Chapter 4:

"...What you did is inexcusable, we lost several contracts thanks to your actions"

"I did my job, not my fault they were in the way"

"You behave like a damn Ghost"

"Could it be because I am one?"

"You are a Shadowguard, you swore your service to the Protectorate and you know we don't kill unless we have no other choice"

"Ghosts,shadowguards, specters. Same job, different employer"

"It's that kind of attitude that we prefer to remove those damn inhibitors"

"And go crazy like the poor bastards that couldn't handle the backlash of emotions? Fuck that"

"Yes there are risks, however we have more advanced equipment than the Dominion "

"Look doc, I appreciate that you would try to fix me but I don't want to end up in an psych ward for the rest of my life"

sigh "At least let us fix the inhibitors. I don't want you to go berserk when in the middle of a fight"

"That's not a good thing?"

"Not unless you want to get killed"

"Will I still continue to participate in the specter program?"

"Yes my friend,you'll still get your Terrazine"

"Hey give me a break I'm doing it for its beneficial effects"

"I'm sure you are, come lets get you back up to standards"

His mind faded to black as the dream ended. Slowly he opened his eyes, his vision slowly adapting to the morning sun. As he got off the bed, from outside he could hear that most of the castles inhabitants were up and about. He stretched his body and his wings, this time no longer feeling pain. He flapped them for a moment just to make sure he fully recovered.

Nothing to it...

He continued to flap his wings, trying to get used to them. At one point he managed to hover a couple of inches of the ground, but his inexperience caused him to hit several of the furnishings in the room.

"Guess I should have paid attention to Koln, he was probably the only reaper that wasn't stimed up most of the time"

Before he could give it a go once more, a knock was heard on his door.

"Yeah?" X said without opening the door

"Finally, you're awake!. It's me Dash, come on, today its the day you learn to fly!"

Opening the door, he was greeted by the hyperactive pegasus. She quickly got on his face "Ready for an awesome day as my apprentice?" Rainbow Dash asked

"Apprentice?" X replied dryly

"Yeah, but don't worry. I'm sure you'll be almost as good as me some day" she replied in a smug tone

Well aren't we full of ourselves?"

"Let's go rookie, Master Dash will teach you the ropes of flying today"

X let out a groan. He thought that he was done with training for anything a long time ago. Following her towards the courtyard of the castle, he continued to ponder on the whole Celestia/Luna sharing their power. He wondered if their corresponding guards had different strengths and weaknesses or where they same in terms of abilities. The idea of even partaking in one of their training exercisers did pop in his mind When they arrived at the courtyard, both were greeted once more by Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Good morning X" Twilight said cheerfully

"Hi X" Fluttershy added in a soft tone

X nodded at both of them and turned his attention to the one he didn't want to call teacher

"All right then, first things first. Let's begin by stretching" said Rainbow Dash

"Do I have to?" X asked. All he wanted was to get the lesson over with

"Yes you have to, its all part of the lesson X" Rainbow replied

X looked at Twilight. His expression pretty much said "This sucks, I just want to get to this crap over with" Twilight smiled at him, encouraging him to do what Rainbow Dash would say.

"Psst, Flutter" Rainbow Dash whispered

"Ye..yeah?"

"Help me out here. Do the same thing too, maybe it'll make him feel more comfortable"

"Oh okay" The timid pegasus replied

"Come on X lets begin" Rainbow Dash said, getting his attention "We put our wings up, then down. Up and down"

X reluctantly did what she said. Fluttershy did the same, giving a smile every time he would look at her. For a couple of minutes they stretched their wings, at the same time Twilight took notes of how X was doing, she intended to show them later to the princess in an effort to help him get used to his new life.

"Good morning Twi" a voice behind her startled her

She quickly bowed when she realized who it was "Good morning princess Luna...I didn't know you where here" she said somewhat nervously.

