was in a way. Though I suppose a more accurate term would be a learning experience. Heh. Sorry for the confusion there. Suppose I should have said exactly what I meant."

"Well no worries. What's done is done." Jack added hoping to keep the conversation short.

"That it is." Applejack agreed before turning to the blue dragon. "Ready to throw your hat into the ring there Ash?"

"Sure am." Ash replied with a grin, feeling much more relaxed than he had done twenty seconds ago. "This is going to be a piece of cake!"

It was anything but.

Stage one, and... already going badly

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By the time Thorax returned a mere hour later he had already managed to prepare a small section of the hive for the two visitors, as well as gather a trusted group of volunteers to help out with introducing Mike to the more enjoyable traits of embracing the new ways. Though the chosen group consisted of about four changelings, each one would have an important role to play, including the king himself. Hopefully by tomorrow he and his fellow subjects would succeed and add one more member to their happy little family. Upon returning to the room where he had left Mike and his griffon friend, he found the two of them talking. Well, more like Craig was yelling at the changeling who just sat there with an amused grin on his face. Clearly he had missed something in the time he was gone or perhaps this was the norm of their friendship. Such a bond could take all sorts of different forms, the changeling king had to remind himself. Especially considering that he too was still somewhat new to friendship and its ways. Regardless he elegantly trotted up to them and broke the one sided 'conversation' with a few calm and gentle words.

"We're ready to begin. That is if you're also ready?" He smiled as his two guests looked up to him. The griffon glared back to Mike, mouthed something and then turned back to Thorax with a polite grin.

"That we are, Thorax." Craig nodded.

Mike shrugged. "Yep. Can't wait."

"Excellent! If you would follow me please."

The two smaller beings followed Thorax out from the main room and traversed upwards through the hive. There were so many twists and turns that they passed through it would be impossible for either of the two friends to find their way out if they had a year to do so. Eventually all three of them reached the very top of the hive which seemed to serve as a large roofless area placed at the very top of the hive that allowed any creature to look out into the land for miles and miles. Certainly a massive change from the long dark tunnels they had spent the last hour in. Craig knew from memory that this place had mostly been 'created' by the explosion of Chrysalis's throne back, given the broken jagged edges that remained where the hive walls had broken. Despite this flaw the changelings were able to make up for it by covering most of the walls and floor with colourful bushes, vines and anything else they could find that made the hive seem more warm and inviting. There were plenty changelings around minding their own business too. Not one of them looking even slightly similar to Mike and his unreformed state. Funnily enough none of them seemed to react to his 'unique' appearance. Perhaps Thorax had already informed them and asked them not to stare?

Neither the griffon or unreformed changeling said a word on it as Thorax soon led them up to a group of five changelings who stood patiently in line waiting for them. One of these five being Firefly who waved upon seeing them which received a half assed wave back from Mike. Other than her there was also lined up an orange changeling, a blue one, a violet and a light green changeling too that looked just as eager as Firefly did, Each of them smiling away at their new guests. Thorax introduced them from left to right.

"May I present your guides and councillors for the evening, Stick, Gloss, Sandstone and Leaf, as well as Firefly who you are already well acquainted with. Each of them have gladly volunteered to help you gather a greater understanding of the new ways changelings can live by instead of stealing love from every-creature..."

"You know, if they had a red and purple extra, and stood in the right order they'd make an awesome walking rainbow." Mike whispered to Craig who slapped the changeling on the shoulder. Thankfully Thorax hadn't noticed as he continued to speak.

"...While Sandstone and Leaf will show and give you a little more insight on how our new way of life has affected them personally and how it's improved their lives. So um... do you have any questions before we get started?"

Craig shook his head, hoping that Mike would do the same or just not talk at all.

"Who the hell names their kid Stick and Leaf?"

No such luck.

"MIKE!" The griffon hissed. "He's joking guys! Just an example on bonding between friendship and... whatnot..." He smiled sheepishly as his own words slowly failed him, hoping that none of them were offended by Mikes sharp yet very blunt tongue.

"Ooh, sounds great!"

"We have much to teach each other it seems!"

"This is going to be a fun experience!"

Each and every changeling seemed to buy into Craigs words, accepting and seeing them as an opportunity to learn. They then quickly moved onto a small debate on who should go first, in which Gloss, the blue one seemed to come out on top on. She soon led the griffon and unreformed changeling over to a specific area of the floor.

"Mike. Seriously, you really need to watch what you say here." Craig whispered to Mike who chuckled, clearly amused by the situation.

"I'm sorry man. I just wasn't expecting to hear such ridiculous names. I mean, we're meeting a brand new species, a once in a lifetime opportunity and rather than have a strange yet awesome sounding name, they're called stick. Kind of kills the fucking mood doesn't it?"

"Well yes, okay that's a fair point but jesus bud, have some cultural sensitivity! What if they made fun of our names, how would you feel about that?"

"I mean, at least I wasn't named after part of a tree so I think I automatically have the upper hand in that fight."

Craig found it hard to argue at that point, causing Mike to grin in satisfaction.

Both creatures decided to end the conversation as they found themselves being led to what was basically a cylindrical smooth rock, clearly carved ten feet in diameter resting on one of its flat surfaces at one end of the floor. The rock was also a mere two foot tall, enough for any-ling who stood on it to be noticed by every-ling else. Mike and Craig watched as Gloss stepped up onto it, faced the group and spoke a a slightly raspy voice with enough volume to catch the attention of every changeling around them.

"Mares and gentle-lings, if I may have your attention please!"

Clearly this changeling was some sort of bigshot because pretty much every changeling flocked towards him and surrounded the stone cylinder he stood on as soon as he finished speaking that one sentence. It was amazing how excited they looked, clearly aware of whatever was about to happen as though they were children waiting for their favourite t.v. show to start. Mike and Craig on the other hand, who basically stood at the very front of the crowd merely glanced at each other unsure exactly what to expect and watched as Gloss was soon quickly joined by three other changelings that stood on either side of him.

"As per request of our beloved king, we are here today to act out the story of our freedom from the tyranny of the former queen Chrysalis, and our first step towards a brighter future!"

Every changeling except Mike cheered and stomped their hooves in a way that suggested they were 'clapping hands'.

"We would also like to introduce our special guests, Mike and Craig from the school of friendship who came to see and understand our ways!"

All eyes fell upon the two who looked back to see several dozen changelings staring right at them.

