Society as We Know It

by Comma Typer

Crystal Visit

The train left the station.

Among the many passengers that were on the crystal platform of the crystal train station, there was one changeling. He carried one bag. He considered and eyed the station he was on.

It was made out of crystal. The architecture was quite polygonal, befitting of several of the crystals that extended out of the otherwise straight walls. There were small groups of crystals protruding out of some of the walls. Even on the ground, just across the railway, there was another group of blue crystals.

The building shone, reflecting the light of the sun with great intensity though not too great to annoy the ponies and the changeling who looked at the train station.

The windows helped give the train station a more glamourous appeal. Inside the train station, there were more ponies, several of them carrying bags and baggages. Others were pulling their bags on wheels. Many of them were talking calmly and happily with each other.

Blue Alarm walked towards the blue door and opened it.

The inside was cooler. The floor was checkered. There were more small groups of crystals adorning the walls. A crowd of ponies was here, making a noise of chats and chatterings. Not a lot of ponies looked at the changeling. Among those who did, several of them gasped. Some of them even pointed, catching the attention of only a few more ponies.

He walked on.

He stopped in front of a framed picture. He looked at it.

The painting depicted the Crystal Empire under a beautiful sky. The Crystal Castle stood proudly, shining and gleaming. The surroundings of the Empire were also beautiful—the mountains, the grass, the trees.

He walked on.

He walked to a stall with a few types of bread and sweets. Displayed prominently were rows of cinnamon buns. Along with the cinnamon buns, another food item that was also displayed prominently was a bag of cinnamon nuts beside other such bags.

A mare was behind the stall. "How may I...help you?" Her smile was not there anymore. It was replaced with a face of uneasiness. "M-my name is Amber Waves. I-I'm just filling in for Sugar Glass today. Or, this hour." She looked at some place, not looking at the changeling customer in front of her. "Where is he?" she whispered, anxiety in her voice, shuddering a little.

"I just wanted to try a sample of Crystal Empire food, that's all," Blue Alarm said.

She recoiled from him. "Just a sample, changeling?" she asked with a surprised tone. "I...didn't expect a changeling like you to be ordering any sweets here." She smiled awkwardly.

"That means I must be the first changeling to order some sweets here." Blue Alarm looked around. "I don't see any other changelings who might be here."

Amber Waves kept her awkward smile, eyeing the doors in the room nervously. "Where is he?" she whispered. "Where is he?!"

"You mean Sugar Glass?" Blue Alarm asked, placing a hoof on the stall.

"No, it's alright!" she said, raising her voice.

Blue Alarm looked at her with a concerned face. "What's wrong?" He smiled. "I think you're scared because I'm a changeling and you're right in front of one, aren't you?"

"Y-yes! There! I said it!" She pointed a hoof at the changeling. "Now, where is Sugar Glass?"

He took a step back. "I don't know. I didn't do anything bad to him. I'm sure he's going to be here soon." He gave her a suspicious look. "Does this mean you don't like your substitute job?"

"Oh, look!" She pointed a hoof.

Blue Alarm looked.

A yellow stallion with orange and yellow mane was walking to the stall. His uniform consisted of a hat and an apron, both sporting white and red stripes.

"How's your hour attending the stall, Amber Waves?" he asked. He glanced at the changeling. "You're even attracting changelings to the snacks and desserts of the Crystal Empire! Thorax would be proud to know about it, especially after I gave him his first ever cinnamon bun."

Amber Waves, meanwhile, eyed the changeling with exaggerated mistrust, her eyes wide open in doubt.

"I guess the pressure is getting on to you," Sugar Glass said. He walked towards her. "It requires not just training to get used to it. Experience is needed, too. But, I hope you've enjoyed your time here behind the stall."

"Thank you," she said. Then, she left the stall, giving Blue Alarm a mean glare before she went out of the train station.

Sugar Glass was now behind the stall.

"Hello! My name's Sugar Glass and I'm more than happy and ready to help! So, what would your order be, uh...what's your name?"

"Blue Alarm."