"I apologize for startling you. I'm just here to see how X was doing ,Tia did expresses some concern for him after you all left yesterday"

"What did she say?" Twilight asked

"She's worried about what she saw when she entered his mind" Luna looked at her directly in the eyes "I know you saw part of it as well"

Twilight's face turned somewhat sad "What I saw...I really don't know what I saw"

"Tia showed me a large part of it...Twilight...We must approach his situation with care"

"Well what can we do?" Twilight asked

"She and I are coming up with a way to help him, she wanted to meet up with you after you're done here"

Twilight looked at the three pegasi stretching their wings. Rainbow was counting repeatedly from 1 to 4, Fluttershy was smiling slightly and X had an indifferent look on his face. "I'll will"

"Good, now if you'll excuse me I must be leave, Tia wanted me to deal with some dignitaries" Luna replied. In a bright flash of light she disappeared. Twilight looked at X worriedly, she kept taking notes hoping to come with a solution.

"Phew, right then, now that we're all warmed up we can start officially the lesson"

Finally...

"Flying is as natural as walking for a pegasus. You simply flap your wings in a rhythm and before you know it, you're soaring in the skies" As she finished her sentence, she began to fly around. She flew around the courtyard and did a couple of loops before landing.

"See? It's easy. Now you try" she said encouraging him

X stood still for a moment and began to flap his wings wildly. He floated for a couple of inches before he flew back into a wall.

Ah shit!...that kind of hurt...What the hell did Koln used to say?.. Life of a reaper ain't easy...

Fluttershy trotted over to him "Take your time, no need to rush" she said in her soft voice

X shrugged off the blow and tried it once more. He listened to Fluttershy's advice and this time flapped his wings in unison. Slowly he gained altitude, getting a bit of a rush from the experience

"Ok... I'll admit that this is kind of cool" said X as he hovered

"Alright nice job!" Rainbow Dash gave him a quick pat on the back. This caused to almost loose his rhythm.

"Now let's try flying around, think you can keep up?" she asked in a smug tone

"Only one way to find out" X replied

Fluttershy hovered in place, looking at both pegasi as they flew around the castle. Rainbow Dash did loops and spirals across the sky, trying to see if X could do the same. It took him a couple of tries but eventually, he could do the same tricks that she did albeit somewhat crudely. They stopped flying around for a moment and went back to the ground.

"You're a natural at it X" said Twilight

"Yeah, You're a pretty fast learner X"

"I have to be" he replied

"Hey, how would you feel if we did a race?" Rainbow Dash asked

Twilight quickly looked at her "Now Dash, X is good at flying but he's still new"

"You sure about that?" said X addressing directly the cyan pegasus

"What's the matter, scared I'll beat you up to badly?" Dash replied, giving of a smug look

X gave a chuckle "You're on!" he exclaimed

Twilight gave an audible sigh. She could see the look on X face. It exuded determination and confidence. "Ok, if you're serious about this. Then I'll make up the rules and you must follow them to the letter"

"Alright then" Rainbow Dash replied in agreement

"Call the shot" added X

After Twilight briefly explained the rules, they both took position and locked eyes with each other. Both of them were smirking. Their intense look on each other worried Fluttershy. She knew that Dash was already good at flying but even though he was a fast learner, X still lacked experience in this area.

"X...be careful, ok?" Fluttershy said

"No need to worry" X replied with great confidence

"Ok, ready guys?" Twilight asked

"Yeah I'm ready!" Dash replied

"X?"

"Come on already!" X replied

"Ok then. On your mark..." Twilight began the countdown

Both their wings were slowly extending.

"Get set..."

They stared at the sky, digging their hoofs on the ground. Ready for lift off

"Go!"