Craig waved awkwardly with a smile just as awkward unsure what to say. Mike merely responded by going 'Hi there' before turning back to face the stage and trying not to let the fact that hundreds of otherworldly creatures were staring at him and his friend. After a fair few 'hi's' back, Gloss began

"Long ago when changelings were seen as dark and deceptive creatures by all other species..." Mike looked rather offended as Gloss pointed to him upon saying this. "... They were forced to steal and devour love from everyling they crossed."

The three other changelings transformed. Two of them into random ponies while the third turned himself into an unreformed changeling, all black, fang-y and covered in holes. The changeling chased the two ponies around the stage as they cried for help, pleading to the audience.

"Back then our queen at the time, Chrysalis..." Gloss turned himself into said queen and hissed at the audience menacingly receiving a few fearful gasps. A couple were brave enough to go so far as to boo the fake queen. Gloss/Chrysalis continued in what Craig immediately realised as the former monarchs voice"... Cared naught for those pathetic little ponies nor her worthless minions! All that mattered to her was having as much power as she could get her greedy hooves on and toppling ponykind forever!"

More boos joined the audience. 'Chrysalis' did not take to this well.

"How dare you boo me!" She snarled with glaring eyes peering over the edge of the stage in fake fury. "Do you not know who I am?! I am the soon to be ruler of Equestria! And you will give me the respect I so rightfully deserve or I will suck all of you dry!"

These fake threats were met with even more boos as the crowd began to get more into the spirit of the play. The ponies on stage suddenly turned into Equestrian royal guards and apprehended the queen and boos quickly turned into cheers.

As the play went on Gloss, now back as his original self narrated the surprisingly long history between ponies and changelings and how each battle and encounter only drove changelings to be further hated and ill-thought of. Even Craig found himself surprised as the blue changeling went on to talk about famous battles the changelings had fought in such as the fall of Timbucktu and the siege of Trot before coming to the inevitable Canterlot invasion and even mentioned how the changelings were first created. Who'd have thought a tree could give birth? From there the play went exactly as expected as parts of the mlp t.v. show were filled in as Gloss described the season 6 finale. Despite knowing the details and the outcome, Craig still put in some effort to look shocked or impressed. Eventually the play ended with a fake Thorax standing triumphant over a new fake Chrysalis, a fake Starlight and reformed changeling probably in its original forms standing by the sides. As the actors got up and bowed, the changelings stomped their hooves.

"Thank you thank you!" Gloss exclaimed happily as he and his fellow actors transformed back into their normal selves. "When we were asked put on this play we were unsure that we could pull it off in such a short amount of time! However it was worth every second of planning to see your satisfied faces! But alas I must confess, the true reason we put on this play was for the very changeling before you!"

Mike, who throughout the entire play was somewhat entertained but was still wishing he could be back as the school of friendship with the rest of his pals, blinked in surprise as Gloss pointed to him a second time and all eyes fell upon him once more, much to his discomfort.

"By putting on this play we hoped to have shown the long twisted road we changelings had to endure in order to come so far! How much we suffered in order to be treated as equals from others! But most importantly, we hope we've shown the bright glamorous future that awaits our kind as we emerge from the cold dark past of our history!"

With the play over after going on for ten minutes, an impressive amount of time given Gloss's team only had an hour to do it in, many changelings dispersed and went back to whatever they were doing before the show began. Gloss felt a sense of pride as did Thorax. It was a good first step towards convincing Mike that reformation was nothing to be sceptical of. The thought was so exciting to the kind that he was already imagining what colours Mike may take upon metamorphosis.

"Um, I have several questions..." The unreformed changeling blurted out catching the attention of the king, Gloss and the few changelings that hadn't left yet.

Now it was Gloss's turn to look surprised. While he had expected Mike to ask a few he had expected them to sound bristling with curiosity. The tone and look he used seemed more along the lines of being unsatisfied. Craig however, rather than say anything decided to stay quiet. There was something about Mikes look that seemed off to him. Nevertheless Gloss kept his gentle smile and replied to the changeling.

"Of course. What would you like answering?"

"Well as you know I was busy dealing with the town of Apploosia searching for love filled ponies to kidnap during Chrysalis's downfall..." This claim was an obvious lie that he and Craig had fabricated to use as a suitable cover story in case anyling asked. "...And I get the whole new leadership thing and rightfully so, the ex queen was a real bitch. But the thing is this. You've been going on about how due to our original forms we've been despised throughout the generations and that I should change because of it. You do know that I'm friends with a dragon, a yak, a griffon and even one of these oh so fearful ponies you've shown in this play of yours, right?"

"Oh... Well um, we weren't actually aware of that..." Gloss admitted nervously.

"There's also the whole magic throne too which you mentioned was destroyed and then given away to the ponies. I mean considering its power to cancel non changeling magic wouldn't it have been smarter to keep it in case a group of vengeful beings decide to attack?"

"Thank you! That's exactly what I've been saying!" Came a voice somewhere from the back of the crowd to which Thorax responded to.

"Pharynx please, not now!"

Gloss had no clue how to answer. That was a question best left to his leader since he was the one who made the decision.

"And to top it all off, the thing that gets me the most more than anything else! You said that the ponies seemed to make friends with you only after you turned into... whatever you're supposed to be now, so that means you had to literally change who you are in order to get on their good side and keep them from despising you?"

Craig blinked as he realised what Mike had said, and more importantly what was going on in the changelings mind. His heart almost dropped as he put together the pieces.

Fuck! How had he forgotten? How could he be so stupid?! Maybe it was just being in Equestria had made him focus less on more important issues or the fact Mike had only mentioned it once in little detail so many years ago, but he should have picked up on it sooner!

The griffon slowly looked over from Gloss to his friend to find him looking rather angry. Angrier than usual and even saw his eye twitch. No-one had noticed other than him and Firefly standing on his other side who was a mixture of confusion and worry. Then to make matters worse, Gloss spoke and responded with the worst answer he could have given.

"Technically yes... but-"

That was all Gloss could say as Mike turned and trotted away not even allowing the reformed changeling to finish. Craig could tell that Mike was doing his best not to snap at Gloss but he couldn't be near him, or any other changeling for that matter.

"Was... was it something I said?" Gloss asked innocently just as confused as his fellow actors.

"It's not your fault." Craig assured him, a little dejected and mad at himself. "It's just, well, it's personal... Just give him a bit of time to come around."

"Reformed or not, I don't like leaving one of my subjects feeling so... bitter and depressed!" Thorax grimaced, tasting the emotions coming from the retreating form of Mike. "Surely there is something we can do for him!"

