//------------------------------//
// Password please? 
// Story: This strange world 
// by SwarmLordAbdonis 
//------------------------------//

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.