Both took off in an instant, leaving a small dust cloud behind. Twilight was coughing in the wake of the dust "And I thought... cough...Rainbow was competitive"

The race consisted of several laps around the castle. Due to her flying most of her life, Dash was ahead most of the time, X decided to use his psionics and increase his speed allowing him to keep up with her. The spectacle attracted the attention of several ponies that inhabited the castle. Some walked over to Twilight to ask her what was going on. When they figured out who were the two that were racing, they began taking guesses as to who would win. Would the bearer of an Element win or would the strange pony defeat her? Several of them made some bets, much to the annoyance of Twilight

"Im going to win X!" Dash yelled at the top of her lungs

"You keep thinking that, It'll just make it all the better for me when I win" X replied giving of a smirk

"Ha, I like your confidence, I kinda feel bad that I'll crush your dream of beating me"

"Keep yapping please, it's going to make your tears all the sweeter"

At the final lap, both reached out for whatever hidden energy they had. All that was left was to land back where they started and the winner would be declared. But as they neared the end, a cloud began to roll in the way. When Rainbow Dash saw it, she slowed down but X instead kept his current speed.

"All to easy" he smirked as he headed straight for the cloud.

"Oh Buck! Wait X, I forgot to tell you, we can't..." It was too late. All the ponies heard a muffled thump. They knew what had happened. A couple of them tried to contain their laughter. One pony groaned as he gave his friend a bag full of coins. Twilight quickly glared at them, slowly they backed of as she continued to look at them angrily

"I hope he's ok" Fluttershy quickly flew towards them.

Rainbow Dash slowly flew towards him. All she could see was the back of the grey pegasus. His face was buried in the cloud and his body was plastered on it as well.

"Uhm,X...Are you ok?" she asked. Getting no reply she poked him to try to get him to move. Fluttershy arrived and hovered next to her

"Is he alright?" she asked with worry in her voice

"I don't know he's now answering me" Dash replied. Once more she poked him "X?"

"Did I just hit a cloud?" X asked, his voiced muffled

"Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked him

"Did I just hit...a CLOUD?!" X was unharmed, he did hit a cotton soft cloud after all, he wasn't moving because he couldn't believe what just happened

Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. At that point she knew that he was ok.

"I forgot to tell you that pegasi can manipulate clouds, to us it's pretty much like a solid object,a soft solid object" Rainbow Dash replied rubbing the back of her neck

Slowly he peeled himself away from the cloud. When he turned around, Rainbow Dash busted out laughing. X's face now had a cloud mask on and a small impression of his face was also left on the cloud. He wiped it off and looked at her with annoyance.

"Anything else I need to know?" he asked, slight anger coming from his voice

"Su..sure there are a couple of...things I can show you" Rainbow replied, snickering and laughing

She stopped laughing for a moment and taught him what a pegasus could do with clouds. She motioned him to follow her. All three pegasus landed on top of the cloud.

"Well this feels...interesting" X said as he felt the peculiar texture of the cloud underneath his hoofs. He took each step with care as he tried to get used walking on it.

"Here you go X" Rainbow Dash said, handling him a piece of the cloud.

He grabbed it and quizzically looked at it "So what do I do with it?" X asked

"Try giving it a squeeze" her reply left him wondering. She looked at her for second then back at the chunk of cloud. Slowly he squeezed it, he could hear thunder but couldn't see any dark clouds on the horizon, looking back at the cloud he was in awe.

"What the hell?" he said as he looked at the cloud. Now grey, it gave of sparks and even managed to rain a bit

"That's the cool thing about us pegasi, we can manipulate the clouds" Dash said as X continued to look at it with awe "We build our homes on the clouds as well, maybe when we get the chance I'll take you to Cloudsdale, the most awesome place on Equestria"

So Pegasi, have a passive psionic ability that allows them these sorts of feats...this is a weird,weird world.

"Come on, lets get back to the ground, Twi might be worried" Dash said.

Back on the ground, Rainbow started to laugh again. X was somewhat annoyed at her, he tried to figure out what was the reason for her to laugh again but couldn't figure it out. Fluttershy approached him, and extended her hoof.