"No, not right now!" Craig snapped accidentally, more concerned with his friend than anything else. He took a deep breath and sighed. "He just needs a moment to be alone. Trust me, he'll be okay after a few minutes."

Neither of the two had noticed the absence of a certain yellow changeling.

"I'm sorry buddy..." Craig rubbed his face with a claw, unsure what to do next. "I hope the guys back at the school are doing better than we are."

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Jack and Jason waited outside the headmares office patiently, keeping an eye on Ash. The dragon was in a rather foul mood, probably due to the black eye he was now sporting on the left side of his face. Applejack, who had left the trio for a few minutes had returned with a bag of ice for the large blue reptile.

"Here you go sugarcube. This'll knock that swelling down faster than a bug bear in a snowstorm."

Ash assumed that was fast.

"Thanks." He muttered, accepting the bag from the mare and placed it over his bad eye and ignoring the slight sting of contact. The four went silent for a moment, unsure what to say. Eventually Jason broke the silence.

"So..." He began awkwardly. "How are we going to explain you getting into a fist fight with a student? Any ideas, anyone?"

Author's Notes:

Hi guys, sorry this chapter took so long. Unfortunately the next chapter will take even longer unless I get a moment to breath next week. Long story short I'm soon to be joining the Royal Navy and starting basic training on the 26th of this month so, yeah. Doesn't give me much time to do anything let alone write.

Sucks I'm sure but I have to live my life how I want to so I hope you understand.

However that doesn't mean this story is going to be cancelled, far from it. But it'll be Christmas by the time a new chapter comes out if I can't get one more done before the 26th, but considering how slow my ass is with uploading chapters anyway, that shouldn't be too much of an issue right?

So to depart, the story is going to take more of a turn towards the more serious elements that I have planned for the plot. I won't give much away but beware... there's a reason why these five have been taken from their home and put into Equestria...

So if I don't see you guys soon, I'll be seeing you on Christmas. Have a good day and a happy halloween.

Pleasant talks

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"For the third time it wasn't a fistfight!" Ash snapped at Jason, his temper getting to him. "You know that! All I did was try and block and defend myself from her hits! I didn't even throw a single punch!"

"And yet she still got a shot in. Kid's got a bit of an anger issue." The unicorn smirked. "Seriously though, how's the eye?"

The dragon sighed. "It's not as painful as it was a few minutes ago, thanks. Guess all and all things could have been much worse."

It had only been ten minutes since Ash had received his rather obvious black eye from the only other dragon in the school. The reason behind the attack? The dragon student known as Smolder had apparently heard about Ash's use of the word for friendship in 'dragonese' back during the party last night and had chosen right then and there in the classroom, in front of plenty other students to confront him about it, in the middle of his lesson. With her being a fiery hot headed dragon and Ash being Ash, the two got into a massive argument with Smolder snapping at him that there was no such word as 'cunt' which was the word Ash had used to describe dragon friendship. Sort of. The blue dragon on the other hand tried to justify that he was more experienced when it came to dragon culture compared to her and the two began to get into a shouting contest. Jack and Jason had found the entire conversation quite hilarious until things quickly became more physical. Two minutes of arguing was all it took before Smolder started throwing punches, and another thirty seconds before the remaining adult creatures were able to break it up.

"Ah gotta say, y'all dragons can be rather feisty at times. Suppose I should have expected that." Applejack spoke. "Still, I ain't ever seen Smolder act so aggressive to any-creature before, dragon or no dragon. You sure you're okay?"

"Oh yeah, totally. I can take a hit, believe me. Besides, we dragons are like that sometimes. Part of our culture and all."

"Well ah would prefer if you'd keep it outside the classroom, dragon culture or not, y hear? Last thing ah need is to fix up an entire classroom due to a minor scuffle."

"Yes miss, sorry." Ash apologised, feeling a bit like a child himself. Or as much a child could feel if they were being scolded by a talking horse.

"We all are." Jack spoke before becoming a little bitter. "Would have helped if that kid hadn't tried to set me on fire..."

"I'm sure that was an accident Jack." Jason pointed out. "You saw her reaction when she almost hit you."

"Well right now, me and my singed coat think differently." The yak countered showing the blackened fur on his right forearm. It was a small mark but certainly noticeable. Rather than go on about it he dropped his attitude and turned to Ash. "Sorry Ash. With my pig-headedness I didn't think to ask how you were doing, considering everything."

Ash rolled his good eye. "Look can we just drop it please? You know how I feel about being in fights so let's just leave it and move on."

Jack nodded and said nothing more. Applejack however voiced her own quick opinion.

"Funny. No offense but I always thought y'all dragons enjoyed that sorta thing."

The dragon huffed in amusement. "Yeah well, long story short I had a bit of an experience a few years ago that changed my mind on the subject."

"Oh. I see. Sorry."

"No need to apologise, you don't know the story behind it." Ash shrugged. "And honestly it's an experience I'm glad happened. Probably be in a bad place if I hadn't learned from it."

Before any-creature could say another word, the doors to the headmares office opened and out popped the purple alicorn herself. Her expression was rather neutral.

"Ash, if you could step into my office please? I think we have plenty to talk about." Was all she said before retreating back into the room, expecting the dragon to follow.

Ash merely stood up and handed the ice pack back to the orange earth pony. "Welp, time to face the music I guess." He muttered before striding into the room behind Twilight. The doors were then engulfed in a purple aura before they closed themselves. Now all they had to do was wait.

"If y'all will excuse me, I best be off too." Applejack spoke. "Would do some good to deal with Smolder n her actions. I reckon an apology to y'all would be a good punishment to start with."

"That would be much appreciated miss, thank you." Jack nodded before allowing the orange mare to trot back the way she came. Once she disappeared round the corner, Jack and Jason were alone once more.

"So..." Jason started. "Our group's been split in two and Ash has received a black eye, possibly about to be kicked out from the school, and it's not even the afternoon yet. Think the day's going to get any shitter as it goes on?"

Jack looked down to his pony friend. "You say that like there's a chance it won't."

Jason chuckled at the response. "Suppose you have me there. Still, it wouldn't hurt to think on a more positive note."

"Oh positive note? Like what?"

"Well we aren't out starving on the street like a bunch of homeless bums for one."

"... I guess that's something." The yak shrugged.

"And we aren't human either."

Jack stared at Jason with a confused yet annoyed glare. "And how is that a positive in any way Jason?"

"Look at it this way. If we were human, every single creature around us would very likely be extremely sceptical or just outright fearful of us, at the least. Looking like this however we've managed to blend in without too much hassle."