"Alright, Blue Alarm." He kept on smiling. "What would you like? We have our famous cinnamon buns, loved by none other than your king!"

"That's good to know that Thorax likes it," Blue Alarm said. "I'll have a few cinnamon buns myself."

"OK, then!" And Sugar Glass carefully pulled a few cinnamon buns from their places under the counter.

Blue Alarm placed a few bits on the stall. "Is that enough? I'd like to have my change."

"I'll handle it!"

Sugar Glass placed a few cinnamon buns into a paper bag and grabbed some of the bits. He opened the cash register and dropped the bits into the register. Then, he closed the register.

He gave the paper bag to Blue Alarm. "Here you, go! Your change of two bits is on the stall. Have a great day at the Crystal Empire!"

---

Blue Alarm walked on the shiny roads. They were like glass, showing the reflections of the ponies and the changeling on it. There was no trash, no garbage littering around—the roads were, indeed, clean.

The grass, too was clean. Its green hue was vibrant, almost shining like the roads it was close by to. Trimmed to perfection, the grass exhibited further the presentability of the Crystal Empire.

The buildings themselves were unique—instead of the normal, homely homes of Ponyville and instead of the straight, functional buildings of Manehattan, the architecture of the Crysal Empire's buildings was different. There was no such thing as a completely straight wall—the walls were polygonal, multi-faceted, just like the occasional group of crsytals that appeared here and there. This led to the buildings having all kinds of irregular shapes. The buildings shone under the sunlight.

At one of the intersections, at the middle of it, stood a large crystal statue of a baby dragon bravely holding a crystal heart.

Blue Alarm walked up to it.

There was a nameplate on the base.

"'Spike the Brave and Glorious, Saver of the Crystal Empire Multiple Times, Grand Hero of the Crystal Empire.'" Blue Alarm looked at the statue itself. "That's a long name to give to a dragon."

A few ponies were walking up to the statue. For a few seconds, they stood and marvelled at the statue, one of them gasping while the rest of them just beheld the statue in all its shiny wonder and in all its implied history which conveyed one baby dragon's heroism. Then, they walked off.

Blue Alarm looked at them. "Looks like the name was necessary. I wonder how much crystal was needed to create a statue this big." He walked around it, looking at it.

Then, he continued walking.

He saw more the crystal buildings, showing examples of more unusual architecture and design. The windows had no consistent shape—even on one building, there were square windows, circular windows, and diamond windows.

There were also the streetlights. They were a bright blue from the crystals they were made of. They were jagged, but the streetlights continued to beautify the place.

There was not just grass on the front yards of the buildings. There were also bushes and shrubs, some of them having flowers. A few buildings had containers for flowers and bushes in front of the windows.

And, there were the ponies of the Crystal Empire. There were reflections of some of them as they walked on the streets. They walked, talked, laughed, ate, drank. They were enjoying the time they had together.

Some of them took a break from the joy they were having, looking at the changeling walking on the street. Some of those who looked at him shunned him, looking away from him with a face that displayed not just sadness but disgust. Others looked at him happily, smiling, even excited.

Blue Alarm kept walking on, observing the ponies' reactions to him.

---

The Crystal Castle was tall.

It stood on four legs, four pillars of crystals, curving and converging. The castle proper was of great height, shining under the sunlight. The crystals of the castle only made the castle more fascinating in its bright blue color.

Blue Alarm walked under the Crystal Castle. On one of the pillars, there was a staircase towards a double door.

"Halt!"

He looked around.

There were guards wearing their armor and their helmets, walking to the changeling.

"State your business here, changeling," one of them said.

"I was just here to visit," Blue Alarm replied.

"Wait, we didn't ask him his name," another guard said. "Should we ask him now? We already asked him why he's visitng."

"Of course, we should ask him his name even if we're late!" yet another guard replied. "Now, you ask him!"

"No, you ask him!"

"OK!" The guard placed a smile on his face and faced the changeling. "What's your name, changeling?"