She gently grabbed X's face "Hang on, you still have bit of that cloud on you" She swiped the small puff from his face and quickly gave him a warm smile

X cleared his throat "Right then...Umh...Thanks" he replied

"You did good for your first time X" Rainbow Dash quickly gave him another tap on his back "What do you say we go get some cider"

"I appreciate the sentiment but it will have to wait" X replied. He turned his attention to Twilight "Was there something that Luna need?"

She was surprised by his question "Oh, no need to worry . She simply told me that princess Celestia wanted to speak with me" she gave a sheepish smile

"Good, you wouldn't mind if I tagged along right?"

"I...well...I'm sure its nothing important. I sure you would prefer spending some time having fun instead of listening to some boring lecture" She replied giving of a smile once more.

"No need to worry, I just want to ask her a simple question" The way he said that made her even more nervous. Seeing that there was no persuading him from staying with Rainbow and Flutter, she reluctantly led him back to the throne room. As they left Rainbow Dash poked Fluttershy, she pointed to X's and back to her. She raised her eyebrows and made some suggestive looks a her. Fluttershy quickly understood what she meant and blushed.

"Halt! You may only enter when the princess calls for you, however the beare..."

"Yeah, yeah. I know the damn rules" X said as he cut of the guard. The armor clad pony looked at him in annoyance. X went back to the same window when he arrived

"X..."

"I know Twilight, I'll behave" he said as he continued to look outside the window

"Don't worry . It'll just be a moment" she replied. Quickly she entered the throne room

"Good day princess" Twilight bowed her head when she approached the princesses

"Good day Twi, I believe Luna mentioned why I wish to see you"

"Yes, its about your concerns for X"

"Correct, as you know he is an intriguing being full of many stories and experiences. Both good and bad" Celestia said

"Unfortunately most of them are bad" Luna added

"His mind is a battlefield, full of extreme motions. The most profound of them is anger" Celestia said as her face darkened "From what we all saw, he could be a danger to us and to himself. If all of his anger was to arrive in one swift stroke, there's no telling what he might do"

"Well what can we do to help him?" Twilight asked

"Luna and I have come up with a solution" Celstia replied

"We wish to enter his mind and appease his contained fury. We also wish to restore both his memories and his emotions" said Luna

"And you want me to do this alone?" quickly Twilight asked, expressing her concern

"You will have our help of course, but since you were the first one to enter his mind, you know more about him than us" Celestia replied

"Ok, but how can we be sure that he would let us? I saw all that when he was unconscious but when he was wide awake, he kicked me off"

Celestia smiled at her "Well, perhaps we should ask him first. What do you say X?"

X decloaked next to Twilight. Startled, she jumped a few inches in the air "X...I though you were waiting outside" Twiligh said, her voice cracking a bit due to her nerves

"I was tired of waiting" X replied, his gaze fixated on Celestia "So you knew I was here all the time?"

"Yes X, I could sense you since you first entered the room, still wish you didn't knockout the guards outside"

"They'll have a hell of a headache but they will live" X replied

"So you know about our concerns" Twilight asked

"Yes and while I appreciate your unwanted worry, I deny your offer of help" X replied dryly

"But why? We wish for you to be better. We want to help you feel joy again" Twilight said, looking at him straight in the eyes

"If my emotions were to be restored, I would most certainly go insane. To feel all my anger, my sorrow, my regrets... all at once would drive me to madness. I've seen it happen to others, trust me when I say that it's not a pretty sight"

"I'm certain that with our help, you won't suffer from any that. Celestia and Luna are the strongest magic users in Equestria. They can help you if you just let them" Twilight tried to use her charms to convince him to get help

"No, even if they are the strongest psionics in the universe I will not risk what life I have left"

"But..." Twilight tried to plead once more but was cut off

"It's allright Twilight, its his decision after all. However, if you are to stay here for the time being, we need to take certain precautions"