Jack held his tongue. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Jason was right about that too. God only knows how differently things could have been if they hadn't been converted into the creatures they were now.

"Is there a reason you're bringing these up Jason, or are you just passing the time?"

Jason shrugged. "Passing the time really. Not like we have anything better to do while we wait to hear how screwed Ash is."

Jack was about to respond until he noticed something on the wall opposite them.

"Hey um... Jason?"

"Yeah?"

"Look at the picture on the wall there. You notice anything weird about it?"

The unicorn turned to where Jack was pointing too and noticed a framed picture showing the top half of... some strange creature he had yet to see in this world. From what the picture showed the thing had a claw for one hand and a paw for the other, two different antlers resting on the top of its head and its wings, while not only disproportionate to the size of its body consisted of a bats wing and a feathered wing each. It's face was somewhat ponyish with large white eyebrows and a small beard that stretched down from its chin. It also had bright red eyes as well as a single pointy tooth hanging down from its maw. Whatever it was supposed to be, Jason hoped that it wasn't something they would come across any time soon.

"Yeah, that thing certainly does look weird, no question there. What do you suppose it is?"

"No idea but that's not what I was getting at."

"What?"

"Just look."

Jason carefully walked over to the picture and looked it over, unsure what he was supposed to be seeing. From what he could tell it was just a normal picture like any other.

"You going to fill me in what this is about or...?"

"I saw it out of the corner of my eye but I'm fairly certain that it blinked."

A laugh escaped Jason's throat. "Really Jack? A blinking picture? How much sleep did you get last night?"

"Oh I can do much more than blink my dear equine."

Jasons smile very quickly left his face. The portrait had just spoken to him.

"What in the fu-*HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK* -ING HELL!?" The unicorn exclaimed jumping back in shock as the thing somehow leaned out of the frame and blasted a small yet rather loud horn right in his face.

"Ah ah ah." It scolded with a wagging finger. "None of that language here, thank you very much! This is a school after all."

"What on earth are you supposed to be?" Jack managed to ask as he instinctively backed up from the strange creature.

"Oh of course, you're new here I almost forgot! Well my fine fellow former bipedals, allow me to introduce myself properly!" It responded with a mischievous and questionably evil smirk.

"Hold on! What do you mean fellow biped-"

A snap of the claws and all three of them disappeared in a flash of white light.

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

Once Mike had found a secluded spot away from every-ling else deep within the long twisted tunnels of the hive, he sat down and took a moment to think. It hadn't been long since he had decided to walk away from Thorax, Craig and every other changeling he had come across as he sought isolation. Even with his departure his anger still managed to bubble away inside of him, though now a lot of it was aimed at himself as he realised what he had gone and done. Walking around aimlessly to an unknown part of the hive wasn't exactly a smart idea. Especially when you were completely unfamiliar with the layout of it meaning he had just gone and gotten himself lost. Not that he cared all that much at the moment as the recent events of the play still swirled round inside of his head as well as his own recent actions.

"Well that was smart of me." He muttered angrily. "Just walk away like a grumpy five year old, oh very well done Mike. Way to set a good example..."

The changeling leaned back until his head was resting against the surprisingly soft and comfortable wall. Whatever the structure of the hive was made of it was unlike any building material the changeling knew existed. Kind of made sense what with being in another universe and whatnot. The secluded area he had found was dark and silent and apparently not too often used by any-ling from what he could see which only helped add to his own personal comfort zone. It was the perfect place for him to think and work on what to do next. It was rather unlikely that him storming off had won him any favour points, especially in front of the king. Probably some kind of apology would do the trick surely. Craig on the other hand...

"Fucking Craig." He spat bitterly, continuing to vent his frustration. "I told him I didn't want to come here didn't I? But oh, guess what? This place is part of a popular t.v. show so fuck it! I'll just drag my friend here and nerd out over how awesome this place looks! Fuck what Mike thinks, right?!"

Mike took a deep breath. Could he go five minutes without getting wound up over something so miniscule? Not that he had much time to reflect as he suddenly felt something. An unpleasant feeling that sat in the pit of his stomach that slowly grew cold, similar to what he felt yesterday during the surprise party, only now it felt worse. Perhaps it had something to do with sensing emotions? He then heard hoof steps approaching him. So much for being alone.

"Great, now what"? The bug-horse groaned with a lack of amusement as he turned his head to see who was coming his way. It wasn't hard to recognise the yellow nuisance now mere feet away just standing there staring at his slumped form.

"Oh it's you." He deadpanned. "Let me guess. Thorax or Craig asked you to find and bring me back didn't they? Look just tell them I'll be back in a few minutes alright? Just need to take a minute to be alone and think." Mike paused for a second. "Also if you could return after telling them that and lead me back up there, that would be great cause right now I have no idea where the fuck I am." He chuckled a little at his own stupidity hoping to ease the obvious tension.

Firefly didn't react to his words however. Other than the sad face she had upon arriving she didn't move nor did she follow Mikes request. A moment passed and she merely dropped the lower half of her body to the ground and adopted a sitting position, eyes still on the unreformed changeling. Mike merely watched with an eyebrow raised waiting for the yellow ling to explain herself.

"You are upset." She spoke quietly.

"Figure that out all on your own did you?" Mike scoffed. The yellow changeling continued.

"It is rare for another changeling to feel this way since Thorax became our leader. Perhaps it would help to talk of it?"

The unreformed changeling readjusted himself. "Not really much to talk about. I overreacted, simple as that. Everyone going on about change just got to me and I needed a moment away from it all, simple as."

"Our talk of change upsets you?" Firefly cocked her head.

Mike took a second to think of how to explain himself. "Sort of. I mean, I may have been annoyed about it at first, but I'll admit it that little Q and A session at the end? The answers I got were not what I expected or wanted to hear. I mean, let me explain it from my point of view on what I gathered from it. Before your king became well... the king, ponies hated the way you looked right? Just seeing your form would bring back bad memories of the uh... damn it what was it called...? The Canterlot invasion! So when Thorax eventually did take charge, you all changed into what you are now and the ponies begun to accept you. But the thing I can't help but wonder is this. Say everything that has happened up to this point for the changelings has happened, the invasion, overthrowing of the former queen, all that but with only one main difference. All of you still look like I do. Would everyone still accept you or would they still carry that hate for you, hm?"

Firefly took a moment to ponder on what Mike was asking. A minute passed before she provided her answer.

