-Chapter XLII- The Crystalline Guardian

-Canterlot, Equestria

-March 31st, 2012

-4:31 P.M.

-Nicholas

"You just don't get it, do you?" I asked tartly as the train continued to clatter just outside. It seemed there was a strange sound from the roof, but I hardly noticed it with the heated argument between Rainbow Dash and I. "None of you do!"

"Oh, I get it all right," the pegasus replied coolly with a confident smile, she began to walk away from me to join the small throng of ponies behind her, all staring at me in complete shock. "I get that you really are not Equestrian!" she exclaimed as she veered back and flew towards my cage faster than I could react. I felt a burst of magic envelop me, and in an instant I was free, standing beside the now emptied metal cage. I flinched back as Rainbow Dash ran into the cage with all the speed and fury of her wings, and as she flew past me, clashing into the metal bars and sending them into the wall of the car, a gush of wind blew past me, whipping my fur and mane all about. When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded on all sides by the now hostile ponies.

"What...what just happened?" I asked sincerely. I looked frantically about, the expressions of contempt and anger mixed with fear and disbelief. I looked behind me to see Rainbow Dash get up from the remains of the cages, Stealth now unconscious on the floor beside her with my sword a fingertip's length away from him. "Stealth!" I called out to the baby dragon, my thoughts of the surrounding ponies melting away with concern. I tried to gallop over to his side, but I was cut off by Applejack, glaring at me with pain and distrust bright in her green eyes.

"You're a unicorn!" Rainbow Dash said angrily at me, yet I could hear a sense of triumph in her voice as she flew to Twilight's side.

"What? No, I'm an Earth Pony!" I objected. I backed away from Twilight and Dash, only to bump into Rarity and Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie...?" I asked as she gave me a hard, burning stare. I immediately turned to the purple alicorn at Dash's side. "Twilight?"

She seemed to be one most hurt. "I trusted you..." she said solemnly. A pang of regret pierced my heart, and though I didn't know why, I felt like I had completely deceived her. I only wanted to help their princess. "I see now that was the wrong choice."

"Twilight..." I repeated blankly. My emotions were washed away with the realization that I was being betrayed by the six ponies, five of which turning on me all at once. "Rainbow Dash," I said as I turned my gaze back to her, "you have to believe me!" I begged, now on the defensive. "If not, then Princess Celestia is going to be captured! Or worse..." I trailed off, not daring to say what I thought would most likely happen at the hands of my dreams' invader.

"Nopony trusts you, anymore, Nicholas," Rainbow Dash stated firmly. "Now, enough with the magic, show us what you really look like!"

"But I'm not using magic!" I pleaded. "I'm not a unicorn! I swear by God, or whatever figure you look up to and believe to be the true God! I am here only to save you all and your lands from a fate of darkness." No one even slowed their pace as I bundled myself together as much as I possibly could. I felt helpless, and as I closed my eyes, I accepted that they were never going to believe me now. My heart thudded against my chest as I felt their hoofsteps drawing nearer.

"Stop!" I heard. I opened my eyes to see Twilight and Applejack staring beyond me to the back of the train car. I followed their gazes to see the yellow pegasus standing firmly, her pink mane still hiding half of her face. "He's telling the truth!"

"Fluttershy, you just saw what he did!" Rainbow Dash retorted harshly. "He used unicorn magic. He's only deceiving you!"

"No! I think he's telling us the truth." My heart relaxing, and I practically fell over in relief.

"Fluttershy, I understand that you want to believe him. I do too, but it's obvious that there's no point. He's lying to us, and there's no escaping that." I turned to see Applejack and Pinkie Pie exchanging uneasy glances, as if they weren't sure what to think any more.

"Why are we just standing here?" Rainbow Dash asked loudly to all of them. She jumped into the air once again and dove at me, grabbing me by the mane and throwing me against the wall of the train. I could only stare at her fierce glare as she pinned me against my will, leaving me no option of escape. I saw my sword lying on the ground by the still-unconscious Stealth. "Don't even think about it," she said as if she were reading my mind, "Rarity, take his sword."

The white unicorn obeyed without question as she picked up the shining blue sword with her magic. She held the sword high in the air, far from either my or Stealth's reach. Even if he was awake... I looked to Fluttershy, wordlessly pleading for her help as she stood where she was, paralyzed in fear of her own friends and their actions. "Now then," Twilight said sharply, as if to stop herself from believing me any more than she already had, "To find out who this invader really is." I saw her horn glow bright with a strong, purple aura, and I felt it consume me, trying to rip my pony skin away from my soul. I felt as though she were tearing at my very flesh, with a harsh burning sensation running through my veins as I quivered in both mental, and physical pain. When I felt like all energy had been drained from my body, Rainbow Dash dropped me, and I fell heavily to the floor of the car with limp limbs. As I collapsed under my own weight, I saw my hoof land unresponsively in front of my vision. I saw Twilight trot up to me, her horn glowing once more, and the same pain flooded through me yet again. When I could no longer bear it, I felt like another presence entirely had taken over my mind, and another burst of magic filled the car, sending all of the ponies to the walls of the car while I remained where I was, limp and exhausted. Slowly I got up, but I didn't feel my body anymore.