X raised his eyes in question but decided to hear the terms of his stay before voicing any complaints

"You will be monitored by the Elements at all times. Also you will be wearing these" Celestia's horned glowed, she levitated an ornate looking box and opened it. It revealed what looked like a pair of cuffs but without them being bonded. Before X could react, Luna used her magic and quickly cuffed them to his hoofs

"What the hell?" X tried to get them off him using his psionics and his physical strength, but to no avail

"I'm sorry X, but until we find a way to return you back to your world or when you decide to receive our help, you will wear these magic nullifying bands" Luna replied, the look on her face expressed authority. X gave an audible growl, Twilight looked at him now more worried then ever.

"I know you feel angry at us right now, but trust me. We only wish the best for you" Celestia looked at him like a mother would when she didn't want to scold her child, but she knew that it was necessary for him and for everyone.

"Fine, it's not like I can do a damn thing now thanks to this crap. But you better find a way to get me back or I swear that when I get this cuffs off, you will regret ever meeting me" X quickly stormed off. Luna was about to give him a piece of her mind, but Celestia stopped her.

X wait!" Twilight rushed after him

Celestia looked a Luna when Twilight left the throne room "We shouldn't have taken that from him" Luna said angrily

"It's ok sister, he's simply reacting to something he fears, no need to scold him for that" Celestia replied giving a smile "But I believe we may have a way to convince him"

"How?" Luna asked

"By showing him that he has a great life ahead of him"

"X, please wait a moment, X" Twilight kept following him closly

"WHAT?" he angrily replied

She was taken back a bit from his tone but she looked at him with a stern look "Can't you see when someone wants to do you good?"

"X raised one of his hoofs "Does this look like it's doing me good?" He asked focusing his eyes on one of the bands

"Well when you put it ike that...I mean... sigh...Look at it this way, its like medicine. It may taste bad at first but I the end It'll do you good" Twilight replied

"Gee thanks, I feel better already" After giving his sarcastic remark, he entered his room.

"X...X..." She tried to get him to come out once more, but couldn't convince him. She decided it would be best to let him cool off.

His inhibitors were working at full strength preventing him from going berserk. The rest of the day he spent it in solitude, however when night finally arrived he heard a knock on his door. He wasn't in the mood for anyone, all he wanted was for the day to be over so that he could think clearly on what to do for the next day.

"X...it's me" he recognized the voice, slowly he made his towards the door. Opening it, he was greeted by the yellow pegasus.

"What are you doing here?" X asked

"You didn't come to dinner so I thought it would be best for me to bring you something to eat" Fluttershy replied.

"Thanks" X said when he looked at the small bag full of fruit

"May I come in?" Fluttershy timidly asked "If it's no bother of course"

Sigh...Out of all of them... it had to be her... X nodded and let her in. She took a seat on a nearby chair as X ate some of the bag's contents

"How are you doing?" she asked

"I've been better" X replied, taking a bite of an apple

"I... heard about what happened" Fluttershy said in a soft voice

For a moment he stopped eating, he looked at the bands on his hoofs "Are you here to tell me that I should let them go in my mind?" he asked as he continued to eat

"Well...Its not my place to tell you what to do" she replied

"Wish the others would be as reasonable as you"

Fluttershy approached him and looked at him straight in the eyes "X...I'm not the most courageous pony...but I don't want to see you hurt. Twi and the princesses are the best magic users and I know they won't let anything bad happen to you..." she gave him a hug "...just like me. There's no need to be afraid... everything will be ok if you just give them a try"

X stood for a moment quiet as she continued to embrace him ...Damn it...why do I feel so...strange when she's near me?...

Sigh... I'll think about it" X replied

She let him go and gave him a warm smile "Thanks X. I better go...have a good night" Leaving the room X was alone once more, he started to eat the rest of his food when a voice caught his attention

"Well, it seems that a certain someone has a soft spot for Kindness, how adorable"

X took a combat ready stance "Who's there?" he asked as he scanned the room

"Me? Well I'm everywhere, like I could be outside the window or under the bed or even inside your eye... speaking of which, where can I get one like that?"