"They would likely still resent our kind, yes. I agree with your logic. But we ourselves did not look upon our forms with joy either. Our metamorphosis was a proud moment in our history that we all accepted, other than a small group that felt the old ways were better."

"And what happened to those changelings?" Mike dared to ask despite having a good idea on what the answer was.

"King Thorax convinced them to that sharing love was a better idea rather than take it from ponies."

Mike slowly nodded but was no less unamused. "Look, I'll try to get to the point of what I'm trying to get at. I've no problem with you lot changing. Fuck, change into another species even, I don't care! Me however, I like who and what I am. Why should I change because someone else wants me to? I'm not going through that shit a second time."

"Second time?"

The unreformed changeling paused for a moment as Firefly repeated his words back to him. He then let out a small hollow laugh. "Yeah, long story. Let's just say I've kinda been down this path once before at a young... stupid age."

"Oh..." Was all Firefly responded with. "I see. May I ask what happened?"

Mike took in a deep breath. The yellow changeling felt a colder sensation growing inside of her.

"No, you can't." He responded coldly. "I'll give you some advise though that I learned back then though." Mike looked at Firefly with a very serious glare. "Never, and I mean never let someone bully you into thinking you are nothing because of how you look."

Firefly very slowly nodded, feeling like she should say something. Clearly she had hit a personal point. "I'm sorry. I did not wish to remind-"

"It's fine. You didn't know, did you?" Mike cut her off as he pulled himself back onto all fours. "Besides like I said, I overreacted. Still want to tear Craig a new one for bringing me here but the rest of you? Forget about it." The changeling then looked at his own front hooves and inspected them.

"Kind of makes me wonder if I turned into this fucking thing for a reason..." He spoke quietly deep in thought.

"Sorry? I didn't catch that."

Mike said nothing in response, instead just stared at his hooves for a moment more before looking up at Firefly. "Right then, shall we head back? If everyone's as worried as you were then we'd best return as soon as we can."

Firefly blinked. "... Uh, yes! Of course! Come, let us go." She agreed before also standing up and leading the black changeling back to the top floor. There were many questions she wanted to ask, but now wasn't the time. Perhaps she could try later if she got the chance and if her fellow changeling was in a better mood. Hopefully...

New developments

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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..."

Restoring energy... in the bedroom

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Craig continued to search frantically through the hive for Mike, hoping to find him and tell him the grave news Thorax had just passed onto him. The look of panic on his face was obvious to whatever changeling he passed as they seemed confused, probably wondering why a griffon was running around in their hive, but their concern mattered little to the avian. At this point he had been looking up and down for the unreformed changeling for about twenty minutes now. It didn't exactly help that he knew nothing about the layout of the hive, and didn't decide to stop to ask for directions or whereabouts of said dark chitin covered creature, but when only just now learning that your own friend is slowly dying, common sense doesn't seem to kick in right away.

Mike! Mike!" The griffon all but squawked. "Where the hell is he for Christ sake? Mi-"

"Oh hi there Craig."

The addressed griffon turned to find Firefly trotting up towards him with a smile, as though oblivious to his freaked out state. Craig suddenly remembered that she had disappeared earlier, most likely to find Mike herself. He also wondered how the changeling had managed to find him so quickly, then again he did stick out being the only griffon. The yelling and searching hadn't exactly been subtle either. At the very least Craig was certain she would help look for his poor dying friend.

"Firefly, thank goodness! Please tell me you found Mike because I'm not doing all so good here!"

The yellow changeling smiled and nodded. "Yes, I was just with him not so long ago."

Craig gave a sigh of relief. "Oh good, good. Well could you take me to him please? There's something I need to tell him and its kind of urgent."

Fireflys smile turned to a concerned frown. "That might not be the best idea right now. He's resting I'm afraid."

"Resting?"

"Resting." The changeling confirmed. "When we decided to head back to see yourself and Thorax not so long ago I sensed his energy reserves were low, worryingly so. Thus I helped restore it as best I could. I was just about to tell Thorax about this until I heard your distress. I am quite certain the wellbeing of Mike would be a priority to him at the moment given how today has gone so far."

"Oh I uh, I wouldn't worry about that right now." Craig tried to dismiss. Right now his buddy was his biggest concern. "Anyway lets back up a bit. You said you restored his energy, which I'm assuming is a temporary solution, am I right?"

FIrefly nodded, her smile returning. "Indeed."

"Okay that's comforting to know I guess. So in relation to that, and this might sound kind of dumb but is there any way I can replicate this energy boost myself in case Mike needs it again or is it strictly a changeling thing?"

"Oh no, any creature can do it!"

Craig felt a huge weight off of his chest.

"Oh great! That's good, very good to hear! I uh, don't suppose you can tell me how it works can you?"

The yellow changeling continued to smile happily. "Of course. Although, it's different for each and every changeling depending on their taste."

"Oh... okay." Craig responded, not entirely sure what she meant by that but decided to hold the questions until Firefly had finished explaining.

"Some creatures prefer the process to be slow, others fast. Although if it's a changeling with another changeling then the flow of love can be very fast due to the constant two way feeding. With a creature of a different species, a changeling would be able to gather enough love to last a week, providing they go all the way. I suppose positioning would help too. I should also add despite the energy boost a changelings body needs time to process and break down the amount of love transferred, which is why Mike is currently rest-"

Craigs curiosity got the best of him and interrupted the changeling. "Sorry, you said positioning? I don't follow."

"No? Well it's pretty simple really. Again it depends on what excites them the most. Mike had a few he shared that I was unaware of. It was quite... experimental... and weird I must admit but I can see why he decided on them..."

The griffons face fell. He silently hoped this wasn't going where he thought it was. "Um... what kind of positions, if you don't mind my prying?"

"Hmm... well there were a fair few... If I recall he named them the 69, the doggy position, the wheelbarrow..."

Oh good Christ no.

That was the only thought that rushed through Craigs mind as he took in the horrifying revelation. Surely there had to be a reasonable explanation to this. There was no way, no fucking way that Mike was this stupid, even for him! The look on the red griffons face dropped with each named position as Firefly continuously named them one after the other.

"... the Twister and the Russian Heimlich. Oh, that reminds me, there was something I was hoping to ask. Many times your friend used phrases such as 'fuck yes' or 'holy fuck'. Forgive my curiosity but, what is this 'fuck' he refers to? Because I seem to remember him using that word back at the school of Friendship as well as multiple times here. Is it a word meant for excitement or frustration or either? I don't want to make him feel unsatisfied since-"

"Firefly just! ... Just please, stop talking!" Craig snapped before Firefly could get in one more word. "Can you take me to him? There's something I need to tell hi- well a few things now but the sooner I can see him, the better."