"Blue Alarm. Also, if you need to ask any more questions about me, I live in the Changeling Kingdom which is ruled under King Thorax who, as you may know, is a nice changeling and proved himself to be quite friendly here in the Crystal Empire. Also, I respect your admiration for Spike the Brave and Glorious. It is a challenging undertaking to make a statue of his Spike's likeness, unless I underestimated your statue-making abilities. Anyways, I am here to just visit, perhaps see Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor along with their foal, Flurry Heart. I mean no ill intention, and I would like it if I were to gain your camaraderie since you seem to be a nice group of guards that I have encountered. You're not that serious compared to the royal guards back in Canterlot, and I appreciate your laidback style of guarding. I've met some of the Crystal ponies here and they are very welcoming. The Crystal Empire is a good place to live in, considering the joy that I see on their faces and in their actions." He took in a breath of air. "Does that mean you don't have to ask me any more questions?"

"Uh, yes."

The other guards nodded, smiling at him.

"That means I can go in now, right?"

"No," the guard said.

"Why?"

"Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor are off to see an art exhibit in Ponyville. From what Prince Shining Armor told us before they left, they are seeking to bring Flurry Heart to be under the care of Princess Twilight Sparkle while they're gone. Prince Shining Armor told us to also not let in any visitors to the Crystal Castle for the safety of the Crystal Empire."

"I see," Blue Alarm said. "That means we can still hang out sometime, right?"

"Uh, is this a trick to bring us out of our places so you can sneak in and visit the Crystal Castle anyway?"

He smiled. "No."

---

The guards laughed as they walked with Blue Alarm, then they talked to each other and with him, some of them holding a few cinnamon buns and a few other foods such as apples and slices of apple pies.

"Anything by the Apple family is good," one of the guards said. He held out an apple on his hoof, halting his walk. "I don't know how they manage to turn an apple into something even better than it is on its own, but it's good nonetheless, right, guys?"

And the rest of his friends nodded. Blue Alarm nodded, too.

Their walk continued on, passing by more crystal houses and crystal shops and crystal restaurants and crystal streetlights.

The path grew quieter, became less crowded with ponies and more crowded with buildings. At the end, a building stood out from its neighboring houses. Enshrined in crystals of orange, green, and blue was a house with its roof looking like an orange pointy hat. Like all the other buildings, it shone. Its double doors had a royal design, as if this house was the house of a pony of immense expectations lived here.

Most of the guards hushed their voices as they approached the house.

"This is where the Crystaller lives?" Blue Alarm asked. "I think it's very standard. I heard that he's proficient in magic, so it does fit the wizard style well." He turned towards another guard. "Does he need much protection from you or can he handle himself when things go wrong?"

"He doesn't need much guarding," the guard replied. "Sunburst doesn't need to be protected while he goes out to shop or to eat somewhere, although we are willing to offer him the service of security, since, you know, he's the Crystaller and that's really important for us Crystal ponies. We don't want him to fall into the wrong hooves."

"I'm sure he has a resilient heart," Blue Alarm said.

"W-who's that?" a voice yelled out from inside the house.

"Don't worry!" the guard bellowed. "A visitor wants to see you!"

A stallion's face appeared on one of the windows, scared. "Dangerous? That's a lot of guards for a visitor!"

"We're only three, not including the changeling!"

"Oh, yes, sorry." He laughed a little, nervously.

The double doors opened.

Sunburst, in his blue wizard-like outfit and donning his circular glasses, smiled awkwardly as he stood. "Uh, hello!"

---

The inside of the house was filled and cluttered with stacks and towers of books, some of them precarious, appearing to tip over, fall and create a mess any moment. Even then, there was disorganization, as books also were littered and scattered around on the floor and on the shelves.

The walls weren't straight. They were curved, jagged, unrefined, yet they bore the quality of the crystals they were made up of, giving the building an elegant, regal feel to it.

Past the anteroom, there was a small wooden table with two small chairs. Around the table and the chairs were more stacks and towers of books both old and new, both short and tall, of various colors.