"Show yourself coward!" X yelled, now looking around somewhat frantically

"Coward? I take offense to that sir! I've never been hiding from you, you simply haven't taken the time to look down!" the voice replied

"Great, even the lizards of this world talk" X saw the small Discord waving at him.

"I'll have you know that you are talking to the great Adrios Colsis Discordious, but you may call me Discord"

"Nice meeting you, now get the hell out" X replied

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine?" Discord said, in a puff he disappeared and appeared on top of his back "Nice pair of wings you have, robust and young"

"Get off me!" X began to buck in an effort to get him off

"Giddyup!" Discord now sported a cowboy hat and continued to him him on his flank

"GET OFF!" X slammed his back on the wall. When he turned around he saw Discord slammed on the wall, X thought he severely injured him considering the way his body was bending "Good riddance"

"That was fun, lets go again!" Discord replied, clearly nothing happened to him

"What do you want?" X replied his green eye now glowing brighter

"Me? Well I would like to help you" Discord replied "May I ask why your eye suddenly became brighter?"

"I'm looking for weaknesses in your body so that next time you won't walk" X replied turning his back to him "Unfortunately I don't see any"

Discord began to laugh "See this is why I like you, you say such things without batting an eye, but I digress, what I want is to help you"

"How can a 3 inch lizard possibly help me?" X asked

"I can do what sweet Celestia can't... " He replied as he poked the silver bands on his hoofs

X looked at him with interest "And how exactly would you do that?" X asked

"I wasn't always a 3 inch lizard as you so crudely putted, I used to be a powerful being, capable of willing many things in existence and capable of doing even more. That is, until those pesky 6 ruined my fun"

"And why would they do that?" X asked

"I saw how dreadfully boring their lives were so I decided to give them some much needed chaos, but they thought that was bad so they imprisoned me and my powers inside a statue"

"Your prison is... a statue?" X replied, trying to wrap his head on that fact

"I know, it's so hard to believe that I would be reduced to a mere decoration" Discord replied "But we can help each other"

"Let me guess, you want me to free you?" X said

Discord brought out a small party popper "Ding ding! We have a winner everyone" X looked at him I annoyance as the brightly colored streams got on his face

"If I free you... you will no doubt cause problems for everypony here" X replied

I can't believe I just said that...

Discord appeared on top of his head "Perhaps, but think about it. With my power restored I could sent you back to your world"

X was silent for a moment as he considered his proposal "You don't owe them anything...on the contrary, they owe you for taking away your freedom" Discord whispered in his ear

"... you better keep your word. I may now know what you are capable of but you don't know anything about me either"

"Ah but I do, you see we are very much a like. We have limited freedom and our powers have been taken away from us by the same bloody pony" Discord replied as he looked at a scroll full of writings "Those are just two, shall I keep going?"

"No" X replied with an anoyed tone in his voice

"So partners?" Discord asked rising an eye in question

"For now" X replied as he headed for his bed

"Then it's settled. You'll free me and I'll get you back to where you belong...where are you going?" Discord asked

"To sleep" X replied as he got under the covers

"All righty then, I'll see you tomorrow business partner" Discord disappeared in a puff leaving X alone once more

Hmm...I wonder what would happen if those inhibitors were to "accidentally" go off...Eh, I'll figure it out when I get to it. But now, I'll just give a small chuckle of victory...he,he... no, no that's wrong... HA,HA,HA!" Ah there we go, much better

Shady deals with a Chaotic entity...what could possibly go wrong? Meh, I'll let you guys run wild with your imagination. Anyhow, that's the end of this one now unto the next! Till then, have a good day. Oh and happy holidays/endotheworld day