Firefly tilted her head. "Are you sure that is a good idea? As I said he needs rest."

"Oh he's definitely going to need to God Damn rest once I'm done with him... Trust me it's kind of urgent Firefly, please."

The yellow changeling gave a moment of thought before reluctantly nodding.

"He's currently in my room. Come, I'll show you."

Craig followed the changeling, unsure what he ought to feel. Anger, confusion? After all it wasn't everyday that one of your friends quite literally fucked a character from a television show. A childrens television show, he had to remind himself! Considering they were changelings, he supposed it made sense but... bloody hell it was a lot to wrap his mind around. After a couple of minutes, the two arrived at a triangular stone slab, which turned out to actually be a door as the changeling pushed it to the side with ease revealing a small space featuring plenty of strange natural details that Craig would have immediately geeked out on. However the griffon was more focused on the one black changeling lying on his back on top of a normal pony made bed. Interesting detail as it was the only thing that stood out but right now Craig had bigger fish to fry.

"Alright, thanks for the help Firefly. I can take it from here."

"Um... okay? I suppose I'll just wait outside then..."

"Oh and quick question. Is this room sound proof, even if I yell really really loudly? Just wondering."

"Yes, most of what you say will barely be heard outside of this room."

"Ah, excellent. Thanks Firefly, you've been a big help. Now if you excuse me, I need to have a chat with my friend here."

Craig then slid the slab over the entrance and Firefly stood guard. Everything seemed silent for a brief few seconds until Firefly picked up a barely audible noise.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Firefly blinked. "I guess it's just used for frustration then." Her ears drooped. "And here I thought I did a good job too..."

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

"Uh, guys? Helloooo?"

Ash continued to check the corridors having no idea where his yak and pony companions had just suddenly disappeared to. At first he was certain the pair were just playing some sort of practical joke, but after the last half hour of searching it seemed more and more unlikely that that was the case. Maybe they had been dragged off by another teacher, or had decided to explore the nearby town? If that happened to be true then there was going to be some roasted backsides when they returned.

Still, Ash couldn't help but shake the nagging feeling that there was a chance that something more... sinister happened. He couldn't explain it, it was just a feeling. Regardless, he was committed to continue searching until this Ember character showed up.

"Ugh, Why couldn't Craig have stayed here instead of going with Mike?" He hissed to himself in frustration. "At least that oversized chicken would have stayed with me."

The blue dragon could picture it now. 'Ash, make sure you do this', 'Ash, careful around that' or even 'Ash, stop burning the school curtains'. Annoying as hell but at least it would have actually been helpful!

Ash paused for a moment to think if there was anywhere he hadn't checked yet. He'd checked the library and their temporary rooms and most of the school floors. There was an open outdoor area but it would have been easy to spot a giant yak and unicorn together, assuming they still were together.

Out of ideas, he simply shrugged and decided to head back to the room. They'd have to return there at some point, right?

Confident with that thought in mind, he made his way through the hallway he had just searched, turned the corner and froze.

The dragon just twenty feet away did the same thing, as did the half-dozen friends beside her.

Ash looked upon each member of the dragons party and it almost mirrored his group to a tee if it wasn't for the sixth member, some sort of pink griffon, he assumed. One of each species that his friends had been turned into. Weird as it was, his senses snapped back into place and headed back the way he came, really not wanting to deal with this right now.

"Wait!" One of them called out, likely eager to make amends. Ash however didn't care, teenagers or not. He could still feel his eye throbbing away. Right now missing friends aside, all the moody dragon wanted to do was some time to himself, and avoid any other dragon that crossed his path. Unfortunatley he didn't make it far as a gust of wind whooshed from behind him and before he could blink, the orange nuisance herself was flying right in his face, her arms stretched out like she was making a barrier to prevent him from proceeding. Ash was about ready to tell her to get out of his way until he noticed the look on her face. She looked sincerely sorry as she mentally pleaded for him to listen.

"Just hear me out, please!"

Ash would have preferred not to. His mind told him just to keep on walking and carry on. However another part of him knew that this would possibly cause more problems down the line. Maybe even for his own friends if he was unlucky enough. So without seeing much other option, Ash folded his arms and stared right at the still flying dragon with an unamused expression.

"I'm listening." Was all he said before giving the dragon the floor.

"Look, I... I messed up, alright?" She admitted rubbing her arm. "When I heard you talking about our culture, using words I've never heard from any other dragon, I should have asked for more information instead of just butting heads, and... I could have handled things better after you saying you know better than me. But we're dragons! Fighting's in our nature, you know that! Although, I guess not every dragon feels that way... But that's how it's always been done! We have an argument, we fight. We don't want to share, we fight. It's pretty self-explanatory."

"Well I guess not every dragon feels that way, you know?" Ash glared.

"Yeah, should have learned that from Spike..." Smolder half muttered to herself before focusing back to the blue dragon before her. "What I'm trying to say is... I maybe could have handled things differently, and... I'm sorry."

Ash raised an eyebrow and turned back to her group of friends that waited patiently. They all smiled nervously or looked away, save for the pink feathery one who waved happily at him despite his clearly sour mood. Ash turned back to the orange dragon.

"Uh huh. So tell me, are these your words, or theirs?" He pointed to the group behind them. It was clear to him that they had convinced her to make an effort to apologize.

Smolder looked away sheepishly. "Uhhh..." That answered Ash's question right away.

"Yeah, thought as much." He moved past smolder and continued to walk. "You can worry about apologies when Ember shows her face!" He bit back harshly without bothering to look back, though he could feel the worry of the dragon at the mention of Embers name.

"Um, excuse me? Mr... um...?"

Ash reluctantly turned to notice the changeling of the group had decided to step forth despite appearing quite nervous confronting the young adult. Ash sighed.

"The name's Ash kid."

"Ash. I know that what Smolder did was wrong, and she's really really sorry for it. I know you're angry at her but, we are at the School of Friendship, so..."

Ash stared the cyan bug pony down. "So you're saying I should accept her apology because I'm in a friendship school? Not a very convincing argument young one."

Ocellus shook her head at once, worried she had angered him even further. "No, no! That's not what I meant! What I mean is maybe you could let Smolder SHOW you how sorry she is through what we've learned here. And maybe you would understand through her actions that she regrets her... um... actions?... If that's alright with you, of course..." She trailed off.