Not only were there books, there were also glass containers, containing liquids of different colors. Some of them even glowed.

The changeling walked into the room, following Sunburst.

The double doors glowed yellow and closed.

"I understand that the guards want to stay outside," Sunburst said, taking a seat on one of the chairs. He sighed a sigh of relief. "So, you're just visiting? First changeling visitor I've ever had. Other than Thorax, of course." He smiled. "It was quite fun to let him read a few books about magic, knowing that he won't be able to perform any of it, you know, not having any unicorn magic." He smile went away, replaced with a blank expression, then replaced with a troubled face. "I didn't mean to berate you or anything, really! I, uh, I was just telling you that it was an interesting event to watch. At least he was fascinated and amazed by the things that magic can do." He smiled again, awkwardly. "Uh, you can take a book. And read it."

Blue Alarm looked at one of the books. He walked over to it and grabbed it from the top of one of the stacks.

"R-right. I won't laugh at you or anything."

He walked to the table and sat on the chair.

Blue Alarm looked at the cover of the book.

"'Magical Compendium, volumes 1-36.'"

"Very big for something that's supposed to be a summary, r-right?" He faked a cough. "Anyway, what brings you here? It's not like that I have anything that's of interest to many ponies and changelings." He glanced at the many books around them. "Maybe you're here for the book collection! Or, maybe you're here to ask me about...something. I could teach you about advanced magic, but...you know..." He smiled awkwardly again.

"Don't worry, I understand."

Blue Alarm opened the book.

In front of him were double columns of words of short and long paragraphs, dotted and adorned with diagrams, charts, tables, and symbols.

Sunburst eyed the changeling reading the book.

Blue Alarm looked up from the book. "It was a nice read."

Sunburst frowned. "That was a short session of reading."

Blue Alarm closed the book.

"So, does this mean we get to talk about what you want to talk about?" Sunburst asked, still smiling awkwardly. He adjusted his glasses. "It's not everyday one travels to the Crystal Empire and visits me."

Blue Alarm was silent.

Sunburst was silent, too, waiting for an answer.

The changeling pushed the book aside.

"Careful that it doesn't fall," Sunburst cautioned, a little concern in his voice.

The pony looked back at the changeling.

"I wanted to just observe," Blue Alarm said. "Just watching the ponies and experiencing whatever activities and services they have for me. I have pleasure in observing and seeing lives intersect." He smiled. "I also want to have a good time here, even make some friends."

"Because of the magic of friendship," Sunburst interrupted, smiling, also. "Reminds me of Starlight Glimmer. I remember seeing her at the ceremony, both for the Pink Heart of Courage and for her graduation."

"Good friends, right?" Blue Alarm said.

He nodded. Then, he placed a hoof on the table, looking up towards the ceiling anxiously. "Somewhat good friends. She lives in Ponyville, I live in the Crystal Empire, so it's hard to schedule meetups and just plain, nice friendship times."

Then, Sunburst looked at the changeling.

The changeling was looking around at the books.

"That also reminds me," Sunburst said.

Blue Alarm looked back at him.

"Shining Armor's old friend back in the royal guard, Spearhead. He told me about it before he and Princess Cadance went off today. You weren't planning to visit the Crystal Castle, were you?"

"I tried."

Sunburst smiled again. "It's closed until they return."

---

"Behold!" the brown stallion with blue mane and red scarf announced to the hatted changeling in front of him. He gesutred towards the painting. "This is my latest, my newest painting—'A Thousand Nights in a Hallway'!"

And the painting was just black. There were no other colors.

"You know what," Nastic said, stomping a hoof on the ground, "you call that art?"

The stallion took a step back, a little scared.

"That is not a painting, nor could you call it art! I don't see anything!"

"That's the point," the stallion answered. "That's why I called it 'A Thousand Nights in a Hallway,' because that's what you'd see in one night in a hallway—not much."

"And, what? You just splattered black paint all over the canvas until it's all covered in black paint!"

"It achieves the artistic goal that I had set in mind."

Nastic groaned and placed a hoof on his face.