I began to regain control of my hooves again, and when I looked around, the train car dissolved away from me, leaving me in an endless, colourless, black void. I felt uneasy again, unable to hide my panic as I felt an unfamiliar presence slowly walk up to me. I instantly turned on it only to see the reflection of my pony forme. I tilted my head to the side in confusion, expecting the duplicate to do the same, but it only stood there, silent and unmoving, as I stared back at it with confusion. Realizing that this was more than just my ethereal reflection, I stared hard at it, determined to at last understand one thing that was happening to me. "Who are you?" I asked sternly. But it only smiled at first, still not making a sound. I felt my face contort with anger as I scowled at it. "Who are you?" I demanded again.

It's mouth opened to speak, but the voice that replied was one that I had not expected. It sounded...almost familiar, but at the same time, it was completely foreign, "I am you." I was taken aback by the very feminine voice to utter such bizarre words of ridiculousness.

"What? I...I don't understand."

"I am you, Nicholas." At that moment, a bright light engulfed my double, revealing another forme in its place when it faded away. I rubbed my stinging eyes with my forehooves, trying to figure if it was only a trick of my mind what I was seeing, or if it was the truth. She was a taller, very dignified mare, with a peculiar texture to her pony coat and horn protruding from her soft-blue mane. A small, insignificant line of white ran down her mane, and another along the fur of her tail. Her cutie mark was a star, veiled in a cloud of magic. "My name is Sapphire." My disbelief must have showed through what I hoped to be an expressionless face, because she let out a soft laugh of amusement. "You don't believe me? I suppose I wouldn't, either, if our roles were reversed."

"You're...me?" I asked, at last finding my voice from the thick fog of confusion clouding my mind. "So you must be a Power Keeper, then?"

"Not only am I that, but I am the Power Keeper before you. I am the Power Keeper of Equestria, and to many in my time, I was known as the Crystalline Guardian. But now...my name, and the consequences of my actions, are only that of a lost memory."

"Crystalline...a...Crystal Pony, then?" I guessed, trying to excavate as much information as I could from my vague memories of my Equestrian lessons from Max.

"Very good," she said in surprise. She smiled at me, obviously amused by how little I knew, or how I acted. Either way, I felt self-conscious, for some reason. "So, I take it you know why you're here?"

"Yes, my human guardian told me."

"Ah, yes, you're guardian," she said almost to herself, a flash of recollection in her eyes. "Max, yes?" I nodded. "Hm, then I guess then Princess Celestia is your Equestrian guardian, correct?" I nodded again, unsure if I should speak. "Princess Celestia was my guardian, too. My companion, Dusk Shine, and I shared many adventures with her." The smile that lingered on her face instantly disappeared. "Please, Nicholas," she said with remorse and regret in her voice, "Save her. Do what you can for my friend, and for my home."

"But I can't!" I objected. "The ponies don't want to listen to me."

"Only because you have given them more reason to not."

"Because magic came out of nowhere to save my skin twice? That wasn't me!"

"I know. It was me."

"But why? Especially if you knew that it would only further ruin my relationship with the Equestrians – er...ponies."

"Because I saw that you were already tarnishing your credibility with them. I had hoped that seeing Equestrian magic would help influence their opinions about you, but I see that wasn't the case."

"You don't say," I muttered quietly to myself.

"Just because I've been dead for a thousand years doesn't mean that I know all that will happen," she said quietly. "I am still a being with a soul. I make mistakes, just as you do."

"All right...well then how can I save them if I can't get out of their mistrust in me?"

"You can't," she replied simply.

"What?" I asked in disbelief. I felt anger burning in my chest.

"You will figure this out, Nicholas. And I see now that I shouldn't have interfered with your quest. You will befriend them."

"How do you know?"

She smiled again as another flash of recollection flooded in her unusually bright-blue eyes, the colour the very same as mine. "You've told me so."

"What?" I asked again as the vision began to blur away, the unicorn fading away with it. The darkness evaporated as my vision was invaded again with the bright light of the sun's rays flooding through the train car window directly upon me. I could only lie there motionless as her voice echoed through my mind.

Please...save her.