Ash paused for a moment. He really wanted to just walk off and pretend this conversation never happened. However there was an opportunity that came to light, being that if he and this orange pain in the ass made amends, then perhaps this Ember girl would spare him the bollocking he could already hear ripping apart his eardrums. Plus what else did he have to do? His friends had fucked off leaving him on his own so might as well pass the time somehow.

The dragon grumbled. "Fine."

The next thing he knew he was allowing the now happy group to lead him away to God only knows where. This was going to be... interesting...

Tastes like strawberry

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Ash wasn't sure what to think given the circumstances he now found himself in. The orange dragon who had punched him in the face not so long ago had taken up the suggestion of the blue bug... horse... thing and had taken it upon herself to offer a compromise of sorts in which the orange dragon leapt at the opportunity before leading him from the hallways of the school to what he soon realized to be her dorm, where according to herself they would talk, resolve their issues and maybe get to know each other better. Now of course being taken into what was essentially a strangers bedroom, especially one that was a minor was not exactly a good thing. However Ash figured that considering that this whole world was based off of a childrens cartoon, according to Craig at least, he was more inclined to believe that no-one would get the wrong idea about what they would be doing behind closed doors. Still just to be on the safe side he made sure to tell Applejack that they would be talking in private and try to make up for the 'misunderstanding' from earlier, which she seemed happy enough about which eased the blue dragon. There was also the fact that two of his friends had been taken to visit a king or something along those lines, and the other two were gone meaning that he had nothing better to do, so fuck it!

Now he found himself in the smaller dragons bedroom. A simple chair sat in the corner of the room which he took to while... Smolder wasn't it, chose to sit on the edge of her bed, leaning back on it. Aside from the pink bedsheets, there wasn't all that much personality to the room which Ash found a little odd but brushed it off. Maybe dragons didn't like decorating or something silly like that. For a short while, neither of them uttered a word. It was hard to know where exactly to start. The older dragon mentally sighed.

'Come on man.' He scolded himself. 'Be the grown up and just say something. She's not going to bite! ... I think.'

Ash inhaled and spoke the first thing that came into his mind. "I don't suppose you have any ice for my eye do you?"

It was supposed to come off as a joke but all those words did was make the orange dragon feel guiltier, causing Ash to fall silent once more. Not the best start. Maybe it was better to just tackle the issue right away.

"Look, kid, we can go back and forth on what happened but it's not going to change the fact that it did happen. So if you're after an apology it's fine, I forgive you. I'm sure Ember will too if that's what you're concerned about."

Knowing human kids, many would feel guilty about doing something they weren't supposed to until they were forgiven for it, at least in Ash's experience. Especially since Smolders face went from guilty-looking to surprised, he was sure he had resolved the issue right away.

"Huh. Wasn't expecting that." She admitted before leaping off of the bed, using her wings to just hover there in the air for a bit before flying up to the cupboard opposite her bed and checked the small space between the top of it and the ceiling. "No offense. It's just when it comes to forgiveness, dragons don't usually apologize so quickly."

Ash huffed in amusement. "Believe me kid, I'm not like other dragons."

"Yeah well, neither am I. At least not anymore." She responded casually. She soon stopped checking the top of the cupboard before landing on the floor and checking under her bed. "I mean, how many dragons want to study about 'friendship'? Not really our thing. Sharing? Kindness?" She blew a raspberry with her tongue. "Thanks but no thanks."

Ash said nothing, allowing her to continue.

"That's what the old me would have said until I came here and made friends. Now? Now I've got creatures I actually care about. And you know what? I wouldn't trade them for all the gold in Equestria!"

Ash found himself slowly nodding in agreement. He wasn't going to admit it but yeah, most of the time he would be a pain in the ass to the others with his joking around and sometimes aggressive attitude, but they loved him like a brother for it. Thinking about it managed to make him smile for a second. "Yeah. I know what you mean."

"That being said, I am still learning. So... I guess it wouldn't hurt to actually apologize when I do something, you know, not so friendship-like. Come on, I know I put it here somewhere." Smolder soon retreated from her bed and now began checking the inside of her wardrobe. Ash couldn't help but wonder what she was looking for.

"Hmm. Well, that's sometimes how we learn things. Through regret and mistakes. Trust me, you're not the first and you won't be the last."

"Maybe not, but the least I should do is do something about it, right? Wouldn't be a good student of friendship if I just shrugged it off." She paused her searching, smiled for a moment and looked back at Ash. "Quick question. How do you feel about rubies? You're not a fussy eater are you?"

Ash raised an eyebrow at the strange question but managed to mask it and quickly respond. "No, not at all. Rubies are fine." He waved off, assuming it was the name of some kind of sweet.

"Well that's a relief." She sighed before pulling out a shiny red gem and walked on over to him. "Didn't really want to give away my sapphires. They're my favorite."

Ash's mind flashed back to yesterday morning. Didn't Craig say something about how dragons can eat gems? Huh. Well this was certainly going to be a new experience.

"You're giving me a gemstone as a form of saying sorry?" Ash wasn't exactly all that sure of how valuable gemstones were to dragons. Was this ruby supposed to be a rare delicacy or something more equivalent to a midday snack?

"Yeah yeah I know." She rolled her eyes. "A dragon giving something to another dragon without asking for something in return, it's a lot to take in. You want it or not?"

Ash shrugged and carefully took the palm sized jewel sitting in Smolders outstretched hand and looked it over. As far as he could tell there was nothing wrong with it. The gem was quite beautiful and shiny... and red. Without thinking, he took a bite out of curiosity. It was so weird how easy it was for his teeth to cut through the ruby and even weirder how sweet it was.

'Huh. Tastes like strawberry.'

Satisfied, he wolfed down the rest of the half-eaten ruby. He then gave a small chuckle.

"Something funny?" The younger dragon asked.

"Oh, nothing important. Just thinking if I had eaten that gem back where I came from, people would think I was a lunatic." He could imagine his human self trying a swallow a ruby whole while his friends looked at him in horror and confusion. An odd thought to enter his head but one that got a laugh out of him. Having assumed they were now done, Ash slapped his knees and rose out of the chair. "Well this was fun kid. Seriously, I appreciate the... gem food, and again I forgive you. I'll be sure to tell Ember about this. Take care."

He managed a single step forward before a confused Smolder spoke up. "Wait, you're done already?"

Ash froze, caught off guard by the response. "Yyyyes...?"

The orange dragon chuckled. "Seriously? One gem stone and you forgive me that quickly? No offense but you're as forgiving as Spike."

