The Pony-Filled Life of Alexis Creek

by NightmareMoon

Alright, So I'm Magical: Part Three

The Crystal Empire, to say the least, was weird.

It wasn't at all like Equestria, though I'm sure it might have been, a long time ago. Everybody was so sad here, but why? I asked one of them, and they couldn't remember - they said they didn't want to, that to remember was to experience the horrors of Sombra one more time - and the subject was closed.

They didn't like to talk about Sombra, I noticed. No matter what it was about. If you asked them, "Did you like Sombra?" they wouldn't answer. They would sort of start shaking and say, "I don't know. I don't know! Leave me alone." They would do this no matter what the question was, and if you mentioned the word Sombra - even in mistake - they would sort of scoot away from you.

And everyone was so dull. Not just mentally - which they were - but also physically. I had read a book on the Crystal Ponies, and it had illustrations. The Crystal Ponies, when they were all Crystal-y, looked amazing. All glowing and crystal-y (as mentioned before). But now they were really dull in color, like a part of them had been torn away.

The strangest part about them - which I noticed immediately - was that they could see me. And if you didn't know before, if you skipped all the chapters of this book and landed in this one, you wouldn't know what the heck I was talking about: therefore, let me explain. Through some magical phenomenon, I had somehow gained magic and turned myself invisible. Don't ask me why. I'm still trying to find out myself.

I asked them how they could see me, and they looked all Zecora-ish and said, "We Crystal Ponies can see beyond magic."

That was sort of creepy, but for the sake of being polite I didn't mention it and just smiled and nodded. "That's, um... Cool. Do you know where I can find a library? With lots of history books? Oh, yeah. Magic books would be helpful too, because to the rest of the world I'm sort of invisible."

A blue one with floppy grey hair pointed south with her hoof and droned, "Over there. The Crystal Library of Magic and History, and Magic History. It's the most famous library in town. I don't know how you couldn't see it. Don't you live here?"

Um, can't they see me? I'm a human. I think that possibly, maybe, by a slight chance, if there was a human living there - the only human in Equestria, at that - I think they might notice. Maybe.

"Thank you," I said, and dipped my head. I grinned. Time for the Crystal Library.

* * *

Twilight had taught me the basics of reading Equestrian writing - which was written in heiroglyphics or something - but I was still a bit rusty. I mean, I didn't grow up in Equestria (though Twilight had been eager to explain the entire history of Equestria, of which I had mostly slept through). I could read, though barely. These weren't children's books, like I was used to reading for practice. These were the kind of books Twilight read.

I went straight for the table of contents of a book I had just plucked from a shelf, entitled "Odd Magic," one which I wasn't really sure would help, but anything could help at this point. I cleared my throat and started reading.

"Table of Contents," I read for no particular reason at all. "One, page one - the magical field. No, I don't think that will help. Two, page thirty-seven - other worlds, a possibility that is very probable. I come from another world. I don't need anyone to tell me about my own planet. Three, page seventy-two - aha! Non-magical beings."

I quickly flipped to page seventy-two. I started reading slowly, trying to make sense of the bigger and more complicated words. "Non-magical beings, such as the human, which new evidence has proved to be real, may seem to have no magic but aren't. Any being who does not contain magic will rip the threads of time and space to mere pieces floating throughout space - this has been proven by science - and therefore, if non-magical beings existed outside their plane, or dimension, you would not be reading this book."

I looked at myself. My magical, invisible self. Were Crystal Ponies some kind of magical geniuses? They might as well be. This book was written over a thousand years ago, where apparently there was no Equestria yet. While Equestria was forming, this place was thriving! I continued reading, deeply interested. "If you have encountered a non-magical being, and have proved they were non-magical, you are wrong. Utterly wrong. Sometimes the effects of magic may be delayed, and often after that the non-magical being will experience strange encounters with magic, like a young unicorn foal or filly does."

So that was why I was invisible. I remembered the episode where Pinkie was babysitting the Cakes' twins, and Pumpkin was using magic all over the place! It was self-defense, my invisibility. I saw Trixie, a dangerous enemy, and tried to defend myself. It was simple! I closed the book and put it back on its shelf neatly.

Now to pick a book about history, and not just any history - the history of the Crystal Empire, possibly even how such an amazing civilization could fall into Sombra's tyrannical rule. Didn't Celestia harness the Elements' power when Nightmare Moon had tried to give Equestria eternal night?

I picked an abnormally heavy book entitled: "The Great and Powerful Crystal Empire, a novel by Trixie L." I didn't know why I chose it. I just did, out of instinct. And then I read the title.

What? What? Was this a joke? I opened the book. It said: "Hello to whoever is reading this. Or more specifically, Alexis, since none of the Crystal Ponies ever come here. 'It's cursed,' they say. But I know you're reading this, because I put it here and casted a spell specifically so you would come and find it."

No way. Why would Trixie try to contact me? And more importantly, since when did she live in the Crystal Empire? Well, I suppose since she was banished from Ponyville. "I know you think this is a trick, or that I'm writing to say, 'Haha, you lose." I paused for a moment. Wasn't it? "But it's not. This is more of an SOS. Sombra is using me, and I can't stop it. He's overpowering me. Help."

Was I really going to trust Trixie?