Was that supposed to be an insult? He felt like it was, despite having no clue who this Spike fellow was. He mentally took back his previous comment about forgiving her, this kid's an ass.

"Oh sorry, I didn't realize I was supposed to demand more." He folded his arms and spoke sarcastically. "Am I meant to ask for more gems? Maybe gold from your hoard stash or... or..." Fuck, what else do dragons do? "... Or... other dragon things?"

'God, please don't push on what I mean by other dragon things or I'm fucked.'

"Well I don't really have much of a hoard. That's the sort of thing older dragons do." He scratched her chin in thought before clicking her claws as something came to mind. "You can have lunch with me and my friends in Ponyville!"

Ash wasn't as enthusiastic. "Oh... Awesome. Sounds delightful, a random unknown adult being taken out to lunch by a group of minors. That's certainly not going to raise questions."

"Why would it?" She asked innocently.

"... It doesn't matter."

"Alright then, let's get going. I'm sure you'll get on swell with them."

"Now, now hang on a minute!" Ash stalled. "Who's to say I don't already have lunch plans with my own friends? I'm sure they're wondering where I've disappeared off to!"

At least they better fucking be wondering that...

"And do you?"

...

"Possibly."

Oddly enough, she didn't buy his unsure response."Uhuh. Is there a reason you don't want to meet my friends?"

There was indeed. Considering that these kids will most likely try to get to know him by asking questions about his dragon heritage, of which he had none and knew absolute zilch about, he could imagine this meet and greet going about as well as eating a spicy curry while your toilet was broken. And considering that there was an actual dragon joining them he couldn't exactly BS his was through their questions. He was in a bit of a sticky situation and he knew it.

"I..."

*KNOCK KNOCK* "Smolder! You in there?" Came an aggressive sounding, female voice on the other side of the door. "Don't make me burn the door down!"

"Uh... who is that?" Ash couldn't help but ask.

"Duh, that's dragonlord Ember." Smolder responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, getting ready to greet the new guest.

"Wait. She's here already?" It had only been an hour since Twilight had told him that she'd be visiting. How the fuck fast were dragons in this world?

"Must have had some business to wrap up in the dragonlands before she could make it over here." Smolder noted rather casually before opening the door to reveal the oh so ferocious dragon lord herself! She was... actually not too far off of what Ash looked like funnily enough. Only a lighter shade of blue, curved horns rather than straight ones, a narrower snout, thinner frame and orange eyes.

Now when Ash had first heard of this dragonlord, he had expected her to be a hundred feet tall and as dangerous and as powerful as possible. Now, he felt both disappointed and at the same time relieved that the dragonlord was instead this short tempered, fiery and yeah he'll admit it, somewhat cute-looking bipedal lizard lady. A short tempered, fiery, somewhat cute-looking bipedal lizard lady, basically the queen of her entire species, that was here for them. That's not building up any stressful pressure whatsoever.

'Okay, you got this man.' He thought giving himself a little pep talk. 'She's a queen so be respectful. As. Fuck. Can't go wrong with that.' Ash inhaled and stepped forth to introduce himself.

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

"Fuck me man!" Mike hissed out, cringing from the amount of volume coming out from his friends screeching maw. How could such a small beak emit so much noise. "You want to scream a little louder, I don't think they heard you the next country over!"

Craig breathed through his nostrils before speaking. "Welp, congratulations Mike." He sourly spoke. "You should be proud of yourself."

"Why?"

"You're officially the first human EVER to fuck a sentient member of another species. Well done you!"

"Oh. ... I mean, that's actually a fucking amazing claim right there." He smiled. "I mean, how many people have ever wanted to screw a twilek from starwars or any alien from any sci-fi movie? Now I can say I'm one step closer than they'll ever be!"

"Jesus Christ Mike, you're actually making this weirder than it already needs to be!" Craig breathed slowly in and out, gathered his thoughts and spoke. "Okay look, let's just move away from this and calm down. I really shouldn't be as pissed as I am about this I guess. I mean, you were technically starving to death and this was... I'm assuming was the only way to prevent that from happening."

"Yeah, Firefly subtly filled me in on the details of that. You know, before I started filling her if you get my meaning."

"For Gods sake Mike, I don't want to know!" Craig visibly cringed in disgust.

...

"How was it?"

Mike sighed. "Odd. Very odd. Have you ever felt so full yet so hungry at the same time? It was like that. The more effort I put into it the more energized I became. Hell, if we wanted to we might have been at it for days. It was weird that"

"And you didn't question the whole... interspecies relationship thing at all?" Craig asked in disbelief. "Granted you're pretty much the same species as her right now but we still think human. Didn't you feel uncomfortable?"

"Of course I did. I was about ready to leave the room when I realized what she was up to. At least until she kissed me on the lips."

"Why, what happened then?" Craig pressed.

"It's kind of hard to explain but it felt... addicting, I suppose is the best way to describe it. It was as though that one kiss locked my mind down into wanting it more than anything else. Like every bad feeling had been sucked out of me and replaced with every positive emotion I know. The things we did next well... let's just say our exoskeletons are surprisingly flexible and leave it at that." Mike took a second before turning on Craig. "This is your fault by the way."

"My fault?!" Craig spat out. "How the hell is this my fault?"

"Don't you remember what I said back in the school? About her kidnapping and fucking me? I never wanted to come here in the first place and you ignored me and dragged me along which means I was, in a way kidnapped. And now... I've been fucked! The prophecy has come true!" Mike threw his arms open dramatically. Not even forty eight hours we've been on this planet and I've already shagged one of the natives."

"Okay, we can blame each other later. Right now the bigger question is what do we do next?"

"I don't know, change the bed sheets probably. Seems like the polite thing to do."

"Oh for... okay you know what, just stay here for a moment. I'm going to talk to Firefly, see if there's some questions she can answer for me."

"Why, what are you planning?"

"We're getting back to the school, at which point I plan to wash my eyes out with bleach. I think I've learned more than I wanted to here."

This strange world

by SwarmLordAbdonis

The first few hours

Why the **** would I want to turn into a rock?

What the hell kind of name is Pinkie Pie?

Lets go party at the school of friendship!

What, no alcohol?

Did you know that C*** means Best Friend in dragonese?

Is it not normal to watch someone as they sleep?

Can't we just find a security guard and kick her a** out? Hopefully permanently?

Password please?

Who's the moose?

My choice to make. Not yours.

Subjects of friendship

Stage one, and... already going badly

Pleasant talks

New developments

Restoring energy... in the bedroom

Tastes like strawberry